April Goals: Revisited

April flew by and I can say before even looking at these goals that I'm pretty sure I didn't succeed. I should have factored in the fact that Mr. B and I were moving out of our house for 7 days to babysit when making these goals. Not because I would have accomplished more if we hadn't, but because having an excuse makes me feel better.

1. Workout 5 days a week. No time limit, just get it done.

2. Update Master Bedroom bedding for Spring. I'll post pictures of my one success soon.

3. Re-do Guest bed.

4. Make the Dirndl Skirt from What I Wore. Did I miss something? I'm pretty sure she never finished this tutorial. Hmmm. Maybe I can use this as an excuse. Nevermind that I never started on this project...

5. Read two books.


6. Run a 5K to prep for the Bolder Boulder. Yeah, pretty sure the Bolder Boulder is not gonna happen. Unless you count me drinking a beer waiting for my father-in-law at the finish line as participating.

7. Take a photography class. I did make contact with our wedding photographer about this, but we haven't scheduled it. Looks like I'm going to have to pursue other options.

8. Plan dinner menus each week.

9. Throw a kick-ass Easter brunch for way too many people.

10. Start working on the nursery!!! Is it so sad that when I was trying to think of 10 goals on April 1st, I couldn't for the life of me come up with a 10th, so I made one up and tricked the blogosphere? The answer is yes, it's very sad.

How did you do in April?

New York, New York

Mr. B and I leave for 5 days in New York City in two weeks. I've never been into the city (if you don't count getting lost on a trip to IKEA with my cousin 8 years ago), and Mr. B hasn't been since he was much younger. His uncle an aunt gave us the trip - airfare and hotel - for our wedding gift last summer, and with that taken care of we're ready to splurge in the big city.

We've got our list of things to do - tickets to Avenue Q, a promise from Mr. B that he'll be patient and wait in huge lines for Serendipity ice cream sundaes with me, a hop on hop off bus tour the first day, lots of ideas for places to eat, and a quick visit with Mr. B's high school buddies who moved to NYC.

But, I'm most excited for one thing.
It's a very sad state of affairs that just as this temperate climated, beautifully mountainous state lacks an IKEA, Colorado is H&Mless. And with that fact, I'm sorry to say, Denver will never be a top tier city. I'm trying to figure out how to convince Mr. B to move to a better state for shopping if I can go to New York with nothing packed just so I have a whole suitcase to bring home H&M goodies.

Oh, I just can't wait. Any other tips for my first NYC visit?

**And I'm continuing to ponder yesterday's hypothetical - as in not in real life (hypothetically) - ethical dilemma. So don't worry Anonymous, while it's totally possible that I am, indeed, not cool and mean, in this case I'm just pondering potential scenarios and asking the world about them. Because, you know, it's hypothetical.

Hypothetical Ethical Dilemma

Let's say that I'm hypothetically the type of person who goes on a nightly walk with Mr. B and Casco. Hypothetically speaking, let's say that every night we pass a house in our neighborhood that has their entire front yard decorated in flower planters. And, let's say that on numerous occasions I hypothetically counted the planters - and there are over 30 potted plants lining the sidewalk of this one house.

Credit
Hypothetically, this house looks sort of like this nursery - only it's a house, not a nursery.

For the sake of entertainment, let's say that I hypothetically refer to this house as the 'pot house'. And that last night on my walk, I hypothetically took pictures of all of the pots lining this fairly small yard. Just because I wanted to see what the hypothetical blog world hypothetically thinks about having this many pots in your yard.

And, let's just say that Mr. B hypothetically thinks that posting pictures of the yard is mean and not really that entertaining, and that when I walk by the house I should not loudly say (hypothetically of course) "LOOK AT HOW MANY POTS THIS LADY HAS IN HER YARD? MR. B, LOOK, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE". And, since we're talking hypothetically, he also thinks that I shouldn't loudly count and point at every potted plant as we walk by the house.

