Here's a cute pic of him drying out with a bone reward. He is deathly afraid of the blow dryer so he just has to air it out for several hours. The life of a dog!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Clean Pup
We took Rocco to the dog park on Saturday to deal with some of his crazy 8 month old puppy energy. It was super muddy and since he loves rolling and laying, he came home covered in mud. We had to carry him in straight to the shower. We used our glassed in shower this time so he couldn't escape.
Here's a cute pic of him drying out with a bone reward. He is deathly afraid of the blow dryer so he just has to air it out for several hours. The life of a dog!
Here's a cute pic of him drying out with a bone reward. He is deathly afraid of the blow dryer so he just has to air it out for several hours. The life of a dog!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Spout It Out
This post is about faucets. :-) I got a little creative with that title.
Much like many home projects, our kitchen is a work in progress. When we moved in, we transformed our totally 90s cabinets into a brighter and more modern look with paint and new hardware. We replaced the floors too - from a beat-up light engineered wood to a medium brown real wood. These changes alone made a huge difference.
Phase 2 of the kitchen involves a new sink and faucet. Our shallow, grody white sink is out. As is its best pal - a leaky, dirty, cracked faucet. Thanks to my sister's wonderful BF, we have a new, shiny, deep stainless steel sink to install! We are trying to decide on a faucet. We want something that
Phase 3 will be new appliances (praise stainless steel!), paint, under cabinet lighting and a tiled backsplash which we'll attempt to DIY!
Much like many home projects, our kitchen is a work in progress. When we moved in, we transformed our totally 90s cabinets into a brighter and more modern look with paint and new hardware. We replaced the floors too - from a beat-up light engineered wood to a medium brown real wood. These changes alone made a huge difference.
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| Kitchen before. Hello oak wood. |
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| Sorry for the dark pics - these are from my iphone! |
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| Ahh so much better. Even with the old appliances. |
- Fits our modern taste
- Is sleek with clean lines
- Will last - we are looking at quality brands since the sink gets the most use out of anything in your entire kitchen
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| Kohler Simplice |
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| Delta Trinsic |
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| Moen Reflex |
Phase 3 will be new appliances (praise stainless steel!), paint, under cabinet lighting and a tiled backsplash which we'll attempt to DIY!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Who's The Boss?
Things get real tense in our house when we have to hang stuff. Nothing makes us more frustrated than this seemingly simple household task. Something about the measuring tape and drill gets us stressed and we always end up snapping at each other. I think it's because we want the project to turn out perfectly and not have to spackle and paint giant holes in the wall.
Well, we took on our most daunting hanging task to date on Sunday afternoon - six vertical hanging wine racks from Crate & Barrel. And we lived to tell the tale!! I credit this miraculous fact to two things: our love of wine and THE BOSS.
THE BOSS (see below) is a giant, contractor grade level that my dad was smart enough to make me take home for this project. I tried to decline the boss not one but twice...but Dad insisted so I took THE BOSS mostly to get home. Oh but THE BOSS was wonderful. It allowed us to mark straight lines all the way up the wall and all the way across. So thankful for Dad's collection of every tool imaginable 5 minutes away.
We are so proud of ourselves! Every time we got one rack up and the level showed we did it right, we jumped up and down and high fived! Yes, hanging things sucks this much at our house. Haha.
Now on to the beauty shots...the wine racks are on an empty wall in our dining room. We couldn't put a piece of furniture here because the room is a little bit narrow to fit a table, hutch and a sideboard or something similar on this wall. We think it turned out great and matches our style.
I painted the art piece on the wall too! After some serious Pinterest searching, this blog inspired me and I attempted the project. It feels cool to have something hanging that I painted - feels a little more unique than my usual HomeGoods art prints.
Now we just need to fill up those racks with some vino! Who wants to go to Napa? ;-)
Well, we took on our most daunting hanging task to date on Sunday afternoon - six vertical hanging wine racks from Crate & Barrel. And we lived to tell the tale!! I credit this miraculous fact to two things: our love of wine and THE BOSS.
THE BOSS (see below) is a giant, contractor grade level that my dad was smart enough to make me take home for this project. I tried to decline the boss not one but twice...but Dad insisted so I took THE BOSS mostly to get home. Oh but THE BOSS was wonderful. It allowed us to mark straight lines all the way up the wall and all the way across. So thankful for Dad's collection of every tool imaginable 5 minutes away.
We are so proud of ourselves! Every time we got one rack up and the level showed we did it right, we jumped up and down and high fived! Yes, hanging things sucks this much at our house. Haha.
Now on to the beauty shots...the wine racks are on an empty wall in our dining room. We couldn't put a piece of furniture here because the room is a little bit narrow to fit a table, hutch and a sideboard or something similar on this wall. We think it turned out great and matches our style.
