Monday : When Hostas Attack

The first day the hosta evil came to us in the form of a series of texts from our beloved nanny.  This was to be her final week with us before starting a full-time job as a graphic designer.  She had not been feeling well the previous week, but we kept thinking it was stress, fatigue or the heat.  

Well, Sunday night, her fever spiked to 106˚, and she was admitted to the hospital.  I found myself at 7AM discovering her texts from the wee hours letting me know what had happened.  I scrambled to check on her condition while simultaneously trying to find someplace for the boys to spend their week that would not be full of hazards and chaos.  

NOTE: Our nanny is doing well now and is very much on the mend.

Both boys were scheduled to start Kindercare after the Fourth, so, luckily, I was able to arrange for them to start a week early.  The director and staff were so accommodating and understanding.  It really made my panic dissipate.  

The downside, however?  The location I chose is near work, not home.  I have a 35-minute commute each way on a good day, which I was now faced with driving twice a day to deliver them to and from daycare (only one direction is against the flow of traffic).  But with the state our house was in, and Mom’s trucks arriving with even more stuff the following day, them staying at home was not an option. 

So, with only a minor melt down at the change of plans (them and me), I loaded both boys in the car for their first day of school.  The rest of the day continued without a hitch.  I got our bedroom painted and between Brett and I the boxes were beginning to be unpacked and their contents put away.

After the amusement park ride we called sleep the night before, we wised up on Monday night and just laid out all the blankets and sleeping bags we could find, lined it with some Euro-sized throw pillows and called it a good night.  It’ll be better tomorrow…  right?  right?

10 Hostas : 10 Portents of Doom

After a week of silence, I have a lot to share.  We moved a little over a week ago, but lots of stumbles and surprises happened along the way, only one of which included no internet or cable until two days ago.  I had no idea that moving to a house built in 1965 would be like moving to 1965!

On Friday, as I pulled into our new driveway to walk through  our newly acquired house, the sight that greeted me first was the 10, count them, 10 healthy Hostas.  Readers of this blog know how I feel about these little green wonders, so I was none too pleased.  Little did I know the little wretches were really portents of the disasters to come - 10 in all - throughout the week.

The weekend went smoothly.  On Saturday, The family and I went to the house so that I could paint.  Beringer and Brett went to the grocery store to fill our empty cupboards and Urban and I set to turning the boys' room from sunny yellow to neutral grey.  Urban used the brush while I used the roller.  He did an excellent job considering this was his first time!

The next day was moving day for the four of us, and a team of 8 family and friends plus Brett and I filled the free moving truck (Yep, you read that right, FREE truck, THANKS COUSINS JACKIE AND GARY!!!) within an hour and were off to the new house to unload and then fill ourselves on Famous Dave's BBQ before heading back for one more load.  Things went very smoothly and not a single thing was broken, which is more than I can say for our last pro move!

With the help of my friend, Cayle, I was able to assemble the boys' beds so that they had a comfortable and familiar place to sleep the first night, and, after all the excitement of the day, it's a good thing.  Brett and I were relegated to the floor as our bed would not arrive until Tuesday with Mom's things. We thought that our air mattress would serve us well.  Too bad, it had served the cats well too and was full of little slow leaks.  Every time one of us would roll over it would launch the other off the edge of the mattress or drive an elbow directly into the hardwoods prompting a flick of the switch and the monstrous whir of the mattress inflating again.  It was not a peaceful night in the least.  But we were there.

Although the sleepless night might be seen as the first Doom-Hosta, I'm not counting it.  You'll see why...

I Wanna Be Sedated

"Twenty Twenty Twenty-Four hours to go!  I want to be sedated!  Nothing to do nowhere to go-o.  I want to be sedated.  Can't control my fingers I can't control my brain..."

Seriously.  Theme song for the day.

This morning we closed with a few little moments of drama and a whole lot of excitement.  Now we just have to sit and wait to take possession of our new house sometime tomorrow afternoon.  I seriously wish that I could just take a sedative and fall asleep until around 5 tomorrow.

I am absolutely buzzing with excitement.  It's almost too much.  But, here's to a glass of wine and a long, deep breath.  The fun is about to begin!!

