Miss me?? And Anna's Wedding!

Um, so, I haven't posted much in like six months.  Ooops!  I really suck at this whole blogging thing.  I constantly tell myself to just post little things each day a la tumbler, but I forget.  And I have some draft posts that have been sitting around for.ev.er. that continue to sit.

In my defense, I've been busy living life.  Making friends, home at least twice a month, trying new experiences . . . it's been a ball.  But, now that the summer is winding down, I'm feeling the itch to communicate with the outside world. I have some projects I want to tackle, plantings, and a plan for my wardrobe (I'll get to that later).

But for now, let's check out my awesome friend Anna's amazing wedding.  Anna is one of my closest friends, even though it seems like we always struggle to be in the same place at the same time!  I am so happy that she met and fell in love with Mike; they are an amazing couple.

Nick and I have the opportunity to help with their wedding the day off, and the amount of work they put in, plus Anna's amazing creativity, plus the stunning location, plus two wonderful people taking vows made for an awesome night.  Just awesome.

Here are a few pictures from before we started the ceremony.  Just beautiful.

NOLA Highlights

I'm home!  And finally starting to feel back to normal.  :)  Our trip to NOLA was fantastic, and I cannot thank Sam and Kait more for planning their awesome wedding so I could finally get to this city!

As most of the world has heard, KCMO was hit with a HUGE snowstorm on Thursday.  As in, send people home, get stuck on the road, trucks sliding off the highway huge.  So my flight out was canceled.  Wah wah.  Thankfully I was able to get out on Friday, and even made my connection (so happy to not have checked luggage!).

Once I got to NOLA, I headed to the hotel and checked in.  Nick and I had reservations at Restaurant August and it was FANTASTIC.  So good!  Afterwards we headed to Bourbon Street and met up with the rest of the bridal party.

Saturday was busy!  We hit a walking tour of the Garden District (highly recommend Free Tours by Foot!) and then grabbed some lunch on Magazine Street (because I REALLY needed a Roast Beef Po'Boy!).  Nick had plans to get a shave with the other groomsman for the afternoon - was I surprised when he walked in with no goatee!

Saturday night was the welcome soiree, and boy did we soiree.  Never seen more oysters on a half shell in my life.  We were pretty pooped at that point, so we headed back to the hotel to grab a drink at Bellocq, the awesome associated bar.  It was well worth it.

Sunday morning we got up and did the Jazz Brunch at the Court of Two Sisters.  Yummy!  Then I wanted to sightsee in the French Quarter.  Nick was a good sport and participated in my scavenger hunt until it was time for him to head off to the groomsmen lunch and to get ready for the wedding.    At that point I rolled on my own.  I'm pretty self-sufficient, so it was fun.

Finally it was time to race back to the hotel and get ready.  I may have cut it a little close in the end, as I had hair issues and was almost late to the wedding.  But I was there, and I was not the last one in.  :)

Sam and Kait had the coolest wedding ever.  Over the top and amazing.  I didn't take any pictures on my phone that night, and I wish I had.  Nick has some, but I've only seen the ones I was tagged in so far.  It was just amazing.  Of course, after the wedding we headed out, and then out again.

Monday morning came too soon.  But we made it to the brunch, and were amongst the first there.  At least we didn't embarrass ourselves!  Afterwards we went back to the hotel, packed up our stuff, and checked out.  We had enough time to grab lunch and do a quick tour of the WWII museum, so we grabbed lunch at Mother's.  So darn yummy!

Of course, at lunch I learned that my flight had been cancelled AGAIN.  Kansas City was getting hit with another blizzard.  Thankfully I was able to make all of the necessary arrangements and check back into my hotel.  Then we hit the museum, which was really amazing.  Highly recommend if you are ever in NOLA, especially now that they are expanding.  Our only complaint with the main museum was that it got congested in spots because there was so much to see and so many people.  I can really see how the new spaces will help with that.

Nick left.  :(  And I went to Cochon for dinner.  :)  I seriously ate so much good food that weekend, I cannot even begin to tell you.

I decided to take advantage of my extra day in New Orleans and see the things that had been planned for Friday.  I rode the St. Charles Streetcar and then headed out to Bywater, which is more of a local neighborhood.  After another great meal I strolled back through Bywater and Marigny to the French Quarter - which was completely different on a Tuesday, and in a good way.  :)  I ended up riding the streetcar as far as I could in the other direction and seeing the BIG houses past Garden District.  At that point I was pictured out, but it was nice.

