PhillyBoy the Chef

There is something so fun and beautiful about creating a meal together, husband and wife. Or even friends. Or even alone. I love cooking. It is so relaxing and satisfying to create something new and different, or something old and comfortable, like a favorite pair of old jeans. I could share a new recipe today, but really I just feel like chatting.

PhillyBoy and I spent yesterday cleaning out our condo. And cooking. We have been wanting to get rid of stuff for a long time, and this is the only Sunday we have together without big plans for a few weeks. Apparently we lead busy lives. I have to admit, reading about Kath organizing her new apartment made me want to simplify ours. A lot.

In the middle of the week, after work, gym, and another feta salad, I swept through my closet at thunderous speeds, tossing old hot pink tank tops from the late 90’s and my old highwaters, which I was made fun of for wearing in 8th grade. I grew a lot that summer. My poor 8th grade self was stuck in highwaters all fall!

I put together a huge contractor bag of clothes to donate. Anyway, after my closet was in perfect shape I couldn’t stand looking at my jewelry in its case so I pulled every single item out and reorganized them. Of course all of this happened because PB was away for work. I didn’t end there though. After seeing how neat my closet was and how I could find ANYTHING I wanted in my jewelry case, I had to move on to the drawers. Four hours later I was exhausted, made myself a hot mug of water and collapsed into bed, content.

Tip: Don’t buy a lot of stuff! That way you don’t have to get rid of things very often. And when you buy something new, donate something old.

Saturday PB and I had a fabulous day, and PB decided that he would declare Sunday The day. The day to get rid of all the stuff we don’t need. In every room of the condo. So after a quick gym session, where I didn’t work out hard enough at all, we then spent the day on our feet, carrying heavy items, and clearing out our place. It looks SO much better now, and everything is so so organized. I already did this once with PB’s mom when I first brought my stuff down, but now that we know what we use and don’t use we did another big one. And it felt goooood.

Tip: Use storage containers to keep like items together. In photos above you will see my heels in my closet are all in containers, as are my scarves and winter clothes. Below, you will see that we use the space of the hallway closet door to store our reusable grocery bags and market shopping bags. In the photo directly above you will see some empty shelves. We will keep them this way as we know we will eventually need space for something.

Another Tip: Be RUTHLESS. That is really how you keep your home simple and neat. You get rid of (read: donate) anything that you haven’t used in a long time, won’t use, or isn’t in good condition. Even if it has memories attached. Just take a photo of something memorable.. takes a lot less space.

Of course we had to eat too! We did what I like to call the COOKING DANCE in the kitchen. We shared space, nudged one another out of the way, and created a fabulous meal together. We work around one another, together.  I made my Healthy Eggplant Parmesan and PB made turkey meatballs with sauce.

We tossed the meatballs with some whole wheat angel hair and dinner was created. Cooking together in a small kitchen is really fun for me, but I think PB does not like the close quarters! He was in all his glory when I finally sat down at the island and let him have his space.

I love watching him cook.

Feta Friday winner!