a day at the beach

kai sh cp v, originally uploaded by kellynixon.

fall: friend or foe?

in high school, i worked on the school newspaper in journalism class for 1 trimester. journalism turned out to have rules about writing, like, what you wrote had to be true, you had to actually talk to people to have a real story, and you had to have a verb in your headlines. for the last reason, my headline, computer lab: friend or foe? had to undergo major revisions. for all those reasons, journalism proved not to be such a good fit for me. yearbook, where the page header "the grizzlies are back and better than ever," which was probably no where near truth, was featured prominently and colorfully on one of the pages i designed turned out to be a better fit, as did art, where talking to other people was optional, or at least free to be on whichever subject i chose, and not just school events. i satisfied my writing passion in english, where i could be creative, or just support any outlandish opinion in key-hole essay format, with two quotes per paragraph. now i triumphantly resurrect my headline for today's post and you cannot stop me, mr. hendrix.

anyhoo, for most of my life, i have not been a big fan of fall. sure, the leaves are pretty (who am i kidding though? the only leaves that turn where i grew up were the oak tree leaves and they turned beige. whoopty-doo. fall was a tv/magazine season. a season you fake by buying leafy wreaths at michael's. much like winter is in central america--i was in costa rica right before christmas, and everything was decorated with snowmen and holly.) BUT fall ultimately means the end of summer. which means no more sleeping in and then reading all day, which is basically how i spent 95% of my summer days. i loathe getting up early. NOTHING about life seems pleasant or worthwhile, or even tolerable, save for the warmth and coziness of my bed, in the morning. and fall means that every day subsequent to the first day of school, morning seems more and more like night, the darkness further enveloping you, practically pressing you to your bed. then, it's practically dark again by the time you get home from work or school.

but, sure when it's been in the 100s for the fourth month in a row, fall does start to have its appeal. fall starts flirting with you, telling you of all it has to offer. new fall tv shows! weather that supports wearing sweaters! an excuse not to shave as much! the upcoming holidays! most alluring though, is the food...winter squash, soups and stews, things baked with cinnamon and nutmeg. things like apple crisp. which i was very excited to make and consume last night, as was jake. my favorite recipe is "old-fashioned apple crisp" by ina garten.

it quickly went from this:

to this:

to this:

and these bad boys are chilling on the counter waiting to be turned into some yummy soup, or maybe some risotto, or if i get really ambitious, some butternut squash lasagna (which is a blogpost i never wrote...maybe i'll find the pic and type up the recipe real quick this week. it is soooo good.)

ok, fall, you win. you always do.

ta da!!!!

(these pictures aren't the greatest, but i'm too lazy to try again.)

we went with quartz countertops from home depot--their brand is called silestone. i read about quartz in consumer reports, which gave it the top rating of all the different counter-top materials. we got a very good deal at home depot; somehow we were able to combine multiple discounts, which felt a little devious, but all i did was ask for them/remind them they agreed to honor the new credit card discount as well as the promotion they were running, and the coupon we had. they're ours now, home depot, you can't take them back! i'm stoked that it's real stone (93% stone, mixed with a resin) and yet is non-porous and more durable than marble or granite, and there's no need to seal it. plus silestone is anti-microbial, and so safe that you can let your baby crawl on it and he won't fall off, as evidenced by their brochure (or perhaps, if he does fall off, the silestone fairies catch him and gently place him in his crib; the brochure doesn't really specify.)

before....in anticipation of tomorrow's installation

our kitchen now...new stove, microwave and dishwasher, no counters! no sink!

me, taking off the tile. the plywood would remain for about a month, the lack of plywood almost 2 weeks
the newly painted cabinets. this pantry door is awaiting a coat of chalkboard paint.
pot of cream is the lovely new color. (i did it myself!)
jake removing the sticky, stinky vinyl tiles to reveal even uglier linoleum.

the lights my wonderful husband and father installed (the ugly fluorescent is gone, recessed cans and pendant lights added.)
the kitchen after i moved in...painted two shades of green (that didn't quite turn out the way i was picturing).
the kitchen...before me! hence all the beer and pizza boxes (i mean, i love beer and pizza, but i would move the remains before i took a picture!)

in less than 24 hours, i will have new quartz counters! to complete the kitchen, i'll still need to install a tile backsplash, pick a new paint color, change the pulls on the drawers only, apply the chalkboard paint, and hire someone to retexture the ceiling. so close!

(as i was actually in the midst of all these projects, each step featured in the blog in my mind. the post on painting the cabinets was probably 2000 words--it was a long, boring project. but...i got tired, and this is the best i could do.)

cuddle kitty

ok, so 2 months isn't exactly posting regularly...oh, well.

anyhoo, cuddle kitty was a present for kai's first birthday. the pattern is from little stiches for little ones by amy butler and made with my riviera sampler, designed by my very own friend, indigo mouse! it was fun to make and kai put it in his mouth right away. pretty good recommendation from a baby, right?

change is good

i changed my blog header 3 or 4 times today. i discovered some editing tools through flikr that are exciting because they do a lot more than anything i have and it's free. i also discovered that the MB limit for photos on flikr is per month (for free), not forever, so i will start using it more. sweet!

baby quilt (summer project #1)

my friend from high school, melissa, has a blog where she showcases her amazing talents in knitting and sewing. though i have yet to be inspired to knit (i've crocheted, and i suck!) i was inspired to quilt! my mom taught me how to sew in high school. i don't sew very much (read: at all), but i do have my mom's hand-me-down sewing machine, which is in great shape. i asked for quilting how-to books and a couple of pattern books for my birthday. with my track record of unfulfilled aspirations ("i'll do that project this summer, when i'm off work" are my famous last words), some were dubious that a quilt would actually be produced! i decided to start small, which coincided nicely with the facts that baby quilts are so cute and i have babies a-plenty in my life. jo-ann's fabric selection (or lack thereof) limited my options to a girl quilt. it took about 5 days, all told, but they were looong days...it was complete at the time i wanted to give it to my cousin amy, who was visiting from washington state for my grandma's birthday. i threw it in the wash, but for some reason, it was sopping wet, even after multiple spin cycles, and it was still wet when it was time to visit the relatives. so i didn't give it to her before she left for washington, and i decided to add the personalized embroidered patch. i mailed it off yesterday, so baby bella should get her quilt on monday!!

i am pretty proud of myself, though i can see multiple mistakes! it's funny now they just keep piling up until some of the last tasks are almost impossible! and i didn't have all of the proper equipment (mat,rotary cutter, etc.), making myself resist those pricey temptations until i proved to myself that i would actually use them!

what i learned:

• don't try to alter the pattern when you don't know what you're doing! (i added the chenille fabric, which was not only hard to sew, but led to the mistakes in the pattern layout)
• don't try to combine techniques from two different books!
• take a bath with epsom salts after being hunched over the sewing machine for hours.
• intrusive kitties respond to the dog whisperer's "shhhht" sound when "shoo, kitty" doesn't work.