jennypah

Grandpa

2012-01-06T22:44:00.002-05:00

I found out early this morning that my paternal grandfather had passed away. He was 89 years old.

It wasn't shocking since he had been sick for awhile (he was in a persistent vegetative state for about five years or so) and we had an inkling last year that his time was near. Even knowing all of that, I was still surprised to see my youngest brother's email, sent at midnight, breaking the bad news because he didn't want to call and wake anyone up. (I know, what a sweetheart.)

At about 6:15am, I broke down and spent a good five minutes on the bathroom floor crying. I've never had anyone in my immediate family die before. Sure, I've had friends and acquaintances pass; but never family - I have my siblings, my parents and up until yesterday I had both sets of grandparents. I continued to get ready for work and contemplated staying home. I thought about the meetings I'd miss at work and how I would likely spend the day miserable and crying my eyes out. I then thought of my grandpa and how he fought for so long and how we, his family, all held on to hope for so long. How now my aunts and grandmother would have their lives back in sense, as they spent the last five years caring for him at home. I decided to go to work and it helped keep my mind off things. But at the end of the day, the moment I walked through my front door, I cried.

Grandma, Grandpa and Jenny at age 2 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The above picture is about 28 years old. I remember my grandfather fondly... how he and my grandmother would visit every year for a few months when we were growing up. Sometimes they'd come together, sometimes they'd alternate their visits - one grandparent at a time. They both knew how much I loved anything to do with airplanes (just like my dad) and would make sure I got those plastic pilot wings or even just packets of those airplane peanuts (before peanut allergies were an issue). Sometimes those peanuts would be salted and if I was lucky, they'd be honey roasted. Yum!

When my brother Frankie and I were little, we were horrible eaters. We would drag out breakfast forever. I don't understand why we did - it goes against human nature but we did. My mom would start getting angry and would be ready to holler at us. In swooped grandpa and what did he do? He BRIBED us! He offered us each a quarter to finish our breakfast and get off to school. We weren't stupid, we took the deal and gobbled down our breakfasts and we were 25 cents richer.

I have so many wonderful memories of grandpa, but it's so hard to grasp that I'll never see him again and all I now have are pictures and memories.

Grandpa, rest in peace. We love you.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T11:59:00.001-05:00

I have been really bad at posting lately... probably because it's so much easier to do it on Facebook...

Anyhow, there's been tons of things that have happened - a bunch I can't even recall. We had Halloween, celebrated Thanksgiving, enjoyed Christmas and toasted the New Year.

Most exciting is that I went snowboarding for the first time last week. The hubby, brother, his girlfriend and I headed up to Blue Mountain for most of the day. I spent a couple hours learning the basics on the bunny slope (many falls included, including a hard one right on the tailbone - which btw still hurts). Then for some crazy reason we decided to go up to the top and try a green run. I got on the lift just fine but then totally wiped out getting off and then did a third of the run off the lift and gave up. The mountain was just too high and the runs seemed way too scary. Here are a few pictures of me looking a little cool...

Learning the basics ...

...still learning...

omg! I am vertical... and I look awesome!

and... much less awesome now...

I am pretty sure this is where I fell right on my tailbone

So all in all not a bad end to the year. Hopefully I'll be up to try snowboarding again in January and/or February... must...not...give ... up.

Happy New Year to all!

Missoni for Target

2011-09-24T10:59:00.001-04:00

At this point it's probably old news... no, it is old news. Missoni (an Italian fashion designer known for their funky knits/prints) collaborated with Target to create a line that's affordable to likes of you and I who are not Rachel Zoe.

The line featured everything from clothing to bicycles and on it's debut day sold of of Target stores and their online site in mere hours. By some miracle I was able to snag some items online during moments where the Target website let me through.

I snagged the below sweater which just arrived at my house last night along with an XS bikini bottom, S bikini top and a silk scarf. I am still missing the other sizes in the bikini since I ordered each piece in two sizes and a silk scarf.

The sweater is pretty lightweight since up close it's a crochet kind of knit. It's absolutely my style being that it's black. The only thing that I find off is the sleeves seem a tad on the long side but nothing I cannot live with. I mean seriously it's MISSONI that I could not otherwise afford without thinking I'd miss the month's mortgage payment.

This scarf I am still waiting for...

This one I have and love, it's looks way more vibrant in person than in the picture.

Oh ... hello there...

2011-09-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

Wow, this has been the longest I have gone between blog posts! I have no idea where the time has gone, well maybe I do.

I've been quite busy with...

Work - yup, it's still kicking my ass
Being a first time Matron of Honor to my sis-in-law (which comes with many responsibilities)
Friends having babies
Work - that again

We've already closed the pool for the year (so sad) and I am gearing up for fall and winter albeit unwillingly.

I threw my sis-in-law's bridal shower back in August (almost a whole month ago!) and here's a few snaps of my crafting...

A favorite treat of hers, Special K bars, cut into heart shapes for favors

Striped paper straws with flags and cute wedding sayings

Body wash and poofs as favors... get it? because it's a bridal shower...

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T16:45:00.001-04:00

To all the mothers out there, but most of all to my mom.

Thank you for teaching me so much (especially how to balance my checkbook). And stop blaming yourself for my shopping habit... it's my own fault too.

I love you.

What was I thinking when I decided to switch to decaf?

2011-04-10T18:59:00.000-04:00

I love coffee. I love coffee as much as I love my husband or is it that I love my husband as much as I love my coffee? Coffee did come before the husband...

Anyways, there was always a debate in our house over if I needed the caffeine or really (as I always said) loved the taste of coffee. I could drink [caffeinated] coffee before going to bed and sleep like a baby. So we decided to put it to the test and it turns out, I just like the taste of coffee.

Since we have a Keurig coffee machine and I was buying the caffeinated K-cups I had to go decaf. My favorite K-cup is Coffee People Donut Shop and they make a decaf. This where the fun stops, for some reason Amazon didn't have it (I know! Amazon has everything!). I had seen a ton of it around the holidays at Bed Bath and Beyond but when I went no dice. Then I scoured the internet and found it online at Walmart for a great price. Fast forward to today, when I realized I have less than 8 K-cups left I couldn't find them anywhere for a decent price, that is until I went to Keurig.com

In other K-cup related news... Dunkin Donuts will be selling their coffee in K-cup form this summer!

Baby, It's (Still) Cold Outside

2011-03-27T15:03:00.001-04:00

We had one gorgeous 70 degree day back on March 18 and since then it's been nothing been snow and cold. That groundhog is pure evil because he is obviously a liar because I still have to pull on my Ugg boots in the wee hours of the mornings to go to work.

I figured I'd combat the it's-still-too-cold blues by thinking and buying for spring and summer (that is IF they ever come). Some of my purchases this past week...

Both from Ideeli...

EIGHTY SIX Boho Tube Dress $45

VINTAGE HAVANA Pucker Tie Waist Dress $25

I (officially) Hate Winter

2011-02-02T12:35:00.001-05:00

This has been the winter from H-E-L-L. We have gotten quite a lot of snow and it just keeps piling on top of itself, the small accumulations have been easy but it seems it snows every other week or so. I've had to reschedule a doctor's appointment twice on the account of inclement weather. Here's a summary of the significant weather.

Our first snow storm hit right after Christmas, leaving us with about a foot of snow and my working from home at least one day.

We got another big storm late in January, again working from home. This time the snow was heavy and we (really Nick) had to shake the snow off our big tree in the front and our evergreens in the back.

Today (or rather since yesterday evening) we got an ice storm / freezing rain - whatever you want to call it. Our big tree is weighted down as are the evergreens but this time with a nice layer of ice. Here's a close-up of the big tree encapsulated in ice.

Along without our mailbox. Good luck opening it USPS.

Fabulous Find

2011-01-31T21:58:00.000-05:00

Found two of this amazing lamp (the other one is on the floor because I only have one night stand right now) at Marshalls back in December for $29 a piece! They were on clearance and they work, the reason for the mark down? The missing finial to keep the shade on. (Just noticed that I should take the tags off, the plastic and straighten out the lampshade a bit).

Now I know why the lamps were on clearance cause lamp finials that match, are turning into a bit of a pain to locate. I think I found a pair on the internet, now just have to suck it up and buy them.

Here's a picture of how it looks next to the bed. I would've taken a better picture of the room but it's a bit messing since some of the room has become Nick's "staging area" for the attic work he's been doing.

Hard Disk Not Exist

2011-01-04T07:05:00.001-05:00

In English that means the hard drive is not detected and therefore D-E-A-D. Dead on New Year's Day.

The useless laptop is sitting in my desk waiting for the box from HP so I can send it in for repair and an attempt to recover the data from the hard drive. The laptop was last backed up in May which isn't good enough but better than nothing. (so HP, if you read this blog and somehow I don't think you do, I am good if you can hook me up with my data for the last 7 months - thanks.)

By mid January I should be up and running again...

Nick's Pride and Joy

2011-01-04T06:09:00.001-05:00

It seems like Nick has been working on the electric and insulation for an eternity. There is still the basement outlets and the lights to the EIK, dining room and foyer.

The hub for all the electricity is the breaker panel. He has done a meticulous job organizing the box and I even know which breaker to flip if needed.

The Freedom Tower

2010-12-30T14:26:00.000-05:00

I pass the Freedom Tower at least twice a day going to and from my (still new) job downtown. Yesterday I passed by four times! The first time I noticed a tiny corner of shiny glass and was in awe of how it finally looks more like all the computer generated images of what will be in 2013 than the orange skeleton that's been rising into the sky.

Today even more glass has been installed and it is breathtaking to watch the progress and what the completion will symbolize for many people with a direct connection to the events of 9/11.

I am way behind...

2010-12-28T10:07:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost two months since I last posted and that wasn't much of post at all. I'm undecided if I should continue blogging since Facebook has become a blog-like forum for me and everyone else in the world and FB is a bit easier to update than blogger. Hmmm... I'll keep thinking about this for awhile before I make any kind of major decision.

Now to what's been going on at Casa Tocci...

Christmas Tree Acquisition (December 12, 2010)
We got our Christmas tree. This year we decided to try Lantier Tree Farm in Monroe Twp, NJ and we were very pleased with the selection of trees and the tree we got.They have acres upon acres of trees and our tree, a blue spruce, was perfect for hanging ornaments but blue spruces are prickly as heck! It was a bit painful to hang the lights, beads and ornaments but in the end we have a gorgeous. Hopefully all the needles will fall off before we have to un-decorate the tree.

