promises for 2013

i'm in a funk and it's time for me to take some action! i love new years' resolutions, self-help books, and diets. i do not love finishing projects. let's hope santa left me some perseverance in my stocking, because this year i have goals that NEED to happen.

1. our house is a wreck. phil is amazingly patient with my messy self : ) as a jump-start, i signed up for the january cure through apartment therapy. best i can tell, it is an email challenge with daily tasks to get me moving. i have too many things and next to zero organization. i'm open to anything! and i want a clean slate for finished rooms in this house. i'm not just talking about the kitchen and bedrooms. i mean the crazy office and even the garage. i've got 12 months, right??

2. i have been a total slump in the wellness department. eating relatively poorly and really letting the exercise fall off. i used to run. i've completed two (!) cherry blossom ten-milers; don't get too excited, it took me two hours. the trails near the house are gorgeous, wooded trails in a safe park. but i'm still not comfortable running them alone. so when phil twisted his knee, i used it as an excuse to stop running, too. not okay. my sweet friend kristen suggested a workout class instead of happy hour one night and we went to the bar method. yikes!! so difficult (i'm a total weenie), but i love it. i would like to go at least once a week and then pick up the running and/or yoga on the other days. exact goals to be determined. my experience is the more i exercise, the better i eat. and the weight gain is back. with trips to south america and key west planned for this year, i'd like to lose it. but more than that, i just want to feel good again!

3. i need to finish my registration exams. there are seven. i've passed two. i'm waiting to hear back on two others; one i feel very VERY poorly about, the other i have no idea. that is so frustrating - not knowing. and i am really hating the studying. signed up for another in mid-january... we'll see! this is the only goal i feel confident i can finish this year.

4. i haven't painted in what feels like a million years. once upon a time (high school), i took private watercolor lessons. i learned color theory and painting from a wonderful woman with the most amazing independent spirit. sitting at her kitchen table as she taught me to never use black or brown paint (mix your own!) was a retreat from AP classes, multiple choirs, and my family and friends. i also took lessons with a small group when i studied abroad in italy. my teacher was a local artist - gabriele - and he had us over to his house once a week to paint a piece or two within a couple of hours. we had a smallish paper, about 4x6, and travel sets of paints. then he would encourage our experimentation in broken english to capture the local landscape. i haven't really painted since. it's time. i'll start in watercolor (and sketching with chalk and charcoal, my other loves), but want to experiment with acrylics. maybe oil. hmmmm. maybe not.

5. complete a major sewing project. i would love to make a quilt. will settle for some pillows. *major* might be a bit strong...

6. find new ways to keep in touch with my family and friends. i'm not the greatest at keeping up relationships. in all honesty, i'm a bit of a flake. that's embarrassing to admit. i forget to call long-distance friends and i don't initiate plans with nearby friends. i like emails and texts. but i have four precious nieces and nephews. three born just in 2012. they can't email or text! i need to find ways to let them and others know they are loved and missed. and to initiate and keep plans with local friends. don't over-commit in the first place so i stop canceling. choose grabbing coffee over sleeping in on saturdays and skyping instead of mindless internet surfing after work. i'm going to be frank; this one is going to be the hardest for me. i have to decide to make it a priority because i decided to move far away from so many loved ones. well, now is the time!

7. post regularly on the blog! i have really let this slip. i started this not only as a project to document our first house, but also for my family and friends. when i write posts, my target audience is my granny zelda (hi, granny z!). she lives in north texas and we don't see each other very often. i don't know if she'll ever get to come visit us in dc. and if she did, the steep stairs and single bathroom would make for an uncomfortable (if not impossible) visit. but the blog is a way for me to show her what we're up to and share photos and projects. i promised her a gift every month of 2012 - this blog is an ongoing gift for you, granny z! but i need to keep it up : )

i'm sure i'll have more ideas. and more things i need to work on. my hope is that posting this publicly will help keep me accountable. hopefully i will achieve number 7 while posting about working on numbers 1 through 6.