The Paper Trail

I sat cross-legged in my downstairs office a couple of weeks ago knowing it would and should be the first room to pack.  Since I started my full-time job last September and then we were gifted an iPad by my husband's employer last Christmas, we just don't use it much.  I looked at the piles of papers and books and wondered A) where on earth I should start and B) where the heck did all this crap came from.

I knew the answer, of course, this is the one place I can not blame the clutter on the kids, and the few random sheets with my husband's microscopic typewriter scrawl hardly counted as a pittance.  It was me.  It is me.  I make the piles and the stacks towering from one shelf to the next.  You could stand in the room and slowly turn and see books on everything from gardening to child birth, magazines and catalogs that have been dog-eared within an inch of their lives and scraps of fabric mixed with piles of marketing materials.  This is my haven.  This is where my sickness lies.

I think it started in middle school.  I would buy every last magazine - from Teen Beat to Vogue - and tear out ads and spreads that really "moved" me.  I would tape up pictures of my dearest celeb crushes next to reproductions of paintings and a cute swimsuit for summer.  Looking back, it seems I have been making inspiration boards my whole post-Crayola and Barbie Doll life.

But, now, in my near-manic state of purge and cleanse, I was faced with a monumental decision, "Do I keep my precious inspiration?  Or do I suck it up and recycle?"

Enter my 2 new best "virtual" friends: Pinterest and Evernote.

Let me start with Pinterest.  I was turned on to this site by my darling friend, Brad, and I was so excited.  This is an amazing tool for a picture hoarder like me (and even more so, Brad).  Essentially, once you sign up for an account, you move a little "Pin It" button into you Bookmarks Bar at the top of your browser.  Every time you see an image that you like, you click the button and add it to one of your pin boards.  You can have any number of boards, so you can organize things by theme.  It's awesome.  This little tool has saved me lots of ink and paper, as I would usually printout groovy images so I could save them "forever".  Now, I just "pin" them up, and I have them in a single spot for not only my reference, but anyone else who happens upon them.  You can look at mine here.  Each pin you post must be described, and within that description, you can enter @mentions, URLs, #tags and prices.  It's pretty sweet.  Then other people can "like" your pins or even re-pin them to their own boards.

There is just one shortfall that I can see.  You can't pin up entire articles, just the image within.  So, what's a girl to do?  I am nothing without my myriad articles about backyard chicken coops and how to make your own wallpaper!

But, never fear, that's where Evernote steps in.  This one has a lovely little bookmark bar button too.  And you can clip entire articles, bits of text, just URLs... really, whatever you need to save!  But, even more, it has a desktop application that allows you to write yourself notes, lists, reminders, ideas, whatever!  The notebooks are not universally accessible, but you can share them out on Facebook, email or via link.

These two applications combined are exactly what I need to let go of all my half-written in journals and Post-it flagged mags.  I am so happy.  I don't have to try and change who I am and what I need to get through my day - namely, a constant stream of ideas and creative inspiration.  And I can keep everything in one (OK, two) accessible places, so I can also decrease the number of crazy emails and phone calls with which I barrage my poor mom and husband that all start one of 2 ways - either "I NEED AN OPINION" or "I HAD A BRAINSTORM!!"  I'm certain they both cringe at the words.  Although, my mom is a little more used to it, she's been dealing with it for much longer.

...I wonder how long it took her to get all the tape residue off my walls after I moved out.

Regardless, I have parted ways with the bulk of my collection.  I have retyped the important things into Evernote, and those things that were just too irreplaceable have been moved into binders.  A few binders is much better than the towers of paper from before.  So, now, the new office can look more like an office and less like a manic trash heap.  Of course, I am getting my own "Mom Cave", so I guess we'll see how it goes.  Once a piler, always a piler, but at least I am making progress. Right?  Right?

A Brunch in the Making

Father's Day is just an excuse to cook for more than just my kids and my husband.  It gives me the opportunity to pull in my in-laws too!  Since we have 3/4 of our lives in boxes, my mother-in-law graciously offered their house to host, and all I had to do was try out a recipe I've been dying to make for weeks!