Baked Christmas Cookies (December 18, 2010)

I made our usual of Chocolate Thumbprints, Mexican Wedding Cookies and K Bars. Shared some with co-workers, friends, family and my husband's belly.

My sister-in-law got engaged (December 18, 2010)

Yes she got engaged while I was slaving away making cookies. She just bought a house with her fiance this year (before they were engaged) so the engagement was expected but it's always so exciting when it finally happens and the wedding planning talk begins! It's going to be a very busy 2011.

Christmas Festivities (December 24-25, 2010)

Christmas was a bit of a bummer this year, I was sick all through the events. I went through it in a bit of a haze and no appetite but still had to prep a bunch of food and show up when all I wanted to do was sleep. Now on day 6 (Dec 28) I finally feel better but just a bit congested.

Hopefully the last snowstorm of 2010 (December 27-28, 2010)

We had a heck of a lot of snow this year. Two HUGE storms days apart in early February and most recently, the day after Christmas we get hit with a Nor'easter. We got about 20 inches of snow!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

2010-11-04T15:49:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my dear husband!

Wishing you a wonderful day and many many more.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T15:35:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Nick and I aren't dressed up today; too much to do around the house. Last night, we did the dress up thing. We had a Halloween party at our friends' house and went as John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Helps that hubby looks bit like John and I got the Asian thing going to be Yoko Ono.

We used a lot of what we already had for the costumes and picked up a few things to finish up them. For Yoko I bought a hat (she likes hats), some 70s-ish sunglasses and some sweater-like stockings (that you can't see in the picture). For John, I made Nick some pretty kickin' bell bottoms out of an old pair of jeans and added the 'wings' to make them belled out; he bought a wig and got a pair of glasses. Nick also went and shaved his beard off! Talk about hard core for Halloween!

Gorgeous Morning

2010-10-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

I took the day off to accompany my dad to the hospital. He's having a procedure done as part of overall treatment for his cancer (I'll post about this long ordeal another day).

On my way into NYC to Columbia University Medical Center, I had the pleasure of sitting in some traffic on the George Washington Bridge. Thankfully, instead of being angry about the traffic I was able to enjoy the sun rising upon NYC. Here's a couple of pics from my cell phone while stopped on the GWB (ignore my dirty windshield).

I had no idea I married a contractor...

2010-10-21T19:49:00.000-04:00

Nick's been super busy around the house lately. He's made an attic hatch in the garage so that he can access the wiring of the house as easily as the attic stairs he installed in the upstairs hallway.

He's been upgrading our electric to copper since we discovered most of electric was aluminum (it was legal to use aluminum when our house was originally built and then they found out it was no good).

Nick's made a couple of holes (and messes) through out the house but I am being as patient as possible since once it's done it'll be done. While working on the massive electric project he had to pause for about a day to fix our leaky dishwasher thatch/seed our lawn.

The best (only in hindsight because he's fine) was when I heard a crash and came out to the garage to see his leg (for just a split second) dangling in the hole. Now it's a great extra place to throw down some cut wires into the garage without having a ladder in the way like the entry hatch has.

Dzwilewski Wedding Projects

2010-09-26T22:02:00.001-04:00

The wedding has been over for a week. I am still recovering from all those evenings and weekends planning and making wedding stuff. I actually had a dream that we forgot something... it's never good when you have dreams about whatever it is (especially someone else's wedding and work).

The first of many projects and the most complicated was the wedding program. There was so much design work that went into matching fonts, creating the anchor and leaning everything up just right. Also the religious/church related practices that I have no clue about but learned quite a bit about and what order they

Then the seating cards which were so easy once I set up a merge between an excel guest list with the table name. (I love technology!)

Then the bride had some backorder issues with a guest book she wanted but found one at Hallmark but we both felt it was too plain. So add some ribbon and a hot glue gun... presto chango!

I also made, as a gift to the bride, a money bag to collect all her wedding cards. I had kept the details to this a secret because I had wanted some design freedom (a.k.a. no wedding pressure). I made this out of barely off white satin, it's lined in the lightest pink with navy blue ribbon ties and embroidered in navy with Bride and Groom's last and first initials. Needless to say, she LOVED it! I was a little sad to give it up because it's one of the nicer things I made.

There's a whole bunch of other stuff I did but seriously can't remember (or I am blocking it out). I am just thrilled they're married and honeymooning in Italy while I regain some order in my life.

Congratulations Chris & Amanda!

One more week!

2010-09-12T21:23:00.000-04:00

Chris and Amanda's wedding is less than one week away and I have a busy, busy bee helping them out. I've done and will be doing quite a bit that I can't even keep track of it myself anymore.

I've made...

wedding programs
seating cards
table names (instead of numbers - see picture below)
embroidered bridal party gifts
stickers for wedding favors
guest bag notes from the bride and groom

As much as I enjoyed helping, I can't wait to have my free time back and for this wedding to be done. More pictures of the finished projects when I take pictures at the wedding.

A Whole Lotta Stuff Going On

2010-08-18T23:20:00.000-04:00

I admit it, I've been kinda lazy with the blogging lately but I have about 100 perfect excuses! It's been a very busy summer between work, the house and me getting a new job. I am just plain exhausted. On top of that I am an "honorary" bridesmaid for my husband's best friend's fiance (did you get that mouthful?). I've been helping her stay sane by helping with the stuff that comes easy to me. I've so far embroidered some beach towels for her bridal party, designed stickers to put on anything and everything, designed the table names (instead of numbers) and have a few more things to do for the wedding.

This wouldn't be a proper blog if I didn't throw in some pictures, so here is the photographic evidence of my busy busy summer...

Instead of baking zucchini bread in loaves, I decided to experiment with cupcakes! It works and hubby says it's got all the best parts all over...I think that's the crispy bread crust stuff. I wouldn't know, I don't eat it... I just make it.

Then I spray painted my office closet doors. The before of the au natural wood and now (a much cooler) black color. I went through THREE cans of spray paint.

Also had the cousins and siblings over a few times each. It's been a very busy summer and I think I'll be thankful to go into fall. For now I have to say good bye to co-workers I've had for the last 3 1/2 years as I end a chapter in my career and move onto bigger (and hopefully, better) things on August 30th.

First Tomato Salad (from July 19 2010)

2010-08-05T17:54:00.001-04:00

So I am a bit behind posting to the blog. A lot has breen going on in the lives of Nick and Jenny but most importantly we have been enjoying amazing tomatoes for a few weeks now.

Frog in the Pool

2010-07-18T10:35:00.001-04:00

My brother, Frankie and his girlfriend, Alice, had dinner with us and then we jumped into the pool. After a couple hours we decided we needed some Sonic shakes and started cleaning all the toys out of the pool. We realized one toy was missing. Some of the toys have a new habit of drifting into the chamber where the filter basket is so that's where we assumed it was. Hubby reached into the chamber and had a mini-freak out moment because he felt something in the chamber and it wasn't a toy.

Nick expected some kind of dead creature because he found one in the pool about a week ago but thankfully didn't really let on. We popped open the top to the filter chamber and found this little guy swirling around in circles. It took a second to figure out what he was.Then came the yelps of, "It's a frog!"

So we scooped the frog up (and I dubbed him Kermit) and got ready to release him back into the wild.

Iron Chef New Jersey

2010-07-12T19:51:00.001-04:00

Our garden has taken on mutant proportions. We have tons of green tomatoes, basil, and lettuce, but the one item that has been in great abundance is squash. We have zucchini and yellow squash galore!

Lately it's been like an episode of Iron Chef at our house with zucchini and yellow squash as the secret ingredient.

We've had it grilled (which is the go to) but I decided I needed to be a bit more creative with our meals.

So I became Mario Batali (but I have red Crocs) and made...

Squash with shell pasta, walnuts and raisins. The side was thinly sliced cucumber in a rice vinegar, sugar, salt mixture topped with sesame seeds.

My next challenge yielded stuffed squash for dinner. This was semi-homemade. Started by halving the squash and clearing the seeds out with a grapefruit spoon (those serrated edges are awesome). I had Nick grill the squash halves for a nice flavor and those lovely grill lines. I saved the seeds part and later sauteed them with some onion and garlic. Then on the side I ground pre-cooked sausage from Trader Joe's (the flavor was spinach and something) in the food processor then combined with seed saute adding pecorino romano cheese, garlic powder and mixing. Then stuff the squash with the mixture and throw into the oven on 375 for about 25 minutes to heat everything through really good.

Today I am making zucchini bread. I actually have it in the oven right now and need to kill an hour before it's ready.

July 3rd Harvest

2010-07-03T18:33:00.001-04:00

4 yellow squash, a curved cucumber and a stunted zucchini.

Today's Harvest

2010-07-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

Zucchini, yellow squash, big ass Japanese cucumber and two bush pickles

Mutant Garden

2010-06-12T00:04:00.001-04:00

Some of you may remember the crazy zucchini we had from our garden from last year. This we've done the garden again but bigger and better!

We always have tomatoes and basil. We again have zucchini, added yellow squash, red leaf and romaine lettuces, red bell and banana peppers, regular and Japanese cucumber and Japanese eggplant. Last year we planted regular eggplant and they were destroyed by these eggplant loving itty bitty beetles. So far the Japanese eggplant looks great with no holey leaves.

The yellow squash. The yellow squash is thriving and we're going to be knee deep in this stuff.

This here is our very first tomato.

Finally the lettuce and basil (and you can see a pepper plant).

The thing is we've probably only had this garden for about three weeks and we already have baby versions of a lot of the vegetables. It's really unbelievable how quickly we have baby veggies as I didn't expect anything until late July but I think we'll be eating things before the end of June from the garden (obviously some yellow squash).

What did you make... Jessica Tandy cake?

2010-06-07T12:00:00.049-04:00

My husband couldn't remember the name of this cake and kept calling it Jessica Tandy cake.

Saturday was my sister-in-law's birthday party, her actual birthday is today. I offered to make her cake and having found out she was having a margarita theme (pizzas and drinks) I decided I had to do something by making her a cake. I played 20 questions to make sure she likes the cake and found out she wanted peanut butter tandy cake. My first thought was WTF?! So I googled it. I found the Betty Crocker recipe and figured I couldn't go wrong with Betty, she's been doing this a lot longer than I have.

