Sick Day

It's been almost 2 months since I've blogged. I really do need to catch up and I figure today is a good day to start as I'm home with bronchitis. It's not fun!

Lately, we've been busy doing work around the house (new carpets and windows in our room and Sprout's) and getting ready for the baby. Yesterday, we decided to do some Memorial Day shopping and we came home with 2 new a/c units for the bedrooms, along with a video camera and a new digital camera.

So my old camera, a 2 1/2 year old Canon Powershot, was good to me at first--until I dropped it. It still works but it's gotten to be slower and I had realized that with the new baby on her way, our digital photography needs had changed and we needed a DSLR.

I had my heart set on a Canon Rebel. I know so many people who have the Rebel and love it! However, after doing some research and shopping around, we ended up going with a Sony Alpha A200k. I knew it was a possibility that we would purchase something other than the Rebel, but I didn't expect to purchase a Sony. But we got a great deal on the camera and it gets excellent reviews. So far, so good. I'll have to upload some photos when I get a chance.

How we spent our Labor Day weekend

Around the middle of last week, upon realizing that Eric and I had no plans at all during our upcoming three day weekend, I suggested we spend that time painting our bedroom. Though not a fun chore, we decided it was the only time in the near future that we had to undertake this job. No sooner than we had started collecting paint samples did the bbq and other party invitations start rolling in. We were invited to three barbeques and (I to) one shopping excursion. Unfortunately, we missed all but one of those events (and that was only because the party was walking distance away)!

We painted our bedroom a Martha Stewart color called "Mixing Pot." It reminds me of a buttercream. It really is a pretty color and it's a nice change from the aqua that was on our walls and ceiling before that! After putting our bedroom back together today, we set up our new duvet and other bedding accessories which we received as shower gifts back in May. As Eric stated earlier this evening, now our bed looks like a hotel room bed!

Now summer really has come to an end...back to school tomorrow for me!

Yumminess

Monday, on our way to see the new Indiana Jones (which we both enjoyed), Eric and I decided to stop at the pool and patio store to look at patio furniture. Well, we ended up purchasing a table and four chairs for our deck at a great price! Since the weather was so nice Monday night, we ended up eating our dinner outside and it was wonderful! I made these tempeh "buffalo" wingz and they were so good!


Tuesday night, I decided to make those spicy Italian vegetarian sausages that everybody's been blogging about! Though it took some time to gather all the spices needed, they were really easy and came out delicious!

Alice got me in the mood to try my hand at paella last night. It came out pretty good! I used basmati rice, some vegetable broth, a can of whole tomatoes, onions, garlic, yellow squash, red and green bell peppers, turmeric, thyme, paprika, saffron and salt and pepper. And I threw a couple of the sausages in there!

Tonight, I decided to crack open Vegan with a Vengeance and try something easy. So I made the garlicky kale with tahini sauce. It was delicious! I threw some white beans in for protein and made a microwaved-baked potato to go with it.

My Green Dining Room

Here's a pic of before we took the tape off the walls and put the room back together. It really does look beautiful. It's calming and so serene. My new favorite room in the house!!!

Recycling Day

The first Friday of every month is recycling day. That means on the first Thursday night of every month, Eric and I are scrambling to put everything out after he gets home from work. Since we moved in August, half of our 2 1/2 car garage has been filled with boxes waiting to be broken down and recycled. Well thanks to Eric's hard work this week, we actually have a garage again. I bet the recycling people were cursing when they got to our house today. This is what they found:

• 7-8 large boxes filled with broken down boxes
• 2 bins of cans and bottles
• 2 boxes of newspapers, magazines and 1 expired YellowPages

Thats a LOT of stuff, don't you think? The hardest part was lugging all of that stuff up our windy, lengthy driveway. So Eric would load1-2 boxes at a time in the back of his SUV. Then Norton and I would hop in and drive the car up the driveway with Eric in the rear holding everything in place so we wouldn't lose any boxes. Norton had an important job too--co-captain of the Recycle Transit. He alternated riding in the back with the boxes or sitting on the passenger seat leaning over my shoulder.

Even Norton was exhausted last night. We all worked incredibly hard (especially Eric). It'll be worth it come our first snowfall when we'd like to park in the garage!

Our Office

A few days ago, this room was wall to wall boxes. It's pretty much unpacked now due to lots of hard work this weekend. We've still got to reorganize a bit and do some touch-up painting. This is the room where we keep our computers and most of our books. It also doubles as a second guest room thanks to a futon and comfy couch. We've also got a nice deck off this room. Sweet!

Our Living Room

Here's a couple pictures that I've been promising. Sorry if quality is kinda sucky. I used my camera phone because my real camera is in my car. I think.

Here's our living room. It has high ceilings, sky lights and almost a whole wall of windows (and one of the glass panels is a sliding glass door). The room is very light and airy, which I love. The couches are a merlot color and they were only six months old when I put them into storage--where they stayed for 3 years! I think they look good in this room.


Here's another pic. There's our fireplace. We have a lot of that natural wood throughout the house. It gives it a nice touch.

We're in!

Well, technically we moved in a week ago. Our high-speed internet was finally turned on tonight! So I am now connected to the wired world again! The place is coming along, bit by bit. We've still got lots of boxes but the place is looking pretty good! Between Eric's furniture and mine from storage, we've managed to fill the place up! I promise pictures will come soon--I have an idea where my camera is but I've got to physically locate it and my battery charger.

