'Bucks

Santa brought me one of the reusable, insulated Starbucks cups for Christmas. I love, love, love it. Such a simple pleasure to enjoy my spinach smoothie or iced tea with a dry hand. It's the little things that make life tolerable.

Whee! I gots me an iPhone today. I was eligible for an upgrade and all the other phones just looked junky compared to this baby. Never mind that I rarely receive calls (I'm not much of a phone talker) I'm in it for the apps!

Any favorites out there? I know there are a ton of great ones, I just don't know where to start!

Vacay

We're off to Costa Rica for Christmas. See ya on the flipside!

Sit

These leather club chairs from Overstock have caught my eye. I am looking for something for the man room and I think a leather chair would be just the thing. They have a 5* rating on Overstock but I know it will be a major PIA to send it back if not right. But I can't turn away from the price = $340!

I might revisit these after the new year when we are back from vacay.

These Alpha bookends from Crate and Barrel are very cute (and only $30)!

Love these new pillows from Jonathan Adler.

Noodles

Lordy loo! Today was glorious for I found the elusive sesame soba noodle bowls at Trader Joes! The are really tasty and vegan, too. (I'm not vegan but like to eat meat free lunches as much as I can). I thought these might be a west coast only item but there they were, right in front of me in Cary, NC!

Burt Reynolds wishes ya a Happy Turkey Day!

We're up in the mountains of western NC for a few days and then back home to push into December and vacation! Can't wait for the warmth of Central America in just a few short weeks.

image

I very much would like this bag to come to my house to stay.

Lit

Mah sconces are up in the dining room. Still need something for the chain-painted wall. Maybe a giant clock? And a few tables to go under the sconces. In other news, Jake's new Panasonic takes pretty good low-light images, n'cest pas?

Done

The second stripe went up last week. I think I like it.
This bath is as good as it's gonna get. And I'm OK with that.

A blue tub. I'm just going to embrace it.

Lighting

A pair of these great sconces from Z Gallerie made their way into our house (how did that happen?) today. I saw them first on YoungHouseLove and then found out they were on clearance for $12. For around $30 including shipping, I thought they would be a sweet addition to the dining room.

I have never seen a toilet disguised as a chair before.

And now I have. Via NYtimes. The slideshow is a neat peak in to a high-end apartment in NYC renovated in the 1970s.

I never posted my simple pumpkin from Halloween. It's sitting on our new island from IKEA (holy best purchase ever). You can see the beginnings of the kitchen paint job. I'm *almost* done with it and may be ready to reveal shortly.

The hall bathroom is coming along -- I finally bought an Ork San Francisco poster and framed it. I hung a couple of floating shelves over the toilet and found a pretty soap dispenser at TJ Maxx. (BTW, TJ Maxx/Marshalls is one of the best places for bath/kitchen stuff. The clearance aisles can be goldmines). I'm considering painting the sink cabinet gray since there is a lot of white happening in that room.

I think I am going to do another gray stripe, thinner above the fat one. The gray is polished silver by Valspar.

These need to be styled, I know. I'm looking for more treats and treasures at the thrfit. For now, some of the owl collection can live here.

My mom shipped me a huge box of vintage Christmas goodies this week. This will be our first holiday in our own house so I wanted to get a real life tree. Turns out we'll be in Costa Rica for the holiday so I'll have to find a clever way to use this all up!

Vintage wood sleigh and fabric elf

Funny little rubber elves from Japan

More loot!

I heart Michael Ian Black. I hope his book I picked up at the library doesn't disappoint. Also, a Google image search for the phrase "my custom van" is pretty entertaining.

Pop

Filing away for next summer: Root beer float pops
via notmartha

Cooked

Ideas for kitchen decor from etsy. Once I have our kitchen painted (I think I've settled on Lemon Cream by Valspar) I'll need a couple of prints for a bare wall we've got.

FriendlyMade

MaineandManor

Roadside Photographs

MrPS

747

We booked our winter vacation to Costa Rica this week and Jake's immersed himself in hotel research. The Hotel Costa Verde features a guest room in an old 747 fuselage! Pretty cool stuff. It's a little pricey or we'd totally be booking it!

Book It

I fully admit I'm a total nut bag. I made a photo book containing only photos of my dog. Shutterfly and TripAdvisor sent me a code for a free 8 x 8 hardcover book the other day. Not related to my blog - just for being a TripAdvisor member!

