The Good Wife, I Mean Life.

If you know me personally or read my blog, you might have come to the conclusion I have domestic tendencies. Since I’m only partly employed, I spend a lot of time at my apartment alone. My slight OCD tendencies, which I picked up from my best friend, have become something of a defining characteristic of my personality. Never in my life would I have ever labeled myself a neat freak. While I have never been the dirty type, my life has always had a certain level of organized chaos. Since I was always overly organized in school, I let myself slide in my home organization. My mom called my cleaning style “piling.” To this day I still “pile.” Some things I just can’t find homes for, so I put them in categorical piles around my room. While this habit has thankfully diminished over the years, I still do it. Currently I have an old receipt pile, holiday card pile and my infamous “homeless” pile. Even with my piles, I come to enjoy cleaning my room and kitchen.

Okay so now you know I haven’t always been super clean onto my other newly acquired domestic hobby, cooking. In high school, my mother and sister joked about me burning down the house with my lack of cooking skills. I wasn’t not allowed in the kitchen, but they preferred if I steered clear. My normal responsibilities included washing the salad in the salad spinner, organizing the relish tray and setting the table. What my family didn’t know was that I secretly cooked when they went away. I started out simple making stir-fry noodles then I advanced to cookies from scratch. This basically covered all my culinary bases for the next couple of years. 

My culinary skills really advanced my senior year of college when I finally moved into my own apartment. A couple friends and I started “Thursday Night Dinners.” Every Thursday we would go to each other’s apartments and cook dinner for each other. For inspiration I turned to the cookbooks I had been collecting over the years. I attempted to cook anything and everything. Taco salad, baked spaghetti, turkey cheeseburgers, Thai noodles, turkey meatballs, omelets, crepes, tarts and cupcakes. In the process, I became something of a cupcake connoisseur. I enjoyed making my own cupcake creations. One of my favorite combinations continues to be my lavender and lime cupcakes. 

Moving to Los Angeles has only intensified my domestic tendencies. I won’t say I love cleaning, but it has definitely become very cathartic to me. There is something soothing about turning my Ipod up and dancing around my apartment while cleaning. At the end of my cleaning sessions, I always feel more relaxed with a sense of accomplishment. So what turned me into a domestic maven? I have no idea, but one thing I do know. I don’t plan to be anyone’s wife any time soon. I plan to hoard my domestic skills for my friends and I for as long as I can. I am a true example of someone who chooses to be domestic but still career oriented. I didn’t get two college degrees just to become a MRS. 

(poor photo quality due to Iphone camera)