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

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry it’s been a while, dear readers (all 5 of you); however, the cord connecting my camera to the computer was MIA. And I didn’t think you wanted to hear me complain about my job without at least providing you with some modicum of entertainment (surely you are entertained by my pictures).

So, I’ve been insanely busy the last couple weeks. I keep reminding myself that this is a good thing. In today’s unstable economy, being busy = job security. Also, I’d rather be busy than bored. But, I’d really love it if there were some sort of a knob that allowed me to lower the stress-level on my job down from a 9 to a 4. I can’t even relax in my sleep - I woke up about 5 times last night because my shoulders were so tense. On a very positive note, I engaged in some serious shop therapy last weekend – more on that later.

Finally, after 4 weeks, here are some new pictures of our place.

The new (and clean) kitchen. I wish it always looked this way! Usually it only does after Susan stops by for a visit. (Thanks Susan!) Also, note the new (and also clean) microwave/convection oven, which was a birthday present from the in laws.

Lew's study/music room/laundry room/Colonization-playing room.

Our dining room table, a hand-me-down from Judd, with a beautiful view of our backyard.

Finally - a picture of the secretary's desk that Lew bought me in Cape May for my birthday. I can't tell you how much I love this piece (although I have done a pretty thorough job at trying to convey how much I love this desk)!
A couple antiques from Brett & Susan's attic - a school desk & a typewriter. The typewriter even predates the word "typewriter". It is actually called a "printwriter."

A few more hand-me-downs from Judd - a couch, seat, and coffee/end tables. Yes, Lew & I really just stole all of this stuff from Brett & Susan, which is why they are never invited over to the house. It's a pain to hide this couch when they visit.

Obviously, the fireplace. I'd like to get it hooked up to gas sometime next year. Although wood burning fireplaces smell wonderful - if you haven't guessed - I'm not a fan of all of the upkeep required to keep one clean.
The powder room on the first floor, with a print given to me by my father. The background of the Van Gough matches the paint in the bathroom perfectly!

Rememberance

A friend of mine from NY captured this moment on film on Thursday night. Incredible.

Vroom, vroom...

The day after closing on our house, Lew & I decided to commit ourselves to another [insert obscene amount] worth of debt in order to lease not one, but two cars. The experience took soooo long, but the end product was worth it. After dinking around with the junior salesman for several hours, we almost walked out of the dealership because we figured we should be able to get some sort of deal for buying two cars. Then “the closer” stepped in. He asked us how much we wanted to spend for a down payment & what we wanted our monthly payments to be. Amazingly, he made both of the numbers work, so we walked away proud owners of a couple cars. Actually one car & one SUV. Given the sky-high gas prices and, therefore, the flood of SUV’s on the market, they nearly threw it in for free. So, Lew has a manly vehicle that he can drive to-and-from the train station.


And I have the practical (but cute) sedan that we’ll take most places. Both cars drive & ride really well.
I didn’t realize how much I missed driving for the last 4 years until I got the car again. Actually, I have never liked driving because I’ve always had cars that have required an inordinate amount of duct tape. So the Altima is a nice change of pace.

Cape May Days

A couple days before our closing, Lew & I took a mini-vacation to Cape May, NJ. I seriously thought it was a fantastic idea to go on vacation the same week we closed on our new home. I even boasted about what a wonderful idea this was – I figured I’d be all rested, relaxed, and ready to handle anything life could send my way. Ummmm…not so much. In retrospect, perhaps taking off the week AFTER closing (the week we moved in) would have been a better move. (No pun intended.) It was insanely difficult to work last week between the exhaustion of the move, the pain in my body from unpacking, and the desire to shop on-line for absolutely every new thing I “needed” for the new home. You’d be amazed at how much time I can waste searching for the perfect shower hooks.

The Rusty Nail Bar & Grill. How about that for tantalizing advertising! Speaking of tantalizing - a vending machine outside of the local 7-11...

Despite all of my complaining, the 3 day vacation to Cape May was wonderful! Lew spent most of the time at the arcade, where he used his mad skillz at the grabber machine to win a dozen sports watches. He has a serious addiction…er…talent. I spent most of my time shopping & lounging on the beach. The weather couldn’t have been any better – it was in the low 80’s every day.

Here are Lew's winnings from the arcade - 12 sports watches and 2 stuffed toys.

We stayed at the Mainstay Bed & Breakfast – the oldest Bed & Breakfast in Cape May. Although we’re usually not huge fans of B&B’s – the rooms are usually garish & small, the t.v. non-existent, and the owners too intrusive – this one was a nice surprise. All of the antiques in the house were cool, there were always fully stocked jars of chocolate chip cookies, and there were lots of nooks & crannies to hide in. Most importantly, the Inn was located right in the middle of the town – two blocks away from the Boardwalk & two blocks away from Washington Square (the shopping district).

I LOVED this tete-a-tete at the Inn!

The food in Cape May is pretty awesome. I had amazing blueberry pancakes at Bill’s Pancake House, delicious vegetarian risotto at the Washington Inn, and tasty spicy beef stir-fry at the Black Duck. Mmmmm…. Unfortunately (and this is a huge unfortunately), the vitamins I had just started taking wreaked havoc on my stomach. Spicy Beef + Already Upset Stomach = Not fun!

Lew & I at the Washington Inn.

(Funny sidenote - At this very ritzy restuarant there was a sign in the women's restroom that read, "WARNING - Drinking while pregnant can lead to serious birth defects." Do they seriously have a problem with this?!?)

The trip also reinforced the fact we never ever want to go on vacation during the last couple weeks in August. There were so many people at the beach and so many (screaming, whining, annoying) kids. I considered getting my tubes tied on more than one occasion.

The major highlight of the trip was when I found this 1890’s secretary’s desk at The Whimsical Mermaid. The owners, Terry & Stephen, really loved the piece, but no longer had space for it, so they were happy to sell it to a grateful new homeowner (yes – I had to tell everyone in Cape May that we were days away from closing on our first home). They ended up selling it to me for about half the amount they had it on sale for, not because of my unbelievable negotiating skills, but because they were just that nice. The secretary’s desk is now sitting majestically in our living room by itself because I spent all of our extra cash on the desk instead of any useful furniture. OK, so it might not have been the most brainiac idea of mine to buy a secretary’s desk before getting a couch. But, hey, it’s not called an impulse buy for nothing.

Lew and I took a couple of interesting side trips while in Cape May. We went to the old firehouse that’s been turned into a museum. The old fire truck is really cool! Then, we wanted to get tee-shirts, so we stalked the poor firefighters inside the new firehouse until they noticed us peeping at them through the windows & got us the shirts. Additionally, on our last day, Lew & I visited the Cape May Lighthouse. We both made it all the way to the top (yay)! It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful mini-vacay.

The Cape May Lighthouse.

At the top of the Lighthouse.