Elizabeth Hill Cottage

Gel Manicure

2012-01-24T06:14:00.000-06:00

Do you get manicures? Have you tried a gel (shellac) manicure?

I've been wanting one for a while and it seems like every time I see someone with beautiful shiny nails, they have a gel manicure.

I want a gel manicure! I want a gel manicure NOW! (said in my best Veruca Salt voice)

photo source

So I went and got one on Friday.

Because I cook for work and I have OCD when it comes to cleaning my house, my nails are never nice. Never. I've only gotten a professional manicure twice and both times they lasted until the end of the day before they started chipping. I kid you not.

So, like I said, I got a gel manicure on Friday. And I have a couple of things to say.

It was supposed to cost $25.
I was charged $35 because my hands needed so much work.
This kind of irritated me because I only had $37 on me and you know I pay cash for everything because I'm still going all Dave Ramsey.
I picked a color out and the manicurist told me a different one would look better. I let her choose. She's a professional, so I figured she would know.
My nails look awesome.
I don't love the color she chose, but I prefer very sheer, barely there colors and this one falls into that category, so it's okay.
My nails look awesome.

There's a chance I could have pretty nails for the rest of my life, people!!

I'm totally doing this next time:

photo source

Ha haaaaa....just kidding. Holy daggers!

Have you ever had a gel manicure?

Pottery Barn Spool Chair

2012-01-07T07:15:00.000-06:00

Pottery Barn came out with a spool chair and it's only $799!!
The downside? Not very many fabric options and the cushions look cheap to me. Still...the last time I priced one out it was over $2,000.00, so this is a great deal.

What do you think?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T06:35:00.000-06:00

Hi!

I hope you had a great Holiday and here's hoping your new year is awesome! Did you make a New Year's resolution?

What have you been up to over the last month?

We've been up to a whole lot of nothing here at Elizabeth Hill. Our break was so great! Especially New Year's Eve when we stayed home and made sushi and played games. Zuddy bought Yahtzee and I've never played it until now!! I'm hooked and we've been playing a lot.

My friend Hilary nudged me to get on Pinterest and I haven't gotten dressed for 2 days. I've just been pinning like a freak.

Here are a few of my favorite living rooms:

Noodle Room Mock-Up

2011-11-30T07:55:00.000-06:00

Yeah, she hates it.

She hates the pillows, lamps and headboard. You know....all of the things I thought would be fun touches.

As always, I'm Captain On Top Of It! My finger is on the pulse! I am one with my child's wants an needs!

Go Me!

hdof blog

2011-11-28T21:52:00.000-06:00

I found a blog I'm obsessed with:

It's called Hairdresser On Fire.

Some day if I ever make an effort with my hair, I will follow her tutorials. She is adorable and since I'm a girl, I love reading about hair!

She was saying in her blog that she can go 4 days without shampooing her hair. 4 days! She uses dry shampoo and she has a tutorial on how to use it.

Dudes. I bought some today and used it:

I don't know....I feel all scuzzy when I skip a day of washing my hair....I think it's because it's so fine and thin? The dry shampoo isn't making it feel better....but I need to actually style my hair the next time I use it. The jury will be out until Wednesday when I try it again. I can only go one day without shampooing. On the days that I don't shampoo, I usually get it wet, condition it and restyle as normal. Like I said, today I didn't style it.

What's your hair like? Can you go more than one day without shampooing? What's your routine if you don't shampoo? I love how you guys answer all of my questions :) Michelle, are still no 'pooing?

And thanks for the Christmas card answers. I always like to hear what other people think!

Curious

2011-11-27T09:24:00.000-06:00

Hey - so, I'm just curious.

I'm looking at Holiday cards to send. I usually choose something that says "peace" or "happy holidays" or something like that because I have a few friends who don't celebrate Christmas. I was even thinking about just doing a Happy New Year card....that way I'm not targeting a religion at all, but still sending a greeting and a photo of Noodle, because I love photos of kids and families for a greeting card. I save them ALL and look at them every year to see how everyone changes.

Aaaanyway, I saw a post about this very subject on a blog. And I looked at the comments and saw that some people are very offended by getting cards that don't say "Merry Christmas" on them. If you are Christian, does that bug you, too? If you're not Christian, are you offended by a "Merry Christmas" card?

Just curious how you all feel about this.

If you're an American Thanksgiving celebrator, did you have a good one? We did! My brother is a fantastic cook and we had a yummy dinner, I went to a hockey game with my nephew, we went for a nice hike and then to the new Muppet Movie (sorry, I didn't think it was that great, but Noodle LOVED it.)

Verdict: Matches. Lots of Matches.

2011-11-07T18:15:00.000-06:00

That's what you're all telling me, and darn it? I'm listening. I'm going to do it.

There was also a suggestion that I start watching her diet:

photo by Lubella Portraits

Now, who was that? One of my no-good brothers?

MJ's going to be on t.v. tomorrow and I get to sit back stage and watch her :) Superstar!

Fresh Air

2011-11-06T05:55:00.001-06:00

I'm going to talk about a rather indelicate subject that kind of goes along with the small house thing I last blogged about: keeping one's bathroom fresh smelling.

We ran out of air freshener a while ago. I didn't buy any more right away because, quite frankly? The very reason we use it kind of ruins all of those scents for me. You know - like the "fresh linen" scent? Well after a while, it just smells like, "fresh linen covering up the I-just-used-and-abused-the-bathroom" scent. Which, in a small house, kind of creeps into rooms other than the bathroom.

You know what I'm saying?

Oh - I didn't use and abuse the bathroom. No, sir. I'm pretty sure my poopies smell like a spring breeze.

It's another family member that abuses the bathroom on a regular basis.

So, the other day I bought a new scent, hoping for the best:

I knew it wasn't going to work out the way I had hoped when Zuddy came out of the loo saying in his best Australian accent, "Gah. It smells like someone took a crap in a New Zealand Spring!"

Sigh.

Teeny Tiny Love

2011-10-26T14:22:00.000-05:00

I spent a good portion of Sunday surfing the net. It all started when I was looking for rehabbed RVs. I found some great examples of really well done RV rehabs (more on this another time). But looking for these things led me to so many interesting people, websites and topics! This could easily spin off into 12 separate blog posts. The things that kept coming up in my RV home surfing were topics like living off the grid and eventually I got into tiny homes

The type of house I'm most attracted to personally, is a smaller home. Who doesn't love a charming little cottage? Or a studio apartment in New York City? Our house right now is only about 1200 square feet.

Have you all seen the tiny Tumbleweed Houses? I'm sure you have, they're huge right now (Ha)! Jay Shafer, the owner of the company was on Oprah a year or two ago and I've been fascinated ever since. Jay lives in an 89 square foot home that he built himself. Here is a video of Jay's home:

Jay's designs start at about 65 square feet:

source

and go up to 874 square feet:

Source

I don't think I could live in 89 square feet, but the last two are darling and I dream of having one plopped in the middle of the woods or on a clear-watered lake. I wish there were some interior photos of larger two houses, but I can't find any that I can copy. Just click on 'source' below the photos and you can see floor plans and computer mock-ups of the the interiors. The first photo has actual interior photos.

As I was playing "follow the link" to all of these little homes and the people who live in them, I found a site called Little House on the Trailer. The builder of these homes envisions them as a "care cottage" for either a person who needs care but wants the independence of living alone or a care giver who needs their own space but wants/needs to be very near the person they are caring for.

The really cool thing about these homes is they aren't so extreme like the 89 square foot tiny houses. While those super-tiny houses are cool, I can't imagine lounging around in one and being comfortable for very long. These are homes that are more....."heirloom" is the word the builder uses. You can have a real sofa in them and there are sweet little details built into these homes, like mini fireplace mantles:

Here's the kitchen in this house:

Here's another one of the Little House on the Trailer homes. It has a bedroom and a loft area for sleeping:

And yet another! This one was built as a guest house:

Aren't these adorable?

Here's a video of the builder talking about his cottages:

So.
How small could you go?

Chilly

2011-10-18T11:43:00.002-05:00

It's darn chilly here today....the high is 47 degrees. And it's rainy, which is NOT cool because I started washing windows yesterday and I really wanted to finish today.

Even though I just washed them in the spring, they need another scrubbing:

Much better.

How often do you wash your windows?

Finally my cooking aversion has left me! Yay!

I'm making chicken stock with all of the bones I've saved from roasted chickens and I also use the rinds from the spent wedges of Parmigiano Reggiano. See it in there?

I threw a few sprigs of thyme and parsley from the garden:

I'm also going to make Ina Garten's Beef Bourguignon. I don't know about you, but Fall isn't official until I make a double batch of that and some French onion soup.

Doing anything special today?

Hiding My Face In Shame.

2011-10-12T19:25:00.001-05:00

I just got a comment from MJ about that night I made Hamburger Helper for dinner.

I should first tell you about the time I asked MJ which jarred Spaghetti sauce she uses. I was just curious, because I just found one I really liked (Classico Four Cheese).

She didn't answer me right away.

In fact, she got very quiet.

I almost thought she didn't hear me, so I was going to ask her again.....but when I turned to look at her? I noticed kind of a hard, pinched look on her face.

The words that sputtered out of a shocked MJ's mouth?

"I don't swing that way."

Me serving my family "the helper" is going to put an enormous strain on our relationship. I swear I'll never do it again, MJ. Pinkie swear.

Closet #2

2011-10-11T10:03:00.001-05:00

Oh, my sweet, sweet friends.....this is not pretty. I have no pretty pretty pictures for you today. No sir.

But you know what I DO have for you? Pictures! (They're just not pretty "after" pictures :) My brother and sister gave me their old camera! And for a 10 year old camera it takes great pictures, I must say.

So, I'm starting in on the office closet. When we last talked about it, I had tried to remove the old shelving and fixtures and the "cedar paneling". There was swearing.

It looked like a freaking hamster cage in there. My camera pooped out, so I have no actual photographic evidence of this, but trust me.

I did find a photo on Google of what the "cedar paneling" looked like. Feast your eyes:

I was taking care of my favorite baby one night and Zuddy surprised me by doing a demo job on my fugly closet. He didn't even tell me he was going to do it! I went in the room the next day to do a stare-down with the closet and plan my attack when I saw this:

Sweet.
Baby.
Jesus.

Need I talk about the emotions that stirred inside of me? I was giddy with happiness because the paneling and fixtures were gone, yet pissed off that it still looked so bad. Oh, the confusion!

I sat on these emotions for a week and tried to come up with a plan of how I was going to get that glue off. Sand it? Messy. Skim coat it? Messy and it will never get done because I still have a whole kitchen that needs to be skim coated.

Last week I got together with my dear friend, Hilary and showed her the closet and she suggested putting up bead board instead of trying to get off all of the glue and patch all of the holes. Genius! I love that girl!

So, save for the bead board and the hanging rods, I'm going to finish the closet just like the Noodle's - with shelving floor to ceiling on both sides of the closet. Here's a shot of the sides:

Here are some shots of Noodle's closet. The side with the shelves (we still need a few more of these):

And the side for hanging clothes:

Incidentally, my favorite baby? She's 7 months old now! Feast your eyes:

I love her. So do Zuddy and Noodle. I'm lobbying to be her nanny.

