Home Repairs: Bathroom Tile

While my parents were in town, I put them to work. Dad installed a cable jack upstairs for our modem, changed out a dimmer switch that I hated, and read for hours and hours with Little while he convalesced from his slide accident. 

I swear some days the renovations to this house are held together merely with chewing gum -- a sort of booby trap that the previous owners rigged to get them through inspections, but would spring as soon as we used the appliances/plumbing/electricity in any meaningful way.

Anyway, whoever reworked the bathroom upstairs installed the shower liner (which is not my favorite, but hey, it works) without putting some sort of water proof material surrounding it -- no hardback board, no caulk, no tile, just drywall up against the shower head and top of shower liner. Brilliant. Since the liner is just 6 feet tall, we found out just a day or two after living in the house that the fine sprays and splashes would do some major damage to the surrounding drywall. After the first use, the outer layer of the drywall was starting to peel. 

I consulted with my tiling expert (mom) who assured me it would be a simple weekend project. We set out to get the supplies, and as planned, put her right to work. We found the tiles at a local place called the Rebuilding Center, which ended up costing $10 for the whole stack (about 200 tiles). If you're not familiar with the cost of ceramic tile, that was a fantastic deal (practically free). I failed to take "before" photos of our ugly shower, so you'll just have to trust me on this one. My mom got right to work putting up the tiles while I ran around trying to keep up with Little and actually get some work done. It took her about a day to put the tile up on the wall (there were quite a few little cuts to fit into the sloped ceiling). We ran out of time, so she left the grouting up to me (although with a guilty conscience, since I'd never done it before). 

After watching her do the basic motions, and reading the back of the grouting tub, I got to work. It took a couple of hours, I think, and the grout was complete. Not a terribly complex task, but draining nonetheless. I can't imagine doing a much larger space, but I guess if the work didn't involve reaching over my head for hours at a time, it wouldn't be nearly as bad. The shower actually looks pretty respectable now and we can rest assured that we won't be doing any further damage to the walls. The next step will be to find a more suitable shower head (one that actually enables you to adjust the settings) and we'll be set. 

A more spendy project down the road would be to actually replace the shower doors with more attractive frameless glass, but there are so many more projects around the house that take priority, like insulating the attic, adding soffit vents, extending the gas line to the kitchen so we can get rid of our sucky electric range, and oh yeah, paying the mortgage. 

I'm not complaining though, the house is fantastic in spite of its former owners, and I'm looking forward to a summer full of projects, both inside and out.  

Cost: About $100 with tile, grout, the menagerie of tools needed to apply adhesive, grout, and cut the tiles.
Time: About 2 1/2 days of working hours to place tile, grout, and caulk the seams. And another week of curing. Pretty simple and cheap compared to hiring a professional.

Home Repairs: Refrigerator Edition

We closed on the house two weeks ago to the day. It hardly seems possible, but we did. Moving with a toddler proved to be more hectic than I could have ever imagined. Thankfully, the weather was nice and we had a group of great friends to help us last weekend. 

It became clear that while our house was in great condition, there were a lot of little things that needed to be taken care of right away. One of the first repairs on the list was the refrigerator. While it functions well enough (although not my choice of style), the freezer was having some major problems that we learned about upon moving in. The freezer door is equipped with an ice and water dispenser that was somehow broken and causing the freezer to fill up with frost. When I looked into it further, I realized that the little flap that is supposed to stay closed until you press the lever for ice was not closing properly, thus letting warm air creep into the door and frost over. Not only was it frosting up the freezer, whenever we would hit the lever for the ice, it would just back up in the door and create a melty ice dam at the opening. It was a mess.

The only solution, I thought, was to take apart the door from the inside (with about a billion bolts). However, I decided to Google the problem and found awesome YouTube videos on how to repair GE refrigerators. I soon learned that it is easy to fix the gizmos on the ice dispensers by simply prying off the front digital panel and unhooking some wires (after you unplug the refrigerator of course). 

Thanks to the videos online, I quickly learned that it was not the flap that needed replacing, but the solenoid (whatever that is). I'm still not entirely sure how this little device makes the door flap open, but I guess that doesn't matter as long as it fixed our frost problem. After pulling out the panel, taking out a few tiny rusty screws, I had reached the problem -- the dastardly solenoid that had given up all hope of opening our ice dispenser flap. Now looking at this photo, it has become clear to me that my next project as a home owner should be to get a damn haircut. Geez.

