I love weekends.

This weekend has been fairly random for us. We had some extra time on our hands (for once) so we finished moving our furniture back upstairs and hung some various photos/wall decorations. We also ventured out to shop for carpets because the bare wood floors seemed so lonely. We went to Tuesday Morning at the recommendation of our hairstylist. I guess he's figured out how cheap we are, because this is a very inexpensive store. We were pleased with their selection, though, and quickly made a decision on two rugs. We're trying them out for a few days before we rip off the tags, though.

I really like the one for the livingroom. It's very Pottery Barn-esque at a quarter of the cost. The tan lightens the room and there is just enough green to match the walls. Now, try to use your imagination with the couch. The current couch looks horrible with the carpet, but we aim to get a new solid colored piece in the next few months. You know, being on the Dave Ramsey plan, we haven't allowed ourselves to buy new furniture. "Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else."



I like the dining room pick a lot too, but it just doesn't seem to meld well with the livingroom decor. I think we will stick that one upstairs on the landing and find something for it's place. Anyone have a recommendation?



We had a dinner party with some old friends Saturday night. We were in charge of dessert, so I took advantage of my brand new creme brulee set.



Within 20 minutes, the custard was made and set in the rammekins. It was a basic mix of cream, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk. They baked for 25 minutes, placed in a bath of hot water and covered with foil.



Of course, the most fun (for Brian included) was using the kitchen torch to melt the thick sugar topping. It was even more fun after we refilled the torch and the unstable butane was shooting flames about 12" long.



We served it with raspberries. It was delicious. Too bad when it came time for dessert at the party, their 1 year old decided to get sick and we had to watch her projectile vomit a couple times. Her mom quickly took her to the bathroom. We sat for a minute and then I said, "Who's ready for dessert?"

Carrie sent me a very funny video. For all of you Will Ferrell and/or kid lovers out there. Check this out.

Also, thanks to everyone for the advice on the overdrawn checks. I stopped in the bank Saturday and pleaded with the teller. I played Brian as the horrible husband who would have my hide if I didn't do something about the situation. I thought that would bring some sympathy from her. She didn't have the authority to reverse the charges until she speaks with her manager Monday. She also set up overdraft protection so this won't happen again. $5/month is a heck of a lot better than $280 in overdraft fees. Yep, that's right, we stacked up $280 in fees. Pass me another Xanax please.

What I've Learned...

I am now the wise age of 28 and have grown to learn, love, and be annoyed by many things.

1) I've recently discovered that it bothers me greatly when a woman refuses to work if her husband needs her to. Now, I count raising small children as work. But if the kids are grown, and the household is in need of some additional financial security, I cannot stand it if a woman tries to pull a 1920s ploy and act like grocery shopping and bills are a full time job. Otherwise, if the money is not necessary and the husband could care less - hey, more power to ya.

2) I hate overdraft fees. As hard as I try to keep an anal budget, I will inevitably screw up about once a year and this one screw up will result in a string of bounced checks and astronomical overdraft fees. I will curse at the online checking account and massage my temples until I realize there is no way to undo my mistake. I'll curse the banking system for being so greedy that they can't figure out a friendly way to just borrow from my savings when this occurs. I then grovel to Brian so he doesn't revoke my control over the bill paying system.

3) I constantly think about my metabolism. I tell my patients all the time about how their metabolism will slow with age, so they should adjust their diet accordingly. I, however, have failed to adjust my diet. I worry every time I eat dinner after 7 (which is often) and I feel very guilty each time I pass on going to the gym (but the guilt does not change my mind). I dread the day it all catches up with me.

So, those are just some random annoyances and stressors on my mind right now. Oh how cynical I have become in my "old" age.

Baked Goods Invention of the Week

I received the most fantastic birthday package in the mail Monday.



Carrie sent me a cupcake carrier, mix and cake tester, courtesy of Crate & Barrel. She received this same carrier as a shower gift. I could not stop talking nor thinking about it. As a matter of fact, Brian made cupcakes for his work birthday treat. As we transported them to the car, I thought again about how much I needed to purchase this carrier.

