Heaven In A Paper Cup

Art Gallery

2011-09-06T21:54:00.019-05:00

So, I haven't blogged in ummm...almost 2 years. I've been to China and back, had a second little one and probably a million other things worth noting. I've thought about blogging. I've written posts in my head. But what really made me want to start up again? Pinterest. It's a virtual pinboard. It's like my granny tearing out magazine articles out and mailing them to me, but ON THE INTERNET. I'm in heaven. It's given me so many ideas I want to try out.

I've been wanting to create a better art gallery for my boys. My littlest just turned one and I know the artwork from him will begin rolling in soon. The three frames I had previously hung, was not going to cut it. I was really tempted to put up the an IKEA Diginet System. I've seen one in a neighbor's house and it looks pretty nice. But my sister had me worried about the wires and kids so I just hadn't gone for it yet. Then I saw this via Pinterest from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss: Very cool! I searched Pinterest and found more and more cool ideas, but collecting various vintage frames really stuck with me. And thus the journey began.

First up - vintage frame shopping. LOTS of it. I discovered that here in Chicago, Village Discount Outlet had the best selection for the price. Most of their frames were between $.80 and $3.80. Though I love Brown Elephant, I quickly discovered their prices ($15 for a random print or painting?!) were not conducive to this project. I did buy a couple there that had more ornate frames that I really wanted. I also braved Unique Thrift Store on a Monday for everything is 50% off day to get another unique frame I really wanted. I had forgotten how much I enjoy thrifting, though I really have little to no time for it these days. I started with about 10 frames, pliers, scissors, a flat-head screwdriver, the remote, lots of trashy tv and a glass of wine! I tore into all the frames, removed staples, pulled out the previous 'art' and then using some crappy holiday wrap (drove me nuts to wrap with it - it tore too easily!) my husband bought last year I made a paper template of each frame. I numbered each template and then numbered the back of each frame as well. Then I started hanging the templates in my space. I quickly realized that 10 frames was no where near enough. More shopping, chopping and labeling ensued. Twenty two frames! Finally my templates filled the space. I also laid the unpainted frames in the configuration I had taped up, just to double check myself, but it was hard to envision without them painted. There was lots of re-arranging. My trusty sidekick Annie watched all of this...

Once I was relatively satisfied with the frames and layout, it was time to move outside. I started with one can of primer, and three cans of universal glossy white spray paint. Naturally, Annie came along:
She ran away fast once she realize what was coming! Smart choice on her part. I made several ~~lazy~~ rookie mistakes.
1) Using newspaper. The wind kept blowing it up despite my careful arrangement and it stuck to a few of the frames. Also the grass. Ugh. Cardboard would have been a better choice.
2) Not buying enough spray paint. When you live in a city that doesn't sell spray paint, this is a major PITA. I had to paint the interiors of the frames as well since they are visible as you walk up and down my staircase. I started the project with 1 can of primer and 3 cans of paint. In the end I needed SIX cans of spray paint - yikes!
3) Not enough prepping. I should have sanded several of the frames as I didn't realize the nicks would be so visible with the white paint. In the grand scheme of the gallery it's not a big deal, but if you look closely you can see my mistakes.
4) Not wearing shoes or socks and ruining a brand new pedicure!
My first pass with the 3 cans of paint covered all the frames, but on a more superficial level. I had to return the next day, pick each frame up, get the sides and the interior sides.

One day to dry and I was itching to hang my new beauties! I tried to keep the bottom edge lined up and the far right edge, along the straight walls. I worked from the bottom corner and just kept measuring the spacing to be even between the frames as best as I could. Here's the work in progress - slowly hanging frames and removing templates...

Heading up the stairs

My last step - add the art! I decided against adding clips and just used poster putty to hang the creations. I feared all the crumpled creations my son comes home with would curl up in spots and one clip wasn't enough. I wish I had better pictures, but despite reading tutorials, attempting to figure out my own camera, etc. I just couldn't find a great way to capture a stairwell with no natural light! But anywho...

THE GALLERY!

Who knows if I'll be back with a blog post for the next two years. But I enjoyed this one ;-)

A good night

2009-10-13T20:11:00.003-05:00

So, I've been sick for what seems like forever...nothing too major, but it's morphed into this horrible cough. Once I get going, it's tough to stop. So I told Henry tonight that I would play a little bit longer and then we had to do three short books because Mommy's throat hurt. We read our books and I prepared for departure...

Necessary cars in bed? Check.
Sippy cup of water? Check.
Pillow up on the side of the bed so we don't end up with an arm stuck through? Check.
Green alien nightlight? Check.
Tucked in tight? Check.

Generally after this, the best method is to tell him Mommy & Daddy love him and make a dash for the door. No lingering or we get lots of requests - more books, more water, snuggle please (that one is tough to resist!), etc.

So tonight I make the dash, I'm closing the door, trying to avoid any 'requests' and as I'm closing Henry yells "I LOVE YOU MOM!!!" :D He hasn't been one to spontaneously bust out the 'I love yous', so that pretty much made my night.

Headfirst

2009-10-12T20:40:00.005-05:00

How does one return to a blog after nearly a three month, unannounced hiatus? Hmmm...I've gone back and forth over this one...do you attempt to explain why? Recap events from the past three months? Just pretend it didn't happen? I think what keeps one away even longer (as mentioned by funny Chi-town blogger momtrolfreak whom I believe I discovered during said 3 month hiatus), is the feeling that the return post must be MONUMENTAL. EPIC. AMAZING!

Screw it. First post back? I want this pillow:

It's from Target - Home Ikat Dec Pillow

After just a year and half in our new home - I'm ready to re-decorate! Well, sorta. I want to paint our powder room a snazzy cobalt blue, switch out the dotted rug we've had for years and maybe go for a solid blue to accent the powder room. And these pillows, which are sorta navy & grey would be a perfect start. I just wish they sold pillow covers instead of straight up pillows. I've got *way* too many throw pillows already!

My crazy ideas

2009-07-28T15:11:00.008-05:00

So, often in the course of decorating my home, I get these ideas in my head. For the most part I can visualize them, but it doesn't mean I know that specific item/plan exists. I do this with clothing too. I know *exactly* what I'm looking for and what I want, but who knows if it's out there or is feasible. I blame my mother. She does this too. It makes shopping difficult sometimes. Rumor has it, it makes us difficult to buy gifts for also.

Our pergola project definitely started as a picture in my head. When we realized this thing had to come down, I knew what I wanted, but wasn't sure how to create what I had imagined. Well, in this case, my vision definitely paid off! I posted a few months back about it. A quick reminder of the before:

Whole top section was rotten. Took very little effort for my Dad to yank that crap off the top. Then a rented truck from Home Depot, a bunch of treated lumber, some deck hangers, blood & sweat from my Dad (thanks!) and we had this:

Next step? LOADS of time on a tall ladder, a bucket of paint, some cursing & sweating from me, but I eventually finished the painting. And, I found this guy on Yelp to transform the bolt of Sunbrella fabric into strips that fit my vision. So, here you can see, painting done, strip number one on it's way up (and lots of giant plastic uglies yikes! as least the picnic table in neutral right?! that's what I tell myself)Once we figured it out, the hanging process was sort of fun, watching the whole thing take shape. It involved a staple gun, some hanger bolts, wing nuts and lots of ladder time. And alas, it's done!

We are still in search of a new pendant light. I had purchased a six arm iron chandelier, but a) it isn't a hard wired fixture and b) it's a bit too much. If anyone knows a good place for outdoor pendant fixtures, I'm all ears!

The front end fabric piece can be pulled down so that when the sun is blaring it's way down in the west, the person dining in the sunny seat isn't blinded. Z and I sat outside on Sunday night, watched the sun go down, chatted and shared a few drinks. My crazy idea seriously paid off this time. Seriously. LOVE our new pergola!

Picasso

2009-07-04T18:02:00.003-05:00

Though I am no clean freak, I am certainly a clutter freak. Everything has it's place in my house (well, almost everything). So, it's only fitting that Henry's artwork now has a place too!

When I discovered these Artwork Display & Storage frames at Target I had to have them. Henry's artwork now hangs in the hallway, over the steps as you head to our basement. And when it's time for new art, they open magnetically, have space to store the art you take down, so it's a quick and easy process!

Toddler Pizza

2009-06-16T17:42:00.006-05:00

I try my best to feed Henry a relatively healthy diet. But let's face it 2ish is not exactly a cooperative age. He knows enough that I can only trick him into eating healthy foods a bit. Personally, I have a little guy who will eat tons of cheese, most meat (well, toddler like meat such as nuggets (at least he will eat the Naked ones), turkey sausages, these chicken apple gouda sausages, and of course, fish sticks), tons of fruit, but vegetables? notsomuch.

Anywho, every toddler loves pizza and I've discovered this quickie 'pizza' I can make for him that makes me feel better than picking up a good ol' Hot N' Ready!

Ingredients:

One Arnold's 100% whole wheat Sandwich Thin

pasta sauce (I use Classico Florentine Spinach & Cheese - yay! he's eating a bit of spinach!)
One or two quick cook turkey meatballs
Italian shredded cheese

I just pop open the sandwich thin, spread on some pasta sauce, add some chopped bits of turkey meatball and then cover the whole thing with cheese. I usually set my oven to 350 degrees, but it's never done heating up by the time I'm done. I just pop it in while the oven is heating and it only takes about 5 mins. Just enough to get the cheese good and melty = happy toddler temperature ;-)

So, it's not rocket science, but HDog loves it and it's fast, which only adds to it's awesome factor!

A mix of things

2009-06-15T12:21:00.006-05:00

Sorry, I realized I have been MIA blogger for the last two weeks. I have constructed the occasional post in my head, but have been busy with summer so it just hasn't happened. So, here I present to you, a completely random mix of things.

Very excited to see that iconic designer, Jonathan Adler, is being featured on Gilt Groupe on Wednesday of this week! Feel free to leave me a note or email me if by some odd chance you don't belong to Gilt and would like to. I'd be happy to send you the referral!

I read lots of other blogs and must share - I made this fabulous Watermelon Bombe as posted by Second City Soiree, only subbing raspberry sorbet for the watermelon, as I couldn't find watermelon. As for that subsitution: Appearance? A+. The darker red was so realistic! Taste? B-. I didn't care for the tangy mixed with creamy ice cream, but no one complained. I think I might try strawberry ice cream with added food coloring next time. Now I know I should have taken a picture as soon as we sliced into it. And yet I did not! Oops. Oh well. Here's picture of what remains :-) It looks a bit frosty, because we served it on Saturday night and then again on Sunday afternoon (yay for lots of visitors!). Really nice thing was that once I removed it from the bowl, all I had to do was wrap the whole hunk in press n' seal and toss it back in the freezer that way.

A bit of big (and completely unrelated) news, we have moved the HDog to a big boy bed! I did suck it up and purchase the PBK Riley bed I was eyeing and it really is the perfect fit for our space. His room did have to lose the gorgeous Land of Nod District 28 armoire ( Z was NOT PLEASED about taking it down to the basement since it weighs a ton!), but it was worth it. I will say, we had a laugh worthy episode where Henry broke out, but it's mostly been going well. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Oh and lastly, I should add that being the design freak that I am, I hemmed and hawed over his bedding. I refused to buy some crazy licensed Disney/PBS/whatever bedding. I wanted something that will grow with him and was so happy to find this Colorblock set at Target. I also went with the coordinating striped sheet set. The best thing about all of this? It includes Orange & Blue, so when Z inevitably convinces Henry that he needs an Illini room, I just might be able to add some accents and keep this bedding!

Why my parents rock: Part 2

2009-06-01T14:05:00.014-05:00

So, while my Dad was measuring, cutting and hanging wood, my Mom and I were tending to things indoors. My mother is a fabulous seamstress and made curtains for at least one room in each of my sister & I's homes since college, crib bedding for one of my nephews, pillow covers for me, and even fabulous quilts for each of her four grandsons! Her talents runneth over. Seriously, I feel like I need to take some hardcore sewing lessons so that I can do these things for Henry someday. Though having a boy, do you think he'll be annoyed when I want to make matching drapes for his dorm room?

The big indoor project for my lovely mother? Drapes for our master bedroom. My beloved Pottery Barn Kylie Peacock duvet was transformed. You can see the before here, and the after...

And a little one to match over at the window by my desk...

A few other projects helped out by Mom's handy work...arranging the shelves in the living room:
We of course did a bit of shopping, hitting up the local garden center, Joann fabrics (to pick out the pergola fabric) and Mom was so excited to visit our new HomeGoods here in the city. HomeGoods just might be our mecca, inexpensive, unique home furnishings all packed in one store? Thankyouverymuch! Mom of course managed to pick up a few things for her own home there. The big win for me from our shopping? This gorgeous pair of lamps for the living room:

There were many other small projects, hanging pictures, etc. and of course they spent quality time playing with Henry, reading him books, helping with baths, the list could go on and on and on. We had such a fun weekend! I feel so very fortunate to have been blessed with such amazing parents!

Why my parents rock: Part 1

2009-05-29T08:17:00.006-05:00

So, my lovely husband spends every Memorial Day weekend with a bunch of dudes in the back of a Ryder truck. All his college buddies make this pilgrimage to Indy 500 each year, keg wagon, Kaboom and Ryder truck in tow. I keep waiting for them to realize their bodies are too old to sleep on the floor of a moving truck, but so far the tradition continues...

So, HDog and I are left to fend for ourselves. We have visited my sister & her fam, my parents in Indiana, but this year, we convinced my parents to visit us.

