Infusing grandeur into otherwise drab Monday mornings with five things/ideas/events for the week:

I.  Last week, I wrote about my kitchen makeover, which involved an obscene amount of black lacquer.  It’s safe to say that over the past few days, my black paint crush has developed into a full-blown love affair.  Next up: Black Doors.  Though black exterior doors are nothing new, painting interior doors isn’t something I’ve thought about until recently.  Less daunting than painting walls (especially if you rent), changing door color takes little effort and can transform an entire room.  In case you need anymore convincing, this Houzz article provides eleven fantastic reasons to paint your doors black.

II.  While we are on the topic of paint, I’m newly smitten with artist Jen Ramos, who sells pieces from her online store Cocoa and Hearts.  Jen seamlessly creates the visions that I’m not talented enough to produce.  Ranging from pretty pastels to moodier dark palettes, I’m having difficulty deciding on just one.  Cocoa and Hearts frequently sells out, so if you find something you love don’t hesitate!

III.  I’ll never forget the look of horror on my college roommate’s face when we woke up for the first time in our shared dorm room.  "OH MY GOD!!!  Did you seriously sleep with your makeup on?  No wonder your skin looks like that.“  I took mild offense at the time, but she was right.  I am absolutely terrible at taking proper care of my skin.  Luckily, two of my best friends are dermatological geniuses and lovingly give me advice on the latest in skincare.   Though I don’t always listen, when both women separately suggested the Aztec Healing Indian Clay Mask I was intrigued.  The mask comes in powder form (find it at Whole Foods for under $10), which you mix with apple cider vinegar.  Making it is fun (like a mini-chemistry experiment) and the results are almost instant.  Maybe there’s hope for this skincare-phobic girl after all…

IV.  Over the weekend, I catered a corporate party on a rooftop in SOMA.  The weather was more than perfect for the evening affair, and I was excited to add a few new dishes to my menu. Because the party went for several hours, I decided that it would be best to cook warm dishes on-site.  Small problem - it’s difficult to cook without an oven…  We were promised by the venue that they had an one, but once we arrived we were presented with a microwave and a toaster oven. The person hosting the event looked at me in sheer terror while I decided whether to take the deposit and tell him to order pizzas or figure out how to make hors d'oeuvres for 40 people with what I had.  Always up for a challenge, I picked the latter and hoped for the best.  Miraculously, everything turned out (nearly) perfectly.  You’d be surprised by what you can do with a tiny toaster oven and a lot of patience - including these delicious Baked Crab Rangoons.

V.  When I had dinner with my father on Friday, he asked me what it’s like to live in a big city. After giving his question a couple seconds of thought, I replied "beautiful, loud, and no parking.” Fortunately, a better answer to my father’s query was recently penned by Stuart Schuffman of Broke Ass Stuart and published by Bold Italic.  Schuffman’s phenomenal piece captures exactly what it’s like to live in San Francisco.  If you live in, have lived in, or want to live in the Bay Area, you will get a kick out of Living in San Francisco Means (Redux for 2015).

Have a wonderful week!  xx tt