Taking Time To Breathe

Hello? Are you out there? My family?? Friends? I am back...not that I ever went away but my attention has been elsewhere. Don't worry! Nothing big has happened...the second story of our house is still sitting half primed and we are still sleeping in our den on the main floor. I will take a second and fill you in on a few minor things.
1) Jack is a big boy now.
He is potty-trained and loves to crash his trucks into each other.

2) LJ got a new job.
My husband is now a drug and alcohol counselor at the local prison here in town. He has to wear a tie to work everyday and is referred to as Mr. Joseph. Crazy I know...but he is really great with people and feels like he is making a change. I am so proud of him! He did tell me the other day that the rest of the prison staff calls drug counselors "Hug-A-Thugs". I find this extremely amusing and try to use it as much as possible.

3) Sage got famous.
First came a shout out from Martha (YEAH! THAT MARTHA!) and next came the launch of her own little magazine.

4) Sweet Wife Baking is baking!
Sooo for those of you that don't know, I have become a crazy little baking fool. I made the leap and am opening up a little bake shop. I plan on running it as more or a commercial kitchen to start with instead of an open for regular hours sort of business. Currently, I supply desserts to Paizano's Pizza and Earth and Vine Wine Bar. This is the main reason my blogging has all but ceased. More updates and pictures will follow soon...hopefully..within the next week or so.

No Dead Bodies Here

When you remodel an old house, there is always anticipation of hidden treasures. Not ones of cash that some people find (though at the time of this post, that would be a WONDERFUL find to help pay for marble tile), but of vintage hardware found tucked away in the basement or an old metal cabinet that the previous owners used for paint storage.

On the flip side of this, our friend Larry refuses to help us with anything because "you guys have the kind of house that people find dead bodies in".

But we really have not found anything that great or morbid yet. Most of the house was gutted down and stripped of its original contents...or so we thought. Are you ready for this find?

Here we have LJ with one of the doors from upstairs. After thinking it was just a hollow core door, we threw it out into the back shed where my girls started using it as a roost. Upon further investigation, LJ decided that the paneling would come off...


And so he and his little pink ipod pried it off. The mask is purely for cosmetic purposes. Makes this look even more exciting.


And he pried...


And voila! Someone had just GLUED the old nasty paneling over the nice 5 panel door. These doors go for about $150-$250 a piece. There are five of them...all had fake paneling glued over them...all were about to go to Salvation Army.

Getting This Done!

You know how getting a friend to workout with you makes you go to the gym all the time? We have that...but they are our "house-remodeling-partners". Every Wednesday, our neighbors Jeff and Keri come over to our house and we work all day on a project. Saturdays, we end up at Jeff and Keri's rental helping them with a project. It is really awesome!

So far, our list of accomplishments include: a full roof of shingles cleaned up, a bathroom ceiling taken down (including insulation), all the old molding taken out of both houses, our front porch pried off, old nasty pink carpets hauled away, and last but not least our whole second floor has the carpet and sub floor removed and is almost ready for some remodeling! Ready for the pics? Remember the bathroom before?

And here is is now...taken down to the old flooring and siding.

Gone is the acoustic tile drop ceiling. We will raise the ceiling back to 9" and add a bathroom fan/vent. If you look closely, you can see some of the smoke damage from the fire that occurred in the 1940's.

Also gone is that faux wood wall paneling! I think I have every right to say that I HATE THAT STUFF.

The master bedroom! No more pink carpet!!! This room is going to be so cool after we refinish the floors. The sun pours through the windows during the winter months and the trees block the sun during the summer months. Now we just have to strip through the layers of wallpaper...no fun.

Fresh From the Cow's Teat...Or Not

Our cottage cheese is from Utah, heavy cream is from Portland, and the buttermilk hails from Washington. Thank goodness I am out of dairy products because this website is strangely addicting...

LEAVE MY WIENER ALONE!

For those of you that have not had the privilege of meeting our dog Inchie Squinchie, consider yourself unlucky. I mean, not to brag or anything, but she is possible the most athletic wiener dog I know and she is Jack's best friend. So you can imagine how devastated and scared we were when she was attacked by two pitbulls last week.

We were just coming back from the park and the Inch was on her leash running next to our bike (The secret to keeping your wiener dog athletic...do not let them get fat) when our neighbors two dogs rushed out after us. I saw that they were tied up and did not think much of it UNTIL their leash broke and they rushed us in the middle of the street. The big male pit grabbed Inchie but wasn't able to shake her before I started screaming and coming at him. Inchie got loose some how and took off down the sidewalk and right into my friend Keri's arms. She scooped her up while her husband persuaded the other dogs to quit chasing her with a steel pipe.