Michelle is getting sick of me lobbying to be her nanny.

She's very happy with her going to her cousin's home daycare and being cared for by her granny and cousin.

Whatever. I'm not going to stop trying. She's my baby, dammit.

Meatballs

2011-09-28T12:48:00.001-05:00

I used to work at a cooking school, assisting the teaching chefs.

My favorite chef actually used to have her own cooking school in the 70's and continued to teach at other schools after she retired. Her name was Lois Lee and she had the best, most simple recipes. I use so many of her recipes on a regular basis and this classic meatball recipe is one of our favorites.

I'm going to write it with the few changes I made. Mainly, I cook the onions and garlic before they go into the meatballs because if you don't, their flavor will revisit you all night in the form of big, stinky burps :) Also, I roast them in the oven. It only takes about 15 minutes and it requires less "babysitting" than pan-frying them.

One tip: buy the $15 wedge of Parmesan. It makes such a difference. Even though I'm always looking for ways to cut my grocery bill (hello, Aldi!), I won't give up the good Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Lois Lee's Meatballs

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic ,finely chopped
l lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs (I use crushed saltines....about 1/2 of a sleeve)
1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- enough water to make mixture soft (about 1/2 cup)

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes; cool.

3. Combine cooled onion mixture and remaining ingredients together lightly (I use clean hands). Form into small, golf ball-sized balls and place on prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake in 450 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, turning once, until browned and cooked through.

Cardinal rule of meatballs (and any meat)? BROWNING. I let mine get quite crusty, but not overdone. The Parmesan really helps this and really adds to the flavor.

I make Italian Wedding Soup with these, too.....I just make them much smaller.

I hope you like Lois' meatballs as much as Zuddy and I do!

Awwwwww SNAP!

2011-09-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

My camera takes black photos.

I found this out when I was taking 'before' photos of the Noodle's old-bedroom-now-office. I'll try to borrow my Mom's camera because you all have to see the shit I've encountered. And I have no nicer way to say this, trust me. Saying "shit" and "snap" is as censored as I can get. And now I need some much harsher words to convey my feelings.

Here's how my morning has turned out:

I can't find the camera. Zuddy has it in the garage. Does it belong in the garage? No. It does not.
I take a 'before' photo of the office. The low battery light comes on.
I plug in the battery for recharging.
I remove the wire shelving in the closet and grab the battery-powered driver to remove the mounting brackets attached to the wall.
The battery pack is fuckingdead.
I go downstairs to get the extra battery in it's (unplugged) charger. It's dead, too.
I start removing the fugly "cedar" panels from the closet. They are glued AND nailed into the walls.
I remove a couple of the panels and the plaster wall comes with them and crumbles to the floor.
After the driver battery is charged I try removing those mounting brackets. The screws just spin and spin and won't come out.
I place the recharged camera battery in the camera and take photos of the closet.
I download the photos and SURFUCKINGPRIZE! They're black.

I give up.

But I found a few half finished Noodleroom photos on the camera:

Her bed is on the floor all klassy-like because she didn't want the the frame anymore. Plus, she just wants her bigger bed.

But Dave Ramsey and our bank account say, "No. Get a real job, Martha."

I am frustrated on so many levels today. I'm going to go and take a shower and get out of the house.

O. M. G.

2011-09-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

My sweet Noodle went to a "goth book signing" (her exact words) tonight.

She flew out of the house dressed in black at 5pm and I haven't seen her since. It's 9pm now.

Should I be worried?

Do you think she's having a makeover?

What if she comes home looking like this:

Thanks and What's Up.

2011-09-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

First of all, I tried to write a response comment to you fab girls in the last post, but I'm having computer issues. I won't go into the gory details, but I need to take my laptop baby in to the doctor.

Thanks so much for all of your great ideas for dinner.

I want to get that book Cutz was talking about and I went to Trader Joe's and picked up a few things. Sadly, one of the things that made it into my cart was a chocolate mousse torte that only I liked. Which means I ate it all in 3 days time. Impressive, no? I'm totally getting another one. It rocked my world. Thanks Michelle!! My front butt thanks you, too :)

You know what? The weather's turning more fall-like and I almost feel like cooking again.

Noodle is happily living in her new room and she's keeping it neat and tidy! And like any tweenager, she's in there for hours on end with the door shut.

Did I tell you Noodle's in middle school?

Boy, is that a saga. It's been a big deal for us. The middle school she's attending wasn't our first choice of schools for her. The test scores aren't great, so we planned on sending her to a college prep charter school with awesome test scores. However, when we went to the open house for the charter school, we didn't feel good about it. The principal seemed a little nutty. Also, there weren't many extra curriculars to choose from and she wouldn't be able to continue her Spanish immersion. In the end, we chose the not-so-great public school and you know what?

It's been SO GREAT!!

She's in the Spanish immersion program still, and she's got an amazing teacher. Plus, the extra curriculars are awesome and she can resume the violin (it was cut from elementary schools last year) and play volleyball and be on the ski team and the tennis team! Here she is with her bff and the little sister on the first day of school.
Don't they look old this year??

Here she is way back in kinder:

Grade 2:

Grade 3:

Grade 5:

I started working at a new company this week. Still as a consulting recipe editor and I love it.

The last couple of years at my other job have been tough.

Then in December there was a big change in the company which took away most of my work. I still get called in occasionally, but my profession has been deeply affected by the recession. I have only worked about 1/4th of what I used to work.

This new gig came just in time. You see, Zuddy and I have been going all Dave Ramsey for the last 3 years and we are finally almost done paying off some serious debt. I'm so looking forward to the freedom we will have starting in January. I will finally be able to finish the kitchen!!

I've also been struggling a bit with the blogging. I've been feeling self-conscious about "putting it out there". I mean, who cares about what I'm doing? I mean, even I'm bored by me.

Well, not many people know about this thing. I don't share it with a lot of people and I figure I'll keep at it, just to keep in touch with my pals. In fact, I should really write in this thing more.

Thanks for keeping in touch with me, girls! I'm going to get better about responding to your comments, too. Just check back in the comment section :)

Okay. I'm going to go make some meatballs for my Zuddy.

Balls of meat.

Want the recipe? I'll give it to you later this week. It's from the cooking school where I used to work.

Love, Mart

Helping Hamburger

2011-09-01T20:58:00.001-05:00

I think I have the food editor's version of writer's block.

I don't want to cook, think about cooking, grocery shop for cooking or anything else that has to do with cooking. I think Zuddy and Noodle are sick of looking into an empty fridge. Zuddy's even been joking about it: he opened the fridge door the other day and shouted, "Hel-LOOOOO!" to see if he could hear his echo. Oh he's a real freaking riot.

So the other day I was shopping and saw Hamburger Helper on sale.

I picked up a box and bought it. Then I made it for dinner.

Was it delicious? No.

Did I care? Not really.

Noodle wouldn't touch it, and when Zuddy came in the door, she said to him, "Do you like Hamburger helper?"

Zuddy: "No, why?"

Noodle: "Mom made it for dinner."

Zuddy: "No she didn't."

Then he looked at me with crazy panicked eyes and said, "No you didn't.....did you?" His voice got kind of high and squeaky when he said it and he walked quickly to the kitchen to get a look at it.

Sheesh. You would've thought I substituted.....I don't know......one of our neighbors all chopped up or something for the ground beef.

Do you guys ever have this issue? It's been going on for a while now. Help me.

Moving.

2011-08-15T08:23:00.000-05:00

Ha! That's a scary title, isn't it?No...we're not moving, but Noodle is! Into her new room!

Is it finished?

Nope.

But it's just done enough for her to live in. We finally put up her curtains last night. Zuddy put up the curtain rods with much teeth gnashing and swearing. Poor guy.

Here's what we still need to do:
crown moulding
light fixture
full size bed
paint head and foot board (silver is the plan, but I think gold may be an option)
lamps
finish closet (it needs four more shelves and maybe a light)
new bedding
new nightstand

But? It's looking a lot better than where we started:

Closet: Before

Closet:Not Quite After

We are having a couple of issues with the lighting. Mainly that I can't seem to get exactly what I want for a decent price.
The IKEA fixtures we liked don't put out enough light:

so we are scrapping that idea.

I want to make my own drum shade pendant, but I need to find something like this:

It's called a "Do It Yourself Shade Pendant Hardware Kit" from Shades of Light. It's perfect....except just this little kit is $50! I know this sucker doesn't need to cost $50, so I'm trying to find it for less, except I can't! The thing that makes this little fixture perfect is that little knob on the bottom....it's for attatching an acrylic diffuser so the lighbulbs are concealed:

This is $35. I just think that's nuts, too. There's no way this thing needs to cost this much.

Then we will need to get a cute canopy and down rod:

Go to the blog Dittle Dattle for some amazing tutorials...that's where I found a way to make these pendants, but unfortunately, I can't get the amount of light or a diffuser using her tutorial. But I can use the pieces of this pendant kit to gussy up my fixture!

Anyway....we chose some fun fabrics possibilities to cover the drum shade:

<><><><><><> <><><><><><> <><><><><><>

chipper

<><><><><><> <><><><><><> <><><><><><>

lulu stripe

I found these at fabric.com.

House Tour!

2011-07-30T09:37:00.001-05:00

Friends, I gotta tell ya: It's been a while since I've found a house at a decent price to show you.

Now. This is just a guess, but I think most of what I'm finding these days are houses for sale

where the owners are upside-down on their mortgages. The houses are in desireable neighborhoods, but the prices are still too high even for those great neighborhoods. Also, I'm finding houses that are extremely inexpensive foreclosures and need some serious help, so they're not exactly eye candy, if you know what I'm sayin'.

Oooo, but I've got a yummy little number for you today! I'm sure this one was a foreclosure, but now it's a sweet, delicious flip.

It's in the neighborhood in which we live, but near a beautiful, shady park in the most desireable section.

It was built in 1904, has 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths and has a petite 1200 square feet of living space and a 2 car garage for $219,900.

Try not to judge this book by it's cover, because it's what on the inside that counts (life lesson #1):

Paint me!

The Foyer, its 5x11. Look through the door there....you can see the a bank of cabinets in the kitchen. It's the only shot of them:

The kitchen. It's 10x15. I might have set it up differently, but I love the finishes in here.

Looking toward the dining room. I probably wouldn't have put the fridge there. It would be nice to have a cabinet and drawer there for silverware and some open shelving for dishes and glassware.

Looking in from the dining room.

Stove with a pot filler. They're proud of it. There's another shot of it that I'm not going to include. I love a pot filler as much as the next guy, but I think they make more sense in a commercial kitchen or say.....at the Duggar's house.

Looking back toward the foyer.

The living room, it's 12x14:

A shot of the dining room, it's 12x12:

The main floor powder room:

There's also a laundry room on the main floor and a front porch.

