Exercises in the domestic arts

I recently acquired two new household items that may make me seem like I'm 27 going on 40 with 2.5 kids, a suburban pottery-barn inspired home, a giant SUV and a Martha Stewart obsession -- but I'm OK with that.

Item #1 -- not incredibly unusual, but I bought a crock pot. I'm terribly excited by the prospect of pot roast, 40-clove chicken and Cornish game hens in my future. Not to mention vats of chili cheese dip. My crock pot is red, and it's absolutely adorable. One day, when I get my Kitchen Aid mixer -- in red, of course -- my world will be complete.

Item #2 -- is something I've been secretly longing for -- a breadmaker. Thanks to my wonderful bf, who understands and appreciates my obsession with bread and soup, I got a deluxe-super-duper-does-everything-for-you-magnum-gorgeous breadmaker supreme! It will complement the vats of soup I make in my crock pot quite nicely. I'm looking forward to making everyone I know loaves of bread for Christmas... so brace yourselves.

See, I'm so domestic, it's great.... minus the fact that my house is a dirty mess and I really am not that motivated to fix the situation....

Now I must order kitchen curtains -- primarily to make sure the world doesn't see my mess!