Spring cleaning inspiration

I was reading through Good Housekeeping (random) while getting my hair done today when I read this quote about keeping memorabilia:

IF EVERYTHING IS PRECIOUS, THEN NOTHING IS PRECIOUS.

That just makes so much sense to me! And seems like something great to keep in mind while sorting through old boxes of ticket stubs and rose petals.

Scissor Sisters - Say that 5 times fast.

Did you see last week's update? I think the outfits were especially good. And, um, the headstand photo?? Amazing.

Ok here's the sister update of the week!

SARAH

Last week:
* bought plane tickets for our east coast trip! it's official (5/21 SLC-JFK, 5/26 BOS-RDU, 6/7 RDU-SLC)
* went to bed at 10pm one night
* did some yardwork - re-routed honeysuckle vines, weeding
* did some work to organize volunteers for Rooftop series so I can effectively delegate
* decided not to delegate much of the Lower Lights work. I enjoy it too much to give it up.

This week:
* start new work project. If I don't do it soon, I'm going to be in big trouble.
* practice forearm stand and hand stands for yoga
* work on photo wall - goal to be done before graduation visitors
* don't spend any money this week (wouldn't that be nice?!)
* time to go back to THF

Annee

Last week:

1. By Tuesday afternoon, Darin and I had taken apart the existing twin beds, rebuilt them into the bunk beds. Moved our old queen bed up stairs to Henry’s room, and completely rearranged all the furniture in George’s room to make room for the bunk-beds. Darin had to take his second shower of the day when we were done. It was a tremendous amount of work! When the boys got home from school, they were both so excited about the new bed situation that they volunteered to have some “quiet time” in their rooms that afternoon. Both of the girls came running to find me in tears, because nothing we “new” in their room. You cannot win as a parent. You simply can. not. win.
2. On Wednesday I realized that my most recent pay check had been deposited for the days of subbing I had done last month. Suddenly all I could think of doing was going to buy the longed for sewing machine! Of course, when I got home I was instantly intimidated and wondered if I’d ever figure out how to sew on it. But by Friday I had already sewn two of the three pillows I wanted to add to Henry’s bed, so we’re making progress!
3. By Friday when I had sewn two of the three pillows I had mentioned sewing last week, and bought the sewing machine, and moved all the beds around, I thought that goal setting was my new religion. But then I remembered that I had only run 15 miles thus far in the week, and the week was nearly over. Y’all, we just can’t do it all! And also by Friday I had realized that though I had diligently devoured all four season of Friday Night Lights in just a few weeks, that season five would not be immediately available to me for a while yet, and that had me all sorts of disgruntled y’all.
   

This week:

1. Try my hand at my very first value quilt: http://www.stitchedincolor.com/2010/07/inspiration-value-quilts.html. If a quilt is too ambitious, I will accept trying the technique out on a pillow. Just keeping it real.
2. Attend my first of six machine mastery classes that came with the purchase of the new machine. Tuesday is going to be super fun!
3. Run the tar-heel 10 miler on Saturday. I was sad to hear that I will not finish the race with my face on the jumbo-tron in the stadium because the stadium is in the process of getting renovated! Despite my disappointment, I will still lace up and run my best race, but just know that I’ll probably have to have a repeat performance next year for the big stadium finish!
4. Attend all 3 of George’s baseball games! That’s right guys, he has three games in one week. I’m kind of thinking we signed up for the super ambitious league?!
5. Somehow my weekly goals seem rather superficial and light weight. Seems as though I’m giving myself a pass for the week. Oh well, some weeks are like that, right?!
   

Ie Li

Last week:
-made a new friend at swimming lessons
-did better with P90X
-story time at the library
-maintained tidiness for three days straight
-Cherry Blossom Festival and General Conference

This week:
-visiting teaching
-do better with P90X
-swimming, preschool, and lunch with new friend
-try to relieve some of Steve's tax season stress

Rachel

Last week:

--I worked 83.7 billable hours. Which I only say to explain why I don't have much else to report.
--We didn't get to take any cute pictures with the Cherry Blossoms this weekend, which makes me sad. But there wasn't anything cute about working til 3am on Saturday before an 8am race, you know?
--I did make some hard cuts to my wardrobe. And I cleaned all the floors in the house. Feels great.
--I made cupcakes for Ken to take to the court tomorrow.
--I got a check from the state of Virginia with a $120 refund from my 2009 taxes. Which really doesn't make any sense to me, in fact I fully expected that I would owe more, but I'll take it!
--I didn't pull any April Fool's Day jokes on Ken, but next year I REALLY should. He kept falling for other tricks all day long. I'd get a text about a friend who was in a car crash or a job the law school just posted at a courthouse on a tropical island. But they were all jokes he totally believed. Haha thinking about it still makes me laugh.