The 2nd floor bathroom:

Upper floor den, it's 7x11:

There aren't any shots of any of the bedrooms, but let me tell you: they are tiny. They're 8x10, 10x10 and 16x10.

What do you think? Is the price too high, too low or just right?

Spool Chair

2011-07-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

google images

I want one.

I priced it out.

For the fabric I chose, a chair and ottoman would only set me back $2,915.00

Oh, yeah.....that's gonna happen.

My Favorite Baby

2011-06-04T09:36:00.002-05:00

I was reminded by one of my favorite bloggy friends to update on my friend Michelle's baby (love ya, Thirks :)

Michelle was on bed rest for 2 weeks before she gave birth to her little girl.

I've gotta tell you: it rocked.

I wasn't working, so I'd go over to Michelle's house and watch her big, fat every-channel-in-the-world tv. Her hubby, Shawn, is a total genius. The tv is hooked up to the computer, so we can literally watch anything we want.

Anyway, like I said, I'd go over there.
Every day.
I'd go after Noodle left for school and leave right before I needed to pick Noodle up from school. We'd sit and chat and laugh while she "bed rested". We haven't had time like that together since we were 20 years old.

Anyway, she had her beautiful baby girl and I continued to come over there multiple times a week to "help". Then, on the weekends, Zuddy, Noodle and I would pop in so they could bond with her. Zuddy is a sucker for a little baby, you see.
We're crazy about this little girl.
She's the prettiest, happiest, smartest, best smelling baby on the planet.

Here's a video of her at about 2 1/2 months with her Daddy (who is equally smitten with her).

Sorry...you'll have to click on the link I couldn't embed the darn thing.

Mom's Place

2011-05-12T10:40:00.000-05:00

Yo.

I know I've been a horrible blogger. I know.

I've actually been living life and not reading every one's blogs. I know. Crazy.

I'm at my Mom's right now, so I have access to the photos of her place that we worked on last year. So here are a couple kitchen photos (clearly, stellar photography skillz is not a talent I posses.):

This is an ultra scary 'during' shot.

After

I'd like her to get rid of the ca. 1983 track lighting, but she thought the place was 'move in ready', so just letting us paint every blessed surface of the house, installing new counter tops, flooring and crown moulding was all we could ask for at the time. Now that she's been here a year, maybe I'll start in on the lighting. Not only because I like being pushy, but the track lighting isn't such a great choice if you actually like light.

Things......

2011-03-05T11:27:00.000-06:00

Top of the list of things?

Charlie Sheen. Holy shit. I'm completely riveted. I know it's wrong, but I can't help it.

Other things?

My dear friend Michelle is about to have her first baby. It's a girl and I'm DYING to meet her. Michelle and I met in the 10th grade. Here we are our senior year of high school:

By the way, that hair? It's your first clue that we were fun girls to be around. Dull people didn't do their hair like that in 1987. 'Nuff said.

Michelle used to come over once a week when Noodle was an infant.
You see, Noodle was very colicky and cried nonstop from the hours of 6 pm and 10 pm every night. Zuddy needed a break once a week to be with friends, refresh himself and regain his sanity before he had to deal with his 2 crying girls for another 6 days. This is when Michelle stepped in. She'd come over and hold my crying kid and guess what? She was just what we both needed! Look at Noodle! Noodle loved her!

Michelle would send Noodle a card for every holiday. She loves Halloween, so one Halloween she picked up Noodle from school in costume and took her out to dinner to her favorite restaurant, Noodles & Company.

2006

Michelle met a really nice guy and married him on St.Patrick's day 2009:

and now she's due with baby girl Finnegan on Sunday!!

I was over at her house all last week doing her spring cleaning because she's on bed rest, the poor girl. Anyway, that's part of my baby gift to her. Because did you know I'm not working right now? Well, I'm not.

So instead of just accepting my gift and calling it a day, she went and bought me something I've been wanting for so long but wouldn't buy myself:

wen ~~shampoo~~ err......cleansing conditioner, deep conditioner and styling creme!!!! Have you seen the infomercials for it? I'm totally seduced by those commercials. I'll let you know if my hair is bouncin' and behavin' after I use it!

Thank you all for the kind words about Dad and sister, ladies. I appreciate your good thoughts! I'll let you know how things are going. I'm about to go to the hospital right now and give my dad a mani-pedi :)

Oh!! Here's a funny clip from Jimmy Kimmel live. Zuddy showed it to me this morning and we were HOWLING with laughter because "Elizabeth Hill Theater" was showing Toddlers and Tiaras over the holiday break.

Whoa....

2011-02-20T09:16:00.000-06:00

Has it really been 2 months since I've posted?? Wow.

So much going on.

My sweet sister in law found out she had a brain tumor right before Christmas and had it removed. She is fine and it wasn't cancerous or anything, but you can imagine how scary that was.

My Dad's health isn't good. He's been in the hospital since the end of January. He had a nasty flesh-eating bacteria called Fournier's Gangrene. His life is forever changed and he isn't a happy boy.

I've just started getting back to Noodle's room after the Holidays and the shock of my Dad's health scare. I painted the ceiling and Zuddy is working on the baseboards.

Also, my girlfriend is having a baby and I'm shamelessly copying these alphabet walls I found online for her nursery:

Hey - somebody's gotta be a hack. Might as well me me :)

Christa's Skillz

2010-12-19T06:54:00.001-06:00

My friend Christa recently discovered she's AWESOME with a camera. She took photos of Noodle for our Holiday card the last 2 years.

If you're in Minnesota, hurry up and book her before you can't afford her anymore. That's what I'm doing!

She booked this really cool place in Hastings to take the photos this year. Some guy has a passion for old buildings. When he found out some were going to be destroyed, he bought them and moved them to his land and now he's built a city!! It's super-cool! Zuddy and I wandered the grounds while Christa snapped photos of my tweenager:

Check out Christa's website

Tweenie Bopper Bedrooms

2010-12-18T07:14:00.001-06:00

I'm almost done with the painting the Noodle's room, girlfriends! I just have one side of a door left and the walls!! Woo HOO!

That darn Zuddy still has a lot to do before we can move her in there, though. Zuddy? Are you reading this? I know you are, you unshaven man, you. (Zuddy thinks he's growing a beard. Zuddy's going to find himself and all of his stuff on the street if he doesn't shave soon.)

Here are the things on Zuddy's list:

New baseboards for 2 of the walls. We were planning on refinishing all the woodwork in our house, but when we tried to take the baseboards off, they split.
Finish off the closet. We are going to put 2 rows of hanging bars on the left side, and lots of shelving on the right side. Because the Noodle is showing signs of being a shameless hoarder.
Crown Molding (Moulding?)
Spray paint the Jenny Lind bed Silver we have a full size bed frame that I bought, oh?....16 years ago. We married and moved into this house almost 15 years ago. And there it sits. In the basement.
Hang drapery hardware.
Move white blinds in new bedroom. We're just going to use the blinds that are in her current bedroom.

Here are the things on my list:

Finish painting the door
Clean up all the door hardware and put it back on the doors.
Paint the walls
Move the Noodle in to her room. We'll just move her current bed in there until we get her a new full size mattress.
Buy a full size mattress. I'm really hoping to find one that someone's trying to get rid of.
Buy new bedding. All white.
Buy a new rug
Buy a new light fixture. From IKEA. She wants this one:

Or this one:

Get some drapery hardware.

Wow. That's kind of a long list, isn't it?

For your viewing pleasure, here are some great looking tweenie bopper bedrooms. I think I got them all from Houzz:

Blog Love

2010-11-27T06:11:00.000-06:00

I've been blog-stalking like crazy.

I really need to update my blogroll because I know there are blogs I've acquired in my reader that haven't made it to my blogroll.

Here are a couple of them:

Meet My Ugly Baby

A Vancouver couple is flipping a super-ugly apartment in an attempt to make enough money for a their first house.

You have GOT to check it out, people. I love some good before-and-afters!

Good Bones Home

A Philly couple are undertaking the renovation of a home with "good bones". Thank GOD for the good bones, because the decor is HORRENDOUS.

Country Farmhouse

A couple have completely renovated their country house. Now their waiting for the arrival of their boy-girl twins.

"Captain-on-top-of-it", here just found this one. You may already have this one on your list, since she has, like, 1,800 followers. The before-and-afters are GREAT.

Noodle's Closet

2010-11-23T17:09:00.000-06:00

I know it doesn't look like much, people, but this is taking a while....especially the doors. 5 coats each side make it a 10 day project, minimum.

I've got the closet door all painted and it looks great, but I want to let it cure for a few more days so the paint is nice and strong before I put the hardware back on.

So, here's the before:

And the Mid-point:

Boy, it's amazing how blue that paint looks when it's near the white woodwork. I have that very same paint on the ceiling of the dining and living rooms and you can barely tell it's not white!

Yummy....

2010-11-23T16:38:00.000-06:00

I was driving home from work tonight in stop-and-go traffic and I saw a guy picking his nose.

And?

Eating whatever it was he got out of said nasal cavity.

And in case you were wondering....he was probably in his early to mid thirties. So, no...he wasn't a teenager.

I was hoping what I'd seen was an isolated incident, but I watched him continue for two more cycles of pick-and-eat. **shiver**

You're welcome for that visual.

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Noodle's Closet

2010-11-08T09:03:00.000-06:00

Yep. Here it is: Noodle's closet. Pretty exciting, huh?

Yikes. Here it is filled with her toys.

Pretty TINY is more like it...but -believe it or not- it's bigger than the one she has in her room right now.

This is part of the reason why she's moving into the office/playroom. She's heading into the teen years now and she needs a bigger room (her current room is 8x10...the new one is 10x12) and a very slightly bigger closet.

This super-ugly closet "organizer" (and I use the term organizer veerrrrry loosely) was here when we moved in almost 15 years ago.

I would LOVE. L-O-V-E to have the interior professionally designed, but that's not in the budget right now.

I've gone to the Easy Closets website and punched in the dimensions, but I didn't get a design........my computer just started shaking and laughing at me. Rude.

I finally wrestled that ugly organizer out. It left some pretty fierce holes in the walls when I got the hardware out. Zuddy was kind enough to patch them for me.

The trim is almost all done being painted. It needs one more coat....which equals FIVE coats, ladies. Five of 'em.

I don't think the inside of the closets been painted more than twice since our house was built in 1936. We found remnants of this awesome coral color in a few spots:

Sadly, Noodle says she doesn't want coral, so we're using some of the paint we already have in our stock.

One last thing:

The windows are finished!! I can't wait to get the paint on the walls so the trim looks nice and crisp!

Noodle's Room

2010-11-02T20:42:00.001-05:00

Because I feel it's important to have no less than 12 unfinished home improvement projects at any time, I've started making over the office/playroom into Noodles new bedroom.

Not only are we painting the walls, but I'm kicking off the painting of ALL of the woodwork in our entire house here in her new bedroom.

