Monday, November 29, 2010

Monday...

"I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being."

~Confucius

blah. It's Monday

I'm so, so tired.
Our weekend was the exact opposite of a long, relaxing holiday weekend.
Involving endless hours of scrapping, sanding, & painting.
And those god damn front doors still aren't done.
Jim and I considered calling up our old landlord to see if we our old little, tidy, not under construction apartment is still available.
Seriously. I surrender.
On a brighter note, I love the color choices we settled on & we've already had a compliment from a neighbor. And I've mentally moved past actually finishing the doors and starting visualizing all the pretty wreaths I can hang.
via


via


above and below via

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Tacos

Since I was a total slacker in the anniversary gift department, I told Jim I would make him a special dinner of his choosing last night.

kitchen sneak peak with our romantic kitchen island set for two

Tacos was first on his list (he's just so easy to please!). I decided to spruce it up a little bit by making fish tacos and boy oh boy were they delicious!

I started making these after having them at my friend Sarah's and realizing how simple they are. Just season up a few fillets of tilipia with garlic, salt, and a squeeze of lime (I think Sarah used a special Goya fish seasoning too) and cook in a skillet with olive oil over medium heat. Tilipia will start to flake apart once it's cooked, so just kinda chopped it until it's small enough to pile on a taco shell.

Last night I used small corn tortillas (gluten free!) and warmed them in a separate skillet with a wee little bit of olive oil to make them kinda crunchy (but you can always heat them in the microwave for a few seconds). In the past I've used the larger burritto size wraps but I actually think I now prefer the smaller crunchy corn tortillas.

Top with shredded cheese and gaucomole. heavenly!

For our side dish, nachos of course! Spread a layer of tortilla chips (I prefer blue) and layer with black beans, sliced jalopenos, and lots of shredded cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Serve with remaining gaucomole and salsa. It was a feast.

more sneak peaks of our brand new countertops!


After 17 long days and nights with no countertops, sink, or working plumbing in our kitchen, our lovely new Silestone countertops in urban cream were installed last weekend. I love them. It's nice to see my vision starting to come together and the kitchen is down the tile backsplash and a handful of smaller projects. But, the way things tend to go in home renovations, one of those 'small' projects could turn into 3 weekends worth of work. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a new kitchen for Christmas!

ps. I'm a big fan of fresh homemade gaucomole, but the last couple batches of avacodos I bought were just no good, so this is a good option for the winter months.






Monday, November 22, 2010

Monday...

Two

Is it really Thanksgiving week?
....And our TWO year wedding anniversary?

Jim bought me a really lovely orchid.
I bought him nothing.
We agreed on no anniversary gifts. We had planned on a Sunday brunch at the Valley Green Inn where we were married. But, you guessed it...we become completely consumed with plumbing, paint scrapping, and a long list of random things that will ultimate result in a sparkling new-to-us house.

I still can't believe it was two years ago today.

I'm one lucky lady....



Monday, November 15, 2010

Monday...

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

~Seneca

Friday, November 12, 2010

Snack time.

I happen to catch the end of the Colbert report the other day. Martha Stewart was his guest and he teaches her how to prepare some of special snacks from his childhood...including mixing mayo with mustard and spreading it on saltines.


The Stidd family saltine spread of choice was margarine. The 'good' kind in the tubs (preferably Country Crock). Nothing else. Just a thick spread of clogged artery.

I made Jim try it once.
We were at a diner and they served saltines with my soup, but I didn't eat them. As we lingered at the end of our meal, I shared with Jim this little delight from my childhood. He thought my story was ridiculous, even though I insisted that it was not so bad. This of course led to me asking the waitress for butter even though we had completed our meal at this point. Jim was practically crawling under the table. He really does find me quite embarassing.

Radio

Preset stations in my car

WXPN-public radio station from University of Pennsylvania
WHYY- NPR station
WRTI-classical & jazz station
A classic rock station & 2 other rock/pop stations

Reason I switch stations

Music that makes me sleepy and/or drowsy
Commericals or advertisements
Radio quizzes, contests, or call-ins
Any mention of Sarah Palin

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Houzz

My head is always swimming with decorating ideas for the house. A entire house and I get to start from basically scratch?! Should be a dream come true, but it's been hard to keep a steady vision over the past six months. We're getting really close to actually putting furniture in the living room and kitchen. HOORAY!!!! This means I have to start making some actual decision on furniture, curtains, and decor.

This could be a nightmare. Just ask Jim how long it took me to pick out paint colors! I'm always seaching the web for ideas & inspiration and have bookmarked a few pages or put links to a few of them on the good ole blog to help me remember them later. My biggest problem is that I like too many things, as well as a variety of styles.

I recently discovered a cool website where you can browse through TONS of photos and ideas by room, decor, or metro area then store the one you like in custom created ideabooks. It's like a giant internet collage. I can't believe I didn't know about this sooner!