I painted the art piece on the wall too! After some serious Pinterest searching, this blog inspired me and I attempted the project. It feels cool to have something hanging that I painted - feels a little more unique than my usual HomeGoods art prints.
Now we just need to fill up those racks with some vino! Who wants to go to Napa? ;-)
Monday, January 7, 2013
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! We had a fantastic time celebrating at home with friends and family. It was such a nice change from the bars and the impossible task of catching a cab home in the city.
We decided to do wine and game night and it was a blast. I would like to introduce you all to one of the most hilarious and ridiculous adult party games I've ever played (introduced to us via friends L & N.)
This is an adult version of Apples to Apples for people with wicked senses of humor. Highly recommend accompanying this game with alcohol. You will get to know new friends pretty quickly and you'll love how much you know your existing friends' twisted senses of humor! It's currently sold out online (unless you want to pay $70 for it) but you can print off the cards and make your own set here.
Happy 2013 to you and good luck remembering to write this in dates. It typically takes me three months of the previous year before I actually get in this habit, ha!
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We decided to do wine and game night and it was a blast. I would like to introduce you all to one of the most hilarious and ridiculous adult party games I've ever played (introduced to us via friends L & N.)
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| Cards Against Humanity |
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| So wrong but so right. |
Monday, December 17, 2012
The Value of Vacation
By now, you might be sick of me talking about the vacation we took. Sorry about that. Before I bring that topic to a close, I wanted to share some thoughts about the true value of a vacation.
Plane tickets. Hotel rooms. Dining out. New swimsuit. Attraction tickets. These are all the hard costs of a vacation that can be found, often, on sale. Travel companies, hotels and airlines slash prices and draw us in with limited time deals and pictures of sun and sand in the middle of December. No matter if your vacation costs $500 or $5,000, there is an inherent value to vacation that cannot be measured in dollars.
It's the priceless experience of seeing something amazing for the first time, like a sunset over the Indian Ocean. It's sharing a moment in a place that you could previously only imagine, like stargazing in the Middle Eastern desert. It's holding hands with your husband as you walk through the streets of London knowing the rest of the world is so far away from you in that moment.
To me, vacation is essential for so many reasons. The relaxation and the escape it brings are well worth the money. But on our latest trip, I felt so connected to Scott in a way that I haven't in previous vacations. I think it was the sense of adventure; the two of us together in foreign lands and places. I love all the memories I have with him and I'm thankful we were able to add a few more unforgettable moments.
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Plane tickets. Hotel rooms. Dining out. New swimsuit. Attraction tickets. These are all the hard costs of a vacation that can be found, often, on sale. Travel companies, hotels and airlines slash prices and draw us in with limited time deals and pictures of sun and sand in the middle of December. No matter if your vacation costs $500 or $5,000, there is an inherent value to vacation that cannot be measured in dollars.
It's the priceless experience of seeing something amazing for the first time, like a sunset over the Indian Ocean. It's sharing a moment in a place that you could previously only imagine, like stargazing in the Middle Eastern desert. It's holding hands with your husband as you walk through the streets of London knowing the rest of the world is so far away from you in that moment.
To me, vacation is essential for so many reasons. The relaxation and the escape it brings are well worth the money. But on our latest trip, I felt so connected to Scott in a way that I haven't in previous vacations. I think it was the sense of adventure; the two of us together in foreign lands and places. I love all the memories I have with him and I'm thankful we were able to add a few more unforgettable moments.
.JPG)
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Worth the Journey - The Magical Maldives
This one will be short and sweet because my phone is almost dead and we will be boarding soon. We're on our way to London. I think our feet were confused when we put socks and shoes on for the first time in a while.
The Maldives, particularly the island our resort was on called Haddahha, is an incredible place. I will let some iPhone pics show you the water and the villas but even our good camera won't do it justice. Each morning our personal host asked us what we wanted to do that day like a tour, boat trip, etc. We wanted to scream "Ummm have you seen the pool? Have you seen our room?! That is what we'll be doing today, thank you very much!" So we are leaving relaxed and a little sunburned. :-)
Lots more to share when I have our pictures downloaded but here are a few highlights:
- hearing "have you heard of a Portuguese Man of War jellyfish?" on our first day...and then me getting stung by a stray tentacle not even attached to the damn thing.
- not wearing shoes to dinner because it is in a sand restaurant on the beach.
- Scott sucking down a "flaming Lamborghini" with a Badger fan who now lives in Australia. This was a flaming drink that melted two straws!
- Some of the best people watching EVER!
- Champagne cocktail hour with traditional drummers and a BBQ dinner under the stars.