The trim is Swiss Coffee by Behr, and the sashes are Seal by Martha Stewart (I think). Noodle wants her room blue, so we're checking out some swatches:

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

Old Spice

2010-10-18T18:43:00.004-05:00

Who doesn't love the Old Spice commercials?

Well, Zuddy found Grover trying his hand at it:

Nurseries

2010-10-09T14:34:00.002-05:00

My dear friend Michelle is having a baby girl, so of course I needed to research nurseries! I went to Rate My Space and found all of these cuties.

I mean, who doesn't love a nursery?

I love the crib here. I want Michelle to do a gold or silver crib. Because, appearantly, her nursery should be all about me.

Michelle wants pink, black and white. I think pale pink walls would look great in here.

Again. Palest of pink walls would look great here. And all white bedding with a silver crib.

I just think this is dreamy. I love the green ceiling.

The pictures are fun here!

I love the contrast of the wall color and the curtain color here.

I know this is a boys room, but I love it.

House Tour For Amy

2010-10-08T09:41:00.002-05:00

Amy? Why did you go back to work?? Huh? We could be spending some quality time together this week!

Here's a house tour for my girl, Amy.

Well? Actually it's for me. Because I'm not sure what kind of house Amy actually wants to see, but this one is a little dream house. It's just perfect in so many ways. It's totally updated and perfectly decorated.

The thing that's not perfect?

The price. Ummmm....hello? Recession? Yeah. We're in one. We can't afford your $400k cottage!!!

Okay, I just went to the real estate website and found out they dropped the price to 389k. Still...can I get a ka-ching?
It's got 3 bedrooms and 2 3/4 bathrooms and almost 2400 square feet of living space

Here's the living room. It's 17x13. The fireplace is gas. I may or may not have stalked this house in person to find this out.

Dining room. It's 12x12. Yummy.

Hello, perfect little kitchen (16x8)! I love your bump-out in the back! So smart! I want to copy you!

The main floor bath.

The attic master bedroom (29x13)

The Master bathroom

The basement family room (23x13) and then you can see the office to the left (11x10)

The basement bathroom.

I love this little house. The layout is exactly like ours, but a little larger. It's in a pretty good location and there's a small grocery store 5 or 6 blocks away.

Do you like it?

How To Wash Windows

2010-10-08T09:04:00.000-05:00

I've been washing windows this week. I love washing windows - I kid you not. I think it makes the whole house look cleaner.

I used to hate it, though. That was before I acquired one of these little sweeties:

Do you have one of these? If not, you should get one (or two). I have a large one (maybe 12 inches) and a smaller, 7 or 8-inch one.

Here's what I use when I wash:

A bucket filled with hot water (about 1 gallon) and vinegar (a 'glug' or more precisely, about 1/4 cup) and a drop or two of dish soap.
A bunch of microfiber cloths - one to get wet and scrub the windows, the others to wipe off the squeegee and the perimeter of the window after squeegeeing the window.
Preferably a cloudy day...if you wash during a sunny day, the dirty water starts to dry on the window, causing streaks. The squeegee really helps this not to happen, though.

That's it!

Do you ever use a squeegee when you wash windows?

Here's a link to Family Handyman Magazine's window washing instructions...it makes me realize that I probably need to change the blade on my ~~baby~~ squeegee.

Gallery Wall, part 2

2010-10-07T14:29:00.000-05:00

Here it is...I had to wait until dark to take the photo or else I get more light than my camera can handle!

See those silver platters? I got them from my Mom. That crazy kook had them sitting in a closet! Alone! Unattended! Mwwwaaaaha-ha-ha-haaaaa!!!

They were begging to be slapped with one of these:

Have you ever used these before?

I tried to find a plate hanger at Michaels, but there wasn't anything to hold platters as big as my 2 silver foxes. I know we've all seen these disc hangers advertised on blogs, so I bought a couple.

They're awesome and inexpensive and the website can help you determine what size disc you need for the item you're hanging. My platters are heavy, so I got the largest discs.

So, does the wall look okay?

Front Door

2010-10-06T08:16:00.001-05:00

Another thing I've done......painted the front door.

It was a creamy color, just like the body color of the house:

Now? Well? It's not:

And me no likey.
I wanted something that was unexpected - in a good way.

But, ummmm....me no likey. I think I need to start by painting that little bit of brown trim around the door opening and make it the creamy color of the exterior.

Help me.

Suggestions?

Gallery Wall

2010-10-05T11:24:00.001-05:00

So, now that I have the power to download my photos from our cruddy little point and shoot camera, I realize there have been a few things I haven't blogged about.

Probably because..... who cares, right?

Right.

Well, anyway. Here are the 'befores' of the gallery wall I did behind the sofa. I started out with the two black and white prints with the navy matting (they're the ones hanging on the wall). I got them from my friend Kirsten. I still really like them, but that wall needed a little something more dramatic.

So I went around the house and gathered all of the art I had. Almost all of it is hand-me-down......much of it from Kirsten.

Anyway, I stacked it against the sofa to get an overall feeling of how it would look:

Did you know most of what I own is a hand-me-down? It's true. Sad, but true.

Anyway, I selected the pieces I was going to use and then I layed them on the floor to mock up an arrangement:

Then I traced the pictures on some art paper that I borrowed from the Noodle and taped everything on the wall.

Then?
I stacked up the pictures all over the house and left them there for months and months until I got tired of moving them around when I had to clean.

Then?
I washed my slipcover. And decided the window treatments needed to be raised:

Then?
I waited another month or two before I asked Zuddy to help me hang everything.

And then?
I never took a photo.

And I will do it tomorrow after I'm finished washing windows :)

What's Up, Buttercup?

2010-09-13T20:05:00.000-05:00

Dudes.

We finally got a new computer.....ours crashed last November and I haven't been able to much computer-wise since.

But Mama's got a new baby now! Oh yes I do! We finally went wireless (gasp!), got a lap top and all I've been able to do is watch Netflix from dawn 'til dusk. I've pretty much exhausted their 'watch instantly' cache of decent movies and tv shows and now I'm back among the living.....if 'among the living' means I watch tv while I read blogs. Gah. I love my life!

So......Hey! How are ya? Whatchya been up to?

How was your summer? Did you do anything fun? Do any projects around the house?

We're going to start in on the kitchen again soon.....I swear. Zuddy's going to skim coat the walls in a couple of weeks and I will finally be able to paint. I think I'm going to ixnay the allpaperway. I just don't want to have to strip wallpaper again for as long as we all shall live.

I've been looking for house tours for y'all to no avail....there's just not a lot out there, ladies! But I'll keep looking, mmmmmkay?

Stencils

2010-08-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

Boy,

Have you guys seen this photo?

It's from the Sunny's Good Time Paints website. There are some awesome stencils on that site, people! I've never really cared for stencils until I saw some photos of people stenciling their walls instead of wallpapering. Like this one:

Do you love it?

This one is kind of fun, too:

And then, have you been over to jones design company website to see her fabulous office walls?

Wow. I'm thinking of painting my kitchen walls instead of papering them. What do you think?

Dad's Life

2010-07-16T07:26:00.000-05:00

Check out this video...it's hilarious and made by a church in Oklahoma!

Schmidt Sting Pain Index

2010-05-27T13:50:00.000-05:00

When Zuddy finds something online he thinks I will like, he'll leave it up on the computer for me.

This Wikipedia entry had been up for days, but it didn't register in my tiny little pea brain that it was for my enjoyment.

I'm sharing it with you.

Because I care.

Enjoy.

The Schmidt Sting Pain Index or the Justin O. Schmidt Pain Index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center. Schmidt has published a number of papers on the subject and claims to have been stung by the majority of stinging Hymenoptera.
His original paper in 1984^[1] was an attempt to systematize and compare the hemolytic properties of insect venoms. The index contained in the paper started from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressed through 2, a familiar pain such as a common bee or wasp sting, and finished at 4 for the most painful stings. In the conclusion, some descriptions of the most painful examples were given, e.g.: "Paraponera clavata stings induced immediate, excruciating pain and numbness to pencil-point pressure, as well as trembling in the form of a totally uncontrollable urge to shake the affected part."
Subsequently, Schmidt has refined his scale, culminating in a paper published in 1990^[2] which classifies the stings of 78 species and 41 genera of Hymenoptera. Notably, Schmidt described some of the experiences in vivid and almost synesthetic detail:

1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch.
1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic and burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath.
4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.^[3]

10 Years

2010-04-27T12:31:00.000-05:00

My sweet Noodle is ten today. TEN!

I can't believe it.

Something else I can't believe?

The 'reenactment' of the blessed event going on in the next room as I was trying to read blogs this morning.

I heard Lamaze breathing (Zuddy), "pushing" (Zuddy) and wailing (Noodle).

I kid you not. Hey - I'm just glad I didn't see anything.

Wish you were here.......

I know, I know.....

2010-04-06T18:26:00.001-05:00

...I've been terribly absent from ye ole blog.

But Dudes. I've been busy, you know? Super-busy.

And I wish I had some photos of all of this 'busy' to show you, but I don't.

Do you know why?

2 reasons:

1. Still no freaking camera software. And not for lack of trying. I think we need a new computer, folks.

2. Because we are not yet done painting every blessed item in my Mom's condo. There is nothing in that place that won't end up painted.

But wait until you see it!!! Just painting the woodwork made such a huge difference!

I'll give you a little preview of what we're doing:

The woodwork is Swiss Coffee by Behr:

The moving parts of the windows and the sliding door is Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams:

but we had it color-matched in Behr's Premium Plus Ultra paint (the kind with the primer built in).

Just try and imagine these colors on the patio doors in the living room:

Can you imagine?

I will try and get actual photographic evidence of my work on Saturday. I promise.

So, between working at work, traveling for work and working at my Mom's, I'm all tapped out, sisters. I'm a puddle of goo.

What are you working on?

Mom's Place

2010-03-04T06:07:00.003-06:00

I wasn't going to blog about this for two reasons:

1. I'm supposed to be finishing the kitchen.
2. You'll tell me what a loser I am for starting another new project because I should be working on my kitchen.

But here it goes.....my mom bought a condo and it's stuck in the 80's.

I can't have her living in a place that's stuck in the 80's.

I'm not sure why this is. It's most likely because I'm a control freak and want to bully her into decorating her home it how I want it to look.

Because it's all about me, I guess.

So I'm going to show you some "before" shots.

Now, these "before" shots aren't really her condo. I didn't take photos before I started because remember when I had my computer problems? All of the software belonging to my camera was knocked out of my computer so now we need to find the software that came with the camera and reload it.

And only Zuddy knows where it is.

Which means it's lost forever in the basement or in his garage. And we will need to get a new camera with new software.

Anyhoo.....

Here are some photos of another condo for sale in my Mom's building. It's very similar to hers. Almost identical.

The living room....it's 15x21:

Another shot of the living room:

See those doors leading to the spare bedroom/office? Aren't they attractive?

The correct answer would be, "No. They are not attractive."

The dining room...it's 10x11:

My Mom's dining room doesn't have that mirrored wall.