For reference, this is a solenoid. The one on the left is the replacement and the one on the right is the sad sad pile of rusted-out metal that stood between me and my crushed ice water. I'm not exactly sure the kind of neglect it takes for a part that's buried behind two layers of plastic and barely encounters fresh air to completely corrode, but there you have it. I hooked up the new wires, screwed the panel shut, and the freezer and ice dispenser seem to be back in working order. 

Cost: $41 for the new solenoid

Time: About 15 minutes of my time. Home ownership feels good this week.

September Projects

September is almost over and I don't even know how that happened. It's not been Miles' best month, to put it mildly, he's been a bit of a tyrant through his cold, growing pains, and teething. There are some clues left behind from the rubble of Hurricane Little -- piles of clothes soiled with snot and drool, chewed up books, miscellaneous kitchen gadgets in various states of disrepair, and some dried up raisins and frittata ground into the carpet. Somehow in the chaos, I managed to start a couple of cooking and sewing projects on the weekend and in between naps, work, and fluctuating nanny schedules. 


My first project involved breaking out my Bread Baker's Apprentice book and doing two things that I've been meaning to try for a while: pizza dough and sourdough bread. The pizza dough was a success. I made six dough crusts and froze them for later use. The other night we decided to give them a try and they were wonderfully delicate and stretchy and when coupled with my baking stone, we made pizza that rivals our favorite pizzeria. Dough win.

The sourdough has been more of a challenge. I embarked on making my own starter over a week ago and still have yet to make a sourdough loaf. I feel like I've spent more quality time with the seed and barm than I have with my own child. Maybe if Miles smelled like rye flour and pineapple juice, I'd love him more. The process is easy enough. It starts out with dark rye flour and some liquid (pineapple juice for the first two days) and goes something like this: mix, cover, ferment, uncover, mix, throw out half of your bubbly (stinky) concoction, mix, cover, ferment, mix some more, throw out some more, uncover (shielding your eyes from the fumes), refrigerate, wait wait wait, warm up, mix, cool off, rise, wait wait wait, flip yet another page to find a list of 12 more steps to go. I think you get the point. 

So here I started, with a weeks worth of variations on the starter in my Pyrex measuring cup, and am today, finally at the bread making step. I was so excited to have a fresh baked sourdough loaf on the table for dinner, but after reading through each step carefully, I realized that the bread won't be finished until about 9pm. Bummer. I should have started the process when I woke up this morning! Well, lesson learned for next time. And there will be a next time, because I have a bowl full of barm in the fridge that needs to be fed, rocked, and snuggled (I kid). J and I have made a pact to bake at least three batches before giving up, then I'll freeze the starter for later so I don't have to start the process again. 

The other project was making Miles a chair. I've been searching around for a mini upholstered chair for Miles to climb on and relax in, but they're either all terribly ugly or insanely expensive. So, I spent one evening on the internet and found a lady on Etsy who made a pattern for a plush kid's chair. I purchased the pattern on Tuesday and with great restraint, waited all the way until Saturday to get the supplies. J watched Little all afternoon while I went on an epic run to JoAnn's and Fabric Depot. Little took stock of the foam and batting and determined it was a worthy project. I had all of the pieces cut out by Saturday night and spent Sunday in my sweatshop pumping out the slipcover. The instructions were pretty good (not outstanding though) and I had to scratch my head and dig deep into my brain's sewing chest to figure out how to get it all put together. 

In the end I'm pretty happy with the results. Would I do it again? No. It was only slightly less expensive than just buying a stuffed chair from Pottery Barn, and was kind of a pain to sew. However, it looks adorable in our living room and Little loves it, so totally worth the mild annoyance. I have to go back and fix the arms (they need more stuffing) and I goofed when putting in the zipper, so there's a slight pucker on the right side (this may never get fixed though, since removing a zipper is high on my list of things never to do). I don't think Little will care though, because he now has his own piece of furniture to love and jump on. 

Thrifting and Crafting

This weekend was beautiful and I decided to make the most of it. Jesse had work to do on Saturday, so I took Miles for a weekend outing with Anna and Elliot. We initially were going to stop for the grand opening of a new Cotton Babies store in Vancouver -- a grand opening that promised a free BumGenius diaper to the first 100 customers. We should have known that showing up only 30 minutes before the opening was a bad idea. As we drove by, we saw that tons of women, men, babies, and toddlers were already forming a line that wrapped around the entire building. Instead of joining the chaos, we decided to go to an awesome consignment shop that Anna has been raving about for quite a while. I scored a sweet pair of Converse sneakers for Miles for only $8. They're size 5's, so he won't be able to wear them probably until after his 1st birthday, but I will display them prominently on his shelf until then. I can't wait to go back when I have a better idea of what size clothes Miles will be wearing in the spring and summer!

