Blogging the Remodel: The Nicest Bathroom I've Ever Had

I've had a few friends hassling asking me nicely for photos of our completed home addition/remodel project. There are many reasons I haven't posted them yet, except for a few quick ones on Instagram.  I feel like the rooms need to be unpacked, or at least reasonably uncluttered, before I photograph them to post.  We're still bringing stuff up from the garage, going through bins and making weekly runs to Goodwill. Losing both dogs within two months also made it hard to focus on non-essential tasks.  We've unpacked enough to go through our daily lives, so there's less of a *need* to get the rest done quickly.

Also - we added 1000 square feet, but haven't bought a ton of furniture or decor to fill it up, by design. (Well, partly because we gave all our money to the remodeling firm.)  We want to live with the space and see what we need, and figure out what we can repurpose from the rest of the house first.  So many of the new spaces look empty.  We just got the energy to hang pictures in our living room, which was only barely affected by the project.

I'll start in the top rightmost corner of the house - the master bathroom.   In typical (horrible) 70s style, our sink and vanity were right *in* the bedroom. There was a separate TINY room with the toilet and small fiberglass shower stall.  The toilet/shower area was so small you had to be very careful about where you stood so that you could open the door.  When TJ got up for work super-early, he had to turn on the lights over the sink, which woke both me and whichever baby happened to be sleeping in our room at the time. 

Our house has a lot of recycled rustic barnboard, but in the master bedroom it was overkill - all over the vanity wall, plus the wall behind the bed.  There was also no bathtub, though we did have a (rarely used) hot tub outside on our deck, which we sacrificed for this project.

Here's a drawing of what it looked like:

Here are a couple of photos of the "before" space.  We forgot to take photos of the bathroom before demolition.

One of the listing photos when we bought the house

Our wedding day, 2005

The design for the remodel had our new master bedroom and bath being built from scratch, in the "addition" part of the house.  So we were able to design it exactly how we wanted it:

• Fully enclosed bathroom - vanity area no longer part of the bedroom
• Solid surface countertop - no more tile!!
• Tile floors and shower stall
• Larger shower area, with a bench for "stuff"
• On-demand hot water heater (woot!)
• TWO sinks instead of one
• Large soaking bathtub 
• Room to turn around and close the door
• No barnboard or 70s stained glass

We didn't need a HUGE, luxurious spa bathroom with a seating area - we just wanted it bigger than before and to use the space wisely.  Here's the new design:

We love this one because the bathroom door can be closed, and even when it's not, the vanity lights aren't shining into the sleeping area thanks to that little "hallway" by the door.  The closet door opens to a wall in that same hallway and that also doesn't disrupt the person sleeping.

I'm not a huge fan of the "toilet closet" with a door, since we're almost never in the bathroom at the same time, but apparently that's what people do these days.  

Choosing the tile, cabinet finish, counter and paint was a painful process, and by the time we got to the bathroom, I just wanted to check it off the list.  I found this bathroom online and used it as my inspiration:

Houzz bathroom

Here are the actual photos (you're welcome, A) - click for larger versions:

I chose the wood stain color early on, and had a challenge trying to find a light colored countertop that I liked that wasn't boring.  We ended up with Cambria engineered quartz in Laneshaw, which looks sort of like Reese's peanut butter cup ice cream.  I'm usually not a fan of the "fake marble" look, but it's got enough gold and silver sparkles so that it doesn't look like it's trying too hard to be real.

Most of the choices were cost-driven.  The nice thing is that anything new was an improvement over what we were living with. We chose the same sinks for both the girls' bathroom and ours - a flat modern looking oval with a sharp inside edge by Kohler.  We splurged on the HUGE soaking tub by Mirabelle, but didn't get the version with the jets.  The showerhead and faucets were Grohe in chrome - nothing fancy but much nicer than what we had.  I decided NOT to frame the mirror like the inspiration bathroom - it was just too expensive for the size we needed.

It was easiest to paint the bathroom in the same color as the master bedroom - Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, which is a warm grey.  I'm surprised at how much we both love the color, considering I'm not usually a fan of neutrals.  The "toilet closet" and ceiling are Benjamin Moore Morning Light - a warm cream color that we used throughout the house for ceilings and hallways.

Tile was the last thing we chose, and at that point, I was SO TIRED of all the choices.  I asked our coordinator at the design/build firm we were using to narrow down the choices to matte cream colored tile with some kind of natural texture and a very subtle pattern.  Bonus points for sparkle.  One of the choices came in a variety of sizes, so I just decided to use that for EVERYTHING.  12x24 rectangles for the shower walls and tub deck, which I love, 12x12 square tiles for the floor, and the 2x2s on the shower floor.  I love the simple, unified look.  She also found a GORGEOUS rectangular mosaic tile by Statements that we used as an accent - it brings together the different colors in the woodwork, tile and paint.  And it's got lots of sparkly bits.

Another choice I'm really happy with was the decision to use frosted glass windows.  They're really opaque and "glow" during the day to let plenty of light in.  At night you can't see *anything* from outside.  This way I don't have to mess with window treatments near the tub and it gives the whole thing a cleaner look.  I'm sure that many interior designers will disagree, but for us, simple and low maintenance is better.

It is pure luxury to take a shower in this lovely space now.  The clear glass takes some getting used to, especially right across from the (frosted) window. But I love having my own sink and my own bank of drawers. And the tub, ahhhh. This is by far the nicest bathroom I've ever had in my own place.

Currently: February 2014

Ooh, a new month, which means I can be lazy and write a "Currently" post and call it good. I haven't felt like blogging much lately.

Sushi with my Big Girl

LOVING - Our newly finished house!!! More photos and stuff later, but everyone has their own bedroom, TJ has his Man Cave/Office, I have my Woman Cave/Craft Room and the girls have their Crazy Cave/Playroom. And I have the nicest bathroom I have ever had in my entire life.

READING - Just finished reading Ames & Ilg's Your One Year Old to understand BabyM's developmental phase a little better. She is definitely a lot more frustrated about her limitations than her older sister was at this age. Also reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child AGAIN, because Mama needs to sleep through the night.

ENJOYING - Reading to BabyM. I was "worried" that prior to 13 months, she was not at all interested in sitting and listening to a book, especially once she became mobile. But all of a sudden, in the last 2 weeks, she is ALL about books. We will happily read 5 or 6 in a row, and she is super fun to read to - she makes happy noises when you read familiar parts, points out characters and pictures she likes, and makes the signs for things she recognizes.  Amazing.

EATING - I'm on a fish taco kick. I lived in San Diego for a few months during grad school, and never understood the appeal. It figures now that I'm really far from decent fish tacos, I'd get a craving. So far, the best ones have been at Redmond's Bar and Grill, which has become our new family favorite place to eat out.

