New Chapter

 

Since the last time I updated this a lot has changed.

We made the hard, but for-the-best, decision to close the restaurant. Just about four hours after we officially decided to close, I got the call that the job I wanted ( I'd been interviewing for it for weeks and weeks) was mine. I had described it to family and friends as the job of my dreams and now that I'm about eight months into it I still agree with that. It's been incredible.

Z is excelling in his new role as a full-time stay-at-home dad. This has been such a benefit to us as I am getting settled into my new position. Previously he and I were taking turns during the weekdays to be home with Little A and then he headed to the pizza shop every night and all weekend. Every weekend. Looking back at it now it really was just too much for us in every way.

And, so far, we're welcoming such exciting plot twists as--for the first time in our lives together--weekends at home (all of us! under the same roof! all weekend!), evening dinner together (all of us! at the same table! every night!) and the ability to make plans for previously unthinkable things like vacations.

There are still some unknowns as we figure out what's in store for us but we're looking forward to the next part of our story.



The lovely photo above is "Vintage Books," a print available for purchase, from butterflyfood on etsy. 
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Ten before 10/1

If you read a lot of blogs you may have noticed a lot of "30 before 30," lists or something to that effect, floating around the blogosphere. If you haven't, I have. And take my word for it: they're popular right now. I think they're a great idea -- I am a list-lover at heart and the thought of having all of my goals laid out right before my astigmatism-ed little eyes, WITH A DEADLINE, makes me happy.

The only problem is I am past 30.

31 actually.

And I didn't do one of these lists. And "32 before 32" sounds kind of, well, like I forgot to do a 30 before 30 list. (Although, being from Utah, I should have a soft spot for those two numbers.)

But anyhow, I have decided to do my own list: "10 before 10/1." Ten things before October. I figure that giving myself only four weeks will make me get my arse in gear and actually accomplish something.

So (drumroll, please!) without further ado: My 10 Before 10/1 List:

1. Replace the knobs on the Craigslist dresser I bought (and have been living with for more than one year) when I thought: "That dresser will work great but I can't live with it for more than one day without replacing those knobs."

2. Take pictures of Little A's nursery nook and write a blog post about my favorite part of it -- the changing table/dresser.

3. Put up a piece of art on the gigantic, bare wall that calls my name every time I walk by, reminding me how big of a procrastinator I am.

4. Finish reading the book I started a couple months ago and haven't finished.

5. Find new pillows for our living room couch. Either by buying some I love or making them myself. Which reminds me...

6. ...I need to use my sewing machine. I haven't made anything with it yet even though I've had it for a couple of years. I can't wait to try.

7. Burn the 19 months of video footage from our camcorder onto DVDs.

8. Print out (and put in an album) at least two months of photos from Anthony's first year. I know, I am wayyyy behind on this.

9. Have a picnic at the park while it's still warm.

10. Eat at a new restaurant.


I will report back on my progress. Wish me luck!



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Monday Lovely: Porch Pals

And in matching outfits, no less. That sound? It's my heart melting. (Just in case you were wondering.)


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Rock-a-bye, baby, in your teenytinybuthopefullythoughtfullydecoratedroom...

Z and I* have been busy remodeling our funky, 1907 basement into the future home of our bedroom, the nursery and a master bath (*my contribution is staying out of the way until my expertise is needed) . It's our hope that by doing this, we're converting our shoe-box-sized home into at least a snow-shoebox-sized one that can hold both of us, our 175 pounds of dog (actual weight) and our wee little bebe.

Zach's friend Joel is our contractor and had his stellar framing crew knock out the basement in a couple of days. Now we're moving the furnace and air conditioning unit to make more use of the quirky square footage. Which means no A/C for us tonight. Yikes.

I'll be posting more photos of the remodeling process as we progress, but for now, let's turn our attention to what we're calling the "nursery nook." At 6'x9', it's not quite big enough to technically be called an actual nursery, so hence its "nook" moniker. It's going to be part of our room and will be able to be closed off behind double-doors. When the sad day arrives that we have to sell our beloved shoe box, it will be converted into a second walk-in closet.

But for now, it is the soon-to-be home of little Mirando.

And speaking of him, take a peek below to see what we're thinking so far for his decor. Z & I are not really "theme-y" people, so as we've been deciding on nursery ideas, our taste tends to lean more toward cozy modern (I just made up that term) with a monchichi thrown in for good measure.