My father, being an engineer and the son of a carpenter, is quite handy. And enjoys a project/challenge. Despite my best efforts to talk him out of it, he insisted not only in tearing down this monstrosity, but rebuilding a suitable replacement. So...here's the before (pardon the white lines, they are measurements I sent to Dad before he arrived):

The cheapos who flipped our house from a 3 flat to a SFH thought it a good plan to build the basic structure with good treated wood and then just put regular old painted lumber up top, along with the plastic lattice work. So basically the entire top layer was rotten. As in, it took my Dad less that 2 hours to tear the whole top off. It was a huge relief to get it down, as I feared falling in on us during a peaceful dinner some night!

After much discussion, we decided to just build a framework inside the existing structure. And so, in less than 72 hours with just a tiny bit of lifting help from me, my fabulous father took us from the scary thing pictured above, to this: Now, I know it doesn't look like much, but there was much measuring, cutting and hanging that went on to get us to this point (and a couple trips to the store and a rented truck to haul lumber!). Please imagine it sanded, painted and with beautiful drapes of fabric running through it! Seriously though, I've ordered this Waverly Yacht Club sunfabric:

It will run up and down in five lovely strips of fabric and then across the front, with a bit hanging down in front so we have shade as the sun sets in the west each evening. Also on it's way - this outdoor chandelier so we can enjoy dinners/parties on our patio. I might even put in a dimmer switch if I think we need it...

The light is a bit fussy for my taste, but turns out, it's kind of hard to find an outdoor light that isn't too simple, too ugly or TOO EXPENSIVE. So this is gonna have to work. Promise to post photos when it is all done!

In summary, my Dad rocks. He always does such cool things for us. I can only hope that I can be a fraction of the great parent to Henry that he has been to me.

Soon to follow, Part 2...my Mom!

Condo Flashback

2009-05-12T20:48:00.013-05:00

I just realized we have passed the one year anniversary of purchasing our home! I know the big move day was May 17, 2008, so we haven't passed that date. I also realized I've never added photos of our condo to this blog. Hell, it started as more of a journal of my knocked-up-ness, morphed into sleepless complaints of being a new mom and of late is my ramblings about decor and fashion. Anywho.

In honor of the move from our little condo...a tour...

I particularly loved our living room! We originally painted this room more of a periwinkle color. Once the first full coat was in place, my husband pulled me aside (we had family there helping) and told me he thought it looked like a zoo! The room had so much natural light, we didn't realize how bright it would look. A mid paint session change brought us to this gorgeous dark grey blue shade. I missed how 'finished' this room looked because I know it will take time to get there in our new place.
I don't miss the kitchen! We did the best we could with the tiny space. I did like having white cabinets, but that's about all I can say about our crappy old kitchen.

Similar to our living room, I missed the finished feel of Henry's room. Probably because I had all that pre-baby nesting energy and had every tiny thing in place before he was born. That and now that he's a crazy toddler things are never in their place! OCD me tries hard to let this go on a daily basis...

Ah, onto the master bedroom and bath. I was never over the moon for our bedroom, but did love some elements of it, for example the chandelier (sniff, sniff, I was a bit sad to leave it), our custom built bookcase bedside tables and I'll always have a special place in my heart for all things black & white damask. The good news, if ever you have the pleasure at staying at the Heaven In A Paper Cup household, our lovely guest suite is outfitted with most of this ensemble! I admit, I'm way more excited for our awesome aqua & green master here in the new house (note to self, take better photos of new bedroom, the work in progress photos kinda suck!).

Our two bathrooms from the condo represent such a labor of love since we lived through their complete gut rehabs. I spent many an hour researching attractive, yet cost effective options for tile, vanities, etc.

The last two rooms are the guest room/my office and the guest bathroom. I'd say the guestroom represents the least complete room in the condo. I always wanted to put a big collage of 8x10 photos above the daybed, but I never put in the time to make it materialize.

Finally, the tour ends with the other renovated bathroom. We actually had this one converted from a half bath with a weird closet into a full bath. In the end I loved this bathroom even more than our master! The mosaic tiled custom shower with the adjacent tiny linen closet turned out absolutely amazing. And who doesn't love a pedestal sink?! My favorite piece of both bathroom redos? The tiltable beveled glass mirror in this bath, that could totally pass for a Restoration Hardware piece, but I found it at Lowe's for $70!

I did love our five years living within earshot of the Cubs seventh inning stretch and loved our little condo, but I must say, I don't miss it!

Epic win!

2009-05-03T11:14:00.007-05:00

We are currently enjoying a beautiful Sunday morning in Chitown - sunny, warm and nothing much on the agenda. This morning I slipped on this combo plus a simple white tank, walked to Starbucks with HDog in his wagon and in that short time received two compliments on my attire! I'm been struggling to find better work/stay at home ensembles and am really loving this choice :-) Epic 'mom' clothes win!

In times of stress...

2009-05-01T08:45:00.012-05:00

I shop. So, between my husband getting back on the road, my basement being jackhammered up (more on that later), work and one non-stressful factor (I'm only 6 pounds from the 'goal' weight I set for myself - yay!), ummm...I've done a bit of...damage! Really it's nothing too 'bad', but I have been ordering/shopping away. The highlights:
Two pairs of shoes from L.L. Bean heading this way: This adorable navy blue hooded sweatshirt dress for only $20 from the Norma Kamali for Walmart line (as posted by Elements of Style - thanks!):
This shirt and shorts from Old Navy, the colors were just too perfect for me to pass up (which were really so cheap it should be illegal!): A new Hobo International Zoe wallet from Lori's Shoes (also v. necessary, as my old one was literally falling apart and Lori's had 25% off Hobo!): Last night's big haul was from BodenUSA. I've never ordered from them, but always think they have cute stuff. So when they sent me a coupon for 25% with free shipping and free returns, I decided it was time to give it a try. I always think this vest look is cute, pulled together yet not too fussy, which seemed perfect for my work from home life:So I ordered a couple of vests (one was reg price, the second was from the sale section), the scoop neck t for under it, a grey pre-layer t-shirt combo, and since I love polka dots, I couldn't pass up the green & aqua spotted pull over: Whew! I think I still see the smoke coming off my credit card! I swear I'm done for a while ;-)

In honor of Earth Day...

2009-04-22T13:28:00.004-05:00

I saw a news spot this morning on TerraCycle. Then, it was mentioned on Oprah as well! Seems like a really cool company and it's inspiring to think of it's CEO, who is a Princeton dropout, took an idea, ran with it and is rapidly becoming a huge success. Now where is my fabulous idea?! Anywho. These people upcycle all sort of stuff, creating products like flower pots, kites, tote bags, the list goes on and on. Can't say I want to carry this, but I like the idea:

(photo courtesy of www.alternativeconsumer.com)
Also, very worth mentioning, you can sign up to join their recycling "brigades", sending in used wrappers of different types and they will donate money to the organization of your choice. Very cool!

In other upcycled news, there are some very cool things to be found on etsy:

If only Henry were 6, this adorable t-shirt:

Or a GIRL! - what cute dress made from a vintage tablecloth:

Or perhaps, miniature recycled tin dress shaped earrings?

Ooh - or this tunic, made from a men's dress shirt and a necktie!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

sigh

2009-04-19T15:49:00.003-05:00

We had a really, really nice weekend with my best friend and her family. Finally made a trip out to the Kohl's Children's Museum out in Glenview. It was so cute! I really wish they lived closer...

Creepy.

2009-04-16T14:09:00.006-05:00

So, just before lunch time today, I took some light bulbs upstairs so I could get the new Target lamps fired up. To my dismay, one of the switches was missing. Bummer. So today's lunch time meant a return trip to Target. No biggie though, since I love Target!

I returned the broken lamp, grabbed a cart, picked up a new lamp, some different light bulbs (they require 3-way 100 watt bulbs) and then decided to do a lap around Target. So, I cruise through the shoe section because many a blogger have gone on about the Miss Trish of Capri line currently in stores. I'm strolling through and I plop a flip flop on the floor. As I'm slipping my toes into the shoe, a man comes racing around the corner, stops and pretty much watches as I try the shoe on. Then looks back up like he is perusing the shoes. The WOMEN's shoes. Whatever. So I move on. He moves on. I stop and admire another shoe. He does as well. So at this point, I'm mildly annoyed/weirded out. I give a brief though to whether he thinks I am a shoplifter and perhaps he is store security? I move on out of the shoes and cut a sharp turn around the corner. No biggie.

I cruised the toddlers clothes for a few minutes and then stroll back over and am taking a quick glance at the clearance clothing racks. I'm checking out sweaters, not really digging (and not really intent on buying, just looking) and all of a sudden I look up and that SAME DUDE is about one rack away. WTH?! Mind you, he wasn't overly creepy looking, I say he was mid-thirties, average height, medium complexion African American, wearing a baseball cap (like a JCrew baseball cap, not a sporty one), jeans - decent looking guy (I might of thought good looking if I weren't freaked out by now!). As I realize his presence, I hear him say, "This is adorable". We are the only two in the section. Um...WHAT?! I bolted. And fast. Straight to checkout at this point. I saw him go by checkout and continue to loop around the store.

The crazy thing is, I'm so not averse to talking to strangers. Matter of fact, I'm rather chatty with people in public (what can I say, growing up in a small town will do that to you). But, the dude in the women's shoes and women's clothes, following me...ummm NO I DON'T WANT TO CHAT. Part of me wonders if he was trying to hit on me, but even if I were single, I really don't think that's a tactic I'd be interested in. Oooh...what if he wanted to be my fabulous gay boyfriend? Hmmm...nope, still creepy!

I swear I kept my eyes super peeled as I left Target and as I drove home. Didn't want to end up on the 10 o'clock news as being killed by some freak who followed me home from Target.

Work in progress...

2009-04-16T08:53:00.006-05:00

I'm so excited to complete our master bedroom and bathroom. I kinda felt like our master in the condo was unfinished, maybe because we kept the walls white.

So, you saw a glance of the dark teal (BM Calypso Blue) in our bathroom and now for the bedroom update! We had the bedroom painted two shades lighter than our bathroom (BM Seaside Resort). I kind of chuckled when I saw the first full coat in the room, it totally looks like Tiffany Blue! This picture didn't show the color very well, but here's the overview:

Mad props to my lovely husband, for hanging our bedside "tables". Since we have West Elm's storage bed, we needed some sort of solution that would maintain our access to the drawer at the head of the bed. So, the wooden cubes that used to hold our desk hutch up received a coat of paint, a few screws and voila! Beside tables were born. The color below is more true to life:

And, next, let me profess my love for Target! The acrylic ball lamps pictured, are new (pardon the plastic still on the shades), courtesy of the big box giant. I was leaning towards crystal and saw a fab pair at HomeGoods, but they weighed a TON! We did make sure we hit wall studs in hanging our tables, but I don't think I want to test that too much, so finding these classic acrylic lamps was perfection.

I did find two super cute leather jewelry boxes by Milano Series during that same trip to HomeGoods and couldn't believe the fabulous color match:

So now I just need a visit from my seamstress (a.k.a. Mom) to turn this gorgeous peacock inspired fabric into a wall of floor to ceiling simple drapes, the width of the bed.

Awww....

2009-04-05T07:38:00.005-05:00

I've been so busy with work and Junior League (placement started yesterday and I'm in charge!) that I didn't get a chance post a photo of the flowers my wonderful husband brought home with him on Thursday, JUST BECAUSE. Man it's gonna suck when he is staffed again (in a couple of weeks) and I have to go back to pseudo single parent again!

Big Boy Bed

2009-04-03T08:50:00.003-05:00

Big Boy Bed time is rapidly approaching. I mention it to H every once in a while and the other day, out of the blue, he said "I want a big boy bed." So I'm on the hunt. I'd like to get a trundle bed set. And, Henry's room has this really cool slanted ceiling on the east side of the house, so when my mom spotted this Riley bed from Pottery Barn Kids I checked it out:

I measured yesterday and it's *perfect*. The width of the bed would fit perfectly between the window and the slanted ceiling spot, the back board piece isn't too tall and it has the required trundle. I'm a bit torn on the trundle, as it's expensive and isn't attached to the bed. I'm tempted to just get a simple metal trundle for much cheaper, but then I'll have to add some sort of fabric to hide it. That might be a pain. And of course the price tag, complements of PBK is painful!

For the love of pina coladas...

2009-03-30T14:05:00.003-05:00

Perhaps I bought these to mourn over our turned down trip to Hilton Head, or just to pay homage to Pool Bar Jim's perfect pina colada...but yeah, one trip to Costco and I came home with a twelve pack of these. I just ate the pina colada one, in a real pineapple half and it was SO GOOD! I highly recommend...

Do these foo dogs make my shelves look fat?

2009-03-27T09:10:00.003-05:00

I've been kinda searching for a set of foo dogs (or more, just keeping my eyes open and yes, I know I read and am influenced by too many design mags/blogs!) and came across these last night at Marshalls! Only $15 a piece and they are white, which is what I wanted. Still working on the perfect solution for my shelves and I wanted to go with all white objects so they will really stand out against our dark grey wall (the fireplace wall is a shade darker than the rest of the room). So, when I saw these foo dogs, excited, but somewhat torn! See the problem is, they are big, like 18" tall maybe (too lazy to measure!).

Oh and for the record, my husband's response? "If I brought something that crazy ugly home, you would send it straight back out the door!"

Anyone else have a set?

Just some stuff...