Today, it's not nearly as warm, but very sunny. The non-gray sky put me in the mood to do a bit of crafting, but the success of my project largely depended on Miles. It seems like the sunshine put him in a good mood too and he was willing to sit through a morning of chores and watching me sort through projects that I aspired to start, but never had the time to finish. Between me cutting and folding fabric and the washer tumbling around load after load of clothes, he was a happy little dude. Occasionally he would let out a little shriek, as if to say "hey Mom, I'm still here," and I would make a goofy face and he would crack up. Man, it's been a good day. 

In between our stints of crafting and doing chores, he's managed to sneak in two good, if short, naps. As you can see, I've whittled down the laundry pile and am well on my way to making an adorable sun hat for Miles. It won't be very useful here in Portland for another couple of months, but we're headed to Florida and then D.C. to visit the grandparents in just 11 days and I am hoping for lots of sun (at least in FL). Ahh! Only 10 more days to start packing while biting my nails thinking about the long airplane journey across the country with a 5-month-old baby.

A Quilt for Eloise

I started this project a long time ago, but morning sickness, exhaustion from pregnancy, and life in general prevented me from finishing it. The project sat in my closet as a lonely quilt top for a good six months. When I heard the news of our friend Linnaea's new baby girl, Eloise, I pulled it out of that "to do" pile. I tried to make it as gender neutral as possible, which becomes more complicated when you stray from the traditional yellow/green combo. The big question was whether I should include blue? It was a tough decision, but ultimately I'm very pleased. This quilt also marks the first time that I used a dark color as the background. I played around with a few different colors, but decided that the slate fabric compliments the color palate much better than plain white sashing -- also, white and babies usually don't mix. 

Given that I was recovering from birth and settling into new parenthood, my mom was gracious enough to offer to finish it while she was in town. She finished the back, quilted the layers, and sewed on the binding. I have to say it's kind of nice having more than one person involved in a baby quilt's creation. Just that much more love has gone into the gift. While Miles was napping on Monday, I finally got a clear window of time to take it over to the post office and send it down to Santa Cruz. The quilt was packed with entire package of newborn sized diapers that Miles, my jumbo baby, outgrew at two weeks old. Eloise was just shy of seven pounds at birth, so I'm thinking they'll be useful for a while.

Welcome to the world, Eloise!

Furniture Update

J and I stopped in at the hardware store this morning and picked up a bottle of Old English furniture oil as a first step in making our chest of drawers look like new. I'm glad we did. I thought I might have to take more drastic measures, such as waxing and retouching with a tinted paste. However, $6.50 went a long way with this project! As you can see, the right side looks refreshed and good as new. Next step: shelf paper in the drawers and we'll be set with a pretty great looking changing table.

Completed Project (Almost)

Ta da! Our new (old) dining chairs are finally finished and made their official breakfast room debut last weekend. The fabric that Jesse's parents purchased a few years ago is a perfect fit for our apartment -- fancy enough to stand up to the chairs, but with a hint of modern geometry that works perfectly with some of our mid-century furniture.

Here's a shot of the underside with the new jute webbing. The only glitch is that the webbing is stretching a lot more than I thought. I learned a valuable lesson, I guess -- using a stretcher tool is a must. Jesse's mom has a canvas stretcher that she thinks will do the trick and is planning on bringing it up in June when they visit on their way out to Virginia. I've also been looking into some more high-tech options for the webbing and found upholstery grade elastic (the kind used for automobile seats) and think that is the way I'm going to go this second time around. I'm a little bummed that I'm going to have to take the seats apart again, but after a week of sitting it's become quite apparent that the sag is only going to get worse.

On the bright side though, Jesse's parents brought up two really great pieces of furniture that are doing an excellent job of filling up some empty space in our apartment. This one will double as a changing table and chest for baby stuff. I gave it a good vacuuming today and cleaned it up a bit with wood cleaner, but the finish still looks like it could use a little more luster. I'll do a little more research on that before delving in, but as you can see there's already a pile of blankets and clothing just begging to be put away!

And here's the second piece of new (old) furniture that is doing an excellent job of storing our baking pans and a few other odds and ends. It also serves as an excellent sideboard for hot dishes and dessert. My favorite part about this piece are the Belgian tiles. Don't they look fetching with our newly recovered chairs?

This month has been exciting because I feel like our apartment is really starting to come together and feel like home. Who knew just a couple of new pieces could really warm up the place and make it feel so cozy?