LISTENING - Still obsessing about Toad the Wet Sprocket since their show last week. I have seen them 10 times in the last 21 years. That's a lot of Toad.

PLANNING - T has "Midwinter break" next week, and I want to make the most of it. I'm a little sad that her new school is 5 days a week, so having her home for a whole week is going to be nice. But we'll need to schedule some activities so we're not rattling around the house driving each other crazy.

MAKING - I HAVE A CRAFT ROOM AGAIN. I WILL MAKE ALL THE THINGS!  Well, first I have to find the desk surface under all of the crap I need to put away. And then I will make a few jewelry orders for friends and work on client scrapbooks. But just knowing I have dedicated space makes me so happy. I blogged about this scrapbook layout that I made just before the remodel started back in October.

Currently: January 2014

Inspired by Allison, I'm doing a Currently post for this month. It's hard to believe 2014 is well underway already!

READING - Struggling to find time to finish Scott Berkun's Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds. It's 2 weeks overdue at the library and I'm reading it for continuing education credit for my PMP Project Management certification. Between the nomadic life of the remodeling and figuring out T's new school schedule, finding pockets of time to read isn't easy. It's a fairly easy read, but I like to have time to digest each essay before moving on to the next.

WATCHING - paint dry. Literally. Our entire addition got painted this week. It makes me so happy to see the colors I chose after weeks of contemplation on entire walls in rooms. And it was priceless to watch T's reaction when she saw her Ballet Slippers pink room for the first time.

Follow Anandi's board on Pinterest

MAKING - Lots of One Little Word jewelry and keychains for myself and friends. A client scrapbook for The Papercraft Lab (two pending, three more on the horizon). Life is good.

ANTICIPATING - In 3 more weeks (fingers crossed!), we'll be able to move into the addition! So excited to sleep in our bed again, work on better sleep habits for BabyM, set up the craft room and new playroom, and finally have a linen closet! We may become shut-ins once the project is finished, because we will be so happy to have a real home to ourselves again.

LISTENING - to everything again! We bought two Sonos units and I'm in LOVE. Our music collection is easily accessible in the house over wireless, as is Pandora. Loving Toad the Wet Sprocket's New Constellation - first new album in ages from my Favorite Band Ever.

WANTING - IKEA Expedit shelving for everywhere - playroom, craft room, girls' rooms. Lots and lots of square cubby shelves to put everything in order.  The reality is that we won't be buying much until we can rearrange all of our current furniture and see what we really need.  We also have to figure out window coverings for all of the new windows - boring but necessary as the addition has a lovely view of two of our neighbors' homes.

Got a Currently post?  Let me know in the comments. I love reading these :)

I'm on my way, home sweet home

Our huge remodeling construction project is scheduled to finish in 27 days. It's about 2 weeks behind the very aggressive schedule they posted at the beginning. The estimate was 14-16 weeks, but the actual schedule was for 13 weeks. So the 2 extra weeks aren't terribly unexpected, though I cry a little inside every time we meet with our production manager and he moves the schedule.

Someone told me that cats are very attached to the house they live in, and tend to freak out if you have to take them somewhere else. I must be part cat. We've been in a state of limbo for about 8 weeks and I'm feeling very unsettled and unfocused. 

At first we thought it best for me and the girls to move entirely to my parents' condo (which they don't use in winter), and TJ would stay overnight with the dogs at home, after spending the evenings at the condo with us. We did that for about a month, and it was very stressful for me.  Being the nighttime go-to parent every single night is hard!  (And it made me realize how often TJ picks up night duty!)

So once the major demolition was done and the new portion of the house was framed and insulated, we moved back home. We have a living room, family room, bathroom and kitchen available to us, so it's definitely livable. We're camping out in the living room - BabyM in a Pack N Play, T on her mattress on the floor, and one of us on the couch, while the other sleeps downstairs to keep Peanut company.  (He has too much trouble moving on the hardwood floors to sleep upstairs with us.)  Surprisingly, everyone sleeps pretty well in this arrangement. 

Despite being pretty cramped, it was SO much less stressful to have everyone in the same house, even if it was a construction zone. We get up just before the construction guys come, get ready, and leave the house for the day. The girls nap at the condo, and we head back around 4 when the construction is finished for the day. On weekends we hang out at home and it feels pretty good to be all together in OUR house, despite the lack of bedrooms and all of us sharing one bathroom.

This week we're back at the condo full-time because they're priming and painting the addition, and it's pretty stinky. So back to being unsettled and solo parenting at night. For a few days it's not too bad. 

This photo that TJ sent me keeps me going:

My craft room got painted today!  The color is Benjamin Moore 606, Island Paradise, a warm saturated aqua green.  I can't wait to see it after the second coat and in person, but I can already tell from the photo that this was the right choice for me.

This and the attached playroom were on my dream list. A purpose-built space for me and the girls to work together on crafts, schoolwork, and fun. I haven't planned out yet where everything will go, and what else we might need to furnish them (definitely more shelving!) but will play it by ear once we unpack everything.

I haven't posted more photos of the project because I haven't gone through them yet.  We've taken a ton, but our lives have been so complicated - construction, travel, holidays, preschool drama, and of course, Spike.

So I've got to live with another month of unsettled-ness, and then we can move back into our space. So exciting!

This has gotta be the good life

We've been working on proposals and plans for our upcoming remodel since early this year. It's been a slow process, and for a patience-challenged person like me, painful. I'm ready to move in already! I finally got used to the wait and thought about the remodel in the future with an unknown start (and end) date, "sometime in 2014".

Except now, it's *really* starting on Monday. Our city approved the construction permit yesterday and at 7:30am on Monday, guys are going to show up to dig a hole in our yard. 

Technically, they've already started. They spent the last week building the fence that will separate the dog area from the kid area in our yard (they'll finally be able to play outside! and not in dog poo! yay!), removing our deck and hot tub to make way for the addition, and taking off the siding to prepare. We also got a new furnace since ours conveniently decided to give up last weekend.  (When it rains...)

But these things still seemed like preparation, part of the many steps and meetings we've had since April. We still didn't have a *real date* when construction would start, and consequently, didn't have the project plan of when it is supposed to be done.

But now? It's ON. And this means we need to get moving on all the interior selections - bathroom counters, flooring, paint. Cabinet hardware and lighting. There are a million tiny decisions that all affect the final price. Many of them are things we genuinely don't have an opinion about, and each item has hundreds of choices. I totally understand why President Obama doesn't choose his own clothes each day. It makes my brain tired, too, to have to evaluate tons of different, mostly equal options about things that aren't going to really affect the quality of our lives.

TJ and I are pretty good at working through decision-y stuff like this. It's very similar to when we were tossing around names for the girls - I bring a handful of options and ask him to choose, or at least eliminate the ones he hates. He brings a few options as well, sometimes. 