Click on the photo for details & sources

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Like a Fine Wine, or a Really Stinky Cheese*

Today, Zach turns the big 3-0. He is my better half, our family chef, our master carpenter, my biggest cheerleader, a great comedian, a surprisingly good decorator, an excellent shopping companion, a terrible loser at board games, a fabulous road trip buddy, a beer connoisseur, the hardest worker I know and my best friend.



Happy birthday, Z!

*Thanks to Courtney for the headline inspiration. I have a feeling Zach will appreciate being compared to a smelly cheese much more than he would an expensive wine. That's just how he is. Sigh.

Maybe it's not half-full, but at least I didn't spill it

As days of the week go, Mondays are not my favorite. Consider that today Zach has a wicked fever, my beloved Ford Explorer is quickly taking a turn for the worse and it’s rainy and dreary, this Monday in particular is not the best way to start a new week.

However, I know I have it pretty easy compared to many people out there. So in the spirit of looking at my glass half-full, here’s a list of the things I’ll be happy to do this coming week:

- Spend time with Marcae and Katie

- Get to see Abby and have neighborhood game night, just like old times

- Paint our baseboards [Editor’s Note: I’m not excited or happy to do this, I’ll just be happy to get it over with. Glass half-full, remember?]

- Take my old clothes to DI—hello, extra closet space!

- Take my shoes to be re-heeled (How in the world am I so hard on them?)

- Be grateful that someone turned in my purse and ALL ITS CONTENTS—including my debit card, American Express, driver’s license, cash and prescription eyeglasses—to the security desk in WENDOVER when we were there this weekend to enjoy the fabulous comedic stylings of Bill Cosby. Thank you, honest citizen! I’m sending loads of good karma your way. And maybe a box of Jell-O.

- Hope that my flooded office is quickly repaired so that I can move back to my old digs and out of our glass-walled conference room. Sewer line breaks really get in the way of productivity. And privacy.

What remains of my water-damaged office. In need of sheet rock and new carpet.

With special thanks to my inactive lifestyle + love for snack foods

As you may or may not know, Zach and I have been hard at work installing new hard wood floors (and by "Zach and I," I mean just Zach, all by himself, no help at all from me, him working solo, me passing the time by getting my makeup done at Nordstrom to avoid all things work-related). He installed them. And then sanded them. And then sealed them. And then sanded them. And then sealed them. Again.

The Sunday before last was "Sanding Sunday." And for about 6.5 hours we (again, not me) sanded using THE WRONG SANDER. It wasn't nearly heavy enough to really get the job done, despite what the folks at Home Dept would have you believe.

So, when I came home and Zach needed my expert help, I happily obliged. Enjoy the footage of my construction expertise below. We make a great team.

Apparently being "dead weight" is my specialty.

I Told You So

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I've been busier than usual although I feel like nothing exciting has happened. Don't believe me? Well, I will prove it to you with this post.

Since we saw each other last, I celebrated Valentine's Day and President's Day (which means a day off from work, woo hoo!); we have (read: Zach has) made significant progress on The Great Hardwood Floor Install of 2008, or as I prefer to call it, That Which May Cause Me to Turn to Drug and Alcohol Abuse; and things are crazy, crazy, crazy at work.

So, just to catch you up, Valentine's Day was a bit anti-climatic, since Zach worked that evening (I know, I know, you're soooo surprised). It was still a fun day, though, as I was able to surprise Z with a CD from one of his favorite bands and a DVD of one of his top, cheesy 1980's movies. He surprised me with an incredible, huge potted orchid that is seriously as big as our house. OK, not seriously. But close! ALMOST as big as our house. The pot itself is gorgeous and the orchids growing in it are so beautiful that I'm going to feel really bad when I accidentally kill them. Not that that's necessarily going to happen. It's just that it always does. My indoor-gardening skill is on par with my singing voice and my ability to play team sports. That bad.

I apologize for the crappiness of this photo, taken from my camera phone.
It doesn't do the flowers justice. A new camera would be much appreciated if anyone wants to buy me something and doesn't know what to get me.

The staff at the store where he bought these (which is one of my all-time favorite places on this earth) included a long list of instructions on exactly how I should go about not killing them. Hopefully I can make that happen. Or not happen? I'm so confused.