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

I was feeling crafty on Friday and decided to skip work and school work in favor of a project that I've been meaning to accomplish since Thanksgiving. Jesse's parents have been cleaning out their house to move to Virginia for a year and we were the lucky recipients of a few really cool pieces of furniture. We initially took home two dining dining chairs in November that belonged to Jesse's grandmother. I had grand plans of having the seats recovered in time for the arrival of the other two chairs this past week when Bob & Mary Ann visited. For multiple reasons, the recovering never happened. It's not like it's hard to recover a dining room chair. I estimated that it would take about an hour tops per seat.

As I embarked on this project mid-morning Friday, I was sure they'd be done in time for dinner. The only problem was that I never really bothered to look at the seat construction to figure out how exactly they were put together. Needless to say, my time estimates were terribly misguided. My apologies in advance for the photos (that look like they've been taken through screen door). My poor little dying camera was barely able to eek them out before going dark forever.

After ripping off the under layer of some very old-looking linen, I realized that the needlepoint covers (so carefully made by Jesse's grandmother) were held on by no less than three million upholstery tacks. Underneath the needlepoint covers was a fine muslin, also firmly secured with another dense layer of tacks. The hammer was of little use removing the tacks, so I opted instead for a flat-head screwdriver to pry them out. Once I removed the double layer of cloth, I flipped over the seat to inspect the padding.

Holy Crap! Lambswool and horsehair. I tugged gently at the contents and realized that they were also nailed to the frame. Yay. Who knew that horse hair would be so scratchy and easily secured by nails? Also, it was very very dusty. I tied a scarf around my face for the remaining portions of this deconstruction.

If this project were intended for any other chair, I think I might have just given up. But I really love the chairs and was determined to make them shine again.

After about three hours of tugging and ripping, I was finally down to the wooden frame of the first seat cover. You can see the guts that were ripped out, which included an old burlap sack tacked to the frame underneath the wool and horsehair padding. The sack covered jute strapping that you see here, which is also securely tacked to the frame with no less than six nails each. Somewhere out there is an upholstery tack salesman who is still rolling in all the cash he made from just these four chairs.

The first seat left me feeling slightly defeated, but I am determined to finish the other three this weekend, because if I don't keep up the momentum the chairs might just sit in a corner forever unfinished. After dusting off my sweatpants and vacuuming up what looked like piles of pubes in the dining room, I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. Two frames are completely stripped down and ready to go and the other two only have the burlap and jute strapping left to tackle. My fingers feel worn to the bone, but as an incentive I took a little break today to finalize my research on a new camera. It should arrive early next week, just in time to capture the final product!

A Productive Weekend Indeed

Friday morning wasn't great, but the day got a lot better after I left the house. I grabbed lunch at a local noodles place and read my book for over an hour in the sun. The book, American Wife, was recommended by my good friend Lauren. The story loosely follows a certain former Republican First Lady and her bumbling husband with a fondness for booze and hatred of the press. I am hoping this book proves to be a juicy bit of fiction that I will sail through (before the May 1st due date) in order to resuscitate our somewhat failed experiment -- The Cross-State-Lines Book Club for Slackers. I take the slacker part very seriously (and haven't actually finished or discussed a book on our list yet). I feel though, that this is the one.

Reading alone with my noodles was refreshing and reinvigorating. I was going to take the streetcar home, but decided instead to walk because it was such a nice day. On my way home, I stopped in at the hardware store and picked up two rolls of duct tape (for my awesome project), two flower pots and a package each of basil and cilantro seeds. However, I forgot to get potting soil, so the seeds will have to wait until I run errands later this afternoon.

Saturday morning, I prepped Jesse on his duties as a husband (meaning that he would have to spend the better part of the late morning wrapping my torso in duct tape) and instructed him to hand over two of his old T-shirts. I have to admit, it was a lot more uncomfortable than I imagined and by the time he cut me out of my silver body cast I was ready to jump out of my skin. However, the dress form turned out really well. I had Jesse take photos to document the process, but they're just too weird to share with the world. Right now, only the shoulders and bust are stuffed because I ran out of filling. I'll have to stop by the fabric store today to pick up a few more supplies. Just for fun, I tried on a dress that I already own for size and it's a perfect fit! I think I'll pick up a few yards of muslin and experiment with a couple of cute spring dress patterns this week while Jesse is out of town. I might have my own Anthropologie inspired wardrobe this summer after all.