I started out by baking the yellow cake and splitting them into two 9x9 pans. One with a little more batter than the other.

To carry out the margarita theme I had to be a bit creative and it turned out pretty darn awesome. I started with Bakerella's basic cake pop recipe to get me going. I wanted to maintain the peanut butter tandy cake flavor so I compromised on the look of the margarita theme. Bakerella's cake pops usually use a light icing but I needed peanut butter flavor instead. I crumbled the cake and poked around the internet and found an easy way to make peanut butter icing on Epicurious. The I mixed some frosting in with the crumbled cake until it was dough-like and could be formed into shapes.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons (about) whipping cream (optional)

Put powdered sugar and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth, adding whipping cream by teaspoonfuls if frosting is too thick to spread.

After creating the mixture I began to shape the pops. I had to make a cookie cutter out of a small plastic container that I cut the bottom of (I need to get me some cookie/shape cutters). Then use the candy melt that will coat the outside as a glue on the pop sticks before pushing them into the formed dough.

Now pop those babies in the freezer to set the candy melt glue and harden the cake mixture before dipping. Melt the rest of the candy melts in the microwave and then it's time to dip!

After the candy melt dipping I spun the margarita glass in light blue and purple sugar sprinkles to create the margarita salt. The "fruit" was made of Jolly Rancher jelly beans that I had lying around. I cut a little wedge out of each so they'd sit on the rim of the glass.

And voila the finished cake...

Update: A Spreader is not just a Spreader

2010-05-27T21:03:00.001-04:00

I got the wrong spreader. Yup for my 3rd anniversary I got hubby the wrong thing. It was supposed to be the Scotts AccuGreen 3000 Drop Spreader. I should've known it was the one that sounded too fancy and slightly intimidating for a spreader. Honestly, they all looked the same too me except one that looked too small and a lot like the one we already had.

Heck it even looks intimidating. But hubby was nice enough to take the wrong one and receipt back to Home Depot and pick up the Caddy of spreaders.

Happy 3rd Anniversary

2010-05-24T22:47:00.000-04:00

Happy 3rd Anniversary to my favorite (and only) hubby!

We made big plans for today - head to Philly and have us some Roy's. Roy's is a restaurant that we ate at with our friends and family the night before our wedding and loved it. It is also one of two small pieces of Hawaii that we have locally. The other being L&L Hawaiian but it's more of a fast food place than a proper celebratory venue.

Before we headed out... Hubby was wonderful and surprised me with a bouquet of calla lilies (from my wedding bouquet) that were the right shade of red! (If anyone remembers my bouquet's callas - they ended up pretty darn purple and I had a mini melt down prior to the ceremony). Leave it up to my husband and a local NJ florist to get it perfect - thank you!

My anniversary gift may not seem exciting but Nick wanted it and I think he deserves it. Something to make it a little bit easier keeping up after this big ass house we bought. Let me introduce you to Nick's new Scotts Deluxe Broadcast Spreader... he's got a spreader that's over 20 years old from my parents and it kinda just throws stuff everywhere with no regard as to what's around. This baby has controls and you can make the little orange guard underneath "block" where you don't want stuff to get thrown. For example, it's probably a smart idea to keep grass seed out of the swimming pool and vegetable garden. Plus this deluxe model holds enough stuff to throw around on 15,000 square feet... I don't even know if we have that much grass. Honey... what you do you think?

New Mailbox

2010-05-18T22:03:00.001-04:00

Before you get excited... this is what it looked like before... kinda wimpy. kinda pathetic. Nick's fixed the hinges a few times each and we've had to get tetanus shots before getting the mail (just kidding about the tetanus) but it was a pretty rusty mailbox.

We had discussed several different mailboxes. First something related to Nick's favorite hobby, fishing. A large mouth bass...

or a lure...

Maybe something a bit more traditional...

We went traditional with the Mayne Westbrook Plus Mailbox, Post and Planter in black. Nick hit a few snags digging out the rusty ol' mailbox and the post we knew was still there. Turns out there were three mailboxes worth of cement in the ground right in a row. So I figure if the house is a little over 30 years old, three mailboxes ... it's safe to say that a mailbox probably lasts around 10 years.

Another issue we discovered a little late in the game is the space available for a mailbox wasn't exactly enough to be too traditional with the mailbox. You see the USPS, being a government agency and all, has rules. They have requirements and some of them are: the front edge of the mailbox has to be set about 5-6 inches back from the edge of the curb. USPS also tells you the mailbox should be about 41-45 inches from the road surface. Bossy bossy bossy. So due to the setback requirement we had to be a little crafty with our mailbox.

Yup ... sideways. Now it's unique without it being a lure or a fish. For anyone that cares I planted orange and yellow begonias in the planter. Another Tocci project accomplished.

Congratulations Class of 2010

2010-05-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

Not only was it baby brother's birthday, but also his college (*weep*) graduation this weekend.

Congratulations Jonathan!

I remember the day this little boy was born. My brother Frankie and I placed bets on whether he'd be a boy or girl. To think of it I think I owe Frankie a quarter...

This was a painfully long graduation ceremony, including speeches and awarding of degrees honorary and real it took about 4.5 hours to see him and hear his name for a hot minute. Then we grabbed him, took some family pictures and high tailed to dinner at a restaurant of his choice.

Happy Birthday to the Penguin Lover

2010-05-15T22:01:00.001-04:00

My youngest brother (I am the oldest of three) loves penguins and it's kinda insane how we all fuel his love the non-flying bird. For my birthday I got from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Hello Cupcake not a cookbook but more assembly book for cupcakes.

The book had penguin cupcakes that I felt required too many supplies and this did it my own way. The cupcakes started out in regular cups and in these brownie pop forms I found at Michaels. The cupcakes were to be the penguin's body and the other forms the head.

Then it was time to pop the heads. I did this two batches because the form only made eight at a time. I learned less is more and spray the pan! The "heads" on the left look a little messed where as the right side looks much much better.

Next it was assembly time. I put white frosting in a bag and piped on to create a glue.

And an army of brown chocolatey future penguins.

Now throw those brown blobs into the freeze for at least ten minutes to allow the makeshift frosting glue stick and harden the cake. To ice the penguins you need a dark food coloring, I used chocolate, and some frosting coloring. I used Wilton's in a little container. Now this part is really important, unless you like the taste of frosting coloring. Mix some, making a spoon of the coloring into a full jar of the frosting (I think it's 16 oz). It won't look like much but an icky brownish/grey. Now microwave 10 seconds at a time, stirring in between, for 30 second. You're icing will be black if it isn't dark enough add a little bit more coloring to the dark bubbly stuff and stir.

Now take those frozen penguin bodies outta the freezer and dip them in to the molten lava head/top first (yes lava makes penguins). Then flip onto it's bottom and let the icing ooze to cover the rest of the bottom. You can always touch it up with a dipped spoon and drizzle where it needs more icing. Here's what lava covered penguins look like ...

They are totally messy and I had black icing all over the place but be patient cause, I promise, they will look pretty kick ass when all is done. Keep dipping those penguins.

Now if you are suicidal, like me, you will think that adorable penguins aren't enough... they need icebergs (like in the cupcake assembly book). This part is actually the easiest. Take regular cupcakes and ice with white/vanilla icing. Sprinkle some blue sparkly sprinkles, throw on some coconut flakes and add some fish-like edible candy and voila! An iceberg! or icebergs!

Next up decorate those penguins. I used white frosting to create the white belly and the eye whites. Then added mini chocolate chips (smooshed in backwards) to create eyes and more white icing to put a little sparkle in the eyes. Then I used the unmelted black icing and piped on wings (because black cookies that the book wanted me to use where not in two grocery stores - I think they just made it up). Lastly I used Sunkist Fruit Chews in orange and lemon to create the beak and feet.

Voila! Happy Birthday Jonathan!

*Disclaimer* No actual wildlife was harmed in the creation of these baked goods. Although the following photo may show baked good violence.

We Got It!

2010-05-14T23:30:00.000-04:00

We went to Lowe's last night and since it was next to the Pier 1 I popped over for a look. I inquired about the Hayworth Buffet (yes I know it was made for a dining room but I don't care). Turns out it was the last one in the entire region and because it was scratch and dent we got 25% off! So I ran over to Lowes to tell hubby and he replied with, "Let's get it!"

So here it is in the foyer with some pictures, cards and my birthday flowers from my brothers.

Funny Bunnies

2010-05-07T22:10:00.002-04:00

The other day Nick saw two bunnies in the backyard. I didn't see it but he said it looked like they were fighting each other but by the time I got to the window they were just chilling under our bushes.

Then they decided to lay out under the trees, maybe they were trying to get some color for the summer.

Here's one bunny up close so you can see it laying out. Apparently they think it's Sandals Resorts, but I don't see a beach or waiters serving carrot juice. There is a swimming pool though...

I want it, but I'm not 100% sure...

2010-05-03T06:39:00.000-04:00

I want to buy this gorgeous piece of furniture...

... and put it in my foyer, here.

The table would be a hall table and I think would look good. It's a silver accented mirrored buffet with the perfect drawers and cabinets.

A Working Oven

2010-05-02T23:23:00.001-04:00

We finally got a replacement oven in the house last Wednesday. It sat in the middle of our kitchen for a couple of days until it could be installed.

We actually ordered one oven with the warranty company but when hubby measured the current oven he realized the ordered oven was a couple inches too tall. Thankfully we were able to cancel that order and get an oven that would fit in the cabinetry. It was installed on Friday afternoon.

It works as it should... like a new oven. It's digital so when I ask for 350 degrees it knows what it's doing and it heats up so quickly too! We had a busy weekend of buying supplies for projects we're planning on doing around the house but I finally had a chance to use it to make dinner tonight and brownies. In the oven is a quick and simple salmon dish that Nick and I absolutely love. I made coconut rice and sauteed baby spinach to go with it and we have leftovers!

Steamed Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce

2010-05-01T22:37:00.002-04:00

I love food. I love it when I reminisce about food (especially something my mom made when I was growing up) and *presto* I make it!

A couple weeks ago I was thinking that I had to switch up how I make ribs and decided that ribs with black bean sauce would be delish. I've had this dish as short ribs in a restaurant and made my mother.

