Moar Garden

A little photo summary of harvests from the last two weeks or so...

A giant cucumber, some serious basil, &
our first heirloom tomato! 

Broccoli, strawberries, toscano kale, close
to 40 padron peppers, and that heirloom
tomato!

An assortment of tomatoes, a couple padrons,
another bunch of basil, a summer squash,
and another giant cucumber.

A little rainbow chard, tomatoes, padrons,
and some mediocre strawberries
(might be inedible due to worms and/or mold)
(oops)

A Change of Plans

I'm a planner. I like to have my lists categorized, my calendar scheduled, and my life in order. So even though I knew this month would be insanely jam-packed, and the next two weeks especially nuts, I wasn't too worried...because I had a plan.

As it turns out, below the surface anxiety had been bubbling, and when I sat down with my calendar to schedule "stay home and clean up" evenings in anticipation of a party we're hosting on the 31st, I just about exploded. Something about the limited free evenings, the crushing amount of stuff in our living room and dirty dishes in the sink, and a ball I dropped at work, and I just couldn't handle it. Even getting towels out of the dryer seemed like an insurmountable task.

A brief panic attack and calming reassurance from a patient husband later, and I was feeling a little more prepared for the next two weeks. And then, we found out the backpacking trip scheduled for this weekend was canceled. I was pretty disappointed (though Will will challenge me on that); I was looking forward to 48 hours of unplugged nature goodness, and I am trying to improve my backpacking skillz. But there was a part of me that I can't deny was relieved to have a weekend at home, without plans.

This weekend, I sorted and gardened and organized and laundered, and even squeezed in some time with friends, and a pedicure too! We still have a ways to go before the house is party-ready, but I notice major improvements. Plus, we had time to plan meals and shop for ingredients for next week's camping trip, so bonus for us. While it's true that it's not hard for me to look on the sunny side of a situation, I think the feeling was more relief than pure optimism. Much as I don't like to admit it, this was a weekend I needed. A change of plans is sometimes a good thing.

Whole wheat rotini in a butter, white wine, &
garlic sauce. With vegetables from our garden
& parmesan cheese crisps.
Tasted better than it looks in this picture.
Best enjoyed with friends.

Weekend Roundup

In addition to the sweet guest room and hallway action, this weekend was a fun little whirlwind of a visit. I thought I'd post a little photo wrap up of Sunday, because it was productive like crazy.

Hiking at the Redwood Regional Forest, which turns out
to be a 10-15 minute drive from our house.
How have we lived here so long without knowing this?

My mom taught me a new way to cut a
watermelon into cubes.
I accidentally bought a yellow watermelon.
But this is a much better way to cut it than my
method (cut like you're going to eat slices,
and then trim away the rind awkwardly).

We picked all of this from our garden
(plus a cucumber and 4 tomatoes).
Does anyone know what kind of beans those
stripey ones are? We thought we were growing
green beans. 

I reduced 4c of chicken stock down to a
seriously condensed, thick base.
And that's our cucumber in the background.

Oh, and my dad brought me this drum.
This is the bass drum from the set he bought
when he was 13 (his first with his own money).
(my dad was a professional drummer)
He showed me this "champagne glitter" drum
when I was a kid, and I decided it would be
mine someday. He brought it up this weekend,
and it'sjust as gorgeous as I remembered.
We're going to get a piece of glass and use it
as a coffee table in the entry-living-room we
have yet to finish.
So rad.

Photo roundup over :)

Guest Room!

Last time we checked in on the guest room, the bed had arrived. At the beginning of July, I set a goal to finish the it within the month. On July 20, we had our first guest. Last week, our friends Laura and JD spent the night before leaving on their final roadtrip before moving out of the country. Two guests in one month! I guess in some sense, that means the guest room is finished. But no, of course, it wasn't finished. Our guests are patient people who didn't mind guest-ing amongst boxes and piles of picture frames. And bless them for it.

And this weekend, my parents came to town. My parents are also patient people who don't mind a little mess. Or rather, they do, but they love us enough to not only stay here regardless, but also to dive into a little home improvement project on their vacation. The guest room still has a ways to go, but it's much more functional now, and I have to say it's looking pretty good.

An inviting space, no?
The view from the doorway.

Standing next to bed, right side; this is the "desk" area.
Also known as "We went to college, and we love the Pens".

Next to bed, left side; the junk pile
(mostly organized on a shelf)
But look! Artwork!

My dad is a baller when it comes to hanging pictures. He has a good sense of what looks good where and is super fast at hanging. I had ideas, but he often had better ones. And we even hung stuff in the hallway, which had completely fallen off my radar as a place where one can hang one's artwork. Duh.

Our hallway has art!
Will posed for the camera. Totally.
I know, the lighting is awful.

The art on the wall really makes the guest room feels homey, and the art on the hallway walls get me excited for the possibilities. Little by little, we've been adding things to the walls of the house -- I think that's one of the things that really makes a place feel settled (aside from, erm, actually unpacking all of your boxes). We've been here two years now, and we have much left to do, but it's starting to feel much more like *us* and not just like a place we're renting. 

Did you get any big projects done this weekend? Do you have art on your walls? Does your partner photobomb your pictures? Let's chat.

Free Paint? Count me in!

I have a little painting project I've been meaning to take care of for almost two years. It's embarrassing. 

When we moved in, I hired a TaskRabbit to assemble some IKEA furniture, including a lovely Hemnes 3-drawer TV stand. He did a great job...almost. He screwed two of the vertical "walls" in backwards, which means the "backside" (unpainted, with serial numbers or whatever on them) has been facing the front ever since. 'Cause you know I'm not taking that thing apart and reassembling it. Hell to the no. IKEA furniture was not built for disassembly and reassembly.

Cabinet knobs, before and after.
Yes, these were taken on my iPhone.
Don't judge the photo quality (or the mess).

Anyway, a few months ago, I finally got around to replacing the boring knobs with pretty glass ones, and I've been meaning to paint the boards to match, but haven't gotten around to buying the paint. Looks like I have a good excuse now, since ACE Hardware is giving away free quarts of paint this Saturday (August 3) and next (August 10).

I'm going to grab an extra knob (shhh I accidentally bought 6 instead of 3), get my color-match (ish - don't want to be too matchy matchy) on, grab some sandpaper, and get myself a freshly painted TV stand.

Maybe even this weekend. We'll see. Oh, the thrills!

Full press release below the jump.