And of course, it wouldn't be a productive weekend without a cooking project or two. For our (very relaxed) Easter dinner, I made Martha Stewart's Perfect Macaroni and Cheese, but added my own little twist. Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite side dishes, but so are collard greens. So, I halved the recipe, and added a ton of sauteed mushrooms and collards before baking. The spicy greens were a nice touch. I imagine you could do this with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Just remember to saute or roast the veggies until all of the liquid is cooked off -- you don't want a watery mess when you pull it out of the oven!

Today, I am dropping Jesse off at the airport again. He'll be in D.C. for a couple of nights for a work project. I think he is sad that he's going miss dinner at home tomorrow and won't get to enjoy the leftovers. Maybe I'll save him a serving or two. Maybe.

Mental Health Day

Today started off on a bad note around 5:30am when I woke up to sirens and whir of speeding police cars. I'm not sure where they were going, but they were getting there at lightning speed. I then woke up to Jesse's clock alarm at 6:00am. Usually, this is something that I recover from relatively quickly. Rolling over and zonking out is not usually a problem for me. However, the garbage/recycling truck came by to empty the dumpster promptly at 6:30am and then the street cleaning crew showed up around 45 minutes after that.

I was happy to get up and get my morning coffee (that Jesse thoughtfully prepared and placed in the refrigerator for me) and just chill for a few minutes before facing the world. Then, around 9am, my neighbor (that I have grown to hate more and more lately) started playing his 1990s punk music at full volume and continued to do so until just a few minutes ago. I have talked to him twice about it (after 11pm) when we were either trying to sleep or watching a movie and could hear our walls pounding over a full-volume action flick. He always says he's sorry -- and I do think that he is -- but then I think he forgets and starts up again a couple of weeks after each encounter. I'd give him a pass, chalking it up to him being a stupid, oafish guy, but he's a doctor for god's sake. It's not rocket science (or brain surgery in this case). Turn the volume knob to the left butthead!

I've made the executive decision that I should probably just get out of the house for the afternoon, so I'm off to the library to pick up a couple of books on hold. I will then take myself to a cafe for a second cup of coffee and have an early lunch to try and recover from this morning's activities. I think I will also stop by the hardware store to pick up a couple of rolls of duct tape. No, not to use on my neighbor (although the thought did cross my mind this morning). My Mom alerted me to an awesome project that I want to try this weekend. With a little coaxing, Jesse agreed to be my assistant. I'll have an awesome spring/summer wardrobe in no time!

Indulgence

Jesse and I were exercise buddies yesterday. We don't exercise together, just serve as motivation to get our butts out the door (then we go our separate ways). I am trying to get back into running, since I really have no excuse with all of this free time, but also because I need to feel productive and scheduling activities is the first step. I only ran for about a mile and a half, but walked for another three miles. It was a gorgeous day, so why not? When I got back home, I was pooped (and starving).

We ordered takeout from a local restaurant, because I have been craving Pad Thai for days. It was delicious and hit that empty noodle spot in my soul. Feeling sated after dinner, I sat down to work on a sewing project and realized that my eyes felt like lead at 6:30 in the evening. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Instead of giving in to the exhaustion/food coma, I decided to take a trip to the Fabric Depot. Nothing like (what feels like) an acre of fabric to revive the soul. I spent two hours perusing the rows for just the right fabric to complete one of my quilting projects. Everything in the store was discounted 20%, so I also picked up two jumbo spools of thread. I'm all set to go! It was hard not to go wild and buy tons of fabric for future projects, but I did get a few ideas for what might come next.

While looking for just the right fabric, I stumbled on the pattern books and spent about an hour checking out what's new for spring and summer. I was pleasantly surprised to find multiple patterns that were really cute. This morning I pulled out a couple of books that I've had for a while to study up on how to fit a pattern and measure myself properly. I admit, the covers of the books are hideous, but there's a lot of great information inside on how to make clothing patterns fit well (so they don't look homemade). I've had my eye on a few cute summer dresses at Anthropologie, but have a hard time stomaching the $170-260 price tag for a basic cotton shift. The thought of making something that I'll actually wear is pretty cool, but the process seems a little daunting. I have to admit that without a dress form, it's going to be a little difficult. However, if I can conquer curve piecing in quilting then I can certainly manage darts and princess seams! Maybe I'll try to enlist Jesse to help with the fitting.

I do have a wedding coming up at the end of May. (Wheels in head turning.)