cheers, 2013! 

there's a mouse in the basement!

well, the dc curse is upon our house. we have mice. georgetown is notorious for rats, and apparently glover park has mice.

we have a roommate in our basement, with a separate kitchen and laundry. we got an email several weeks ago that she had heard some "squeaking." no droppings, no chewed through food, no sighting. traps were set, but nothing. then she saw droppings and heard something behind the refrigerator. yikes!

we called the exterminator. per usual with house services, i searched on angie's list for a company that is highly rated and has coupons. i also prefer to go with a local company - you can usually bargain and build relationships with the staff (less turnover than a large chain like orkin). what a nice man! he explained the habits of the mice, which (naturally) i found fascinating and helpful. apparently, they can fit through a hole the size of a dime. *shudder* they run around when people aren't out and about - so night or while we're at work - and they run a similar route repeatedly. so he looked for droppings and "mapped" the route. there was a distinct circular route from the bathroom through a hole in the wall around the perimeter of the room (the basement is set up like a little studio apartment). he set up mostly snap traps (warning: people posted dead mouse photos in the user photos section of the amazon listing - ewww) all along the route. snap traps are more humane because they instantly kill the mouse, rather than letting them squirm and suffer in a glue trap. then he tried to plug any holes he found that were suspect.

he explained some important concepts for preventing and dealing with mice:
- they can't see very well, but their sense of smell is strong. use gloves when placing or moving traps so they can't smell your "human" smell. they will avoid the trap area if they smell you.
- don't change everything around along their normal track. for instance, if people see droppings in the cabinet under their sink, their first instinct is to clean everything out of the cabinet and leave a trap. the mouse will notice the drastic difference in the space and avoid the area (and your trap). try to place a trap in their route without disturbing it.
- use steel wool to block small holes. mice can eat through drywall, but not steel wool. he stuffed into gaps around pipes all over the basement bathroom.
- keep things clean and food in tightly sealed containers (like glass). luckily, he said our space was not to blame. it's normal for mice to seek warmth in the winter and having a vacant house next door is not helping; the direction they are all coming is the wall we share with the vacant house. problems will persist until that house also takes care of any issues (emails to the owner go unanswered).

unfortunately, we've found three dead mice in two weeks. i don't know if this is a lot or a little. the exterminator said we are not an "infestation" situation. we just don't want them to have babies! maybe it's just the joys of living in an old house with a basement in a city. and near a large field. my aunt works at a school built in a field in colorado and they have lots of field mice. she said the teachers use bounce fabric softener sheets in their drawers and cabinets because the mice hate it. so when i get home from holiday travel, you better believe i'm running to safeway to give it a try!

so thankful for a helpful exterminator that took the time to explain what he was doing and why so we can tackle this on our own. also thankful that he said the mice don't appear to be in the garage or on other floors. and the concrete, tile, and brick meet up without holes where the floors meet the walls so mice can't get in that way! it's the little victories... : )

update: phil came home from christmas vacation to find a dead mouse in our den. ugh. very upset right now.

a (wo)man with a plan

remember how i didn't decorate for christmas for this year? well, i've spent the month planning for next year! my plan is to order everything on clearance this year in the after-christmas sales to be ready for december 2013. we're on a bus route - which is wayyy better than an ambulance route! learned that the hard way - so i see our house from the bus everyday. it makes me sad to not have decorations. it also makes me want to make sure it looks as good in the daylight as in the dark.

there weren't as many houses in our neighborhood decorated and lit as i thought there would be. but this one is my favorite. i don't know these people, but thank you for the holiday cheer!

so i'm on the hunt for white lights. obviously, i'm jealous of their awesome storm door / good-looking front door combination. (and their huge corner lot!) but perhaps we'll have a different door by the end of next year : ) anyway, i just love the evergreens, wreath, and garland. and white lights are always my favorite - sparkly but restrained. 