So, if you knew someone who hypothetically had pictures of a hypothetical plant-pots-reproducing-like-rabbits situation, would you hypothetically want to see the pictures? Or would you, hypothetically, be on Mr. B's side?

Front Steps Overhaul

Remember our lawsuit waiting to happen?


So this is what we had before. The same steep narrow front steps as everyone else. And a tripping hazard. Beautiful.

Ready? Want to see the finished product? Nothing's as exciting as a concrete project, right? Are you holding your breath?

Okay. Without further ado, I present the steps to our imperfect cottage:




We changed the width of all of the steps so that they're uniform -they used to alternate wide to narrow. Casco has to re-learn how to walk up them, he had a pattern down. The top two steps went out one foot on each side.

My favorite thing has been all of the neighbors stopping to tell us how much they love the change. One woman told Mr. B, "Why didn't they do everyone's steps that way? That is just brilliant." Our neighbor who's home all day told us that there's a parade of cars that drive by, turn around, drive by again, stop and stare. Love it!

Next up - landscaping. Mr. B and I went on a date to the rock quarry last night, and we've got ideas running through our minds and can't wait to get our hands dirty renovating and leveling the bizarre builder grade rockscaping.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

If you can tear yourself away from your preparations for the Swine Flu, I've got a question for you.

When it comes to landscaping, do you prefer low maintenance shrubs and xeriscapes?

Credit

Or are you a fan of flowering plants, lots of annuals, and lots of upkeep?

Credit

Any Green Thumbs out there? Black thumbs? What's your garden M.O.? Sound off!

Parenthood

Mr. B and I are hanging out with our niece and nephew this week while their parents are on a fun birthday cruise. We've been doing a lot of this:


And this:



And this:

My six year old niece is teaching me how to do this:

My last experience on roller blades (4th grade) landed me with a broken wrist.

But mostly we're just enjoying a lot of this:

The Envelope System: Still Going Strong

It's been 4 solid months since we put the Envelope System into place, and we're officially cash only converts. With jobs crumbling all around us, we're thrilled to have reeled in our spending and identified the areas where we can spend less to pimp out our savings and retirement accounts. So, with our incomes perfectly allocated to spending and savings, it's the first time in a long time when extra money - gifts, bonuses, and that pretty little tax refund - are fair game for guilt-free play.

Credit

We agreed in January that with the front steps in dire need of replacement, our tax refund would go to the steps. We thought about using it for something that we didn't NEED- since we'd budgeted house repairs into our savings - but since neither Mr. B or I enjoy taking money out of savings, this seemed like a perfect solution. And, with businesses desperate for work, we were able to negotiate a killer deal on the front steps and get the design we were looking for.

And with about half of our tax refund left over after that project (our status change from single to married sent us more money than we were expecting!), we're looking at replacing two dead trees and applying the rest to our vacation fund. Although I did suggest a new sofa...

Stay tuned for pictures of the step and tree projects. What are your plans for your tax refund?

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem?

When it's time to have people over, do you ask them to leave their shoes at the door?

Credit

or are shoes in the house the least of your worries?

Credit

Mr. B and I want you to be comfy - shoes on or off, athlete's feet hidden by your shoes or beautifully polished toes shown off, we don't care.

But I know there's going to be a divide on this one - so what's the rule at your house? And if you're rule is no shoes, then no judging my chipped pedicure, mmkay?

The M Monogram

I received a few questions about the M monogram on our photo wall. I'm a big believer in giving credit where credit is due and this art was inspired 100% by the P monogram in John and Sherry's living room at This Young House. I just wanted a more personal touch since this was our family photo wall. No original ideas here - just a little deviation from the art they created for their house to make it more personal to us.


I wanted the M in our monogram to represent our name - so I headed straight to the McKevitts Village Hotel website and used their description of the rooms to make our art. My goal was for this to look like a snapshot of a magazine article - rather than a paragraph printed out, so I arranged the text accordingly.


