Entries Tagged 'Homelife' ↓

catch up! catch up! catch up!

i added more plants and cedar mulch to my little flower garden.

carnations!

yesterday i discovered some animal has come along and completely stolen my anemone plant. it was dead anyway, but seriously? that area of the garden is totally ugly now.

bertine had a girls-only clothing swap.

this is bertine’s girl cat, harriet, so don’t worry. no boys infiltrated! (her two boy cats hid in another room.)

i saw some fun puppets from the in the heart of the beast during the annual may day parade.

this banana was not from the heart of the beast, but he was clever. and handing out bananas. like.

these two are married now! that’s another post though. back to puppets!

“year of the tiger” was the parade theme.

can you believe it? seriously. these puppets are so wonderful.

then life was quiet for a little while. i know because i’m going through my flickr photo stream and the only things i posted for a week or two are my photos of the day.

however, during this quiet time, i finally left tcf bank for spire credit union. i’ve been wanting to switch to a credit union for a while since i’m just about ready to think about buying a new car or my very own house or something big like that. i think being part of a credit union will help me with this sort of thing.

i’ve also been spending a lot of time having a big crush on my boyfriend. he’s pretty darn awesome. (he was celebrating cinco de mustache in this photo.)

and, of course, i’ve been petting my kitties. they recently received a FURminator (from me) and it’s all they can talk about (if they aren’t talking about food).

my real reason for this photo purge? i am participating in flashbelt this week and will be heading out to las vegas in about a week and a half and i just really need to clear my blog’s to do list before i can properly share these other experiences with you. there are other events coming up over the next month or two that i will be taking a lot of photos during, so purge purge purge i go! what will i post about next?!

The kitchen before:

And after (not put back together yet, oops):

I love the yellow, but now the next big project (maybe next Spring) will be painting all of the cabinetry white. And should I re-tile the backsplash? Decisions, decisions.

The living room before:

And after:

Thanks to Matt of Tapes ‘N Tapes for the very comfortable sofa. (Proof that even rock stars use craigslist!) Additional thanks to Jason for finding it and getting it to my apartment! Now I need to re-hang my curtains and find some art. Maybe someday I’ll even take the painters’ tape down.

I just can’t stop admiring it — I am loving all of the colors!

Yesterday I went to Sherwin-Williams to buy some paint for my kitchen and my living room. I have been staring at and considering some Behr paint chips that I had picked up at Home Depot back in May, so I brought them along. I found some similar colors in S-W’s selection for my living room, but nothing really compared for my chosen kitchen color. I didn’t think it was a big deal, though—they have a fancy “color matching” system for competitor’s paint. It seems, however, that it’s difficult to get pigmentation for bright yellow/orange/reds exactly right. My very patient paint girl tried like hell to mix the color I was hoping for, but it just wasn’t happening. She tried two mixes before we went over to the paint chip wall and found a color that was in the same family, but needed about a 50% tint. I learned my lesson for the next time I’m considering painting a room: get my chips directly from my paint supplier! S-W has a good selection, too, I just didn’t realize that different paint companies can vary so much.

Today got off to a much more positive start. Mary came over and had brunch with Kristi and me. I made a ridiculous amount of egg bake, Kristi made some banana bread, and Mary brought fresh fruit and the makings for mimosas. It was a very delicious morning—and just the right kind of meal for getting more kitchen work done!

I got all of the tiles in my backsplash removed and removed as much glue as possible (with Kristi’s help). I also patched all of the walls so when I start painting, I can get it all done in one (or two) shot(s).

Kristi thought she should be wearing protective eyewear while using the power-sander, so I loaned her some sunglasses. “It’s kind of dark,” she said.

What’s left to do? After the patches dry, I will sand them a bit to get them even, then wash the walls once more (only water), and then I can paint!

And then the next day: someone has removed all of my wallpaper in the kitchen!

Oh, wait. That was me.

I should credit the wallpaper hangers with a good attention to seam detail! Too bad they had such awful taste.

The other side of the kitchen didn’t have wallpaper, which is why I was able to rip it all down in one night.

Next up: ripping out the tile backsplash ’cause I hate it.

I like being a hostess every once in a while. Between having people over to watch movies (or talk through movies, which is usually what actually happens) or simply sitting around outside during the evening, I enjoy having people around my home.

My friend, Erin, and I have been talking about having a doggy play-date for a long time (her doggy, Captain, and Kristi and Jared’s doggy, Ziggy) but we never really got serious about actually planning it. Finally the day arrived when I just couldn’t not have Erin, her husband, Jason, and their doggy over. Karyn, Bryan and Hannie had come over earlier in the day for a trip to the beach and to help me finish up my bathroom redecoration, so in the afternoon everyone gathered in my backyard.

Somehow we had too much food, but it was all delicious. Karyn made a pasta salad and brought over a million types of fancy cheeses. Erin and Jason brought chips and dips. I provided some sausages I bought from Fred’s in Goodland, MN and s’mores. The day was much warmer than I had anticipated, but Jason got a fire going anyway and that’s where we roasted the sausages (and marshmallows).

The doggy play-date didn’t really work, but it was a good excuse to get together anyway.