May 6th, 2013
in the event things were looking a little too glamorous around here (haha) a look at our not very exciting but productive weekend. the first collage of pictures was a tall, skinny, little did we know, hollowed out (how was it even standing) tree that produced about a bazillion inedible balls of squishy fruit that made the neighbors dogs sick and the entire back corner of the yard a big fat mess. and it was all around our power lines so it had to go. this was what the project was supposed to be, the end.
but you get boys with chainsaws and suddenly all of the other projects that need chainsaw attention come into hyper focus. the big elm next to our house has elm disease, as they are so apt to get. we know it must come down in it’s entirety at some point but for now (second collage of photos) the boys took the canopy as high as travis (our very kind neighbor who offered to help the mister, thanks t!) could climb and the pole chainsaw could reach. it might not look extra pretty in these photos but in person it’s a million times better.
then he and i, although ready to call it quits (and this is on day two) knew that with only one tree left it must be done. it too hangs over a neighbors yard and had limbs all interspersed with cables so one more canopy was raised and oh happy day. although i was about at my limit on how many times i could bend over and pick up sticks. there is only so.many.times. you can do this before becoming slightly irritated. after all, using the chainsaw and watching it all fall is more fun, although tiring too, but i wasn’t pointing that out at the time. and husband insisted on one photo of me with the chainsaw by my big pile (it’s larger than our car for goodness sakes).
plus a little (but exciting to us) home update. we scored big time on craigslist this weekend. don’t you love craigslist? last year after diligent searching we found solid wood, raised panel, 96″ tall doors for all of our interior except one. we had decided that in such a small house spending extra on upgraded (and taller) doors would make a huge difference, but they cost around $400 a piece, oof. a local builder that has occasional excess had listed new ones and we got lucky and purchased them for $75 apiece… huge savings. over the past year i have been looking and hoping for one more to pop up and finally the perfect size for our final door (the closet) was listed. and wouldn’t you know it turned out to be the same guy, he had not had any doors since then until this week. cha-ching! $69 later and we-are-done.
and finally i think you will all agree that two days of yard work = pizza. i tried an (almost) entirely homemade pizza with a gluten free crust (my one cheat, i used a pre-packaged crust mix). next time i plan to use this homemade gf flour blend (once all ingredients are purchased and at the ready) which my girlfriend lindsey is using for everything and loves. (thanks for leading the way miss L!) even so i wouldn’t hesitate to use the mix again, with a few minor adjustments; follow directions as on package but (if you are doing cast iron pizza like we did) roll the dough extra thin, i found that it was a bit thick and not quite as cooked in the direct center of each slice. this did not deter us from eating it all (of course) and husband is one thousand percent loving this pizza, crust rolled thin or not. anyhoo, i’d roll it thin and that’d be that, i think it would be perfect. (it says spread with hands which i did and was easy but like i said, not just right). even if you are using a regular pizza pan i would roll thin just to be on the safe side. also, we had a little bit of dough leftover that we topped with olive oil and herbs and cooked plain, best flatbread ever.
so there you go, hellloooo monday! how was your weekend?
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: gluten free flour blend, gluten free pizza crust, tree trimming
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
May 2nd, 2013
the husband and i don’t watch much hgtv style tv but we recently became hooked on love it or list it, the concept (if you haven’t seen it) is one person in the house wants to move due to issues and one wants to stay because they love it and think said issues can be overcome. a budget is set for both the renovation list and the new house list and off they go. i’ve noticed that almost every single homeowner has wanting more storage space as one of the number one reasons for being anxious to leave (or stay for that matter, storage is needed and high on the list either way). on each house tour, everywhere you look stuff is piled high.. bedrooms, closets, hallways, everywhere.
never ever is getting rid of all the crap the solution. so much money is spent building more closets and storage rooms in basements. it’s not the show, the show is great, it’s the stuff and the attachment to it and the not-letting-go-of. it is truly amazing how much of a home is not actual lived-in space, but is instead storage space. full attics, stuffed garages, guest room closets full of master bedroom clothes, hall closets, linen closets, pantry closets, storage sheds, and even rented storage units. it’s kind of a lot.
and of course many homes are two people homes and the need for them to be big, big, bigger is ever present. how much space do two people need. how many people do you know that for two, or three people (one being a very tiny person or two for that matter) but the house has to be 2500 or 3500 plus square feet. 1500 square feet, gasp, shock, never!!!! what else could you be doing besides paying for a big a$$ house. get rid of some junk, have a more manageable, needs less maintenance casa and go out and do more fun things. (just an idea)
home is definitely a haven, and some of us do need more space than others, mj needed 38,000 square feet (and that’s just one of his homes, he recently bought a tiny 12,000 sq. ft. home in north carolina) and new yorkers would feel like they were in a roller skating rink if they had 1000 sq. ft. we wanted small, we didn’t know that would be 528 sq. ft., didn’t know that what we thought was a small’ish amount of things turned out to be way-too-much. but now we realize that as small as you think you can go is where you should at least try to be. it is amazingly freeing.
if you are thinking of jumping into simplifying/downsizing, i couldn’t encourage it more! start small, one task at a time, one junk drawer, then another. if you’re doing the attic or the garage or a storage shed, pick a pretty day, take every single thing out onto the yard and spend the day going through it all at once. don’t save the christmas boxes for christmas because guess what? christmas time is b.u.s.y. and you will not do it. do it now instead. do your clothes all in one day. and then your kids clothes. take an entire day (at least) to go through your kitchen. kitchens catch everything so there will be more than you can fathom when you start to unload it all. do not keep things for maybe one day. go though your house at least once a week and anything that you would not buy again, do not love or is not your taste, put it in a bag and take it to a goodwill or church donation or similar. do this until you are only left with what you love so much. and by doing it once a week you will be able to see things in a new light. if you’re having trouble making decisions on a group of items, set them all out somewhere in the house where you will pass them multiple times a day and see how you feel about each thing by the end of the week. you’d be surprised how well this works.
if you give it a whirl, i’d love to hear how it goes for you! and don’t be afraid to give stuff away. don’t let what you paid for it or who gave it to you freeze you into keeping things you don’t need or love. pass it on and know that someone who does need it or loves it will get it and think they hit the jackpot. and you will have open space in your life for something more appropriate to come your way, might be another something, might be a trip to the bahamas.
