Update

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth and I haven't had this baby yet--life has just been busy, so blogging has taken a back seat for a bit. 

Anyway, the bathroom project is coming along (finally).  We re-laid the tile and it stuck, so we were able to grout last weekend and finish up some final tiling this past weekend.  Removing the tile from the wall resulted in big holes in the drywall, so the drywall has now been patched and painted.  Next weekend we'll spend putting up the new backsplash tiles and then we can put the vanities back in.  Huzzah! 

In other news, Thanksgiving was this past week.  Yeah, it was the day before Black Friday!  Remember that day?  Chris grilled the turkey on his new Weber grill and it was un-freaking-believable:

Also, Griz seems to be excited for the kiddo to get here.  She spent quite a bit of time in the stroller and the car seat this weekend.  Both pass her seal of approval:

This project SUCKS

Sorry about the brief hiatus.  We've been busy around here and the bathroom project is not really going all that well.

Looks not too bad, right?  We laid the tile and waited the requisite 24 hours before stepping on it, only to find this:

Preeeetty sure that you're not supposed to be able to lift tile up like that. 

So, are you ready for a kind of long story?  Two weeks ago, we laid the tile.  Found out that the tile didn't stick in several places.  The following weekend we installed the vanities anyway so we'd have a functioning bathroom while we had guests in town last weekend for my baby shower.  So guess what we get to do this coming weekend?  We get to uninstall the vanities, fix the floor, then wait for the floor to dry before grouting.  Then we can reinstall the vanities!

But wait!  There's more!  The vanities and faucets are so much taller than the previous ones that the medicine cabinets don't fit between the vanities and the light fixtures.  So now Chris has to move the light fixtures up a few inches to accomodate everything.  All of this is before we even tile the backsplash or put baseboards back on. 

So, that's what we've been up to lately.  Good times!!!

Where have I been?

Here's a clue:

Yup!  I had a quick business trip in South Dakota last week.  I had ZERO cell phone reception while I was there, so my plans to blog from my phone were completely thwarted.  Oh well. 

South Dakota was fine.  Not a whole lot going on there, it appears, but there was some beautiful scenery.  We got to see Mt. Rushmore, which is truly impressive, especially when it's lit at night.  The Crazy Horse Memorial was also quite impressive, although one does have to wonder when it will be done.  After 60+ years, this is where it's at:

They have a ways to go.  The crazy thing about Crazy Horse is how absolutely HUGE it is.  For scale purposes, check out the top of the horse's head above.  Those are tractors.  It's big.

In other news, this weekend we started tackling the master bathroom and I'm exciiiiiiiiiiiiiiited!  I need to order the vanities this week, but we've made progress in painting the walls and changing out the light fixtures and it looks much better already.  In fact, I not only painted the master bathroom this weekend, but also painted the guest/future kid's bathroom this weekend.  Photos to follow tomorrow.

Like little gems on my toes!

I treated myself to a pedicure this weekend.  I usually stick to shades of red or pink or go straight to black, but I really liked this color. 

(Excuse the red mark on my foot from my shoe strap.)  It's Essie's Dive Bar and it reminds me of sapphires:

I also treated myself to something else this week.  Hint:  it's in the photo above and I'm kind of obsessed with it.

Also, here's your weekly dose of Griz:

Poor cat--doesn't she look miserable?  I took her to the vet yesterday and she now weighs 9.6 pounds!  Yes, she's still a pretty petite cat, but considering that she was a scrawny 7 pounds when we got her and full of tape worms and had a mouth full of rotten teeth, 9.6 pounds is fabulous. 

***Also, this week I plan on doing a little blog maintenance: resizing old photos, recategorizing some stuff, etc. so bear with me if things get wonky around here.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was fabulous--the weather cooled down a ton (enough for me to put on a sweater!) and gave us a tease of fall.  With highs in the low 60's and rain on Saturday, it was the perfect day to do just a few errands and then stay at home with the slow cooker on (I made shredded beef tacos) and work on a few things around the house.

I also bought this book over the weekend and you know what?  I'm loving it.

As with almost every home/design books, there are photos that I love and some that don't do anything for me at all, but overall I think it's a great book.  There's a huge mix of styles so there's a little something for everyone and the projects also range from completely simple, why-didn't-I-think-of-that? ideas, to the more complex.  I haven't gotten all the way through the book yet (it's about 400 pages and I'm taking my time), but I think this will be a book I go back to again and again.

Also, last night was the Emmys, which--don't let anyone fool you--is all about the dresses, not about the awards.  My favorite?