There have been a few perfect, lightning-bolt, "that's it!" choices so far, just like with our girls' names. The countertop in the girls' bathroom is Cambria Whitney, a sparkly engineered quartz that's mostly white with silver glittery specks. I love me some sparkle. The photo does not do this justice.

The cabinets in the master bathroom are going to be a deep espresso, almost black. In the girls' bathroom, they'll be a rich reddish brown. Both are shaker-style with very clean lines, like the kitchen cabinets we redid in 2004 and still love.

We found a carpet style that we both like that's got a sort of irregular horizontal line pattern in it, but can't finalize the color. We know we want laminate flooring through the downstairs, including the playroom and craftroom, but again, can't narrow down a color. 

We have no freakin' idea what kind of floor we want in either bathroom. To reduce costs we want to consider alternatives to tile, but TJ hated the funky Marmoleum.

We haven't really thought about paint at all, except that T is VERY SURE she wants pink. I hate taupe-y colors and things that are not-really-a-color. TJ does not want our house to look like Rainbow Brite threw up in it.

So we're kind of stuck and still have a ton of decisions to go. Luckily we have a neighbor who just earned a certificate in Interior Design and she's going to help us. Our first meeting with her is today and I'm so excited to get some of these things narrowed down.  

All these decisions are floating around in an "open loop" inside my head, and it's bugging me.  I can't visualize the room from all these individual pieces - it's so different from putting together a scrapbook page or a card because I can't just lay it all out and look at the end result.

But oh, the luxury of getting to design brand new living space. Lest you think I'm complaining, I realize this is totally a first world "problem". I am so grateful for this chance to make our house into exactly what we need.

We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams

We are about to embark on a HUGE construction project at our house. In fact, we've been in the design process for months, and we're now waiting for the final permits before construction starts. It's been so long that I can't believe it's actually going to happen.

We're living in our "forever" house, at least while we're in Seattle. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw it, and it was the first house we saw. But it's not a house for little kids. It's a crazy 70s multilevel house, so each floor has a couple of rooms and then a half-staircase to the next floor. The kids' bedrooms are two floors away from ours. Great when they're 16, not so great when they're under 5. 

So we consulted with a few local design/build firms and chose one, and they came up with a fabulous design for us, something we never would have thought about doing. The design process actually lived up to my expectations - we gave them a list of our priorities, and they designed an addition that met nearly all of the Pri 1s and 2s (yes, I'm a software geek). 

So our new theoretical addition will have all bedrooms on one floor, an extra bathroom for the girls, an office for TJ, a play room, air conditioning in the bedrooms, and (wait for it) a 13x17' craft room. O.M.G. I can hardly believe how awesome that's going to be.

Some observant readers will remember that this is one of the items on my Mondo Beyondo dream list. And at the time I made my list in late 2011, firmly out of reach. We weren't inclined to take on such a huge project and we weren't sure about staying in Seattle (well, one of us wasn't). 

But then my craft room sprung a leak earlier this year, and we started thinking again. What if? It's been both fun and terrifying to go through the process - looking at different room layouts, choosing countertop surfaces and carpet, assigning rooms to the girls, writing huge enormous checks in exchange for large sheets of paper (so far).

If all goes well, construction will start next month, and it'll be 4 months or so before it's done. We'll probably have to camp out at my parent's place nearby for a while (fortunately they don't use it much in the winter). I'm sure there will be many disrupted naps and frustration with the noise and dust.

But in the end, we will have a house that fits us perfectly. And I just cannot WAIT.

Wordless Wednesday: Full of Possibilities

My new (vintage) baby, the Royal Quiet DeLuxe

Paper crafting blogs often post "craft porn", photos of some papercrafter's perfectly organized, purpose-built craft room that's bigger than our master bedroom. In one I noticed a bright pink vintage typewriter, tucked in a corner for the crafter to easily type titles on small pieces of paper.

That's when I started coveting a manual typewriter.  Yes, I have a printer and laptop in my craft room.  But I wanted something I could use quickly and easily to add words or phrases to a card or an embellishment.

I forgot about it, until someone in my Facebook stream posted a photo of typewriters for sale at an office supply store.  So I went out to Craigslist to see what I could find.

There were some truly gorgeous specimens in bright colors, orange with racing stripes (!) and bright blue, posted by a typewriter restorer.  But they were way out of my price range.  I wasn't willing to drop over $200 on a unitasker that I'd use only occasionally.

Then I saw an ad, in my area, for a 1940s Royal Quiet DeLuxe typewriter in good working condition for $45.  Score!  I made arrangements to meet up with the guy at a local Starbucks.  He explained that helps his mother sell antiques on Craigslist so she can make a little money and fund her estate sale hobby.  Cute, right?  I don't even care that she probably got this machine for $5 at a yard sale.  I've seen similar ones selling for $200, $300 and even $575 (!) online.

My new (old) baby

It's a gorgeous machine - clean, shiny glass topped keys, matte black, all metal, and works well.  There's no key for the number 1 or an exclamation point.  I guess I have to make do with a lowercase L and an apostrophe and a period together.  Apparently it was one of Ernest Hemingway's favorites.  You know, like the Moleskine notebooks I'm also so fond of.  (Good marketing foo, anyway.)

It's small, but it's *solid*.  Most of it is made out of metal.  I'm surprised at what good shape it's in - no dents, pieces missing, and all the keys still work.  Even the selector switch to toggle between red and black type works!  (And how cool is it that it comes with a red/black ribbon?!).

I ordered a couple of extra ribbons today for $8 each to make sure I don't run out - they're really easy to replace.  I love this thing!

Tuesday Lovin': King County Pet Licensing

The title sounds thoroughly boring, doesn't it?  But yesterday, the brilliant flash of happy in my day came from my interaction with King County Pet Licensing.

Peanut, last week

We were late getting Peanut's license renewed.  We had gotten to the threatening pink postcard level (I think that's 3rd in line after initial notice, then a yellow warning letter).  Somehow we had managed to register the pups independently - TJ registered Peanut when we moved to Seattle and I registered Spike when we got him in 2003.  So they're on completely separate schedules and we each have to take care of one.

I renewed Spike's license in 5 minutes online - I love their system.  You enter the license # (conveniently provided on the notice they send) and your phone #, get a chance to update your contact info, and then pay for the license via credit card.  A week or so later, they send you the new collar tag.

This is my ideal world - I can take care of it online at any hour, don't need to talk to anyone on the phone, or fill out a form, find a stamp and mail something in.  When it works, it's stupendous.  Amazing!  Awesome.

Until it doesn't.  TJ asked me if I could take care of Peanut's renewal, having ignored the first couple of letters.  So we were late, and they were threatening late fees. 

