All In A Day's Work

Had my first experience of hives. Reconnected with an old friend. Got cussed out in a parking lot. Surprised my husband. Killed a bird. Started and finished a book. Switched to another purse. Cleaned out the fridge. Ignored some phone calls. Paid taxes. Recycled more. Stained a skirt.

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

our Junior year in high school for one of our "photo shoots"

sitting at the lunch table in 7th grade

in Spanish class, Junior year, singing "La Cucaracha"

Play Day

We took a break from the kitchen today and went to Perdernales Falls State Park for some hiking and swimming. As always, it's a joy to be with my two boys in the beautiful outdoors.

Any Seinfeld Fans Out There?

You know that episode where Kramer installs a garbage disposal in his shower? He decides to kill two birds with one stone by making a salad while he's bathing himself. It's gross, I know. But that's what I was thinking about tonight when I was washing dishes from dinner. As I watched bits of carrot and tomato go down the bathtub drain (I tried to scrape as much as I could into the trash first), my mind wandered to that episode and it made my stomach sick. Luckily, we don't have company right now, so the guest bathroom is strictly a dish room. Should that be comforting?

A Gift From Marls

Look what Marlow brought me this evening--a gift from the backyard! He's caught several squirrels and only one bird so far, but to my knowledge never killed one yet. You could tell he was so happy to bring it to us, so we couldn't squash his victory. Though it wasn't great to have it in the house, we were proud of him and praised him for it. English Springer Spaniels are bred for hunting and the retrieval of birds, so he was just doing what comes natural to him. :)

Fancy Finds

1. New blogs that have intrigued me: This is a new one I found today, nourishing my taste for delicious design. And this one for simple treasures. Enjoy!

2. I'm really having to practice will power when it comes to eating marcona almonds. They are so good! I bought some the other day at the market and ration myself a handful daily. Tasty little suckers.

3. No to Martha Stewart, but yes to Martha Stewart crafty supplies, entertaining ideas, home decor, and especially tableware. Love it.

I Hate the Dentist

I consider myself to be a rather tolerant person. But not at the dentist's office. I've had some bad experiences sitting in the chair, if you know what I mean. At least once a week, I have some kind of dream/nightmare that involves damage to my teeth. I've definitely had my fare share of surgeries, extractions, root canals, replacements, and have endured many not-so-fun moments. Today was another one of those. I was going just for my bi-monthly cleaning, as far as I knew. But then again, from my experiences, most places offering healthcare don't usually tend to inform the patient what will actually take place.

1. I ended up having x-rays and a gum examination done. Fine, whatever. The fact is, just tell me what to expect!
2. My insurance (and most, for that matter) only pays for a dental cleaning once every six months. We went in February, and since we were scheduled again in JUNE, I figured that we'd receive our second cleanings of the year...although only 4 months apart, how was I supposed to know differently. So, since I wasted a second visit, I rescheduled my real cleaning in the month of October.
3. I waited an hour. Blame it on having to go to a dental corporation (versus a private practice, what I was used to growing up) or what have you. Regardless of the reason, that's just too long to wait. I struggle with this because I don't want to be the American that fights for my rights...however, we are all on a schedule and I typically expect to wait less than 30 minutes--that's from my experience thus far at Dr. Treat You Like Crap that I go to.
4. My dental hygienist was completely rude. And although I tried to ignore the inappropriate conversation that was occurring between her and my DENTIST, it was a little difficult since I had poking metal objects in my mouth.

La Cocina

We have officially started on our kitchen remodel project and it feels so good! Once you start, you can't go back. :) Chris is at it again, mastering the last room of our home with his construction skills. I came home from work today and everything has been sanded several times. All cabinets and doors. The kitchen is taped off and we have set up a makeshift kitchen in our living room. The mantel is for pots and pans, our fridge has it's temporary location next to the TV, bathtub has a dish drainer now for washing dishes, the window sill is for Ziplocks, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap, and my cutting board is resting on top of Chris's humongo speakers that we've still never sold. It's working and I'm enjoying it actually. We've got the grill and microwave to aid in satisfying our hunger. And I was thrilled to remember that I have a Crock Pot. I think today I'll use my 20% off coupon to buy an electric skillet at BB&B. I've been wanting one for awhile and this is definitely a great opportunity to use it. I'm pretending that this is one of my cooking challenges, like on Top Chef, to rise above the inconveniences of no stove and no oven and yet still produce wonderful meals! Or, I could use this next month as a break and take some time off from cooking at home...but that's nonsense. :) Chris, Marlow, and I are going to Lowe's in a few minutes to purchase a bunch of stuff on "the list." The fun stuff on that list include buying a new window (yay!!! our current one is so ugly and old), ordering the counter top (hip, hip, hooray!), and buying hardware (how much more fun can it get??). I'm having second thoughts about my paint choice for the walls, but will wait to make a final decision once the counters and tile backsplash are in. I need to paint a swatch and visualize it. So, that's what's going on here today.

Take a Seat

This is a picture of a chair that I recovered. I am so proud of it since this is my first attempt of upholstery. I bought the chair at Goodwill for $20 several months ago. It was decrepit, ugly, and had torn fabric and scratched wood. I saw great potential in it, however, and decided to give it another life. When I ripped out the previous upholstery, I discovered that the "padding" was actually aged straw and definitely not comfortable. I was surprised not to find a little pack of rodents living inside. So, after cleaning and sanding it, putting on several coats of stain and polyurethane, affixing new, foam padding, and nailing down fresh fabric, I've got a new piece of furniture for the house. Voila!

Chez Nous

Trying on our wedding attire. My self-check every year is to make sure I can still fit in my dress. :) Chris is wearing his suit he got in Thailand.


We ate a wonderfully delicious pre-fixed meal last night at one of Austin's best kept secrets--Chez Nous. It's such a quaint, little building that's not overly decorated in the French country theme. The service was great and the food even better. Here's what we consumed:

Appetizer: Escargot en Bourgogne with a celebratory beverage of Kir Royale

1st Course: (me) Duck Liver Paté with chornichons and olives
(CB) Potato-Leek Soup

2nd Course: (me) Roasted Pork Loin with Sauteéd Apples and Caramelized Onions
(CB) Grilled Salmon with Vanilla Buerre Blanc and Crab Meat

3rd Course: (me) Créme Caramel
(CB) Mousse au Chocolat

We shared a bottle of a Viogner called Reméage.

Three Years Down

Happy Anniversary, Chris. I love you!

One of my favorite pictures of us on our wedding day.

Reading his vows before the ceremony. We wrote our own and renew them every anniversary.

It still fits!

Besties.

These Struck My Funny Bone

Wii Fit is comical to me. It "combines fun and fitness in one product. It can change how you exercise, how you balance, and even how you move." It's aim is to "get you off the couch and into action." You can check your BMI, your age according to how physically fit you are, and keep tabs on your daily progress of exercise using Wii Fit. Come on, people. Turn off the TV and move more.

Today as I was flipping through the channels, I saw a funny infomercial on QVC. It was advertising some sort of tan towel. Rub it on and you get that "natural sun-kissed look for the summer." Um, I don't think so. Orange is all I saw. But the funny part was that the model had half of her entire body "tan," or orange and the other half was natural and fair-skinned. One arm, one leg, half of her neck. It was hilarious.

Listening to the radio, I heard an advertisement for a car dealership in San Marcos. The guy's name was Jim Stanky.