The bottom holder is actually a cupcake baking pan. The layer above that is a plastic tray with space for another dozen cupcakes. The trays are perfectly spaced so as not to smush any frosting. Excellent.

I'm excited to try out the mix. I was ensured by Carrie that Barefoot Contessa is simply awesome. I noted chocolate chunks and liqueur listed in the ingredients. I can't wait to make them. Thanks so much Carrie!

Random updates..

Easter weekend was icy and chilling, but also a whole lot of fun. We alternate Thanksgiving and Easter with each family. This year, Easter was with my parents. Whenever we holiday at my parents, we look forward to much Polish food. It was delish. Ben entertained us with a wine comparison game and honed our skills in Blackjack to prep us for our upcoming Vegas vacation.

Brian brought his Nintendo Wii. Fun was had by all (except Meagan because she is a party pooper). She has some innate fear of the Wii-mote, I guess. Patty Ann had so much fun with the Wii that she managed to shatter her ceiling fan in an overhead tennis serve.



I think the Wii had it out for that fan anyway - it's very 80s. Sorry ma, but it could use a new millenia update.

Poor Cayman was forced to wear her seasonal slippers.



Chris says she likes them, but she kind of look likes she's saying, "Don't you dare take my picture. All of my friends are going to see me in these." She actually sort of looks like Ralphie in The Christmas Story.



Brian and I also enjoyed our birthday surprises and treats. We had a triple layer chocolate cake, covered in chocolate shavings. Yum! Perfect way to return to sweets after Lent.



I also received some fantastic presents - all kitchen and yarn oriented! Meagan dared to order some yarn on line. She picked out the Lemongrass colorway from Socks that Rock. I'll start some new socks soon. The yarn is pictured in a beautiful crystal serving bowl my mother gave me. It's adorned with tulips - the well known flower of my current Holland hometown.



Chris and Ben gave me a creme brulee kit and the new book, Victorian Lace Today. I've already scoped out the KAL. As you can see, I also have the new Yarn Harlot book. (That was a treat to myself.)



Now that I have this book full of gorgeous lace knitting patterns, I'm ogling lace yarn on line. Here's a little yarn porn pic for all of you lovers out there, courtesy of Yarn All Over.



Next time I'll show you what Carrie sent me for my birthday - an impressive kitchen gadget that every baker will want!

Happy Brianakkuh!

My handsome husband turns 29 today.



He is a great man with so many successes to account for in 29 years. I am so lucky to be his partner and to share in the adventures yet to come. Happy Birthday Bri! You're my #1!

Blake is my man

I am sure all of you American Idol fans out there have been as annoyed with Sanjaya as I currently am.

His lackadaisical performances and intolerable hair styles have got to go. I have heard about this website that urges people to Vote for the Worst, and decided to investigate. Howard Stern has been an avid supporter.






A recent update on the site states:

"Another week of Sanjaya, and this is great, because Sanjaya is now tied with Scott Savol and Kellie Pickler for longest running VFTW American Idol pick. If we can get him through next week, he'll be the all time record holder. And next week is Latin week. Sanjaya, please sing Shake Your Bon Bon. Please. We'll bake some cookies. Also, Michael Buble outed himself as a Worster when he said he was voting for Antonella. We'll need to get him the updated memo on Sanjaya, but thanks for the help, Michael! And is it not obvious that the producers are just sticking Haley in the bottom every week so people get mad at her and forget about Sanjaya? Lame tactic, producers."

I had no idea that this website was one of the reasons singers like Kevin Covais hung around so long. I figured the grandma's were voting for him.

Matt drew my attention to an excellent ode to Sanjaya. I bring you the Sanjaya Anthem.



P.S. Check out Carrie and Matt's new blog on the sidebar.

Wishful Thinking...

I held over Carrie's spoiler comment until today....

She's right. The "tummy surprise" is the lamest name I have ever heard given to a dance move. It's a west coast swing move where the guy swings the girl to his front, so his stomach is to her back. He holds her by the waist and pulls her to his right, left, and then spins her back around. Cool move - dumb name.