You'll need:

1-1/2 lbs pork spareribs (rib tips)
2 tablespoons black bean sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (on microplane grater) or use powdered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar

Cut the spareribs crosswise into 1″ – 2″ sections [I used baby back ribs whole, I couldn't handle hacking up ribs.You can go to your butcher and get rib tips so you don't have to do this.] Combine the rest of the ingredients. Transfer spareribs and sauce into a shallow, heatproof pan that will fit inside your wok (a pie plate or 9” cake pan works great.) Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Set steaming rack inside of wok and fill with water almost up to height of rack. Turn heat to high and when water is boiling, turn heat to medium-high. Set pan with spareribs on top of a steaming rack in wok. Steam on med-high heat for 18-20 minutes until ribs are no longer pink. Make sure that when you are steaming that you don’t run out of water in the wok. Replenish with additional water, if needed.

I sauteed some Chinese vegetables and steamed (microwaved) some white rice and voila! Bon appetit!

One Year Ago - April 30, 2009

2010-04-30T23:24:00.000-04:00

I left work early that day.
Stopped at the bank to break into my retirement IRA (cause first time home buyers can).
I wired the largest amount of money we've ever had in a bank account to our attorney. (I'll never be able to save that much again).
We drove down to the house that was to be ours and stood around the kitchen counter signing the closing paperwork.
Then we moved in a kitchen table and chairs to finish signing the paperwork.
Now a year later the house looks much better and I've learned to accept that just about every penny will be spent on the house, until of course we find something else to spend our money on.

Home Sweet Home.

I Have No Luck with BlackBerry Devices

2010-04-25T21:30:00.000-04:00

My first BlackBerry was a Storm (the full screen touch one) and I thought I was so cool. My brother gave it to me and I used the shit out of that thing. I loved having internet on a phone that wouldn't make websites all messed up, I used it as an MP3 player, emailed at all times and not to mention my love for BlackBerry Messenger. Then I dropped it not once, but kinda a lot. One day I dropped it and the screen was BLACK and stayed black. I couldn't see to call home or tell if it was even on. I was on my way to try and get it fixed or replaced and I dropped it to show my friend that it would blip a little when smacked around (no more harm could be done) and the darn screen started working again. For a few weeks the screen would periodically black out again but nothing so bad that a few smacks couldn't fix. Then one day it went black for a long time and it was the last straw so my favorite hubby (and my only one) paid to upgrade my phone to a Storm 2 (I was due for a new every two). I dropped the new phone once or twice but always on the carpet and chalked it up to my usual clumsiness.

Yesterday I did a number on my phone. We were at Lowe's picking up a few things for the house and we're standing in the garden center and while I was trying to put my phone in my purse my husband sees something and I follow him. This has nothing to do with hand eye coordination because there was no eye. Just bad hand coordination because when I turn to follow him I messed up the path from my hand-with-phone into my purse and CRASH. Phone falls face flat (as it always does) the force sends the back cover flying off and the battery pops out. I think no biggie this has happened and I'll just pop the battery back in and the cover on and then just have to endure the rebooting process. Nope... I flip the phone over and I am greeted with the below image...

Thankfully it still works but the danger is the shards of glass that keep falling out. So I've been using my phone at a minimum and actually have it in a little zippy bag it can be fixed. Thank goodness my brother is a BlackBerry guru and can help me out. Oh and I am now buying a case for the phone.

Hello My Name is Anna Fielding and this is my husband Walter...

2010-04-24T11:28:00.000-04:00

... or better known as Shelley Long and Tom Hanks in The Money Pit.

Owning a house has kinda gotten old. Don't get me wrong it's totally awesome to have our own house until that particular time of month rolls around when the mortgage statement and utility bills come in. Oh don't forget those bank statements that constantly remind me that we are starring in our own version of The Money Pit.

There are bright sides to it all, for example that broken oven I wrote about in my last post ... it's getting replaced at no cost to us, well okay just a fee for the service call. When we bought the house the owner offered a home warranty and if you read my blog it has come in quite handy. We've had the fridge fixed, the water heater replaced and now the oven replaced. Definitely worth every penny. It's coming up almost a whole year owning the house (April 30!) and we have been receiving notices about renewing the warranty on our own. It's not cheap, at least for the plan that was provided for us, which we figured was about $800 for the year. It covered a lot of things but it is so different when it was provided to us versus us having to write a check for the amount. We are also looking into the warranty type plan offered by our utility company. It's far cheaper from what I understand but I don't know much about what it actually covers just yet.

Just to reflect back,on some things I wish I knew before we bought the house or when we were looking...

If you have a wood burning fireplace with a brick chimney or lots of brick some place, check for spall, or flaking. I'll post more about it later but we've had to have some chimney work done due to a leak it caused in one of the bedrooms.
Get a really good home inspector. We had a guy that a friend used and he sounded good but we realized that most inspectors are really jack-of-all-trades-masters-of-nothing. Our inspector didn't even go up into our attic which we are kicking ourselves for. But lesson learned and we've moved on.
Me personally, I'll never buy another "used" house.
Hire a painter if you can afford it. Just the thought of painting makes me shudder.
Don't buy Benjamin Moore paints unless you're willing to splurge for more pricey rollers and brushes or hire someone. BM paint is all the rage and even more so since they've teamed up with Pottery Barn. But their paint is so so thick that while you may only need one coat to cover, if you don't use the pricier stuff to apply it you will be cursing the paint. Behr paint at Home Depot is a decent amount cheaper and covers well with you one step up from bottom of the line paint supplies.
A decent amount of contractors are NUTS! They either unresponsive, somewhat unprofessional or do a crap job. You can't win. We had a contractor last year for the chimney who said he'd take the job and then he never showed and was never reachable again. Our latest chimney contractor was more nuts, looked like they did a good job but now is unresponsive for a final small part of the job we want done. (No money has changed hands for that part so no worries).

How did cavemen bake before the invention of the oven?

2010-04-19T22:53:00.003-04:00

A week ago on Sunday I had to bake some goodies for a bake sale at work for babies or rather March of Dimes. My company's charity of choice is March of Dimes which promotes healthy babies through prevention of birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Anyhow, so it's the eve of the bake sale and I offered to bring in two items, K - Bars and strawberry cupcakes. The K - Bars were no bake so I did that first thinking I would get the challenge of making something for the first time out of the way.

I turned the oven on to preheat. Then I proceeded to mix the cupcake batter and pour it into the cupcake cups. I checked the oven and thought it was a little cool but figured it needed more time. I wandered to my desk and Googled away. Thirty minutes later I went back down and that stupid oven wasn't even hot yet. Thankfully hubby came into the kitchen to check on me and I took the opportunity to mention the oven was being funny (I think I would have waited hours before I realized something was wrong). Hubby started knocking at things with a flashlight (because it works miracles) but nothing. As he attempted to get a replacement part at Home Depot at 7:00pm on a Sunday for a 30 year old oven; I headed over to my father-in-law's house to use his oven (thank goodness we decided to live ten minutes away from him).

More than a week later we've had a repair guy sent by the home warranty company and he attempted to order the part but was sent the wrong part. Now the warranty company has a chance to find a part or we get a credit of some sort to get a replacement oven. I would like that oven because I keep forgetting my oven is broken make plans to cook something in the oven and just when I get excited reality hits and I think, "Crap that damn oven is broken and the toaster oven is too small even though I got the big one!" Tonight I told my husband I would bake him brownies in this crazy pan his mom got us... but the pan doesn't fit in the toaster oven....

Vintage Furniture

2010-04-19T22:49:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks back I was browsing the Popsugar's sister site, CasaSugar and came across a post about a 1960s Faux Bamboo Dresser. I thought the dresser was totally awesome and I was in love because it would be perfect in the yellow (now not leaky) room we just painted with the monkey rug. But where on earth would I find one and for such an awesome price (she paid $69 bucks for a dresser!)?

Fast forward to this past Saturday morning. We were running around the house picking up messes left during the week and doing other random things you do when you own a house. At some point I got sidetracked and sat down at my desk and do what I always do, start to look something up and then the internet just kidnaps me and I click on anything that catches my eye and Google whatever pops into my pretty little head. My brain told me to Google headboards (because our two beautiful bedrooms need to grow up and get some headboards like grownups have and I am a grownup). I somehow and smartly, ended up on craigslist and came across a local post of not just a dresser but a whole set of the bamboo furniture I coveted!

I exchanged a few emails with the seller (who was about an hour away) and on Sunday we drove two cars and picked up all the pieces (dresser, mirror, desk, chair, headboard, and nightstand). These are the seller's pictures but now that I spent the better part of Sunday cleaning up the pieces I'll take some pictures of it in the actual room.

This set is Thomasville stamped with 1966. My research tells me it's the Allegro set and there are sellers of pieces to the whole set all over the U.S. A seller on craigslist had the lingerie chest (which btw I would give my left leg for - because it's not my driving foot) but they're some where in Louisiana and that should tell me to shut up and stop thinking about another piece for the set. I already have my work cut out because I am going to have to strip the paint because it's flaking off and repaint the whole set. Off to pick the new color...

Bedding Dilemma Slightly Resolved

2010-04-16T00:34:00.000-04:00

In a previous post I presented a few options for our green bedroom's bedding. None of them worked out. The Liberty of London Paisley set from Target that I thought would work never shipped and I happened upon it in the store and it was kinda pretty ugly up close. So I continued my search.

Last weekend I came across this quilt set at Homegoods and while my friend and I decided it looked decent...

It looked charming maybe even a little country-ish and girly. Hubby was okay with it. Then my friend told me her husband said it look liked an old lady's room. Well that made up my mind, I wasn't go for the "old lady" look. I found bedding I had previously swooned over at Target, the Dwell Studio Casablanca, and threw it on the bed next to the "old lady" stuff to get a good comparison.

What a difference! I absolutely love how much of the blue is in the Dwell Studio bedding and how the green is more of an accent. The other quilt was just too busy and it definitely wasn't stepping up to the plate against the bold green color of the room. Now for the full effect....

Much better! Now my dilemma is I only have one pillow case. I apparently purchase the LAST ONE in all of Target across the country and online (I know this because I emailed them to search their inventory). So my plan now (since I am committed to this bedding) is to order another quilt and make my own damn pillows. They'll be a little bit different than the one that's on the bed (which I am keeping) but will match. Now that the bedding is chosen I can work on curtain rods (I've got the curtains) and decor.