here's the front of our house: 

the plan for next year is wreaths on the windows and door, with icicle lights along the porch and a garland on the railing. so pretty : ) i'm not sure about the red bows with our red brick, but this is the look i'm going after:

source

i'm really hoping for boxwood wreaths. there's just something about the structure that i prefer. 

these are on sale at lowe's!

i'm not sure about the whole bow issue. not much of a bow person. maybe i'll just use ribbon to tie to a nail above each window. like here. wouldn't that be pretty?? 

as for the interior decorations, i'm not sure which direction to go yet. i'm really drawn to the colorful vintage ornaments, but i'll always love monochromatic schemes. i like a crazy tree, not super-curated, but full of ornaments from special occasions and special people. phil's mom and aunt give us ornaments every year and i'm excited to finally be able to put them up next year. i have ornaments from before we were married : ) i've also gotten ornaments from various travels: italy, amsterdam, belgium, bahrain, various US cities... so that will be eclectic. but what about our mantel? or the banister? or the dining room table? ummmmm... at least i have another year! and, of course, endless inspiration from pinterest. off to shop the online holiday sales!

cyber monday

i love to shop. LOVE. sometimes i enjoy the hunt more than the actual kill... i can look for hours. and hours. and hours. and my plan of attack for each room is to build a scheme around the rug. typically, you start with fabric, or an existing piece of furniture/art/etc (ps - watch sarah 101 to see how she builds her schemes - it's so interesting!). however, given our relatively large spaces and limited budget, i am starting with rugs. i'm also pretty slow at putting together patterns. i enjoy it, but it doesn't come naturally. at work, i don't typically deal in color - much less pattern. i deal in space : ) also, working at a big firm on commercial design projects REALLY skews your sense of appropriate budget! commercial furniture and fabric is very different world from residential. well, the residential world that i live in!

we have been scouring craigslist, onekingslane, gilt, rue la la, 1st dibs, crate & barrel, pottery barn (because i get a designer discount!), ebay... and have only bought two. the first was in the basement of an estate sale in cathedral heights. it is a bit ratty, but found a home in the dressing room/closet. the second is a persian-style rug phil found on craigslist. he bought it while i was out of town. the size is amazingly perfect, but it has a bit of pink. hehe. okay, more than a bit. i still like it! and i'm always impressed with phil's amazing hunting skills. seriously.

so anyway... cyber monday sales. amazing. gilt ran some crazy clearance on nuloom rugs and i found one!! it is 9x12 and reasonably priced, even with shipping. it came in 10 days. in a GIANT bag.

phil brought it inside, but had to go out for work. so i came home to a giant tootsie roll in the living room! hooray! i somehow got it upstairs by myself - thank goodness for the plastic bag : ) 

i vacuumed the bedroom and moved a bunch of furniture. 

love love love this pattern!!! the hardest part was lifting the bed alone. i probably should have waited for phil, but i wanted to surprise him with something finished : ) especially since i'm prone to leaving things partially complete for entirely inappropriate amounts of time. like the half-folded laundry in the guest room...

in the room! night-time iphone photos don't look that great... but i'm very happy. loving the scale of the pattern. and it will look amazing with grey walls, striped curtains and a dreamy painting. i have one panel of the restoration hardware curtains already - phil used to work for an industrial building owner that happened to own a building with a restoration hardware warehouse : ) awesome sales!! i should have bought every curtain i saw - silk drapes are expensive. hoping that some of the after-christmas sales are good so we can keep moving forward!

