Wednesday, July 31, 2013

burbank house in process: the dining area

So remember in the last house we had three dining surfaces? Well in the Burbank House we have one and to tell you the truth, it hasn't affected us in the slightest. 
I love the concept of the living and dining space being together of course I just wish it were bigger so I would not worry about where I'm gonna squeeze 12 people for the Christmas party.
This is what it looks like from the kitchen with both spaces. Now when Matt makes jokes from the couch I can actually hear them in the kitchen.
It feels like eating by a little cafe restaurant. 
The built-ins are still the same, still love them, still want to trim that curvy thing.
Did I ever show you guys the flatware drawer? Hurt me so pretty.
 And that's the dining space in the summertime.
Tomorrow, the little kitchen that can and does.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

burbank house in process: the living room

Ah the living room, the land where we spend many hours watching well, you know what we watch. 

This is the "entry" area I carved out. I like the concept it's just gonna take some fine tuning before it's functional and cohesive with the rest of the room. A design will come together eventually.
Eventually I'd love to make this a big art wall.
It's interesting when something functional just looks crazy cluttered for photos. It looks crazy busy.
And here's the rest of the area. Not much to it.
We are still wild about our coffee table.
Not wild about this corner. Though it is Matt's pride and joy.
Nerd-ville.
I had planned on taking the legs off to make the TV lower this weekend but we had to go see Wolverine and that took precedence 
So that's the living room as it is now.
To the right of it is the "dining area", we can visit that tomorrow.

Monday, July 29, 2013

photos taken

Yay. I was actually able to fit in taking photos of the house in between watching episodes of "House of Cards". That show is amazing.
Anyhow, I'll work on it tonight and then start bombarding you with brain dumps as the week goes on.

Friday, July 26, 2013

lofty goals for the weekend

House tour photos. Yup, we've been living here for about 5 months and I still haven't properly photographed the house in its current state. I need to have something to compare for the future.
So that's the big goals for this weekend: take photos of our house.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

did i ever show you what june looked like?

I usually write all of my activities on my phone but during vacation I liked to write it on my office calendar just to see everything in ink.
Oh, all the little stars are days when I worked out.

It was a pretty pretty good month.

Monday, July 22, 2013

you have a blog?

Sorry gang. I been a crappy blogger.


Gimme a few days.

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

best use of $100

If I am ever asked what's the best thing a girl can buy herself with $100 I am gonna say: a great pair of running shoes.


The scale hasn't told me what I want to hear but my clothes and overall well being tell me I am doing something right.


After obsessing over working out for the past 5 years and not doing jack about it I can now say that exercise is officially, a habit.

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

Monday, July 15, 2013

my themed party throwing is rubbing off on my family

Well well, I guess I'm starting to influence my family. My sister Mari decided to have a little summer event of her own and got a few of her gal pals and us sisters together and told us to dress up like 50s greaser chicks and head to where else but the drive-in. 
Sisters that greaser together, stay together.
We had some fun posing with the pack of Lucky Strikes I purchased. I take cinematic costuming seriously and the outfit needed props dang it.
I could easily have worn a pencil skirt but since it was gonna be chilly I decided to go as Sandy at the end of Grease since the elements of the outfit were easily located in my closet.
I was really excited watching the clips of "You are the One I Want" because her leather jacket has a red lining and so does mine. I'm a sucker for movie homage-ery.

I'm happy I'm rubbing off on my family in the thematic party throwing.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

obviously, i went back to work

Yup. July 10 I started a small job. That's taking up a lot of my time at the moment since it shoots on Tuesday, eep. I am managing it so that's fun, trying to get as much experience as I can with that, should be a goal of mine to start managing full time but it isn't. Too scary! This was my back to school blues photo. I'm like George Michael when Egg broke his heart.
It's actually nice to be working again despite my not really wanting to go back to work after 5 weeks off but I heard that houses have to be paid monthly. Imagine that!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Chicago: Days 1-3

Here comes a super long recap of our Chicago trip. I'm realizing that I should always try to promptly recap these trips because I forget all the details and while I'm writing these things for my readers, I'm also writing this up for myself so I can remember later what we did. An online diary if you will. Unfortunately I'm using the iphone photos a lot because I would forget my good camera (like an idiot) and the iphone I just snap snap so I can remember what we did.