Inchie was left with a large fang mark in her coat with stitches underneath. A drain that was about the size of her protruded out of her side for the weekend but that was removed this last Monday. She is 100% now and back to digger squirrel hunting...she has also become aggressive towards larger dogs. Great.

I was left in the middle of the street with a broken leash and a screaming child. Oh yes...there have been nightmares and an overall anxiousness to get back to Inchie whenever we are gone too long. What can I say...best friends.

Spring Is Here!

I share this post with you in hopes that I will not get comments about what a bad choice I made. Both LJ and I strongly disliked the tin/shed/two-by-4 awning that was hanging off of our house. Not only does it look a little ummm....how should I say this...interesting, it also blocked out tons of light to our dining room. I wanted it gone from day one but we were not sure what was underneath.

We found out this weekend! Here it is!!

Before:



After:

It took all of an hour to tear down and I like to think that it makes the house look like a Queen Anne again. I am sure there is something about "great lines" or some other design phrase that Anne could come up with. I just love the fact that I can bask in the morning sun while drinking coffee in the dining room.

Pizza Time!

Hmmm I think I should be proud?

Until June...

Message-in-a-cookie, $19.95

I would love to tell you that I made these cookies but I can't because these adorable cookie cutters are on backorder until June. After that, watch out world. No on will dare have a baby without a box of "It's A Boy" cookies around...

Been A Little Busy..

A 3-layer white chocolate macadamia nut cake with huckleberry filling and a white chocolate buttercream frosting. 11 eggs and 20.5 ounces of white chocolate later, I ended up with this. I told the lady that I was making this for that I don't use fondant because hand painted white chocolate leaves taste SOOOOO much better!

Nothing Says Love Like Parsnips!

How cute and handy is this calendar that lists the month as well as what fruits and veggies are in season. Let me answer my own question...REALLY CUTE! Yeah so I am a tad bit excited to not only run across this but then to realize that you can download the first 6 months for free at Cottage Industrialist (the next 6 months are coming soon). So go now, print and be merry and more importantly, never miss the spring cherry harvest again.

You Are What You Eat!

Another great interview by Jon Stewart in which he plays the antagonist by questioning our government's role in our food supply. The best quote (besides pointing out that one should not be eating cereal that turns your milk colors) was by Pollan: "I think we need to recognize that cheap food has a very high cost, in terms of health and the environment. That cost is getting paid by other people, by the public health system. That's part of the problem and the disconnect. I think that's where there's a disconnect, between what you pay for a cheap, fast-food meal, and the ultimate price of eating that way."

His advice? Eat real food, not edible food like substances.

Watch the whole interview here:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Michael Pollan
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Pretty Pretty Please!

I like bags. Strike that I LOVE bags. I think it has to do with the fact that when all my friends were shopping for clothes, I always went for the accessory department to peruse. I mean really, when you are 17 years old with a size 15 foot and a 37" inseam, there are not a lot of options for you in the teen department.

So you can imagine my delight when I ran across Bayan Hippo handbags on etsy.com. Check out some of my favorites...

Modular Messenger, $35


Everyday Purse, $36

Everyday Purse, $35

Merry Christmas!

Christmas movie quotes. How many can you get?
1. This is extremely important. Will you please tell Santa that instead of presents this year, I just want my family back. No toys, nothing but Peter, Kate, Buzz, Megan, Linnie and Jeff. And my aunt and my cousins. And if he has time, my Uncle Frank. Okay?

2. No, no. I mean "Jingle Bells". You know, deck them halls and all that stuff. No, no, no. You don't get it at all. I mean "Jingle Bells". You know, Santa Claus, and ho-ho-ho, and mistletoe... and presents for pretty girls...

3. We're kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols.

4. Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.

5. It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms... and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me...

6. Football? Football? What's a football? With unconscious will my voice squeaked out 'football'.

7. It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.

8. Happy birthday! Hey, I said my first words. But... But snowmen can't talk. Ha ha ha, come on now, what's the joke? Could I really be alive?

9. If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that big snow storm a couple of years ago. The weather closed in and, well you might not believe it, but the world almost missed Christmas. Oh, excuse me, call me Sam. What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a talking snowman before?

10. Charlie, stay away from those things. They're reindeer, you don't know where they've been. They all look like they've got key lime disease.

