5 Things I DID This Week: January 15 to 21

I used to do this weekly series called "5 Things to Try This Weekend/Week" (check them out) that I thought I might try to revive? The formula, I believe, was:

1. Food   |   2. Craft   |   3. Style   |   4. Project   |   5. Misc

But you know what would be even better? If I didn't make the list in advance and put all this pressure on myself to definitely do five things even if they don't end up meshing with my week. Instead, I'll give you a recap on 5 Things I DID This Week...

1. Make 4 fabulous, grocery-free meals.I wish I would have taken photos of all of these, but I didn't know I was going to do this until Wednesday, so here we are. The lesson to be learned from this thing is: FREEZING FOOD IS AMAZING. Especially if you're making dinner for one.

• Monday: Creamy Artichoke & Spinach Pasta
  All made with pantry items, frozen spinach and, of course, I do always have cream on hand for coffee purposes, so that was a big part of it. Also, I'm sorry, but can anyone else just eat artichokes from the can? It's probably disgusting, but I love them.
• Tuesday: Chicken + Veggie Stirfry
  Oh, stirfry. You make meals on the fly possible. I just prepared LoMein noodles with a skillet of frozen chicken and veggies, plus a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil.
• Wednesday: Cheesy Spinach Pizza
  Pizza dough mix and sauce are the best weapons to have in your pantry artillery. I always have shredded cheese (although I actually didn't this time and had to grate block cheese) literally any veggie toppings will do.
• Thursday: Tuna Casserole
  I kinda had to wing this one, because I didn't have cream of mushroom soup (the easiest way apparently). It was my first time making tuna casserole and it was pretty damn good!

2. Upcycle a canvas drop-cloth into curtains.

A couple weeks ago, Sam gave me a canvas paint drop-cloth that went unused from his fraternity homecoming efforts. I got back to Columbia early on Sunday and the urge took me. Thank to my mother having now walked me through how to make curtains, not once but twice, I crafted the heck out of that drop-cloth. I wish I would've made this a tutorial, but alas, at leas you can check out the final product...

3. Wear a whole week of "easy hair."
For which my hair is very grateful. Learn more about "easy hair" here...

4. Purge the house.

My fella came in town this weekend to help me do some getting ready to move things. I'm not planning to make the move for another couple of months, but condensing this house down into an apartment is foreboding as hell. We spent a solid couple hours of both weekend days going through our respective areas and sorting everything into Goodwill, Trash and Keep Piles. After the piles were sorted and dropped off, we treated ourselves to a motorcycle ride and Andy's custard. Sunday was the perfect day for it!

5. Actually read books (instead of audiobook'ing).

Of my list of 35 books completed in 2017, I would say 90% of them were audiobooks...shameful! I know. But this week, I actually put in some good time with two non-listening books (an eBook and an actual, real-life paperback book). I'm slooooowly working my way through "A Little Life," which is so good, but soooo long, and investigating the logistics of possibly renting my house with a book my grandpa gave me called "Landlording on Autopilot." The downside of audiobooks is that even though they are 100% more convenient and you can listen to them while doing anything else, they have actually made me very reading book lazy. Ha, though it is understandable if I'm struggling to motivate myself to read a book called "Landlording on Autopilot..."