The Kate Keeper has Moved to Wordpress

Hi there,

I've moved my blog to Wordpress. Please visit my new/same blog at http://thekatekeeper.wordpress.com, where you'll find my latest post on "DIY" outdoor cinema.

Thanks!
Kate

Whirlwind Week Wrap Up

Loyal readers (friends),

The last few days been a complete whirlwind. Between last week's midweek holiday, a weekend trip to The City of Angels, and a bunch of afterwork errands and commitments, my creative and storytelling juices were drunk by other activities this week. And still, I'm too exhausted to put the week's stories into words, so here are pictures and brief explanations instead.

Remember that garden I told you about? I was so hopeful that my regular ol' thumb was turning green, when I decided to uproot these deceiving carrots. Look at them! The leaves are flourishing and throwing equinox parties upstairs, while the roots are like, "What's that noise? Whatever...I'll keep sleeping." This garden thing is giving a whole new meaning to my favorite vegetarian motto: I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals; I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants.

We bought 25 sparklers for $10 on the side of the road from a ten-year-old on the 4th. Only about six of them were capable of catching fire, making this paragraph feel like a word problem from 7th grade math and that kid a slick entrepreneur.

I visited my dear friend Caitlin in Los Angeles last weekend, where a ruthless Banana Gram tournament quickly commenced. You can always rely on Caitlin for night of games and day of crafts. She also let me borrow this festive nail polish from Sally Hansen.

Sally Hansen Pacifc Blue

The man friend and I stopped for Greek food at Taverna Tony on our way down the coast into LA. A few takeaways from this:

• This was the best Greek food I've ever had. 
• French fries at Greek restaurants are basically the same as everywhere else. It was my pleasure to discover this for you.
• The "dip" and bread they served before you order tied in deliciousness with everything else we ordered. Our waiter actually commented on how quickly we ate it and brought us a new plate of it. In the picture you can see Jordan's hand hastily reaching for more. In short: go for the dip. (Note: it's not hummus; we asked. It's better.)

The no-upper-lip smiles are always a party, or in this case, dive bar, favorite. 

Top 3 U.S. Olympic Moments

This post brought to you courtesy of the 3 handfuls of peanut m&ms I ate at approximately 9 p.m. last evening. #Tweakinglikeakidonhalloween

In celebration of this glorious time of year -- the country's coming 236th birthday, the watching of the Olympic Trials and the countdown to the opening ceremony of the London Olympics -- I felt it was appropriate to revisit some of the most memorable and evocative Olympic moments for us as Americans.

First on my short list is not only practically guaranteed the first on yours too, but also my favorite sports moment of all time. Kerri Strug's gold-medal-earning ankle-spraining vault at the 1996 summer games in Atlanta is everything you want in a sports moment: an eleventh hour, world-is-watching personal performance that leads to team victory. 

Let's relive it, shall we? 

Follow the 2012 women's Olympic gymnastics team members on Twitter:

Gabby Douglas

Jordyn Wieber

Kyla Ross

McKayla Maroney

Aly Raisman

No matter how many times I watch that video (5 times so far this evening), it still gets me. Plus, you have to appreciate Mrs. Strug and the Magnificent Seven showing off the best of 90s fashion trends: owl glasses and visor-like bangs. Here's my mom sporting both like a true 90s babe.

Next, let's travel over to the 2008 men's swim team. I know, I know, no one likes a men's swim team, but do it for your country, okay?

The men's 4x100 freestyle relay in Beijing lasted a bit over 3 minutes, but the final 25 yards seemed to stretch out as American, Jason Lezak attempted and succeeded in passing the French by a fingertip's distance to win the gold. I still can't believe he touched the wall first. 

Please excuse the cheesy intro and the annoying music at the end of this video of the grippingly close race.

Finally, though I wasn't born when this one took place, as a BU alum, I feel indirectly connected to the 1980 "miracle on ice" that happened at Lake Placid, where four Terriers helped comprise the US Olympic hockey team that year. For those that don't know the story or haven't seen the movie, first of all, please do watch the movie, but second, the story is one of underdogs (the US) beating the top dogs (USSR, at the time), but the rivalry it features is all the more potent because of the decades-old Cold War between the two super powers. 

The game wasn't played for a medal; though the US did go on to earn gold that year. And everyone loves a good celebration video, so check out the final minute of the game, where the US leads 4-3. 

Now that you're feeling nice and patriotic, head on over to my dear friend's blog for a festive Fourth of July recipe that's colorful, decadent and pyrotechnic. 

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! 

Colorful Kitchen Utensils

When I saw these festive spoons on the crafty blog, Little Bit Funky, I knew I had to paint some of my own.

Spoons with a touch of sunshine from Little Bit Funky.

What a fun way to add some spunk to our kitchen counters, huh?

Knowing that I wanted to do this craft when I got home from vacation, I bought a package of 5 bamboo spoons at a quaint winery on the road to Haleakala in Maui, thinking the exotic location of my purchase would add to the originality of my craft. When I got home, I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to see if could find some dark wood spoons to add into the mix, and guess what I found? The same exact package of bamboo spoons! Thanks a lot, globalization. 

Yea, but mine were only subject to a 4.16% sales tax, so take THAT, California.

Anywho, I digress. The hardest part of this craft was picking colors. I had only 5 wooden utensils to paint, but I spent a good 20 minutes on the acrylic paint aisle in Michael's picking and pairing colors from Martha Stewart's multi-surface paint collection.

Ultimately, I chose bright, candy colors for my spoons. Here's how I did them:

What You Need

• Collection of wooden spoons
• Non-toxic acrylic paint (Don't add chemicals to your kitchen!)
• Masking tape
• Fine sandpaper 
• Paint brushes
• Pencil
• Tape measure/ruler

Painting Your Spoons, Step-by-Step

Step 1. Use tape measure and pencil to mark off a uniform length on the spoon handles. I marked mine at 3.5 inches. Then wrap masking/painter's tape around the handle at the pencil mark to separate the painted area from the rest of the spoon. 

Step 2. Use the sandpaper to buff the area to be painted. This will help the paint stick.

Step 3.  Apply your first coat of paint to your spoons.

Step 4. Place the painted spoons in jars to dry. Wait an hour. 

Step 5. After the first coat of paint has dried. apply another. Let that coat dry.

Step 6. When the second coat of paint is dry, slowly peel off the masking tape.

Step 7.  Place your spoons in a glass jar for festive storing and then get cooking!

I now only refer to my kitchen utensils by their color. You cook pasta in the silver, stir with the pink, drain into the white and eat off of the green.

Stirring my favorite broccolini and tortellini salad.

If the rainbow colors are too much for you, check out Anthropologie's take on these festive wood utensils. For the ferociously festive out there, these spoons could be done up with multiple colors on each handle, a few polka dots or any other pattern of your liking. The world of wooden spoons is your oyster! Now go on and get painting!