Home Sweet Home!

Before and After photo time!  And news time.  We weren't approved for a slip agreement at the marina where the boat is currently residing because of our credit but the second marina we've been talking to, Marina Village Harbor, has slips available.  And, in meeting some of the locals, we were directed to a particular person at Marina Village to request live-aboard status even though there's a wait list.  The only difference between the wait list and status is an extra fee per month. We drove by on the way to work this morning and told the guy that we'd much rather pay more and be there full time rather than go by the rules and move between harbors twice a week so that we're respecting the rules of the harbors while not having live aboard status.  He said yes!  Kris is getting his travel reimbursement this week and we'll take care of the details on Friday so it's pretty much a done deal.  In the meantime, in and around the holidays and visiting home, we've gotten the boat to be nice and homey.  I finally found the other bath rug so most of the floor is covered and Chloe can jump down and not slide and it's a little extra cushioning for her, and for us when we wake up in the morning without socks on.  I also found our slippers so we can kick off our shoes at the end of the day and relax.  
Here are the before shots:

 Recessed quarter berth.

 View from the hatchway into the boat, galley on the port side.

 V-berth

Galley complete with stove-top oven, sink, fridge compartment.

And here's the after, with our our stuff moved in and mostly arranged!

 

 Chloe watching Mom take pictures.

 So the galley is a little messy, but only when I don't put away the electric tea kettle.  Or the extra water bottle.  Or the orange juice and the huge plastic cups....well, you get my drift!

The closet for our overflow of cold-weather layers!

I'd say the place is coming along, don't you think?  We still need to replace the window drapes, as they've fallen into some disarray, and Kris found an article about a couple who'd replaced theirs with mini-blinds so that's a project that's going to be coming up at some point.  But it's coming along fabulously!  DVD's are tucked onto shelves, extra sweatshirts have a place in the little closet and we found out that the fridge not only works but is on DC power so we can keep it on while we sail if we have a couple days for of steaks for the grill.  We're also thinking of getting a small microwave.  Those microwaveable Kraft Mac & Cheese cups?  Turns out thinking that using boiling water and letting them sit for the cooking time instead of following the directions with a microwave is not good thinking....The noodles mostly cooked but it was more like cheesy noodle soup instead of pasta.  Not so good.  A small one would suffice for that sort of thing and we can mix healthier meals with cheap meals.  We still haven't stored most of the clothing in our suitcases anywhere other than in our suitcases as we have a slight leak problem in the compartment behind the settee under the DVD's that we need to fix but otherwise everything else is pretty much squared away, and the suitcases fit in the recessed quarter berth.  We shift the suitcases out every couple days to put some clean clothing closer to hand, the shower bag stays in the trunk so it's easier to access, and we don't need any of it on the boat.  Kris found a manual online for the oven and so we now know how to clean it up and work it properly.  We made our first payment for it to Mark and got the pink slip, all sorts of manuals and all the papers that came with the boat on our trip last weekend to celebrate Kirby's birthday.  I've been scouring the internet for blogs from other live-aboards on how they manage their galley and their storage space and finding recipes for easy cooking when you've got a cache of canned and a few fresh ingredients.  Chloe has been settling in pretty well.  She's figured out that if she comes to the bow-end of the settee on the port side, she can jumped into the v-berth by herself, so she comes and goes in the middle of the night when she needs water or we're rolling over her.  When she wants to play, she brings me the ball and I throw it into the v-berth so she jumps and brings it back to me over and over again for about ten minutes or so, getting a little bout of doggie exercise while she plays.  I leave her to go take a shower and I don't go the same time every day, so she's never sure when I'll be back, but the past week or so, I've not heard any crying until I step back into the cockpit.  She's such a faker.  She did the same thing with Miami-she's figured out it's her home and that she's okay to be alone for a few minutes and that I will be back eventually.  Every time we sit and look around, we feel the boat to be roomier, homier, more comfortable, working better and better.  It's good to feel more at home in our space.  We were invited last week to join a group of locals who do a barbecue every Wednesday in one of the shop spaces up in the warehouse and so we scrambled up some cookies from Trader Joe's and took along the bottle of homemade lemoncello my mom sent us home with and met several of the locals, one of whom was a gal named Wendy who lives in Marina Village and lives on the dock we'll be moving onto and was the one who told us who to talk to in order to bypass the waiting list for the live-aboard status.  She's already offered to dog-watch Chloe if we need someone!  Looking forward to not having to move the boat every few days and to be in a permanent spot that's five minutes closer to Kris's work and our storage space, literally right down the street from a Lucky's grocery and CVS, and pizza.  Yup, pizza's important.  (And yes, a few seconds ago I mentioned homemade lemoncello.)  Mom's been making it and giving it as Christmas presents and I intend to make some with her at the end of February when I hang out with her for a couple weeks.  Kris is going to be doing some CRAY training in Wisconsin and so I'm going to take over her kitchen and help her make more.  I'm also interested in trying orangecello, raspberry infused vodka, etc.  I've been collecting recipes on my Pinterest board.  I'm all for trying new recipes and I'm looking forward to this one!  