I tried to arrange the type so that the charm I imagine for this little hotel was captured in 8 lines of abbreviated text - our name, the town the McKevitts hail from, and en suite bedrooms just paint a quaint picture for me. A little McKevitt family history in the heart of our living room photo wall.

This was an easy project - a Microsoft Word document converted to a JPEG, about 7 minutes of my time and 3 wasted sheets of paper until I figured out how it should look.

Grocery Wars

In Colorado you grow up with a grocery store chain - you learn the layout of the store, you learn the checkout process, you never stray. You have two choices of grocery stores here in the CO - you've got King Soopers, then you've got the other big chain that shall remain nameless. Mr. B grew up going to the nameless big chain, and since moving into our neighborhood, we're surrounded by these stores. I grew up with King Soopers - until Wednesday, the closest one was about 13 minutes away on 25 mph speed trap streets. That's too far for groceries.


Now, despite being a King Soopers girl, I did try to love our within walking distance nameless grocery chain. But there were too many issues: they label their aisles incorrectly so you have to go to 3 different aisles before you find what you're looking for, it's dark and dingy, they don't have self check-outs for those times when you have one or two items. But the biggest problem: you have to unload your own cart.

What?! Here's the scenario: you push your cart up to the checkout, realize you can't unload your cart from behind, squeeze through the little space between the candy and magazines and your cart to get to the front - cursing your decision to eat that pizza that added to your thighs and made your squeezing more difficult, unload your items onto the cart, then do the squeezing again to get back behind the cart so that you can pay and load the items back into your cart.

And so, Mr. B has done the grocery shopping. But Wednesday, that all changed. And I was there with my camera to include all of you in the experience.

Packed parking lot at the new KS

The biggest King Soopers in North America - one with a gas station, a sushi bar, an organic food store-within-a-store, salad and soup bars, the whole shebang - opened up the street. Now, it's not as close as the shall-remain-nameless-can-walk-there-quicker-than-I-can-drive-there store, but I'm willing to go an extra 60 seconds for pure grocery shopping bliss.

Only part of the Housewares store within the store

And the Sushi Bar - with pre-made and made-to-order rolls.
Please note the look of "Why did I marry a woman who takes pictuers of a grocery store?"
look on Mr. B's face.

Add It to the Shopping List

Mr. B and I sobbed our way through Marley and Me on Friday night. The two of us clinging to each other in the big green chair with Casco sprawled out across our laps. We were a sight to behold. Everytime Marley barked, Casco cocked his head at the screen. We sent him to another room for the end of the movie. But that's another story.

At one point Marley is playing in a huge, open, wooded yard with his human siblings and Mr. B looked at me and said "I want to get Casco a yard". Like it was something you run to Petco for - I'm just going to run out and get Casco a new squeaky toy, shampoo, and 3 acres. Someday, little buddy, someday.

In the meantime, he's got this:

All 0.1 acres of it. As much as I love having alley garages in our neighborhood, the lack of backyard is a definite draw back for us. B's parents planted our garden last year, and it looked lovely. Now we're just hoping that most of the plants come back in a few weeks - we have our doubts.

What kind of yard do you have and dream of? Are you longing for acres to keep up, or are you happy with a tiny parcel and minimal yard work?

Feeling Artsy, Wall #2

The second of four walls that are appropriate for decor in our house is directly opposite the drunken seaside wall in our Living Room. This is the photo wall - which currently features pictures from our wedding, although only our engagement picture features the two of us alone. The living room is no shrine to Mr. B and Emily.


Being a monogramaholic, I was inspired by This Young House's P monogram framed in their living room, but I wanted something that meant a little more to us for our family photo wall. So, I found an excerpt from a brochure for McKevitt's Village Hotel in Ireland - where Mr. B and his dad have been- did the typesetting myself, and printed it in a 5 x 5 square to fit this frame.

