Making Lasagna

What a pain in the ass it is to make lasagna. Jeez, you have to use every pot and pan and bowl in the whole house, not to mention wash all of them when you're done. Is it worth it? A big yes, but now I remember why I don't make it very often.
Here's the other thing:
I used The Food Network's Giada DeLaurentis's recipe (here's the link: Giada's recipe)for which you make your own tomato sauce, of course, and since you don't use it all she tells you to pour the remainder in one-two-cup portions into plastic freezer bags. Great idea but hah! have you ever tried to do that? Have fun cleaning up the spilled tomato sauce and sealing the bags with sauce smeared all over them.
Actually, this lasagna has a little too much Bechamel sauce and not enough tomato sauce...but that's just my opinion. Do you have a favorite lasagna recipe?

Painting Stripes on an Accent Wall

How often do you redecorate? Sometimes you just need some new scenery, and fresh paint makes a huge difference.
Last year I redid my bedroom (here's the 'before' on the left with a burgundy accent wall); I had it re-painted in two tones of a soft caramel color, the accent wall behind the bed being the darker. It was lovely but seemed to be missing something and I thought stripes on the focal wall might be interesing. If there's one thing I hate doing it's painting so I hired Claire Alshuler from Painting Ladies. She's fabulous! Here's a video from when she started the project.

And here are the 'before' and 'after' photos of my fresh, new bedroom. It's not evident from the picture but the darker stripes are semi-gloss and the lighter stripes are flat. It's a very cool effect. It's so much more interesting than just the solid wall, don't you think?

Funny Fashion Story

One Man and His Ugly Shoes.
A funny fashion story from The New York Times by Michelle Slatalla
Published: September 9, 2009

MY husband is wearing ugly shoes. Very ugly shoes.
At first, I didn’t notice. He had just returned from a business trip to New York, and there he stood, next to my desk, beaming.

“What?” I asked. “Is there something in my hair?”

He said nothing. Just kept smiling. He looked very happy.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, still smiling. Then he stuck out a toe and started stroking my calf.
I shrieked and recoiled in terror. “Oh, my God, what is that you’re wearing?” I asked. His feet were sheathed in some kind of creepy black rubberized gorilla-feet things. “Is that a Halloween costume?”
Click here to read the rest of it.

Chicago Sightseeing: The Hancock in the Fog

Oprah Takes Over Michigan Avenue

Who else but Oprah could have Michigan Ave. shut down so she can have a party? This is in front of the Tribune Tower. At least she put up Porta-Potties.