Justin and I planned to install a window or two or three this weekend, but the rain prevented that. We spent a fairly lazy weekend not doing much of anything, which was great!
Saturday evening, we went with Angie and Travis (Angie works with Justin and Travis is Angie's husband) to eat sushi and see a movie. My sushi rolls were delicious and everyone else seemed to enjoy theirs, too. I should say that Angie and Travis are much more adventurous than me when it comes to food. Actually, most people are. Justin tried most everything they ordered. I stuck to the two rolls I ordered and was perfectly happy. Travis ordered jellyfish and insisted that I try it. I was hesitant, but everyone else was telling me I had to try it. I gave in and ate the jellyfish. It was different than I expected. Justin said it had a Jolly Rancher flavor. I did not agree with that. The texture was odd - almost like a tough grapefruit and it was red, probably because of something it was soaked in or flavored with. It was crunchy, but not because of anything hard in it. It had a strange flavor and even stranger aftertaste. It was a little salty, but not in a salt kind of way. It is almost impossible to describe. It's not something I would eat frequently, but I could eat it again. Surprisingly, it didn't gross me out.
After we ate, we headed to the movie theater to watch Inglourious Basterds (I know this is not the correct way to spell either word, but it's the way the movie title is spelled). This movie is fantastic! We found it to be very entertaining. It's not a movie that everyone will want to see, but Justin and I enjoy other movies written by Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, et al.). The movie takes place in Nazi-occupied France in the 1940s. Brad Pitt is the leader of a group of Jewis-American soldiers who are tasked with killing Nazis. There are several other stories intertwined in the movie and the movie is fairly comical and a little serious. The language and violence could be offensive to some people. Like I said, this is not a movie that will be enjoyed by everyone, but I did enjoy it.
Even though we didn't accomplish much of anything this weekend, other than eating a jellyfish, we did enjoy the weekend and that's what is important. Relaxing can accomplish a lot, too.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Katharine Hepburn's Brownies
Someone recommended this brownie recipe a while back and I tried it. I have made these brownies many times and they are delicious! They're easy and Justin and I both agree that they're better than boxed brownies. The recipe also uses ingredients that most people have around the house. One of the best reasons this recipe is better than a boxed mix is no partially hydrogenated oils = no trans fat! Yummy!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Guest Bedroom
This weekend, Justin and I decided to paint the guest bedroom. The room was originally a butter yellow, which was fine, but I wanted something else. There were also some holes that were filled with spackling and never painted.
I used a Valspar (from Lowe's) color called Palisade Blue for my room/office in our house in Tifton. I liked the color. It was soothing and familiar, something that I currently need in my life. Justin and I discussed it and decided to paint the guest bedroom in Atlanta Palisade Blue.
After breakfast Saturday morning, Justin and I moved the furniture out of the room and covered the moulding with tape. We also covered the floor with plastic drop cloths. When we painted the house in Tifton, we usually had the floor stripped down to the concrete slab and the base mouldings removed since we were installing the bamboo. It is so much easier and less stressful to paint like this. If you drop paint on the floor, oh well! No big deal!
I mainly "cut-in" around the doors and ceilings with a brush while Justin rolled the walls. It doesn't take long to paint when you have help and it's fun to have someone to talk to. We finished painting and got ready to go eat with friends at The Treehouse in Peachtree Hills.
Sunday morning, we touched up some areas and waited for it to dry before we removed the tape. After cleaning up the room, we began moving the furniture back in. This is always so exciting to me! We even made up the bed with our old down comforter. Mama said we could have the matelasse bedspread that used to be in her guest room. It's ivory and will look really nice in the blue room. I bought a rug that I used in my blue room in Tifton, so it now has a home in the guest room in Atlanta. After we got the furniture in the room, I began pulling random, unused decor items from other parts of the house to use in the guest room. I'm sure I'll make changes to this room in the future, but I used what I had lying around.
I'm pleased, but this room is a work in progress. The black desk will eventually be moved to another room, but it works in the guest room, so it will stay a little longer. I know a lot of the colors don't go together, but we'll make do for now. I also want to replace the closet doors with either bi-fold closet doors or a pair of regular doors. I absolutely do not like sliding closet doors. The closet organizer has to be off-center and one side of the clothes rods is practically useless. I am planning to paint the closet. None of the closets in this house are painted to match the room they are in, except for the master bedroom, which we painted.
Another "before" corner. That big hole behind the door is where the air vent grille belongs. We removed it to paint.
Accessories can really make a difference in a room.
The "after" picture. Of course our guests will be greeted each morning by Pete's and Annabelle's faces (in picture-form only).
We are planning to hem the curtains and move the rods higher. The curtains we previously used in this room were shorter and we never moved the rods. I would eventually like to replace the curtains, but these will work for now.
I used a Valspar (from Lowe's) color called Palisade Blue for my room/office in our house in Tifton. I liked the color. It was soothing and familiar, something that I currently need in my life. Justin and I discussed it and decided to paint the guest bedroom in Atlanta Palisade Blue.
