M’s 2010 Goals

It’s that time of year again!  I have been noticing on my Google Reader that other bloggers have started posting their 2010 goals.  This has gotten me thinking and I am going to start a list of my own.  Rather than making the single sweeping resolution such as lose weight or work out more, I am going to make a list of 10 fun goals I hope to achieve.  I have also seen a number of lists on the blog-o-sphere on things to finish before turning 30…that’s coming up in 2 months so I better get going!

M’s 2010 Goals:
1.  Start letterpress printing! This involves getting my new poco press cleaned up and ready to go.  I need to make a trip out to Chicopee, MA to a warehouse called Letterpress Things to stock up on tools, inks, and cleaners.  I also need to buy a base and determine what software I need on my computer to start designing plates.
2. Try yoga again. I tried this a few years ago at my gym in CT, but I didn’t really enjoy it very much.  If I can find the time to work-out, I have the notion that I really need to work up a good sweat in order for it to be worth it.  But at this point in my life, yoga may be what I am looking for as I’m just looking to gain strength and be more relaxed in general.  I have started looking around and there appears to be a number of yoga studios in the Boston area which have good beginner packages.
3.  Cook more meals and do more prep on the weekend. The past month, I’ve often resorted to take-out or going out to eat after work because I’ve had no motivation to cook after work.  After watching Julie & Julia, reading “The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry,” and receiving a few new cookbooks for Christmas, I am definitely inspired to cook up a storm in the kitchen.
4. Organize my kitchen. Living in a small space in the city, it’s important to utilize every possible square inch.  I saw a post on Apartment Therapy that got me thinking about the space above my kitchen cupboards.  In the post, a woman had used large containers for extra storage.  I looked at a few websites for similar containers, but then I thought a better look might be wooden wine crates.  I have two right now, but I am going to look for 3 or 4 more to use as storage.  I am going to store things like my wedding china, roasting pans, ice buckets, and other kitchen items that I do not use on a daily basis.  In addition, I need to get small hooks to put up additional shelving in my cupboards.  They came with extra pieces of wood that are cut to the exact proportion of the cupboards, but I just realized it a few months ago (the extra pieces of wood lay flat on the bottom of the cupboard and I never realized that they popped out.)
5.  Read more books off the NY Times Best Seller list. I love to log onto the Boston Public Library website and put books on hold.  It’s such a great way to save money and you don’t have to worry about storing yet another book on a bookshelf afterward.
6.  Spend less money on clothes. My office building is located in the heart of Boston’s retail shopping district so this is a difficult thing to avoid during lunch hour.  New lunch mantra:  Must go to yoga class instead!
7. Take more classes at the Boston Center for Adult Education. I am currently thinking about taking a digital photography class and an Adobe design class.
8. Buy a headboard for our master bedroom. I had purchased one a couple of years ago, but it was too large to fit up our condo’s stairs.  I need to look into having a custom-one made or finding a smaller one that will fit.
9. Finish painting our master bathroom or hire someone to finish it. It’s about 95% done, but the last 5% is the most difficult (reaching really high in awkward corners to clean up the paint marks on the ceiling).
10. Post on a regular basis to this new blog! I’ve wanted to start a blog for years, but I wasn’t sure if I could generate enough content on my own to make it worth it.  Joining forces with sister K, this goal seems much easier to achieve.

What are your goals/resolutions for the new year?  Share  your top 10 in the comments section!

-M

My new hobby- letterpress

While I was planning my wedding a few years ago and picking out invitations, I became introduced to the concept of letterpress.  I quickly fell in love with it and have since done much research on this very old form of printing.  I read the on-line letterpress community Briar Press daily and have purchased several books on printing and typography from Amazon.  This past summer, I took a letterpress class through the Mass College of Art…the minute I passed my first notecard through the Vandercook press, I was hooked.

Shortly before returning to my parent’s home in upstate NY this past Thanksgiving, I was perusing the Briar Press classifieds and saw that there was a press for sale in my home town.  What luck!  I did some Google searches on the press and e-mailed a few individuals who owned a similar press and everyone had good words about this particular press.  It is called a Poco Proof Press No. 0 and was originally manufactured in Chicago in either the 1910s or 1920s.  The general feedback I received on the press was that it was a pretty rare press, a good beginner press, made a strong impression (onto the paper), and that it was generally lightweight (compared to other presses…more on that story later).   Most importantly, it is a small enough press that it will fit into my condo in Boston…I decided to go for it!

I contacted the seller and asked to set up a time to see the press.  My husband was away traveling at the time so I asked my mom if she would go with me to see the press and possibly pick it up if it looked good.  Off we went to the artist’s studio…

Upon arriving there, the man showed us into his studio that he was just moving into.  I was hoping he had a few other presses just to look at and show my mom, but he just had the Poco Proof Press that he was selling.  I gave the handle a few cranks and looked at a few other things, and decided to buy it!  It came with its original wooden shelving, but it comes right off for “easy” moving.  The owner’s son and another artist in the building helped move it to the car…despite the press being 210 pounds of cast-iron steel, this 14 year old boy and wirey artist made the move appear effortless.  Our only challenge was fitting in the press and the wooden case both in the car due to their awkward shapes.  Our two movers were in my car, bending at every angle, and somehow balancing this heavy press on their laps- it was quite a scene.  Finally, after finding a way to remove the divider in the back, we were able to get both pieces in.  I was now a proud owner of a poco proof press!

-M