When I first saw Anya's recipe for Ricotta Breakfast Casserole, I knew I had to try it with some homemade ricotta!  Judging from all of her delectable successes chronicled on A Toast To Taste, I knew it would be a hit!  And, BONUS!, I got to try my hand at a whole new type of cheese!

So, I started on Friday when I got home by making the Ricotta.  Urban wanted to help, so we pulled ou hair back, brought over his cooking stool and poured our milk into the pot.

I found this beautiful whole milk from, Oberweis Dairy, that comes in heavy glass bottles.  (It was the bottles that sold me, I'll admit) but also the fact that they do home delivery!  (I detest going to the grocery store, so anyone who will deliver staples to my home is a new best friend in my book.)

Anyway, we carefully measured the citric acid and cheese salt, and I put Urban in charge of stirring.  You don't want the milk to scald, and you have to bring it up to 195˚F.  So constant stirring is a must.  I was in charge of reading the thermometer.  He actually stood there and stirred the entire time switching arms periodically because his "muscles hurted."  After the curds and whey came up to temp, Urban abandoned me to paly video games, and I strained the curds and hung the resulting cheese in a butter cloth "satchel" to drain.  About 30 minutes later, we had a lovely lump of ricotta.  Into the fridge it went.

On Saturday, after a morning of packing and running around, I set out to make the casserole.  This is the recipe:

Ricotta, Cinnamon and Honey Breakfast Casserole

1 tsp. butter
1 baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup milk (skim is ok, but whole is better)
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
8 oz. fresh ricotta (you can usually get fresh ricotta from a cheese shop or fancy grocery store, but regular is ok if you can’t find fresh)
1/4 cup honey
extra honey, agave nectar or maple syrup for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a small baking dish (I used a 9-inch oval) with the butter. Place half of the baguette slices in a single layer at the bottom of the dish.

Whisk the milk, eggs, cinnamon and salt together until well-combined and pour half over the bread. Spread the ricotta over the batter-soaked bread and drizzle with the honey.

Place the remaining bread over the top of the ricotta, pressing down a bit to compress, then pour the remaining half of the batter of the top, making sure to coat each piece of bread.

Let sit for 30 minutes (or overnight) covered in the refrigerator. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and crisp and the custard is set.

Serve and drizzle with honey, agave nectar or maple syrup. 

I added just a pinch of ground cloves to the milk, eggs, cinnamon and salt.  I love cloves and cinnamon together, and it actually gave the final product the illusion of a baked-apple taste.  (Which is cool since I love apples, but can't eat them due to an allergy that developed when I was pregnant with Urban.  Silly babies, ruin everything.)  I digress...

I let the casserole sit overnight, as suggested, and brought it, along with some fresh berries, to my in-laws'.  There it was baked for the recommended 25 minutes and Voila! a beautiful Sunday treat to celebrate Father's Day.

It was very lovely, and I highly recommend anyone try this out.  The final product was very similar to a stuffed French toast that my family enjoys, and I can imagine so many yummy variations, it boggles the mind.

Truly the creation of this dish, from the cheese to the casserole, was a wonderful escape from the cardboard jungle and Sharpie smells that now fill my life.

Swatch Out! I need input...

It's opinion time.  I'm collecting fabric swatches right now because I will be recovering 3 chairs for the living room and making coordinating pillows.  Two of the chairs I will be recovering are slipper chairs that we purchased at the Room And Board Outlet Store in Golden Valley, MN about 4 years ago.  - Awesome place to shop.  Bring a truck! -  The chairs are similar to this picture (right) but with fabric.  The shape is classic and functional, and they are really comfortable.  Of course the cats thought so too... furry little balls of destruction...  Love them!  Anyway, I have been wanting to recover them for some time.

The third chair is a vintage chair we will be getting from my mom.  It has an upholstered back and seat and wooden arms and legs.  I remember it in the house when I was little, and my mom has recovered it a few times.  I'm excited to breath some new life into it myself.