But it DOES have a hideous ca.1981 genuine imitation crystal (i.e.plastic) chandelier. Don't worry. I'll somehow get a photo of it for you.

The kitchen....it's 9x11:

Her kitchen is pretty much the same as this one MINUS the tile and PLUS the 1992 wallpaper with ivy all over it.

So anyway....there it is.

Wanna come along with me as I help my Mom update this place before she moves in?

I Like It

2010-02-20T09:36:00.002-06:00

I want these:

For my dining room. I'd swipe some silver paint over them, though. They're 41 inches high.

Remember how I went through a miniature fascination faze?

I feel the same way about big things.

There used to be a store at a nearby mall that sold oversized items. When Zuddy and I were dating, he'd take me there to look around. I still want some of that stuff.

Wouldn't one of these paper clips be cute in an office?

And really.....who doesn't need a giant pair of scissors?

You know - just in case you need to cut a big ribbon.

And how about for the kitchen?

Look at this!

Or how about one of these?

Ha haaaa!!!

Go check out GreatBigStuff.com!

House Tour!!

2010-02-17T19:35:00.000-06:00

Well....since my dear bloggy friend Sarah has missed my house tours?

BAM!

Look at this cute dining room!

And I'd love to tell you all about the house that this adorable dining room belongs to?

But.....trust me: You can't handle the truth.

Oh, fine.....you caught me. It is I that can't handle the truth.

I saw how much it cost and I curled up the fetal position and sucked my thumb. For three days.

Here's the living room. I love the creamy soothing colors and the drapes.

And the fact that it looks like nobody lives here.

Another shot of the living room looking into the family room/kitchen area:

Oooooo! And the kitchen...Do you love it?

Boy, that empty picture frame really adds some warmth, doesn't it?

The master bedroom.

Another bedroom:

Holy marble bathroom, batman!

Seriously ......

2010-02-13T10:11:00.001-06:00

.....I can't make this stuff up.

Remember that little neighborhood newspaper I was talking about here? It's the one with the funny Police Calls To Service section?

Well, here's another goodie:

Suspicious Activity

- A resident on the XXX block of of Bernard Street East called Police Feb. 3rd because a neighbor was baking brownies that just didn't smell right. The caller claimed it was difficult to breathe due to the smell.

House Tour!!

2010-02-09T05:34:00.004-06:00

Oh,Girls.

I've been wanting to post this sweet little Dutch colonial for some time.
I love her.
I want her.
I think she wants me too!
Did you see that? Gasp! She winked at me!

You missed it. Maybe she'll do it again.
Anyhoo......here's the front of her.

She's in a great neighborhood .

She was built in 1923, has 2,154 square feet of living space (all of it cute). And she has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Here's the downer: She's 390k.
The tramp.

I still love her.

Here's the entry way (seen from the living room):

Here's another view of the 23x12 living room:

Here's another view of the living room...they must have painted a more neutral color because it wasn't selling (it's been on the market a while):

Just off the living room is a 12x9 sun room:

Here are a couple of dining room (13x12) views:

The kitchen (11x8) is just off the dining room:

Here are the Bathrooms. This one is upstairs with the Bedrooms:

This one is in the basement:

Here are 2 of the 3 bedrooms:

If this one doesn't scream "I'VE BEEN STAGED!!!!!" I don't know what does.

Here's the back yard:

Do you like her?

Your Authentic Self

2010-02-08T06:25:00.000-06:00

I was walking through the maze of buildings that make up my workplace the other day when I saw a bunch of fliers posted about "being your Authentic Self". Apparently there was a lunch time seminar on finding and being your Authentic Self.

Which sounds like a good thing.

Until I started about thinking how my Authentic Self wouldn't be going to my car after working nonstop without taking a lunch break.
And my Authentic Self wouldn't drive home obeying (almost) all the rules of the road and refrain from flipping off the stupid drivers.
When my Authentic self got home she sure as hell wouldn't make a colorful salad to go with dinner.
And make her kid eat some of it.
Actually, I'm pretty sure my authentic self wouldn't even make dinner.
Nope.
My Authentic Self would have a chili cheese burrito from Taco Bell.
After a day of reading blogs and watching a pile of movies from Netflix and eating cheesy poufs.

What would your Authentic Self be doing right now?

Soffit-licious

2010-01-28T10:02:00.001-06:00

So, let's talk kitchens, shall we? Have you seen Rebecca's kitchen? Over at Older and Wisor??

She has a BUNCH of projects she's worked on, but her kitchen? Oooooh.
Her.
Kitchen.

And I do believe I need to steal her soffit treatment over here at Elizabeth Hill. Because it is said that ~~stealing~~ imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, you know.

My soffits are non-functional (meaning they aren't hiding any ductwork or mechanicals underneath them). And while I don't like them? I know better than to rip them out. I'd just be asking for disappointment there - what, with Zuddy's honey-do list not being touched as it is.

So, enter Rebecca's project:

But imagine it HERE:

On a heavier note. I realize it's frivolous to be writing about home projects and musing about kitchens and belly-aching about my 3 year-old kitchen project when the people of Haiti are struggling and hungry and homeless. I've been glued to the news coverage and it's really hitting me hard...it all feels so......bad, you know?

I feel helpless to do anything. I've honestly been wondering how I can get down there and help. But what the heck would I help with?
I'm not a medical professional.
I have no significant amount of money to give - or even money to get to Haiti for that matter.
And then I don't know if my heart could handle what I would see when I got there.
But I'm sure the Haitian hearts can't handle what they are seeing and experiencing and living every day. So then it seems frivolous that I'm even saying that.

So - suffice it to say that I will not be purchasing my materials for any work on the kitchen next week. The small amount of 'extra' money from my weekly budget will be going to Haiti.

And, yes. I feel like a fool even bringing up ugly soffits when so much suffering is going on.

I'm lucky to even have soffits.

The Year of The Kitchen

2010-01-23T07:25:00.004-06:00

The kitchen....ooohhhh, the kitchen.

I was starting to hate it..

I was thinking:

"Why did I paint the bottom cabinets gray?" (answer: because I like gray it's my favorite color)

"Should I re-paint? Just do the bottoms white like the tops?" (ummm...NO! The whole reason I chose that countertop is because of the gray.)

"Do I really want those reclaimed wood floors?" (Not really...but they are free. So tough noogies.)

But then?

I went to decorpad and saw this:

Ummmm....hello? It kinda looks like what I want this place to look like:

And if I'd just get going, it would be exactly what I want! I found a photo of a kitchen with the dark grout I think I want:

And maybe I don't want big diamonds on the floor?

Maybe I want darker wood....like Anne Turner Carroll's kitchen?

Or maybe like this kitchen with a similar color scheme to mine?

I'll take that fridge, too, thankyouverymuch.

And look at this kitchen:

And this one!

I like 'em all and they all have gray cabinets.

So, now I'm back to feelin' it, sisters.

And I need to take it one step at a time.

My first step? To scrape the walls.

I'm going to do it on Sunday. I promise.

Hi.

2010-01-13T04:41:00.002-06:00

My name is Martha.

I used to write in this blog.

Then? One day my computer crashed. It was the day after Thanksgiving.

It was all my fault. I got so excited after I saw the movie The Blind Side? That I went whoring all over the internet looking for information about Michael Oher and the Touhy family and picked up a little somethin'-somethin'.

So. There I was, no computer. You'd think with all that free time I had acquired that I'd finish my kitchen, right?

No. Nothing like that.

But I did find out I have a little girl!! A really nice one!

So I hung out with her. Played some old-school solitaire (No, really! I did! With actual cards!). Cleaned the basement and the carpets in the house. Christmas shopped. Worked. Traveled for work. Organized. You know - things we all did before we had 6 zillion blogs we were addicted to. (Not that I have that "crazy" amount of blogs! But I know YOU do.)

So, now I have a computer back....but no info. Our computer is like a shell of it's former self. We're supposed to have all of our stuff in there somewhere, see? But we can't find it.

And we have to re-install all of those plug-ins that make surfing the internet fun....but we don't want to do it until we have everything the way it should be.

So, basically I can email and that's it. Or write words in my blog, but that's it. No pictures. No good stuff.

I ventured over to my Google Reader page yesterday for the first time.
I have many posts to read.
It's over a thousand, but Google stops telling you the exact number after 1,000.

So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to mark them all as "read" and start the new year fresh!

Speaking of a fresh, new year.....do you make a resolution? What is it? Come on! I want to know! Write it in my comments! I haven't officially made one yet and I need some good ideas.

Letters

2009-11-16T05:38:00.002-06:00

Dear Target,

I hate you.

What's up with you always being out of the items I want or need? Cat food. Black cotton socks. Nutrigrain waffles. Organic 1% milk. Corn Flakes. Furnace Filter. Frozen mixed vegetables.

Get it together or I'm gone.

Martha

Dear Guy at our Arkansas office,

Sorry I walked into the men's bathroom while you were peeing.

I don't know where my head was....I really don't. I mean, I was heading straight toward the ladies bathroom and then took that fateful right turn into the men's. What was I thinking?? I don't know. My bad.

Nice shirt, though.

My apologies,
Martha

p.s. I totally changed out of my shocking pink sweater and into my white jacket after that....so you wouldn't recognize me. Did it work?

Dear Guy sitting next to me on the flight to Atlanta,

How nice were you?? Thanks for all of your help at the airport. Not many people will go out ieof their way to show us to the gate we needed. Especially at 10pm!
We had to run to the gate, but all 12 us made to our connecting flight. Then? after we were settled and ready to go? 10 more were let on the plane. Whew, huh?

And, yes, you were right: my luggage didn't make it with me.....
Which means that after getting in at 1 am, and then sleeping for a mere 4 hours, I had to truck it to my Mom's house and borrow her hair dryer and make-up.
And then? I used the wrong makeup brush and ended up with bronzer all over my face instead of the BareMinerals foundation I was using. So my FACE looked like it had been to the Caribbean? But my NECK looked like I stayed in Minnesota.

Good times.

Thanks again!!
Love,
Mart

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T05:18:00.009-06:00

Hope you had a good one!

We went 'round and 'round about a costume this year. Noodle always wants some store-bought costume like this one:

As it got closer to Halloween, I finally told her we could think of something a little more zany and original.

I always want her to dress up as a food item.
Because it's all about me.

I especially liked this one from the Food Network website:

She was horrified. She hates the food idea.

Well, how about this one? (I pull this photo out every year. It's from Ladies Home Journal)

I mean come ON!! What's not to love about a fortune cookie on your noggin, huh??

HUH???

So we went here and explored and she finally found one she liked:

It's hard to take a photo of something so shiny, but she was an iPod. With a glowing screen courtesy of many blue glow sticks taped inside her costume. Zuddy was so into it that he did the whole thing. All we had to do was show him a photo.

Later on, our neighbor Jenny came over before going to her Halloween party, dressed up as guess who?

Screamin' Deal House Tour

2009-10-16T06:48:00.007-05:00

How 'bout a little fixer-upper, huh?

I just know my Internets will love this house. It's in a great neighborhood super close to one of the lakes.

