Monday Matters

1. My mom put on an awesome (very last minute) party on Saturday for my birthday (which is tomorrow)!!!  She made my favorite foods for dinner, and even made TWO cakes!



Birthday Bunt Cakes!!!  Yellow Cake with Chocolate Creamcheese frosting and Coconut Cake!!!  

1. Dinner consisted of Chicken Marsala (it's not really chicken marsala....Because we don't use Marsala wine....So it's really just chicken marinated and cooked in wine with onions and mushrooms - my very best favorite meal as a kid), Spanish Rice, and Salad


2. Cake?  How about TWO cakes!  I asked my mom if I could request yellow cake with chocolate frosting....Her reply?  That Nonni (my grandmother) had requested Coconut Cake....But since it was my birthday, she insisted on making what I wanted!  So I got two cakes!  SO YUMMY!!!


2. We did a TON of work at the house this weekend.  We starting trimming down the front bed which has 15 years worth of untrimmed Juniper Bushes (yes, seriously, the neighbor told us of the non-ambitious previous owner, and how he never trimmed the bushes down).  I'm pretty sure all of the neighbors are excited that they'll soon be able to see around the corner without bushes being in the way.  The only problem?  There is too much yard waste to bring to the landfill ourselves.  I called public works - they won't make a special trip to pick it up....So we're on to devising a Plan B....



It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a totally overgrown area in the corner (with a dead tree, as well)....It's cleanup time!!!

3. In more house news, my Aunt Regina (who is selling her amazing house) is selling us her dining room set.  This set is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my entire life.  Dining room table with two leafs and covers, eight chairs, full hutch (with a light inside!), and a butler station.  It's amazing.  I can't wait until my house is DONE!


4. The new contractor came over to my house on Friday with his plumber.  They're starting to finish everything this week (hopefully).  Everything that the previous plumber did is wrong, and they have to redo almost everything.  Oh lovely.


5. My friend Victoria at Mission-Food made a Mexican Fiesta yesterday and it looks A-MAZING and I can't wait to try the Gronk-Amole.  That's right.  You heard what you heard.  GRONK!!!!!


6. I made Chili for dinner on Friday and it was really good.  However, I'm starting to think that there were just too many beans (it was fine on Friday at dinner....Leftovers for lunch - not so much).  Don't get me wrong, I love anything with beans, but I feel like it's too much beany texture.  I might need to revise.


7. I've read a lot about the Will and Kate photo scandals on Perezhilton lately.  I feel really bad for them.  Talk about an invasion of privacy.  I don't understand how people can think it's okay to stalk people while they're on a PRIVATE estate and then publish pictures of their private rendezvous.  I hope those people get in some serious trouble.


8. So speaking of Perezhilton.....I love reading celebrity gossip and wondering WHAT ON EARTH is going on in their heads when they make decisions, and then have to live with the results.  Maybe it's the fame that makes people think that they're invincible....and able to get away with anything (like stealing jewelry, hit and run accidents, or smoking pot while driving).  At the same time, I feel bad for these people when they are so heavily publicly scrutinized for every single one of their actions (see point 7), even stupid people like Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart....For goodness sake - let them sort out their relationship problems in PRIVATE!!!


9. I made waffles for breakfast yesterday.  Nothing fancy, just plain waffles.  Flour, Baking Powder, Milk, Egg, Oil, and a little vanilla.  Scrumptious.


10. I think I have a problem with stealing napkins and plastic-ware at work...



Need a napkin?  I have a few to spare....And some spoons....

11. Wouldn't seeing Gronk on your way to work make you happy, too???



GRONK!!!

Sighs of Relief!!

The past month and a half has been a major whirlwind.  Between buying the house, and then stripping all the wallpaper (which I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about), and starting the upkeep on the yard (we have been cutting the lawn, but we also had to contact Griggs and Browne to come treat a tree that is overrun with carpenter ants), it's been just crazy.

My beautifully manicured front lawn.  I'm proud to say I mowed it!

The other side of the front lawn.  It's so green!

Some of the rose bushes around the house.  We need to spend some time and weed the gardens, but they're going to look beautiful!!!

On top of everything with the house, we've been trying to rent out the condo.  We did a thorough clean a couple of weeks ago, and we've been really good about keeping the entire place nice and neat.  We showed the condo to quite a few people over the past few weeks, but I'm happy to say that it's rented out!!!  I'm so excited.  It's such a HUGE relief to know that come August 1, we have people renting out the unit, which means we'll have additional income.


So that's that.  We've continued to wash the walls and we've gotten through 3 rooms already.  I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly it is going.  Next, is paint.  I've been trying to pick out paint colors, and I've decided that going to other people's houses and finding the stuff I like in their house is much easier.  We were at Scott's cousin's house yesterday, and we both really liked the dark granite counters with the lighter wood cabinets.  And we liked quite a few of her light fixtures.  So our next step is to go back to her house and take pictures.


Also, we've made a couple of appointments to have people come out and install replacement windows.  


So we're getting there!!!

Such a Slacker!

I feel like such a slacker.  I haven't cooked a decent meal in about 2 weeks (except for some tacos last week).  We have been so busy trying to get the house ready (2 weeks later, we still have a ton of more wallpaper to strip down).  We have been really lucky to have our mom's making us food over the last couple of days, so at least we haven't been starved!

We had a super busy weekend at the house.  We finished taking down the wallpaper in the dining room, and started on the hallway.  We also are about 1/3 finished (almost 1/2 finished) with the living room - we were pleasantly surprised to find that the bottom layer in the living room came down fairly easily.  My mom also took down all the paper in the bathroom, so all we'll have to do is steam off the glue, which should be relatively easy.

We also mowed the lawn on Saturday!!  We got a ride-on mower with the house, and I have been busting to try it out.  The lawn was getting pretty high, so I took a quick break on Saturday and spent an hour in the yard.  To make the experience more pleasurable, I'll have to add a cup holder onto the mower to hold my iced coffee!  haha :o)  

My dad took some pictures - enjoy!! :)