I was so nervous about my flight that I headed to the airport nice and early.  Thankfully we were delayed, but not cancelled.  What seemed like an impossible long time later I finally landed and fought my way through the snow to get home and crawl in bed.  

I'm still recovering from you NOLA, but I hope to see you soon!

New Orleans is awesome

And my husband is hot.

Ummm, is this thing on?

It's almost March 2013 and I'm in serious danger of repeating my thirteen year old self and losing my diary (or hiding it under the bed so that I don't have to write in it anymore).  Seriously, not one post in 2013 yet?

All I can claim is that I've been living my life.  BUT, it would be nice if I could also document it for the three people who made the effort to add this blog to their Google Reader.  Mom, I'd say that was you, but you don't even know what Google Reader is.

I'll give you the highlights, with the hope that I'll get around to some of these things in the future....

1. Joined a new gym!  Gotta say, I lurve TheGymKC so far.  The gym at work just wasn't cutting it.  And I've been doing well - just need to get through this week and get back in the groove!
2. Started Tae Kwon Do!  I've always wanted to do a martial art, and I've told more than one person that I thought this would be my chance.  I am supposed to test for yellow belt in March!  Eeek, need to work on my stances.
3. Started taking the Megabus to Chicago!  It's so dang cheap, and much easier than getting to the airport.  I've even got Nick doing it now!
4. Had my annual Christmas get together with my female peeps in January (we're late...it happens).
5. My first (non-Nick) visitor!  J'son flew out from DC for the weekend...it was fantastico!
6. Deciding that I should learn how fashion works...an attempt to rebuild my wardrobe the RIGHT way.

Now I just need to get my bags packed, because I'm (supposed to be) heading to NOLA tomorrow.  Of course, Kansas City is predicted to get a bunch of snow, which could screw me.  Fingers crossed!!!

Sam and Kait, I am just so.darn.excited for your wedding!!!

And now, since I feel guilty for not posting for the past two months...a picture from this past weekend.  Aren't we cute?  If only this was not the first photo of the year; I'm slacking on more than one resolution this year!

NYE in the KCM....O

Yeah, that didn't quite work the way that I hoped, oh well.  :)

It's New Year's Eve, the last day of the year, and I have seen so many friends and loved ones post recaps on Facebook that I thought perhaps I would take a stab at it myself.  After all, 2012 was kind of a big deal for N and I - and as usual we have not done our Christmas cards.  I swear, we intend to complete them every year.  This year we even went as far as starting to design a card (N really wants a photo card and won't even considering using any of the cards that I have in storage) only to realize that we really didn't have any good pictures of the two of us together!  Ruh roh.

Anyway, what to say about 2012?  It was a year of accomplishing goals, that is for sure!  I finally graduated law school after four grueling years, and N managed not to kill me.  It was a wonderful feeling, if a bit anticlimactic.  I went on my first "girls" vacation as an adult to celebrate my thirtieth birthday, and no one went to jail!!  N and I slugged our way through the bar, and again, no one died.  I even passed!

N was offered a new opportunity to expand his horizons at work, which was a major accomplishment and (I personally believe) a sign of how valued he is there.  Finally.  :)  And me?  Well, I started my first "real law" job.  I'd say real job, but let's be honest, I've had a string of "real" jobs that brought me to this point, so let's just hold on here.  I proved myself to be the diva of flexibility and packed my life to transition to Kansas City, without N, and so far we're thriving in our unconventional arrangement.  After all, we hit the five year marriage mark in September, the thirteen year together anniversary in October, and no one is trading up for a new model yet.

We've celebrated many new additions as our friends have expanded their families, and I could not be happier to be an honorary auntie all over again.  Even though it means that I spent significant portions of the year drinking alone, as sitting next to a pregnant lady while you chug wine just makes you look like you have a problem.  I have watched my nephews blossom into charming little boys, watched my sister overcome amazing odds through sheer grit, and realized just how awesome so many of our friends are.  It's a damn accomplished group, that is for sure.

Not all of 2012 has been perfect.  I miss my husband, cats, family, and friends.  We've suffered personal loss, and grieved with others near and far.  But I'm hoping that what we pull out of that loss is the continued reminder that we need to grab and cherish what we have.  Which means we definitely will have pictures worth sharing in 2013.  Next year, I want to be able to show you what happened, so that eighty years from now when I am no longer here our friends and family will also be able to remember.