So, now I'm trying to figure out my color/pattern scheme.  The living room is part of an open floor plan flowing directly into the dining room and kitchen.  The updated kitchen has a decidedly French flair with black and red accents.  I'm bringing those colors out into the dining area through the use of one of our art pieces, "Cafe Tivoli" and accessories

The living room will have "Spirit of the City," by Ryan Kelly, as its artistic centerpiece.  So, you can see our art tastes skew a bit, shall we say, modern eclectic?  The walls are a warm, buttery yellow and the floors are a beautiful oak hardwood.  Currently there are curtains in the same yellow/gold as the walls.  (Those may change to chocolate brown leather or possibly white, we'll see once the fabrics are decided.)

The other pieces of furniture are firmly in the brown family.  We will have a large buffet that my great grandfather and uncles built out of the barn boards from the Brown family farm.  (PRICELESS!)  As well as my mom's upright piano that she bought from a door to door salesman.  – I'm a sucker for great stories of acquisition. – There will also be a modern, square coffee table that has a wooden frame and woven leather straps that I got at the Slumberland Clearance area in Maplewood, MN.   And, finally, a bonded leather couch from Slumberland called the Brockport.  The pillows on this thing are not my style at all, but they will make excellent forms for the new covers.

Now, after all this setup, we get to the fun part.  Fabric swatches!!  I visited two online resources for the fabrics.  Both allowed me to purchase swatches that will be arriving by mail next week.  I am waffling between a men's suiting kind of feel and a more modern eclectic mix of colors and patterns.  I'd love to hear opinions!!

The first scheme is the suiting scheme.  I am becoming completely obsessed with houndstooth.  I can't explain it, I just am.  I found this awesome lemon and chocolate houndstooth pattern on fabricguru.com.  (And it's on clearance.  I need 5 yards, so don't buy it all.)  I thought this would be lovely on my vintage arm chair, so it's not too overpowering in the room, but still makes a major statement.  Then I would use a classic brown pinstripe on the slipper chairs.  The coordinating pillows and couch would look like this:

I like the old men's club feel with the brown leather.  But does it get too heavy?

The second scheme incorporates a different houndstooth called, Spaceage Chutney by Robert Allen, and a very modern pattern by Richloom design called, Twizzler Crayola.  Both of these I found at onlinefabricstore.net , which is a really beautifully designed and easy to shop online retailer.  I actually saw the "twizzler" fabric on a Target chair, and fell in love with it.  I was so excited when I found it here!  I'm thinking the Twizzler Crayola on the two slipper chairs and the Spaceage Chutney on the vintage arm chair.

I think this becomes a fun blend between men's suiting and modern fun.  I like how the colors work together, but stand out on their own as well.

The third option uses Twizzler Crayola again with another Robert Allen pattern called Time Loop in Canyon.

The reds are a bit darks in this, but I like the organic shapes working together.

The fourth option is Twizzler Caryola and a simple dot pattern called Welsh Springs in Cajun.

I think this has a really cool, professional look.  The colors are perfect and the dots in the Welsh Springs pattern work very well with the twizzler pattern.

So, what are your thoughts?  I'd love to hear.  The projects will begin in a little over a week, and I'm beyond excited to get on with it.  Any helpful nudges in one direction or another, would be greatly appreciated.  I will keep to myself which option I am voting for and which is Brett's favorite.

Happy swatch hunting!

Going for Gold

It all starts with the inspiration.  Back in early March we went with Cami Enke of Hazel, Brown and Blue Photography to have family photos done at The Guthrie.  The location was perfect, and when we got the photos back we were blown away.  There is a room at the top of the building that has all yellow windows. That's where we started out photoshoot.  It produced this shot of my boys looking over the Mississippi River at Minneapolis:

Brett and I took one look at it and said, "That needs to be HUGE and displayed prominently."  It became the catalyst for our bedroom design.  This image will be printed on canvas and hung above our bed.  I decided to pull some of the colors from this shot to build the room.

We will be using Benjamin Moore Paints. The wall color will be Cabin Fever from their Classic Collection.  With white trim and white canvas curtains.

The bedding is from West Elm.  I chose their Bubble Quilt in horseradish paired with Euro shams in their tulip print.

 

We are "inheriting" my parents' bedroom set purchased in 1965 that is finished in a light walnut with black edges.  I can't wait to get it all in and see how it comes together.  We will also accent with some of our other collected artworks in similar color families.  

What do you think?