Step Into My Office Baby

Productivity was the name of the game this week. In the absence of an office job, I have been concentrating on things to occupy my time here in Portland. In addition to the list of incomplete projects and tasks that I need to attend to, I have also signed up for some volunteering positions with local preservation organizations. I'm hoping that by mingling with other like-minded community members that I might get more leads on potential projects -- or at the very least make a few new friends and become more informed. As I continue to read about preservation issues in Portland, I am beginning to understand the growing need for the city to incorporate policies into their smart-growth plans that include provisions for historic buildings and districts. I'd like to be able to put my free time to good use and maybe find a job while I'm at it!

Also, though, I have set my mind to doing tasks that will help make Jesse's life easier while he is working for two different companies. I still haven't gotten around to doing laundry or cleaning the bathroom (ugh), but I did take Jesse's suits to the dry cleaners on Wednesday and took care of some administrative tasks that would have otherwise sucked out an hour of his workday. If I can put some of my skills to work for him -- like editing and writing when necessary -- then maybe he can feel more relaxed during the week and we can have more free time to go out and do fun things.

Today, Jesse is downtown at the office, so I'm going to try and finish up a few tasks that would prove distracting to him at home -- like vacuuming out our new credenza and moving our office supplies into it's drawers and cabinets. I finished the runner on top and it looks quite spiffy, so now the only thing left to do is make it functional! Also, I need to arrange a few more decorative items on top so we stop using it as a collection point for miscellaneous papers.

After the work is done, I'm hoping to have a little bit of free time to do some fun things, like continuing to expanding my Portland Love Quilt and tackling a small pile new fabric that has been lurking on my ironing board all week.

Even though we just went to Anna and Brian's for a Trivial Pursuit game night on Wednesday, I think I'm going to also try and convince Jesse that we should have our own game night tonight. After all, it is Friday. I'm thinking a Risk extravaganza is in order.

Beating the Snow Day Blues

I wasn't the only one on 19th Avenue who was feeling a little blue yesterday. Jesse's meetings in Portland were all cancelled and he didn't have a lot of actual work to do either. Instead of moping around the house all day, we got dressed and decided to take a walk in the snow. In the late morning the snowflakes were giant and puffy and with the temperature just hovering at freezing, it wasn't nearly as cold as earlier this week. Our walk was really nice, especially since it's the most exercise we've gotten in quite a few days. Between travelling and the icy sidewalks around Portland, running has not been in the cards.

I also had an ulterior motive for our late-morning walk. This past weekend I finally finished that secret sewing project that involved many circles and a little bourbon. The mystery project was a baby quilt for our friends Anna and Brian who are expecting an addition to their household in February. I finished a bulk of the quilt when Jesse was in Florida for three days in November, but didn't get around to the binding until Sunday. As with every project that I complete, I have been itching to give it to them the moment it was completed. Yesterday was Anna's birthday, and unfortunately she had to spend the morning working at the coffee shop. So, we decided to stop by for a hot drink, a chat, and drop it off to her then.

While trying to come up with ideas for a design, I was initially going to do a patchwork quilt similar to the one I made for Ava. However, I decided that I wanted to do something a little different and this was the perfect excuse to start a mini test project. I have been excited about incorporating circles into future designs and wanted to see if a) I could handle curved piecing and b) whether they would turn out looking anything like circles. I have to say, I'm pretty happy -- it's not perfect, but really, no quilt ever is.

This is the fourth quilt that I've completed and I'm still not sure whether it's more fun accomplishing another design, or giving the final product away. It feels pretty darn good to take a step back and think about the quilt from the beginning pieces to that final stitch. However, since I've only kept one for myself, I suppose it's the latter.

Congratulations, Anna and Brian!

When the Husband's Away, the Wife Will....

...work like a dog.

Ok, ok, so I played a little too. J had a whirlwind business trip to Florida this week and I had the apartment all to myself for three days. I dropped him off at the airport on Sunday and had a "play date" with Carolina, a good friend of my friend Ann in D.C. Carolina and her husband moved to Portland this spring and she is quite the avid knitter and jewelry maker. We had an afternoon of crafting and I made quite a bit of progress on my cathedral windows blocks for the joint quilt that my Mom and I are making.

On Monday, I was still in the crafting mood, so I spent most of the afternoon finishing up that mystery project (the one with curved piecing) and working a bit more on the cathedral windows blocks. At the same time, I finished up season 4 of Grey's Anatomy and indulged in a few episodes of Dynasty that CBS is now streaming on their website. Dynasty has a warm spot in my heart, partly because I know the theme song by heart from listening to it as a child, but also because I spent one of the best Halloweens ever dressed as Mrs. Krystle Carrington. My friend Lauren dressed as Ms. Alexis Carrington (Krystle's nemesis) and we thoroughly enjoyed the spotlight. As a side note, it was one of Jesse's least favorite Halloweens because he said the red jumpsuit creeped him out. Whatever. I was fabulous.