- Sunset cocktails from our water villa with a perfect view of the horizon!
Xo!
D & S
The Maldives, particularly the island our resort was on called Haddahha, is an incredible place. I will let some iPhone pics show you the water and the villas but even our good camera won't do it justice. Each morning our personal host asked us what we wanted to do that day like a tour, boat trip, etc. We wanted to scream "Ummm have you seen the pool? Have you seen our room?! That is what we'll be doing today, thank you very much!" So we are leaving relaxed and a little sunburned. :-)
Lots more to share when I have our pictures downloaded but here are a few highlights:
- hearing "have you heard of a Portuguese Man of War jellyfish?" on our first day...and then me getting stung by a stray tentacle not even attached to the damn thing.
- not wearing shoes to dinner because it is in a sand restaurant on the beach.
- Scott sucking down a "flaming Lamborghini" with a Badger fan who now lives in Australia. This was a flaming drink that melted two straws!
- Some of the best people watching EVER!
- Champagne cocktail hour with traditional drummers and a BBQ dinner under the stars.
- Sunset cocktails from our water villa with a perfect view of the horizon!
Xo!
D & S
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Dubai bye!
I am trying the Blogger mobile app for the first time so hopefully this post looks okay.
We are at the Dubai airport (which is AMAZING by the way) waiting to head to the Maldives for the second leg of our trip. Dubai is a very cool city - a cross between Vegas and Miami with a whole load of outrageous architecture thrown in. Everything here is huge and things are very spread out. We spent the first day taking in the views from the Burj Kalifa which is the tallest building in the world and checking out tourist hotspots like the Dubai Mall and fountain as well as some souks (shopping areas). Emiratis love to shop and it is very clear. They even sold duty free items on our flights via a little cart!
Day two was "old Dubai". We went to the old gold souk which sort of reminded me of Jewelry Row on Wabash except outside and with lots of shop owners trying to sell you gold. Then we walked around the creek and saw all the importers doing their thing. Then it was desert safari time. In random order, our safari experience:
-rode a camel
-watched a belly dancer
-got Indian henna on my foot
-smoked hookah
-Scott held a falcon
-watched a 10 minute falconry show
-had a middle eastern feast
-went "dune bashing"
-star gazed in the desert
It was touristy but in the best way. It was such a well done tour. I can't say we've ever experiences such a nice tour. Pictures and stories to come!
Yesterday we hit up a private beach club and laid out. We had a great lunch there. It was on The Palm Jumeriah which is the 8th Wonder of the World. It's this series of giant man made islands with hotels, apartments and luxury homes on it. Atlantis is at the very end of The Palm. As we were laying out, a huge boat came up and started shooting sand at one of the "fronds" of the palm where they are building some other amazing building. It is just crazy!!
Now we are off to our villa in the Indian Ocean. We tried to buy some duty free booze to ease the pain of what will surely be an expensive menu but they don't allow it! These islanders are smart and know the way to our wallet... :-)
That's all for now!
We are at the Dubai airport (which is AMAZING by the way) waiting to head to the Maldives for the second leg of our trip. Dubai is a very cool city - a cross between Vegas and Miami with a whole load of outrageous architecture thrown in. Everything here is huge and things are very spread out. We spent the first day taking in the views from the Burj Kalifa which is the tallest building in the world and checking out tourist hotspots like the Dubai Mall and fountain as well as some souks (shopping areas). Emiratis love to shop and it is very clear. They even sold duty free items on our flights via a little cart!
Day two was "old Dubai". We went to the old gold souk which sort of reminded me of Jewelry Row on Wabash except outside and with lots of shop owners trying to sell you gold. Then we walked around the creek and saw all the importers doing their thing. Then it was desert safari time. In random order, our safari experience:
-rode a camel
-watched a belly dancer
-got Indian henna on my foot
-smoked hookah
-Scott held a falcon
-watched a 10 minute falconry show
-had a middle eastern feast
-went "dune bashing"
-star gazed in the desert
It was touristy but in the best way. It was such a well done tour. I can't say we've ever experiences such a nice tour. Pictures and stories to come!
Yesterday we hit up a private beach club and laid out. We had a great lunch there. It was on The Palm Jumeriah which is the 8th Wonder of the World. It's this series of giant man made islands with hotels, apartments and luxury homes on it. Atlantis is at the very end of The Palm. As we were laying out, a huge boat came up and started shooting sand at one of the "fronds" of the palm where they are building some other amazing building. It is just crazy!!
Now we are off to our villa in the Indian Ocean. We tried to buy some duty free booze to ease the pain of what will surely be an expensive menu but they don't allow it! These islanders are smart and know the way to our wallet... :-)
That's all for now!
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