2009-03-24T09:18:00.004-05:00

1) Potatoes? Decided it was not for me. I know sugar isn't good for me, but I'm going with a rule my Dad liked to enforce, "Everything in moderation". I particularly enjoyed listening to him give my sister this lecture after she came home trashed ;-)

2) Remember the free fancy face repair serum I won from Lucky Magazine? Loved it's immediate effects, but after about a month with no other changes to my routine - breakout city. No thank you!

3) I've been moaning about feeling fat lately, searching for some answer. And though she isn't always my favorite RHONYC, I bought Bethany Frankel's book, Naturally Thin. What can I say, girlfriend looks fabulous on this season and I was curious what she had to say. There is a helluva a lot of name dropping in the book and I can't say it is telling me anything revolutionary, but it's a good reminder of how I think I used to eat! Now, all that being said, reading the book and such, I'm down about 6 pounds so I think just reading has been helpful!

4) We finally pulled the trigger and are having an interior drain tile system & a sump pump put in our basement. Cha-ching$$$$$! Let's hope it stops the water leakage problem.

5) We are all battling yet ANOTHER cold. Ugh. I can't wait for spring/summer to fully "stick" so that hopefully the sickness will end!

Painting...whew!

2009-03-16T11:33:00.014-05:00

Wild hair this weekend - I decided to paint our master bathroom. I suppose it wasn't completely spotanteous because I already had the paint, but I didn't really plan on doing it this past weekend. But, I'm really glad I did. Took quite a while to tape/prep/paint, but it turned out great!

It used to be a light blue and I upgraded to this gorgeous dark teal. The floor, wood work, sink/vanity and all tile shower are all white. There is a great skylight too so I knew the room could handle this bold color.

Pardon the crappy photos - I'm rather busy with work & Junior League so I don't have time to spend shooting for the perfect photo of our bathroom! Now I need to get all new bright white towels and a rug...

Changing Tastes

2009-03-12T09:25:00.008-05:00

When I was a kid, I didn't like many foods - Alfredo sauce, fish (especially Long John Silvers - my Mom & sister *loved* to drag me three!), mustard, Velveeta cheese macaroni (my poor Mom had to choose - Velveeta & shells for my sister, good ol' powdered Kraft mac n cheese for me). As I've gotten older, my tastes have expanded. Now I love all sorts of fish, including sushi, which I never thought I would I would eat! And once I year I try to give things like olives, dill pickles, and mustard a chance. At this point I still don't understand their allure, but at least I'm willing to try!
My most recent discovery? Greek yogurt. Holy crap, it's so good! Now I have to admit, I didn't stumble upon this myself. I recently attended a Junior League of Chicago Book Author Luncheon. The author for the day was Missy Chase Lapine and she mingled with the crowd before the event began. I mentioned my 2 year old fish stick eater and she suggested I cut his Ranch dip with Greek Yogurt. It's high in protein, you can purchase a fat-free version and provides calcium. What a great idea! Also at the luncheon, we tasted her brownies. Whoa! Love, love, LOVED them! They were moist, fudgey and all around delicious. Who knew you could put spinach into a brownie? I wish I could have hung around longer that day to get my book signed.

I'm excited to try out my copy of The Sneaky Chef. And for anyone who has never tried Greek yogurt, definitely check out the 0% honey flavor - it's awesome :-)

Rock n' Roll Daybed

2009-03-09T19:37:00.004-05:00

Woo-hoo! Z was feeling ambitious on Sunday and hung his guitars on the wall. It's been on the to do list for sometime so it made me very happy ;)It's not really decor choice #1 for me, but I promised him more "man space" in the new house and easy access to his guitars. And pardon the hideous array of pillows - they are a mixture of seat cushions from our old red glass table in the condo, two hideous ones that came with our Big Lots couch and a couple I'm not even sure where we picked up!

In other good organizational news, the gathering of our tax info prompted the completion of another important project - the filing cabinet cleanup. I've been in such a good mood today and I'm sure it's because this massive effort is off my conscience. Funny thing is - it didn't take that long to finish once I started.

And while I'm finishing projects, another couple I hope to cross of my list include the sale of a lotta junk and the liquidation of some KJB Designs pieces. So, when I heard about one of our local schools holding a spring cleaning sale, I just knew I had to sign up. Yep, I'm getting a "booth" at Waters Elementary's First Annual Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle Market Day. I figure I'll be a cross between an artisan and a rummage sale. The spot is only $20 and I get to keep all my own sale proceeds. This mini-garage sale seems like just what I needed.

Weather

2009-03-01T15:11:00.004-06:00

When I was a kid, I used to wonder how the heck my parents could stand to watch the nightly news. How boring! Why on earth would someone want to watch that? Now, I still don't religiously watch the news each night, but if it's about that time, I do turn to a local channel. I may not watch the whole thing, but I have developed a "thing" about the weather. I like to see it. I want to see it. The seven day forecast specifically. Someone at work told me that means I'm getting old - obsessing over the weather!

I have to admit, the seven day forecast isn't my only weather based "thing". I'm not sure when I started doing this, but it's my Chicago winter coping mechanism. I like to check weather.com for the monthly forecast, as far out as it will go to see how much better the average daily temperature will be when we get there. And since today is March 1...

YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! The end is in sight....

Seriously

2009-03-01T09:59:00.001-06:00

The cute lamps are taunting me! They are everywhere when I go out shopping...

Pajama Removal

2009-02-26T22:13:00.003-06:00

This seems to be Henry's lastest phase. When I went in to get him up this morning (after much wailing and a way too early wake up), I arrived to find little man, PJs in hand, saying "wan put on! wan put on jammies!"

So, I'm getting ready to crash for the night (after I watch the news, like the old lady I've become), so I went in to check on him. Found my skinny little man all curled up, wearing only the white onesie from under those jammies. PJs were in a heap in his bed. So, I put a couple of extra blankets in his bed, covered him up and kicked the heat up a notch. Didn't figure it was worth waking the kid up to re-dress him!

Lamp Love

2009-02-20T21:22:00.013-06:00

I did a bit of much needed clothes shopping at Marshalls yesterday on my lunch hour. However, I cannot shop at a Marshalls without perusing the home section. I saw the cutest lamp. Round silver base with a chocolate brown shade. It was $29.99. I *really* wanted to buy it. And then I realized, I don't own any table lamps. Nor do I have a place for any!? How cute is this:

I've decided I really want a pair of table lamps for our bedroom once we get bedside tables figured out. We are most likely going to need some sort of custom tables, probably built in wall shelves actually, because of the storage drawers in our bed and the small width we have to work with. My mom keeps trying to tell me table lamps won't be as good to read by and the lamp will take up too much room on our nightstands, but I really, really love this look:

(nyclq from Rate My Space)

(David Jimenez)

In An Instant

2009-02-20T08:50:00.004-06:00

As you know, I'm not really a coffee person, I'm a Chai person. Not that I don't like coffee, because I do, but once I made the shift to Chai I pretty much abandoned the java. But I thought the news of Starbucks VIA was pretty cool. Tiny packet + water = Starbucks brew? Interesting for sure. I'll give it a try. Maybe this could help out my friends who lost their Starbucks stores recently...

Weekend recap

2009-02-17T13:42:00.011-06:00

Well, it's official, I'm the mom of a two year old. How on earth did two years fly by SO FAST?

The "weekend" kicked off Thursday night with me writing Valentine's from Henry, individually wrapping small playdough pots into heart covered cellophane bags, and attaching the aforementioned Valentine's to the bags with curling ribbon (because I didn't want to use the red wire twist ties on gifts for toddlers). He received a whole bag full of Valentine's Day cards and candy. TONS of candy. Mind you his room at school has kids possibly as young as 15 months and it goes up to age three. Some of the crap that parents chose to send made me stabby. *Sigh* let the school years begin. On a nice note, my parents arrived Friday afternoon and were able to see Henry's school during our early afternoon pick-up. Of course it was Valentine's chaos, but it was still cool for them to see where Henry spends his weekdays.

Saturday was the big birthday. In the morning the guys took Henry to McDonald's playland (I was bummed that Prescott Playtime was closed for the holiday) to burn off some steam. While they were out, Mom and I took care of last minute odds & ends and balloons! Henry woke from his nap, thrilled find six regular balloons and one "NUMBER TWO!". We quickly realized that other gifts were probably unnecessary ;-) But we pressed on and Henry opened a staggering amount of loot from both sets of grandparents and his aunts, uncles and cousins.

Award for the noisiest gift: Parents My First Remote Control Car. Despite my attempts to hide it, he kept asking for it. For the record, I will remember this Aunt A & Uncle W!!!

As expected, Henry hopped directly on his Wheely Cow and took off. He immediately began pushing it, riding it and referring to it as his Wheely Cow. As long as your kiddo is sturdy on his/her feet, I'd highly recommend the Wheely ride-ons.

After the gift madness, we all sat down for delicious cake from Sweet Mandy B's - white frosting, white cake with blueberry filling since blueberries are H's favorite! And, to pay homage to Henry's favorite monkey, Curious George, the party did have a monkey theme. I did manage to avoid most of the tacky character "stuff", but gave in a little here and there. My best buy of the party though, where these awesome Monkey hats from Michaels! I'll spare their dignity here, but I have lovely photos of everyone wearing these puppies.
Now that my sis and her fam are in China, we had the cool opportunity to wish my nephew N a happy birthday since it was Feb. 14 here and already Feb. 15 there, he and Henry shared a birthday for a bit. So we all donned our monkey hats, Skyped away and sang Happy Birthday!

One last note for Henry's birthday weekend, between Christmas and now his birthday, the number of noisy, plastic, flashy things has increased. Rapidly. My orderly and anal nature forced me to buy furniture to hide some of this. Mom & I hit IKEA on Sunday and now our living room has this lovely number behind the couch, perfect for hiding the "stuff" I'd rather not look at when H is not around (bonus glimpse of the Wheely Cow in the corner)!!!

Fried Rice Fog

2009-02-17T13:38:00.005-06:00

So, the past two days I have eaten leftover Combo Fried Rice for lunch (thanks Mom & Dad!). While completely delicious, I'm certain it does not have enough protein, and thanks to my current read, I have realized that this food practically puts me into a coma! Both yesterday and today, post lunch I have wanted to crawl in bed almost immediately. Perhaps I need to eat some at night when I'm feeling that old familiar insomnia?

I'm trying to work on step 1 - breakfast with the appropriate amount of protein and a complex carb. Breakfast of choice these days? Half a 100% whole wheat bagel, a bit of cream cheese and 4 ounces of salmon. Yum!

Potatoes? Really?

2009-02-05T09:40:00.004-06:00

As usual, I've been struggling to eat healthier, but it seems that every time I try to make a change, no matter how gradual I try to ease into it, I end up falling off the wagon and heading right back to my carbs, carbs and more carbs diet. It's weird because I feel much better when I balance my diet, yet somehow I can't stick to it. I blame being a skinny kid with an amazing metabolism. I can remember going to Taco Bell, drinking a large Mountain Dew, eating an entire Mexican pizza and then topping that off with three more tacos! Still skinny as a rail. *sigh* Those were the good old days (though horribly unhealthy!).

So, in my seemingly endless quest to straighten up, I googled sugar addiction, because I'm pretty certain I'm addicted. I found the book Potatoes Not Prozac and the author's website, Radiant Recovery. On her website, the author posts this quiz:

Am I Sugar Sensitive? See Which Apply to YOU (Me)
I really like sweet foods
I eat a lot of sweets
I am very fond of bread, cereal, popcorn or pasta
I have problem with alcohol or drugs
I am in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction
One or both of my parents are alcoholic
One or both of my parents are/were especially fond of sugar
I am overweight and don't seem to be able to easily lose the extra pounds
I continue to be depressed no matter what I do (maybe not depressed per say, but definitely in a funk)
I often find myself overreacting to stress
I have a temper or short fuse (my poor husband!)

If you checked:
3 or more, it is very likely that you are sugar sensitive.
5 or more, you have come to the right place! Let's explore an answer you have been looking for a long time. You don't have to live with the craziness you have experienced for so long. You can work with the simple solutions and change your life. Get Potatoes Not Prozac and read it carefully.

I'm only a few chapters in, but so many of the behaviours I've read about are totally me. The author compares sugar addiction to alcoholism and basically claims that unless treated properly it is very, very difficult for the sugar addiction to "cure" him/herself. Who knows if this works, or if this will work for me, but so far I like the concept and plan to continue reading!

Mooooo!!!

2009-01-28T09:57:00.005-06:00

I'm very excited, as this Wheely Cow is out for delivery with UPS today. It is gonna take a lot of will power to keep it from Henry until Feb 14!!! (even bigger bonus - I bought it "free" with amazon.com gc's we get as credit card rewards)!!

Would you drink a milkshake for breakfast?

2009-01-28T09:44:00.004-06:00

Now you all know how much I love Starbucks. It's my life line many days. Sick and wrong, I know. But anywho. So, this morning, I watched the woman in front of me order a venti Caramel Frappuccino®. She was practically salivating as the barista swirled a tower of whipped cream, followed by ribbons of caramel. Now I'm generally not one to judge other people's nutritional choices, cause I certainly don't always make stellar choices myself. But, it's 15 degrees outside, that thing has 500 empty calories and 16 grams of fat! Just for shits and giggles, I looked it up and yes, a small milkshake from McD's has less calories than that venti Frap! In other scary news, the largest milkshake they have (32 oz) rings in at a scary 1, 160 calories. I think I've been watching too much Oprah (the last two days have been about obese children).