So raise your glass.  Have a blessed 2013.  May your challenges be few and your blessings great.  May you fail - because it means that you tried.  Hug your loved ones, and remind them why they are loved.  I will see you on the flip side!.

The Bedroom Closet

The apartment is old, like from an era when people really did not have closets.  The largest closet, and the one where I keep my clothing, is in the dining room.  I actually think that it was built in when the apartment was switched from radiant heat to forced air.  There is a "closet" next to it that houses the furnace, and the closet continues behind the wall.

The wall in the bedroom is TINY.  I mean frighteningly small: less than twenty-four inches wide at the back, thirty-six inches wide at the front, and only twenty inches deep.  The previous tenant used it to store some of her craft materials.  I decided to use it to store my shoes and purses.  In the condo, even though we have sufficient closet space, I never had an effective storage area for my shoes.  This time, I wanted something that would encourage me to keep them organized.

After looking at what seemed like hundreds of shoe racks on Amazon, I ordered this shelf.

All of the traditional shoe racks seemed to have huge design flaws (like crashing to the floor) or were too small.  This was the correct width, and looked like it would be a good height.  But when I first set it up, it seemed too small.  It didn't go high enough in the closet, and I wondered if I needed more shelves.  I had enough space for my shoes (once I put my summer sandals into storage) but there was not enough space to put my purses and other accessories.  But then I had an epiphany, and this was the result.

I realized that I could hang my purses off of the rod, and bought a box to keep small hand held purses and my umbrella.  The top shelf (which you can't see here) has my suitcases, my nice purses that need to be stored flat in their bags, and some random totes.  My scarves are also on the rod.  It's a great accessory closet, even if it would make an AWFUL real closet!

:)

Living Room "In Progress"

More pictures, aren't you excited!  This is how the apartment looks right now.  Well, almost right now.  It is definitely a good feeling to be getting to the point where I feel that I can live in and enjoy my home, and where I would not be embarrassed if someone were to come by to visit!

The living room was one of the reasons that I rented this apartment.  Nick and I really loved the French doors and the exposed brick.  Now, however, it looks less like the second hand shop that we first saw, and more like me.  The furniture is a mixture of family pieces, craigslist finds, and hand me downs.  I am liking the vibe in the space, although there are a few things that I would like to change at some point.

This is the leather chair that I purchased on craigslist.  The pillow, lamp, and stool are from Ikea, although the stool has since moved on.  I think that I'm just going to skip a table because the space is a little tight.  I also have since placed some additional art on the wall with the arch.  Going forward, I would really like to replace the lamp with an arched reading lamp, which would add an interesting architectural element and also take up less visual space on the wall.

These bookshelves came from Nick's grandparents.  The rug is one of my favorite pieces.  It was a splurge purchase from CB2 for the condo that moved to Kansas City with me to hide from the cats.  The coffee table came from Nick's aunt.  I was not initially certain that it would be something that I wanted to keep long term in the apartment, but when it arrived it just worked.  

The couch is the original pullout from our condo.  The pillow on the left was the one that I recovered with the green patterned fabric, but I have not had a chance to take new pictures yet (I mean really, my house hasn't been clean enough!.  The poster above the couch may move on shortly.  I like it (it's an old nineties Aaron Chang print) but it doesn't seem to fit and I think I need something with some color.

I had to hang the curtains from the ceiling because of the crazy plaster walls.  I finally got a television that has taken its place of honor on the media stand.  The speakers are from Nick's uncle, and although they may seem old, they have a fantastic sound and I love the look.

Projects Remaining:

• Art on the arch wall Tweak art on the arch wall (I'm considering embroidering it!) .
• Replace art above the sofa
• Build a table for behind the sofa
• Recover the pillow for the sofa 
• New lamp for behind the chair
• Buy pouf ottoman
• Paper the back of the book

I think that over all it's going really well, but I'm still excited to see how it may start to develop in the future!

Sewing a Pillow Cover

A few weeks back, as things continued to get closer to being "done" in the living room, I decided to tackle the pillow cover that I have been meaning to put together for the other pillow on the couch.   I first bought this fabric to make pillow covers for the condo, but never ended up making the pillow covers.  So I brought the fabric with me, which was good because I have an old bedroom pillow that is the right size but wrong color for the couch.