Most of you said you're big fans of photos over art, so tell me about how you display them! Are your photos spread out across surfaces and walls, or do you have a photo wall, too?

Easter Brunch

We had a lovely Easter - I love holidays that allow you to focus on the things that matter - the reason behind the holiday, family and friends.

We woke up early to meet Jenna and her family at 7:30 Mass (it's so fun to have friends to sit with at church!). I am definitely my father's daughter - we left the house at 6:40 to get the best spot on the street so we didn't have to fight traffic leaving the parking lot. Then we rushed home to start cookin'.



Mr. B and I hosted both of our families for brunch - it was a full house with lots of chaos, but it's family. Hosting these holidays makes me anxious for my dream kitchen though - a huge island with stools so I can tell people to "park it" instead of standing in front of the oven.

We deep cleaned the house and put out the spring decor for Easter - the more wintery green with white table runner was stored for the green and white gingham table runner, the Pottery Barn striped pillows replaced my winter friendly polka dots. We brought a table from the guest room down to serve food off of, it all worked out.



On the table:
Baked Omelet - I experimented last week to come up with this healthy, hearty and delicious casserole. I am in love with this dish (and the less than 100 calories per big slice nutrition value I calculated). Spiral Ham. Pancakes with toppings. Rolls. French Breakfast Muffins. Pink Lemonade Jello and Fruit. Spring Salad. Bakerella's Cake Pops. Cupcakes. Mimosas. Delicious.

My chickens. Bakerella's chickens. Just call me Bakerella imperfect.

I ate way too many pastel M&Ms in celebration of my ability to each chocolate again. My mom, dad and aunt stayed until 5:30 watching Kenny Perry throw away his chance at the Green Jacket (I have no idea what this means except that a man named Tiger was also there so I'm guessing it was golf). It was a rainy, chilly Easter and I crashed on the couch in front of the fire at exactly 5:39. Loved it.

How was your Easter? Full of chocolate, jelly beans and springtime cheer, I hope!

Feeling Artsy, Wall #1

I've always considered myself art challenged. From art class in Elementary school (thankfully my art teacher also drove my carpool occasionally and didn't have the heart to fail me) to appreciation for art at museums, I struggle to feign interest. When it comes to bringing it into my house, I definitely struggle. So I was ecstatic when our home choice left us with only 4 walls that could possibly house "art". Thank goodness for small houses with lots of windows!


After a few months of living with our blank slate, Mr. B told me it was time to take the plunge. We have slowly added art and pictures to three of the four potential walls. Want to take a look at wall number one?

We looked for months before we both agreed on the two paintings that hang between our living and dining room. At first I went with it because the price was right, I generally like sandpipers, and I was sick of hearing about how blank our walls were. I liked that they were two pictures that worked together to bring together two rooms that work together. I know, it's almost poetic, right?



I love them more and more everyday. Mr. B and I eat dinner at the dining room table every night - love that tradition. Anyway, from my seat, I look directly at the pictures, and after a couple glasses of wine I actually think I'm looking out a window onto the beach. Sobriety is really not an option when you live in a land-locked state.


Next time we'll look at wall number 2 of 4, but now I want to hear about you. How do you pick art for your home? Do you have any tips for making it through an art museum and coming out the other end not dizzy (dark, crowded, closed-in spaces and I usually result in emergency exits) and more educated? Inspire me, please.

Play Ball!

I'm a baseball girl. It's America's past-time and I love nothing more than a tall, ice cold beer, a baseball cap and a day in the sunshine.

I was 8 when Colorado got their MLB team. My dad bought season tickets and took all of the kids to as many games as possible. We spent a majority of our summers camped out in Left Field at Coors Field.

Credit

The problem with our affinity for the Rockies is that they were never good. But my dad and I remained loyal. We spent countless days and nights rooting on our favorite boys in purple, making fun of our dinosaur mascot, and trading candy. When Mr. B and I started dating, I tried to share my love of the team with him, but he was a difficult convert.