Saved the Best for Last

2010-03-31T22:48:00.000-04:00

We painted so many rooms, pretty much, upon moving in that we were beat (3 out of 4 bedrooms, upstairs hall, foyer, dining room, living room and Nick's office) and tired of inhaling paint fumes. The last time we painted anything was last September with the third bedroom, foyer and upstairs hall. After a four month hiatus, in January we attempted to prep the room for color by sanding and priming the room. Now after over two months we have finally done it. We had to re-sand the walls a bit to rid it of the bits of raised paint still showing up and then painted another coat of white to ensure good coverage of the the old color. Then we slapped up two coats of Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow (a Pottery Barn color).

To refresh your memory of what the room used to look like (picture from when we first saw the house)...

In the painting process we found a leak. There was a small wet spot on the ceiling along the outside wall and we would touch it up put the stain would come back. Then we realized that the drywall was still wet and had to find the source. Nick went up to the attic but couldn't find anything so we called my father-in-law. Turns out that it was in the spot where the house meets the chimney. It's apparently a general weak spot for water damage and due to the storm and our damaged bricks around the chimney we've got a little leak and some water damage. A family friend who does commercial roofing sent his foreman out to take a look and since it was raining he did his best to caulk it for the time being. He'll come be back in better weather to redo the flashing and tar in that spot. But we've got to find a mason to redo all the bricks, basically rebuild our chimney. Since we've had more rain the leak's gotten worse but we'll deal with it.

Anyhow, back to the room. Here it is painted in several stages.

And with the furniture and rug in.

It's nowhere near complete but this is what we have so far and I already love the room. I may move the bed around a few times before I am convinced where it should go.

Eeek!

2010-03-30T08:09:00.003-04:00

I opened the medicine cabinet and it was just sitting there lurking... staring at me from the top of the medicine cabinet.

I have no idea what it is....some kind of beetle or something but creepy as heck.

We threw him out of the window along with the others and the ladybugs that have been getting in too.

The Green Room

2010-03-14T20:53:00.001-04:00

The green bedroom is making me insane. I can't seem to find the right bedding to go in the room. The room is painted Benjamin Moore Stem Green (as circled in the color palette below) but depending on your monitor it may look more like the greens circled to the left, Lime Green or Margarita. Trust me, it is a nice kinda bright ass green.

At first I was thinking about doing the room in the green with pretty much everything else in black and white, then I realized that my office is red, black and white. I can't let the madness continue. Must break habits. Because of habit breaking I am having a hard time with the bedding and until I find the right bedding I won't be able to decide on what finish to choose for the curtain rod.

I bought this bedding from Target, it came last Thursday, I laid it out and didn't love it. The coloration was drabber than it seemed on the Target website and there two greens (none of which match), so it goes back.

Then I found some new stuff from Liberty of London that just came out (going to order it) and lastly this other Target bedding set. The orange and pink flowers is the Liberty of London Sixty Duvet set, the blue/green Paisley is Paisley. Then there's a return to the original thought of black and white and green and that bring us to set #3 from Target the Dwell Studio Prakesh.

I have think I have doubts about like the pink and orange set because of the coloring and the flowers. I don't want to the room to be too frou frou.

Bensi Restaurant

2010-03-12T07:29:00.002-05:00

There's been a slew of new shopping centers by us called "the Shoppes at ...." ours is at North Brunswick. They are all similar but not exactly the same. Mine has Anthropologie, Loft, Banana Republic, Yankee Candle, etc. Bensi is the big restaurant there. They serve Italian cuisine and so far we like it.
This insane tower is an eggplant and mozzarella cheese appetizer drizzled with a reduced balsamic and pesto sauce. It was amazing. We also had the mushroom ravioli, Chilean Sea Bass encrusted in crab meat and the volcanic dessert. Yum.

The Census is Wasteful

2010-03-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

Don't judge until you read the post!

You probably got one of these in the mail recently...
We were excited to complete the census and knowing it was only ten questions were ready for it. Then we opened the envelope and it was a letter sent to tell use we'd be getting the census in about a week! Just give me the census, why do I need a warning that they spent bulk rate postage on?

I get that they are probably helping to keep the U.S. Postal Service in business and hold on to Saturday deliveries for a little while longer but seriously, what it must cost in paper and postage to send this piece of paper. I understand the ad campaigns and the outreach programs to communities who would be "afraid" to take the census and the follow-up physical visits... I just don't get this.

Cupcake Obsession

2010-03-01T20:15:00.001-05:00

I don't know why it took me so long, my whole life, to realize that cupcakes are the way to go. I am not a big sweets person but I can definitely inhale a cupcake (especially the mini sized ones) and really enjoy it.

I think I would lurve (goofy love) cupcakes if they were in these pretty little cups. I would have once cupcake in each of the designs (my OCD kicking in).

Even better, it's a whole cupcake kit! You buy it at Fred Flare for less than $20!

Maybe I should start with making the red velvet mix I have in the pantry.

Funny (or Crazy) Commuter Moments

2010-02-26T11:39:00.000-05:00

I commute for work about 48 weeks, 240 days to and from Manhattan. In the span of 2+ hours daily, some crazy shit happens. Here are some memorable moments...

One evening, I spotted a woman selling Churros and some potato chip-like items on the subway platform. She had the Churros on a baking tray covered in plastic wrap and then the chip-like items were in sandwich bags in her cart. I didn't see a Health Department certificate of a satisfactory rating so I didn't bother nor do I like Churros or mystery chips.
My seatmate, at 7am, smelled like curry. Yup curry, at 7am. It was not a smell for early in the day. Dinner perhaps but not while I was trying to sleep and each time he moved I got a whiff of curry.
At the time I was being audited by our corporate auditing group and one morning I let someone sit next to me. As I sat down I realized I was sitting next to the lead auditor for the team auditing my area. Crap! Thank goodness she was very nice and we had a nice, short conversation before putting our iPods on and napping.
Sitting next to a guy who started to speak loudly into his cell phone, hung up, read my book over my shoulder, looked away, started reading (looking) but then started to read parts aloud. He also said random things and made random noise. He invaded my personal space. I did stare him down at one point but still cannot figure out why I didn't say anything ... I guess I couldn't formulate words for what was happening.
I used to sit by the window, on the inside, in a two-seat bench until one morning I was being suffocated by a heavier woman wearing way to much perfume. I think I held my breath for the entire one hour ride. Keep in my the train is fairly narrow and these trains are circa 1970s or so and the seats are narrow even for me. Since then I've never sat by the window.
Once morning I let in a nice looking lady. Big mistake, once she sat down she couldn't stop fidgeting with her stuff. She kept rooting around her bag which had a half empty water bottle that kept crackling. OMG. Then she filed her nails.WTF?

My Temporomandibular Joint aka TMJ

2010-02-16T09:51:00.002-05:00

I have had some minor jaw issues before but nothing like the pain and discomfort I have been experiencing of late.

I have probably always been a teeth grinder but lately it is the clenching that has been most annoying. I am probably clenching as I type this. I basically clench in my sleep and when awake enough to cause headaches and earaches. Painful ones that make everything in the world around me annoying. I had a bad headache for a couple days last week which prompted me to call the dentist about a mouth guard. A specially fitted mouth piece for my issue is almost $500 without insurance but with it, it's less than $100. But before committing to such a pricey piece of plastic I hit up Target for the $30 version.

Let me introduce to you my Sleep Right dental guard. So far it is okay. The pads that go between the teeth are a bit thick for me, so I feel my jaw is separated a bit more than I am comfortable with. For the past two nights I did my best to sleep with it in but end up removing it in the middle of the night due to discomfort. I also end up putting it back on when I wake myself up from grinding or clenching.

We now live in Alaska.

2010-02-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

The snow covered house.

Trees in the front yard, obviously also snow covered.

The snowy backyard.

Oh How I Miss You

2010-02-06T15:11:00.000-05:00

I love blueberry waffles (bbw) and blueberry bagels (bbb). My discerning palette has determined that Eggo makes the best waffles and Dunkin Donuts the best bagels. I've tried blueberry baked goods from others but they're never the same. I went through a period of DD saying they "discontinued" the bbb and then we moved and our DD had them, then they stopped. Then the DD by my father-in-law's got new owners and now I have a bbb supplier. What a rollercoaster.

My latest problem is the mystery of the missing blueberry waffles. I would go to the grocery store and check the freezer and 90% of Eggo products are missing. Barren shelves in the freezer case. This morning I finally remembered to Google the missing Eggo products. Well turns out there's a shortage of Eggo products. You can read the article here or listen to me sum it for you.

Well... what had happened was...Eggo had some factory issues a flooded plant in Atlanta and equipment issues in another plant in Tennessee. Eggo products are not expected back until mid-2010! Like five more months!

I am trying to figure out if I can get my money back on some Stop and Shop brand blueberry waffles that taste like cardboard. Might have to Google their product satisfaction policy. I just know the waffles smelled delicious but the palette told my brain it tasted like the box my Amazon.com order came in.

Thank you Nick!

2010-02-03T07:28:00.001-05:00

It took us about six months but we, mostly Nick, were able to clean up enough of the garage to pull a car into. We still had a little more work to do but it does just fit my car.
Yesterday some snow was predicted and I will be damned if I have to clean my car off so early in the morning. So last night I got home and parked in the garage. I had to push a few things around to be able to walk around the car but it was worth so worth it. This morning I kept hitting the snooze button and panicked when I realized it had snowed, looked out the window and I remembered Zippy was snow free in the garage. Woohoo! It was so easy to roll out of the garage (although kinda crooked) into the snow with the only finger lifted was to press the garage door remote to shut the door.

Thanks honey!

Groundhog Gots Connections

2010-02-03T00:39:00.001-05:00

To my dismay, my nemesis, Phil seems to have connections. How do you explain his "prediction", if you can even call that, of six more weeks of winter cause he saw his shadow? If I were soundly hibernating and some annoying humans roused me from my slumber I would check out the commotion. Upon realizing the commotion was a bunch of fools staring, taking pictures and trying to pick me up I would totally haul my furry ass back where it came from.

Since a groundhog is supposed to be an upstanding mammal and would never run from commotion Phil had to call on Mother Nature to help a critter out. So she makes it snow. I bet she's cruising around in a shiny new convertible somewhere warm and snow-free. Bitch.

Tuesday February 2, 2010

2010-02-02T08:59:00.001-05:00

At the rate the day is speeding down a mountain like a novice skier that damn groundhog better step it up and pretend his shadow doesn't exist.