11. It's Christmas Eve. It's-it's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we-we-we smile a little easier, we-w-w-we-we-we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year we are the people that we always hoped we would be.

12. Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles.



The Answers...



1. Home Alone; 2. A Charlie Brown Christmas; 3. Christmas Vacation; 4. It's A Wonderful Life; 5. Elf; 6. A Christmas Story; 7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas; 8. Frosty the Snowman; 9. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; 10. The Santa Clause; 11. Scrooged; 12. Miracle on 34th Street.

I Leave You With This!

Been baking. Coaching basketball...baking...coaching...wrapping presents for Jack and LJ...re-wrapping said presents that Jack opened...coaching...baking...baking...baking...NEED HELP! Thank goodness I stumbled across this helpful blog post from The Kitchn that makes my mornings a wee bit more adventurous! Yum.

• Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Eggnog Latte
• Peppermint Mocha
• Gingerbread Latte

Happy Holidays everyone!

All I Want for Christmas..

my mom has been on me about what I want for Christmas. I am sharing my list with you because who knows, it might turn out that you want the same thing and did not even know it!

1) Cooking Magazines

I know, I know. In this day and age, it is so easy to find recipes on the internet especially when you follow blogs like The Kitchn, Tartlette and Joy the Baker. However, there is just something about getting a new magazine in the mail and then going through your daily schedule in your mind to figure out when you can browse through the shiny pages. My tried and true favorites? Martha, Rachael Ray, and The Food Network Magazine.
Now is it a sin that I list Martha with the likes of Rachael? To some people yes but I have never been able to get Jack to eat Martha's Jamican Chicken Curry over Rachael's Chicken Parm Meatball Spaghetti. Also, my mom got me a subscription to The Food Network Magazine and I have been pleasantly surprised by how cool this magazine is! The latest issue has a hot cocoa recipe that LJ gleefully announced "tastes like I am sippin' pudding!"
Even though I already get my three magazines above, I always check the current issues of Cook's Illustrated Entertaining and Fine Cooking. I LOVE these two magazines and would love to find a subscription waiting for me Christmas morning!

2) Cookbooks

Checking out cookbooks from the library is a fun way of trying out a book. However, the fun always ends with me racking up overdue fees because I want to try just one more recipe. My favorites and must haves? Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Appretice and Whole Grain Breads, Nancy Silverton's Breads from La Brea Bakery, Artisan Baking by Maggie Glezer, I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita and finally The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco. One can never have too many cookbooks! Plus, the one that bestows the cookbook get the goods.

3) Kitchen Timer

CDN PT1A Digital Timer/Clock 4 Event Programmable, $18

One thing in life is for sure: crying baby+bread in oven=burnt bread. There is no way around it. This is also handy for the times that I have loaves proofing while others are cooking and a sponge going.

4) Blowtorch
Yes a blowtorch. Do I really have to explain how cool this is?

BonJour Chef's Torch with Fuel Gauge,$29

What the....

I was checking some blogs when I came across this...
I will give you a hint: it is a bag that was described as drool worthy.

Comments anyone? Am I just out of the loop on what's up?

YEAH DUCKS!

Thank goodness they won! Don't think I could handle all the OSU fans gloating all the time. Instead, we have Darth Duck! Only in Eugene!!

Yo Santa!

My friend Amy introduced me to these new toys. Well, I should say I saw her son playing with them and became insanely jealous that Jack does not have a set...or more along the lines of Jack does not have a set that he and LJ can play with. The wooden train set we picked up at Ikea is great but LJ has been complaining to me for about a month that "the track can not be completed until we find the last curve piece". Jack is perfectly content with pushing his little trains around his uncompleted track and then godzillaing the whole thing. So Santa, if you are listening, these would make AWESOME toys for the younger kids.
A hay lift, bales of hay, fencing, garden tools and feed sacks? Yes please! Plan Toys Farmhouse, $80

Don't forget the animals! Plan Toy Farm Animals, $25
Big Ol' Tractor! Plan Toys Tractor and Trailer Set, $54

Not into animals...how about this awesome parking garage set?

Plan City Parking Garage, $70

See all these toys and more at Amazon.com!

Enjoy it While It Lasts...

...it's supposed to snow this weekend!

My Kinda' Poster

How can I resist this adorable poster that lists a dachshund as D?

ABC poster by Enna, $15

Plus, when everyone else in his class is struggling to think of a word that starts with "Y", our kid will coolly raise his hand and reply, "Yeti."