Last weekend was of the three-day variety, my favorite way to spend a Monday--not working! Diania and I were feeling ambitious and decided to head over to an early morning pilates class before we met up with Amanda and Natalie for brunch. The girls, two babies, my pilates-leggings and I met up at Eggs in the City for a fun-filled breakfast and way too much coffee.

Amanda & Diania's main squeezes
enjoying brunch with the girls
(Diania's Finn is on the left, Amanda's Patrick is on the right)

Nat, Finn and Amanda

D and me post-pilates. Don't we look extra lean and fit?

Then, Natalie and I went to the driving range where we amazed all in attendance with our incredible golfing skills.

This was a very active day for me and my body was not used to so much moving around. So I trekked home and took a nap for about 20 minutes. Actually, I closed my eyes while the dogs stared at me within inches of my face. Not the best way to catch some shut-eye.

Afterwards, Z came home and we took the dogs for a walk up to Trolley Square. While they waited outside because apparently Trolley Square is discriminating against its four-legged customers and does not let them in, I ran into American Apparel where I picked up one of the greatest inventions of all-time: thigh-high tube socks. Don't laugh, they are awesome. I am always freezing at night and must sleep in a pair of the ugliest, thickest socks I can find. However, my legs still freeze. It's probably all of that muscle.

Anyway, I can't sleep in pants because they always annoyingly slide up my legs. (I realize this is probably far too much information, but you see how boring my life is that I must tell you about my new sock purchase, so just feel sorry for me, OK? Don't judge.) So now I sleep in these and my life is complete!

[Editor's note: Keep in mind this is a "sexy" picture of aforementioned tube socks. These do not look like this on me, in fact they make all of my thigh fat squish out the top.]

Monday evening I headed over to book club with Teri where I had a fabulous time and learned all about the book that I was supposed to read but never even purchased. If you want to read--you really like the idea of it--but just can't make yourself crack open a cover, I highly recommend joining a book club. Now, if I'm at, say, a cocktail party (although I realize this is unlikely because who in Utah ever really throws a cocktail party?), and someone brings up "Water for Elephants" in a conversation, I feel fully confident that I will be able to discuss the themes of the book even though I didn't ever read it. Thank you, book club! Also, I was able to eat some yummy food, enjoy a delicious glass of wine and hang out with Teri and my fun book club girls. A win, win, win situation.

The rest of this week has been pretty boring. Work is super busy at the moment and Zach is almost done installing the hardwood floors in our bedroom. Which means we have the luxury of sleeping in our living room, on the couch's pull-out bed. Which means I am not getting any sleep but I am feeling very posh since I now have a fireplace and flat-panel TV in my "room."

I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Weekend Update: Football, Floors & Fore!

Zach and I typically like to pack way more into a our days off than we could ever really accomplish, and this weekend was no different.

We started things out Friday with Z's appearance on KUTV's noon news, where he made a Superbowl specialty. His latest creation was a football-shaped pizza. I volunteered to be his lovely assistant/publicist. At one point, when I confirmed the spelling of his name to a producer, the crew thought I really was his publicist. They were impressed that their neighborhood pizza guy was so in-demand that he needed an entourage.

Saturday I was able to meet up with Natalie to hit a bucket of balls. We had a great time and even managed to stay warm at the covered, heated driving range.

Nat & Me showing all the guys how it's done (notice her golfing footwear)

When I got home, we tore out the rest of our floor in the dining room since we're putting in hardwood throughout the house. Thanks to our friend Courtney, who had a hardwood floor surplus, we're putting in some sweet maple floors. We spent a lot of the day loading and unloading our old flooring and making multiple DI-runs where we donated several Ford Explorers full of household accumulations. We then cleaned ourselves up enough to go to the Blue Man Group performance.

After we watched the Blue Men, we were starving and it was 10:30 p.m. Lucky for us, Ginza Sushi was still busy and seating people when we walked by, and we scarfed down three delicious rolls. Our 2.5 block walk to my office parking lot (where we left the car) from Energy Solutions Arena was entertaining, since we were able to watch all of the scantily clad club girls trying to pretend they weren't freezing, walking in the near-0 temperatures wearing dresses smaller than my dinner napkin.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and then loading and unloading more flooring. We were unloading flooring right up past the start of the game and barely made it to meet up with Zach's family to watch the Superbowl. We were looking forward to stopping by Teri & Mark's house, too, but because of our poor time management skills we had to miss out.

