Stuff I like

Part of the fun of buying a new house is buying things to fill it with like this turtle footrest from the 1970's that I scored off of e-bay. I mean, how cute is this guy?!?

And this sea-salt lamp, which totally reminds me of those stones in Indiana and the Temple of Doom.

And this beautiful duvet cover, throw, and pillows. I wish you could see the colors better - it's a cool combination of maroon, gold, and green.


And this Tiffany-style dragonfly lamp that Lew found on Overstock. An amazing find that looks great in the bedroom!

And this trashcan. I loved the pattern so much, I decided to decorate the bathroom around it. I think the black, white, & silver theme looks pretty classy.

My Clean House

Finally, after much ado, we found a cleaning service. We were pretty scarred after the last round of “cleaners” (who were less than cleanly) so it took us a while to find someone. Ultimately we decided to go with Monica, a woman who came highly recommended by about 6 people at my firm. Although she doesn’t speak much English & you have to speak through her teenage kids (which makes me feel a little like I’m supporting child labor), it’s totally worth it.

So, Monica, her husband, and their son came over last Sunday and cleaned from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. That’s some mad cleaning! Cleaning doesn’t even explain what they did to my house. They literally transformed it. They rearranged all of the furniture in our guest bedroom and put headboards on both the master bed and the bed in the guest room. Both of our studies, which were still full with unpacked boxes, ended up beautifully organized. The little touches were so cool – they folded the corner of the toilet paper into little triangles and fluffed our Kleenex. Seriously fluffed our Kleenex. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated their hard work. I even hugged them when they left. Hope that didn't freak them out too much!

Below is a pic of our clean living room which, as you will notice, after a mere 3 months, is finally sporting something on the walls.

Here's the master bed with the new headboard - a brown plush faux suade nailhead headboard from the Company Store. It's really soft! There's also a matching bench at the base of the bed.

The dresser in the guest bedroom. Another much appreciated hand-me-down from Susan & Brett.

The new bed in the guest bedroom, which is sporting the beautiful quilt my Mom and Grandma Bates gave me for my wedding. The main pieces in the quilt were originally sewn by my great-grandmother. What an amazing piece!

An Open Letter to the Phillies

Dear Phillies,

You guys ROCK! I must admit, I didn’t think you could do it. After the first game of the World Series, I finally let myself believe that you could, in fact, win the whole thing. But honestly, I never really cared if you won. (Although I enjoy the bragging rights.) Lew says I’m about the only person who can enjoy watching a game in which you lose. Not that I enjoy watching you lose, but I enjoy watching you play – win or lose. At the end of Game 5, when we were 3 strikes away from clinching & the whole city was on edge, I thought that it wouldn’t be the WORST thing if you lost because then I’d get to watch you play another game. Of course, I’m glad that you won! Watching Carlos Ruiz man-hug Brad Lidge and watching Ryan Howard tackle them both was so touching.

I’ve got to thank you for playing so well all year. Not only did you play well, but you played well with others. You showed kindness to each other & respect to other teams. I nearly cried when Shane Victorino told the Dodgers’ Furcal to “keep his head up” after Furcal made two errors in their postseason match-up. That’s the epitome of good sportsmanship. Also, each of the players supported one another, through the good and the bad. Ryan Howard, who had an amazing year, had a difficult first half of the postseason…couldn’t hit a ball to save his life. He could have sulked & felt bad for himself. Instead, he reveled in the success of his teammates.

Each of the team members had a shining moment during the postseason. It wasn’t just one person that carried the team. It was the team that carried the team. Pitchers Brett Meyers and Joe Blanton made unexpected (and unbelievably exciting) game-changing hits. Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz really stepped up and took leadership roles when the rest of the team was struggling in the early rounds of the postseason. I couldn’t help but get that mushy feeling in the cockles of my heart when veterans Matt Stairs (pinch hitter) and Jaime Moyer (pitcher) gave once-in-a-lifetime performances. And I was just so happy for Ryan Howard when he got his groove back in the World Series.

The city has been on fire for the last few weeks. Occasionally, I have a twinge of regret that I no longer live in the city & have missed some of the revelry. But I have enjoyed watching it all go down in my quiet suburban home. Actually it’s not that quiet. My darling Lew gets really pumped up when you play. He could be a professional commentator. He thinks the worst is going to happen with every single play, and then is pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t. It’s like the old saying goes – if you keep your expectations low, you’ll never be disappointed. Lew was on top of the world when you won on Wednesday night. He kept saying “Did that really just happen?” Thanks for making this guy so happy.

As I’m writing this – I’m watching the parade on TV. We wanted to come celebrate with you in person, but the train thwarted our efforts. There were so many people traveling from the suburbs into the city, that the trains couldn’t hold everyone. After waiting for an hour to catch the train this morning, watching 3 trains zoom by, and watching the crowd at the Villanova train station swell to over a hundred - we finally gave up & headed home. Here’s a look at the madness at the station this morning…

Although I’m kind of bummed I didn’t make it to the parade in person. I’m glad I avoided the crowds (there’ve got to be 2 million people there) and the cold weather. Plus, I’ve got an even better view of things on my TV (and I get to wear my pajama pants, which I can rarely get away with in public).

Phillies, as I sign off I would like to say - thank you for this awesome ride, thank you for reenergizing this city, thank you for reminding us all what teamwork means, thank you for turning my husband into a loveable maniac, and thank you for the memories.

Forever Yours,

Sarah