Projects

As a holiday “bonus” I received a free $50 gift certificate to the gift shop at the museum where I work on weekends to supplement my theatre income. I appreciate free as much as the next person, and I certainly don’t mean to sound ungrateful for a free gift, but Ted and I have had this thing for well over a month and we’re having a heck of a time finding something to spend it on. We have three gifts shops in the museum and we’ve each been in them all twice to try to figure out how we want to spend it. We’ve had no luck.

You see, we’re not “stuff” people. We don’t like to accumulate random clutter, ornaments, figurines, or other junk that we don’t need and will only takes up room in our apartment. We much prefer to live simply and spend our money on experiences, events, outings, destinations, necessities, or things we really do want.

The gift shops all have very nice stuff, but none of it is anything we particularly need. Lots of books, IMAX DVDs, science kits for kids, games, rocks and gemstones, jewelry and vases, t-shirts, etc. So, here we find ourselves, with $50 that must be spent by mid-January and nothing we’re aching to have, even if it is free.

As I see it, this leaves me with two options. I can spend it on fun/educational future birthday and Christmas gifts for our young nieces and nephews, or I can buy 75 prettily-colored rock candy sticks, hang them from our ceiling, and use them as an innovate decoration with which to fancy the heck out of our apartment for New Years Eve…the likes of this:

(via)

They’re a pretty, innovative decoration and classy NYE bauble, easily accessible for a sugary snack fix, and they’ll look glamorous both hanging on a chandelier and jazzing up my glass of NYE bubbly. Then once 2012 has been properly rung in, they’ll make a tasty addition to my nightly dessert

I haven’t yet decided if I’m kidding or not.

Thoughts?

Happy PackerBowl Sunday! Have you selected your best Packer shirt and most spirited team accessories to wear while cheering on the Packers in this evening’s game that I know you’ll all be watching? Please forgive the assumption that every family out there does this the night before SuperBowl as we do.

Ted is at work until 5 today for tech rehearsal, but he’s already in on the action wearing his Packer shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, hat, and Packer shoes (yes, shoes). For the big game we’ll be heading over to the home of one of his work friends (they’re Steelers fans, so this will be fun!) to watch the SuperBowl and chow on chili, bratwurst, and taco dip. Excellent! Ted is seven shades of disappointed that he’s not in Green Bay right now for all the pre-game city spirit, decorations, and the welcome home parade and day off tomorrow if they win tonight. But his sister sent him an official SuperBowl program that he’s been delicately cradling since it arrived yesterday afternoon.

Last night after church we braved the icy rain to drive over to the Kenwood shopping district (the word “mall” doesn’t seem to do it justice). After navigating the maze of a parking lot and sharking for a space for nearly 20 minutes, we were lucky to spot a singular empty space waaaaay out in the boonies before any of our fellow sharks did. We snagged it in record speed with some seriously awesome maneuvering skills and decided that kenwood is definitely not the place to be on a Saturday night. We made the trip for one purpose only – the Apple store, to drop off Ted’s Mac for repair. But I couldn’t help walking by places like Loft, Anthropologie, Gap, Forever 21, Nordstrom’s, Crate & Barrel, and the Cheesecake Factory and just sniffing in the essence of these places I somehow had spare change to shop at occasionally when I was single and that I now miss splurging at. Ah well, such is life, right? The rent on our beautiful home, heat, and car insurance are more comfortable than a new sweater anyhow.

When we arrived home we cooked dinner together, pancakes and scrambled eggs, and snuggled onto the couch with several warm blankets and some snacks to watch a funny movie. We chose the movie RV from our collection – and it was hilarious! Definitely funnier than I thought it would be, so if you’re looking for a light, carefree laugh, this one is a good pick.

Want to see what else we did yesterday? First, there’s this – the long-awaited basement shelves are finally finished!!