Happy experiments, everyone!

Enjoy,

Allie H.

A New Year, and a Different Dream

It's the beginning of another year, and the dream of my adulthood has changed significantly over the past few years.  I used to dream, when I was a teenager, that I'd be highly successful in publishing a handful of novels by the time I was 25 and that breakfast would be enjoyed on a balcony table in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower off in the distance, having already traveled to exotic far off places like Egypt.  Today, I can imagine nothing better than wracking my brain over a piece of writing while the boat gently sways with the slightest of harbor currents, keeping hot water for tea and having new ideas while the sun begins to set in the early afternoon, sailing every possible weekend and becoming an expert at it all.  I'm still not published, I'm still working on second-drafts of things, but the fire is still there.  The scenery is new, the boat is a symbol of possibility, my husband is still the breadwinner while I search for employment opportunity, and the dog is curled up at my feet.  At fourteen or fifteen, I honestly didn't even imagine a dog.  I pictured a husband somewhere in the middle of it all, and I got the best one, ever, but the entertaining child/poodle is a daily delight I hadn't even pondered.  Now I can't imagine living without her.  A little furry face who loves us unconditionally because we fell in love with her and brought her home with us.  I could never have imagined that by the time I was 28, I would have gotten married and moved from one continent to another and back again within the first two years of marriage, not to mention relocating to another state by the end of the calender year.  A whirlwind that made me giddy; new sights, new places to explore, new people to call our friends.  We say it a lot, every time we move and get re-settled, but we're kind of amazing.  We truly rock at this whole “shift again” lifestyle.  When we decide that we're going somewhere, we shift into high gear.  Clothes get washes, sorted, packed into boxes or designated into suitcase piles, the apartment is half in limbo, our heart rates go up and every morning we wake up with a new “to-do” list but by the time we land where we're supposed to be, we're breathing again, we're excited, we've stopped worrying about half the little details and life is awesome.  We downshift, we acclimate, we get it together, and it works.  And yes, there are always little issues that come up and we somehow are blessed with the kind of good luck that gets us through them.  Knowing we're going to be settling in for a time is helping us to shift our focus on being thrifty and financially stable, and looking into the future a bit more definitively.  Being so close to home, being back in California, is the place to be.  In a few months we'll own the boat we're living on, in a year, we'll have a small apartment somewhere close by and I'm imagining go-bags constantly prepped and hanging out in the truck of the car so that we can spend a week on the boat at any given moment.  In Miami, it was good to be at least back on home soil.  Monterey is our heart and our home, and it's a wonderful feeling to be back near it as we settle here in the Bay Area.  Driving back and forth the couple times we've done in the past four weeks has been the most amazing feeling, knowing we can be there in a couple hours on a whim, if we like.  I'm no longer one to make New Year's Resolutions, as I hardly keep to them, like most human beings, but since we're back here and now living the boat lifestyle it's in my head to learn as much as I can about living aboard and figuring out as much as I can to make it as successful as possible.  I'm also wanting to work, at least part time, to keep writing, and spend more time with my family as I've been away from them for two years.  Life shifts in funny ways.  Kris is fond of saying that the universe gives you exactly what you ask for even though it never looks how you'd expect it to look.  That has certainly been true of our adventure thus far.  You can have dreams, and they will come true if you keep them in your heart.  You might not recognize them but if you find yourself happy one day, guess what, your dream has aligned with your life and your goals.  It's a nice feeling to be in a position to see that one of your milestones is just up ahead of you by a few paces.