Seriously though, would you drink a friggin' milkshake for breakfast!?

25

2009-01-23T09:20:00.004-06:00

Days that is, since Henry started daycare, or "school" as we call it for his sake (and maybe a bit for ours too - it just feels better than saying daycare). This morning when I dropped him off, I removed his hat, hung up his coat, chatted with him a bit and then he took the teacher's hand and went off to see the babies. He likes to go see the babies in the morning (and no we won't be giving him a sibling any time soon thankyouverymuch!), so that is often the distraction used when I am leaving. This morning, he DID NOT CRY!!! I was so happy!

In other news, my treadmill walking is going well. I did take roughly a week off during the plague, but now I am back at it. Some nights I have to force myself, but so far I'm sticking to my 6 days a week. I know I chose wisely to start small and my back is already feeling a bit better. I kind of want to get a bosu ball because I think it would be great for my balance & core, but again, I better stick to my small goal for a month or two before I start adding on.

And one last random note, I think I might be slightly lactose intolerant. Without getting too gross, having digestive issues has always been pretty common for me, but not to an extent that it really bothered me. So, post-plague as I slowly returned to the land of normal eating, I of course went into for my usually non-fat chai tea latte. And it gave me a stomachache. And crazy bloating. So after two days like that, I switched to soy in my chai. Holy crap! What a difference. So, I think I'm jumping on the soy bandwagon.

Two

2009-01-16T08:40:00.004-06:00

Henry is rapidly approaching two years old. Valentine's Day is the big day. He really is at a fun age and we feel very fortunate that he is such a big talker for his age (I didn't say much at all until I was nearly 3). He is very curious and I swear you can just see his little mind working as he examines things. He seems to know almost all his letters and can sing the beginning of the alphabet. He can count from 1 to 10, but won't do it if you ask, I only catch him doing so on his own! He can also count down, at least from 4 to 1, as he did so last night while pushing rubber duckies into the tub.

Now, all of those things are great fun and I really am enjoying him these days, but that being said, it's coming with a wicked ~~stubborn~~ independent streak. Two days ago I practically had a wrestling match (scary how strong a 2 year old is, or does that show that I am weak?! troubling.) with him to get his shirt on. He gets very mad when you remove his jammies, unless of course he is watching television while you do so. We are also having some strong words when there is food involved. I have tried giving him options and it works sometimes. But other times, it's like he isn't listening, or just doesn't care and he won't answer when I ask, "turkey dog or chicken nuggets"? (I know, I know, thrilling culinary choices!). So, I make a choice, sit him down and the table and we get screams and protest. I tell him to "use your words" and all I get are "NO CHICKEN NUGGETS!". Which I will say is a vast improvement from the "NO WANT IT" phase we went through, but still, not really the desired conversation a tired, stressed mom wants to be having.

I'm sure that this too will pass, but I'm gonna throw it out there, mom's who have been there, done that, what have you done to help encourage GOOD behavior from your kids regarding routine things like getting dressed, eating meals, etc? I've read 1-2-3 Magic and we are getting ready to lay down some house rules and some time outs. There is some info about timers and positive reinforcement charts, but I'm just wondering if 2 is too young? Any input welcome!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2009-01-15T13:10:00.004-06:00

You know, I used to religiously enter the Lucky magazine Lucky Breaks giveaways. And at the beginning, I actually won a bunch of stuff! A Crabtree & Evelyn Gardener's kit, an Express cashmere t-shirt, lots of little lip glosses and assorted beauty stuff and the big win was a $300 Elini watch! But then life got busy, I got lazy and stopped entering. Enter wild hair in November and voila!

I'm now the proud owner of Bieux Skin's Power Lift & Repair Serum!According to their website, here's what it's gonna do for me...
"Creates an immediate, visible lifting effect and provides ongoing treatment of the visible signs of skin aging (patent pending) Clinically proven improvement in skin aging including visibly firmer, tighter, more radiant skin."

Sounds good. I'll let you know how that works out. Thanks Lucky Breaks and Bieux Skin!

"I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

2009-01-13T19:42:00.003-06:00

Well, not exactly, but things have been a bit rough around my household for the past week. Yep, stomach flu. And it totally and completely sucks. Luckily Henry's round one was literally just one round (cleaning out a puke soaked car seat may be the most disgusting thing I have ever done). But he has been left behind, stuffy nosed and with a hacking cough reminiscent of a pack a day smoker. Just when I thought we had survived without receiving the infectious plague, it struck both my husband and I, at nearly midnight on Sunday night. And to add insult to injury, HDog still had a fever on Monday, so we spent all day watching PBS cartoons, praying to the porcelain god and trying to negotiate who felt worse when H needed more attention.

The rest of 2009 better be golden after the shit storm of a start that I've had!!!

Random plugs

2009-01-09T09:50:00.004-06:00

1) Love this stuff. Yes, you can wash clothes covered in massive amounts of puke just one time and this stuff seems to kill and smell and funk involved. Bless you Clorox2.

2) I have slowly but surely been won over by dooce. Lord knows she doesn't need my help with spreading the word, but I'm definitely going to pick up a copy of her book, It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita. Though I didn't have the breakdown to the extent that Ms. Dooce did, I unfortunately went through the suckage that is post partum depression after Henry's birth. It took me seven months to realize it and seek some help. It's something that I haven't talked about much, but as I get further and further from it I do my best to be open and honest about my experience. If my blabbing could help just one new mom it would be worth it. Anywho. I'm certain the new book will be honest, sarcastic and pretty damn funny. Looking forward to it.

Two steps forward...

2009-01-08T09:26:00.005-06:00

and now for the one back. After just three days back at daycare, Henry has the stomach flu. Lovely. Tossed his cookies, in the car seat, just one block from daycare this morning. Poor kiddo. Trying to remain positive, but puke patrol is NOT my idea of a good time. Fortunately there is no fever. Let's hope for a 24 hour quickie.

And I pray we don't all catch it.

Looking Up

2009-01-07T11:25:00.005-06:00

Things around here are starting to look and feel better. Thank goodness, since the holidays were a pretty lousy funk for us this year. First, a few random notes:

My beloved Granny passed away on NYE. My brother in law said she did so just in time to renew her soul as a New Year's baby. I like that thought. And that she & my GrandDad are together again after two long years apart.
My sister's family is rapidly preparing for their move to China. My mother is out helping my sister pack. The best part is, we've all purchased web cams and joined Skype so we can see one another and talk for free. I swear I've seen more of my sister, my nephew and my parents because of it!
Henry slept through the night last night! As did I, for the most part. I have been battling some pretty nasty insomnia that I'm pretty sure goes hand in hand with my own stress and Henry's separation anxiety.
My house is clean :-) I swear, I would cut out a meal, or clothes or something vital before I would lose my bi-monthly visits from my cleaning ladies. They rule!

So, I'm finally starting to feel more balanced and optimistic about 2009. Amazing what a couple days of healthier eating and one single better night of sleep will do! I've been bouncing all sorts of thoughts about my get healthy plan around in my head and have decided the time has come to jot them down. I've really realized that slow and steady is my main goal. I want to make small, manageable changes that I can always come back to if I slip up. In past I've been very all or none - super healthy or super unhealthy and I think it has been my downfall all along (cue music & light bulb symbolizing revelation...). So, here is the beginning of my list, which I plan to slowly build on as my habits improve:

Make better food choices - Chose to eat whole foods - less processed, more fruits, more veggies and lean protein.
Walk 30 minutes, 6 days a week.
Complete ab work after every walking session (this will help my back pain)

So, that is all for now. I want to start some strength training, perhaps focusing on one muscle area per session, but I decided last night to just do walking & abs for a little while. I think too much too fast it what does a lot of people in when starting a regimen.

Oh, and I have been eating a ton of salmon in the past few days. My husband cooked the most delicious planked salmon recipe this past summer while having TCP family over for dinner. We made it again for my family over the holidays and I had forgotten just how amazing it was. I seriously might need my husband to make me a giant piece of salmon like this every week. Anywho, I've gotten off track of my reason for mentioning the salmon. I know salmon is supposed to be good for your skin. Frankly, I've been feeling pretty fat, old and wrinkly lately. I'm sure the sleep deprivation hasn't helped, but I swear I think all the salmon is helping in the skin department. I just looked...better this morning...can't quite explain it. Wonder how quick that is really supposed to help, or if I am just imagining it...

Fatness Fog

2009-01-05T14:14:00.005-06:00

I'm lost in it. Stress snowballed over the holidays, along with my waistline. While hanging with my family, I just let it all go. And I wasn't really holding on that tight before the holidays! So, now I sit working in my yoga pants, because although I can get into the jeans, they certainly aren't comfortable.

I know, I know, a few of you who know me in real life would say, "You are not fat". And really, I'm not saying I'm fat, just flabby, inactive and not healthy. Can't remember how much I spilled about my back pain, but beginning in August '08, I suddenly developed some pretty sharp back pain. I went to my regular doctor. She said, ice and Advil for 5 days. Check. Still hurts. Waited a while. Still hurting. Met with an orthopedic specialist who sent me to physical therapy. Physical therapy helped, but did not alleviate the problem (which is probably a bulging disc around my L4 or L5). It totally sucks. I feel like a 33 year old woman in a 65 year old body. I cannot bend straight down and pick a basket of laundry from the floor.

So, I'm not going on a diet. I've tried that in the past, been wildly successful with losing pounds, but haven't committed to a lifestyle change. I need to work out and eat healthy on a consistent basis. I spent too much time being lazy in my relatively naturally thin body and I'm paying for it now. Can't say I have a super detailed plan just yet, but I'm reading SuperFoods HealthStyle (taking inspiration from Kath Eats Real Food - thanks!), trying to make some gradual changes, and stick to them.

I Wish

2009-01-01T07:29:00.005-06:00

I wish my Christmas had been a bit merrier this year.
I wish I could spend even more time with my sister, her husband and my three nephews before they move to China in less than a month.
I wish Henry would sleep like a baby every single night and wake up happy as a clam each morning.
I wish that my house would magically stay clean.
I wish I had finished undecorating the Christmas tree yesterday.
I wish I had finally gotten my act together and eaten healthy throughout the holiday season.
I wish I had a hot chai latte sitting next to me right now.
I wish my basement had not flooded during the recent snow thaw.
I wish I could bottle the happiness I feel when spending time with my whole family at the holidays.
I wish I could always vividly remember the joy on Henry's face this Christmas.
I wish I could win the lottery.
I wish that my beautiful Granny will rest in peace, now that she has joined my GrandDad.
I wish that 2009 will be a wonderful year for all!

A tiny smile

2008-12-17T12:53:00.005-06:00

I realized as I was compiling this post in my head, that I never really mentioned a big change in our household. As of December 1, H began attending daycare. We've been really, really fortunate for the past nearly 2 years - first with a wonderful nanny and then a subsequent, possibly even more wonderful nannyshare. It's been great having H at home with me working in our room, but when our fellow nannyshare family announced baby #2 (coming soon - good luck D family!), we decided it would be a good time to take the leap.

It's been a tough adjustment, both for H and for me. Drop off for the first week just might be my definition of hell. NO FUN to leave your child screaming, even though you know he is safe and will enjoy the new friends, toys and lessons in due time. And for me, I went from a house/work environment with a nanny & two noisy toddlers, to just me and our trusty French bulldog, Annie.

So... it's with great pleasure that I post this note. This morning when we arrived at daycare this sweet, older Filipino woman at the center answered the door. She isn't his teacher, she cooks the kid's meals and floats around the center helping out where she is needed. I forget what the kids call her (anyone know a Filipino term of endearment for an older aunt? that's how the director explained her "name" to me), but she peeked out the window, smiled at us and Henry SMILED BACK. It was a just a tiny grin and I swear he snatched it away when he saw me looking, almost a defiant, "What Mom? You think I like this place?" Seriously, it made my morning!

Professional gift buyer

2008-12-16T15:10:00.003-06:00

Along with a myriad of other crafty things (jewelry designer, interior decorator, cute shop owner, etc, etc), I want to be one. Really, I enjoy a challenge and love when I feel like I've come up with the perfect gift for someone.

For example, I so should have taken a picture, but I did the cutest gift for my MIL this year. She loves to bake and bring goodies to people. So, I bought her the most adorable custom made stamp from esty seller sweet paperie. It has a whisk in the middle and reads, "made with love by Xxx". I was torn between putting her name on the stamp vs Grandma, but went with her name so she could use it for people other than Henry! Then I bought several colorful ink pads, tags, cute ribbons, some tiny brown paper bags and lots of cellophane baking bags for breads, cookies, platters of treats. Then I founds some graphics of chocolate chip banana bread, chocolate chip cookies (two of MIL's favorite things to bake) and created a few small bags stuffed to look like her own creations, complete with a label from her new stamp. I really hope she loves it!

Anyone need last minute gift advice? Leave me a note and I'll see if I can help!

Safe!

2008-12-10T09:26:00.003-06:00

Henry that is. Very safe. We had a little chat about helicopters this morning, as one was hovering overhead when we arrived at daycare (or "school" as we call it). I'm guessing there won't be any crazy activity in that neighborhood considering it's crawling with cops, FBI agents, etc. Yep. H's daycare is walking distance from good old G-Rod's house. Yes, the house he was arrested at yesterday morning at 6:15 a.m. Nice.

In case you live under a rock, I'm talking about the fact that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested yesterday morning for a laundry list of reasons. I'm loving this quote I read this morning in The Red Eye by U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald:

"But the most cynical behavior in all this, the most appalling, is the fact that Gov. Blagojevich tried to sell the appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama," Fitzgerald said. "The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave."