Norton is delightfully happy here. It took him a day or two to get adjusted but he's doing great. He loves the woods and trails and pond for swimming behind our house. He loves our nightly walks with our friend Jenny from the development (Eric's best friend Dave's wife) and dog Tocchet.

Its really nice and peaceful here and DARK at night! I've seen plenty of deer, frogs and even wild turkeys!

More to come later...

More House Stuff

Another long day spent working in the new house.

It rained all day. And it was C-O-L-D!!! By the time I left my new home this evening, it was 56 degrees! And I was wearing shorts!!!!

Today I finished painting the office. Did I mention that I ended up getting Home Depot to make a better match than Lowe's did? I ended up using the Home Depot paint and returning the Lowe's paint. It looked pretty good in the dim light. We'll see how it looks on a nice sunny day. I know, I know, I know, I owe everyone pictures. I'll give you a visual image to hold you over...the color is a dark beige that I like to call cinnamon latte. There's natural wood trim so it looks nice together. Pics will come soon. Promise.

Today we got our locks changed. I brought over and put away most of our dry groceries along with some other kitchen supplies.

Tomorrow Eric and I are going to HorrorFind, my first time. And Sunday, packing, packing, packing, because the movers come on Monday.

Once we move, we may be without internet for a week. Maybe less. So don't be startled if you must go without house updates for that duration.

Ouch.

Nope. Still no pics. But soon. I hope.

Today some friends came up to both see the new house and help paint the office. Susan and her boyfriend Timmy and their dog, Blackie along with McKenzie and Baby Caiden.

Things were going quite swimmingly! While Timmy was painting the ceiling, us girls were playing with the baby and chatting. At lunchtime, I went to Lowe's for more ceiling paint and I brought us back Subway for lunch.

I spent some time snipping at the excess greenery outside and then it was time for Susan and I to start painting the walls of the office. We got to the bottom of paint can #1. We cracked open #2 and I threw some on the wall I was painting.

Uh oh. The color didn't match what we had been doing. I bought both cans together--but the man who mixed the paints really SCREWED UP. So what was I to do but to bring both cans of paint to the local Lowe's (not the one where I purchased the two cans initially).

Apparently, the can of paint that we put on the walls was the "mistake" batch of paint. And as it turned out, we liked that color much better than the Caribou that the room was supposed to be painted in. So the man at this Lowe's had to do his best to match a paint that was a "mistake." He did a pretty good job, I think. Timmy threw some more on the walls when I got home. And, I hope that when I see it dry in the morning light, it looks okay. It'll need another coat regardless.

Painting with Martha and other Homeowner Adventures

No, Martha is not physically going to be helping me paint tomorrow. But she'll be there in a way--I bought some of her paint at Lowe's today. Tomorrow, along with some awesome friends, I'll be painting the office a color called Caribou. Its a latte-ish-brown-ish color. The ceiling color is called Yellow Caneware.

Today was productive. We hired cleaners and they did their thing at the new house.

The house's former owners didn't do much for the upkeep of the home. While some of the carpets are nice and new, others are an eighties shade of blue with yucky stains.

The kitchen has cranberry stripes on the walls and matching cranberry cabinets.

The former owners, while nice people, let the greenery take over the house. Vines wrapped around and covered all the railings on the front deck. (This morning, while trying to get rid of all those grape-bearing vines accidentally rid an egg-bearing huge spider of its nest and left many insects homeless. I also ruined my new garden shears trying to attack branch-like vines. Next time, I'll use a borrowed chainsaw instead.) Vines climb the back of the house--and the inspector seemed to think we may have poison ivy. We've got a humongous overgrown shrub in the front of the house.

You can say we have our work cut out for us. But Eric and I are really excited about it!

I promise pics will be coming soon!

We're homeowners!

Today we closed on our new house! There's lots to be done this week including painting, cleaning, and packing. Next Tuesday night, we'll be sleeping in the new house. I'll be posting pictures when I can...

Martha Madness

I'm not quite sure when it became "cool" to dig Martha Stewart. Was it after she was arrested a few years back? (Here's an interested link, titled, 'Is Martha Stewart Finished?')

I think not! I read something in a newspaper yesterday about her new lines coming out: carpets and flooring, lamps, etc. The carpets and flooring will be available exclusively at Macy's and Flor.

(Pictured are Martha's cool new "carpet tiles," tiles that can stand on their own or you can mix and match! How cool is that?)

And if thats not enough, she's got paint lines out at Lowes for $25 a can. Eric, can we get Martha Stewart paint for our new house?

I'm partial to some of her magazines. I like Blueprint, a fun and fresh living magazine. I've got a copy of Martha Stewart Weddings too.

I just checked out Martha's website for the first time and it seems to be addictive. Perfect for a domestic goddess-in-training like myself!

We're Moving!

Just when I was half-way moved into Eric's townhouse, a deal of a house came along that we couldn't or didn't want to pass up in Sussex County, NJ. It's a four bedroom, 2 bathroom home on 1/2 an acre of property--comes complete with woods and deer and bears and hawks. Yep, I love it. There's a pond behind the woods, for ice skating in winter, and it'll be Norton's in summer. Two minutes away is Lake Tomahawk, a lake complete with water slides. But this is lake country; there's lots of them!

And, guess what's ten minutes away? Remember my post about Wild West City from a couple weeks ago. You got it!