This week:

--Really, really try not to work past midnight any night.
--Celebrate 6 years with Ken on Wednesday.
--Make a pot roast on Saturday. It's been way too long.
--Stop by Anthropologie and start planning purchases for the Employee Appreciation Sale which starts April 15.

I know that's a weak list, but it actually feels pretty ambitious!

Christine aka CZ

Last Week:

- Went riding Tuesday and Thursday.

- Helped out at a horse show Friday and Saturday.

- Had dinner at a delicious little French cafe/bakery in Salt Lake, Gourmandise, in celebration of Beth's birthday. It was pretty delicious and our waitress was actually from France, so it felt pretty authentic.

- Enjoyed conference and French Toast casserole at the Wiley's.

This Week:

- Write a group paper for my strategy class.

- Submit any missed assignments for my Spreadsheets class to get caught up before the final.

- Go to yoga.

- Remain in denial about the fact that it's cold outside and there's snow and pretend that it's warm enough to wear spring clothes. I'm hoping that if I just act like it's warm, it will be warm. Not so sure it works that way but I'm giving it a try.

We are alive!

What a month it has been. I formulate blog posts all week long but of course when I sit down to write something, my mind is blank! Boo.

Time seems to be flying by. It doesn't feel very long ago that I hung my calendar open to January on the wall with just a push pin figuring I'd actually nail it up "soon"... I still have dreams (nightmares?) about wedding planning, but we've almost hit 6 months. Crazy!

The good news about time moving quickly is that means there are only 2 more weeks of madness at work. I think I can make it. Then we get to go to Utah for graduation and Easter. And before you know it Christmas will be here, I've started planning exactly how we will decorate the house.

I finally settled on an armoire for our guest room. And Ken built a shelf in the laundry room, totally from scratch. I was so proud of him!



Check out the sister posts of the last few weeks, wherein I talk about wearing my hair in buns, making crock pot recipes and wearing jeans to work. I'll be posting this week's sister update next.

Sister update.

CZ has posted our update this week. Check it out here!

Huh?

I know I owe a real post... but I just must comment. Alice Lane has finished the re-do of Nie Nie's basement playroom and the pics are all over the blogosphere today.


But when I look at the pictures, I don't think it actually looks that good. There is so much conflicting madness! These pictures mixed with the luke warm experience mom has had with AL in her house and I'm left scratching my head. Why does everyone hail them as design geniuses? If you take a really critical look at what they do, it is really all good? Maybe I should just keep that opinion to myself.

Sisters.

Let's try something new here. In an effort to stay connected with each other, we're going to try to keep in touch in a different way. Not sure how often it'll happen, or how long we'll keep it up. But here's a start.

Sarah

last week's agenda:
-took huck to dr - double ear & double eye infections
-2 lower lights shows
-brenden's wax museum project
-oliver's first blue & gold banquet
-rooftop concert series planning meeting at courtney's house


this week's agenda:
-15 loads of laundry - I'm determined to get it folded as soon as it's clean - don't let it sit in a pile on my floor for a week
-lower lights go on tour on friday - pick up tshirts, make itinerary, prepare & train tour manager
-get back to yoga - i'm determined to start up my 6am yoga routine again

Annee

Three things that were on my agenda from this past week:

1. Substitute taught for the Elementary School music teacher all day long on Monday. Not my favorite class to sub for. It was kind of awful.
2. Hosted a Sewing Soiree with a bunch of ladies at my house on Tuesday night.
3. Took George on a date to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Performers on Thursday night at Memorial Hall at UNC campus. Everyone should put on their list of things to do in a lifetime “watch an Alvin Ailey dance performance”. It’s one of the most beautiful performances you’ll ever witness. This was the second time I’ve seen them perform. I hope they’ll be back to UNC again soon.
   

Three things on my agenda for next week:

1. HAIR CUT AND COLOR!! (All caps and tons of exclamation marks...it’s been far too long and my hair is awful!)
2. Run 10 miles at some point in the week.
3. Substitute teach a couple of days at the elementary school.
   

Rachel

Last week:

--I went on a date to a show at The Kennedy Center on Friday night.

--I ran home from work 3 times. That's one of the best things about living closer to the office. I hope it's warmer next week!

--I made 2 comments in Relief Society so people will know I'm there. Adjusting to a new ward is always a little awkward.

--I hung all the dresser trays from our wedding in a collage on the wall in the family room. One step closer to done!

--I tried a new recipe: lemon bars. I feel like as a bonafide Mormon woman I need to have a go-to lemon bar recipe. Better keep searching…

Next week:

--I want to go to the movies. It's been way too long!

--I want to craigslist a big armoire for the guest bedroom. I need to get my clothing situation squared away ASAP.