*sigh* What a disgusting mess.

In completely unrelated news, I must add that despite my crazy consumption of Candy Cane Jo-Jo's (f'ing Trader Joes!!!), I have been feeling pretty good. My back has mellowed a wee bit, so I've jumped on my new treadmill with full force. Did I mention I bought a treadmill? Can't remember, but yeah, I did. It's a small model, Smooth Fitness 4.25, made specifically for walking. I do jog a bit, but prefer to walk, and lets face it, with my geriatric hip/back that's all I can handle for now! So finally, instead of laying on the couch watching TV, I can walk and watch all the trashy TV I want :)

That didn't take long.

2008-12-09T21:51:00.003-06:00

Yes, yes, I'm now an official Starbucks Gold Card holder. I received an early birthday present in the mail from my parents and lo and behold - Starbucks Gold! Woot! Registered it this morning, loaded that puppy with some cash and bought my first discounted chai. Ahhhh....life is good...

On that note - how smart of Starbucks is it to make the Gold Card a regular loadable card as well? I mean, as someone who puts my Starbucks habit on a card daily wouldn't I rather just use one card instead of making that register person swipe my Gold Card *and* my payment card? Hmmm. Oh well, I guess if they have more control to track me, it's at least nice them to send me this!

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-29T20:54:00.002-06:00

For some crazy reason, I'm very amped for the holidays this year! Maybe because last year was so much rougher and I was still recovering the sleep deprivation of having an infant, or maybe because I am so excited to experience Christmas through H's eyes this year. We put up our Christmas tree today and once it was dark, I brought Henry down, showed him the tree all lit up and decorated. His response? "WOW!"

Can't Wait!!!

2008-11-21T13:44:00.002-06:00

For Jen Lancaster's next book, Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomanical, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase!!! I check her blog daily and find her wildly funny. Too bad it doesn't come out until May...

Something special...and delicious

2008-11-17T08:41:00.005-06:00

Calling all brownie lovers! A few years back at our annual Junior League of Chicago's Gazebo the people from Blissful Brownies had a booth. OMG. Blissful is definitely the proper name for these brownies. And not only are the brownies Blissful, the service is as well. I adore them for allowing me to send one delicious, *fresh* brownie to my beloved Granny, who lives alone in a retirement community. I don't get to see her often and I love to send her things, but she certainly doesn't even need a half dozen brownies. Also, a couple years back when a friend of mine was going through a rough patch, Blissful rushed a half dozen brownies to her to help dull the pain.

Anywho. Enough of me waxing poetic over these brownies and on to the sharing of the ever important coupon code!!!

Offer expires Saturday, November 22, 2008.

Cheap & proud

2008-11-14T14:36:00.005-06:00

So, our food bills (grocery & dining out) have been so high in the last few months that it's embarrassing. Like I'm not going to admit the number embarrassing. Maybe they have always been this high, but with the new house budget, I'm now tracking it closely and it cannot stay this way.

I've always enjoyed clipping coupons. Something about the ritual of going through the Sunday paper ads and snipping good deals makes me happy. I'm not always as good about using said coupons, but hey, gotta start somewhere right?

Anywho. My latest obsession is scouring the grocery store ads and planning our meals to utilize what is on sale. And stocking up when things are on sale. You can imagine my pride when I received my grocery store receipt today to see:

Total spent: $55.94
Total savings: $21.02

Yippeee!!! (yes, I know, I'm a complete nerd)

Next up, I need to try The Grocery Game. It's supposed to cross reference store coupons with manufacturers coupons so you can save the most. I received an immense amount of satifaction today when I purchased Land O' Lakes butter buy one get free for $3.19 AND had a coupon for $.50 off. I scored in the raisin department this way as well.

We do also shop at Costco, but I'm beginning to have concerns about just how cheap it really is to buy in bulk. I think I'm often wooed by products that aren't all that great of a deal. Ok, sorry, what was meant to be a quick post about saving $20 turned into quite the rambling on cutting grocery costs!

Stuff

2008-11-11T08:43:00.006-06:00

I can't say the move in process is complete. We finally had to dig out the mud room a couple weeks back. That had been my dumping ground for "stuff". If it didn't have a home yet, I dumped it in there. That had to end sometime. It felt really, really good to clear it out.

Lately I've been looking around and realizing we have entirely too much stuff. It's hard because I feel like the stuff is part of who I am. As far back as freshman year in college I can remember people coming to me if they needed something. I've always enjoyed being the person with the perfect "thing", or solution whether it be clothes, shoes, tools, medical supplies, whatever. But it's not like I haven't known I have too much stuff, but lately, and maybe it's the economy, it's started to actually feel like too much. And really, I could get rid of a LOT and still have all the perfect things. I really want to start weeding things out, but it is so overwhelming to think of where to begin! Just a few things I need to organize and sell:

Old KJB Designs stock. For anyone who doesn't know, I used to have a small side business making jewelry. I made a fat ton of stuff for my booth at the JL holiday fair years back and I swear I still have some pieces from that. I should really sell this stuff, even if it's at bargain basement prices. It's just taking up room.
KJB Designs supplies. The massive number of semi-precious beads I have sitting around again, is staggering.
Vintage clothing. I have a good number of vintage pieces that I have purchased over the years that either never fit, or I just didn't find a way into my wardrobe properly (black puff sleeve sweater dress, I'm talking to you!)
Electronics. I know we have many, many pieces of slightly older electronics that should be shown the door, ebay style, because even if we only made a small amount, the sum would really add up.
Wrought iron decorative pieces. I had a major passion for this stuff for a few years. I've put a few pieces of it up here, but the rest feels tired. A craigslist lot could do nicely for this.
Clothes. I did take a small step last week and tried out a new consignment shop in the neighborhood. However, in the strangest consignment move in history, the woman did not want my COH jeans!? I have a couple pairs of the Faye style that I've just never worn much (the wide legs just aren't my thing) so I thought it was time to let them go. I mean, I know skinny jeans are more the thing these days, but seriously, I still think she could sell them in a heartbeat. Again, ebay, or maybe fashionswap needs to get these suckers.
Purses. I truly need to take inventory and made some tough choices. I'm gonna guess my purse count is over 50 and who knows, might be much higher than that.

While I'm rolling on the organizing topic, I'll add another list (mostly for my own purposes) of places that really need a solid hit in the cleaning/purging/organizing department:

Garage. I need to take a few choice piles of stuff from our massive garage shelves. I know of at least one kitchen box that has never been opened post move. I may discover its all crap, but still, it should get opened. There are also massive numbers of CDs and books out there, some of which (books that is, not CDs), should be loaded into the guest room shelves.
My closet. I'm not happy with it's layout and again, there is way too much stuff in it to begin with. I'm certain their are pieces that even if I were skinny enough to not loaf into them I wouldn't want anyhow.
Upstairs linen closet. I'm so happy to actually have a nice sized linen closet, so why, oh why is it poorly stuffed?
Filing cabinet. I approached this project with gusto earlier in the summer. Then I slowed to a halt because it was boring and never got back on track. The "to be filed bin" is now massive.

Whew! I do feel a bit better even after just listing all of this. Yet somehow each evening the allure of GossipGirlANTMGreysAnatomyBrothers&Sisters, etc pulls my fat ass to the couch. Perhaps if I organized & unloaded the stuff I could also successfully get rid of the extras pounds I'm hauling around in my jeans these days!?

A rare moment for being crafty...

2008-10-27T12:58:00.003-05:00

Not that it took tons of time, but I had a few moments to be crafty this weekend...all this is for our front porch, but it was super cold last night so it's all on our dining room table for now...

Monday, Shitty Monday

2008-10-27T11:21:00.004-05:00

We had a pretty nice weekend. Watched Henry's little friend C on Friday night and even managed to make it out to dinner with both of them (though thank goodness we did not have twins!). Both kids SLEPT IN on Saturday morning, with C getting up around 7:30 and Henry not up til nearly 7:45! I was almost worried something was wrong. Sunday we made a trip to the pumpkin patch. Although it was very windy, Henry enjoyed it immensely. We carved a pumpkin and I potted a couple of mums into pumpkins too. Nice weekend. And then things took a turn for the worse:

Mid Sunday afternoon realized that the siding on the north of our house is completely flapping in the window. Huge chunks laying in our neighbor's yard. Shit. Guy was supposed to come between 8-9 a.m. this morning. Had to call and chase him down. He finally came after 10 a.m. and with not very good news.
Around 9:30 p.m. felt nauseous last night. Spent a large chunk of last night praying to the porcelain god. Total suckage. And no, NOT pregnant, just sick.
Realized this morning that our car was due at the shop. Drove over to find construction everywhere, related to the Brown line el renovation (the shop is under the el). Had no cell with me (was dead, left it at home on the charger). Had to drive home, look up the number and call. They are still in the same place I just didn't push hard enough on the office door. Crap.

I feel like there is more bitching to be done here, but nothing else is floating to the top of my brain at the moment. It just all came down on me in one big shit storm so I guess that's why I'm crabby. Feeling better now (stomach flu? food poisoning? gone), but it just blows when this kinda stuff happens on a Monday right?

Oh well. Two huge positives to close with -

1. my lovely husband will be home for the next month or so. He cooked up a storm last night so we will have food all week with little effort!
2. Nephew #3 is arriving TODAY!! Yippee!!

Calendar round-up

2008-10-24T11:05:00.004-05:00

Two years ago I purchased my first calendar from etsy seller ilee, and I mentioned them last year around this time. My 94 year old granny adores them and specifically asked for a new one last year, which is awesome because what else do you get for a fabulous 94 year old lady?!

But, that being said, my eyes have been opened to so many other fun calendar possibilities this year! So, a little round up since I haven't made up my mind yet...

First off, of course is ilee's for the year, which sells for $22, which I do still enjoy:

Some say it's a bit too dark this year and are instead opting for PaperSource's slightly cheaper option, at $18.50:

Moving away from the letterpress category, into the lovely eco-friendly, slightly more expensive ($34), but no less cute world is one I read about over at dooce. An adorable wooden version (note to wooden calendar peeps - dooce's photo is better than yours AND you really should show all 12 months when trying to sell a calendar):

Then a decor post from Apartment Therapy Chicago about birch wood prints took me back to my love etsy and seller SureAsBlue, with these postcard calendars for just $11.99:

And then I realized, search for desktop calendar on etsy and you will be overrun with these suckers! A couple more of my favs...

annacote, $22

honeybeedesign, $20

And lastly because I ran across it, a shout out to my preppy friends, a whale planner for $25 by etsy seller sarahpinto! It seems Granny's gift might be a bit tougher to select this year!

Striking the right balance

2008-10-24T09:54:00.007-05:00

This post from Apartment Therapy Chicago a few days back got me going on one of my biggest house decor challenges - shelves. We have this fabulous fireplace on our main floor, in the living room, completely visible the moment you step into the house. So I feel like I need to really crack one out of the ballpark with these fabulous shelves!

So, this post is going to be picture heavy...sort of an on-line clipping of shelf images I love. I know I've got to get the proportions perfect, but without making it look too perfect! I'm open to ideas if you got 'em!!!

Oh and I'm totally thinking about doing a stacked plate wall opposite the fireplace. The current plan in my head is to collect various textured plates, paint them all the darker paint shade that is on the fireplace wall (all the walls are the same except the one behind the fireplace - it's one step darker for impact and to show off whatever fabulous collection I decide to put on those shelves) and then create my own "art" out of these plate textures. I want them stacked up, overlapping in many places. All in my head for now...

Inspiring design

2008-10-22T13:14:00.007-05:00

I have decided if I could live in non-toddler land, non-budget conscious land, I would want to live in a fabulous Kelly Wearstler/Jonathan Adler-equse hotel lobby-equse palace. I love the whole Hollywood Regency style and love to mix retro/vintage with newer pieces. And COLOR! Love lots of color in my home.

I adore reading decorating blogs and I am crazy addicted to watching Top Design (although - Kelly, honey, what were you thinking with this ensemble?). I've randomly been searching for a vintage sideboard for our living room. While doing so, I ran across some super cute pieces I'd love to have in a dream home, for really reasonable pricing! I know nothing about buying this type of furniture in terms of what is quality vintage and what is not, but I know what looks good. Check out a few of these choice pieces from ebay seller artcollector-usa:

Seriously, this seller has so many cool things I'd love to have in my home in insane! But, who knows what shipping would be like. *sigh*

On an annoying side note, anyone good at posting pictures with blogger?! Placement of them is so f'ing infuriating!

The marketing gods, they know me well...

2008-10-21T20:26:00.004-05:00

I just received this email from my pals at Starbucks...
"Over the past six months, I've received a ton of goodideas from Starbucks Card Rewards members who want tosee us expand and improve our rewards program.Membership recognition, flexible payment options, andmore everyday value are just a sample of what I hear.
We're getting ready to incorporate benefits like theseinto a new membership program, and I'd like to give youa sneak preview. In early November, you'll have theopportunity to join Starbucks Gold and take advantageof significant everyday value and exclusive member benefits.The annual membership fee is $25 and it entitles you to -

* 10% off most purchases in participating U.S. Starbucks stores*
* A free drink when you purchase your Starbucks Gold Card in a Starbucks store
* The option to pay for purchases any way you like
* A special Gold Card that identifies you as a member of this group

And if you register your Gold Card, you'll unlock additionalbenefits. That's when the top-shelf treatment really begins.This is a program for people who really love their Starbucks.