And for all of those who really thought I may be pregnant, I would never be so casual as to just announce it to you over my blog. I haven't lost all sense of personal touch. Well, maybe 90% of it, but not all :)

Now to dinner. Bri's making turkey burgers.

Tummy Surprise

What is my Tummy Surprise?

(I'll give you the answer tomorrow)

A) Belly button piercing
B) A baby
C) My new dance move

I'm the project manager for the Junior League event today. I have already hard boiled five dozen eggs for the girls to decorate. I hope everyone does there part and brings a couple dozen. We have decorating kits a-plenty.



I hope kids show up being that it's their spring break. Of course, these kids aren't exactly going on expensive vacations, so I think we'll have some girls there to spoil for Easter.

Random Easter facts I put together for a game:
*Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring.
*In Midieval Europe eggs were forbidden during Lent. They were either boiled or preserved, then enjoyed on Easter day.
*76% of Americans believe chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first.
*It takes 6 minutes to create a marshmallow peep.



And for those looking for some fun - have you ever heard of Peep Jousting?

"The messy and largely self-entertaining game, "Peep Jousting" is played with a microwave. One takes two Peeps, and licks the right-hand side of each until sticky. A toothpick is thereby adhered to each Peep, pointing forward like a jousting lance. The Peeps are then set in a microwave, squared off against one another, and heated up. As they expand, the toothpick lances thrust toward each opponent, and the winner is the one that does not pop and deflate. "

Game on!

Kiss the Bride

This Saturday I celebrated the last few days of single life for my friend Carrie. She is a great friend I made in my sorority days at Western. In true Carrie style - she rocked the casbah for her bachelorette party. The city of Chicago was taken by storm. Well, it actually was sort of stormy out if you want to be literal. We started the night with gifts, sangria, and excellent hors d'eouvres. The true party women then boarded a trolley and headed out to find trouble. (Note: all incriminating photos will be spared for the sake of future job prospects for the bride)



We first stopped by the piano bar, Howl at the Moon. Carrie found a comfortable spot on the stage, and jello shot syringes to share with all. She had some signature tambourine moves.



Next stop Durkins. I found it a little crowded. We were in and out of there pretty fast. We found time to feed Carrie a few shots. This shot didn't go down very easy.



Last stop on the trolley ride - Carol's. This was my favorite bar due to the live country band. The "Chicago boys" Dave and Mark showed up just in time to spin us around the dance floor for a while.



I had a great time with Carrie and got the chance to get to know some of her friends (and sisters) better. She is a true friend who has finally found her true mate. She always feared growing old with cats - we always knew she would have everything she wanted. Can't wait for the wedding!

Slacker

Dear blog reader,

I know you are waiting for a new post. Believe me, I am waiting for inspiration. To tell you the truth, I have thought of nothing but sleep for the last 5 days. Maybe it's the fact that I gave up pop for Lent and am suffering a chronic caffeine deprivation. Maybe it's the fact that depression/anxiety is an epidemic in Holland and every patient seems to come to me to unload. Maybe the left-over fumes from our polyurethane are slowly killing my brain cells. Maybe I'm grieving the skeins of yarn I have not been allowed to purchase. I'm just dog tired. I mean really, I haven't picked up my pointy sticks in a week!

I'll cross my fingers for a jolt of energy for next week. A Chicago bachelorette party is on my schedule for this weekend. Although that won't provide me with sleep, at least I'll have some blogging material.

Sincerely,
Your somewhat devoted blog poster

It was all worth it.

The fourth coat of polyurethane was put on yesterday morning, dry by 9 pm, and the floors are officially finished.





We're so happy we had them redone. The finish is smooth now and the poly-coat is free of debris. It looks great. The only imperfections now are not even worth mentioning. We're ready to have another house warming party!

Now our next project is to get the vegetable garden in order. We started shoveling out the gravel this weekend. We quickly realized a wheel barrow was a necessity and made a run to Meijer. Our backs are still screaming at us.