I woke up early, before my alarm clock and contemplated taking an earlier train. As I was getting ready I got an email saying it was cancelled. Convenient for NJ Transit. Then it began...emails kept coming in, at first only 15 minute delays due to overhead wire problems. Then with each email the delay increased. As I took my seat in the train I was cruelly reminded of the now 60 minute delay. 45 minutes later I stand on a Path train elbow to elbow with my fellow commuters and distracting myself with this post because I am a serious proponent of personal space.

Making my way to midtown I better beat that delayed train for all the transferring I am doing.

So a message to that groundhog, Pawxa-whatever Phil, man up and get me some warm weather cause wearing puffy coats and ear muffs is not cute it is just pathetic.

Happy Birthday Leia!

2010-01-27T07:27:00.001-05:00

No I am not some crazy cat lady...just..uh...a loving pet owner. Right, that's it.

Today our favorite four-legged fur ball is 11! So happy birthday to the best pet ever...maybe we will give you dinner a little earlier than usual.

FBR Progress

2010-01-10T15:32:00.003-05:00

Knocked a couple items off the list from my previous post. For those that don't know and are wondering... FBR=future baby room (calm down it is just a name). When we first moved into the house hubby and I discussed (rather I decided and he agreed) that this would one day be the nursery due to its close proximity to our room and the size to fit all the crap infants need.

It was a very boyish blue with stripes and didn't suit us at all. We spackled, sanded, cursed and today we painted the room white to get rid of the blue.

Next weekend we will paint it Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow.

The List Looks Good

2010-01-09T19:35:00.000-05:00

On my desk sits a list...

Goals
~~blinds in living room~~
FBR sanding
FBR white coat
FBR trim
FBR ceiling
FBR yellow
FBR & Green closets
~~take down xmas lights~~
~~take down tree~~
Jenny curtain rod
~~Jenny stool~~
~~Guest bath blinds~~

I think it looks pretty good... all the easiest tasks are done. I should have put "clocks" to the list as that has been on heck of a task to accomplish. (It is actually three tasks since it's three clocks). We bought a clock for my office from Ikea about a week ago and it's been floating around my office (it's not a small clock) and today it finally made it on the wall.

We've been on the hunt for a clock for the guest bathroom too. Hubby, who is color blind, kept picking clocks that could win the fugly award for clocks. We found a decent looking clock for a great price at Christmas Tree Shops. With pride, he hung up the clock and we heard TICK, TICK TICK... we could hear the ticking down the hall in our bedroom and in the master bathroom. We scrambled to the find the receipt and packaging... so today we hit up Target for a $4 plain white clock and I can't hear anything.

Lastly, the master bathroom needed a clock, but not just any clock... a clock that fits into the medicine cabinet and can sit on one of the shelves among the face cream, nose spray and deodorant. (o_O) Obviously my husband's idea. Well where the eff was I going to find that? I searched every store I went to and online and no luck, clocks are made at least the size of a soap bar and have features like radio and an alarm. (What was he thinking?!?) On New Years Day my dad came through for the win, he owns a liquor store and gets tons of promotional items and strangely enough he brought home a handful of stuff and among it was a tiny clock!

It doesn't get any cuter.

2010-01-08T07:25:00.002-05:00

She doesn't have a job. She doesn't speak the language. She gets underfoot. She has social issues. She whines a lot. Yet we feed her and provide a roof over her head.

All for a moment of accidental cuteness.

She is laying on the recliner in a blanket and covering her face with her paw. I guess the light was bright.

Wood Delivery

2009-12-30T23:49:00.000-05:00

After buying several stacks of wood to "try" in our fireplace we finally got a great recommendation for a place that seasons their wood in a warehouse for a year! (That's homeowner with a fireplace lingo I am dropping on this blog.) Basically they store the wood in a warehouse to dry out for an entire year before selling to people who have fireplaces (like us) because wet wood doesn't burn as easily. We debated the cost of the wood because it had a delivery charge of $40 and a more local supplier didn't but in the end we obviously paid the delivery charge.

After some phone calls and ensuring delivery today and before the snow expected tomorrow (which would make it more difficult to stack and would get the logs wet) they arrived several hours earlier than expected. The hubby is supervising... (don't get too close to the truck!)

The bed of the truck slowly lifts... but nothing moves...

....until now as the echoes of tumbling logs fills the air.

Uh... now what? Get the wheelbarrow! We ended up carting the wood to the backyard (I lost count how many trips it took) to stack in a stacker thing hubby got from Lowes. Turns out the half cord we ordered was more than what we expected and we also filled the wood ring by the front door and we had to stack some on the front porch.

Then I hear and confirm from searching Google, that a fire actually makes your house colder because it draws the air in from the house to feed the fire which then pulls in the outside (cold) air to replace the air that's been stolen from the fire.... unless you have some crazy contraption built into you fireplace that will push out the hot air from the fireplace into the room ... Shit.

Christmas Day

2009-12-26T11:47:00.003-05:00

Our first Christmas in the house, our first cut-your-own Christmas tree (complete with spiders), first time using the mixer (at all) and for making Christmas cookies... many firsts this year. Next year, seconds (most of which may not be blog worthy).

Leia loving on a present even though not a single one is for her. She's happy as can be and oblivious... what a life!

A picture of the tree on Christmas morning before all the presents were torn open by us and other family members over the next couple of days. The thing all the way on the right is a computer not a present. More specifically our media center pc that recently got a new home. Looking at the picture reminds me that we so need a mantel, but can't find a darn contractor to call us back and one that's not Home Depot!

Hope yours was Merry & Bright.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-25T11:10:00.000-05:00

At first we didn't have any plans for Christmas Eve but that changed when my best friend and her family called and invited us to their house. Then a couple hours later they asked if we could do dinner at our house, but they'd cook, because they felt their house was boring. Well... okay.

I love using our dining room and as I kept thinking about using the dining room I realized I didn't have a proper tablecloth, napkins or much of anything to host Christmas Eve dinner. I freaked out the night before and planned a trip to Macy's first thing in the morning on Christmas Eve. I went out early enough so that the mall wasn't yet packed (on the way home I saw that I totally dodged a bullet because Route 1 was a parking lot with last minute shoppers).

Everything worked out beautifully - I got to use the gorgeous dishes from my mother-in-law (shout out to Joan!), the cheap-o but fabulous cloth napkins with our last initial from Christmas Tree Shops and my replica amber ware pitcher from Pier 1 and the recently acquired tablecloth.

Let me present to you our Christmas Eve dinner table...

And setting...

And our delicious main course, salmon ala amazing (amazing means I have no idea what it's called but you can't go wrong with grape tomatoes, olive oil, leek, olives, and goodness).

Oh Christmas Tree...

2009-12-20T10:43:00.002-05:00

We started our day decorating the house and then followed up with the tree farm. Rows and rows of trees to choose from. Most were too little but some way to round (like a pear for my taste - it's a tree not a pear!). We searched high and low and were discouraged over and over again. We walked without the wagon and saw, we went back to get the wagon and saw ... until finally... we decided to get it over with and go with the best that we could find (because we didn't really want to go anywhere else and Nick was insisting we lumberjack it and cut our own tree). I was the supervisor on this gig so I watched and hollered about getting sap on me and made comments about how he had mud on his knees... lumberjacks have a filthy filthy job.

But after all the hooting and hollering (mostly on my side) we got the tree in the house, void of excess nature=y things like spiders, the stump re-cut fresh and nice and decorated.

My vintage-y tree picture... my phone's camera made me do it but I think it came out very nice with the colors and the washed out finish. And to think, noPhotoshop. Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday Brother

2009-12-17T07:23:00.001-05:00

27 years ago you came into this world and disturbed my peaceful life as a single child, although short as it was (one year, seven months and six days), I wasn't too sure about you.

Just want to wish you a Happy Birthday. Hope I didn't torture you too much over the years.
He is the one on the left.

Christmas Decorations - Part 1

2009-12-12T22:33:00.001-05:00

We (actually mostly Nick because I am afraid of heights and he is the guy) hung up the Christmas lights on the house. Everytime we wanted to do it we either lost daylight or the weather was crap. Finally we got a nice but cold day to get our holiday on.

My office

2009-12-09T18:59:00.001-05:00

I think someone hid a bomb in my house and it finally exploded. I have no excuse (actually I can think of plenty but they are all lame).

Pins as a Political Statement

2009-12-06T17:55:00.005-05:00

I saw this book, Read My Pins, on Amazon as an upcoming release and ever since then, have been fascinated with the idea of pins being a "message" in politics.

Now that the book has been released, I took a quick browse through the book on Amazon and I am further intrigued by Ms. Albright's approach. I may have to get myself over to Barnes and Nobles to take a peek at the gorgeous pins featured in the book up close and the kind of influence they've had on shaping world history.

I have a pin collection but felt they were a bit fuddy duddy to wear and were reserved for the likes of my mother. But now that I think about it, growing up my mother wore pins and I am now the age she was when she wore pins (she still does and has a magnificent collection).

First Christmas Card

2009-12-06T15:47:00.001-05:00

Mike and Michell (and kids)... We thank you for our very first Christmas card which we received during the first snow. In the midst of cleaning the garage I was a tad annoyed that the snow seemed to get worse before our eyes. Taking a break to admire how nice snow looks before the cleaning begins; I chose to visit our mailbox and among the disappointing bills and pushy advertisements a little holiday cheer sent our way.

It looks pretty

2009-12-05T17:05:00.001-05:00

As much as I hate snow I will admit it looks pretty.

An hour after this picture was taken we had to shovel the driveway and clear the car twice because the snow is coming down in massive sized flakes.

First Snow

2009-12-05T15:30:00.001-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen it is freakin snowing. I hate snow...the coldness, the wet, the blah of it all. Bah humbug. (Sorry mom, I know it means your favorite holiday is coming but the weather is just shit).

At least we have a fireplace...

First Fire

2009-11-29T22:27:00.001-05:00

It isn't that cold but we bought a box of Duraflame logs and had to light a fire. Now where are those chestnuts...

Pumpkin Roll

2009-11-29T01:26:00.005-05:00

Our good friend Chris mentioned that he made pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving and my husband said, "that's sounds delicious!" So this morning I picked up the ingredients to try this baked good. I was also instructed to find the recipe by googling "pumpkin roll recipe" and selecting the second search result from Southern Food or read the recipe below.