If you're enjoying Starbucks Card Rewards benefits, such asfree syrups, milk options and refills on drip coffee, thenwe hope you continue to do so. But if you're looking for dailysavings on everything from espresso beverages to espresso machines,you should check out Starbucks Gold. (Please note that StarbucksCard Rewards discounts cannot be combined with Starbucks Golddiscounts.)

We're letting you know about Starbucks Gold early, so don't besurprised if your barista doesn't know about it yet. You'll beable to find out more when you visit your neighborhood storenext month.

Thanks,
Brad Stevens
vice president
Customer Relationship Management"

Me likey. A lot.

Hell Has Frozen Over

2008-10-08T09:26:00.003-05:00

Glimpsed on my walk from the train into my office this morning...a standalone CROCS STORE. Great, now it will be easier for people to purchase these hideous monstrosities?! Because people need a WHOLE STORE devoted to those ugly things?! Please, someone...STOP THE MADNESS!!!

On a better note, I was excited to see an Ulta going in across the street. That's the kind of new retail we need on State Street.

Making Me Smile

2008-10-08T09:05:00.006-05:00

A long time friend of mine, L, over at Kiss On My List, was ever so sweet and gave me:

L is just getting started with the whole blogging craziness, has a fabulous sense of style, an adorable family, a hot boyfriend (can I say that L!?), and is an all around wonderful person. I'm honored that she would give me this lovely award! I've never been tagged for an award, but I'm gonna do my best to live up to it!

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude (I try, but I sorted laughed at this one!)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes (Story of my life!)
4. Must learn from others (certainly!)
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world (I don't have many readers, but I try!)
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids (check! one little buddy of my own, plus two nephews & a third on the way)

These are the rules for The Smile Award:
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Here comes the tough part - tagging others! I don't "know" that many bloggers, but I'm gonna do my best:

Third Coast Preppy - It almost feels like cheating to tag the lovely TCP, because I've known her IRL for years! And yes bloggers, she is as fabulous in real life as she is in her very witty blog. Though I'm not very preppy myself, I have a great appreciation as Mrs. TCP always looks adorably pulled together, is deliciously snarky, and just an all around fun friend.

Lag Liv - I don't know if she will respond to said award, as I really don't know her, but I have to say, I always look forward to her blogs. She is well spoken, smart and for me, I love the way she can articulate the fact that it's ok to want to work and be a good mom. She used to live in good ol' ChiTown and her son isn't too far behind Henry in age, so it's really fun for me to read about her son's adventures.

Not Quite Vintage - I stumbled upon Colleen's blog and I have no clue how, but I'm so glad I did! She is crafter supreme! I am so envious of her amazing skills and impeccable taste. I can't only hope to create some of the fabulous things she has over the years.

Purple Cat On A Bike - My friend J is amazing! She's probably gonna want to smack me for tagging her in this post, because she doesn't blog much, but she is incredibly funny and needs to step up her blogging ;-)

And with that, I have passed on the torch, sorry for only tagging 4 peeps, but I don't know enough to do more!

Rained out

2008-10-05T20:57:00.004-05:00

Huge bummer. Our trip to the pumpkin patch was rained out. It was clear in the morning, sorta clear mostly through H's nap and started really raining about the time that H got up. *sigh* We'll just have to postpone it a couple of weeks. So, cute pumpkin & H pictures later.

Thought I'd share some photos of the vintage jewelry I ordered from etsy seller dibabeads recently:

The center picture is actually a vintage pendant. I've been missing my jewelry making days. I actually ordered a few other vintage beads from this seller. If you're into jewelry making & vintage beads, dibabeads is worth checking out!

Decor update

2008-09-25T13:38:00.009-05:00

Exciting news - new chairs! Thanks to a little inheritance from the parents (my sister scored a washer & dryer for her soon to be 3 boys!) our lower level will be one step closer to complete. A lovely pair of these just arrived today:The super cool part? They are recliners! Yep, you heard me right - La-z-y Boys! Z, of course wanted giant, hideous overstuffed ones and I wanted cute club chairs. So we compromised. Club chairs that recline. I had tough time finding a more contemporary fabric that worked with our color scheme, but all in all I'm pleased. I really wanted the Riley, style, but settled on Fletcher because it fit better in the smallish amount of space we allotted. I really wish I could get the downstairs put back together after our little incident, but that should happen this weekend. Woulda been sweet to watch Grey's Anatomy tonight on the big TV from my own recliner! Hopefully this weekend I will re-assemble the lower level and I'll try to get some good pictures of the whole setup together.

In other home news, thanks to a work bonus I finally broke down and called a painter. I do not like to paint and I am not good at it! The wimpy green color of our entire main floor was being to wear on my psyche. I love the new dark taupey grey!

Before:

After:

Everything just looks much more sleek & modern now. Of course the main reason for the paint change would be the kitchen. The mossy green looked positively hideous next to the gorgeous cherry cabinets, black counter tops and most importantly, the blue/black/copper mosaic tile. Why on earth would one paint moss green here?! Here's a close-up of the new paint from the kitchen:

Our bedroom is still a huge work in progress, which frustrates me to no end. I just want to all done, which I know is crazy, but I can't help feeling that way nonetheless. I did purchase this gorgeous duvet from Pottery Barn:

However, it is not going to be used as a duvet. I'm going to convert it into curtains and hang it behind our bed. The plan for now is to use the colors in this duvet for paint. There is a light aqua shade that will be the bedroom walls and then the darker shade you see, I'm thinking about painting our master bath that color. It has a skylight and all white tile, so I think it can handle the bold shade. We'll see.

How have I never seen this website?

2008-09-24T21:45:00.007-05:00

I stumbled across pokkadots website this evening while googling for a piece of art I had torn out of a catalog. No, I'm not expecting and don't plan to be anytime really soon, but I saw this 1,2, Buckle My Shoe series and instantly tore it out because it is totally my inspiration when it's time to do nursery #2 (girl or boy). It's just so me - colorful, fun and retro inspired!

I just had to bookmark it to make sure I don't lose it for someday. I mean, I left my keys at the UPS Store on Tuesday and didn't not figure it out until about 4 hours later when I really needed them. If I don't write things down these days, I do NOT remember!

Also, after browsing the tons of adorable canvases for sale, I started surfing the whole site and I LOVE it! Everything is adorable!

I know, I know...

2008-09-24T21:32:00.005-05:00

Hi. I am MIA blogger. Work is kicking my ass. My f'ing 85 year old lady back pain is kicking my ass. Water in our basement is kicking my ass. H is kicking my ass. Life is kicking my ass. I'm actually really happy and in a good mood most days, just having trouble getting it all done.

So, I'll share a lovely picture from a recent party we threw. Nothing large, I think there were 14 adults, but the addition of 5 toddlers since the last time we had a get together made the vibe just a bit different ;-)In all my Martha Stewartesque craziness, I failed to take more photos once the party got going. I put together this fab tower of sweets with waffle bowls of assorted berries, brownies, brownie-moonpie fluff sandwiches, etc and I so wish I had taken a photo. But, alas, I did well and the moment I set it down our guests swooped in and gobbled it all up!

Hate

2008-09-14T13:52:00.003-05:00

People always tell you "hate is a strong word". Normally, I agree. However, when speaking of the massive amounts of rain we Chicagoan's have endured in the past two days, I'm gonna say it. I HATE the rain.

Don't get me wrong, I know we are super fortunate compared to those braving the hurricane, but still, the weather is making me stabby. Several reasons:

1) Our lovely lower level, filled with soft, brand new carpet has disgusting water seepage. We have moved our entire entertainment center, couch, lots of toys, pillows and ripped up that gorgeous carpet. I attempted to use our Little Green Machine on it, but felt akin to drinking an entire swimming pool of water with an adorable bendy straw. NOT COOL. So I gave up. We are working on a rotating towel system around the edges. Praying we can get it dried out and put back together without spending thousand of dollars.

2) H, Z & I are all going nuts. Like stir crazy. I was forced to take my boys to McDonald's this morning to fulfill Z's breakfast out craving and H's need to run at the same time. Nothing like trans fats for all today.

3) Our yard, in all it's loveliness, looks like a swamp. Crazy standing water, floating toys and I'm about a zillion bugs. Yuck.

4) My hair. I look like a scraggly drowned rat every time I leave the house. It blows.

Sorry to be absent for like a month and only to return and post a ranting mess. Life has been so busy that I just haven't had room for blogging these days. Will try to return soon. With something nice.

There's a Monkey on my Back

2008-08-07T08:41:00.004-05:00

Ok, I mean Henry's back and it does not have a long "leash" like tail! (decided against that route for those concerned) I am usually somewhat immune to adorable children's stuff with considerable price tags. That, however, flies by the wayside when there are monkeys involved. And apparently mod styled monkey's on backpacks really fall into that category...And in case monkey's don't strike your fancy...perhaps penguins, pigs, dinos, sharks, lions, bees, rabbits or polar bears do?
So big kudos to the folks at Dante Beatrix for realizing that even little guys need their own backpacks and they need to look cool (ok, maybe that's my requirement...).

Adorable!

2008-08-05T16:43:00.004-05:00

A friend recently pointed me to these adorable notecards from MINNIE & EMMA correspondence and I'm thinking...how can I not buy these?! I mean the sample already shows how adorable they'd look with H's name and he will need notes for 2nd birthday gifts (neveryoumind that isn't until February)And how adorable to send as thank you notes from me?

Buzzing

2008-08-04T19:25:00.005-05:00

A million things have been buzzing through my head since my last post, but nothing is really coming together into a coherent post. So, just one little thing...

Huge thank you to Colleen over at Not Quite Vintage! She mailed me her free copy of comfort food by Kate Jacobs. I have already begun to devour it. So far, I like it. And she tossed in a very sweet note, a gorgeous notebook for me to keep track of my home decorating inspirations and some adorable scrapbook papers. A lovely snippet of those is pictured above. She is so craftily (yeah, I made that word up) talented and thoughtful! I'm so amazed at the wonderful people you can "meet" on-line these days.

Perfect Weekend

2008-07-28T08:29:00.007-05:00

This weekend was perfect. Seriously - perfect. I don't think I've thought that about a weekend in a *very* long time! It was the perfect mix of home improvements, fun and relaxing. A recap:

Friday night was actually a whole lotta nothing. Was in bed by 10:00 p.m. But I was completely wiped out, so that was a good thing.

Saturday morning Henry and I walked to the Farmer's Market and bought delicious corn on the cob and squash. And of course we made the required stop at Starbucks. :-) Once we got home, my lovely husband was awake, so I turned little Henry over to him and started prepping a wall of our kitchen for painting. While little man napped I painted a coat in the kitchen and Z hung a shelf above our TV (has been on our to-do list for a while, so I was ecstatic!). I do plan to put cute things on the shelves to cover up the weird, mid-wall outlets.Once the shelf went up, Z grilled us some chicken and corn for lunch. Enjoyed our lunch on the back patio in the gorgeous weather. Post nap time, we snatched up H and away we went. Made a quick family trip to Lowe's and then headed to the Taste of Lincoln Ave. Henry road a pony! After the festival, we played at Oz Park for a while and then headed out to dinner at a local restaurant with a gorgeous back patio. Henry was a perfect gentleman all through dinner - smiling, laughing, eating his noodles.

Just as we were stepping in the door at home, we caught my friend R chatting to the answering machine. She has been crazy busy, so I was very happy to catch her call. By the time I finished my call, Z had Henry bathed and in bed! Then we finished our shelf installation and watched a super cute flick, Definitely, Maybe. Gave me a tiny crush on Ryan Reynolds. Can't believe I got Z to watch it with me, but it was so adorable!

Sunday was my morning "off", so I slept in. And, I cashed in a fabulous Mother's Day gift from 2007, a trip to Spa Space where I enjoyed a pineapple papaya body scrub, an Indian head rub, a full body massage and a facial. Perfect end to a perfect weekend!

I hope everyone reading had a weekend as perfect as mine!

JCrew...is that you?

2008-07-26T07:04:00.004-05:00

JCrew...is that you? With your adorable argyle pattern and your lovely ruffled collar? Ummm...no, it's Gap's younger, cheaper sister - Old Navy! What?! Looks like JCrew to me so I think I'll give it a try. For $29.50, I think this is worth a try :-)

Me on TV?

2008-07-22T21:18:00.005-05:00

I did an impulsive thing today. I applied for Design on a Dime! I've never really seen the show, but have seen many an HGTV design show. Apparently there is a Chicago HGTV office. There was a post on our local parenting website asking for Chicago area volunteers ASAP and I thought cool! Maybe I'm crazy, because I could hate it and it's not like it's a high end make-over. But, they foot the $1,000 bill and I get a room redone.

When we moved into this house, I put our entire suite of bedroom furniture into the guestroom downstairs because a) I wanted to start fresh both furniture & decor wise and b) we really wanted a queen sized bed. So, I put our current master bedroom up for sacrifice. It's painted a wimpy blue color. Every bit of furniture that is here is a hand-me down except an armoire that actually belongs to Henry's room and the West Elm desk I just bought. We have yet to splurge on that proper queen sized bed, so we have a full size set on one of those crap metal frames with wheels. So what's to lose? I'm hoping I could at least score a nice paint job out of the deal!

Would you put this on your kid?