--I will distract myself from missing Ken while he's in Utah Wed-Fri by working a lot.

--Ask Grandma for the secret methods to her chocolate covered peanuts.

Christine

On agenda last week:

• Ethnic Tuesday dinner with Addie
• grading quizzes
• lots and lots of sleep to get over my current sickness
  

On agenda this next week:

• Sunday dinner with roommates and friends (including a BYU basketball star...)
• finish spreadsheets exam and study for individual taxes exam
• snowboarding and a visit to the Midvale Ice Castles

Oh my goodness I have tons of questions!! Sarah - wax museum project?? That had to be rough.. Are you going on the Lower Lights tour? Annee - how are your knees holding up this time around? Also, is substitute teaching your school's form of having parents get involved? Or is this like an official job? CZ - what did you eat for ethnic dinner? What are you making for Sunday dinner? And.. basketball star?! Further questions and replies in the comments! I'm glad we did this. I love you all.

Next week let's get mom, Ana and Ie Li on board too!

As inspired by this.

Desperate.

Do you see what's in that picture? A 24 pack of green chapstick. What a happy day!!! Every single stick in my supply was down to its bare bottom. My anxiety led me to Amazon and two days later BAM! Bliss.

I can't wait to stash them absolutely everywhere. It'll be a little bit like Easter egg hunting for an adult.

Beginning of a bedroom.

Here's a glimpse of what I'm working on in our bedroom. It just makes me smile whenever I see it. There's obviously a long way to go (curtains, pillows, wall pictures and shelf etc) but I couldn't resist posting a little preview. Do you love that rug from West Elm? I'll link that up when I'm back at my laptop.

I have so much to say about January and February. I wish I had more desire to blog after I get home... I can't believe we're only a few days away from March. And something like 55 days from the end of busy season. But it's not like I have a countdown paper chain or anything...

Dear Valentine,

Love, your honey.

Our internet is alive!

Finally. I've been needing to download a new book for weeks now.

I heard on the radio tonight that the company making Guitar Hero has been losing money because everyone with a game console already has GH so the only way they can expand is through new console sales which is harder to achieve. This is really sad news to me and I seriously contemplated stopping at Best Buy on the way home. I miss playing that game so much! It's high on the list of to-dos for our April trip to Utah.

There was an article in the Washington Post today about these "Barn Sales" that I've been going to out in western VA/MD. This kind of exposure explains why they are getting more and more crowded. Boo! I hope I have more good luck next weekend.

Work is in the strange in between zone where it should be really busy, and you can look ahead and see how bad it's going to be, but the information just isn't in yet. Blah.

Ken and I start a new bootcamp group tomorrow. We scoped it out this morning and it doesn't look as great as our old Utah Bootcamp with Jess, but hopefully it's worth the effort because 6am is EARLY.

I just don't have much to say I suppose... I'm trying not to blog only about home design projects, because that's seriously all that consumes my mind these days.

Superbowl accomplishment.

More "styling" is needed on the shelves before I'm totally satisfied, but this piece definitely helps pull the kitchen together. I wish the light were better so the wall color would show up more.

His & Hers.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of antique hunting in Lucketts. However, I have a deadline of Saturday 6pm to find the truly functional pieces that we need to put our kitchen and bedrooms together. If I don't meet this strict deadline, to Ikea we will go. Which isn't such a bad thing. I did a preview shop last night and I think they have some pieces that would work quite perfectly.

While I get to play around on my last work-free weekend til spring, Ken will be working his 18th straight day without a day off. Yikes! Luckily this is the LAST weekend he'll have to put in with Kaplan before he can choose to teach whichever online class schedule he wants. That will be much better!

Happy weekend to all!

Behold the greatest craigslist score ever!

A beautiful wood island that will increase our counter space by over 600%! With beadboard! And removable panels in the cupboard doors that can be replaced with glass!

That island plus the 12 hour marathon of Pawn Stars to keep me company while unpacking made this weekend a serious success.

Losing steam.

This move has been in motion for a solid week. We're relocating from Arlington to Vienna so I can be closer to the office during busy season and beyond. It'll be great to start over in a brand new place together instead of feeling like his things are taking over "my place."

While sorting through an old box I found this candle which seems to have given up sometime in the last year, spilling the wax contents all over another candle box. I couldn't help but snap a picture since that's pretty much how I feel right now too.

Movers arrive any minute now. I really hope they're energetic and positive and not overwhelmed by what they see. Maybe I can justify a quick power nap??

No Matter What

Today a real storm finally descended on us here in DC. Serious enough to close the government, and therefore my office and Ken's office, at 3 pm today to alleviate some of the rush hour madness.

Side note - Ken has started his externship working three days a week downtown at the US Court of Federal Claims. It's right on McPherson Square across from the White House in those awesome houses which line the park. He promised he'll take photos and do a blog post soon.