Pumpkin Roll

3 Eggs
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Pumpkin
1 tsp Lemon juice
3/4 cup All-purpose flour
1 tsp Baking powder
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Salt

Filling:

8 oz Cream cheese -- softened
4 tbsp Butter -- or margarine
1 c Powdered sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla

In large bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beating with an electric mixer until thick and light yellow in color. Add pumpkin and lemon juice, mixing until blended.

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Add to egg mixture, mixing well. Spread batter into greased and waxed-paper lined 10 x15 inch jelly-roll pan.

Bake at 350 ° for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool for 10 minutes. While cake is cooling, prepare filling. Beat together cream cheese and butter; stir in powdered sugar and vanilla and blend until smooth

Sprinkle clean tea town liberally with powdered sugar and then place cake on it. From 10- inch side, roll cake up in towel. Set aside.

Unroll cake. Evenly spread filling over cake. Roll up cake (without the towel). Wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Slice before serving (3/4 to 1 inch slices work best). Keep leftover slices refrigerated. This pumpkin roll freezes well.

Enjoy! My husband loved it.

Black Friday Shopping

2009-11-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

On one previous Black Friday, Nick and I attempted to get up and wait in line at a major electronic store for some crazy deals to find out that the line was way too long and store had decided to let in over an hour earlier than advertised which meant we were shit of out of luck. Since then we vowed to only worry about what could be purchased online. Until this year...

Before Thanksgiving I had received an email from J. Crew indicating that they'd be open at midnight on Black Friday. That was the first crumb... then at Thanksgiving dinner my brother and I discussed the local outlets and what deals would be available...second crumb. Sealing the deal was the fact that most stores would be open and my brother deciding to go to the same outlets I intended on. So at midnight we made our way to the Jackson Outlets amid the throngs of others with the very same idea. Parking was nowhere to be found, my poor husband dropped me off and drove around for an hour (because he probably had nothing better to do) looking for parking. I got my coupons on and made my way to (not in any particular order): J. Crew Banana Republic (thank you for your 50% off plus 10% coupon on top of that), Gap, and Harry & David.

After the outlets at 4am, Nick and I headed towards home in the hopes of finding a diner for a meal at such an ungodly hour there's no name for it. After the meal we were headed to Home Depot for the best deal ever...

A $99 valued Rigid 16 gallon wet/dry vac! That's folks we were psyched over a wet/dry vac. We didn't find a diner by the time we had to exit for Home Depot so we decided to check out the crowd. To our surprise there wasn't a single soul (besides ours) in the parking lot. So we decided to go home and eat this unclassified meal and head back (we live just under 10 minutes from this Home Depot). So we went home made eggs and english muffins and hopped back into the car. This time another car showed up after we pulled into the lot. There were wary looks and respectful nods as we waited in our idling vehicles. Suddenly at about 5:30am a pickup truck pulls into the lot and the driver hops out, grabs a cart and heads for the front door. We realized he wasn't playing any games so us and the other car scrambled to jump out and get on the newly formed line. We did not stay home and suffer to miss out on the wet/dry vac!

Turns out everyone was there for the wet/dry vac because we were let in about 5:40am and everyone bee-lined for the vacs and about 10 minutes later, as we were admiring the Christmas lights, a Home Depot employee yelled, "The shop vacs are gone!" We were immensely successful. We checked out, headed back home and went to bed at 6am.

Who doesn't love bacon?

2009-11-26T00:51:00.004-05:00

I had these for the first time at a friend's birthday party and OMG was I hooked! Since then I have made them twice! First at our Halloween party and today for Turkey Day appetizers.

They're called bacon roll-ups and have to be the easiest thing to make ever! All you need is bacon, white bread and cream cheese (and toothpicks, wooden, uncolored). I would say a pack of bacon to a pack of bread and one pack of cream cheese is more than enough.

Begin by cutting the crust off the bread (trust me I tried not to and it's a bit tough since crust doesn't bend so well). then quarter the white part of the bread. If the bacon is the bacon you are used to, big long strips, cut them in thirds. Then spread a dollop of cream cheese in the middle of each quartered piece of bread. Roll the bacon around the bread and fasten with a toothpick. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes. Be careful bacon and cream cheese are hot! Enjoy!

They're freakin' adorable!

2009-11-23T20:58:00.002-05:00

I am in love with mini cupcakes and jump at any opportunity to make them. This time they are for a farewell party for a co-worker who has been given a new assignment in Japan. These are devils food cake with vanilla icing.

I can't decide which to make- mini chocolate chip topped or purple sugar sprinkles... I think I will just do half and half. They so darn cute it hurts just thinking about eating them!

I am addicted

2009-11-22T21:01:00.003-05:00

We bought this Keurig single cup coffee maker before our Halloween party to replace our smaller and not so easy to use one. I am hooked by the convenience of it and realized today that I am an addict. I have reached a new record ... on my fifth cup of coffee today.

This is the B70 model and so far it is cheapest at Bed Bath and Beyond when you use their 20% off coupon.

My husband the birthday boy

2009-11-18T21:27:00.001-05:00

Yup that's what the candles say.... Birthday Boy.

I picked up similar multi-colored candles that said Happy Birthday but liked the blue better and was $1 cheaper. Well now I know the dollar saved was because a couple of letters were missing.

Hello Santa...

2009-11-11T18:32:00.001-05:00

How would this look on our lawn?

I think that we would be confusing the Santa believing children by publicly claiming that he flew around the world in a hot air balloon. What would they think the reindeer were doing on Christmas?

So we decided to leave creepy hot air balloon Santa at Home Depot.

Happy Birthday Nick!

2009-11-04T11:54:00.004-05:00

Today is my darling husband's birthday. Another year older and another reason to celebrate. The day started with breakfast fit for a champion made exactly to the birthday boy's specifications.

Roll baked at 300 for 10 minutes, 3 slices of pork roll, real cheddar cheese and one egg over easy. I even busted out the Kona coffee for a pick-me-up.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T20:01:00.003-05:00

To state the obvious, yesterday was Halloween. The hubby and I threw a lovely Halloween party and got into the festive mood by decorating the house inside and out. We also decorated ourselves, as a pirate and a Desperate Housewitch.

Lots of friends, family, food and fun was had.

We were so excited to have real trick-or-treaters we dashed to the door at the first ring. It wasn't too busy with trick-or-treaters but we had many Spiderman..

The funniest was one boy who came with a friend and his sister. He took his candy and noticed the party commotion in the house. He asked me, "Are you having a birthday party?" I said, "No, a Halloween Party." He looked at the house and back at me and asked, "Can I come?" While trying to formulate a kind response his sister thankfully interjected and said, "Come on, you're being annoying."

Thanks Joan!

2009-10-24T00:04:00.005-04:00

I have been meaning to embroider bibs for friends for a while now, I've had everything except the embroidering machine (at least until recently) and of course the space to do it in.

My mother-in-law recently gave me her extra machine and I've been itching to use it. Conveniently for me, our friends recently had a darling little boy, Preston. Hubby and I will be seeing them tomorrow and what better gift to bring than personalized bibs!

So out came the machine and I ended up staring at it for a good five minutes trying to figure out where to begin. It's been over 2 years since I last used it for embroidering the guest bags for Hawaii. Thank goodness for the user guide otherwise I'd be lost!

Finished up the first bib (blue) without even thinking of taking a picture and then midway through the second (orange) bib I snapped a pic. Embroidery machines are like artificial intelligence!

And the finished products! One with his first name and another with his monogram.

Scrumptious Salmon (Deemed Edible by Jenny)

2009-10-20T20:57:00.001-04:00

I don't like fish. Most seafood (lobster, shrimp, clams) I will eat but fish I just plain don't like. Until now...

Earlier this year when we visited friends at their new house we were fed some pretty tasty salmon. I later found out it is a super easy recipe. You need salmon fillet, yellow onions and Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki.

Reheat oven to 400.

Start by taking the skin off the salmon or have the seafood department do it. Use a medium onion per pound of salmon. Then slice the onion into thin rings. Layer the bottom of a glass baking dish with onions saving some to top the salmon. Pour as much sauce as desired. About 10 oz per pound of salmon.

Bake for 25-35 minutes.

Dining Chandelier

2009-10-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

Just installed our dining room chandelier. Had a little snafu with the box but hubby was able to figure out a work around.
There was some debate as to how many links we should have so we began with a more generous number, even though I knew we needed just a few. For a neutral party's take, hubby turned to the trusty internet for the proper distance of a chandelier from the table. The answer, 30-34 inches for a room with an eight foot ceiling. For higher ceilings add three inches for each additional foot.

Now you can actually see what you're eating. The old fixture had one working socket and was pretty unattractive.

Halloween is Coming!

2009-10-16T21:17:00.000-04:00

I have never been a fan of Halloween but now that we have a house it has definitely changed my outlook. I just assembled these adorable ghosts to decorate outside. They were only $1.99 at Target!

I love my husband...

2009-10-14T22:26:00.005-04:00

...so I baked him an apple pie, just the way he likes it.

A couple of days before we went to a local corn "maize" and then finished up apple picking with the family.

After eating our fill of apples I decided we need to do something with them. What better than apple pie! I used a combination of my mother-in-law's recipe and something out a mini Betty Crocker (I think) cookbook my mother-in-law gave me for ideas for our Halloween party.

This pie is so much easier than I used to make since I used to make the dough from scratch. Hubby prefers crumbly goodness for his apple pie so we use the good ol' store bought graham cracker crust. Chop up the apples, throw them in the crust and you just have to mix up the filling and make the topping. Bake for 45 minutes on 400 and you're good to. I'd post the recipe but that's all the way downstairs in the kitchen and I'm all the way upstairs in my office... see how lazy I've become in this big house?!

A changed landscape

2009-10-06T22:36:00.010-04:00

If you recall, we had this monstrosity in our backyard dropping leaves in our pool, providing us with protection from the hot sun and worrying my husband to death about raking as the trees around us began to turn colors.

If any of you know me you know I am not a fan of nature at all. I said, "down with the tree" when we first moved in. We actually had a lot of people look at the tree behind our house, shake their heads and gently suggest we have it removed. We spoke with our new neighbors and they agreed, out with the trees.