Yes, those are indeed “bright ass Ikea yellow” doors. They were minimally damaged in shipping so they had to sell them for dirt cheap. Why anyone would want a door that color is beyond me, but whatever. We snatched them up immediately because they were cheaper than finished lumber and would make great shelf boards when cut to size, and we added some color to our basement in the process! Since the basement’s foundation is bowing in on that side Ted had to take a lot of extra steps to get the shelves to secure to the wall and be level enough to hold weight, but he’s smart and creative and did such an awesome job! Also, the water heater in this house is over 15 years old we’re counting on it blowing any time now, and when it does it’ll most likely flood the basement, so we’re trying to get everything in waterproof plastic storage containers or off the floor altogether – so these shelves will be really helpful if/when that does happen. After we’ve organized everything down there I’ll have to post a before and after picture from when we first moved in until now – the carpeting, the shelves, the insulation we’re adding – it looks miles better!

We also did this:

Brand new kitchen cabinets were part of the landlord’s renovations right before we moved in. But they only put one shelf in each cabinet, which was such a waste of vertical space. And though we loved how spacious the kitchen was, it was desperately lacking storage. So Ted bought some laminate board, cut it to size, and slipped in a second shelf. Just like that, we have instantly more than enough room to store all our stuff, whereas before we couldn’t store half the amount of things that are in those cabinets now.

And finally:

Sproutlings!! A few weeks ago I planted basil, parsley, cilantro and mint plants. I use so many herbs in cooking that I might as well be growing them – so I am. I hadn’t seen any growth and was worried that, between the lack of full-time sunshine and it being so cold in the house, I’d killed them already. So last week I moved them into our bedroom – the warmest and sunniest room in the house. And Friday morning look what popped up! And they’ve just been growing new sproutlings every day since! I put the pots in alphabetical order so I’d know which was which, but I somehow managed to get them out of order, so I really have no idea which one this is, but my hunch is that it’s the mint. Either way I’m happy to know they’re blossoming. I still think it’s funny how much I used to loathe spending a Saturday afternoon herb and plant shopping at the nurseries with my mom when I was a kid, and now I’m planting herbs of my own. HA.

I hope you had a happy weekend! Go Pack!!

P.S. I got another album of wedding pictures up on Facebook if you’re one of the people that’s been looking for me to post them for the past 3 months. The pro pics will be up sometime this week.

First, an important update:  The pie was indeed delicious.

We’ve been busy this weekend! We’ll start small and work our way up. Take a look…

Before

After

*In case you’re wondering what the bejeezus that hideous thing is, it is one of many stains all over the upstairs carpeting in our house. The stains were there to begin with when we moved in, but every time we cleaned the carpet the stains got worse and we couldn’t figure out why. Finally, we got smart. We think the industrial strength carpet cleaner we were using to spot treat was too strong and was actually pulling up the wood stain coloring from the hardwood floors beneath the carpeting and dying the carpet. We’ve switched to something less harsh and while the stains aren’t gone completely, they’ve definitely diminished. Our carpet looks much better.

Before

After

*Our kitchen is now fully functional and I love it. We finally have plenty of counter space to prepare food (without having to place ingredients on the floor because that’s the only place they’ll fit when the cutting board is out), counter space to set dirty and clean dishes on (so I can quit breaking our wine glasses in the metal sink), storage space for all the utensils, appliances, French Corningware, bakeware, storage containers, and pots & pans (in neatly organized cabinets and not on the floor), a floor to walk on (that’s not littered with random kitchen things – no more hopscotch!), new stuff we can actually enjoy using now (because it isn’t stored in a box in the basement), and now, somewhere to sit and eat together (not in front of the TV) next to a warm fireplace! Pure Heaven. I think it looks awesome!

Before

After

*I think this one is Ted’s favorite (it is pretty cool)! We upgraded from a 20″ tube TV with failing speakers that Ted purchased when he lived in Philly six years ago to an energy-saving 46″ LED Sony flat-screen he’s had his eye on for quite a while. We also needed a stronger and bigger TV stand to hold it. Between the exact TV we’ve been planning to purchase being on sale that week, price-matching, and some negotiating between stores as to which one could give us the best deal on a stand if we bought the TV from them, we took the plunge. It’s nice to be able to read words on the screen again!