Kate Winslet can really do no wrong in my book.  She always looks fabulous and she seems smart, fairly normal and down to earth, and really classy. 

Least favorite?

Gwyneth's hair looked stringy and would have looked better if it were pulled up and I'm not a fan of the bare midriff.

Photos from Yahoo!

Weekend Plans

It's the weekend again!  Hooray!  This weekend we're picking up the crib (it was supposed to take 10-12 weeks, but ended up taking 4 days), assembling the crib, I'm going to hem curtains, and I also want to make pancakes with lots and lots of berries.  Kind of like this:

Happy weekend everyone!

Weekend Recap + a Recipe

How great are three-day weekends?  I love them (and could certainly use more)!  This weekend was the perfect amount of productivity and relaxation.  Ahhhhh...

On Saturday night Chris made homemade pizza with chicken andouille sausage and spinach:

On Saturday we also picked out and ordered our crib!  Thank goodness we did too, because it's going to take 10-12 weeks for delivery--that'll put me at 32-34 weeks!  Yikes!

On Sunday we assembled the Ikea dresser that I bought last week.  Griz helped, naturally:

Seriously, this cat will not leave us alone:

On Monday night we had a few friends over and I made a tomato pie.  Have you ever had tomato pie?  It's only like the best. thing. ever.

Carmelized onions:

Health food (cheese and mayo):

Almost done:

Seriously, this stuff is SO GOOD.  And because I'm nice, here's the recipe from SimplyRecipes.com


Ingredients

• 1 9-inch pie shell
• 1/2 yellow or red onion, chopped
• 3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approximately 3 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 leaves)
• 2 cups grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozarella)
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pie shell in oven and cook for 8-10 minutes or longer until lightly golden. If you are starting with a frozen crust, you'll need to cook it a little longer. If you are using a homemade crust, freeze the crust first, then line the crust with aluminum foil and pre-bake it for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

2.  Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes, using either paper towels, a clean dish towel, or a potato ricer.

3.  Sprinkle the bottom of the pre-cooked pie shell with chopped onion. Spread the chopped tomatoes over the onions. Sprinkle the sliced basil over the tomatoes.

4.  In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, Tabasco, a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mixture should be the consistency of a gooey snow ball. Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.

5.  Place in oven and bake until browned and bubbly, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes.

Serves 6.





Seriously, make this while tomatoes are still in season.  You'll love it.

Weekend!

Not much planned for this weekend, just waiting to see what happens with this lady:

I'd like to keep working on the rocking chair for the kiddo's room, and hopefully I can get out this afternoon to check out some fabric.  I'll keep you posted!

Hope everyone stays safe!

Whoa!

Sunday marks the halfway mark in my pregnancy.  CRAZY.  I have no idea where the time has gone!  The weekend agenda will include much baby-related stuff (crib shopping, a prenatal yoga class, some online registry-making, and glider repair) as well as a few non-baby-related things (replanting the flowers in the planters next to the front door, which I've managed to kill).

Last month my boss gave me the rocker/glider that her husband was rocked in when he was a baby.  Overall it's in great shape:

I love that it isn't a true rocker either, which means that Griz's tail won't get rocked on if she wanders around behind it.

There are a few issues that need to be addressed though that make it less than baby-proof:

 Not sure why there are little nails sticking out of it.

There are also screws sticking up from out of the bottom that need to be addressed.

So, I need to clean it up, make it baby safe, and patch up the holes left by those little nails.  I also want to scope out some fabric for the cushions and recover those some day.  At this point, I'm leaning toward keeping the wood the current finish rather than painting it, but we'll see the state of things after I'm done cleaning and patching it this weekend. 

Ahhh...vacation!

Just got back from spending a few days on Lake Norman with my family.  Nothing like a few days with nothing that you have to do to help recharge one's batteries.  On the agenda-less agenda: manicures and pedicures, some shopping, some good meals out, kayaking, swimming, bb gun shooting, magazine-reading, and storm-watching.  It was rigorous.

Target practice and safety lessons for my nephew

Pregnant chick with a gun--watch out!

This storm was crazy.  It sat on top of us like this for about 10 minutes without raining before the bottom dropped out and it POURED.  It looked like something out of the Harry Potter movies.

Seriously, where are the dementors?

The fam.  Chris wasn't able to go with me, unfortunately, but we're hoping to get away for a few days in the near future.



TGIF!

Happy weekend folks! 