SUPER close.

It's also SUPER close to the airport, but it's been sound-proofed.

It's got 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and 1700 square feet of living space. Built in 1937, it's listed at $269,900.

I look at this house and all I can see is possibilities. Starting with the front of the house:

Isn't it cute? I think a little landscaping and a new paint color could make it downright perfect!

The dining room. 13x11.

The kitchen:

Dang. I hate it when this happens with the photos. I have no idea why they are so small! I even tried making it larger with tricks from Sarah at Clover Lane, but I just can't get it to work.

Anyway, it's a nice size and just needs a little updating. Slap some paint on those cupboards and Viola!!

You'd have painted cupboards and harvest gold countertops and appliances!

Ha!

Okay, you'd still need to replace the flooring, countertops and appliances, but that wouldn't be too hard.

Unless you were me.

And then it would take you 3 or 4 years.

Anyhoo...the kitchen is 14x10.

The living room...it's 21x13. In my world, that's a nice-sized living room.

Aaaah. The fireplace. So cute. I'd love one of those. And don't you love the doors going out to the 3 season porch?

The "Master" bedroom....it's 21x14:

The patio.

The rear view of the house.

She needs a little badunkadunk in her trunk, don't you think? I think a pergola would give her what she needs.

So, what do you think, Internets?

The Real Tragedy Of An Early Snowfall....

2009-10-15T07:07:00.004-05:00

The half-painted garage. Tragic.

Don't worry...it's supposed to be nice on Sunday and I'm buying more paint today. I SWEAR we will be finishing this project.
Swear.
Pinkie-swear.

I just typed SWEAR so many times that it looks kind of funny now......

Anyway, here's another shot of the snow looking out at our neighbor's house:

Click on the photo to enlarge it and see if you can tell what's different about the flag.

So, yeah. That kitchen was totally depressing wasn't it?

Well, don't worry. Your old pal Marty here was searching the Finished Kitchens blog for a fabulous kitchen makeover.

Oh - there are tons of them on that site. Total kitchen love.

But I wanted to find one that was realistic. A normal everyday kitchen that was given JUST a facelift.
No $10,000 ranges from France.
No kitchen designer.
NO custom cabinets.

A facelift that could've been performed on that sweet little Dutch colonial's kitchen that was RUINED by that horrid circa 1992 makeover.

Maybe the person that buys that cute little Dutch colonial will want to do what these people have done.

See here? Do you see the ugly cabinets and the icky blue countertops?

And Hello? Look at that floor.....my kitchen floor exactly (except darker).

Well, paint is a powerful thing, isn't it?

Here's another shot. The lighting isn't as good, but you can still see how the floor disappears......

And did you see Rue's makeover? Check it. Awesome.

House Flip!

2009-10-12T08:44:00.013-05:00

Guess what?

One of the houses that I've put on this blog has been flipped!!

Oooo, this is so much fun! Now you get to see what was done to it!

Ready? Oohh-KAY! (I was a cheerleader in HS...and not the good kind that does impressive flips...I just stood there, ignored the game, clapped, gossiped and applied lip gloss. Hey - at least I'm honest about it. Don't judge.)

Okay, first of all, I showed this one as a fixer-upper here. The asking price was 164k.
This was last December. Well, it's been on the market for a couple of months (I think...I saw it a while ago and just got around to posting about it today.) and now the price is 232k. Still low, but what they've done to the kitchen. Oh boy.

I think whoever did the kitchen is from 1992. I think they hopped out of the Way-Back Machine, worked on the kitchen and went back to 1992. You'll see in a second.

So here's the before photo of the front:

And the after.

Much better, don't you think?

The living room before:

And after....

Okay, here it is. The kitchen, before:

And after.

See what I mean? 1992.

Here's another shot:

I'm really sad about it.

Here's the rear of the house before:

And after....sorry, I can't seem to make this image larger. But you can see they've moved the door and removed a couple of windows.

Tell me what you think, Internets!

By the way? Snowing again today! I'll take a photo and post it later.

Still Nesting.....

2009-10-10T11:42:00.005-05:00

Yep.

Can't help it, because it snowed here today.

And I got the new Pottery Barn catalog....which is never a good cure for a case of the "gimmes", is it?

Let's review the most up-to-date wants and gimmes, shall we?

Look at this fun little compact buffet! How cute is that? What, with it's distressed finish and sparkly mirror? Love it.

Here's the same thing in a bigger version without the hutch.

Storage and lighting is my theme today...did I mention that?

No?

Okay, well.....Storage and lighting is my theme today.

I would love one of these in my dining room. You know what I'd use it for?

I'd take whatever is sitting on top of it - which would most likely be papers, pens, stray pencils, bobby pins, hair elastics - could be anything. Anyway, I'd take that stuff, open the drawer and swipe it all into the drawer.

Viola! Ready for company!

I'm keeping my eyes open for lighting above my kitchen sink.

Actually, I'm fine with what we've currently got there except for one thing: it's not easy to change the light bulb. I got a cheapitty-cheap-mccheaperton light fixture from Target and it's so low quality that the whole thing twists and turns when I try to unscrew the light bulb.

So, I'm loving this one, but something tells me it won't be a total joy to change the light bulb in this one, either.

Or this one:

This one looks like it would be okay:

And wouldn't one (or two or three) of these fun to have?

You can just pop it on a bookshelf or perhaps on top of your piano? Which, incidentally, is covered in contact paper.

Momma's Got A New Slipcover....,

2009-10-01T05:56:00.003-05:00

My Mommy made it for me! For free!

The fabric is a cotton duck and it cost $27....can't beat that!

Now all of the furniture is getting a new cover! Woo Hoo!

.....But then I'll have to paint the walls....
and the woodwork, of course.

And I'm going to need new silk curtains, I'm afraid.

You know how it goes, don't you internets?

Yes, you do.

Nesting Like Crazy.....

2009-08-28T08:00:00.008-05:00

Oh, I've got it bad.

I just want to buy things.

Like the house where this living room resides:

I WANT IT.

If this photo isn't a good argument for painting my woodwork white? I don't know what is.

And all of these pillows from Pottery Barn:

To go on my newly slipcovered furniture that my Mom is completing even as we speak!! Yay Mom!

And these from Horchow.....but I'd need to sell my child to get the money for them:

.....which is fine because she's getting sassy and heading into those volatile teenage years.

And then I'd need to sell my house and live under a bridge to acquire this planter from Horchow:

It's $1800 dollars. It includes the plant stand, which I don't want.....too cumbersome to move from bridge to bridge in my shopping cart. If I'm lucky enough to acquire a cart.

If I decide to forgo the pillows and plant from Horchow, I'm definitely going to install this pergola:

With one of these:

Somebody help me.

Mean = Hot (part two)

2009-08-25T05:22:00.004-05:00

Okay, so now I'm nervous! What if this is a "you had to be there" story? Oh....I kind of think it is. But I'll continue....because you know I always finish what I start (*snort*).

Okay, so we're at the festival and MJ and I are setting up the cooking demonstration area when Amanda shows up and and offers to do anything we want. My memory is a little foggy, but I remember MJ sending her in the Cafe kitchen....probably water or something.

Amanda comes back with a big smile slapped on her face....and I can see it's fake.

So she comes up to me and tells me she has met the offending Chef. He kicked her out of the kitchen after she not only introduced herself, but asked him if there was anything he needed for his demo later in the day.

Kicked her on out, people! To the curb!

Now. I can't tell you what Amanda does for a living, but I can tell you this: she knows a lot of people. And some of them are very famous. And she meets them through her job. Which is one of those jobs with a lot of connections. And Amanda is very good at her job and she's very nice. VERY nice. Like, give-you-the-shirt-off-her-back-nice. So MJ really likes her and goes out to lunch with her and is actually her friend.

So when I went back to work after hearing Amanda's story, and after a while, MJ asked me how my set-up was going.

What choice did I have, but to tell on that troll of a chef? Huh?

So I casually say, "My work is going great, but someone wasn't very nice to Amanda. She got kicked out of the kitchen."

MJ's eyes start snapping and blinking very fast...which is what she does when she's trying to control what is going to come out of her mouth next. So she casually says, "Oh? Who kicked her out?"
So I start to tell her, but before I can finish, MJ's marching off to the kitchen.

'Cause you don't disrespect MJ's friends. She will mess. You. Up.

Neighborhood News....

2009-08-24T05:55:00.002-05:00

This little tidbit is in a neighborhood newspaper I picked up at our little neighborhood grocery store 1 town over from us.

It's from the summary of area Police Reports:

Alcohol - A drunk and disoriented woman was removed from a restaurant Aug. 2nd on the xxxx block of Blaine Avenue. She repeatedly asked police where she was. A preliminary breath test registered a blood alcohol level of (holy crap!) .295. The woman was angry police would not take her home, but she also refused to tell them her address. She ended up in Detox instead, but only after declaring she was going to fake an anxiety attack, and then proceeding to do so.

I don't know who writes these little gems, but this is the second time I've picked up this newspaper and I'm going to continue to do so just for this section of the newspaper. I read them out loud to Zuddy and we crack up.

Mean = Hot (part one)

2009-08-22T09:23:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I'm telling you this little story because.....well? Because I know you'll think it's funny and will be able to relate.

Because you're all girls.

And I just know if any one of you were with us? You would have felt the same way.

So, MJ is working at a charity event. I'm there to help her, as is Micah - who is the nicest guy in the world and a chef. Micah is a friend of Amanda. And Amanda is super-cool and is running the whole event.

Get it? Here's the cast of characters

Amanda: Super-cool, nice, funny, managing a charity event. MJ's new BFF.

Micah: Friend of Amanda's, super-nice, funny, a chef and - get this - works as a chef in the SOUTH POLE all winter. I kid you not. Isn't that cool?

MJ: Well, come ON! She's MJ! My buddy from work. I met Amanda and Micah through her.

Kirst: Mine and MJ's BFF from work.

Me: Doofus.

Okay. So. We are at a charity event....Amanda's managing the event, MJ is the star chef and Micah and I are helping MJ cook.

We are all in the kitchen. Cooking, laughing, chatting. MJ mentions that she has been trying to coordinate the chef demonstrations for the Minnesota Garlic Festival and one of the chefs she has been in contact with is kind of mean and condescending.

So, of course we instantly hate him.

She replays all of her email exchanges with him and concedes that it's hard to tell what kind of tone someone is using when they're writing an email, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I still hate him.

So....the charity event is over and 4 days later we're all together again to work at the Garlic Festival. There's a cafe at the festival where local chefs from the most popular restaurants in the Twin Cities cook food from local farmers and sell it: with all the proceeds going to the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota.

So, the chefs aren't all bad...they're donating their time and expertise for the hippie farmers in the area.

MJ has been in touch with these chefs and has recruited them to do cooking demonstrations with her. Kirst and I are in charge of providing all the cooking equipment and Amanda is in charge of escorting the chefs from the cafe to the stage and making sure they have all the ingredients they need. Micah ends up helping in the cafe kitchen when some of the chefs don't bother to show up on time (MJ says getting the chefs to the stage on time for their demonstration is like herding cats).

