I have been thinking and talking a lot here about the idea of dedicating time to create and manage another full time recipe blog, but why should that even be a priority for me? I’m feeling so split and divided by so much social media these days, that the idea of consolidating is hugely appealing. Then I slapped myself on the forehead and said, “Self? Take those Instragram photos you love to take, and if a recipe is worthy- it can find a spot on The Ci!” Sometimes you have to perk up and listen to that inner voice.

POLENTA PIZZA

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
Salt
1 cup instant polenta
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pound baby spinach
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. grated Mozzarella cheese
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Lightly oil a 9-inch round baking dish. In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and slowly stir in the polenta. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the polenta is thick, about 5 minutes. Pour the hot polenta into the baking dish and cover the surface directly with plastic wrap. Let stand until firm, about 25 minutes.

In a large, deep skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until golden brown, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the spinach, stirring to wilt it. Season with salt and pepper. Keep the spinach warm.

If grilling, light a grill and oil the grates. If not using a grill, brush a bit of oil on each side of the block of polenta that you have removed from the baking dish. Cut the polenta into 8 wedges and grill/place in pan over moderately high heat until crisp and lightly charred, 5 minutes per side. Place 2 wedges on each plate; top each with sauce and grated cheese. Spoon the warm spinach on top and serve.

MAKE AHEAD
The polenta can be prepared through Step 1 and refrigerated overnight. Slice the polenta and bring to room temperature before proceeding.

(inspired by this recipe)

He has three jars to put his money – one for giving, one for saving, and one for spending. Ten percent goes into each of the first two, and the remaining 80 percent goes into his spending jar. If he does every single chore for every single day, he’d earn $2.80 a week. That’s $145.60 for the year. 80 percent of that is $116.48. (Not bad for a 4 year old’s annual income!) The savings will go into his college fund, the giving will go to a cause that he gets to choose around the holidays, and the spending is up to him (with some encouragement on our part.)

So far, it seems to have worked pretty well at keeping that little guy in his bed until 6:00 am – and that in itself makes the whole thing worth it. He has yet to do every single thing every day – but that’s ok. I will definitely switch around some of the chores, and eventually raise the payout as we grow into different needs.

(Inspired by something I found online here and embellished)

I love using a three day weekend for a house project, and New Year’s day this year I created a room curtain divider between my son’s play room and bedroom. This makes a private spot for a play room turned guest room when needed, and makes for a cozier bedroom at night to encourage precious, precious sleep from my son (who seems to hate it.)

I had been considering doing something like this for a while, but when I saw this photo (posted by the always inspirational Brick House) of a room in the Ace Hotel, Palm Springs, I got inspired:

I love the clean lines, and the modern but comfortable feel. I am not a sewer, but decided to give it a whirl. I measured and then trekked to Joanne’s Fabrics. There I bought some clean, light cream canvas, along with some Stitch Witchery (no sew hem iron-on), some grommets, some red rope, and a couple of little hooks. Here’s my step by step progress.

1. After spraying the canvas on both sides with Scotch Guard, I hemmed both ends using the Stitch Witchery. (That stuff is cool!) The bottom of the two panels got a four-inch hem, while the top got a two-inch one.

2. I lined up the hemmed top two panels.

3. I laid out and studied the grommets.

4. I used the enclosed grommet stencil to trace my cut lines under the hem.

5. Then, I cut out the circles that I drew.

6. After that, it was just a matter of snapping the front and back of the grommets together. Really super easy.

7. Then I took my two pieces of red rope and needle and thread sewed the ends into loops. I am thinking of switching out the tie backs soon, but this is good for a start.

8. With the construction done, I hammered in five thick nails into the wall, and started hanging the grommets on those nails.

9. Once they were all up, I screwed the little hooks I bought into the wall on either side and hung the red rope tie-backs on those.

10. I then tied the curtains back, and sat back – very pleased with the results! (The panels are centered, I don’t know why the look a bit off in this photo.)

The cost of the entire project was about $85. (The canvas fabric was a little pricey.) The panels have been up for a week now, and they have served as a play stage, have made his room extra cozy and warm, and have made an excellent private spot for my mom, who is visiting right now helping nurse that little guy after his New Year’s tonsillectomy. A three day weekend project well done, if I might say so! I love crossing things off my Inspired to Create Pinterest board!