Life is getting a bit back to normal now and our house now only contains 4 people instead of last week's 10 and at some point next week we'll be down to 3.  All told, this whole kidney transplant process has been remarkably smooth.  The whole family really pulled together and pitched in to help cook dinners, take care of the house, and transport patients back and forth.  All in all, I feel like I did very little in this whole process! 

Anyway, I'm hoping at some point to make it to the farmers' market this weekend to pick up more peaches.  The peaches this summer have been INCREDIBLE and I want to take advantage of them as best I can before the season ends. 

Not my photo.  From pinterest.

Maybe I'll make this drink recipe?

Photo from Real Simple

Ingredients

3 cups ginger ale
1/2 cup peach nectar
2 ripe peaches, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Directions

1.  In a pitcher, combine the ginger ale, nectar, peaches, and ginger.
2.  Serve over ice.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Hi!

Another little hiatus there...sorry 'bout that!  I haven't been super inspired lately blog-wise, plus we've been a little busy, so posting is still a bit erratic.  Since things have been a little nutty around here lately, I figured that a little weekend trip up to Washington DC for a friend's baby shower was a much needed little break. 

While in DC I was slightly obsessed with a friend's vase (I'm weird) that was perfect for hydrangeas.  It was a Kate Spade bowl vase that she got for her wedding and was similar to this:

Now I must find one.

Weekend!

Image from pinterest

It's FRIDAY!  I'm taking today off work to catch up on rest and stuff around the house.  Between work and kidney transplants, life has been a bit hectic, so I felt like a day off is plenty justified!

On the kidney transplant-front, both brothers-in-law are doing great and will be discharged today and coming back to our house to recuperate.  My brother-in-law B who received the kidney has requested gazpacho at some point this weekend (he hasn't been able to have tomatoes for 18 months), so I'm going to go to the farmers market and pick up the ingredients.  If I can dig out my favorite gazpacho recipe, I'll post it here next week. 

I'm also hoping to swing by a fabric store at some point this weekend to pick up some fabric for curtains in the future nursery.  I'm thinking plain cream with some sort of embellishment, but we'll see if anything else strikes my fancy. 

Anyway, hope you all have a lovely weekend!

I'm back!

Sorry about that hiatus there--I'm back now!  Last week was my work week of craziness and I'm happy to report that I survived!  Ninety-one hours, most of which was on my feet, did a number on my body but I held up pretty well overall.  Nothing a massage can't fix.

Yesterday was the kidney transplant and I'm also VERY happy to report that both of my brothers-in-law fared just fine and are now recovering in the hospital.  They'll probably be there until Friday or Saturday and then they'll make the transition to our house.  It was a fascinating thing to be a part of and in many aspects it reminded me of flying in an airplane: it's something that is mind-blowing in theory to most of us, but to the surgeons and pilots that perform their duties, it's something routine and actually rather boring.  And boring is not always a bad thing:  I think you generally want "boring" when it comes to surgeries and flights!

So, anyway.  There's a brief update.  Sorry for the lack of pretty pictures and house projects lately.  It'll pick back up again in the coming weeks as life returns to normal.  Thanks for understanding!

So...

...I've alluded to the fact that life is a bit crazy at the moment (and thus this blog has become LAME lately), but I haven't really gotten into specifics.  So, here's what's up: 

1) This is my busiest time of year at work.  This week in particular.  Four 18 hour days back to back on my feet, high stress and little sleep.  Good times!  Thankfully it's only 4 days and then after that, the work pace will slow down a bit to resemble normal people hours.

2)  During this time, we're gearing up for Kidney-palooza 2011.  What the hell is that, you ask?  My brother-in-law, B, has kidney disease and his kidneys function at like 15%.  He's been on dialysis for about 18 months and while it's great in that it, you know, allows him to LIVE, it's not exactly ideal.  He's stuck at a dialysis clinic 3 times a week for like 4-5 hours each time and then feels like poop for the rest of the day.  So, he needs a kidney transplant and my other brother-in-law, S, is donating the kidney.  Yippee!!! 

B lives nearby, but S and his wife and four kids live in Michigan, so they're all coming down next week for the kidney transplant.  They'll all stay with us during the surgery and for a few weeks afterwards during the recovery, so we've been busy cooking and getting the house in order for the 7 (potentially 8 if my mother-in-law stays with us) additional people staying at the house for a few weeks.  We're excited that this is all happening and hoping that we can manage to squeeze in some Fun Family Bonding Time (FFBT).  I don't think any of us are entirely sure what to expect though, so a lot remains up in the air until we have a better idea of the recovery time. 

