Monday, May 31, 2010

austin, texas

yay! les is getting married! we are celebrating in austin, texas...

okay, so we celebrated. i'm way behind on blogging, and the kanters have actually already returned from their honeymoon. regardless of my tardiness, i'm blogging, as this was a way cool, way fun weekend and i want to share!

only artistic-ish (barely) photos i have. leaving that to devon and les. they're much better at it! not that the posts i linked to show how amazing they are -- surf their blogs, you'll see :). i really just linked to austin weekend pics to supplement my own - i seem to have the only nighttime pictures!!

we stayed at an amazing place and had even more amazing 'packets' preparing us for an EVEN MORE, MORE, MORE AAAAAAHHHMAAAAAAZING time! it was so great to reconnect with....

devon: i don't think i had seen devon since she moved from the golden state--she moved just before my wedding... little jack was a month old when she married patrick, before that i was too preggo to fly to her shower or attend any other festivities. i think i was also preggo when tara and les visited chi-town at a different time. since then, i've had a little boy and very little in travel funds for a visit to her little loft. i love this girl and no matter how long it's been, it feels like it was just yesterday.

ali: we go waaaaay back. back to 2001. we sang in the streets, drank some drank, partied-harty in vegas with dev, l&b, & les for nye. what a great time. we also reunite sometimes (maybe once, but i'm sure it'll happen again) on the corner of the street we BOTH work on in SF. so weird. i saw her earlier this year, and was like, ALI?!?! It's Jen, Les' friend?!?! like she forgot about me singing, "hey al, what up?" the ENITRE vegas trip... (remember that song?)

trish: this was soooo great. i feel like i talk with trish all the time, even though it's totally through les. we connected in sf one year, shortly after camp (which tara and i totally feel like we worked at because of hearing the fab stories and meeting the fab peeps through the years). we ate in the cellar of union square (right?). her texas knowledge was SOOOOO helpful. though she didn't help any of us look less of jackasses when we went to the range. thanks for nothing! :).

tara: i see tara often. usually at her spa, sometimes at dinner with the girls, but rarely for a night out. spending the time with tara was an added bonus with the rest of the girls. i was her 'companion' on southwest, which meant we had all four flights (2 each way) to and from austin to catch up, laugh, and enjoy 2-for-1 drinks from our fab flight attendants. fabulous. (and thanks for the free flight, tk!)


most importantly, i was soooooooo excited to celebrate with this girl:




bench project.

i LOVED this project. don't know if it's my deep love for benches, old white paint, or the color green. whatever is was, this was fun. and it only took half of a nap to complete (like less than an hour, folks!).

these benches came into our possession illegally. we didn't steal from anyone in particular, and i know for sure they were unwanted. i saw them on a trip one day, and despite the work involved, volunteered myself to return for a second trip. at the end of that trip, i begged for these benches. pete gave in. i love them.

step one: sand, sand, sand. sand away the grime. sand away the odd piano keys paint. sand away the lead. sand, sand, sand.


step two: prime. this is my LEAST favorite step of any painting project. i am horrible at it (aka, i don't do it). i know that there are walls in my house that deserved this step, but i skipped it. i guess i'm maturing, because i spent the time to prime instead of skipping to the instant satisfaction of color. or maybe i knew where these benches had been and that my little precious would sit on them soon. whatever the case, i primed. and it didn't take long. and i think the project turned out better because of it. maybe i learned a lesson, but then again, probably not.


step 3: COLOR! i tried red. i tried blue. but i knew, deep down, the benches would be green. a bright green. a strike of green in our regular decor. i only used 1.5 of those little sample size paints. they were left over from a stripe in jack's room. do you like? i kept the legs white - i love old white paint.


step 4: placement. i don't usually get something (decor or furniture or even clothing) with the thought of exactly where to use it. sometimes that ends up bad for me. for example, i have an ADORABLE dark brown belt with silver beading that i've had for months and not worn. i didn't have a place for it before i brought it home. in the months i've had these benches (waiting for weather to settle & inspiration to strike), i've thought of a few places for them. my favorite place was as the benches for the wood table we have on our patio. unfortunately, i underestimated the length of the benches, and they were too long. alas, i decided on strategic placement - one in the front, one in the back - a place where one (or three) could sit and gaze across the yard, gaining a different perspective. what do you think?