Here's another before picture, of the entire landscape of our yard. Yup, trees everywhere. Leaves and pine needles all along the pool and in it too. We brought in the experts, or rather they had a opening yesterday and came two weeks earlier than expected to slice and dice.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be home to witness amazing feats of tree cutting, but thanks to the hubby I have these pictures to share with you. They started with the biggest tree in the neighbor's yard.
Then moved to the two trees in the front yard that were leaning over our property. They took a small pine tree down and it apparently went unnoticed since it took hubby awhile to realize it was gone. Then they tackled our beast of tree. Yup, there's a man hanging from what's left of our tree. Voila, what our yard now looks like. It's very strange and apparently the lack of a tree has brightened our kitchen quite a bit in the afternoon. Hopefully the lack of trees will warm up our pool quite a bit next summer.

More Gifts Unearthed!

2009-10-03T12:07:00.003-04:00

Most of you know, I was married over two years ago at this point. I still haven't used or opened quite a few of our shower/wedding gifts so each time I need something there's quite a bit of celebration on my part.

Just this past Wednesday I was able to use TWO gifts received! First my Kitchen Aid hand mixer (thank you Rannie!). I was baking cupcakes for my very good friend and co-worker, Linda. It is her 30th birthday today (Happy Birthday Linda!).

I made her strawberry cupcakes with mini chocolate chips and chocolate frosting. Yum!
It took me a while to figure out how to pipe on frosting after I put it in a bag (I don't like how frosting looks slapped on with a knife). But once I had it, I was golden. The cupcakes are on the second gift I used, the cake plate and dome.

Lastly, after schlepping in over a dozen cupcakes and decorating Linda's desk, we partied! She loved her gifts and the cupcakes. Even shared some cupcakes with my brother and his co-workers.

I am falling apart!

2009-09-28T18:26:00.004-04:00

About half way through in-law moving day on Saturday I felt a headache coming on and popped two extra strength Tylenol for the day. On Sunday I woke up and the headache was still there throbbing away on the left side of my head. On top of that my left ear was sore. I slept quite a bit Sunday thinking it was due to an ear infection. The throbbing was excruciating, like zaps of electricity.

I woke up this morning and the ear felt better but the throbbing was still there and seemed to have spread from my ear to include my left temple. I decided to call out of work and get to a doctor with all my ailments, head/ear pain and my constant phlegm filled cough. What a surprise it was when the doctor looked into my ear and told me there was no evidence of an ear infection. Nope I have to a problem with my temporomandibular joint (TMJ). I am a teeth grinder/clencher and basically have done enough to cause tissue on that side of my face to swell thus causing the ear pain and muscle tissue palpitations (the zapping pain). I do have a history of my jaw popping when I yawn but nothing ever this painful. I have to see a dentist now.

I did some research on my latest ailment and treatment usually begins with a mouth piece when I sleep and inflammatory meds or muscle relaxers if the palpitations are bad. For now I have popped two ibuprofen which seem to have helped (they'll be my new best friends).

I am so looking forward to a visit to the dentist (not really) but on top of the miserable gum soreness I get from a good teeth cleaning I will also have to get a mouth piece which will undoubtedly cause me to drool in my sleep if the muscle relaxers don't already do that. Very sexy.

What a weekend!

2009-09-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

Friday evening we hit up our new and very local Trader Joe's in Princeton. Had to work that day and get everything together to move the in-laws. We arrived at TJ's at 8:30pm and the sight greeted us... yup opened not even 12 hours and they've lost the "e" in Joe's. So now they are "Trader Jos" to me. No idea who Jos is but I figure Joe was just too lazy to handle all the excited central Jersey shoppers. Yes, a new store is considered excitement, especially when the next closest TJ's are about 45-60 minutes away by car. Now it's only 15-20 minutes! But not close enough for Nick who thinks convenience means that you should be able to "pop" over their for something in the midst of a party and be back so quickly no one missed you. Maybe he's got a point...

On Saturday we got ourselves involved in some major moving. The in-laws (sister, mother and step-dad) were moving from their house in NJ and the parents were moving stuff from their house in Georgia too. Gregg arrived in NJ on Thursday with a pretty full U-haul and unloaded it on Friday into the new house. Fast forward to Saturday morning where Nick and I hooked up a trailer to the Edge and made our way down with a wardrobe for them. My brother-in-law, Erik (Gregg's son) and my father-in-law met us down there.

After many hours of moving furniture and boxes we filled the U-Haul twice and there was still stuff leftover! While unpacking the U-Haul we followed strict instructions as to where boxes went based on how they were labeled. After quite a few boxes we realized that my mother-in-law had quite a few boxes to her name... all those white labels say "Joan's Shelf" and we already moved a dozen of them onto Joan's shelf in the garage. After about 11 hours of moving, all the big stuff was done, but Nick and I were no where near done. We had to take a couch back up to my father-in-law's house on the trailer in the rain. That was a good trick but we did it and survived!

I Guess I'm the Goose

2009-09-21T11:31:00.000-04:00

Nick and I stopped by a fishing hole yesterday. There were quite a few ducks in the lake and as Nick was casting they swam towards him thinking he'd feed them. When they determined he was busy they spotted me, hopped into the dock and chased after me. I of course ran like the dickens (Nick laughed and told me to stop running).

When they got close they bobbed their heads at me looking for food and the white duck bit the buckle on my shoe!

Is there a flood coming?

2009-09-16T16:28:00.007-04:00

My father-in-law has been complaining that his shed (one of three) is sinking and needs to be put on blocks. He needs my hubby's help and of course Chris' (hubby's bff).

Today I was home from work and my father-in-law invited us over for lunch. During lunch hubby's best friend, Chris, called (big mistake!) and wanted to know if today was a good day to jack up the shed and put it on blocks. Of course it was! After about 30 minutes of work the shed is now on blocks...

Turns out there already were blocks under the shed but they'd sunk about halfway underground and the shed wasn't high enough anymore for my father-in-law (it was plenty high enough for my hubby and even for me). Now it looks like one of those houses on stilts at the beach that people can park their car under...

Shabby Chic is Complete!

2009-09-13T19:19:00.000-04:00

The much searched for zebra rug arrived last Tuesday (thanks to all that suggested places to look) and we finally had a chance to put it in. We had a slight delay when hubby felt the rug pad we had was not being put to good use under the zebra rug because of the size difference. But after a quick visit to Tuesday Morning, problem solved.

Still left to do: unpack boxes, hang pictures, get 2 chairs and curtains.

Well this is scary...

2009-09-11T07:36:00.000-04:00

This Tuesday we started working on a third bedroom. Hubby did prep work removing outlet covers and discovered the burnt mess in the picture.

We think it happened before we even bought the house and is probably because the outlets are old (I wanted to replace all the outlets before because of color and now more to sleep at night as not to worry of fire hazards). So Nick needs to do some electrical work this weekend.

Another Paint Job Completed

2009-09-11T07:30:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, appropriately Labor Day, we sucked it up and painted the foyer. We set up and then debated how to handle the landing walls since it is basically 15 feet high. Realizing a ladder wasn't going to work I remembered an edging tool existed.

To my surprise man had actually made great strides in improving the edger. So with a $5 tool we didn't have to risk our lives painting.

I Got It!

2009-09-04T22:28:00.003-04:00

In the wee hours of the morning an email appeared in my inbox. It was my elusive zebra print rug! It had come back into stock at Overstock.com but they only had five...

I couldn't buy it while still home because I had about 2 minutes to rush out the door and what are the chances in the 90 minutes it takes to get to work that all five would vanish into thin year. I took my chances and headed off to work. When I got to work I had forgotten all about it until a co-worker mentioned she needed a rug.

On to Overstock's website, dropped that rug into my cart and realized I need to save a couple of bucks. Went on a hunt for a coupon, got a $15 off one and bought it through the Bank of America Add It Up shopping portal and used my Bank of America credit card so I'll get another $18 or so in cash back! Life is good!

So in about a week this gorgeous baby will be gracing the floor of my office and I'll be pretty much done with the office (except for unpacking all the boxes still in the basement but let's not discuss that HUGE task).

Zebras are Black and White!

2009-08-28T13:51:00.003-04:00

I have been searching the high heavens for an 8 x 11 zebra print rug that isn't too cheap feeling but is reasonably priced for a non-wool rug or I could throw in a few extra bucks a for a wool one. I looked in stores and online and have determined that area rug designers have never seen a zebra, let alone a photograph of one. It's not hard! There's a channel on television called, National Geographic!

Just to refresh our memories... these are zebras. Beautiful creatures and conveniently their coat markings will be the funky in my shabby chic office decorating.
Now for the reason behind my rambling...
Here are some things I've come across...

The design is close, somewhat a respectable effort. But what's with the brown and cream? Zebras are black and white!!! (Refer back to the first picture, if you're not sure). Then we've got this baby. Don't even call that zebra! It's got black but what's with the cream and the psychadelic design?

This one is a bit more like it and from a different "angle" of the zebra, not necessarily an aerial view. I almost pulled the trigger on buying this the other night from Overstock but wasn't trigger ready and they're now out of stock.

Wish me luck cause I want my furniture! I have a gorgeous desk from Pottery Barn waiting in the garage (since May) for this office/craft room of mine to be finished. Looks like it'll be a bit longer...

Eggplant Victory

2009-08-24T21:54:00.001-04:00

We have eggplants! It took awhile (but they're late bloomers) and some annoying bugs eating up the leaves. They're little bitty things smaller than my fist but will get quite a big bigger.

In other news... We have another rabbit nest. It's being used by a momma rabbit but no babies just yet.

My Favorite State

2009-08-24T17:09:00.001-04:00

Everyone who knows me, knows Hawaii is my favorite state and place to be. Last Friday Hawaii celebrated 50 years of statehood and got it's own commemorative stamp. I ordered a couple of sheets.

Perfect Pool Day

2009-08-15T21:59:00.003-04:00

This weekend started out pretty quiet. Our calendar was, for once, empty so we stirred it up a bit by inviting my cousins over. My cousin, Suesan from Ohio, was in town and staying with my other cousins, Catherine and Victoria.

They came over after their Picture People session and it was one of the best pool days ever in our pool this year.

Suesan hanging out on a noodle.

Victoria posing on the her blowup chair that is NOT a pool toy, but apparently now is.

Catherine hamming it up in her "mini pool" of an upside down floating lounger.

Just before the girls came over I learned how to dive. I had never dived into a pool because, well I was just plain scared. But hubby taught me how to dive in one step at a time and then Suesan give me some more tips.