And then that brings us to the final item on the agenda and that is Item #3:

Yep.  I've stopped working out.

Just kidding.  In our biggest home improvement project yet, we're expanding the family!  Baby K is due at the beginning of January and we're super excited!  (Grizabella's super excited too, as you can see above.)

This has been by far the biggest reason why the blog has become lame lately.  While I (blessedly) got through the first trimester without any morning sickness, I was plagued with exhaustion and hunger like I've never experienced before, leaving me with no energy to complete any projects or really do much of anything other than lay on the couch and watch episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix (brilliant show, by the way), while shoving my face with anything spicy and then complaining about heartburn 20 minutes later.

Anyway, I'm into my second trimester now (15 weeks) and beginning to feel more human again.  I even mustered up the energy to put the second coat of paint on that ledge in the breakfast room yesterday and did a little yard work while the weather was nice!

So, in a nutshell, that's what's up lately around these parts and that's why posting has been a bit sporadic and a bit lame lately.  Once we get through the next few weeks, we'll start working on the nursery and hopefully be completing a few more house projects prior to the arrival of our little one!  I'll keep you all updated of course as we tackle all of this stuff. 

Whew!!!

Happy Weekend!

Helllleeeew Friday!  I'm very happy to see you!

I'm going to have to spend a few hours at the office over the weekend, but I'm still looking forward to the weekend nonetheless.  Aside from work, I have a few things on my to-do list:

Rake the front yard
Replant the flowers in the front planters
See Harry Potter (YAAAAY!)
Finish painting the shelf-y thing in the breakfast area
Make a delicious dinner

That's about it!  Hope you have a great weekend! 

Oof.

Sorry for the lapse in posts yesterday.  This is my busy time of year at work and I had only 9182730928 things to do yesterday morning and it appears blogging was just not one of them. 

Anyway!  Today is Friday and that means the weekend is a matter of hours away!  We've got a get-together to go to on Saturday and some house stuff to get done:  I'm painting this weird little ledge in our breakfast room and I want to finish that this weekend.  We also have a bunch of family coming into town at the end of the month for a few weeks, so I'm going to try to do a few make-ahead meals to freeze, like lasagna, pulled pork, and chicken pie.  Easy peasy!

Of course, we'll spend some time relaxing too before work gets even more hectic next week.  If posting gets sporadic again, I hope you understand!

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Happy 4th of July!

Is anyone else completely SHOCKED that it's July already???  I feel like it was just my birthday, and that was several months ago.  Anyway, regardless of whether or not I can believe it, this weekend is the 4th of July and I'm very excited.  I'm heading to Lake Norman for a little bit to hang out with my parents and my cousin, who I can't wait to see! 

On Sunday, I'm heading back into town and the husband and I are going to see David Gray!  I've loved his music for a decade and I'm so excited to see him.

The rest of the weekend may hold a bit of shopping, a bit of cooking, and maybe a bit of painting. 

Also, this looks good:

I might have to make it (a smaller version).  Recipe here.

It's Friday!!!

It's finally Friday!  Did anyone else feel like this week was never-ending?

Our weekend's plans are pretty minimal:  a bit of cleaning up, a bit of cooking (some more muffins, maybe throw something in the slow cooker), look for some curtain fabric, and a bunch of relaxing.  A trip to the farmers' market wouldn't be a bad idea either, since now is such a great time for local produce.  I think peaches are in season now and maybe okra?  If so, I'll have to post my favorite okra recipe next week.  It's ridiculously good and super easy.

Oh boy, weekend!!!  The possibilities are endless!

I'm back!

Enjoyed my little blog-break.  There was just too much going on and something had to give.  Plus I wasn't feeling super inspired, so a break was needed.

So, for a little while now we've had a bit of a problem.  Seems like a certain cute little kitty likes to jump up on this banister.  Not such a big deal, but said kitty isn't terribly graceful and she's almost fallen off at least twice (that we know of).  And lately she's taken an interest in those weird little window thingies.  Like she's plotting how to jump up there.

And if she misses, it's a long way down:

I know cats generally land on their feet, but I really don't want to risk it.

So, my lovely husband spent some time this weekend putting up some plywood to act as a cat barrier.  It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but sometimes that's not what matters, right?  A) it's the bonus room and not many people see it; B) it makes the house a lot more functional; and C) it gives us a little peace of mind.  So there.

Here's the little trouble-making stinker:

So there you have it.  It was a super exciting weekend around here, as you can tell.