obsessions

for those who know me, you know i go through phases. rather intense phases.
i decided i liked baked potatoes and ordered them at every restaurant for the next several years. every. single. time. except mexican restaurants. duh.
i air-dried my hair and then pulled it back into a low bun as a 17-year-old. i wore it that way almost every day for the next five and half years.
i bought a few bright sarongs at the san diego zoo one summer and wore them as skirts at least once a week for two years. with sweaters in the winter.
i decided i like ballet flats and wear them regardless of weather. seriously. my dad got SO mad at me when he came to visit me in denver at thanksgiving. it snowed and i had no traction.
i listen to the same albums on repeat until the cd skips.
i don't just read one book - i'll read the entire series in quick succession. followed by several more in the same genre (nerd alert).
i ate the same lunch from kindergarten to senior year, for goodness sake. creamy peanut butter, honey and sprinkles on wheat. try it, you'll love it : )

so in the spirit of my totally healthy and random phases, here are my (current) obsessions...

neon indian - polish girl and washed out - feel it all around. on repeat. all day.

nachos in the broiler. with chives from the garden

french braids

madewell

ARE study guides from jennypdx. because i'm cool like that.

dark and stormies - winter cousin of the moscow mule

homeland

rockstar diaries' eleanor

bailey's - the first errand when the wind starts is to the liquor store

tis the season

happy holidays!

i love christmas. decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, traveling, entertaining... i love all of it. i'm tired by january, but it's worth it. and with this being the first christmas in a house (a real house!), i thought we'd go all out - have a party, go crazy decorating, home-made baked goods for all the neighbors, everything. but... every weekend is already full, so no party. plus, the house is not nearly where i want it to be before we invite half the world over again. and if no party, what's the point in decorating the house? we will spend the majority of the holiday with our families, and i typically ship gifts, so no presents under the tree. which means the tree isn't really worth it ($70 for two weeks?? anyone who has met my husband knows that is not happening). and two registration exams before december 20 means i shouldn't use decorating as another way to procrastinate...

being a practical adult is not very fun. so phil took me to the cute little garden store by our house to buy a wreath for the front door : ) i picked out a big, fresh boxwood beauty and we bought a wreath hanger, since i've never had a wreath before. we were having people over for the last regular season a&m game (whoop! go johnny football!) and thought it would be a nice way to start the holiday season. but, ummm, we had no idea what to do with it when we got home. does it go on the real front door or the storm door???? the wreath hanger didn't fit on the front door - it was too skinny. we tried to change its shape, but the door wouldn't close. not good in the winter. also, then you can't see it from the street. isn't that one of the main reasons you have a christmas wreath? i don't know, i'm new at this wreath thing. so we put it on the storm door. and it looked like this...

weird. and it slammed whenever the storm door closed. like "bump, bump" and just generally not right. sooooo i moved it inside. to the door between the dining room and den. and i like it. will it stay there? who knows! we will put up lights in the front this weekend and then i might move it back to the front door. 

PS - see my milk delivery box? : ) 

PPS - don't you love how much better the instagram photo looks? it makes everything better!

autumn adventures

i realize i've been MIA lately...

i've taken two architect registration exams; structural systems and site planning and design. i still have five more. this is one of the most difficult things i've done recently. the studying takes so much time, and i walk out of the testing center feeling miserable. i honestly have no idea if i passed or failed. luckily, i passed both. but i'm sure that i will fail at least one of them. i'm planning on two more before the end of the year, and then take the rest by early spring.

phil and i went to new york city with two of our good friends, lauren and andy. it was a wonderful weekend - good food, good drinks and great company. we explored the highline, the park, brooklyn... i went several places i had never been before. then i went to chicago with my friends brooke and lauren (different lauren). the weather was awful - cold and rainy. but the city is beautiful!! this was my first time, and i loved it. what an amazing city! i also went to phoenix for a conference. it was so warm and wonderful.

in addition, we've hosted several a&m game-watching parties, went to a masquerade ball and halloween parties and survived a hurricane. we did spring a small roof leak and the city had to take down a tree in the front, but we are grateful for the first of many falls in this house. looking forward to another season of change, learning all we can about snow shoveling and winter pipe insulation : )

ps - all photos taken from my instagram account (my account is ekcd)