I’ll be on Martha Stewart Living Radio Morning Living Live on Sirius tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., so please tune in if you can.

I’ll be on Martha Stewart Living Radio Morning Living Live on Sirius tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., so please tune in if you can.

At this point, dear reader, you must be scratching your head and thinking “What else could she have inherited from her grandmother? Her house must be full!” But, as I’ve been doing since my grandmother passed away in May, I continue to find ways to use, display, and enjoy her belongings with some inspiration from Martha.

It should be no surprise that now I’m working through the Christmas items I got from her. My grandmother’s Christmas tree was always filled with blue ornaments – blue was her signature color. My own tree is pink (which is my signature color!), so her ornaments don’t work on my tree. I do have a lot of blue in my house, so I gathered all of the blue ornaments I received and put them in a Heise glass bowl she gave to me. It’s on the coffee table in the family room and looks very pretty.

Among her things we also found some pink ornaments – mostly hot pink, which doesn’t quite go with my tree. So I took these and put them in a glass container to display. They look great in my dining room.

Since everything on her tree was blue, she had a few interesting items you wouldn’t normally find in blue. The most memorable for my kids and me were her blue Santas. She had two blue Santa ornaments she bought in Japan. Every Christmas we would talk about these with her. She was so proud of them. “You never see a blue Santa!” she would say. Since there were two, each of my children got one (and fortunately they are identical so there was no squabbling). The Santas are hanging on the kids’ tree in the family room. They’re a bit old and falling apart (after all, she went to Japan probably 40 years ago)

She also had some elves, very 1960s elves, which are of course blue. I tried to put these in my kitchen, but the green color clashed with the sea green of my tile, so instead I gave them to the kids and they hung them on their tree.

At this point, dear reader, you must be scratching your head and thinking “What else could she have inherited from her grandmother? Her house must be full!” But, as I’ve been doing since my grandmother passed away in May, I continue to find ways to use, display, and enjoy her belongings with some inspiration from … Read more →

As I’ve written before, my grandmother passed away this year (6 months ago now) – and clearly since I keep writing about it, it had a huge impact on me. Since she left us, I’ve been working through what to do with the many things I inherited from her. For a lot of them, I’ve looked to Martha for inspiration – finding ways to display things and repurpose them. Today I added another item to my list of items I’ve reclaimed. The ring in the photo (without the stone) was the engagement ring my grandfather gave to her, back in the 1930s. When they had their 25th anniversary, she had the diamond reset – my mom inherited that. I got the empty ring, which I fell in love with.  When my mom found it in the jewelry box, it was very dull looking. My mom was wonderful enough to have an aquamarine set into the ring for me so that I can wear it. The ring itself cleaned up amazingly well and now is shiny and beautiful. I love the antique setting.  I feel so close to her, wearing it today.

As I’ve written before, my grandmother passed away this year (6 months ago now) – and clearly since I keep writing about it, it had a huge impact on me. Since she left us, I’ve been working through what to do with the many things I inherited from her. For a lot of them, I’ve … Read more →

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

If you’ve been following along with me, you know that I started this blog and my Martha project a year ago. My mission was to do one Martha project a day for an entire year and see if it changed my life. The year is up.

I have lots of thoughts on how it has affected me and my family. I’m going to share just a few here. One of the biggest changes is that Martha has made me pay attention to details and thus I’ve found that the details really do matter. I’m nowhere close to Martha-perfection on anything, but I find that when I make a little extra effort in whatever I am doing around the house (cooking, cleaning, organizing, crafting, decorating, etc.),  it almost always pays off.

Another important lesson has been focus. Martha has an incredible ability to focus on things. I’ve often heard her practically squeal with excitement over how orange some carrots are or how a loaf of bread turns out. She’s able to find the sublime in the everyday and I’ll always thank her for showing me how to do that. If you can find happiness in the small things, it carries you through the harder parts of your day.

I’ve had a lot of failures (recipes that were just plain awful, crafts I murdered and organizing jobs I didn’t quite complete) but I’ve also tried so many new things (corning my own beef, eating celery root, using glitter). I feel as though this year has been a complete education for me, like going to culinary school, apprenticing in a new trade, and practicing to open a shop on Etsy.

It has also been exhausting. In the midst of all the Martha lessons, I’ve had a busy year. My grandmother passed away, we went to the UK on a two week vacation, husband and daughter continued the balancing act required with rheumatoid arthritis, I wrote a book about the history of cookies (coming out next fall), I did massive numbers of indexes and wrote several book proposals, my daughter had swine flu and pneumonia, I struggled with an ongoing infection, my son started middle school, my daughter applied to and visited colleges, and I continued to be daughter, wife, dog owner, and mom to the people I love.

I’ve been contemplating what I would do when my one year of Martha ended. On the one hand, I’m tired. I’m tired of cooking Martha food all the time, tired of pushing myself to craft, and tired of spending a large portion of my disposable income on food for Martha’s recipes, supplies for Martha’s projects, and on Martha’s favorite products.

But on the other hand, I can’t see a life without Martha. I admit it – I am slightly hooked. I’ve already decided I’m ordering one of Martha’s turkeys for Thanksgiving and I’m giddy at the thought of her new line of cleaning products. I’m already looking forward to the December issue of Living. So, I don’t think Martha and I are going to part ways. Instead, I think we will reach a compromise.

