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Recently…

-I made an ice cream crunch cake with peanut butter swirl ice cream on the top and mocha cookie dough ice cream on the bottom. And I did actually like it, even though I generally despise anything remotely coffee-flavored.
homemade mocha ice cream cake

-I’ve been reading a book about consumer psychology. Interesting stuff, that. I’ll report back when I’ve finished it.

Consumerology

-I’ve been supervising lots of piano practicing. We have four pianists now, and it’s awfully fortunate that I can teach them all, since lessonsX4 would start to add up.

Zoe practicing piano

-I’ve been making messes (actually, this mess is not entirely my doing!)

messy kitchen

and cleaning them up. It’s the ebb and flow thing I’ve talked about before. Messy, clean, messy, clean…..

IMG_6902

Did you notice that one of my mended towels is hanging there on the oven handle? It’s still going strong a year later.

mended dishtowel

And lastly, we recently acquired a vintage pencil sharpener.

Isn’t it beautiful?

vintage pencil sharpener

It was actually one of Sonia’s birthday presents. You see, a while back, she visited my parents, and when she came home, she said, “Mommy! They have the coolest pencil sharpener. It has a handle that you push!”

ebay pencil sharpener

So, I decided she’d probably enjoy getting one for her birthday. I looked at the new manual ones that are available, but reviews seemed mixed at best. Then I hopped onto eBay and found one from the days when things were made of metal, not plastic.

This thing works great. Seriously. It is so much better than our electric one, which tended to sharpen the pencils unevenly. And this one produces pencils with a much sharper point too.

Ours suctions to a flat surface when you rotate this little metal bar, so it’s quite portable.

IMG_6691

Ooh, and it was tons cheaper than the new manual sharpeners. So, I got a better product for Sonia (she loves her sharpener, by the way!) and spent less.

You know what that is, right?

Marvy-fab.

So, there you go. That’s what’s been happening here….recently.

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Joshua’s 365 post: Morning’s First Light

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Barbara

Friday 1st of November 2013

Kristen, What is the brand name of this pencil sharpener?

Courtney

Wednesday 3rd of April 2013

yum, i can smell the pencil shavings through the computer...

Randi

Sunday 31st of March 2013

Have you ever tried vintage metal ice cube trays? They make the best ice, very hard and they last a lot longer. I don't know why they ever got rid of those. I love them.

Danielle

Monday 18th of March 2013

Hey our kitchens look alike! Well the before shot looks like mine. I am not to the after yet. We had a pencil sharpener like that when we were growing up! We loved it!

Kristen

Monday 18th of March 2013

Mine goes through the before and after every single day, pretty much!

Samantha

Wednesday 13th of March 2013

I love that pencil sharpener and the cake :yum:

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