Credit

When people questioned my loyalty, I would always say "I have always been a Rockies fan and I know that they will absolutely one day make it to the World Series". And they did. In 2007, the Rockies played in their first ever World Series. All of Colorado jumped on the Rockies bandwagon to see them crushed by the damn Red Sox.

At the Game 4 World Series Game in 2007

And in 2008, they were back to mediocre, and made the decision to trade their star: Matt Holliday. But it's April. And that means my boys are back in town - and I couldn't be more excited. Play Ball!

Are you a baseball fan or does baseball bring boredom for you? What's your team (please don't say the Red Sox)?

I Love Surprises

As I was driving home from work on Friday, Mr. B called me and asked "What did you order from Pottery Barn? There are two huge boxes on the front porch." I was so excited, so I put the pedal to the metal. Two huge Pottery Barn boxes don't magically appear everyday, you know.

So I tore open the boxes and found eight place settings of the Pottery Barn Emma dinnerware - in my signature color.


I am thrilled. My aunt knows I have a thing for green AND dots and when she saw the dinnerware, she thought of me. Then she realized they were called the Emma - the name of my great-grandmother (her grandmother) who I was named after. So much "me" rolled into one set of dishes!

I am in love. And so excited to use them for Easter this weekend. Pottery Barn boxes on your front porch are the best kind of surprises!

Kitchen Schizophrenia

I have a folder on my computer dedicated purely to Kitchen inspiration. You know, for our next house. All of the images feature wall to wall white cabinets, a built-in wine rack, stainless steel appliances, islands with farmhouse sinks and gray granite countertops.

So when I stumbled across the Kitchens.com "What's My Kitchen Style?" quiz, I was excited to answer the questions and get another inspiration image to add to the "someday" file.

And I got this:
I guess it's not too far off, if you paint all the wood white and put in a substantial island with counter-height seating. But, since I'm manipulative, I went back and changed the wood question to "I'm not a fan of the look of wood" and clicked submit.

Oh no. This is their solution to not being a fan of the look of wood? Yikes. This is definitely not my kitchen style. One more try at manipulation. Curses! I got the second one again.

So I went searching for my actual dream kitchen:

Credit

Perfect. A Something's Gotta Give inspired kitchen. I'll take it. And throw in the beach that should come with it while you're at it, mmmkay?

But anyway, here's the quiz. Go take it. Report back. And if anyone gets a white kitchen, I want your formula for success. What's your kitchen style?

HOAs...Yay or Nay?

When it comes to choosing a neighborhood, do you prefer:

A neighborhood with a Homeowner's Association, strict rules, little wiggle room and a lot of look-alike houses but insurance that the homes will be kept up?

Credit

Or a neighborhood that gives you - and your neighbors - free reign, for better or worse?

Credit

I'm in a battle (my fifth in a year and a half) with the paid manager of our HOA. She's lazy and doesn't answer emails or process design approval requests, but has time to send letters to people who accidentally leave their garage door open or, God forbid, stake their trees. But I do appreciate knowing that our neighbors can't paint their house purple and I love our pool just up the street. So I'm torn on HOAs, at the moment.

But what about you? Sound off - what do you have to say about HOAs? Yay or Nay?

Nursery? That's Foolish.

We're definitely not preparing a nursery this month. Or in the near future. But that was fun.

Did you play any April Fool's day pranks this year? Tell me about them - I need better ideas for next year.

April Goals

1. Workout 5 days a week. No time limit, just get it done.

2. Update Master Bedroom bedding for Spring.

3. Re-do Guest bed.

4. Make the Dirndl Skirt from What I Wore.

5. Read two books.

6. Run a 5K to prep for the Bolder Boulder.

7. Take a photography class.

8. Plan dinner menus each week.

9. Throw a kick-ass Easter brunch for way too many people.

10. Start working on the nursery!!! *Note: Was definitely an April Fool's joke.