So, my plan moving forward is to continue to experiment with Martha’s recipes, crafts, and projects, but at a slower pace. One year of doing Martha every day has been plenty. Instead, I’d like to see what sticks. I want to try a slightly different experiment – move forward with my life and see what Martha lessons and projects are truly me. I need some time and space to find what really works for me. So, I’m going to continue the blog, but may not have a post absolutely every single day. It almost kills me to write that, since I’ve come to depend on my loyal readers! I love coming here every day and reading your comments and knowing you’ve been on the journey with me.  I might take a weekend off! I do plan to post regularly and to continue sharing my results with you and hopefully sharing my thoughts with you about how I’ve incorporated Martha into my real life.

I also would like to show you some non-Martha recipes – my own creations. Martha has certainly influenced me to try new things and enjoy new things, so I’d like to show the direction she has steered me as I move forward.

Martha Mondays will continue and I’m still going to do the MS Cupcake Club. But those are my only required assignments. As for the rest, I’m going to do what really interests me and excites me. At this point, I’m not even sure what that will be – I’ve been so focused on doing Martha, I’ve lost sight a little bit of what I want to do.

Many of you have asked me if I will be writing a book about this experience. The answer to that is I hope so! It’s started, but it really wasn’t something I could write until I got to the end of the journey so I could have perspective on it. If you would like to read such a book, I would love for you to comment and say so.

I can’t thank you enough for the support, cheering on, commiserating and just general interest in my project! It has meant so very much to me to know that every single one of you is reading along. So, stick around and come with me on year two as I discover where I go from here and what lasting influence Martha will have on me!

If you’ve been following along with me, you know that I started this blog and my Martha project a year ago. My mission was to do one Martha project a day for an entire year and see if it changed my life. The year is up. I have lots of thoughts on how it has … Read more →

Recently I posted about 10 Things I’ve Learned from Martha. I really have learned an amazing amount in the my year of Martha. However, I’ve also found that Martha is just wrong about some things.

1. Unsalted butter is not a must in baking. If you use salted butter, you just reduce or eliminate salt. Salted butter is not the end of the world.

2. You don’t need a P-Touch. Martha is mad about this label maker and puts the little printed labels on everything, even linen closet shelves. I’m all for organization, but this is just too crazy for me. I’m fine with a handwritten sticker if I need a label.

3. Crafting is not always easy if you have the right tools. Ok, I’ll agree it is easiER if you have the right tools, but there are some things I just cannot get my hands to do, no matter what tool I’m using.

4. Dogs should not wear Halloween costumes. They especially should not wear homemade Halloween costumes that require hours of work. They really don’t appreciate it. And it’s not like they can go trick or treating and bring home dog food.

5. Storing your extra china on a metal rack in the basement is possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. Martha keeps hers this way and touts it as the best way to store it. I don’t have to time to go dust my china. I like to keep it put away so I can just get it out and have it be clean and ready to go.

6. Gardening is not a must. I love tomatoes fresh from the vine, but I’d much rather shop at the farm stand and have free time not spent weeding. If I had an entire staff of gardeners, I would probably turn my backyard into a farm like Martha, but it’s not an option.

7. Green juice is disgusting. There, I said it. Martha is mad about this green vegetable juice she makes fresh each morning with her Mini Cooper sized juicer.   I’m happy to just eat vegetables instead.

8. Sleep is not boring. Martha says she sleeps maybe five hours a night because she finds it boring. I love sleep. I love waking up on weekend mornings and going back to sleep because I don’t have to get up. I even love a nice 30 minute nap once in a while.

9. I do not need a Xyron machine – a $100 crafting machine that puts adhesive on things for you. I know how to use a glue stick.

10. I still refuse to sift flour when I bake. She can’t make me do it!! I make it all in one bowl – cream the butter and sugar then dump in the dry ingredients. I’ve never had a problem with it. Sorry, Martha.

Recently I posted about 10 Things I’ve Learned from Martha. I really have learned an amazing amount in the my year of Martha. However, I’ve also found that Martha is just wrong about some things. 1. Unsalted butter is not a must in baking. If you use salted butter, you just reduce or eliminate salt. … Read more →

1. Celery tastes better peeled. Really.

2.  How to seed a pomegranate. Martha says to score the skin into quarters, then pull it apart. You then whack the back of each quarter with a spoon, and the seeds come out. Who knew?

3.  Beds are nicer when they are made. Making them still isn’t fun though.

4. Refrigerating cookies on the sheet before baking means they will spread less and retain a nice shape.

5. Packaging a gift beautifully makes it seem more special.

6. An organized home feels luxurious.

7. Stuffed cabbage is actually really good.

8. Salad dressing is easy to make and there’s no reason to buy it.

9. You can lose weight and still eat delicious, wonderful food.

10. Aluminum foil should never touch food. Use a layer of parchment paper in between.

1. Celery tastes better peeled. Really. 2.  How to seed a pomegranate. Martha says to score the skin into quarters, then pull it apart. You then whack the back of each quarter with a spoon, and the seeds come out. Who knew? 3.  Beds are nicer when they are made. Making them still isn’t fun … Read more →

I hope you joined me on Martha Stewart Morning Living Live Radio on Sirius this morning! It will be replayed over the weekend. If you heard me, let them know!

I hope you joined me on Martha Stewart Morning Living Live Radio on Sirius this morning! It will be replayed over the weekend. If you heard me, let them know!

I put a piece up on Salon.com’s Open Salon about my Martha experience. I would love some traffic, comments, Stumbles, etc there.

http://open.salon.com/blog/brettesember/2009/09/14/martha_and_me_living_the_martha_life

I put a piece up on Salon.com’s Open Salon about my Martha experience. I would love some traffic, comments, Stumbles, etc there. http://open.salon.com/blog/brettesember/2009/09/14/martha_and_me_living_the_martha_life

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