Even if you not undertaken an entire home remodeling project the site is efinitely worth checking out.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Nicky Sienks, you rock!


During the summer of 2005, Jim and I were living in Levittown, NY (god how I hate Long Island!) completing our clinicals for chiropractic school. Jim and a group of his (our) guy friends decided to go to the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. To make a long story short...the girls (me) were banned from going. It was some crap about one last hoopla for the boys (even though there were going to be other girls there meeting up with them). Confused? I was. I even had to endure being quizzed about whether or not I could name 5 bands that would be playing that year, like some kind of entry exam! In the end I really didn't care that much nor did I want or have the money to spend on such shenanigins. It was more about the point...it's a huge festival and last time I checked it's a free country and I'll go if I want. And really did you boys think that you'd be shackin' up with a group of dirty hippie chics?

After returning from their little excursion Jim said that I should have been glad that I didn't go. It was really hot & humid, plus it rained making everything really muddy, and the camping was really squeezing your tent up between cars in a big open field. Jim was basically miserable (and probably not prepared with adequate supplies) and thought that I would have been equally, if not more, miserable. Our buddy Nicky Sienks disagreed. His reason, I'm adaptable.

Damn right Nicky Sienks!! Adaptable should be my freakin' middle name. You always were a smart man.

Currently the microwave is on the floor serving as a table for the coffee pot and toaster.
Half of my baking dishes are covered in dust and yuck and I am washing dishing in bath tub (on the 2nd floor) because we have no countertops and no sink or plumbing in our kitchen


Over the last six months I've endured, quiet gracefully I made add, the filth and inconvience of this home renovation. And at the same time I've managed to drag myself to work everyday, looking pressed & put together, keep up with the laundry and normal cleaning (sorta), and continue cooking healthy meals.

In exchange for a mild case of alcoholism. I'd call that adaptable.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Dog Days

Yesterday was Sofee dog's birthday.

(brand new puppy Sofee with her brand new puppy toy)

Five years ago she was born at the Philadelphia SPCA, after her mom was dropped off on the doorstep preggo. She was the last one to go home in the litter (lucky for us!) The day we found her she was sitting there shaking in her boots off with her last brother dog. He went home that day with his new owner, a seriously huge black man with a bum leg. They both looked so happy. Brother dog was mostly brown with black markings and seemed like a stuffed animal next to the man. We often wonder how they're doing now (considering Sofee is a complete spasm if she doesn't get at least 3 walks in one day, I'm not sure that Brother is doing so well having an owner with a bum leg...maybe brother is just not the spastic runt).

When Jim went back to pick up Sofee for her homecoming (she had to be spayed first--SPCA rules) he took the shirt right off his back and nestle puppy Sofee up on the floorboard of his big Bronco. She was the cutest lil thing with her floppy ears and soft puppy fur. She whined, whimpered, and cried until her cuteness got the best of him and he picked her up and let her snuggle up in his lap for the ride home....



She has been whiny, whimpering, crying and pushing her way onto our laps ever since...and we wouldn't have it any other way!!!

You are certainly our bestest pal.

Let me count the ways:

10) Your little Sofee body is the perfect size for squeezes and snuggles.

9) You keep me nice and warm at night curled up behind my knees.

8) I love the way you look so happy and content stretch out in a patch of sunshine. Every good dogs likes to sunbath.

7) You are still energetic and playful even at the ripe old age of five

6) and make us take you to the park for hikes even when it's cold and snowy.

5) Jim and I would probably be fat slobs without you.

4) You are a master stick jumper and give the best high fives.

3) You have the funniest expression of any dog I've ever met. I can always tell when you're nervous or sad just by your little doggie face.

2) That gosh darn cute lil' puppy face that makes everybody single person we meet on the streets or at the park love you instantly.

1) You even have your own song



Monday...

"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort."

~Paul J. Meyer

Thursday, November 4, 2010

This old house

Joel Baba was a gymnast in the 1952 Olympics.

He also happens to be the original and only previous owner of our house. We actually bought it from his children a few years after he passed away. He was apparently a pretty popular guy in these parts. He was a teacher at the local high school and had a gymnastist school in the area. A lot of people actually asked us if we him and are always sharing little tidbits and stories about Mr. Baba. Jim came across this video when he was stalking the internet for further information about his olympic history.

The cute little family photo with this three daughters sitting on the stairs is absolutely the house. The picture is probably about 30 years old. I imagine the carpet to be soft and plush (which was not so much the case when we ripped it up. 30 years is hard on carpet. yuck!) The picture in a driveway in front of a white car is also obviously the house. There are also a few others with the kitchen in the background, but they're harder to pick out unless you really know what the kitchen use to look like.


So, thanks for a great house Joel Baba. I'm sure we will enjoy our years in it as much as you did. I really could've gone for a little updated after 1970, but I can see that you were a very busy man, so I guess I'll let it slide.