That's the other thing I luurve about King County Pet Licensing - they threaten late fees, but never seem to *actually* enforce them.  Once you pay the fee, they're perfectly happy to waive any late charges, regardless of how late you are.  One year we renewed the pups several months late, and it was like they were so happy that we bothered at all, that they waived the $60+ late fees on the spot.  LUUURVE.

Aaanyway, so I'm trying to access Peanut's record online and it just.won't. log me in.  I tried every phone number I could remember.  No luck.  Sigh.  I got on the phone and called the support number, bracing myself for multi-leveled touchtone menus and a recording that finally would tell me the entire office was at lunch.

But amazingly, after two rings, a dude answered the phone.  A real dude, not Automated "Press One Now" Guy!   He asked me for some basic info and told me the phone number it was listed under (our home phone from 9 years ago!).  He offered to change it on the spot to our current number (he goes above and beyond!).  I was batting a thousand at that point, so I figured I'd ask if he could combine Peanut & Spike's records into one.  And surprisingly, the answer was Yes, and he took care of that in another minute.  Dang.  I had no idea an interaction with a public agency could be that pleasant.  And seamless. 

It's kind of sad that I don't expect that kind of interaction with agencies/companies I deal with, but it's such a rarity.  The human was nice, the system worked to do what I needed it to do, and it did not take a ton of my time and energy.  That *never* happens.

So hooray for you guys, King County Pet Licensing.  We promise to always license our pets!

It's so clear now

I have a TON of topics I'm anxious to blog about, which is crazy.  That never happens.  So I've started keeping a list.  Incidentally, I need to switch to a consistent note-taking application, preferably electronic and cloud-based.  Right now I'm just creating "draft" emails in GMail so it's ridiculously messy and unsatisfying. 

It's a trick I learned from my friend N, who I worked with ages ago - she'd email herself to-do lists each day, and since we live in our email at work, it was a good place for the lists to be front and center.  But it becomes unwieldy.

I love Microsoft OneNote.  Love, love, love.  But I use 3 different computers regularly, *and* my (now Android) smartphone.  And I didn't know how that would work with OneNote since the notebooks were usually saved locally.  But in OneNote 2010 there's a really easy, built-in way to sync with Windows Live SkyDrive, so you can access your notebooks anywhere.  That's EXACTLY what I need.  Except that I haven't made time to sit down and set up a personal notebook.

Things I want in that notebook: 

• A place to stash URLs to projects or crafty resources with some notes.  I could keep chucking them in my Favorites/Bookmarks etc but I can't make notes there to remind myself of why I saved it, or what I want to do with it.

 

• My daily, weekly and monthly task lists.  I need to get a little more structured about chores, especially the maintenance stuff like doctor checkups, swapping disposable contacts, giving the dogs their flea protection, downloading/processing photos from cameras, etc etc.  I may chuck these all into a Google Calendar specifically for that purpose since it might be better to actually schedule time/days for these things.

• Vacation notes.  We have SO MUCH to do before our Ireland trip.  I also want to make a short list of the things we want to see there so we can plan our day trips.  I'd also like a compact place to keep things like the address and phone number of our house rental, our local cell numbers, flight info, etc.

• Personal projects and to-dos that aren't urgent.  Potential blog posts.  Unfinished craft projects that I'd like to get done eventually.  Expiration dates for unused Groupons (also need to put them on the calendar).

• Ideas for activities to do with T.  I have a ton of books with age-appropriate home activities for learning and fun.  We never do them because I rarely remember to plan ahead.  Maybe a sort of "lesson plan" for more fun things to do at home once a week or so.

• A living Mondo Beyondo list that I can refer to often and update.  There are things I can check off the list I posted on the blog, and new things begging to be added.

• Some way to store passwords and links to the accounts I use regularly.  This one freaks me out so I need to figure out the right solution for it that's secure but also can be accessed from anywhere.

• Meal planning.  A list of what we should *always* have in our fridge/pantry.  A stash of easy, standard meal ideas. Why this is so hard, I don't know.  But I haven't yet gotten it together and I swear THIS will be the year.

This is on my to-do list for the weekend of Jan 20-22.  Why then, you ask?  Because I am taking my Mama Weekend Away.  It's one of the items on my Mondo Beyondo list.  The magic just keeps happening.  I finally *asked* TJ for the time, and he agreed, and I've actually scheduled it.  Before Mondo Beyondo, it was an amorphous "someday maybe" idea.  Now it's happening.  Next week.    Me, a fancy hotel room, big plushy bed, no alarm clock, free wifi, and a spa.  Heaven!

borrowed from www.panpacific.com

It's a little retreat to get my thoughts together and plan the upcoming year.  I obviously have the big things laid out already but I need some time and space to really get down to business and plan and organize the details. 

So.  If you had a weekend like that, how would you spend it?  If you were putting together a notebook for yourself, what would you include?  What am I missing?

Christmas presents for a 2-year-old: Harder Than I Thought

I was just going to pilfer (with credit, of course) a photo from Flickr tagged with "Christmas presents" but since LauraC was kind enough to give me a tip on how to get the 'bokeh' effect in photos, I figured I should make an honest effort to try and get one of my own.

And I'm so glad I did, not because the photo is anything special, but because it was the first fun "me" thing I've done in what seemed like a day full of errands.   I played around with the aperture and shutter speed settings on my Canon S90, something I never do because I don't know where to start, used the new tripod for the first time ever, and learned a little tiny bit in the process.

Aaanyway, back to Christmas.  We are not Christian, but we celebrate Christmas enthusiastically.  Or more accurately, *I* love Christmas, and I drag TJ along.  Trillian is pretty enthusiastic about everything, so we're a good match. 

This morning T and I rode the bus downtown, mostly just so we could ride the bus, but we were on a bit of a Christmas scavenger hunt.  I told T she needed to look out for: snowflakes, a snowman, a Santa Claus, and a Christmas tree.   She found everything, and giggle with pure joy when she saw a (pretty sketchy-looking) guy on the street dressed as Santa looking to make money in exchange for photos.  I declined the opportunity, of course, but T was SO HAPPY to see him.

Christmas, like most things, is WAY better with a 2 year old.

I struggled with what to buy her this year.  She has SO MUCH STUFF.  We get a lot of hand me downs from friends, I have pretty specific ideas of good toys for her developmentally that I buy through the year, and she does better with less stuff.   She already has a play kitchen (big hit!) and a dollhouse (comes and goes) and all the little bits and pieces for those.

I finally settled on a tricycle, and found someone at work selling a used Kettler in great shape.  (Which is good because I really couldn't rationalize paying full price for it.)   But I realized she'd also need some smaller gifts, especially to fill her stocking. 