The basic pillow pattern is one piece for the front, measuring the size of the pillow plus one inch added to the height and the width (assuming half inch seams).  The back is two pieces, the width of which is that of the pillow plus an inch.  Each back piece should also be half of the height plus three or four inches (assuming one inch for the seams, 3/4 of an inch to finish the seam, and fabric for overlap).

The first step is to finish the overlap seams.  Iron a double quarter inch seam along the width of each piece, and finish it on your sewing machine.  Then, lay the two back sides on top of the front (right sides facing in) and pin the edges.

Sew the outer edges of the form, moving around the outside.  You can reinforce the start and end sections, but I just started and then moved around to the end.  I do then do a few reverses, but I'm not sure that they are necessary.  Trim the corners.

Once the pillow cover is finished, turn it inside out, and stuff it!

Voila!  New pillow for the couch.  On to the next project.  I can't tell if I'm excited to finish these projects, or if I will ultimately be depressed when there is nothing left to do!  I'm leaning towards excited, especially now that I have a television to waste my time.

:)

Coffee Staining Fabric

Not long after I finished my roman shades in the bedroom, I bought a new duvet cover.  I had been eyeing this particulr duvet forever.  I first saw it online.  I loved the color and the pattern so much, but was not certain that I could make the purchase.  Pottery Barn is expensive, and it was more than I would normally consider spending on on a duvet cover.  So, I put it aside.

A few weeks after I moved to Kansas City, I was at the Pottery Barn and saw "my" duvet.  It was part of the display bed, and it looked even better in person than it had online.  It had all of the colors: plum, turquoise/teal, and browns.  The finish, although a cotton sateen, was great and not too shiny.  Strangely, I did not see any of the sets out for sale though.  I forced myself to walk away.  When I got home, I looked it up online again.  It seemed that my duvet may have been discontinued.  It was listed as being on sale, but the website only had the twin size (twin size is sold online only and is often the last to go).  Sigh.  I knew that I should have bought it.

Eventually, I ended up in the Plaza again, just walking through the stores for inspiration.  As I walked into Pottery Barn, I decided to see if my duvet was still on display, knowing that it would be gone and I would be disappointed.  But it was still there.  So I asked an employee if they had it for sale.  He confirmed that it was discontinued, and that they did not have any.  So I asked if I could buy the display, as I assumed that it was a full queen.  He looked shocked at first, but said it was absolutely an option and that it actually helped them because people continued to ask about the pattern and they did not have it.  Sold.

In retrospect, I probably just should have bought it when I first saw it.  Especially as the only place that now has the shams is eBay, and they are expensive!  When I got home, I immediately put it on my comforter, and it was perfect.  It was dark and thick enough to cover the pattern of the original comforter.  Plus, it was beautiful, and so soft.

But then I looked at my new, recently created, so much work (relatively speaking) roman shades.  And the blue of the fabric was too bright.

I love to layer colors, and I'm not one to make sure that all of the different tones are "matchy matchy."  But these were both too close and not close enough.  It was just enough off to make the room look like a three-year-old had designed it instead of complex and layered.  What to do?  My first thought was to return the duvet.  So sad, but doable.  But this was my linchpin piece that would pull the whole room together.  Should I just start over on the shades instead, and pick a fabric that was a better match?  Ugh.  I put a lot of work into those shades!

I decided to keep the duvet.  But before I trashed the shades, I decided to see if I could somehow "mute" the color.  So I went to my handy DIY expert, Dr. Google, to research tea staining.  It turns out that there are two methods for staining fabric, tea staining, and coffee staining.  (This website has a good description of both and the effect that they give.)  Lucky for me, coffee staining seemed to give more of the color effect that I was looking for, since I had coffee in the house and not tea!

Next question, how to stain the fabric?  I really did not want to take the fabric down, despite the fact that most of the demonstrations required dipping the entire piece of fabric.  Would putting the coffee into a spray bottle work?  I decided to run a test.

The flash on the camera bleached out the pictures, so it is difficult to see the difference, but I decided that overall the experiment went well.  The process itself was fairly easy.  I released the blinds to their full length, and evenly sprayed the fabric until it was thoroughly saturated.  In some places, this did cause the glue dots to loosen, but I reattached them without problem.  I did have a paper towel that I used to blot the fabric and wipe up the excess coffee on the window sill.  You can see in this picture that the coffee darkened the fabric just enough (the window on the far left has been stained, but the other two windows have not.