Hope everyone's New Year is off to such a re-energized, positive start!

Happy 2013!

Enjoy,

Allie H.

This California Girl Returns Home!

This Cali Girl is back on her home soil!  (Well, close enough, anyway.)  A change in jobs brought us back to my home state and to the Bay Area.  Kris is now working for the CRAY installation in Oakland, associated with the UC Berkeley Campus.  The whirlwind world tour whirled again!  Last Thursday morning, we got in the car at zero-dark thirty, as my father would say, and left Miami, ending up at my folks house very very early Saturday morning.  Talk about a long drive!  We carved out 1200 miles in the first day, cut across a corner of Alabama, finally stopping for some sleep in Shreveport, LA.  We spent dinner and the next night at my grandparent's house in New Mexico, where we got to see my Uncle Jeff and my cousin Jesse and his family for a couple hours, stopped off at the Grand Canyon to spend a few hours with Kris's Uncle Steven, who works there so showed us all his favorite vistas, and lit out before sunset to land home.  It was a long trip for us, a very long trip for the monster, who handled it very well from her perch in the back seat on top of all the pillows and blankets, and it was so very awesome to cross the border into California and know that we only had a few hours left before we were home.  We spent two nights at my folks' house and got to see my brother and Rachel, Ralph and Sabrina, and Kirby before we relocated to a two-week Extended-Stay America to stay at while we find a place to live.  We found ourselves right on the Alameda Marina and also found that there are currently a couple of houseboats for sale....Hmmm!  One hour wandering around town by our lonesome after heading back up and picking up Kris from his first day, we met a gal and her dog on a little walk who revealed that she lived in the marina on her boat with her husband, she told us who to talk to about the marina and the houseboats, etc.  One hour and we'd already met boat people!  We get lucky.  We're so thrilled to be able to start putting away a little savings towards a boat and being able to spend weekends sailing down in Monterey and being closer to both our families.  During his interview trip, Kris went out and found a pizza parlor and had already made a few friends who remembered him upon our visit last night for a couple beers and some pizza to unwind.  After Kris's first day of work we really just only wanted to grab some fast food and call it a night, after finding a few Ingress portals, of course!  But last night was awesome, to meet the people that Kris had told me about and try the pizza, which was awesome, and get a feel for where we're going to be living!  I was extra excited this morning to realize that we'd be living back in a big city that was full of so many different cultures with so many different cuisines.  I like the idea that we're going to be living right near San Francisco without living in it directly, as the traffic coming up here was just interesting enough not to want to do every day.  I'm so excited to be able to see Alcatraz and Angel Island, the Navy Pier, all the museums I went to as a kid, Chinatown, and everything!  It's going to be such a blast to re-discover everything and to show it all to Kris.  
Our Miami friends sent us off in style, with a little WOB party, new glasses and shirts to take with us, and we decided to pass the WOB cape along to mini-Chloe, otherwise known as Mila.  Her owner, our friend Joaquin, wanted me to make her a cape as well, but I had no idea how I was going to make a cape for a four-month old fluffball of a poodle who was going to grow so I decided that she could grow into the original and that I could make a new one for Chloe with the shirt that Eileen had given me a while back.  So we had a changing of the WOB dog ceremony and little Mila was paraded through the bar.  We're going to miss everyone there, our friends Yvi and Andres and everyone else we met, who were so totally awesome and of course we're going to visit with our WOB shirts in tow as often as we can, of course.  Miami was fun to move to and explore and make new friends in, as we seem to make the best friends wherever we go, and to make the holidays so much easier to visit family.  My dad was about to send my mom out for Christmas as we were deciding to make this transition so I had to tell him to hold off on buying the plane tickets and since I haven't been home for Christmas in three years, it's going to be good to be there.  Relocating is always interesting but we seem to be off to a good start already, and I'm looking forward to finding a more permanent place to actually unpack and organize and do it all again.  I'm pro at it, at this point!  
On with the day, but of course there will be more news as it happens!  Have a great week! 
Happy Positive Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes, everyone!
Enjoy,

Allie H.