Despite the craziness, it was a good weekend. And although I didn't have a favorite team playing in the big game, I was happy with the outcome. I'm not a Tom Brady fan (I think it's against some kind of women's code to cheer for someone who starts dating a Victoria's Secret supermodel while his ex is very, very pregnant with his child) and I really liked the idea of two brothers winning back-to-back Superbowls, so go Giants!

Being Passive Aggressive

It snowed today. AGAIN. And, while I admit that the snow looks really pretty, I would be fine if it didn't snow again for the rest of the year. Or, the rest of my life. That would actually be fine, too.

I am running such a high spring fever I could fry an egg on my head.

I miss being outside, working in the yard (I am actually dying to pull weeds, that's how bad my fever is), golfing in the early morning, wearing a summer dress to brunch on Sundays, sandals (oh, how I miss sandals!), playing with Sydney in the sprinkler, planting in my flower pots and spending time out on the patio. I miss it all.

And in a show of protest to that old grump Mother Nature who insists on continuing to dump snow all over us, I have a little bouquet of pink tulips on my desk.

Take that.

Family Christmas Photos '07

Our very talented photographer friend Janelle at Atelier Photographie took some photos of our little family for Christmas.

She will likely win a Pulitzer Prize for photography since she not only had to deal with photographing two wild animals, but my wild husband as well. We loved the photos, thanks, Janelle!



If you'd like to contact Janelle about taking pics of your family, let me know.

She Wanted to Be Like the Dryer

As you may already know, Zach and I had an exciting weekend. Our little dog, Sydney, was sick the entire time with what we thought was the flu. After her symptoms kept up until Sunday night, we decided to take her to the animal E.R. and have her further checked out.

Several x-rays later, the doctor found that there was something stuck in her intestines. They ended up giving her an IV and let us take her home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday night/Monday morning so that she could have emergency surgery first thing in the morning.

Since the vet let us know that her condition was life-threatening, we didn't get much sleep with her between us where Zach & I could stare at her all night long. The next morning, we rushed to our fabulous vet, Dr. Latimer at Sugarhouse Veterinary Clinic, and were on his doorstep as soon as the office opened. He checked Sydney out and we did more tests to make sure that surgery was necessary.

It was, and he ended up operating on her late Monday afternoon. Fortunately, everything went well, and he ended up extracting (what we think was) a long sock from her intestines. Why she would eat an entire sock, we have no idea. Dr. L said that it was string-like, which is the worst kind of foreign object for a dog to have stuck in them, since it wreaks havoc on their intestines as they work to pass it. He said that she only would have had another day before things would have been very, very bad and un-operable.

About 5' of her bowels ended up being wrapped around this 18" piece of fabric. Luckily, the doctor was able to remove it with only two incisions to her intestines (he thought originally it would take 4 or 5), so that was great news.

Zach, Parker and I are missing her terribly since she'll be in the hospital until Thursday. We can't wait for our little Sydney to get home and we all feel so lucky that her problem was caught in time. I thought about taking a picture of the "foreign object" which the doctor saved for us, since it isn't every day you get to see a $2,000 sock. But, it turns out, even $2,000 socks are pretty disgusting once they've been living inside an animal for a few days.

The little sock eater tonight at the hospital.

Reverse Napoleon Complex

A while ago I read (part of) the Dog Whisperer's book in an effort to better understand my canines' psychological issues. The book begins with something like, "Dogs are dogs. They are not people in dog costumes." I remember thinking, Well, of course. Duh. Everyone knows that.

Except that's not true for my dogs.

Although I'm fairly certain someone like Kenny Baker doesn't reside within a gray and black furry costume, roaming our house for a soft spot to lay his drool-filled jowls while he contemplates how hard it is to have to sleep 23 hours a day, I think sometimes that Parker forgets (or maybe he doesn't know) he isn't human.

He doesn't like to spend too much time outside. He refuses to lay on the ground unless he has a cushion or a soft blanket. He won't drink out of a bowl. The list goes on.

He also doesn't know that he isn't a 12-pound dog.