I've previously blogged about my toy pickiness.  It's only getting worse, as she gets to the age where the deluge of princess crap is about to start.  For the most part I seek out toys that are non-electronic, non-licensed character, not overly gendered, interactive and open-ended.  The talking Barbie laptop?  Not an option.

I started squirrelling things away in October, on the occasional kid-free trip to Target (heaven!), or just ordering online and unpacking boxes while T was asleep.  When I pulled everything out today to wrap it, I realized there was way too much when I also looked at the presents sent by our family.  So I kept some of the "3+" age group toys and art supplies for later.

Since she doesn't read my blog, I can tell you what I bought for her.

Alex Toys Learn to Dress Monkey - T has pretty good fine motor skills, but is just now learning how to take off her shoes and jacket herself. (good for me from an efficiency point of view, but it would be nice for her to do some things for herself...)  This monkey is *awesome* - he's got 11 different "activities" like a button, snap, buckle, shoes and socks, velcro, etc.  He's also super-cute, and she digs monkeys, so I think he'll be a hit.  Also, she was with me when I bought him...  (I know, Bad Mama, but the party store near us was having a HUGE sale on really nice toys.  I was lucky to get out with just one item.)

Moon Dough - It supposedly doesn't dry out when you leave it out, so I'd love to have something like her beloved Play-Doh that I don't have to vigilantly make sure is shut tight when she's done. It has bad reviews on Amazon, so I'm glad I got it super-cheap at Target. We'll see how it goes.

Crayola Washable Window Markers - a BRILLIANT suggestion from my friend Adrianne, who also has a 2 year old.  T can use these to draw on the sliding glass doors and they are totally washable from other surfaces.  I think she'll love it, and I do think she's got the control/understanding to use them only on the glass.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?-  T pretty much has this memorized since she hears it at "baby school", and I've never read it.  I think she'll like having a copy at home.

Crayola Washable Watercolors -  I wasn't sure she was old enough/ready for watercolor paint, but she tried some at her friend A's house and looooved it. Yes, my girl is totally into the artsy stuff.  These will probably end up will all the colors mixed up together, but both T and I are ok with that.

IKEA Duktig Soft Fake Food Breakfast Set - this was on sale for $4 the last time we were at IKEA so I grabbed it on impulse.  I took it out of the packaging today, and was pleased to find it's really well made, and super cute.  There are 4 pancakes with jam, a cutting board and knife (soft), bacon, fried eggs, sausages, and a sandwich that completely comes apart, with all the fixin's stuck together with velcro.  Maybe she'll feed us more than oatmeal for pretend breakfasts now!

IKEA Lillabo Train Set -  I had been meaning to buy her some train tracks and little trains since she was so taken with the train tables we saw at a couple of toy stores.  I'm not sure if I got her the 20 piece or 12 piece set, so we may not have enough track to do anything useful.  I guess we'll find out soon enough!

Trader Joe's Assorted Jellybeans - We don't give her much junk food, but as a result of her dairy allergy, she pretty much can't eat any candy at all.  So when I saw these jellybeans at Trader Joe's, I thought they'd make a nice stocking stuffer, and we can ration them out over time.  The box is super-cheerful, makes a nice sound when you shake it, and has pictures of all the flavors on the back, so at least she can learn something while she's rotting her teeth...

It's still a lot of stuff, and I know she'll be overwhelmed by it.  She's still young enough that she wants to play with each thing as she unwraps it, rather than amassing the "pile o' loot".  So we'll probably let her open a couple of things tomorrow on Christmas Eve, and then maybe spread out the present opening through the day on Christmas Day.
So, Interwebs, what are you all doing for Christmas?  Buy anything exciting for yourself or the kiddos?

Toddler toy storage - the bane of my existence

Before having a kid, we swore we'd never have a house teeming with toys all over the living space.  Toys would be minimal, and neatly confined to our future offspring's bedroom, or a small toy box in the living room.  Our house would look just like it did before we had kids.

HAHAHAHA.  As anyone who actually has real kids knows, this is a fantasy.  The toddlers I know don't really want to play in their bedrooms or fancy playrooms by themselves - they want to "be with mama in kitchen!"  Hence the bottom half of our fridge and our dishwasher have been given over to a plethora of letter and number magnets, and the adjoining living room has essentially become T's playroom.

Which isn't all bad, really.  We love this living room, but almost never *lived* in it before we had a baby.  It has no TV, so we only used it for parties or visitors.  I'm glad we spend so much time in there now, because the high ceilings and wall-o-windows makes it pretty nice, even with our ridiculous 9 months of grey each year. 

The tiny baby toys were no problem - we had just enough to fit in a medium sized Rubbermaid box, and would just rotate a few out to entertain BabyT for the 30 minutes she was awake between naps.  And we had a small box for board books so we could read to her.  We thought smugly that we had this toy thing under control.

And then BabyT became a toddler.  Well, let me rephrase - she turned 1, and didn't exactly toddle, but started crawling and became interested in getting her own toys.  At first, it was fine.  We had the box for books.  My interior decorating-talented and smart mama friend Lisa suggested this cheap but nice looking storage ottoman from Target:

That worked for a while - we managed to contain all the toys into this ottoman plus the book box.  But then, to encourage T to stand up more, her physical therapist recommended putting toys out on a table to entice her.  So then we had instant toy clutter on our coffee table and another bench.  I rotated the toys that were out and stuffed the rest into the ottoman.  She also recommended push toys to get her walking.  The IKEA walker wagon showed up, and you can't really put it away anywhere.

And then our not-toddling-toddler became more adventurous in her crawling, and eventually walking.  And that's when toy hell broke loose.  We'd leave her in the securely-gated living room to go take a shower and return to find all the books dumped out, and every toy in the ottoman removed.  Duplos were everywhere.  Pieces to the much loved tea set rolled under the couches regularly.

And when she became more interested in toys, so did we.  I bought her a play kitchen, intended for her 2nd birthday, but was so excited about it that I had to give it to her 5 months early.  And she was thrilled - it's one of her favorite items.  But so big!  And you can't put it away.

And of course, with play kitchen, comes play dishes, and play food, presents for her 2nd birthday.  It was not unusual to sit down on the couch and find a lovely wooden mushroom in the cushion.  Or underfoot.  Or being sniffed suspiciously by Spike, in case it was For Eating.

Now let's pause here for a chat about philosophy.  I'm definitely not a minimalist, but I am an unsentimental de-clutterer.  I read a book called Simplicity Parenting about simplifying kids' lives, and it resonated with me.  They addressed things like overexposure to media, too many scheduled activities, as well as toy clutter.  I've been using a lot of their practices, which is why T is only scheduled for one "class" per week, she doesn't really watch much TV, we're anal retentive about her naptimes and bedtime, and we've only got about 8-10 books out for her at any given time, which I rotate through her collection.   Honestly, she just does better when we work to avoid overstimulation.  She's always been this way, so I guess she takes after both of her introvert parents.