Filed Under: porchtalk
Tagged: porchtalk, stuff
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
May 1st, 2013
chambray ♥ (found here)
Filed Under: p.s.
Tagged: llbean signature, p.s.
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
May 1st, 2013
tiger tee / studs / blazer / denim / flats
Filed Under: what to wear
Tagged: free people, GOjane, madewell, SkarGorn bones jeans, vegan shoes, what to wear
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
April 29th, 2013
a little funny. for anyone who eats lots of veggies i have to think that this has for sure happened to you. you open the fridge, something doesn’t smell quite right but everything is sealed, hasn’t been in there for more than 3 or 4 days, should be kosher right? well, he and i couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night last night and got up for a bit, and as i opened the fridge i could not deny that it smelled like a fart in there. no other way to say it. i had chopped some broccoli for the husband to snack on a few days prior but didn’t think it would be bad in such a short amount of time. well honey child let me tell you, i opened that tupperware and almost died on the spot. i am not exaggerating. i have never, ever, smelled something so bad. (makes you wonder about what you eat doesn’t it?!)
i could not get the smell out of my nose, i washed my face, brushed my teeth, he said he could still smell it on me. oh dear lord. i packed it in a bag and put it on the porch, no need for artillery for protection just have a bag of rank broccoli at the ready and anyone who might come a calling (unwanted) will run for the hills and never look back. i don’t know but i got to laughing thinking about pranks with that bad broccoli and i could not stop. he was like shut it! i have to sleep, and i kept trying but then would laugh all over again, with the threat that i was going to have to leave the bedroom i finally was able to stop the madness and go to sleep. anyway, now you know, if you have anyone you want to prank, stick some raw broccoli somewhere that they won’t find it right away and hope they don’t return the favor.
Filed Under: p.s.
Tagged: broccoli, p.s.
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
April 29th, 2013
kiddos, we had a really good weekend. it. is. official. sunshine fueled vitamin d is a must-have for this mrs. lately i have been feeling like someone strapped into a roller coaster with miss mini meltdown. until i mentioned to the husband that maybe i was going just this side of crazy, i hadn’t known what to think.
i couldn’t believe it when he instantly said, no way, i know what it is, it’s the weather. the gray skies, zero sunshine for weeks, that is your problem. and thank you very much, i think that man was right. the sun was out in full force this weekend and i’m back to my old self. and very relieved.
in other fun news, our super cute neighbors dave & kate got engaged! it was on the agenda for someday, but miss kate had no idea it was going to be this week and we are very excited for them, brought back lots of remember when stories. we had coconut margaritas (totally addicted now) and home-made mexican food with some amazing southern friends (that share my alma mater), love having some arkansas peeps just up the road from us, the south doesn’t seem so far away now.. (;
and do you see how cute that man of mine is… he came out wearing pastels and first thing i asked was .. what are you buttering me up for? because honey, i do love him in preppy pastel head-to-toe goodness. couldn’t stop looking at him.
lastly, a special shout out to my girlfriend lindsey.. she was recently bestowed the honor of blog of the month by mr jamie oliver and his food revolution team, lightning the world on fire my dear! and today is her special day, your edgewater peeps are thinking of you and sending you big wishes!! xoxo
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: life in the fast lane
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
April 26th, 2013
shall we?
tgif! xoxo.
Filed Under: everyday // bits & pieces
Tagged: midnight margaritas
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
April 25th, 2013
that cute husband of mine took me downtown earlier this week and we joined the denver art museum.
i already cannot wait to go back. we spent hours wandering and we still didn’t see everything, which is just how i would want it to be, makes going back sooner all the better.
art is so subjective. i love how differing viewpoints on one exhibit versus another can be so eye opening into what someone else loves or hates or is indifferent to. makes for very good conversation, don’t you think?
some of the exhibits we/i were so-so on, some surprised me SO much (when we turned the corner to the red + foxes i was in such shock, i loved it!), some were both well curated and educational, and a few
i was surprised would be in cahoots with such amazing laborious timeless art. one piece of art was comprised of stacks of used or semi-used rolls of tape with a few dirty objects like a beat up wiffle ball mixed in, something you might see stacked in the corner of your garage. i think part of art is to make you think, each piece a glimpse into the vast world and extremes within it; and the contrast of one particular piece versus another does tickle the brain waves, so there you go.
the last two paintings pictured (above) by thomas moran, were my absolute favorites. they are so amazingly beautiful in person and i can’t wait to go stare at them some more. the entire room of this exhibit was both his and my favorite of everything we saw. another favorite was the rocky mountain majesty exhibit, colorado at it’s finest for sure. we are both looking forward to seeing what we missed and taking second (and third) looks at much of what we saw, there is so much to take in! how about you, are you a member or visitor of your local museums?
thanks husband for a really good date. ♥ you.
Filed Under: everyday // bits & pieces
Tagged: denver art museum
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
« Previous Posts
Next Posts »