I knew that the fun couldn't last and was determined to be productive around the house before J came home. I woke up early on Tuesday, had a nice hearty breakfast and got pumped to clean and organize. I was so busy yesterday that I never slowed down, hence the lack of posting. Aside from the the normal duties (like loads and loads of laundry, vacuuming, etc.) I also finally sorted through our pans and hung a shelf above the stove. It felt pretty darn good to step back and see everything finally in its place. J was quite impressed at all of the improvements and we are excited about having a tidy apartment again.

After his long trip, J needs a break. Luckily for him, instead of putting him to work washing dishes and making the bed, we can focus on something fun. Like finally making those holiday cards!

Holy Dude! The Second Weekend in November is Gone!

Geez, how did that happen? Last time I checked we were just settling in Portland and now it's nearly Thanksgiving. I have failed to do several things so far in November, like submit my resume to that temp agency and get the car inspected for emissions. However, I am in the process of being hired as a part-timer at an environmental firm to do some research/writing. Their goal is to have me working by November, so any day now things should be starting up. Seriously, I'm not a total slacker.

This weekend was pretty mellow. The weather has been cold lately and neither Jesse or I have had much motivation to leave the house for long periods of time. We did go out to the grocery store to stock up on veggies for the week and experimented with tofu on Friday night to make some kick-ass fajitas. Oh, and we picked up Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates at the library, which I have been dying to sink my teeth into. I'm having a bit of trouble deciding whether to savor each chapter over the course of a week or two, or just go wild and finish it in a day.

Also on the agenda this weekend was a new sewing project (as if I needed another distraction). Like the holiday cards, it will have to remain a secret project (I'm not sure if the recipient checks in on my blog from time to time). One thing I can say is that it involves curved piecing, which was tedious and difficult to conquer at first. As you can see, my first session necessitated a wee glass of bourbon. However, I sailed through several more this weekend and am quite happy with my progress. Curved piecing is still not my favorite thing to do, but I feel good that I managed to overcome a long-time fear. I think it will make for quite a few more interesting quilts.

Today, I'm off to the fabric store to find some sort of patch to try and mend Jesse's jacket. I mentioned Wednesday that in his excitement to get home from the bar following the elections, Jesse managed to rip a hole in his new (but not terribly expensive) coat with his thumb. He didn't rip a seam, which would have been easy to remedy, but a nice 4-inch tear in the fabric. You'd think he was skipping around with a box cutter from the size and location of the tear. I was prepared to give up on the darn thing, but he insists he still wants to wear it. Hopefully I'll find something that isn't too noticeable -- like a puppy dog patch with rainbows and hearts.

Weekend Update

This weekend was rather uneventful. We didn't make it out for Halloween this year, something that has not occurred since we both moved to D.C. It was a little sad not dressing up and going out with all of our friends, but we don't really have many friends in Portland yet. It was pretty cold and a little rainy, so I was very happy hanging out in our warm, dry apartment watching an old movie.

We did start thinking about our holiday cards on Friday night and by Saturday afternoon we had finalized a design and started production. I'm not going to give away much, but these are some of the tools that we used. I convinced Jesse to come with me to the Paper Source to pick out colors and supplies. We did a test run yesterday and I am pretty excited about the results.

Since we moved this year and never managed to send out new address cards, our holiday cards will have to suffice. For this reason, our list of people is surprisingly large. Starting to make holiday cards on November 3rd probably sounds a little crazy, but I think we might actually need the entire month to complete them all!

I woke up this morning and was all set to get our car inspected for emissions again (Oregon will not accept our 2-month-old inspection from California). We need the inspection in order to register our car and get Oregon license plates. Oh and also, our car needs a "VIN Inspection" were we get to pay someone $21 to look at the VIN number on our car and write it down on a piece of paper. Anyway, I went online to find the nearest inspection station only to find that they aren't open on Mondays.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to work on other fun projects today.

Four Pounds of Greens

Yesterday, I spent the better part of the late morning and early afternoon attempting to stain my chair. I quickly learned that staining isn't easy and filled with smiles like those damn refinishing books claim. It's hard and messy. As you can see, about half-way through I decided I hated the color (and quite frankly, my application). I cracked open my refinishing books and found a little disclaimer -- "whatever you do, never, ever, follow the directions on the back of the stain can" (or something to that effect). Great. Minwax is full of shit, and I have a chair that I hate. Apparently, in order to get a nice finish, you are supposed to apply the stain to the wood while the wood conditioner is still wet (the exact opposite action of the directions on the can). So, today I am off to the store to buy more 80 grit sandpaper and will be sanding away my mistakes this week. Yay.