I'll come out and admit that I did not finish the fourth window in the bedroom when I did the others.  This meant that I was able to stain that piece of fabric before I hung it.  For anyone looking to replicate the process, it was much easier!  I was able to dampen the fabric more, which helped to ensure an even finish.  But either way, it worked!

The end result is that I get to keep my duvet, and my window shades.  As a bonus, I have a new technique for adjusting fabric color.

:)

Bedroom Vanity

When I was moving to Kansas City, many of our family members kindly donated items for my new apartment.  One of these donations was a small student desk from Nick's aunt.  It was a nice desk, but the finish was an orange-ish eighties oak, and it was also a little worse for wear.  I decided that it deserved an upgrade.  The desk itself is a little on the small side - it isn't possible to store files or paper in it.  But given the *tiny* size of the bathroom, I was desperately in need of somewhere to store makeup and jewelry.  So, it became an integral part of my "vanity nook" in the bedroom.

I don't have a real before picture.  Sorry.  I do have a half-way before picture, with one coat of paint and the drawers.  It gives somewhat of an idea of the desk!

As I mentioned, the finish was orangey, and the handles brassy.  It is also a very light desk, so it does not have any of the extra details that a desk of a similar style might have.  

I decided to use homemade chalk paint on this piece as well.  Instead of buying new, I utilized some latex paint that was leftover from the last time that I painted our bedroom in Chicago.  The color is Sherwin Williams Chinchilla.  It is a taupey/brown/grey/purple color.  

When I previously used it on the walls, it came out much darker and moodier, but between the small scale of this desk, the brighter contrast of the cream walls, and the plaster of paris (which lightens the paint) it came out as a lavender.  The texture of this paint seemed to be a little more difficult to work with than the green oops paint.  I think that this is because it was a self-priming, self-leveling paint.  So, note to self, when working with homemade chalk paint, there is no need to get fancy with the base!

I used a paint brush (as opposed to a roller) for this project because I thought that the style of the piece lent itself to a more textured finish.  I painted inside with this project, which overall worked well.  I used some cardboard for drips, and I did not have to worry about the low temperatures affecting the curing.  I did the first coat, and then waited a few days before the second.  This was not because it needed that much time to cure, but rather because I became caught up in other projects. The only really stinky part was the wax.  I finished painting the second coat in the evening, and once it was dry (about an hour or so) I put on the coat of wax before bed.  Not my best decision!  Oh well, learned my lesson and applied the second coat during they day.

I like how it turned out.  The color is great and the finish is butter smooth.  Just need to work on the chair now!

:)

Kitchen "In Progress"

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving, and I was lucky enough to have my husband in town for the holiday.  After realizing that we did not need a full turkey, we decided to change the meat.  Then, one thing led to another, and we ultimately decided on an Italian theme: of Sausage and White Bean Soup, Chicken Saltimbocca, Garlic Green Beans, Italian spiced Spaghetti Squash, and Lemon Thyme Roasted Mushroom.  We went down to the Plaza for the lighting ceremony, and then came back to the house to have tiramisu for dessert.  It was a great meal!

Cooking itself was a bit of a challenge in my tiny kitchen.  Strangely, it made me feel quite excited, as though I was cooking in the Smitten Kitchen.  As an aside, I LOVE that website.  Nick and I have both been following it for years, and the new cookbook is fantastic!  As we dodged each other and struggled to get all of the dishes done on time, I definitely felt proud that we were able to turn out such a lovely meal.

Anyway, since Nick and I spent the day dancing around in my tiny kitchen, I thought perhaps it is time to share pictures of my kitchen.  The kitchen is definitely in its "good enough for now" stage.  I still have some things that I'd love to do, but they aren't going to happen immediately.  Mostly, there isn't much space, so there isn't much that you can do to it!

The rugs were cut down from a 5'x7' rug that Nick and I purchased for another space and never really liked.  The posters are from the Beijing conferences (one is Beijing at 5, and the other Beijing at 15).  I used to display them at my office at DePaul, and they work fine to bring some color into the kitchen for now.

I put the knife rack up when I first moved in, and I don't love it.  Primarily because I have so few "real" knives here, and the steak knives are just messy.  I might change it up with some magnetic spice containers (I  think that I would also like to put some on the fridge).

Remaining Projects for the Kitchen:

• Paint rugs
• Fix knife rack
• Perhaps cafe curtains of some type for the windows
• Find a way to get the awful tile applique off the wall!