Do you want me to continue?

Cutzi's Refrieds

2009-08-21T09:39:00.005-05:00

I just have to re-post this recipe. I was just reading Ann's blog and she asked for our most cherished recipe.

And OUR most cherished recipe at Elizabeth Hill is Cutzi's refried beans. We ALWAYS have them on hand.

Here's how I like to eat them: Hot beans on a bed of shredded romaine topped with shredded cheese with taco seasoning, finely diced red onion, sliced fresh jalapenos, cilantro leaves, chopped tomato (lots of it) and diced avocado. YUM.

Here's how Zuddy likes to eat them: Hot beans.

I stole the recipe directly from her blog. Stealing is the most sincere form of flattery, you know.

My crockpot is a 4 quart, so I can't fit 16 cups of water with the beans....it really doesn't matter, though, this recipe is tolerant. I just cover the beans with water and it all works out fine. I wait until the end and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt.

'Refried' Beans

In the crock pot add:
2 lbs of pinto beans (rinse them and sort through them to make sure there are no dirt or stones hanging out :)
16 cups water
3-4 slices of bacon cut into small pieces
1/4 - 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Cook on high for like 8 hours or on low for about 24 - really, just cook them until they're done and have thickened. You will have to mash them a bit at the end or just before they're done. Add salt to taste. You'll probably have to add more salt than you think.

You're welcome. You can kiss me on the mouth the next time we see each other.

What's your most cherished recipe?

MJ's Week

2009-08-17T07:51:00.008-05:00

Gosh.....again. Almost a month since my last post.

And I haven't even been reading my fave blogs. In fact I do believe I have 900-something posts to read.

I hate that.

So much has been going on......yet nothing is happening. You know what I mean? Sure you do.

Well, last week I spent some time with my buddy MJ. 'Memba her?

Man, that girl has been busy.

Last week, she put together a menu for a fundraising event at the Governor's residence and I helped her cook it. It was really really fun. And a screaming success.

Then she was on TV

And I was there with her......riding on her coattails.

And now I'm very very tired.

House Tour!

2009-07-21T05:53:00.009-05:00

Hey there, Internets! Been a while, huh?

We've been busy here doing......well? Pretty much nothing, but always something, you know what I'm sayin'?

Chipping away at projects but still not finishing them. Playing with the Noodle. Working a little. Barfing up a lung.

Yes. You read that correctly. I believe I got a case of "the food poisoning". I'm pretty sure one of my lungs has left the premises and I'm not sure I still own a lower intestine. But that's neither here nor there, is it?

No, it's not.

Because I've got a house tour to mark my return to the blogging world!

But don't get too excited because I've had some troubles finding house tours....and believe you me, I've been on the lookout.

So here's my meager offering. Oh - it's cute and all....but not SUPERCUTE. And it's not a great bargain, either. Geez. You'd think in this economy that the prices would come down a little more, but noooooo.

Okay - here we go. This one was built in 1911.
It's situated on a busy street by a nice little college.

Oh, I know, I know....you don't want live on a busy street.

Well, I'm SORRY.

Quit your whining. The price is pretty good because of it. You have to take the good with the bad, okay?

Sheesh. Ingrates.

Okay so here she is....cute, right? These older homes look so huge, but it's really only about 1800 square feet. It's got 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and it's listed for $324,555. Why the $555? I have no idea.

Love that oval window.

The current owners just fixed up the front porch. Nice, huh? It's begging for a porch swing, don'tchya think?

I would die for a front entry way. Look at that cozy little built in seat! The Foyer is 11x12.

The living room. It's 16x11.

The kitchen is 12x13. Nothing spectacular, but it's cute, right? I think they've done a nice job of brightening it up without a gut-job.

The dining room.....it's 14x12. I wonder what's behind those french doors? I can't tell....it kind of looks like a pantry? Maybe there was a built-in china hutch that somebody removed?

One of the four bedrooms.....they're all about the same size.

The third floor family room....it's 20x17 and has a bathroom.

The rear view of the house.

The deal-breaker (for Zuddy) garage. It's listed as a 2 car, but it looks tiny, doesn't it? Zuddy would not go for that. He needs a man crisis center and this one isn't large enough for the crisis in his life.

So - what do you think?

Not Sure.....

2009-06-04T09:43:00.005-05:00

Okay, I have some before and not-so-afters of my little hutch-moving extravaganza yesterday. I'm not sure about it. At first I liked it, but now I'm not sure.

BEFORE:

AFTERS:

I'm messing around with accessories. This will probably lead me to taking everything off the walls and re-arranging all wall hangings.

And then painting the walls and getting new window coverings.

And then inevitably painting the woodwork.

This is all because I had to make myself busy while waiting for little Xochi to make it into this world. Now we have 2 new sweet girls: Audry and Xochi!

This Job Stinks....

2009-06-03T07:05:00.004-05:00

I haven't worked on the garage since last week. I got about 1/3 of the way done with this side. It's boring work. It's dirty work.

I'm trying to figure out how to arrange the Noodle's new book shelf to look cute enough to show my internets yet still hold practical items.

No matter. Noodle has other ideas:

This kid cracks me up! She is so much like her Daddy...rigging things up and using that big imagination of hers. We've been talking about hammocks lately and she decided that she was going to make one for her dolls.

I'm thinking about taking off the top of this hutch and placing it across the room. What do you think?

Oh boy.....

2009-06-02T04:08:00.004-05:00

Sigh.

It's been a weird few days. I was up at 2 am today and can't back to sleep.

First of all, I'm thinking about Cutz and her baby adventure.

Second? My elderly neighbor, Mrs. C. came over yesterday.
And not for a friendly little visit, either. Oh, no.

She's becoming a little off-kilter and thinks people in the neighborhood are spying on her.

There's about an hour and half (yes. and hour and a half.) of this nonsensical conversation that I'm leaving out, but please know that it was bad enough that I had to overeat and take a nap after she left.

And then I woke up and sucked my thumb and rocked back and forth under my divorce desk.

Because it's just disturbing to hear an 85 year old woman use the "F" word. Over and over. In my house when I'm still in my jammies with bed-head and morning breath.

Third: On Saturday one of the great loves of my life died unexpectedly:

Our neighbor dog, Gracie Mae, the Shepherd-Collie mix.

We loved her like crazy. She was a remarkable girl....smart, protective. Her nickname was "The Sheriff" because Girlfriend was in charge and not to be messed with.
We were lucky to know her, but she wasn't here long enough. She brought so much joy to our family...we loved taking care of her when our neighbors, Pam and Jeff, went out of town. She was a world-class snuggler and when I'd stay over night, she'd spoon with me all night long. I can't even say that much about Zuddy.

I don't know what else to say. And I cry every time I think about her. Her sister, Nikita, is very sad. She's been howling with sadness. It breaks my heart.

WHAT??? Another Post?

2009-05-29T10:42:00.004-05:00

Wow.

Is this going to be a habit? Daily posting?

Don't worry. Probably not.

I just wanted to tell you something.

I found a pair of headphones for iPod.
Even if he's just not that into me? He's coming on a walk with me, Dammit.

Because I need me some Justin Timberlake to make it up this hill:

After my walk? I'm going to start sanding this ugly garage:

Zuddy did the side on the right with the window last weekend. It took him a whole day to sand it. He really stuck with it and he even got it primed.

So the least I could do is sand this side:

I have to get this done today so I can go to my friend Michelle's naughty adult toy party tonight.

Have you been to one of those?
I have not.

But I hear there's going to be pomegranate martinis there. And mango margaritas.
So I'm going.

And Michelle will keep filling up my glass because she likes to laugh at me when I start getting tipsy and spilling drinks. Because that's what I do. It's the first sign I've had too much to drink.

I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Playing Catch-Up

2009-05-28T15:14:00.006-05:00

I read a few of my favorite blogs today.

And I still have 637 posts in my Google Reader to read.

I can't decide if the Google Reader is a good idea for me or not.
Because, I've gotta tell ya: I'm feeling a bit stressed knowing how behind I am on my blog reading.

I mean it could take DAYS of me doing nothing but blog reading to catch up.
Well, blog reading and eating.
I mean, really.
One needs a little 'snackie' when she reads, doesn't she?

I have some things to tell you. Where do I start? I'm not sure if I should start with the really impressive things or not.
I mean, I'm pretty cool and graceful.
And lucky.

Let's start with the really graceful stuff: I was having a FABULOUS morning last Sunday. I went for a nice little early morning walk with my best friend, iPod.
After iPod and I got back we brought some chairs in the front yard and sat in the sun and drank some coffee. It was nice.
Then I got the idea to go down to the newspaper box a couple of blocks down the street to get the Sunday paper.
With my coffee.
And iPod, of course. Can't go anywhere without my buddy. My pal.

We started down the block and iPod's earbud shot out of my right ear and landed in my coffee.

Do you think iPod's getting sick of me? Is this his way of breaking up with me?

Maybe if I take Britney off of my playlist? Maybe that will help. Maybe he's just sick of Britney. Maybe he just thinks Britney has no place in a 39 year old woman's play list? I can change. I really can.

Another thing: Jon and Kate. What do you think of their situation?
And why do I feel the need to purchase every US or People weekly with Jon and Kate on the front??? I crave it. Why? WHYYY? I think I secretly see some of myself in Kate. I mean, I think every woman does. I understand some of her freak-outs yet she's so freaking mean sometimes.

Mother's Day: What did all of you Mommies do?

I asked for Zuddy and Noodle to go golfing with me:

It was Noodle's first time and Zuddy and I haven't golfed since -- get this -- I was pregnant with Noodle!! We had a lot of fun. Until the 6th hole. Then Noodle got hungry and tired and we left. It was still fun and a perfect day.

Did I tell you about my new flooring for the kitchen? Did I?

I'm really excited about this. The owner of the company Zuddy works for bought the house next door to the office and then ripped anything good out of it and tore it down. Zuddy kept wanting to show me the place before it bit the dust, but I wasn't interested, quite frankly. I mean, the place was a total dump.

Well, one day I visited him at work and he dragged me over there. Yeah. It was a dump. But guess what? It had wood floors in the living room that nobody took! I asked Zuddy to rip out for me and put into my kitchen!

We have no idea what kind of wood they are....maybe pine. It's hard to tell because the wood is old-growth and has a tight grain. Anyway, here are a couple of planks as they look now:

I originally wanted some old-fashioned black and white linoleum, but - hey. Free floors.....know what I'm sayin'?

Besides, I could do something like this:

(Photo: Cottage Living)

Couldn't I?
I don't know. Could I?
I mean, seriously.
Look what I did with my iPod earbud. I don't really think I can be trusted with some gel stain and painter's tape, can I ?

Alright....Alright....

2009-05-07T11:29:00.004-05:00

I know I've been a total slacker in the blog department.

But, really.
There just hasn't been a thing going on here.

Well, except we've been "finishing" projects after that little world-wide-web outburst of mine.