2008-07-21T15:58:00.003-05:00

Henry & I are gearing up to travel. Alone. And I'm already fearing it. Really the biggest challenge will be getting myself, Henry, a giant carseat and a suitcase from the parking garage to the airport. And getting everything packed in and loaded for baggage checking. Once we've dropped off the "stuff" we'll be in good shape. But how on earth do I do things that require both hands and not have him completely run away from me?!

Man, there is a TON of chat out "there" about child harnesses, leashes, etc. Lots of it is super negative, claiming using one of these is lazy parenting and that one should teach their child to behave properly (I did read one incident where a mother had leash on a 7 year old! Ok, that, in my opinion, is wrong!). But other parents are definitely supportive, reminding us all that you don't know what it's like to walk in another parent's shoes and in busy places sometimes being safe is the best choice.

So at nearly 18 months, with limited vocabulary and unlimited running skills, would it really be a bad thing to put a cute little monkey backpack on Henry so he can do his thing without me losing him? Hmmm...

Triple Play!

2008-07-16T09:46:00.011-05:00

One of my new favorite reads, elements of style, filled out this fun meme, and left an open ended invite that I decided to take! (because work is so less appealing right now)

1. What are the last 3 things you purchased?
- Reef flip flops for Henry
- a stainless steel spray bottle to keep granite counter top cleaner
- blue vintage maxi dress

2. What are the last 3 songs you downloaded?
- I'm afraid I can't even answer this.
My husband is the music guru in this family.
My iPod has been dead for months.
However I did purchase the Old 97's Blame It On Gravity on CD.
Ok, I lie, my husband bought it for me. But I love it!

3. Where were the last 3 places you visited?
- Central IL for the floatilla
- Hilton Head, SC
- NYC

4. What are your 3 favorite movies?
- Heathers (since I first saw it with my best friend at age 11)
- Stand By Me
- almost any 80's John Hughes flick

5. What are your 3 favorite possessions?
- my new house
- our photo albums, I try my best to keep cataloging our lives through the years
- my Nikon D40

6. What 3 things can you not live without?
- my family
- Starbucks Chai Tea Lattes
- the internet

7. What would be your 3 wishes?
- a job I love, with hours like my current job
- a non-travelling, job for my husband that he would love
- my whole family, especially my mom & sister to live much closer

8. What are 3 things you have not done yet?
- travel to Australia
- gone zip-lining (always think this looks so cool)
- learned to speak a foreign language

9. What are your 3 favorite dishes?
- honey soy flank steak
- Cheese Tortellini with Prosciutto, Peas & Mushrooms
in an Alfredo Sauce from Basil Leaf Cafe
- can a brownie ice cream sundae be considered a dish?

10. What 3 celebrities would you want to hang out with the most?
- Rhett Miller
- Drew Barrymore
- Eleanor Roosevelt

11. Name 3 things that freak you out.
- bugs that crunch when you kill them
- used band aids
- losing my parents

12. If you could describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be?
- out-going
- reserved (seems strange, but I can be
both depending on the situation)
- anal retentive

13. Name 3 unusual things you are good at.
- bargain shopping
- roller skating
- I have a nearly photographic recall for numbers
(could still tell you my phone # from many
childhood addresses & we moved a lot!)

14. What are 3 things you are currently coveting?
- building a new closet for DH (so he won't share mine!)
- West Elm's storage bed
- an attractive, reclining (DH's request)
chair & a half for our family room

15. What 3 bloggers would you like tag?
Purple Cat on a Bike
DowdyDiva
Shopaholic

An interesting lesson...

2008-07-14T11:20:00.004-05:00

I have an account on HGTV's Rate My Space. I love decorating. My mother is a huge help too and I swear, she should have been an interior designer. Also, I signed up when we were leaving the condo, because I was a bit sad to leave my decor, I had just finished Henry's room and much of the rest I'd spent 5 years perfecting!
So, this photo of Henry's nursery is posted on Rate My Space:
People comment on how much the love the space, offer comments, suggestions, ask questions, etc. Cool right? Well, I learned my lesson about internet photos - these are now property of HGTV and anyone else can use them! I'm flattered! But it was also strange to google and find photos of my son's nursery!? Oh well - I feel famous ;-) People checking out my "work" below:

Design Happens
Herald Tribune
RubyRooms
Bringing BabyJ Home

What debauchery really looks like?

2008-07-10T12:24:00.012-05:00

Certainly not the lovely stock photo of pontoon boats tied together in my previous post. THIS is what it really looks like:

We counted 23 boats at one point! The cooler in the photo? Panty Dropper juice (in case you can't read the lovely label). A scary concoction brewed up by the two husbands complete with the plastic figure who dances, farts and lifts her dress at the push of a button.

Of course I can't post all the frighteningly obnoxious photos of us - to protect the ~~drunk~~ innocent.

And yes, I'm addicted to the mosaic maker.

Where pontoon boats go to die

2008-07-02T14:55:00.004-05:00

Where will we be spending the 4th you ask? Yes, the place where pontoon boats go to die, a.k.a., the lake behind my best friend's house. I'll leave out locale details so y'all won't crash the rockin' party, but basically, every year for the 4th we truck south to my best friends digs. This will be our 3rd year in attendance.

Why the abundance of sad pontoon boats you ask? Well, they live in this cute (though slightly WT - sorry C!) community on a lake. The lake does not allow gas powered motors, both for noise and pollution's sake. Makes sense right? What you'd never guess is that this has prompted people to purchase the largest pontoon boats they can find and operate them with trolling motors (little car battery op motors like fishing boats use for those of you missing that WT gene I was raised with).

So each year, just after lunch on the 4th, everyone tools out in their boats, ties them together and creates one giant party barge. And these people get really into it. There are kegs, a huge BBQ grill, annual t-shirts are printed and this year the Floatilla as it is called, will correspond with the band, yes you heard right, live band on my best friends doc/landing. Keep in mind all of this is happening outside of a village of 1500. No, not a town, you heard me right, a village.

Sweet right!?!?!?! The even sweeter part? Though I love him dearly, Henry will not be in attendance. My in-laws have graciously offered to come to our house and stay with him. I can pretty much guarantee, we will not behave ourselves this weekend!

Swiped

2008-06-25T21:20:00.008-05:00

While browsing blogs, I came across BS of the Day (whom I don't know, but thanks for the fun reading!) and loved the post from Friday, June 13. I swiped it cause it is super cool.
Check this out:

Answer each of these questions and type your answer into Flickr Search. Pick an image from the first page only.

Then copy and paste the URL for each picture into fd's Mosaic Maker.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you?
12. Your flickr name (I subbed my blogger name since I don't have a flickr account)

My answers:
1. Kim 2. Ice Cream. 3. Red Bud 4. blue 5. Rhett Miller 6. Raspberry Stoli 7. Free shopping spree 8. All of the desserts 9. Rich (to never worry about $$ again!) 10. My family 11. tired (first thing that came to mind!) 12. heaven in a paper cup

My results:
Cool huh? Three things that came to mind as I worked on this:

1) Someone shares my feelings on Starbucks. When I searched Heaven In A Paper cup, that Starbucks cup was the first image that came up!
2) I cheated in one place. There was no good photo of my dreamy Rhett Miller on the first flickr page. I refused to put a photo that did not capture some of his dreaminess into my mosaic, so I looked through a few pages (and drooled)
3) This took a really friggin long time, it's almost 10 p.m., my lovely child will be up at the crack of ass in the morning and my husband is out of town. So why the hell am I doing this?!

Do Want

2008-06-25T20:59:00.005-05:00

Something I miss about my more happening, childless days...vintage shopping. I used to love hunting, finding and buying fun quirky pieces that fit in with my wardrobe. For example, my favorite skirt, is this...

Well, tonight I was browsing ebay and this WILL be mine:
I'm afraid I may have to pay a pretty penny for it, but HOW CUTE IS THAT?! It's so me, totally goes with the current maxi dress trend, the colors are flippin' adorable and I WANT IT. Now I just have to remember to be around ebay when it ends...

Picturetown

2008-06-23T13:56:00.006-05:00

Picturetown has come to Chicago. Or at least to my house. I casually mentioned to Z a while ago that I might like a nicer digital camera. So he & Henry bought me a Nikon D40 for Mother's day! What can I say, I was totally swayed by the Picturetown ad campaign. And I'm totally loving it. I have no clue how to really use it to it's full extent, but I love that I can just zoom, point, shoot and the color is amazing. A couple of recent shots...

1) I don't think I've ever seen so much detail of Annie show up in a photo. Usually black dog + photo = blur of black fur. And on another note - poor girl has gotten a lot of grey hair in the last year!
2) Only photos like this can help you truly appreciate what beautiful blue eyes Henry has. Gonna break some hearts with those baby blues someday!

Fat Birdie

2008-06-18T13:22:00.007-05:00

How cute is this Fat Birdie earring holder I scored at Urban Outfitters yesterday?! Perfect for storing all the sparkly stud earrings I've be forced to acquire since someone (whose name might start with an H), would likely yank anything dangly.

Money Tree

2008-06-13T13:02:00.009-05:00

I keep joking that Z & I believe this house came complete with a Money Tree. Just to illustrate, a few items our Money Tree has purchased in the last month:

Dark brown "leather like" (yes, I said leather like, we've got a dog, a toddler & friends running around down there!) sofa:

50" plasma Samsung TV for the lower level: and the corresponding TV stand for gianormous TV:
Zach's pride and joy, the massive gas BBQ grill:

Another TV stand, but this one for our main level for our tiny (husband's description) old 40" TV:
A new much smaller desk for my "office" within our bedroom (mine is actually chocolate brown, but the picture was much better for the black one):

AND, I bought four of these chairs off Craigslist for just $40 and will hopefully close the deal for a corresponding table for just $100!
See what I mean about that MONEY TREE?!?!

Long overdue house update

2008-06-10T12:52:00.005-05:00

Well, I've been meaning to post all sorts of things about our new house adventure, but needless to say sprucing up the new house and plotting to spruce up the new house have taken over lots of my time.

I think I'll start at the bottom and work my way up.

garage - Garage, glorious garage! My lovely father built us shelves. 16 feet long x 2 feet deep. One whole wall of storage shelves! The scary thing is, they are FULL. Not packed tightly, but still full. How the heck did this stuff fit in our 1200 sqft condo?!

backyard - Z & I fail at gardening. The previous owner apparently took master gardening classes and planted over 100 bulbs in our tiny backyard. When we closed on May 2, the yard was beautiful! I wish I had taken a photo. Now, we've got a bunch of weeds threatening to take over, over grown flowers and plants and some serious work on our hands. Sigh. Oh and I totally need to post of photo of our antique, though functional lawn mower. Was my great, great aunt's and though it's a bit heavy, it does the job.

lower level - Coming along nicely! The guest room is all set up, complete with a double bed & a set of trundle beds. The closet down there houses our home computer desk. It fits perfectly in the space. Z's guitars will also receive top billing in the room. Hopefully we will get them mounted on the wall. In the family room, I've painted one accent wall in a gorgeous shade of blue, we have purchased a massive 50" TV, a small console to put this monster TV on, and a lovely brown couch. The TV arrived last week, but we are still waiting for the console & couch, so for now, the lower level is a giant open KID RUN!

main floor - I think I've finally settled on a paint color. This was a major production and *many* quarts of paint latter, we'll be painting a dark taupey grey. It's not a color near and dear to my heart, but I swear it's the only color that goes with the cherry cabinets, blond floors, black appliances/counter tops & the cobalt/copper tile back splash! Whew! Also, my lovely mother scouted this gorgeous Silver Shine Mirror by Pier 1 for the perfect fit above our fireplace.

front porch - Z planted a lovely mix of orangish/red impatiens & white geraniums in our huge built in flower box. We really need to water them more often! My grandma's old wooden bench has moved to the porch. It needs a coat of paint, but it's a great place to sit and relax in the evenings...I think. Haven't have time to try that whole "relax" thing just yet.

upper level - Far from complete! We have some changes floating around, but nothing is set in stone. I just ordered this lovely desk (minus the hutch) from West Elm to make a small workstation for me in our bedroom. Everything else is still just a dream at this point!

WHEW! So, that's the update from new house land. I'm trying to keep my anal nature in check and just enjoy it, but I can't wait for everything to be in place & just the way I like it! I promise many more pictures and updates once I get things closer to the state I'd like them to be in!

Incredibly cheap thrifty!

2008-06-10T12:40:00.005-05:00

Since moving to our new house, we started up on Chicago Tribune subscription and I love to clip coupons. I'm not nearly as good at using them, which sorta defeats the purpose, but I get a calm sense of accomplishment from just the clipping for some reason.

So, I was *very* excited to see a coupon for $4.00 off Natural Instincts hair color. Those of you who know me IRL know that I like to brighten up my lovely ~~grey~~ copper locks with semi-permanent color. So, I clipped and used my $4.00 coupon on my box of $9.00 hair color.

Caution: this post gets even nerdier from here...
So my thrifty self wondered if I could get my hands on some more of these $4.00 off coupons. I mean a 50¢ coupon is one thing, but $4.00?! That's something to get excited about. Well low and behold, there is someone who loves clipping coupons more than I:
Kuntry-Koncepts
I take issue with the goofy name and the cheesy banjo music, but good ol' Kuntry Koncepts clipped 20 of my beloved coupons and sold them to me for $2!

Addictions

2008-06-04T15:13:00.006-05:00

Well, I've developed a new addiction and it made me think about how when I get into something, I GET INTO something. I'm not talking about booze, or crack, or anything like that, but my own vises. So I thought I'd make a list of my current addictions:

1) Craigslist. Since moving into the house, I am obsessed with selling tons of our old stuff and buying some new things for cheap. I've made $110! And I bought a fabulous, like new set of counter stools for just $20. $20!!! For two counter stools! And it just so happens they match our floors. Heading out tonight to buy 4 black chairs for $40.