I'd made a few photo books before with Picaboo and wasn't thrilled with the quality. Granted, we have a better digital camera than before but the quality of the Shutterfly book is really great! The paper is nice and thick and the book assembly is just like the real thing. I'd order again.

Cooking Fail

I busted out the dough hook and fired up the old Kitchenaid over the weekend to try RR's recipe for bavarian pretzels. It started with so much hope, so much promise. I assembled all my ingredients and preheated the oven. All went well until I needed to shape the dough into long ropes. I dug the dough out of the bowl and it was like glue. There was no way it was going to roll into nice, smooth ropes. I formed it the best I could and then dunked it in a bath of water and baking soda, per the recipe. Ugh - they got even gloopier and less easy to handle. Into the over they went, shaped more like breast cancer awareness ribbons than a pretzel.

Sorry, no after photos. Too embarrassing. I will attempt again, once the trauma of this yeast-related disaster passes.

Fair

A few scenes from last night's visit to the North Carolina state fair. Yup - you read that right, chicken fried bacon. Gotta love a southern fair. I showed restraint and only ate a gyro and 1/2 a giant cinnamon roll. And a bite of a fried oreo, but that was pretty repulsive.

Man Shops Globe

The Sundance Channel show Man Shops Globe about the buyer for Anthropologie is really engaging. I thought it would be more uptight and stuffy but Keith's suprisringly down to earth. Although it's quite funny how he is so price-consious! When I was in the Durham store last, I spied a cabinet from England for $20k! I wonder what he paid...

Options

Trying hard not to make a mistake picking paint colors for the kitchen. As you can see, I'm keeping my options open. A butttery creamy yellow is sounding good today.

Also - is Lowe's not carrying Martha Stewart paint anymore? The store I was in today wasn't carrying her chips?!

Booked

Just scored a free 8 x 8 photo book from Shutterfly and TripAdvisor, just for being a TripAdvisor member. Whee. Of course, I had to make a Burt Reynolds photobook. (Burt my dog, not the aging actor). I'll post results when it comes in the mail.

During our weekend jaunt down to Charlotte, we headed back through Asheboro and stopped at the North Carolina Zoo. It was a little chilly (hence my wearing of Jake's blue hoodie) but a nice day overall for some walkin'. The zoo's spread out over 5 miles of pathways so we clocked some miles checking out the Africa and North America exhibits. My favorites are the elephants and apes and monkeys. It's also a kick to see all the little kids and their amazement at even the least-exotic animals! Look,mom, a SQUIRREEELLL!

Gifted

image

Sorry for the radio silence. A busy week slipped by with no posts! I turned 30 this week and picked out my gifts. Jake takes direction well and picked up this vest for me in baby blue. I am a big fan of vests for fall when it's not warm enough for a coat but too chilly without outerwear of some kind.

Print

I first saw Wexford Girl's rendition of the iconic 49 mile scenic drive sign several years back when we were still living in San Francisco. I always meant to pick one up but never got around to it. It popped into my head the other night and I decdied to do a quick etsy search I discovered a print for under $20! It's perfect for the gallery wall I'm working on in the master BR. Can't wait to get it in the mail!

Snap

I remember the first time I heard of such a thing as a fish taco, it sounded like the most repulsive thing ever! now I can't get enough of them. This Mexican red snapper sandwich is almost like a take on a fish taco. From my fave recipe source, Rachael Ray. Even though the summer is over and the leaves are starting to fall here in North Carolina, a summery sandwich still hits the spot. These are so easy and simple - I left off the radishes becuase I don't especially like them and it was still super tasty.

Bath progress

The bathroom in the hall is coming along. This room is hard to photograph. It doesn't have a window so the light is a little harsh. Its small, too, so it's difficult to get the entire room accurately depicted. On the right is the terrible sponge paint from the previous owners. I've painted over it with a chalky white and added a gray stripe. I'm toying with painting the vanity gray, too but I might wait on that project.

Still a lot of work to do but at least it's no longer in the 80's.

Sammies

Another recipe recommendation from yours truly the newly inspired cook. Buffalo chicken club sandwiches from Rachael Ray. I know she's not for everyone, what with the Martha-esque overexposure but her recipes are generally easy and tasty.

My blue cheese was looking a little fuzzy so tossed it and instead used a mashed up Laughing Cow cheese instead of blue cheese and creme fraiche. Worked out well but next time I swing by the grocery for some blue because spicy + blue cheese is such a yummy combo to me.