More Red Beans & Rice!

I tried this recipe again today and I wasn't so much focused on the finished traditional product as I was just getting the beans right this time.  We've tried them twice, and they've still somehow come out almost crunchy.  No bueno.  I actually followed the package directions on the kidney bean bag (funny how that works!) and guess what?  They came out lovely.  The package told me to soak a one-cup bean to 3-cup water ratio for 6-8 hours or overnight.  I ended up soaking them for about 18 hours since I didn't want to fuss with cooking them last night.  I checked them occasionally, and while a few of them were splitting, they seemed to only be getting a tiny bit softer.  But I guess that's just the way they work because right around 9:15 this morning, I drained them, rinsed them, put them back in the pot with 4 cups of water per cup of beans soaked this time, brought them to a boil, lowered the heat, put the lid on and walked away for two hours.  Okay, I hovered for the first fifteen minutes or so because the residual heat was so much that with the lid on, there was still a steady boil going on even though the heat on the stove was all the way down to 2.  It finally calmed down and I could move onto more immediate tasks like clearing my email inbox and showering.  Somewhere around 30 minutes left I decided to season a bit (which I probably should have done at the hour mark, but oh well.  Next time.)  I threw in a bunch on minced dried onion, garlic powder, two beef bouillon cubes and a couple splashes of Liquid Smoke.  I know my measurements were probably a little off to the amount of beans but they came out pretty decent, I think.  Last minute rice and heated up the pulled pork I did in the crock pot yesterday afternoon and that was lunch!  I've never "pulled" a piece of pork before and it was interesting but after a few minutes I got the hang of it, under the watchful eye of the puppy, of course, hoping I'd drop a piece on the floor for her.  Next time, for the beans, I think I'm going to throw in actual chopped onions, seasonings, bell peppers and let the simmering process cook them to a perfectly soft texture and a little bit of hot sauce.  See if I can't get it a little more authentic to the flavorful recipe.  But at least now I know how to get the beans cooked right!  No more crunchy, chewy kidney beans for us :)  It's going to stay on my go-to budget recipe that's easy to prep and easy to cook.  

Oh!  The pulled pork.  My mother-in-law, Toodie, showed me when she was visiting last time what she does to make a quick meal while you're out running errands all day-she puts 1-2 pork butts on a plate, sprinkles both sides with Lowry's Seasoning Salt, puts them in the crock-pot and pours 1-2 cans of root beer over them and lets them cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Mine was 1 pork shoulder, so a little less meat, and we didn't have root beer but we did have just enough Coke and I found a few recipes that accepted that as a substitute, and also called for a tablespoon of Liquid Smoke (Toodie's method may have called for that as well but I can't remember..I should have written it down!)  Somewhere around the four-hour mark I pulled it it, cut it up into a few pieces, shredded it apart with a fork and dropped it back into the crock-pot.  If Toodie's feeding a huge crowd she leaves the BBQ sauce on the side  but if it's just the family crowd she pours in some Sweet Baby Ray's, buys some soft rolls to toast and make sandwiches with and calls it done.  Since I was going with Mexican style today I left the sauce out but of course, tasted it, and it was a teensy bit dry but when I reheated it today it was pretty good.  It's so easy.  Let your appliances cook for you!  :)  
What has everyone else been cooking lately?  Share!
Happy Cooking!
Enjoy,

Allie H. 

Solar Powered Steampunk Makes the World Go 'Round...