My cherry tomato seeds are already starting to bud. I can't wait to eat my own fresh veggies.

Who saw Dancing with the Stars last night?



Heather Mills - you shock me! What a great mambo. I seriously can't tell which leg is fake when she's dancing. I also thought Billy Ray Cyrus was amazingly improved. What a fun show.

No knitting today. Too busy with Junior League errands, doctor's visits, and moving furniture back upstairs. But I listen to knitting podcasts....lots and lots of them. Hopefully I'll knit soon.

So far so good.

Back to the bat cave for the night.

Our new barracks

The re-sanding of the floors starts today. So last night was our night of moving everything back to the basement. Brian managed to set up quite the "pad" for us so that we wouldn't lose our t.v. or computer privileges. Thankfully, it's not too cold right now because there is an evident lack of heat in our basement.



I have a finished knitting project to show off. This is the baby kimono sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting. It was a straight forward pattern and turns out so cute...freakin' adorable if I say so myself.

I love baby projects because they typically take less than a week to make and are always cute. It's too bad they fit the baby perfectly....for about a week.



The pattern called for two ribbons to be put on for the closure. I preferred one because two seemed busy (plus less sewing this way). I think a large safety pin would also look cute - the kind with little chicks or bunnies on them.

The Secret is Out.

Now that I have FINALLY given my mother her 50th birthday present - I can post about it! My very first lace project, the Flower Basket Shawl from Interweave Knits, was always meant to be for my mother. She celebrated her 50th birthday on March 8th. Unfortunately, we were on vacation. I wanted to make her something that was very special, as she is to me.

The lace was a fun project, challenging and beautiful. This was also the first time I used silk yarn.

You all saw several of my progress pictures. When I finally completed it and took it off the needles, I was left with a crumply heap of yarn.



I ordered a new set of blocking wires and wool wash from KnitPicks.com and went to work. Each point needed to be blocked. I also had to measure each side to check for symmetry. It took up most of the bed when it was all stretched out.





I finally understood why it was called a "flower basket" shawl when I noticed this shape.



I love the simple elegance of it. It is as light as a feather, so it just lies over your shoulders like a breath of air. I'm sure it would look great with a casual white top or a formal gown.





My family met in Lansing on Sunday to have a belated birthday lunch. My mom seemed to like the shawl and has plans already to wear it to a nice dinner with my father's co-workers. I hope to see pictures of the shawl in action!



Happy Birthday Mom!

TOK is the King of Wii

People may call the new Nintendo Wii system a lot of things, but I'll call it a kick-a** party game. Brian and I attended a co-ed bachelor party this weekend and brought the Wii along. For those who aren't familiar, this is the new video game system where the remote is moved through the air to control the actions on the screen. Brian only has the Wii sports game that came with the original system, which includes tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. I enjoy baseball the most, because it really takes some great hand-eye coordination to hit the ball. Bowling is unrealistic because I've made a gutter ball only once....I wish I could say that for real life.

What everyone seemed to love more than the game was making their "Mii." You can make your character look just like you, down to the shape of the eyebrows, height and weight. They really are spot on.

The Outlaw Kyle was the star of the night. He boxed like a mad man!





Carl deserves a second runner-up. Even if he wasn't the best player, he kept us laughing. Great follow through Carl!

I hope the second time's a charm

So you all have been involved in the progress with our wood floors. As you know, Brian and I love the fact that our house had some beautiful hard wood hidden beneath nasty carpeting. It was a treasure yet unknown. You saw it when it turned into this after removing the carpeting and matted padding.



We shopped around for estimates and decided on a friend of Brian's co-worker. We didn't get to check out any of his prior work, but he came with praise from her....and his last name was the same as ours (no relation). So, how could he not be perfect? :)

We were so excited to see the floors after we returned from vacation. It was going to make all of the fatigue and stress of our missed flights that much better. We stood at the entry door and told each other, "Let's look at the same time. Cover your eyes." We walked in, and my smile turned upside down. The color of the stain is beautiful - a perfect match to our other wood work. Beyond that, I found nothing but flaws. This makes me sound like a picky snob, but that's really not the issue (this time).