As we know, Matt doesn't like to fly so I tried to make it as pleasant a trip as possible so we flew Virgin America, the pimpest of pimpy airlines. He did well on the flight and I was able to enjoy a wine and cheese pairing on the way there (and the way back) which helped chill me out even though I didn't need it. Lookit this cute situation. A TINY WINE BOTTLE AH!
So now we've landed I'm calling it "Day 1" since it was July 1 to keep it simple. We got there late and after we'd met our host and gotten into our rental apt we tried to find a place to eat that was open and all we could find were bars where Scottish dudes sang national anthems.
As we remember the following morning, Day 2, I went for a run along Lake Michigan, a run I was planning on doing daily and was promptly plowed by a bicycle, throwing that idea out the window. We went to the ER and got X-rayed told I didn't break anything (woo-hoo) and was given a prescription for extra strength pain medication so I could survive the week and believe me I needed them. We did a whole lot of walking daily and my knee would last the amount of time those drugs would.
Anyway, after the hospital we walked to find a food place and then walked to Lincoln Park.
Did you know the Lincoln Park Zoo is free? It was very exciting to learn and I made friends with this amazing bird with Elvis hair I've learned is called a Kenya Crested Guineafowl. I like to pretend I'm Dr. Doolittle at zoos and call to the animals in whatever noise they're making and it usually works, this guy came right up to the fence to talk to me. Or to show off his do, either or.
It's hard not to snap great photos of general Chicago skyline majesty and there's gonna be rando shots of it along these recaps. You'll learn to love them.
From all the early morning scariness, Matt went down for a nap and I walked to find Dunkin and a nearby clothing store since I'd only packed one pair of pants and the forecast called for rain the next day. Any excuse to shop eh? I was a very good girl on this trip though, I just bought one pair of minty pants and a striped shirt at Forever 21.
The neighborhood we stayed in was the Gold Coast that a friend of ours recommended and I'm so glad he did. It was like a movie backlot, full of these amazing buildings and perfectly manicured front yards and quiet as could be. We were about a block from Lincoln Park and four blocks from an L stop. If we lived in Chicago, I could definitely see us living in a neighborhood like this.
After the nap we walked to The Second City (a few blocks away as well) and went to see a revue of Chicago by some of their B-level improv troops. After that show was over we were able to go see the Improv at the mainstage with the A-level people and they were so good. I can see some Lorne Michaels in their future for certain and I can see why Tina and Amy and all those guys came outta here.
The following morning, Day 3, we headed to the DD by the train station where Matt and I would come for the next few mornings. Grab some coffee and a bagel, take the train to wherever. It was our thing. Matt was amazed I was able to figure out what side of the train station to take simply by reading the L station map. I wouldn't get it if it wasn't for the training in trains from Boston and New York.
The most important stop on the trip was next, well the most important one to me and the buildings were starting to feel incredibly familiar even though it was the first time I'd seen them.
As we walked up these steps you could not believe the excitement I was feeling. I was downright giddy.
I'd been planning this for years. Someday I'll go to Chicago and stand in this train station with the man I love and he'll pick me up like the cover of the movie and take a picture.
And while it wasn't a perfect recreation it was still so very special. Everyone that sees the photo takes less than a milli-second to recognize what Matt and I were doing.
The station has fallen on hard times. I'm blaming Rahm Emmanuel 'cause every cab driver we encountered blamed him for everything.
Oh god sir this is not good! There's a train coming and it's fast. It's an express!
Next was the Art Institute of Chicago which in addition to being a world class art museum was featured in the 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".
Oh yeah, Chicago was still celebrating the recent Stanley Cup win by the Blackhawks.
The art institute is pretty spectacular. So is this guy of mine.
I remember studying this painting in high school. Insane to see these works in the flesh.
After the museum we had to find a place to eat which was the most challenging part of our trip. The feeding of a vegan in the midwest. And while we love eating locally and not eating at chain stores we did end up going to a chain we knew well called Native Foods where I finally had an actual vegetable that wasn't cut into a fry. While there it started pouring rain and we hung 'til it died a little then walked to find a place to stay dry and ended up at another filming location, Chicago Union Station.
It's a lovely train station and while he didn't realize it, I was trying to capture this from a movie.
Not surprisingly he's never seen "My Best Friend's Wedding" but I sure have and how could I forget the scene where Julianne laments that she's pond scum.
Matt bought a Bears hat (he's decided to adopt them as his football team since he don't have one to root for)
The Untouchables was also filmed there and I did my best Eliott Ness.
We tried to find a few Dark Knight locations too. This is the beginning of where a big chase scene takes the batmobile under ground.
Wayne Tower in the background.
I've been told this is also a filming location but I just knew it was a special place to check out so we did. It's called Cloud Atlas and it's in Millennium Park.
While we were there we heard music and turns out there was a free concert nearby with some patriotic music as led by a kilt wearing Scot (geez they were everywhere). 
After the concert, we took a walk along a special place where thanks to stupid Donald Trump the view had been altered.
 It was unmistakeable though.
The most romantic place for a walk.
On the way back we headed to the recommended deep dish pizza place.
I should have just gotten the individual, I went for the small and the pizza was just way too much for me. I ate this one slice and that was all I could handle. It's very good, very. I mean the crust was a little bland but the sauce and the cheese were perfect.
So that's Days 1-3 in magical Chicago.