Noodle's furniture is all painted, but there are still a few finishing touches to put on before I can give you actual photographic evidence of this completed task.

Next on the agenda is to paint the garage. (I know, I know. You were thinking, "tile that freakin' kitchen backsplash already!" Weren't you? Well, I want to get the garage painted before it gets too hot. Plus, I'm mulling over some beveled subway tiles vs. plain cheap ones.)

In the meantime, Noodle has had the audacity to turn another year older:

The nerve of that girl! Turning 9 before I've had the chance to lose this baby weight. Rude.

We've also been having playdates with Noodle's best friend Lily, who is a very intelligent little girl..........until we get finished with her. I swear, she drops a few IQ points every time she comes over to our house.

Let me illustrate:

And...there you go! Good times.

I've also been traveling a lot. San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Boston again next week. I've wanted to visit with my internets in those towns, but I just haven't been able to juggle a visit and the meetings I need to attend.

Okay. I have a confession.

I can't stop thinking about painting my woodwork. Tell me to stop. Please. Tell me I can't do it before the kitchen gets finished.

Please. Help a sister out.

Ooo. One last thing: I haven't been keeping up with my blog-reading except for the blogs of my two expectant blogging mommies: Sarah and Cutzi. It's killing me. I want to see photos of sweet little babies. I'm thinking about you girls!!!

What I've Been Doing On My Spring Vacation.....

2009-04-10T10:26:00.006-05:00

First of all, my friend Kim came over to give me a taste of her baby's deliciously chubby little leggies:

Turns out her face is pretty yummy as well:

Kim has a very busy little boy. He barely slowed down for a photo:

That smile? Fake.

He was a little annoyed that I wanted to take his photo and gave me a quick, "Here. I'll smile. Hurry up and take the photo."

On Wednesday, I took care of Sweet Reenie. She informed me she wanted a quick dunk in the tub.

"Just for fun." she said. I kid you not. That kid makes me laugh.

I let her have a Pedi instead. She was good with that.

Now? I'm working on painting. Noodle's desk and 2 bookcases. And touching up my upper kitchen cabinets.

And this, my friends, is where you may want to quit reading. Because this is where your friend explodes with frustration. My teeth gnash and the swear-words are flyin'.

Because painting has been no small task since I had to go to Sherwin-Williams THREE TIMES for the paint I needed. I kid you not. Here is a summary of my visits.

Visit #1:
"You don't have an account here"

Umm.....yes I do.

"No, you don't".

So I leave.

Visit #2 (helped by another associate):
"Yes, here's your account. We don't have that paint in stock."

Ummm....yyyyeeeah. I kind of got my paint at the specialty paint store so I wouldn't run into this crap. Are you not, in fact, a SPECIALTY-FUCKING-PAINT-STORE???

"I can have it here later today, ma'am."

Turns out I have absolutely nothing better to do than visit you jackasses all the live-long day. I'll be back next week, douchebag.

Visit #3:

Yesterday.
Got my paint. One gallon for $47.
Sorry about the swearing, internets. And no - I didn't swear AT the Sherwin-Williams associate. It was all totally in my head.
Sometimes the only thing that can make things better is to let the "effenheimer" fly. Try it.
You'll like it.
Don't judge. I warned you.

So, I'm FINALLY painting the wainscoting on the ends of the upper kitchen cabinets....they were primed, but not painted.

And even though I've asked him more than once?
That Damn Zuddy hasn't finished the caulking of the upper goddamned cabinets. Which makes all of my paint-getting moot.

Because I can't fucking paint what hasn't been fucking caulked.

Okay?

That's why it's never been painted. I forgot that little detail. So when Zuddy got home I very nicely asked him to caulk so I could do my painting. Fucker.

And Noodle's "new" bedroom furniture. It needs one more coat. Maybe two.:

Remember earlier in this post when I told you there were 2 bookcases? The reason I've never painted all of this is because LAST SUMMER Zuddy promised to sand and prime the 2nd bookcase that was in the garage.

I'll let you sit there and think about whether or not the sanding and priming of the second bookcase ever happened........

Are you feeling the venom seething through every vein in my body?? Are you feeling it?

BECAUSE MOMMA'S STILL HAVING THAT BREAKDOWN, PEOPLE!

I'm Fine...Just Not Myself.....

2009-04-09T11:32:00.001-05:00

Suppose I said
I am on my best behavior
there are times
I lose my worried mind

Would you want me when I'm not myself?
Wait it out while I am someone else?

Suppose I said
Colors change for no good reason
words will go
From poetry to prose

Would you want me when I'm not myself?
Wait it out while I am someone else?

And I, in time, will come around, come around
I always do for you

Suppose I said
You're my saving grace?

Zuddy's Rx for Mama's Breakdown....

2009-03-26T05:12:00.003-05:00

Stephanie - from Bungalow Insanity? Maybe this would be more suitable before your 10:30 work meeting?

Oh....maybe not.

Mama's Havin' a Breakdown....

2009-03-22T09:08:00.010-05:00

Luckily?

My sister called just in time (she's a nurse):

We collaborated on my treatment.

I decided to listen to this song on my iPod 3 times (It's a video. Click on it, but don't watch it. It's John Mayer. Watching him sing isn't pretty. Listening is.)

Then?

She said I needed to watch a movie. Luckily, this just came from Netflix:

During the movie? I was supposed consume one of these:

I increased the dosage to two.
(Don't tell her.)

Then I ate some of this:

I'm feeling MUCH better.

But I think I may need more of this:

What's On Your Playlist?

2009-03-21T04:45:00.005-05:00

I can't get enough music lately...my iPod goes everywhere with me.

In fact? I'm seriously thinking about upgrading to an iTouch:

Did you know you can RENT a movie from the iTunes store?

You load your rented movie on this little baby, watch it......and then it disappears in 24 hours! So you don't need to return it or have it suck-up space on your hard drive.

Sweetness.

But right now, I need more music.

Let's hear it, ladies! What's on your playlist?

Mama needs a some new tunes.

Friends....

2009-03-18T04:51:00.007-05:00

Some people are lucky enough to have friends that they've known a long time (like - since the 10th grade).

If the friend is really good?

She will send your daughter a card for every holiday.

On Halloween? She'll ask if she can pick your girl up from daycare - and she'll dress as a princess. You know - just to make a statement.

And then she'll take her to dinner at her favorite restaurant before bringing her home for a night of trick-or-treating (and a prime photo-op):

And - because she's the type of person who can't go a day without getting something important done......maybe she'll squeeze in short wedding before heading out to the St. Patrick's day festivities......

Mr & Mrs. Finnegan

Congrats to my pal......And for the groom - my favorite Irish Proverb:

Happy Wife, Happy LIFE.

House Tour!

2009-03-17T04:51:00.005-05:00

I think I let you all down....didn't I, Interpeeps?

You didn't like that last house, did you?

My cousin Claire came over with Franklin ('memba Franklin?) last night and we talked about that monster of a house (about 4 miles away from here) I posted.

She no likey.

She thought it was a disgusting display of wealth. Well.....she didn't actually say that, but I know my cousin. She was thinking it.

So I looked for another house for y'all.

This is it, people.

It's in a GREAT neighborhood.....within walking distance to Whole Foods, a bank, florist (for when your ~~Zuddy~~ loving partner wants to surprise you with flowers), PAINT STORE and a great, tree-hugging college in which one could study for a nice Master's degree. All the things a girl needs.

Are you ready for it's cute, cottagy adorableness???

Are you?

BAM!

Awwww....how sweet is that? It was built in 1916. It's cozy - 3 bedrooms and 1 bath with an unfinished basement. About 1000 square feet for 269,900.

How 'bout this front porch, huh? Sweet.

I love the living room (20x12). I was scrambling to find a house with white woodwork. 'Cause I know Mrs. Thirkel prefers it.

The dining room is 12x12.

Okay, this is where you'll have to use your imagination......the kitchen is 10x10.

I'm sure there are some people who would show you a big ugly monster of a house to get you to appreciate the cuteness of a house with a sub-standard kitchen.....but I'm not one of them.

I would never use a tactic like that.

I simply don't have the smarts.

Or the strategic mind for such antics.

Maybe we could switch the sink and fridge around.....what do you think?

The "master" bedroom - 16x12

Another one, 13x9

The rear of the house - there's a 2 car garage and the lot is 124x50.

What do you think of this one?

HOUSE TOUR!!!

2009-03-15T12:30:00.006-05:00

Boy.

I'm having a heckuva time finding a realistically-priced yet adorably decorated house for my interpeeps!

It's rough out there right now, people. There's a lot out there for sale, but many of the houses are over-priced and have been for sale for over a year, so there's not much that's new.

So I made the executive decision to just show you fabulous.

Even though it's not really my idea of fabulous. Well - I shouldn't say that. It is fabulous, but not exactly the cute little cottagey type houses that I go for.

In fact? It's a monster.

12,371 square feet of living space. 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms. It sits on a 2 acre lot and was built in 2005.

And it's almost 3.8 million dollars.

As you can see, it's very understated in it's appearance:

And the front entry (20x17 feet) doesn't resemble a whorehouse at all:

Kitchen #1 (21x19):

The Master bedroom (32x16):

Main level Family Room (24x17):

Kitchen #2:

The Theater room:

Dance Studio:

The gym....

The Pool.....

What do you think, people?

Letters

2009-03-12T15:31:00.003-05:00

Dear Guy On The Plane,

Wow - seriously? 3 Jack and Cokes in a row at 9am?

Hey - I've been known to get my "drink on" once in a while. And believe you me - I'm not exactly subtle when I do it. Sometimes it involves a night worshipping the porcelain God.

But typically?

I'm at a party.

With people.

Socializing - you know.

Not on my way to a business meeting across the country and drinking myself into a stupor in First Class.

Alone.

Well - you weren't totally alone. I was sitting there right behind you judging you.

Good luck and I'm here if you need me,
Martha

Dear Guy at the Airport,

Wow. Really? How do I explain you to my friends in blogland?

Okay. First of all - I didn't even see you. My co-worker Scott did. He was so excited to point you out to me that I think he broke out into an actual jog to meet me when he saw me come down the concourse to our gate.

First, he explained that he saw you at the security checkpoint.

With your pants completely unfastened.

I think that tipped him off to keep on watching that freak show you've got goin' on there. Scott doesn't normally use the word 'flamboyant'? But it really seemed to be the right fit when describing you, because you are no shrinking violet - oh no you aren't.

And - that HAIR! How do you do that? It's like Richard Simmons on acid! You can't just wake up like that - you have to be working at that look. That's an achievement, you know what I'm sayin'? Good work on the hot pink noise cancelling headphones, too. I can't think of a better way to top it all off up there, buddy.

How about that belly shirt? Dude.....not okay. I mean, where do you even get one of those? It was all wrong with the pants. But when you took the pants off to reveal the shorts, it really seemed to pull it all together. Good for you.

Except it's, like, 10 degrees here. So........yyeeah. Maybe shoulda kept the pants on.

Hey - keep on keepin' on, mister.
Martha