After breakfast Saturday morning, Justin and I moved the furniture out of the room and covered the moulding with tape. We also covered the floor with plastic drop cloths. When we painted the house in Tifton, we usually had the floor stripped down to the concrete slab and the base mouldings removed since we were installing the bamboo. It is so much easier and less stressful to paint like this. If you drop paint on the floor, oh well! No big deal!
I mainly "cut-in" around the doors and ceilings with a brush while Justin rolled the walls. It doesn't take long to paint when you have help and it's fun to have someone to talk to. We finished painting and got ready to go eat with friends at The Treehouse in Peachtree Hills.
Sunday morning, we touched up some areas and waited for it to dry before we removed the tape. After cleaning up the room, we began moving the furniture back in. This is always so exciting to me! We even made up the bed with our old down comforter. Mama said we could have the matelasse bedspread that used to be in her guest room. It's ivory and will look really nice in the blue room. I bought a rug that I used in my blue room in Tifton, so it now has a home in the guest room in Atlanta. After we got the furniture in the room, I began pulling random, unused decor items from other parts of the house to use in the guest room. I'm sure I'll make changes to this room in the future, but I used what I had lying around.
I'm pleased, but this room is a work in progress. The black desk will eventually be moved to another room, but it works in the guest room, so it will stay a little longer. I know a lot of the colors don't go together, but we'll make do for now. I also want to replace the closet doors with either bi-fold closet doors or a pair of regular doors. I absolutely do not like sliding closet doors. The closet organizer has to be off-center and one side of the clothes rods is practically useless. I am planning to paint the closet. None of the closets in this house are painted to match the room they are in, except for the master bedroom, which we painted.
This is one corner of the room before we began painting.
Another "before" corner. That big hole behind the door is where the air vent grille belongs. We removed it to paint.
The window corner. We did leave this one chest in the room while we painted. It's heavy and somewhat difficult to move. It came through without any stray paint on it. 
Accessories can really make a difference in a room.
The "after" picture. Of course our guests will be greeted each morning by Pete's and Annabelle's faces (in picture-form only).
We are planning to hem the curtains and move the rods higher. The curtains we previously used in this room were shorter and we never moved the rods. I would eventually like to replace the curtains, but these will work for now.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
"I deserve a prize or a trophy!"
Last night, I called Justin to chat. The first thing he says to me is "I deserve a prize or a trophy!" I'm thinking, "Ooo...he fixed something at the house."
This is what actually happened, which is way better than anything else he could have done...
He walked to the mailbox yesterday afternoon to get the mail. As he walked back to the house, he noticed something move very quickly across the driveway. He kept watching for more movement and saw the critter again in the yard. He walked closer and noticed part of the animal still sticking out from under a leaf. He picked-up the leaf and got a good view of the critter. Any guesses as to what it was?
Yes ma'am! It was a SNAKE! Justin said it was pretty small, but he caught up to it and killed it. He said he couldn't believe it could move that fast. I said, "The one I chased with the lawn mower was really fast, too." I asked him how he killed it and he said with his shoe. I asked him if he wore his work shoes and he said, "Nope. Flip-flops."
You read that correctly - Justin stomped a snake to death with his flip-flop covered foot. I was impressed. I asked him if it was brown and he said "Nah, more of a greenish-brown." I said, "Are you sure it wasn't brown?" and he said, "Yeah, it was kind of brown, but it had a little green in it." I asked again and he said "Actually, it was brown and I know it was the same one you saw while you were mowing."
That's the correct answer!
This is what actually happened, which is way better than anything else he could have done...
He walked to the mailbox yesterday afternoon to get the mail. As he walked back to the house, he noticed something move very quickly across the driveway. He kept watching for more movement and saw the critter again in the yard. He walked closer and noticed part of the animal still sticking out from under a leaf. He picked-up the leaf and got a good view of the critter. Any guesses as to what it was?
Yes ma'am! It was a SNAKE! Justin said it was pretty small, but he caught up to it and killed it. He said he couldn't believe it could move that fast. I said, "The one I chased with the lawn mower was really fast, too." I asked him how he killed it and he said with his shoe. I asked him if he wore his work shoes and he said, "Nope. Flip-flops."
You read that correctly - Justin stomped a snake to death with his flip-flop covered foot. I was impressed. I asked him if it was brown and he said "Nah, more of a greenish-brown." I said, "Are you sure it wasn't brown?" and he said, "Yeah, it was kind of brown, but it had a little green in it." I asked again and he said "Actually, it was brown and I know it was the same one you saw while you were mowing."
That's the correct answer!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Happy Birthday, Carrie!
Today is my sister's thirty-first birthday. We went out to eat for her birthday on Thursday. She requested dinner at Giulio's in Valdosta, so we headed there. It was yummy, as usual.
Happy Birthday, Carrie! Hope it's a great one!
Happy Birthday, Carrie! Hope it's a great one!
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