View from the Vlinderhaus

So I was thinking just now about how I have a great tendency to just pick up the habits and customs of those around me in daily life, because it's easier than being stubborn. If something's really important to me, I'll do what I do, but in general my environment has a huge effect on me. I was thinking about this because I got my job back at Zig's yesterday; the me that is a teacher-figure is still in me, but now the restaurant me is going to be brought back.. and they have a great deal in common, although there is also a great deal of difference.

This got me to thinking about my home environment, where I live, and what that makes of me. I thought I'd look around and share the view from here.

A week or so ago, my mother said the word "Vlinderhaus," in reference to my blog, Vlinder being Dutch for butterfly. I loved the sound of it, so I naturally asked her to spell that and grabbed my favorite temporary-information storage utensil, the fridge marker.

Please ignore anything offensive on this board; we are vulgar at the Vlinderhaus.

The fridge board used to be attached to my door at Vandy, which is why it looks so awesome. The "Party Like" is from the end of senior year when I made a list of different things each day that were my partying role models. I'm remembering something like "a pirate goddess," and "your team just kicked some major ass," etc... I also recieved many suggestions from hallmates, in good fun. I hadn't the heart to erase it when Aasritha encircled it with her own sketch of Il Primo Bacio (which I first saw being drawn on a sidewalk in Rome and with which I have since filled my home). The random seaweed and "RA EmLem" are from 2006 and 2008 GHP, respectively. The fridge board is where we keep scattered bits of information together - phone numbers, notes to self, things to do, grocery lists, and life observations (shortly after this was taken, my roommate added "Pooh is THAT guy." and reminded me that he goes to Rabbit's house, and Rabbit is like "I'm not home, go away," and Pooh goes in anyway, and is like "Hey man, you got honey?" and then eats all his freakin' honey). My observation of imaginary scorekeeping was added just after I got home from KC that time my roommate had to drive all the way out there to bring me the spare key. Granted, giving each other a copy of our own car key was possibly the smartest thing we ever did, I still feel like a total tool when I have to call him from halfway across Lawrence, much less from Kansas City. I briefly considered asking some sketchy dudes hanging about the parking lot if they could help me break in, and decided against it.

Anyway, my point is, I liked the word, and it's still there even now!

I love coppery things anyway.

This butterfly thing was something I picked up very randomly somewhere a while back, I think at some kind of garage sale. I initially got it because I intended to give it to L, since butterflies have been her thing since elementary school. I ended up just keeping it; last year at school, I hung it on my wall and let it remind me of her. Now it's in our front entryway because it's symbolic.

My roommate has ordered this bookcase by book height.

Another instance of my inability to give away gifts is this thingy.. I got it in Nassau on our cruise vacay because I meant to give it to Anna. Since I wasn't able to see her for a while, it sat on my windowsill overlooking my tossing and turning through the summer of 2007. Then, I kept it, and now it chills on my bookcase being awesomely singular.

Anyway.. one thing I know that is interesting about life at the Vlinderhaus is our eating habits. From my locked-out-of-car example, you already know that my roommate is pretty much the best roommate I could ask for. Naturally, we piss each other off in all the little ways. Dishes, messes, and the like for the most part. Leaving the blinds open when you leave the apartment tends to be a big deal to him.. and he, like most people who did not graduate from Dennis's creative dishwasher stuffing academy, stuffs a dishwasher in the least sensible way. But overall, we hang out together pretty frequently, enjoying TV together (Scrubs, Heroes, and How I Met Your Mother are kind of our dual faves).

We usually enjoy these shows while eating, actually. Our dinner ritual has become something I really enjoy. We cook up something, sometimes fantastic, sometimes 'meh,' and then sit down to see what the DVR has caught us recently.

