Trying this blog thing ... again

I have been obsessed with trying to be more creative with my clothes and come up with new combinations (with minimal new purchases). 

Today's summery work outfit: 

Blazer: Banana Republic Outlet recent, Tank: H&M, Skirt: Banana Republic Outlet circa 2012, Necklace: www.simpleaddiction.com

My new favorite room

I have been wanting a new washer and dryer since the day we decided to buy our house, but there was no good reason, until recently. The washer started to dance around the laundry room a lot more, knocking things over and making all kinds of crazy noises. But the thing that really pushed me to the edge was the washer door wouldn't stay open and always when I was transferring the laundry to the dryer... and bang, I'd get bonked on the head reaching into the machine. So out with the old and in with the new, but before we got bring the new in, we had to redo the laundry room.

The laundry room, before the redo:

 With cabinets removed

 and machines removed

 blissfully empty!

 repainted and ready for new cabinets

 new cabinets up
(short a knob because I bought the wrong one at Home Depot)

 and... Presto! done and done

We got our machines at hhgregg in Lawrenceville, NJ. Next post will be on the hhgregg experience. Do you have new favorite room in your house and why?

Draw Something ... then you've got Something Drawn

The hubby and I are a little bit obsessed or rather "enjoying" the OMGPOP game, Draw Something. I don't have a proper device (I have a Blackberry) so I grab hubby's phone to play whenever I have the chance.

Anyhow, after we played a bunch of games we started saving screenshots and emailing them around. Realizing email was not the best way to share the impressiveness of Draw Something artwork, hubby created SomethingDrawn to showcase the fancy artwork of Draw Something players. Beyond the artwork, contributors can earn badges for their submissions and rate the drawings posted.

Here's my favorite of my drawings:

What to do...

It's been quite a few months since my last post and honestly I am not quite sure what to do with this blog anymore. It's so much easier to post to Facebook little musings and such but also I feel the blog allows me to write more and express myself more, but I honestly just don't feel like I have the time or energy.

I've thought about refocusing the theme of the blog but again it comes down to if it's something I want to spend my time doing. I've thought about revolving the theme around fashion (which I love more than my wallet can handle) but then I don't know if I have enough to say about fashion to fill a blog... and do I want to have published evidence of my shopping habits for my husband to see. He never says anything and he's our official UPS greeter so maybe it'll be fine.

So I guess to try and start this whole blog thing up again, I'll kick off the fashion aspect with my latest fashion find...

A Jason Wu for Target skirt for just under $9!

I was at Target last weekend getting the mundane and on sale paper towels and toilet paper when I decided I couldn't resist the clearance racks. I went through the racks one item at a time and first found an adorable Jason Wu top that was marked down but so NOT my size. So I soldiered on and came across this gem but was wary of the size (marked 4) so I headed to the dressing room with my fingers crossed. It fit and when I did a price check it came up around $8.98. It's available online for a more than double.

I wore it to work this past week with a cream tank and black blazer and received a few compliments on the skirt. The skirt is pretty well made and should be easy to wash at home if you hand wash or wash on gentle and hang dry to preserve the pleating.

Time to get ready for a darling baby's Baptism. Happy Sunday.

Grandpa

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!

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

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...

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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!

Happy Birthday to my dear husband! 

Wishing you a wonderful day and many many more. 

Happy Halloween!

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

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).