My 15 mile drive home took 1.5 hours as did Ken's usually 20 minute metro ride took the same. I just heard from Steve that he's been on the road for 5 hours coming home from client meetings in MD!! And he's still a long way from home!

A snow day is just what I needed though. We made pizza together, caught up on Chopped, and oh yeah PACKED for our move on Friday.

In case you haven't checked ESPN today, there's a game on tonight. Ken had plans to watch the huge BYU basketball game in Annapolis with his good friend Kevin, but the snow killed that plan. He tried to get the channel he needed added to our cable but no luck. Then, the power went out at our apartment. Too bad we hadn't charged our phones more!

Determined to watch his cougars, Ken decided we'd trek out to a sports bar. At the car we realized we were trapped inside the garage with a garage door that wouldn't open due to the power outage! Are you kidding me?

Luckily, ken had randomly parked his car outside the garage door. Phew! Off to Buffalo Wild Wings where we were informed that the snow knocked off their satellite dish thus no game.

Would you be ready to call it off at this point?

A couple more sports bars later and here we sit with two dozen other Cougar co-eds taking in the goodness.

Here's to hoping the power comes back on soon so I can take advantage of tomorrow's snow day by packing for 12 straight hours!!

This man loves his meat!

For our date this weekend we tried Ray's The Steak, the sit down restaurant associated with Ray's Hell Burger. The food was spectacularly good and I hope we go back sometime.

But, um, do you see the bone on Ken's steak?? I don't understand the appeal in having that anywhere near my plate. But look at the genuine smile on his face!

So cute.

Kitchen Success - Beouf Bourguignon

I don't have a lot of time to cook for my guy during the week, so I like to spend the weekend making up for it. This weekend I decided I wanted to tackle Julia Child's Beouf Bourguignon. It did take 5-6 hours of kitchen time, but it was very, very good. And it was cheap! We paired it with egg noodles and breadsticks. I would definitely do it again sometime!

Before

After

If you want to give it an attempt, the recipes are here and here.

Another highlight from the weekend, Red Pepper Risotto from my Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. This was my third time making this recipe and I think it needs to make a weekly appearance on the menu. This recipe is SO GOOD! Try it out.

This photo from Pioneer Woman

In other news, we found where we will be living for the rest of 2011, a little place by my office with an extra bedroom for guests. I have all of January to get it ready before we move in. I am SO excited about the new decorating opportunities my mind has been spinning all weekend! I can't wait to show you what we do.

Best of 2010 - August

I never really understood what people meant when they said short engagements are best. Or when they talked about things getting harder for a while after you're engaged as the forces of darkness contend against you. But oh man did I figure it out! It's hard to explain, but the strangest things started going wrong at every turn in August. I can't even remember what they all are now, but in the moment it was very clear.

• The first step of the wedding prep had to be finding the dress. I tried on SO many, visited tons of dress shops, etc. It was a discouraging process. DC is not used to the concept of adding sleeves or needing a dress in less than 9 months.
  
  
  
• Mom & Dad visit DC with Zack & Ana and the Earnests. I already posted about it here.
  
  
  
• Zack & Ana are SO SWEET and bring cake samples from their favorite bakery in LA. Yeah, they brought cakes on the airplane from LA to DC!! We have an impromptu cake tasting in the office. Those cakes were SO GOOD!!
  
  
  
• I work A LOT. This fall busy season ended up being crazier than Spring. It was quite shocking.
  
• I work on planning, mostly coming up with an idea/central theme for the wedding with Amorology. It's a struggle...
• At the end of the month I fly to Utah for a jam-packed weekend where I find a nice dress, take engagement pictures and begin working with my fantastic invitation designer! And Happy Birthday CZ!
  

Because I'm proud of her.

Did you see this awesome bag my sister made?


Check it out. She left detailed instructions so you could make one too!

Best of 2010 - July

JULY. What an epic month!

• Ken came to DC for the 4th of July and his birthday. We watched fireworks on Capitol Hill
  
  
• Ken heads to Boston to teach for Kaplan.
• I find a rocking chair in perfect condition in the complex with a free sign. Score!
  
  
• We daytrip to Williamsburg and scope out its old historic charm.
  
  
  
• I update my world and get the iPhone 4.
• Ken officially talks with my dad.
• Win the 4th of July baked goods competition at work with my BTS Cake! (As you can see, I did not win based on my terrible blue stars...)
  
  
• CZ and I spend a weekend in North Carolina with the Earnests. I try on wedding dresses.
  
  
• Ken proposes at The W Hotel in DC. Such a special and thoughtful day.
  
  
  
  
• I contact Jonathan Canlas to secure our photographer. I begin working with Amorology on planning the wedding.