Upon further reflection, I just don’t feel like it’s enough to just regurgitate my 2011 resolutions for 2012. So inspired by (and expounded upon) a friend and colleague’s Facebook status, here’s my offical plan for 2012:

2012 Plan
More love, less blame
More adventure, less self-doubt
More protein, less cheese
More semicolons, fewer dashes
More Twitter, less Facebook
More fiction, less blogs
More quality, less quantity
More who I am, less who I’m not

(Thanks to Dennis from @DealEstate for the inspiration. And follow that dude on twitter to get the BEST real estate news coverage in Chicago – hands down.)

1. Be healthier: I did try to ‘be healthier’ this year. I continued on the with the gluten free diet. Whenever I did ‘cheat’, I felt sluggish and bad, so I do feel like it’s a diet that works for me. Also, inspired by Miss Goop, I attempted a spring and a fall cleanse. It was pretty restrictive, but with some updates, I would like to it again. This cleanse attempts to eliminate all potential allergens to your diet: dairy, caffeine, and alcohol to name a few broad things. Also, along with watching those things, I will do only liquid breakfast (smoothies) and dinner (soups). This cleanse will last for the duration of 4 weeks each time. I am also starting to do some regular yoga this year! Woot!

2. Enroll my son in at least one fun extracurricular class. Done and done! He is 4 and is almost able to swim on his own now! I would love to also get him into some sort of tumbling class this year.

3. Expand my career in a digital direction. This was a dream last year, but that dream has now become a necessity. Good thing I like it, and am very excited about it! I can’t wait to see what I will have to say about this in a year.

4. Work on a special project with my husband: A public recipe website. Oy. Fail. I made “The Worthy Kitchen” live, but have failed to cultivate and work on this project. I need too many extra hours in the day right now to make it a priority. Perhaps someday? Perhaps not? I don’t know. Maybe this should be a print project? That sure would be fun. Hmmmm.

5. Cook more. Done! I am sooo excited to report that I have actively taken over cooking for our household 3 nights a week! I know that doesn’t sound like much, but going from zero cooking to finally getting to a point where I look forward to making food is wonderful! My husband keeps telling me he’s impressed with my menus and food. That alone is enough to keep me motivated.

6. Travel to Texas and Portland sometime this year. I made it to both states this year. (Yes, I just called Portland a state.) I even went to Texas three separate times this year. All of the trips revolved around a wedding (my best friend got married!) and a funeral (my beloved grandmother, who was also a very dear friend, passed away this year.) This is a bitter sweet resolution to celebrate obviously. I want to go to both places again this year, and look forward to being a little more calm in the process. And bonus?  I am going to take my son to New York City this year and show him the sites. I know it’s no Chicago – but it should be a pretty fun trip.

7. Come up with a way to speed though some of the list. Fail Fail Fail. I don’t know what happened. I used to LOVE to read. I still do! I just have such a hard time motivating myself to fit it into my life. Trying to not feel defeated by this.

8. Be the best me I can be. I like to think that I am like a decent bottle of wine. You have to know a little bit about wine to really notice any difference between me and the Three Buck Chuck. But if you know – than you know that you just got something a little special. Something that is getting better and better with a little age.

There it is! Hope to see you around these parts next year for further updates in ’12!

Kelly

This year, I want to be sure to dig a little deeper into the season – as 2011 has been especially spiritually for my family and me. Inspired by a very clever friend, our family will discuss and ponder an important word each night, as we eat a piece of advent chocolate together. I’m going to collect those words that we’ll ponder here to remember them daily – and try to use them as inspiration for my daily personal treat.

Thursday 12/1: Goodwill
I am excited to start this exercise with this word. Today’s treat will include talking about one especially nice thing that we are going to do for a friend this month.

Friday 12/2: Delight
My son’s first school dance is tonight! Yes, he’s in preschool, but still – it’s just so unreal. Delight is a perfect word for today.

Saturday 12/3: Compassion
Today, we will be donating some non-perishable food and some gently used clothing to our local food pantry Care For Real. This is something I am ashamed that I have never done before, and am looking to make it an annual holiday tradition with my son. Thankfully, this word came up today and inspired this to finally happen.

Sunday 12/4: Peace
Weather permitting, I hope to get to talk a long quiet walk by the lake with my boys today.

Monday 12/5: Unity
Today I will finish the homemade 2012 Calendars for all sides of the family as holiday gifts. These calendar’s include birthdays and special days for all the family, in hopes that all will think of each other on those days. I hope to share those calendars with you after they are complete.

Tuesday 12/6: Friendship
Well this word inspires me to set up a date night with my girlfriends that night. Just sent the email call. Crossing my fingers!