As she gets older, we have more toys with pieces - Little People, alphabet puzzles, cool wooden stacking/sorting/arranging toys. And there's the not-so-small matter of my love affair with Montessori materials. I bought some trays to create structured activities for her to choose. But I didn't really have a good place for these, so they all lived in my craft room and didn't come out as often as I'd like.

We corralled some of the clutter with small bins from IKEA, but then we had bins lying around on the floor or on our side tables. The homeschooling blogs I've come across, the home organization blogs I drool over, *and* the crafting blogs I read sing the praises of IKEA's Expedit shelving.  You've seen it - it looks like a giant grid, and is open at the back.

We bought a small 4-shelf one for T's room, and it helped the clutter in there significantly.  But we couldn't decide what we needed for the living room so didn't buy anything on that trip.  This weekend, with several days at home to stew over our clutter issue, I decided we *had* to do something, and the answer was the Expedit 4x2 shelf:

I'm using the top set of cubbies for her pseudo-Montessori activities, and will switch them out weekly, or when she seems to get bored with them.  There's one tray per cubby, with only one item on the tray so she doesn't get overwhelmed.  She knows to put away the tray and items before taking out the next one. (yay!)

The bottom row of cubbies is more traditional toy and book storage.  I filled one of the IKEA Skubb storage boxes with some board books from her collection.  I'll rotate those out weekly as well.  The other cubbies have one of the Kusiner bins, plus maybe one other larger toy or a small bin.  I wanted her to be able to take out one bin at a time, and not have to take out multiple things to get to something in the back. 
Now I feel so much better.  Everything has a place.  She is in that super-helpful toddler stage where she LOVES cleaning up, so I can tell her where everything goes now, and it actually looks nice when she's done!

I'd love to hear about what you guys are doing with toy clutter, especially as the toys come with more and more pieces.  Plus, I'm kind of freaky and I love home organization.

There's a fire burning in my heart

I've now reached that stage in my life where I take vacation days to complete boring house projects.  This week it was decluttering our office.  TJ and I share our office, which is a cool loft space above our dining room.  This is a little bit of a problem for us. 

I get really stressed out by clutter.  Just seeing clutter (especially on the floor, but on all flat surfaces) makes my heart rate increase and I get sort of jumpy and unable to focus.  But I can throw that clutter into a drawer or a cute box, and I'm fine.  So it's a short-term solution and then one day everything just explodes because there's simply too much crap.

TJ, on the other hand, needs to spread out his stuff when he works on something.  And then he leaves it there, because he might not be done yet.  Or he might be finished, but he's moved on to something else, and really, we LIVE in our house, so it's unrealistic for us to have a clean, uncluttered space.  And then there are the miscellaneous hats, shoes, cutting boards and cups keeping the paper clutter company in those spots. Because those papers might get hungry, thirsty, or need to go out somewhere.

To be fair, I have a craft supply hoarding issue.  But I (mostly) confine it to my craft room.

So, back to the office.  I spent all day Tuesday going through the computer books, old office supplies and TONS of papers.  I recycled a TON of stuff.  I listed a bunch of old books and software on Amazon, but have very little hope of selling them thanks to all the sellers who price their stuff at 1 cent.  Seriously?  Sigh. 

I took about 4 bags to Goodwill.  I did a MASSIVE pen purge where I threw away the ones that don't work anymore.   I heard about a college friend (hi John Krowas) who said, in the middle of a work presentation, as he threw aside a non-working writing implement, "Life is too short to write with a crappy pen."  I love that.

So now our office looks better than it has since we moved in.  But the real prize from all this decluttering I've been doing for the past couple of weeks?  It's finding out that there is a market for nearly anything on EBay.

I had been leery of listing things on EBay because I hadn't done it before, and there's a sort of sketchiness about it that I haven't felt about selling on Etsy.  (Which I've been doing for 4 years now, holy crap!)  But I bit the bullet and listed a few things, and WOW.  I love it. 

Apparently there is a HOT market for old Weight Watchers materials.  I had 3 sets of them (yep, don't ask).  I was just going to toss the whole lot into the recycle bin but figured I'd give EBay a shot.  So far I've sold two of the three sets, for $12 and $36 plus shipping (!).

I've also sold a couple of the surplus rubber stamp sets I bought on Craigslist.  A few months ago, a guy had listed a huge lot of retired Stampin' Up rubber stamp sets.  I offered him a slightly lower price than he asked, and he was willing to take it because he just wanted to get rid of them before moving to a smaller place. 

Turns out when I went to meet him to pick them up, he actually had double the amount I was set to buy.  He tried to sell the second box to me as well, but I told him I had brought only enough cash for the first box (which was true).  And then he said, "Just take it all, I don't want to take these back home".   It was jaw-dropping.  And way more stamps than I could ever possibly use.  So I've been selling the ones I already have, or the ones that are too flowery, on Etsy.  Very slowly.

I listed a few on EBay and again, WOW.  People want them.  I sold one set for double what I would have gotten on Etsy.  It's not predictable, though, as I've listed a few other sets and haven't gotten much interest yet. 

But it's sort of like gambling - I get all excited about the *possibility* of selling something I don't need for a lot of money.  So I figure even if I end up selling it for less than I had hoped for, the entertainment value is worth something.

Viva La EBay!  Or something like that...  Got any good EBay stories for me?

the end of an era

Today I sold the first piece of real furniture I ever bought.  In 1996, I moved to San Diego for grad school and needed to furnish my apartment, so I bought a queen platform bed *and* mattress for less than $300. 

When I bought the bed, it seemed like such a grown-up purchase.  I somehow knew I'd have it for a long time, into my married life and kids and stuff.  Surprisingly that was true, though not on the timeline I imagined when I was 21.  Heh.

That bedframe has also been oddly empowering for me.  I could take it apart and re-assemble it completely on my own.  When it's disassembled, I can move all the pieces by myself.  I know this because it's been through *8* moves with me and lived in 3 different states.

We (ok, I browbeat TJ into it) decided to upgrade to a luxurious king size bed, which meant we needed to make the painful weekend trek to IKEA to get a bed base for the fancy-schmancy memory foam mattress we bought.   We bought the Hemnes bed, which is actually made out of real wood, and have our fingers crossed that it'll last a while.  It's surprisingly sturdy and looks really nice.

I had visions before T was born that we'd all cosleep in a nice huge bed.  Sadly now that we finally have the huge bed, it's not an option, since all she wants to do is play if she's in our bed.  Oh well.  More room for us, I guess.