So who is it that does the cooking? Hannah recently asked us which of us cooked more and we blinked at one another in surprise. "I guess.. it's pretty equal," he said. I was thinking the same. This kicks ass, because it does require me to grow in experience and creativity when it comes to picking out recipes and cooking them. But it really rules to be in the kitchen mincing garlic and to be able to say, "Um, can you come cut up the peppers, because there's no way I'll get it all done before we have to add it to the pan!" We help each other out. Also, he makes phenomenal curry.

Here he makes Indian-style ground turkey with spinach. This is back in August.

Anyway, we were both going to join Erin's household for dinner one night, and Brittany was in charge of food. She asked if there was anything she ought to know about our eating habits. I am a little bit proud of my ability to eat almost anything. Neither allergies nor good sense prevent me from any of it. "Roommate's a vegetarian on Mondays and Wednesdays," I told her. She thought I was kidding.

But I wasn't; because of his religious views (Hinduism), Roommate really doesn't eat meat on Monday or Wednesday. And, the rest of the time, he doesn't eat beef or pork. Since we cook together, we also shop together, and since we shop together, we don't buy much beef or pork.. it would be silly of me to make a recipe with stuff he can't eat anyway, since then I'd have to eat all four to six servings myself. Consequently, I don't really eat much beef or pork. And, on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'll often have little to no meat at all. It never stops me from ordering a big juicy burger at restaurants, and in fact sometimes encourages me to (I don't have beef at home, so I probably should stock up right now).. but just by default, I think I'm eating healthier because of Roommate. Most recipes that call for ground beef can easily be substituted with ground turkey. And turkey bacon is really delicious to me.. I like it more than he does, and maybe even more than I like regular bacon (even typing that made me feel a little wrong inside).

Between us, though, I'm the fructophyle, so the fruit bowl and how full it is (or for that matter, how fast it empties) is usually a matter of my shopping. "Ooh! Mangoes!" From Erin I picked up eating carrots whole.


I have a tendency to never empty the drainboard; he likes things to be put away just-so. I don't mind washing up unless I just cooked. And yes there are kids' drawings on the fridge. Some kids will do that even for a sub. I didn't know where else to put them, plus it makes our apartment look homey. The fruit bowl is piled so high because in this photo it also has all the other non-fridge produce in it too.

All in all, I love having a kitchen with real pots and pans, and real ingredients in it. There was one day that I flipped through the recipe book, found something I thought sounded good, and then discovered that we actually had all the ingredients on hand right then. I felt like I had arrived.

Speaking generally, I'm pretty proud of the space we've created over the course of the time we've been here. This is a shot from the kitchen door:


The chairs are each garage sale issue, $1 apiece (with the glass-top table that they partnered.. now outside on the patio). The couch was a $40 Goodwill acquisition, from Olathe-- I was smug about that one too. The coffee table you can hardly see is actually the latest addition (thank goodness; it makes eating in front of the TV so much easier!). It is a combination of a large glass rectangle we discovered upon moving in, and a perfectly good TV stand someone discarded recently. Vates and I found it by the dumpster two weeks ago and shuffled it on in. The table at the far right is where most of my magic happens.. this is where I sit to blog, write letters, and do my work. I like it better than my desk in my room, probably because at this table I can see out of three windows at once, plus the patio door. The table was free too.. Roommate, Vates, and I were going for a walk (Vates being in town causes free furniture to find us) when we saw it on the curb. We asked the people there if it were trash, and they said no, it was a perfectly good table they wanted someone to take. Without further ado, we hefted it and took turns carrying the ends all the way back to the apartment! We paid full price for the desk and our own TV stand, modest as they are, so I won't mention those.


My room desk is a good alternative when Roommate is watching TV and I can't focus on my work. The sweet corner piece was a garage-sale find.. I happened to be out walking on a Saturday, and the people were nice enough to put it on a pickup truck and help me haul it in to my room. This room is significantly more awesome than it was when I first arrived:


Aaaand finally!

Here's to my roommate, showing how we live it up in the Vlinderhaus: gracefully, and with mismatched, free furniture. And plants.