It's here, it's here!

The new sofa is here!

So now this is how the living room looks. Much better than just a large entry, but still loads of work to do!

Some ideas are here.

Apartment Therapy Cure Update:
So last week I was supposed to clean the whole house. I didn't do that, but I plan to do it week by week. Tomorrow starts Week 2: The Kitchen and I was on my hands and knees last night scrubbing the floor. I loathe mopping so only do it half-assed, so it needed a good scrub. At Target last night I purchased a large (machine-washable) rug, the same as the one by the door in the above picture, so hopefully that will help keep the floor clean. The cats' food and water now have a carpet-sample as their placemat (maybe they'll get a proper one for xmas?) and I cleaned out their food bowl as well. Ew.
I haven't been buying fresh flowers, but clipping them from the yard. There's a soft pink rose in the front living room and a zinnia on the windowsill in the kitchen.
This week I'm to try a new recipe so I bought a rice cooker (it also is a steamer) at Target and am going to attempt a brown rice california roll this afternoon. Will take pictures later.

Yesterday I got the most fun thing in the mail- a pack of 3 british home magazines from my aunt! Trent kept laughing at me because i was *so* excited! Such a treat!! Thanks, Aunt Teresa!


I'd love to hear from you- leave a comment! : )

House Things

It's coming! The fabulous sofa from Macys will arrive this coming Saturday! We are so excited.

I've also signed up for the Fall Cure. Hoping to finish some projects, make a few adjustments and changes, and not necessarily redecorate. It starts on Monday.

Last weekend my Grandma from MN was in town visiting (hi Grandma!) and it was really nice seeing her. We had birthday burgers in the backyard (luckily the weather cooperated) and met for pizza before the end of her visit. Yesterday my dad and stepmom were up for the record convention and we all (brother, his girlfriend, and her parents) met for dinner, then had a belated-birthday cake and drinks over here.

The house is decorated for halloween, sans the foam headstones for the front yard and the purple lights for the crepe myrtle. Maybe I'll get to those today...

Kitchen, 'bout Done

Counters are super cleaned, floor swept and mopped, no old food in the fridge, tupperware drawer is somewhat organized, and things are finding homes. I 3M-stickied the drawer organizers in place so they don't slide around anymore, and am trying to move all the entertaining things to the sideboard. The pantry still holds lots tho; perhaps I should look into paring down my collection. All the hostess sets are nicely stacked in the sideboard (Mom, think I might still need a few purple-floral cups- any idea?) and will probably pull them out for the next NLP.So now Kitchen Week is over, and I'm ready to focus on the entry a bit, tho my welcome station is already set up : ) Woohoo- I'm ahead!

Also cleaned the bathroom and moved the litterbox from one cabinet in the bathroom to another. I'm so glad I did b/c the amount of litter scattered is oh so reduced. Am also experimenting with some pebble tiles as a rug in there. Have seen them in magazines before, but wasn't willing actually purchase one.

Ack! Cure Catch Up!

Week 2 of The Cure is ending this week (it starts w/ week zero) and I'm soooo behind. So, to get myself up to speed, here I go!

Week 0
Start a Style Tray. Started one on flickr
Determine my decorating style. Using my results from sproost.com, my styles are Modern Elegance and Hollywood Couture. (T's are the same, plus Arts & Crafts.)
Determine the flow of my home. Well, I printed out a floorplan, drew in furniture, and started my flow lines. Over all, it's not too bad. Will get better when we get more furniture, but part of the reason we loved this house is its good "party flow."

Week 1
Create my vision for the home.

• Front Living Room: A hollywood regency like sitting room, faux fireplace, small flatscreen dvd...
• Dining Area: place to eat for 2, with space for friends to cram in if needed. Ideally, a corner banquet. Cool lamp overhanging...
• Dining Hall: entertaining bar area...
• Back Living Room: modern elegant room, simple clean lines, comfy, cool, great tv room...
• Sitting Room: yes it serves as my dressing room, but i want all my things tucked away so T feels comfy reading in there with the cats (which they've adopted as their hangout room)...
• Bedroom: clean, sparse, but comfy...
• Backyard: great for entertaining. Lots of seating areas, paving stones or deck, good gardens (vegetable, herb, floral). Party lights. Solar garden lights. Pond or fountain. Bird bath for cats to watch...

Make a complete list of repairs and come up with solutions. Will do this weekend.
Vacuum and mop floors. Will do this weekend.
Take walking tour of apt and note all the problems. Will do this weekend.
Remove 1 item from apartment and put it outside, something we don't use but is still worth something so it will go to a new home. Haven't done this yet.
Buy fresh flowers, a gift for your home. Done, but they're outside. Bought pink jasmine and a hydrangea.
Sit for 10 minutes in a part of your home that you never sit in. There isn't really a spot I don't sit in, except the front living room, cos there's nothing there but boxes so far.
Look into earth friendly cleaning products. Already do.

Week 2 - Kitchen
Fix 1 thing myself. The front doorknob was jiggly and I fixed that. It counts. ; )
clean kitchen from top to bottom and throw away old food. Lucky that it's already clean! I'll mop and find homes for a few more things, then it will be clean. I threw out some fish sauce that expired 12/07. Ew.
Buy a water filter & use it. Not a priority at the moment.
Run hands over every wall in apt; clean space for an outbox, clear one surface and use the outbox. This weekend.
Find a new recipe and cook; choose the date for your housewarming. Maybe mid-May.

Yay! Almost caught up now. : )

Baking Day

I scheduled a "personal day" off from work to chill out and get some baking done. I planned on making a bunch of dough to shape/cut and freeze until the time came when I needed freshly baked cookies, but when I went through my birthday cookbook (thank you, Derrick!) I picked new ones that probably wouldn't freeze well: Almond Macaron Sandwiches and Raspberry Jam Sandwich Cookies. I also prepped (dough is piped and frozen) Aunt Martha's gougeres and roasted some sweet potatoes for Kitchn Cure's Week 4 assignment.

My Macarons

More photos

English Country Dance & More Kitchen Curing

Just got back from the English Country Dance. We learned and danced 3 or 4 songs. It was quite fun! Puzzling because of the number of steps but I really enjoyed it. And while learning some of the steps i kept thinking "Oh, this is like what Elinor was doing" or "Oh, I saw this step in P&P." Huge nerd...

Worked on the Kitchen for a bit before heading out to dance. Below is a before and after of one of my stemware cabinets. Not perfect, but way tidier than before!

 

Kitchen Cure, Weekend One, etc.

Today's been a greatly productive day- taxes and other financial things, and that's all I put on my to do list, to ensure that I did them. So I am now able to sit back and putter (yes, I know you can't sit back while puttering). The patio is spring cleaned for this beautiful day (cocktails out there later perhaps? Wish I had some gin!) and I've "cured" the fridge so far. See?

Kitchen Cure, Day One

In effort to get my kitchen into shape, I've joined Apartment Therapy's Kitchen Cure. They're one Week 3, I'm on Week 1/Day 1. That's what happens when you sign up late, and then get sick. Ugh. But as I'm feeling about 65-70% better, I'm starting (and taking it slow).  Just uploaded my "before" pictures to the group, including this one. 

Week 1's assignment is to de-clutter food. I purged quite a bit last month so this should be a little easier than it would have been, but I still dread what's left. I hope to have this bit done by Sunday evening, so that Monday I can begin Week 2.