Feeling completely deflated, I decided that I needed to be successful at something. I enlisted Jesse to come with me to the grocery store to plan an elaborate dinner. We ended up with a trunk full of bags containing enough groceries to make dinners for an entire week. Last night though, I was focused on one thing -- making a successful batch of collard greens, Oohhs and Aahh's style (even though their version is vegetarian, mine is not). I had never made collards before, even though they rank pretty high on one of my favorite dishes ever. My mom hated the smell of them cooking when I was growing up, so I only ever ate them at restaurants as a kid. As a result, I never learned to make them either. It's difficult not having a family recipe to fall back on, like my Mom's gumbo or jambalaya.

After reading through a few recipes, I found one that sounded about right -- 4 pounds of greens, 3 onions, 1/2 pound bacon, some vinegar, broth, and red pepper flakes. Simple and delicious. I found out that it is not easy to fit 4 pounds of greens in one dutch oven (and this is a pretty huge one). As you can see, I had to mush the greens on top and fold over the hot liquid on the bottom to make them submit. It took a few minutes, but they eventually loosened up and settled in the bottom.

The greens cook for about an hour and turn out nice and tender, but not mushy. Jesse and I couldn't wait to eat them as a side dish, so we each sampled a little bowl before bed. I declare them a success! They will be the perfect accompaniment to the chicken and stuffing I am going to make this evening.

Ahh Home

Saturday's push to unpack and organize felt really good. We made so much progress on the books that we were even able to pull out some of our art. I think in D.C. we took for granted the fact that our books add so much color to our living space -- something we only realized once they were no longer there. Of course, we're still pushing boxes of stuff from one corner to another, but I think one more week and we'll be in pretty good shape.

Sunday's focus was to get the bedroom in some sort of order. So far it has been our go-to spot for piling random mounds of things that have no place. Also, last week I had a revelation that if I am going to start doing contract work, there is no way that both Jesse and I can accomplish anything in the same room. I decided that we needed to set up some kind of work station in the bedroom so I could have a door to close and a space of my own. It's still very primitive, but nothing that a little art and an actual chair can't fix.

And what of the breakfast nook you ask? Well, it's officially become the furniture refinishing station -- that is until we find another kitchen table and chairs. The old kitchen table was a little big for the space, and well, I hadn't yet found chairs. Now it's much more suitable as a desk/project table. Also, I only have to find one chair to match instead of four -- that is a much easier task to tackle on Craigslist.

I'm getting much closer to finishing the sanding on my consignment store chair (I found some 100 grit sandpaper that has been useful in removing those tough spots of varnish). I'll be staining and this weekend for sure.

Good Deal Day

For the past few days I have been trolling Craigslist for kitchen chairs and some sort of table to help bring together our makeshift living room. Thursday was a success. I had hoped to share all of the details and even update you on my running total of dollars spent on furniture to date. Unfortunately, I wasted precious blogging time watching the blasted VP debates last night. In the spirit of politics, I'll give you the "straight talk" version of my Furniture Game progress, which will be rife with large shiny photos, gibberish, and absolutely no relevant figures to back up my statements -- a la Governor Palin. (Sorry. That was tacky. It was just too easy.)

The end table was the first purchase of the day from a very nice lady on Craigslist. Not only was she nice, but she also gave me a good deal. The table cost more than a package of 26 coat hangers from Target, but less than our can opener. Don't be fooled, we have a killer can opener. Anyone who guesses the price will win a wink and a smile from moi.

The second purchase of the day was this Poang chair for Jesse. I stopped at Ikea on my way back from "Craigslist Lady's" house to purchase a few kitchen hooks. I ended up with a chair as well. It was not an impulse purchase. In fact, Jesse and I had actually settled to get one this weekend anyway. However, this one was in the "As-is" room and had a considerably slashed price because the cushion is missing its headrest. Luckily, Jesse is a big dude and his head extends well beyond the head rest area -- negating the need for the extra cushion. For the chair, I paid less than our bed frame but more than a tank of gas. Again, any guesses will get a shout out from Portland and maybe even extra credit.

Those were the only two purchases for the day, but they made a significant dent in the list of pending furniture for the apartment. Jesse used his brute strength to help me with an initial round of sanding on my project chair. It's starting to look a lot better. I think I'll be able to finish up with a finer grit sandpaper this weekend and maybe even start staining!