2) As evidenced from the name of my blog, Chai Tea Lattes from Starbucks. I've tried just about every other chain, non-chain, from a box, from powder Chai Tea latte there is and NOTHING compares. This addiction *never* goes away.

3) Zip ties. I had a whole canister of them from Target that had never been used. I came across them in the move and now I'm a zip tying fool. I'm sure this has to do with my crazy anal nature, but whateva, they make me happy.

4) Costco. Ties into the Ramen noodle diet we are taking on with the new house. I get very excited when I find new cheap things there!

5) Roomba!!! Goes hand in hand with #4, as I purchased it at Costco. I love that I can go to bed at night and wake up in the morning to see that the whole downstairs has been freshly vacuumed and I didn't have to lift a finger.

6) Still digging Mint.com. It's a bit scary to see how much we've spent in the last two months, but it keeps it in perspective and helps me juggle if I think our balance is getting too low!

I'm sure there are many more I'm not thinking of at the moment...

Homeowners at last

2008-05-05T09:13:00.002-05:00

Success!!! We are now the proud owners of a lovely new home. Our closing was Friday and despite all the stresses of financing, inspections, etc all went through smoothly at closing. It was quite the crazy weekend. My parents came up to help us out, I threw a baby shower for my friend Steph and we moved a bunch of stuff over. I have about a million things to do, but all happy things! Can't wait to get through the condo closing and start getting comfy in a real house!

Etsy

2008-04-30T12:41:00.005-05:00

I am addicted to Etsy. I love, love, love to browse there and buy fun, unique things! If this had been around (or maybe it was & I just wasn't aware?) when I had been doing my jewelry thing, I SO would have opened up shop this way.

It all started with the 2007 Letterpress Calendar. I fell in love with these little buggers and ordered several, including one for my Granny, who requested a 2008 version!

Then I progressed to a custom order of an adorable apron and matching pot holder for my Mom's birthday from Dapper Duds.

As I moved into Henry gear I really got into "trouble" ;-) by purchasing him an adorable French Bulldog onesie, then a set of BUBS (Back Up Blankets) & of course a monkey shirt, and custom "1" shirt for his 1st birthday.

Next my nephews needed customized superflykidz superhero capes & masks for their birthdays.

And last, but certainly not least, I just ordered this adorable peapod necklace for my mother-in-law, complete with three peas and her boy's names stamped into the side of the peapod.

And so we return

2008-04-27T20:56:00.002-05:00

If you didn't already know, we just finished spending several days in Hilton Head with my family. It was great to get away and HDog had so much fun playing with his cousins (ages 3 & 6). He enjoyed his first swim in a pool, ran on the beach and just generally enjoyed himself. We spend a very short amount of time in Savannah, GA, but it was enough to let Henry run around and to snap this lovely little photo:

Spring Cleaning

2008-04-17T14:46:00.003-05:00

Cleaning out my condo and cleaning up my blog! I think something more cheerful is needed. I just switched the white/black, but I think I want to jazz it up a bit. 'Cause that is really what I need to spend my time doing...more later!

SOLD! to the higest bidder!

2008-04-16T21:23:00.002-05:00

Yep! Condo is under contract - yippee!!! Now we can relax a bit, stop picking up so much (it was even too much for crazy/organized/anal retentive me) and start thinking about packing & moving.

Sigh

2008-04-13T14:38:00.004-05:00

Well, things are chugging along in the real estate side of our world. Sorta. I'm wiped out from all the talking, budgeting, strategizing, blah, blah, blah. An update, as quick I can summarize all the shit that has gone down:

We are still fighting with the mortgage company. Our broker is a complete assclown. We've gotten multiple financing extensions and he still can't get his shit together. Then, once he did, the contract stated we cannot receive cash from the seller at closing. Which totally screws us out of $10,000! So, we called up citimortgage (our current mortgage lender) and started working with them. *Hopefully* it will all be straightened out by Tuesday. Hopefully.
We received two offers on our condo on Saturday! One was a low ball and their agent let us know they were up for bargaining. The second was $20,000 higher, which is great! But, their financing looks a bit shaky.
A third buyer was sort of in the mix. Our agent really thought this couple was going to put an offer in this weekend. He called them to give them an update and was informed that the buyer bought another unit in our complex that just went on the market this TUESDAY! I'm so ticked. We did the hard work for them with all the showings, getting them familiar with the complex and then the other unit just waltzed onto the market and swiped them from us. Must have been a good solid offer too since they are already under contract.

Ugh. I just want this nightmare to be over with! I know I should be thankful we have two offers. But I'm nervous. And actually two units joined us on the market this week. The one that sold and another one in the same building. I snooped through their open houses today. They are nice units. Very nice. And their kitchens have ours beat any day. Double ugh.

Hopefully we'll have a resolution soon. My head may explode if we don't.

Oh and to add to the mix, I earned a new patch on my Motherhood sash this weekend. I've now been puked on. Yep. Little man has a lovely, projectile vomiting illness. And to add insult to injury, he seems fine during the day and then vomits all night. Triple ugh.

Money management for lazy folks (like me)

2008-04-02T15:04:00.009-05:00

I used to be meticulous about budgeting. When I got out of college, I *literally* wrote down every dime I spent and then compiled it into a spreadsheet to track my expenses. As I got older and life grew more complex. I relaxed a bit. No tracking every penny, just the major expenses. Then I got married. Balancing a checkbook? Nah - we're fine without that. Budget? Huh? Don't get me wrong, we save lots of money and are in good financial shape, we just aren't very organized in this regard. Scary coming from me, Mrs. Anal Retentive.

Anywho - enough about me & my continually building laziness. Mint.com is like Quicken for slackers & on-line junkies. Join up, add your bank info and viola! Beautiful pie charts showing your break down of spending, easy budgeting, automatic updates for new transactions, the list goes on and on. I am simultaneously mesmerized by the beautiful charts and horrified by the amount we spend dining out!

And, it turns out the back engine of this whole thing is yodlee, which is already used by tons of major financial institutions so that makes me feel safer about entering my info.

Sunny Basement

2008-03-28T14:03:00.005-05:00

So, I am already mentally decorating our new house. However, with the potential roof repair, we are definitely on hold with any upstairs changes. So, I'm concentrating on the basement. I use the term "basement" loosely, as the basement is only two steps below ground and has fantastic light.

The main area in the basement will be combo family room/"manland"/Henry's play space. I've decided this photo will be my inspiration:

Of course this is what I'm starting with (not our furniture though): I'm thinking the wall behind their tv will be painted the yellow (possibly Pottery Barn's semolina). The carpet is going to be replaced and I'm pretty sure we are going with a grey or charcoal with some texture. Something that won't show kid/dog traffic ;-) And, this rug that currently lives in my office at the condo will go down somewhere...

I like my decor so much bolder than the current palette at our new place. I'm ready to jazz it up!!!!

I fail at blogging.

2008-03-21T16:13:00.002-05:00

I want to blog. I think of things to blog when I'm not in front of my computer, yet when I sit down and have time, I usually feel the need to say something witty, fail miserably and then just skip posting altogether. So, instead of being witty, I'm just going to post several random thoughts. Enjoy.

1) Chicago weather sucks. Easter should be all springy & pretty and instead it's snowy and crappy. We are heading downstate tomorrow, which will help a bit. H will wear his seersucker suit in the snow!

2) I want lots of new furniture for the new house. I can afford none. I've spent way too much time googling for Queen sized platform beds with pull out drawers underneath. Can't decide what color wood or color scheme in general I want to go with in our master bedroom. Hmpf.

3) I have a sore throat. HDog has a snotty nose and a cough. Poor kiddo.

4) I need a nap.

5) I need to get more work done than I have been getting done in the past few weeks.

6) The battery in my new Palm Treo 755 blows royally. It runs down a charge in like a day.

7) I am currently a sugar addict. All the house stress and the losing our nanny stress drove me to sugar. And caffeine. And large amounts of both. Thinking about doing this crazy detox thing that my neighbor did recently to kick the habit. Wondering if I can survive a couple days of lemon water and "cleansing".

8) Think we got H's nanny sitch figured out. Found a lovely family with a little girl to share a nanny with. And they already had the nanny, which is the hard part. The little girl & H get along really well too.

9) I'm done. Have a good weekend. Hope someone is having a sunny, proper Easter!

SUCCESS!!!!

2008-03-13T09:56:00.001-05:00

The house is ours!! And we held our ground and the seller's will be giving us a substantial credit at closing to deal with the issues we located in the basement and with the roof/north wall. Yippee!!!

Let the decorating begin...
;-)

Excitement...turned to worry...turning to anger...

2008-03-11T15:37:00.004-05:00

Well, our lovely house was too good to be true. Not totally, but that is how it feels. We had our inspection of the place last Thursday. Two major issues came up:

1) Water in one corner of the basement. The seller obviously had no clue because their entertainment center, full of electronics, was sitting right in that corner. I think they are willing to pony up money to fix this.

2) There is a sag in the roof and a bow on one side. I think the current seller's thought it was just a siding issue and didn't mess with it. Well, our inspector suggested a structural engineer take a look.

So, on Monday we had more people out, estimates given, blah, blah, blah. Problem is, for both of the issues, without opening up walls and siding, the complete nature of each problem can't be determined. The water thing I'm not as concerned with. But the structural thing is a GIANT can of worms. A can the seller is hesitating to even touch. Which is pissing me off. At first I was worried because everything else about the house is lovely and we reallly want it. Now, as much as I want the house, we shouldn't have to buy a house with a potentially large defect without some sort of financial concession from the seller.

Come, eat Ramen noodles with me...

2008-03-03T22:03:00.006-06:00

In my NEW HOUSE!!! Fabulous, exciting and expensive! But we are so happy and excited! We put in an offer, countered back and forth a bit and came to an agreement today! It is so adorable and needs virtually NO WORK, which is friggin' amazing considering some of the dumps we looked at. 3 beds (which we will convert to 4 easily - more on that later), 3 1/2 baths, full walkout basement, patio, yard, 2 car garage...I could go on and on and on! I must sleep now, so I cannot write many details, but here's a few of the pictures!

Updates

2008-02-19T15:58:00.003-06:00

- We put an offer in on the 2-flat. The seller's sent over a counter offer. We countered yet again and they accepted. So, we are officially second in line. I'm pretty bummed and about 95% certain we won't get it, but oh well. We heard from the seller's realtor last night that the first set of buyers had their inspection and they hadn't heard from them since that inspection. And so we wait. Contract expires on Feb 26.
- H's birthday party was a success! It was absolute chaos with so many people in our tiny condo, but we had fun. Poor H was SO worn out!
- We had H's 1 year check up today. He is still in the 95% for height, but below 5% for weight. Skinny man! Going back for a weight check in 6 weeks.
- I'm blowing out of here on Thursday. Spending Thursday evening through Monday afternoon in Colorado with 11 of my college friends. Cannot wait to sleep, spa, drink cocktails and did I mention sleep?!

Interesting interpretation...

2008-02-12T11:38:00.000-06:00

I like to read Jen Lancaster's blog, Jennsylvania. She was discussing Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love. I love her interpretation of the woman's enlightening tour:

"...Eat, Pray, Love inspired me to do the same thing. That is, if you substitute "find enlightenment" for "not be so tightly wound I'm going to punch the next asshole I run into right in the throat." "

Given how tightly wound I've been in the last two days, I think I need to follow Jen's lead...

Bastids!!!

2008-02-11T14:36:00.000-06:00

Our realtor just called. Someone else put an offer in on said 2-flat and the owners accepted! Grrr!!! What I don't understand - our realtor said she never got the seller's realtor to call her back! She talked to his assistant multiple times, but never the realtor himself. So...as someone selling a house, if you knew you had a second buyer VERY interested, going back for another look today, wouldn't it be in the best interest of your seller to wait for another offer to come in?! I mean, I'm not saying we were definitely putting in the offer, but why wouldn't you wait? OR at least call the realtor back. I almost feel like something shady has gone on. I'm totally pissed.

Freaking out...

2008-02-11T10:12:00.001-06:00

So, really all of this is good, but it's just...so much...all at once...

Our nanny, Katie, called in sick on Friday. Something seemed a bit off, but I just shrugged it off. Sure enough she tells me we need to talk this morning - she's pregnant! I adore Katie even just as a friend, but this means she and her husband are moving back to Poland at the end of April and we are nanny-less! Ugh.

We looked at this fantastic vintage two flat this weekend. I'm possibly going back this afternoon with our contractor to take another look.

Home Sweet Home?

The first floor and basement are totally finished out and in move in condition. The third floor is rented out and the current renters are leased through May. Our thought is to eventually add a master bath and turn the entire third floor into all bedrooms, making this two flat into a single family home. We would probably wait a year or two to do the conversion because the first floor & basement is definitely enough space for us now and if we collect rent from the upstairs this entire building would only cost us about $500 more a month! It has a nice small yard out back and a big 2 car garage.

I need to get tons of work done, but have ZERO urge to do so. Like none. I've been dealing with real estate nonsense all morning.

H's 1st birthday is Thursday! My entire family is coming on Friday, including my sister, her two boys & husband, who are staying at my house. Our hotdog themed birthday fiesta is Saturday and it will be my family and Z's.

Really I'm excited about all of this, but I kinda feel like I might explode!!!! Yikes!