I received a neat little package today in the mail when I immediately recognized the handwriting I couldn't wait to open it!  My super glam girl  Rachel at Patina Perfected sent me quite possibly the most awesome earrings I've ever owned, ever!  I'd sent her these cool bottle caps from World of Beer a while back asking, pretty please, would she make me some sweet earrings out of them because they have the coolest sunburst design on them with their logo for the beer and I am so ecstatic at the result!  I'd merely asked for her to make them long and match any jewels or baubles to the beer caps and they are PERFECT! I love, love, love them.  She also included a handful of her business cards because she does, and they look like little Patina Perfected Trading cards (the easier to pimp out her business with-I've been handing out my business cards with her info on the back since I'd run out of hers!)  The front of them proffer pictures of her various creations and the back has all of her contact info and shop listings on Etsy.  She touts her jewelry line as "Romantic Whimsy with a Steampunk Twist" and these new earrings definitely fit the bill as they're so sweet and funky!  She can be found on Facebook as well and if you "Like" and follow her you can get special offers and sneak peeks.  It's worth the look, at least.  All of her creations come in cute little boxes nestled carefully in a sweet little bag that you can use to store them in or recycle for whatever you like.  Considering I've gone the purple route lately they might be cute to keep my store of business cards in...Hmmmm...Check out the unveiling process below!

 Here, when I saw the little light bulbs through the bag, I literally squealed like a little girl.  Thank goodness the guys had already come for lunch and gone again! 

 And here they are, looking fabulous!

Her photo-finish Perfected business cards.  Adorable, right?!

I never even thought to incorporate the energy theme and she added these sweet little light bulbs.  I'm freaking out, they're so cute!  It's official, I now have WOB earrings with a cool twist :)  Dare I wear them with my new shimmery skirt?  They're at least going to ROCK with jeans and a tee.  It's the little things in life that make me happy~

What new little surprises in your life have you received lately that have made you giddy?  Please share!

Happy Treasures, everyone!

Enjoy,

Allie H.

P.S. Come look!  It's Patina Perfected's contact info, all right here! Check her out and say hi :)

Here's My Skirt!

I don't know anyone who can take a cell phone photo of themselves without a full length mirror and have it come out good so I waited for Kris to come home and had him take one for me.  The first is, of course, so you can see where the skirt hits and the second one is how I'm wearing it today!  I know it's a little blurry but I'm feeling very shimmery today :)

 

Happy Shimmering, everyone!

Enjoy,

Allie H.

Apparently Wednesday is for Sewing...

It was time for a craft.  I've been going through a current little snag of writer's block and something creative had to be done.  I've been trying to amass enough bravery to tackle one of those paneled t-shirt skirts I've been wanting to do for years but I can't find the one t-shirt I want to include in it.  I did, however, run across a dress from one of my Broadway Revues at the Wharf that I was lucky enough to keep (probably because I was one of the only tall skinny girls who would fit into it!)  I've got a couple like those but this one was glittery, spaghetti-strapped and v-neck.  Very theatre or costume party glitz.  I haven't worn it since and when I picked it up and held it up to me I thought, "Skirt!"  Yup, I converted it.  Not the best sewing job in the entire world but I'm pretty pleased and once I summed up the power to grab my scissors and cut the dress into two very uneven lengths, there was no going back.  And it took me quite literally 20 minutes.  I held it up to me to figure out where the waist was going to be, eye-balled the pins all the way across and went to town!  I put a few pins in place the secure the alignment of the lining material and flipped the skirt inside out, folded a quick hemline all the way around and pinned in place, and went to the machine.  Yes, I know I used blue thread.  I can't find my gallon-sized ziploc bag of color-wheel inclusive colors.  I'm pretty sure it's the same thread I used for Chloe's WOB cape.  Keep in mind that this dress was very clingy on me with a bit of stretch to it so I thought I'd go ahead and sew, and if I needed to come back with some elastic later to tighten up the waist I could, but I think from the way it's fitting, that it will be just fine.  And yes, I remembered to take pictures this time!  I'm learning, I swear.  Check it out.

 I know it seems like a VERY small amount of fabric leftover from the top but this dress, hanging on me, was was about five inches off of the floor.  And I was determined to make it floor length so I needed as much fabric as I could get!

 I was pondering folding it over again but I'm currently having fun just wearing it as it is.  If I find more than a bobbin full of black thread, I'll put it on my to-do list.

And here it is!  I'm pretty happy about how it came out and I figure I can dress up or down.  I think it would  be perfect with a black t-shirt or tank top and flops for a casual day when I'm feeling the need for a little sparkle :)  Makes me want to hit some thrift stores and see if I can find some more dresses that need separating from their tops.

What is everyone else crafting this week?  Share your posts.

Happy Up-cycling!

Enjoy,

Allie H.