We also got a great start on building the shelving system for the basement and Ted built sawhorses this weekend as well so we can work on this and future projects.

Despite all that we got done, we were still able to relax and enjoy our 3-day weekend together. We went out for dinner and a movie on Friday night, watched the NFL playoff games, ordered Chinese takeout while we watched some of the Golden Globes, ran a bunch of errands, went to Ted’s doctor’s appointment, and played card games. I wish every weekend could be so relaxing and so productive at the same time!

Dear Cincinnati,

I don’t know if you are aware of this, so I thought I would point it out to you. Today is November 13. While I appreciate your holiday spirit and decorating enthusiasm, and while I’m sure that giant Christmas tree you are loading into Fountain Square today is pretty fabulous, I have to ask, why is it here NOW? Do you realize you are forgetting about an awesome holiday? Thanksgiving is 12 days away, it’s still like 65 degrees out, and I haven’t seen a single turkey, pilgrim, Indian or cornucopia cutout being hoisted into Fountain Square yet. I have, however, seen ample Christmas sales and Santa and garland decorations in the malls since November 1.  I love Thanksgiving and I’m a little miffed that it is being skipped. We are blessed with an entire holiday to devote to appreciation and being thankful and we can’t even be thankful for that! We get a whole month of Christmas joy starting December 1st (ahem). So cool your jingle bells, have a piece of pumpkin pie and get into the Thanksgiving mood Here, I’ll help you:

Sincerely,

Lara

Today we did NOT cut down our Christmas Tree at a farm or merrily unpack our stockings and ornaments like many people I know. Why? Because it’s still November, that’s why. Instead, we filled our day with decidedly autumn activities. We finished hauling multiple truck loads of raked leaves over to B-Zak Landscaping and we received a visit from the Culligan man this afternoon to test our water and set us up with a water softener rental so our dry skin can get a little relief.  I went to the library and rented the movies Across the Universe and Annapolis. I hear they’re both very good. Also spent the morning washing our sheets and comforter and kitchen linens and tablecloth while Ted worked Evita tech at UC this morning.

After dropping off the leaves we headed to Home Depot (are you counting? That’s 4 times this week. Do we win a prize?) and picked up a shovel, firewood and landscaping rocks to build our backyard firepit. Wanna see? Start with a backyard.

Clear a 4 ft. circle of the top layer of grass using your brand new shovel. Don’t worry Mr. Fireman, the pit will only be 3 ft. in diameter as Anderson Township fire code dictates. And no brush burning! We are up-to-code citizens.

Dig out the sides of the circle to start making a pit and use the extra dirt and grass to fill in the multiple ankle-twisting holes in your backyard. Smile at the genius of it all. Start laying rocks firmly into the dirt. Fill in the gaps between rocks with dirt so the stones sink a bit and then dig out the center to create a pit for the wood.

Marvel at your handsome firepit and be sure to take many pictures of your hard work. Add firewood. Repeat marveling and photo taking. Take out firewood because it’s going to rain tonight and postpone your late-night s’mores and weinie roast to another night. Now, I know it looks like I did nothing here since all the pictures are of Ted doing the labor. Not true my friends. I took pictures but I also shoveled, dug dirt, laid rocks and filled in holes. But he did most of the hard work ;-) I forgot to mention yesterday that Ted also put down the runner in the basement, started placing empty boxes under the basement stairs for storage and began setting up our electronics in the living room (while I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner!). Love him!

Tonight we are going to a Newlyweds Dinner at the Catholic parish down the road. There is going to be an author and guest speaker there talking about his book and “what I wish I knew during the first five years of marriage.” Should be interesting – and free dinner! Have a great Saturday evening everyone.