Last weekend, in my crack high that is a Costco visit, I forgot that at 30 pounds, Sydney really isn't a tiny dog, and bought her a bed that is way too small.

Sydney humoring me.

Apparently, though, it isn't too small for Parker. Who is a petite 135 pounds. And nearly 6 feet tall on his back legs. Once I got out the new dog bed, Parker claimed it for his own and insisted on trying to curl up on it and sleep, no matter where I moved it.

Parker calling dibs on the sweet new bed.

Oh yes, it's under there.

Fits like a glove. A very, very small glove.

Summer: Stay Cool, Call Me & Don't Ever Change

It hit me today when I was making lunch plans with Aubrey, and we were planning a date to meet in NOVEMBER, that summer is officially, unquestionably OVER. I won't miss the unbearable heat but I will miss the warm nights, barbecues on our new patio, having an evening glass of wine outdoors with Zach and the flowers' brightly colored blooms.

Stand-out moments of this summer for us are our fun trip to Zion National Park with the Millers (before they moved to South Carolina and ruined our lives), hiking with my mom and dad at Calf Creek Falls, celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary (?!?), celebrating Sydney's first birthday with us and our always-fun neighborhood game nights and barbecues.

A few of Zach's favorite times included finally getting to play baseball again (his first opportunity since college 7 years ago), finishing the long-awaited (and badly needed) concrete at our house and getting to take a couple nights a week away from the restaurant.

My highlights included going to Europe to be with one of my favorite clients in Switzerland and then getting myself--in one piece--to visit one of my best friends in the entire world, Maegan, in Rome (three trains, four bags of luggage and numerous bumps and bruises later), cheering for Zach at his baseball games alongside my fabulous in-laws, getting to see and celebrate adorable mom-to-be Kristyn and reunite with my CHS pals at our 10th high school reunion.

I love fall but am going to miss summer--especially once winter has settled itself in. Goodbye summer, catch you in May '08.

An Apple a Day

This weekend Zach and I had a great time. The last couple months, every once in a while, he has been able to leave the restaurant on Saturdays at around 3 or 4 p.m.-- a HUGE accomplishment for us. Since we started the restaurant THREE YEARS AGO he has never been home for an entire Friday or Saturday night, except for a handful of times to go to a wedding or an event out of town. Saturdays have always been especially hard because he heads to ZP at around 8 or 9 a.m. and doesn't usually get home until midnight or later and I am home alone. All. Day. Long. This makes for some very long days that usually result in me discussing celebrity gossip and politics with our dogs because there's no one else around. Which can be frustrating since Parker still hasn't forgiven Britney since the VMA debacle and Sydney is so over Barack and really, what else is there to talk about?

So, on Saturday, Zach and I went to Canella's for dinner (the second Saturday in a row for us there), rented Blades of Glory (I thought it was funny but I still fell asleep) and made caramel apples. We were serious about this, people. We even made the caramel for the caramel apples. We had planned to eat them for our dessert but we both ate so much of the caramel, chocolate and white chocolate while preparing each, that by the time they were finally ready we couldn't eat a single bite. It was still fun, though.

The two lovely, decorated apples below are Zach's creation. I'm pretty sure a certain someone has a budding career as a food stylist.


This one below is mine.

The next day, Zach thought they tasted great.

Bringing Sexy Back (For Store Credit)

It seems that the relationship experts at Cosmo and Glamour agree that after a few years of marriage one should keep things interesting by investing in some frilly, pink underwear.

Thanks to Abby for making sure we're all stocked up in that department.

Yellow cab, Yellow pages, Yellow Snow...

This summer I (again) tried my hand at growing fresh produce. Last year our modest little garden provided us with squash, zucchini, a chili pepper or two and about one ripe tomato. We decided that we planted the tomatoes way too late. So this year, as soon as we were able, we put three tomato plants in the ground and watered them lovingly to ensure our timely arrival of red vegetables. I mean fruit. I mean vegetables...

About six weeks or so ago our little green tomatoes started turning yellow. Not long until they are ripe! Right? Well, we kept waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and our little tomatoes were STILL not red.

By now we have about 15-20 half-way ripe tomatoes on the vine. They've been that way for at least a month.

Finally, I decided to crack one open.

Turns out we planted yellow tomatoes. Very ripe, very yellow tomatoes.