this is the one in the backyard. situated under our beautiful birch trees, it offers a lovely view of the grass, our lady in the fountain, and our porch. in the evenings, the bulb lights draw your attention to our outside eating area...

this bench adorns our front yard near the street, taking in the shade of our oak trees. from this viewing point, you can clearly take in our newly planted hydrangeas, crab apple and rose trees, and seasonal decor both on the porch and in the entryway of our home. on hot summer nights, it takes you to a serene spot overlooking the bustling 'feature point' porch...

willis twin autumn.


there may be a future here...
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Saturday, May 29, 2010

enjoying the backyard and my finished project

I redid this totally cute bench today (details to follow). Poodle,
Pepper, Pete, Jack, and I are enjoying our new view of the backyard.
Weather is perfect, we love our backyard!!!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

olive you, Jack!

I offered an olive as I made a Mediterranean pasta salad for dinner. I
don't do kalamata, so it's a black one. He looked at it for a second,
saw the hole, stuck it on his finger, and screamed, "taaaaaadaaaaa!
look, Mommy!!!"

Friday, May 21, 2010

Suggestions for Peter:

After ordering the wii DVD, we are able to stream movies whenever we
want! Yay for Netflix!! I love technology. Anyhoo, how funny are the
suggestions for Pete?!?!?

Thursday, May 13, 2010

mother's day trip to davis!

jack was very serious about this train ride:


not sure if it was the shock of being on a train or the fact that he wasn't in a car seat...whatever it was, it took jack a few minutes to get into the freedom of riding a train. the weather was unpredictable, but every weather report suggested there was plenty of dry weather for mother's day picnics so we had planned on walking to central park for some slide action and eating at burgers&brew. but, and our fault for believing the weather report, it was POURING the second we got off the train. we opted for a shorter walk, to woodstock's, for slices:

how sneaky is this expression?!?!
we walked around for a bit after lunch (really just killing time until the train back), and i had a NEED for frozen yogurt. so yum. we happened upon a 'big spoon' style, you fill your cup, you put on the toppings, we weigh it & charge you an arm and a leg, yogurt shop. i had my first rude mother encounter. i am still irritated by her. our conversation:
rm: how old is he?
me: he's two, a bit too big for this stroller*, that's for sure**.
*as jack was rocking OUT of the stroller.
**i was sooo pleasant in that 'happy mother's day to all!!' kind of mood
rm: how much does he weigh?
me: about 30lbs. he's a little guy.
rm: oh yeeeeahhh. our guy is way over 30 lbs. he's only 18 months.
me: yeah, he's a big guy! so cute!
rm: i bet is was easy to push him out.
me: well, i think everyone struggles a bit - but i don't remember a thing! just happy he's a healthy boy!
rm: huh. i remember. try pushing out a baby the size of a turkey. you're exactly why people have two children. they are foolish. don't remember a thing.

after typing this out, i am still irritated, but it doesn't seem so bad of a conversation. maybe just the 'they are foolish' part. i just get sooooo fired up when people are all, 'woe is me, i had a huge baby! you MUST'VE had it easy!' well, lady, props to you, but i had a hard time, too. little baby or not, birthing a child isn't always a picnic. the experience does not always correlate to the poundage. i think all mothers do a fabulous job pushing out their babes, no need to judge. (i did totally judge her for being a very rude OLD mother when we left the joint. i was so mad. still. so. mad.)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

mother's day 2010

it's mother's day! pete gave me a box of paperclips and a sunglasses case....inside were puzzle pieces! he made a puzzle of a train, sushi menu, clown fish, the golden gate, and a picnic basket. jack and i spent some time putting them together:




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the train and sushi menu represented one choice for the day - a trip to davis on the train to a nice sushi lunch. the other option was a trip to the city to the aquarium followed by a picnic lunch. they were both great options, but the weather has been a little unsettled, so i decided a day in davis would be great...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

leslie + jamie

click here and here to get a little taste of the happy couple + their girls.

Monday, May 3, 2010

congrats, mr. & mrs. kanter!!

Les & Jamie's wedding was absolutely amazing!! I am still an emotional
basket-case, such a touching couple. I am dying because I don't have
any pics - was so into the moment, I forgot to record it. I am sure
Devon (thesmalld.Blogspot.com) got a ton of fab pics and Les will be
sure to share when she returns from her honeymoon. For now, an iPhone
pic from the bus ride home will have to do. Congrats again, l&j!!