Wednesday. 12/7: Hope
Strong word: hope, with strong implications. I have lots of hopes for 2012. Strange that this word would pop up for this day, as there is some news that I am hopeful will happen for me. News that I have waited for. Hoped for. Will be an interesting piece of chocolate that night.

Thursday 12/8: Happiness
Happiness is time spent with my family, so that’s just want I am going to do to tonight. Come evening, you’ll find us dining at my current favorite gluten-free-menu-ed spot: Lady Gregory’s in Andersonville!

Friday 12/9: Merriment
Prep prep prep for a party tomorrow while listening to a very loud holiday Spotify playlist! This year I will be hanging these paper things all over – inspired by a Design Sponge post. Weeee!

Saturday 12/10: Jubilation
Host our annual friend holiday dinner party. This year we will all be trying our hand at recipes from this cook book:

Sunday 12/11: Warmth
Today is about recuperating from the party. I will be taxed only with drinking some hot cocoa and chillaxin’ in front of the fireplace.

Monday 12/12: Inspiration
So much of this blog and my life is about inspiration. It comes from so many places. Today I will celebrate by completing a project I have pinned to my ‘Inspired To Create‘ Pinterest board!

Tuesday 12/13: Grace
Today, I will give thanks.

Wednesday 12/14: Beauty
So many things that ‘beauty’ can mean. Deep, meaningful, wonderful things. I am going to do something annoying though. I am going to go let myself buy some makeup at Sephora.

Nars Deep Throat Blush

Thursday 12/15: Tranquility
Tonight, the Dr. Who marathon of 2011 will be turned off, and I will just read quietly. This is a good thing, right? …Right?

Friday 12/16: Joy
It’s the little things, Right? Today I am going to enjoy a treat from a place I go a little too often. @argotea: WHY can’t I quit you?

Saturday 12/17: Wonderment
The Hancock Winter Wonderland Holiday Train on the 96th floor, plus the holiday lights on Michigan Avenue!

Sunday 12/18: Comfort
Online holiday shopping today: from the… you guessed it: comfort of my own home.

Monday 12/19: Vitality
I am starting a yoga class soon. This will be my first real yoga since my son was born 4 years ago. I am excited and a bit nervous. Tonight, I will start preparing with some good deep breathing and stretching.

Tuesday 12/20: Laughter
I just sent out another email because this word came up. I requested a Skype date for this day with a dear, dear friend in Texas who ALWAYS makes me laugh. What fun! Can’t wait!

Wednesday 12/21: Bliss
A lovely lunch with my co-workers today! Bliss seems a bit strong of a word for this occasion, but the words were picked at random as was the date.

Thursday 12/22: Harmony
I’ll be enlisting the help of the Muppets with this one. (edit: Fraggles- not Muppets! Silly me!)

Friday 12/23: Togetherness
Spend some precious time with my family.

Saturday 12/24: Love
Tonight, I get to join my urban family’s Nochebuena. A night of good food, good friends, and hopefully some good aged rum.

Isn’t it nice when your day job occasionally mixes with your hobby? Check me out guest blogging over at Chicago Home + Garden’s Design Dose!

Halloween is a special day here in the Ci house, as it is my little guy’s birthday. Yes, just 4 little years ago, this happened:

photo by: kasey hund

First Halloween costume: a newborn’s onesie. The next year he went as R2D2 – with my mom and I as Princess Leah and C3PO.  (Click on the photos to see how I DIY’ed some of these. Sorry about the awful pix on these, I am always too busy in the moment to get great ones.)

Then the following year, inspired by his love of Blue’s Clues he went as Blue – with the rest of us sporting a paw print as his clues. This is admittedly not my best work, but I was happy that it was handmade:

For that little guys’ third birthday – I wrapped him in white and he went as the cutest ghost I’ve ever seen. (Inspired by this guy.)

And lastly, for his fourth birthday this year, he was insistent that he be a race car driver. Inspired by this amazing DIY, I found a helmet and a  costume online, and embellished with Chicago flags, his name, and his number (4 of course). I was going to use patches, but with a 100% polyester costume – it worked well to use colored duck tape and stickers.

So – thanks for letting me share some these moments that have meant so very, very much to me. I hoped you enjoyed a little.

If you had $300, which direction would you go?

Frye Boots $348

Mid-Century Rocker Chair $289

Spoon Fork Bacon

Kendi Everyday

The Marion House Book

http://kendieveryday.blogspot.com/

http://www.themarionhousebook.com/