Apparently, the floor guy thought the wood was oak, not pine. Pine is much softer. Therefore, his amateur sanding abilities lead to the creation of many, many (I mean hundreds) of visible horizontal grooves in the wood. I'm no pro, but it seems that he also should have followed with a finer sand paper, as we can find areas where scratches from the grit of the paper are clearly visible. Also, his polyurethane coating skills leave something to be desired. The floor is glossy, but not smooth. There seems to be a fine layer of dust adhered to the coating. In some spots, I can even find one of my blond hairs, or a wood chip, stuck in the coat.

If you squint your eyes, it looks great...much better than before.



But upon closer look, you'll find the marks I despise so much.



So, the plan is to move all of our furniture into the basement AGAIN, and have the floors sanded AGAIN. This time, a different company will do the sanding. Our guy will do the staining and he best figure out how to do a better job with the polyurethane. I cross my fingers. There is only so much thickness to wood. The second time will have to be a charm.

Riviera Maya

As I said, we are back from our vacation. We spent 7 nights on the beautiful Riviera Maya coast of Mexico. Our resort was the Grand Oasis. We had an all inclusive deal, so we ate (and drank) to our heart's desire. The beach was clean, quiet, and had some decent coral reefs just off the shore. We had a great time snorkeling in calmer seas, but with a stronger current, I grew terribly frightened of running into a spiney urchin.

The food was delicious. I learned to love sushi at the outdoor sushi bar. We spent each night at a different restaurant. Our favorites were the Brazilian (meats served off of a sword/spit) and Mexican restaurants (flaming coffee). We always had the buffet for breakfast. I loved picking from one of ten fresh squeezed juices. Warning - watermelon is not so good.



We took a few outings, aka "adventure!" We took the collectivo (group taxi) along with the locals, both to Tulum and Playa del Carmen. We saw some beautiful Mayan ruins at Tulum.



Playa was a great place to sneak in some souvenir shopping, and get my Starbucks fix.



Our favorite outing was the "Underwater world" snorkeling trip. We were first taken 15 minutes into the jungle. We put on wetsuits and climbed a steep ladder underground, only to find a beautiful fresh water pool with stalactites and stalagmites all around us. After that, we went to a bay to snorkel around sea turtles. They were close enough to touch. We were reminded of the sea turtle in "Finding Nemo." We also saw a school of fish identical to the one in the movie that made shapes from all of the fish. There were thousands of them as big as my palm.



Although we had a lot of fun, there were downsides too.

The sun decided to show itself for about 50% of our trip. We saw nothing but clouds and drizzle for all of Thursday-Friday. Fortunately, that made it cool enough to knit - so I got a decent amount of my shawl started (after ripping it back to start once).



Our hotel was nice, but our room - not so much. Our a/c broke twice, ceiling fan broke, insects scurried beneath our shower, water dripped through our ceiling, and the sink faucet/cable TV worked intermittently. After a night with no air, we finally decided to ask for a new room. We had avoided it before because we thought the next would be just as bad. Instead, we moved one floor up to a much bigger room, cleaner, and fully functioning. My goodness.

Our airline travel was not smooth sailing. We had a delay at our connection on the way down because they needed to switch out an engine. So, driving to Chicago through the night did not result in us getting to Cancun before dark for our first day. On the way back, we missed our connection in Miami, so we were put up in a hotel for the night. It was not just any ordinary airport hotel, though. It was a Native American owned casino. After three hours of sleep, we headed back to the airport, dying to get home and see our refinished wood floors. They turned out to be a HUGE disappointment, but I'll save that story for another day.

You can see all of our favorite pics at my Flickr account.

We're Back

You can't have 7 days of relaxation without coming home to a load of work, though. So until I get my "chores" done (including going to the gym because an all-inclusive resort is no good for the waist line) - I'm not allowing myself to put up a full post. Hopefully later today!