Spike and Peanut have been somewhat disgruntled by the rearrangement of furniture.  Peanut no longer has enough space to lie on the floor next to the bed, which is a blessing in disguise, because he's prone to getting stepped on by accident.  (Black dog + nighttime + sleepy people != good combo).  Spike can no longer hide under the bed since the new one is much lower to the ground and he's not as svelte as he used to be.  (none of us are, really...)

What's the first major furniture purchase you made?  Do you still have it?

And I just can't hide it!

We're leaving for our Great Canadian Road Trip in a few hours. I started packing last weekend, which was good because it gave me a chance to think about what I might forget.

Traveling with the pups adds a whole new dimension to this - we've packed a bag just for their stuff, and it also means they are going to take up the space where we would usually put our bags.

Last night, I got some girls together for a "beauty exchange", which basically meant that I asked them to bring all the old hair products, unopened cosmetics, and jewelry that they no longer wear/use and we could swap. One woman's "too greasy" is another woman's "amazing find", right?

We did surprisingly well, with only 4 gals - yeah, people ended up taking some of their own stuff home with them, but for the most part we did some good swapping. And managed to drink 2 bottles of yummy red wine, from Argentina and Spain. (Thanks Lisa and Adrianne for giving me those!)

I got some nice travel-sized color safe shampoo and conditioner for our trip, and some of the John Frieda "brilliant brunette" styling products that I've always wanted to try.

But the real awesome find for me - tons of beaded jewelry to disassemble and remake. I can't wait to get started on that. It's really too bad jewelry making isn't exactly a portable craft, or easy to do in the car.

Well, off to do the last few bits of packing!

You never bring me flowers

Wow, even after one day in water and with some sun, my tulips look better. There's something so luxurious about having fresh flowers in the house, especially when it's a simple arrangement, because I can pretend like I live like this every day.

I am officially unemployed for the next two weeks now - yay! But I will be busy. There are many calls to make, home projects to undertake, spring cleaning/organizing to do, jewelry and magnets to create, and naps to take. It's important not to forget about the naps. Napping with puppies is the most relaxing thing EVER. They are soothing and they emit sleep vibes.

I was going to treat myself to a bit of shopping downtown after I left work early today, but oddly, I wasn't in the mood for it. Is that the new responsible me talking? There's nothing I actually *need* right now. OMG, did I just say that? Don't let my dad hear that. Or TJ, for that matter.

Anyway, I hope you all are well. I think we're starting to see the beginning of Spring here in Seattle. Finally. But as I write, the clouds are rolling in again. Can't have everything, I guess...

You better hide your heart

Yet another productive Sunday. TJ has now picked up on Sunday being my day to unclutter and tidy, and says that I get crazy. There's some truth to that - I am a person who gets stressed when faced with piles of disorganized STUFF, and sometimes it's a losing battle around here. For both of us. Really, I'm not pointing fingers.

Actually, it's ALL of us here that leave stuff lying around everywhere. I picked up 8 dog toys from the kitchen. 8!!
When we get home from work on weekdays, the first thing we do is feed the pups. Of course, the minute we get home, the dogs are superexcited to see us. I mean, it's been 8 or 9 whole HOURS since they saw us.

And yeah, I'll admit it, that's one of the main reasons to have a dog. It's awesome to have someone who's so happy to see you every time you come back to the house, even from the grocery store or getting the mail.

Well, in this excited state, Spike always grabs the nearest toy, races up the stairs and flings it at the container that holds the dog food. Sometimes he flings it into the container, or into his bowl, and once, into the water bowl. Nice shot, Spikeman! And of course, he's so cute, that we don't tell him NOT to do this.

So at the end of the week we have approximately 7 dog toys hanging out by the feeding area. And every Sunday I take those dog toys back downstairs to their basket, the Designated Dog Toy Storage Container. This week it was Mailman, Starman, One Footed Blue Squeaker, Purple Devil Squeaker and three tennis balls.

I love my puppies.

I look down into a million houses

Ugh. I've had the kind of week where I just want to come home and go to bed. And two of those evenings I did just that. Which made me feel even worse because then I feel like all I do is sleep and work. TJ pointed out that I might be so tired because I drove to work this month, and stopped doing all that daily extraneous walking to/from the bus.

It was really nice to drive - I get directly to work and come home quickly, but if it just makes me so tired I can't function anyway, it's probably not worth it. Also, I just filled the gas tank in my tiny Audi and it cost $50. That was deterrent enough. So this weekend, I'll be a good girl and purchase my eco-friendly bus pass for March.

On the exercise front, I have slowly started my half marathon training with Aimee. We walked 5 miles last weekend, and plan to do another 4.5-ish this weekend. I've got a detailed training plan for the next 17 weeks to get us up to 13 miles for the event in June, so if we follow that we should be in good shape (pun intended!).

Ooh, and I got new wood blinds for my craft room (aka our 2nd guest room aka dog bed room). I ordered them online, so I'm unsure, and haven't opened the package yet, but we plan to install them today. I'm stoked to get some blinds that actually close and operate as they should. We have 30-year-old hideous beige metal blinds all over the house, so we're slowly planning to replace them. Oh, the boring things that become interesting when you grow up (!).

I am officially tired of the commute to work. Every time I drive past Microsoft (which is pretty much every time I leave the house), I kick myself for giving up the 5 minute commute.

I will admit that my current job is much better suited for my skills and interest. I just wish it was closer to home. But I am pleased to say that I'll be able to work from home for 1 day a week starting in late March, thanks to a proposal I submitted to my boss. This proposal spurred the company to adopt an official telecommuting policy, which will be unveiled later this month. So that means I only have to make the 30-ish mile round trip trek 4 times a week instead of 5. (We take what we can get...)

Well, off to poke at the new blinds!

What about now, what about today?

Today got away from me a bit. It started out good, with Aimee and me walking 2 miles in preparation for our half-marathon in June. We did 3 miles yesterday, and I'm already starting to feel good from the brisk walking outdoors.

Then I met Jasmine and Sonny downtown to do some planning for local Caltech alumni events. I love me some event planning, so I couldn't resist participating, even though I handed over my official duties of Area Coordinator for Undergraduate Admissions Support in January to a much younger (and thus more in touch) alum.

I came home around 2pm and sort of ... puttered around. I have no idea what I did between 2 and 7. I took a shower. I put away some laundry. I wasn't feeling so well, so I napped for a bit. Maybe that was it - the late nap and the not feeling good threw everything off.

But one of the projects I've been meaning to tackle is cleaning out my closet. I doubt I'll ever be able to let go of the habit of keeping clothes that no longer fit me, for when I get back down to "that size". (Currently "that size" is anywhere from 8 to 14, believe it or not.) But I'm usually pretty good at weeding out what doesn't fit and at least putting it out of sight. (I'm a sucker for those big plastic storage bins.)

But here's the thing. I'm currently at my heaviest ever (sucks to say that) and thus, I have a LOT of fairly recent clothes that do not fit. And I've been really bummed out about it and have put off going through my closet again. (It's much more fun to get rid of clothes that are too big than too small!)

But it's even worse to try and decide what to wear in the morning, and realize it's too tight once I've put it on. Or worse, have things I *know* are too small staring me in the face. So a closet overhaul was due.

The other bad habit I have is shopping while bored. I think there's something about the shopping process that calms me, and I enjoy it. So I buy a lot of stuff, and I try to buy cheaper things, but that means I have clothes that don't hold up that well, that get faded quickly, or stretch out, or just don't quite fit right. I did notice that most of the stuff in the "too small" bins I wanted to keep are from Nordstrom or Ann Taylor, higher quality clothes that are more classic.

I gave away 3 Nine West purses and 2 pairs of shoes because they were tacky. If you are shopping with me, please don't let me buy anything else from Nine West. I'll just end up hating it in a year or two.

The other thing I learned, is that 100% cotton knit stuff just looks bad after a while. I got rid of 3 sweaters and countless T shirts because they were just ratty and/or shapeless. I think I need shirts with just a touch of spandex in them so they keep their shape. And 100% cotton sweaters just don't stay nice, even the ones from Nordstrom. (I think cashmere might be where it's at for sweaters...)

On the other hand, the fabulous white leather satchel purse that cost me nearly $100 (which is astronomical for me and purses) is still one of my favorites and has held up very nicely over the past 3 years. So if I shop carefully, and deliberately, for pieces I *need*, I think I do just fine. The "hey it's on sale and sort of cute" thing just isn't working for me.

I also enjoyed the trip down memory lane when I went through my old clothes. The shoes I bought in San Francisco just after a major breakup. (Yes, those were way too old and now they're going to Goodwill.) The sweater I bought in Chicago when I went to a diversity conference for Deloitte. The skirt I wore to our wedding celebration dinner in Vegas. The gorgeous jacket I wore on the first day of my meticulously-planned customer event at Microsoft. (I saved those last three!)

I didn't have the guts to go through the other 3 boxes of too-small clothes at the top of my closet. I'll save that for another evening. But now I have 4 big bags of clothes, handbags and shoes for Goodwill. And my closet is a lot sparser and it's easier to see what all I have. I even sorted everything by color. So now I'm pretty stoked to pick an outfit for work tomorrow. And quite honestly, instead of feeling bad about the stuff that doesn't fit, I'm all fired up to keep exercising and eating right. So I can revisit those cute clothes a few months down the road. Yay!

Happy days are here again

After the crap-tastic week I had, this weekend has been pretty darn good. I finally finished the custom order of 3 necklace and earring sets for my friend Muffie (yay) and it's packed and ready to be mailed out on Tuesday, since tomorrow is a holiday.

I also found out that my fabulous company has President's Day off. Yippeeee! I didn't even realize it until Wednesday so it truly was like receiving an unexpected gift.

The three day weekend has made me especially industrious. I finally caught up on laundry, which had reached a critical situation. My poor husband had no clean white socks, because the trips and visitors of the past few weeks threw off the laundry system I usually had, and I ended up doing a load of colors or whites, but not both the past few weeks. (Upon hearing of the crisis, my friend Aimee asked me if my husband was unable to find the washing machine himself. Tee hee. TJ was actually willing to do his own sock laundry but it was a point of shame for me, for getting so behind in my agreed-upon weekly chore.) I'm happy to report that my fabulous husband is in fact capable of doing his own laundry. But just to be safe, we bought more socks for him.

While we were at Target, I went to look for new, um, "unmentionables". (Sorry male readers!) Why is it that standard women's underwear, that comes in multi-packs, doesn't come in plain, neutral colors like black, brown, and navy? You know, like the color of the PANTS people wear most often. No one wears white pants, or fuschia pants, or bright yellow with balloons on them pants. Is there some law in the cotton multi-pack underwear land that women's butts have to look like Easter candy? Seriously people, I just want a 3 pack of basic black. Or dark blue. I know, no one should see my underwear at all, but on the off chance that my pants are doing something odd, or my shirt rides up accidentally, I'd like to at least not announce that today I'm wearing BRIGHT ORANGE underwear. So I settled for 2 packs, one black/grey and one black/pink. Not sure what to do with the pink pair. Stupid. I guess the land of the happy multi-pack is not for me and I must go to a real store and buy individual ones.

OK, done with the underwear talk. (Sorry if I embarassed anyone there.) Today I saw the most awesome movie. I'm generally not a movie person. I get horribly disappointed when a movie I wanted to see sucks. I'm also married to a guy who's not willing to get up and walk out of a movie. So I only see movies I know are going to be good. Which frankly, is not that many. I like to be entertained at a movie, but not pandered to.

Movies fit roughly into four categories for me, like food:

1. Junk food that doesn't even taste good, like pork rinds, gummi candy or corn nuts. These are movies that don't sound in the least bit appealing to me, and I will most likely hate because they're juvenile, stupid, and lacking any redeeming qualities. Like "There's Something About Mary" or anything with Adam Sandler in it.

2. Junk food that I enjoy, like Pringles or Doritos. Movies that I love, even though artistically, they don't have a lot of value or substance. Predictable sappy romantic comedies such as "Hitch", or fun fluff like "13 Going on 30".

3. Steamed vegetables and cottage cheese. Movies that are artistic, win awards, and are critically acclaimed, like "Empire of the Sun", "Gandhi", "Citizen Kane", "Schindler's List". I can watch them and recognize that they are ART, and GOOD, but they do not connect with me. I never WANT to watch them, but always feel like I SHOULD watch them. Like for a class.

4. Sushi, which is VERY healthy and one of my favorite foods EVER. I'd eat it even if it wasn't healthy. That it *is* healthy astounds me. The movie I saw today was sushi.

And the winner is... "Juno". This movie was freakin' AMAZING. It was perfect in nearly every respect - funny, touching, hip, complex. Not one of the characters was the typical stereotype - every single one had redeeming qualities and complexity. The story was brilliant, the characters likeable, and even the music and mood were just right. It was quirky, and different, and yet you could get inside the main characters head and just KNOW how she was feeling, from a single look at her face. Seriously awesome. As the cliche goes, I laughed and I cried. It was better than Cats :).

I don't often see sushi movies. Because they're few and far between. Others in that category are "Bend it Like Beckham" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

So today was a good day. It even offset the fact that I got a threatening letter in the mail from the Scary Dentist, referring to our ill-fated phone conversation and reiterating her threats. I did remove my original review, but left a completely factual account of recent events in its place. I will also be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Washington state commission for healthcare quality, because I resent my health records being used to harass me.

So that unpleasantness aside, what are your sushi movies? Or, if you hate sushi, what food do you love that also nourishes you?