Dinner Napkins

It's my turn to host dinner for a few of my girlfriends tonight so I thought it'd be the perfect chance to debut my first sewing project...napkins. 

The last time the Schwendener girls got together we all made a set of mix & match napkins.  Thank goodness my mom helped me with ironing the edges down, otherwise I'd still be on napkin #2 right now...and so would Katie.

I love the colors, perfect for Spring...

Have a Great Weekend

The live in and I are still coming out of our food coma from last night. We went to one of our neighborhood restaurants, Andina, for small plates, dinner, and live music. So yummy.

What are you up to this weekend?

We’ve got a fun couple of days planned with birthday parties and dinner parties…oh my! I’ll also be practicing for a big surprise we’ve got going on a work…I don’t want to get in trouble for spilling the beans, so I’ll tell you all about it on Monday…

To-Do:

I wanted to start a revolving to-do list. Stuff besides the normal do the laundry and take out the trash to-do’s. Hopefully I’ll be crossing a few things off my list soon…check back to see…


Host a spontaneous dinner party.

Sort through my old coats and donate the ones I don’t wear.

Talk my live in into tiling a portion of the guest bathroom.

Downgrade our cable.  Apparently we already have the lowest cable package that is "DVR compatible".  Not a huge Comcast fan right now...it's like they knew Lost was starting next week and I would never cancel DVR right now.

Start my secret project for my sister’s baby.

Download a “how to learn Italian” tutorial and listen on the way to work.

Start a Flat Stanley project.

Organize our pictures into albums.

Buy an air plant.

Watch the first Twilight movie.

Passport Love from The Live In

The live in and I were at party this last weekend where we only knew about a handful of the guests.  We met a lot of new people, including one very interesting couple. He was very calm and relaxed, she was the exact opposite. Her name was Cindy*. She would literally start yelling at him for the oddest things. At one point a picture got passed around and she missed it, so she turns to her husband and tells him that she didn’t see the photo. He said sorry, and explained that it was already several people down the line by this point. She got a weird look on her face and yelled, “MAKE IT HAPPEN.” This scared the live in and I.

Since I’ve been sorting and organizing lately I came across a few items that I wanted to be put in our safe deposit box at the bank. This morning I asked the live in to drop them off since he was going to be in the branch anyways. One of the items to be dropped off was our passports. We have no international trips planned, and no need for the passports that I could think of.

This afternoon I asked the live in if he had dropped everything off. {Because that’s what a good wife of Troy does…she double checks}. He said he had, but he wasn’t sure if we really should be putting our passports in. I asked why. He created a scenario where we were being super spontaneous and fleeing the country on a Sunday {the only day the bank is closed}. I told him it wasn’t likely that we would ever do that…however, I was cut off by him yelling out, “CANADA”! And so I conceded…I could tell he was very passionate about the subject. After all, I am not protecting our passports from other people; I am protecting them from us. I can just see us turning the loft upside down looking for them the night before a trip or something.

After all of this I asked if he had ended up leaving the passports out, and his response was this: “No, I didn’t want to disobey”.

Awesome. I laughed. I did, honestly. He must have been afraid I would go “Cindy” on him…


*name totally changed to protect the real life Mindy.

Welcome Back, Monday

How was your weekend?

The live in and I had a fun Sunday. He had the guys over to watch football while I had the girls over to make Valentine’s Day cards. It was like we were “together” but not really.

Card making was a lot of fun! I don’t think we could ever open up a card factory though, our production was a little slow. We’re thinking birthday cards are next on our list…

*p.s. Mom, act surprised when you open your card.

Oh, Live In

Happy Friday!

Guess who stopped by my office this morning and caused quite the commotion? The live in. He had a meeting on campus and decided to pay me and my office-mates a visit afterwards.

What started out as a quiet conversation in my lux-cube quickly turned into him wandering the halls of the building looking for friends. And he found them. The live in thrives off of stuff like this. He’s shaking hands, giving shout outs, and asking where the party is. {It was 10am…much too early for a party, even here.} I walked him over to the other side of the building so he could say hi to even more of his friends. This was a mistake.

One of our friends made a comment about his Wells Fargo jacket and the next thing I know he’s asking if she needs to open up a checking account. She did, actually. I thought this transaction would take place in…oh, I don’t know…the bank. But after some talking and fist pumping they were both excited and in agreement that “we should get this done now – why wait!” So we all parade down to the copy room so the live in can copy her i.d. and debit card. Don’t worry about all of our co-workers wondering why my live in needed a copy of her i.d. and debit card. Our admin was so confused she actually asked if this deal they had going down was legit.

After finishing their business the live in proceeds to shake more hands, and then starts to walk back toward my lux-cube. I cut him off. I told him that he didn’t need to leave; he just couldn’t come with me. I thanked my friend for babysitting and told her to see to it that he finds the elevator when he’s ready to go. And instead of a goodbye kiss or hug, I got a goodbye high five. He was in full on party mode.

But, just like always, everyone loves the live in. He’s legendary. They love him some much that he somehow got invited to happy hour tonight with the entire office…

White Truffle Oil = Liquid Gold

My quest for the perfect homemade pasta dish just took a turn for the better. Do any of you cook with White Truffle Oil? I just discovered it and it’s delish. Not cheap, but delish. You only need a very small drizzle though, so don’t go crazy.

Turns out, the best truffles come from Alba, Italy – which is where I did my study abroad in high school. If only I’d known…

Haiti Relief

Please check out my photography blog, here, for information on giving sessions to benefit Haiti. 

My dear friend, Mojdeh, stopped by the loft on Sunday for a visit. I love it when we get together...but, I can't help but love it even more when she brings me surprise treats! Like this fabulous head wrap straight off the plane from NYC. Isn’t it the best? I’ve been wearing it all day so the live in snapped a photo {of course, I set the camera up for him}.

Thank you, Moj!

Mini Books

I’ve recently become addicted to sorting and organizing…our storage space, my closet, the bathroom closet, etc. I don’t know what’s come over me. In the midst of my sorting and organizing I came across this little book on Travel. I had given it to the live in several years ago. I think it’s adorable. It’s filled with little quotes and phrases.

Check out more miniature books here…there is even a mini “Words About Love” book if you are in a Valentine’s Day mood.

Friday!!

It’s Fri-day! {in big Oprah announcer voice}. Honestly, this has been one of the longest weeks on record and I am so delighted it’s over. I am even more delighted it’s a three day weekend.

Our brother in-law, Bryce, likes to make us play the “high point of the day / low point of the day” game after major events. For example, after my brother’s wedding. The live in, Bryce, Bryce’s wife Emily, and myself were sharing a room the night of the wedding and the high/low game lasted into the wee hours. High points included my strapless dress not falling down, no one embarrassing themselves in front of our parents, and watching our Dad learn to dance “like the kids”. Obviously, a low point on our list also included watching our Dad learn to dance “like the kids”.

My high point for the week:

• Listening to the live in and my Mom on the phone together. This is always funny, but was especially rich this week as my Mom had taken on the responsibility of getting the live in to go to court and avoid getting his license revoked. The night I overheard their conversation the live in had “intended” on going to court but had forgotten his wallet at home. I believe his response to my Mom was “oops”. Honestly, it’s the perfect scenario for me. She has a way of breaking things down for him, sympathizing with him, and mothering him all at once in a way that ultimately motivates him. He went to court last night, got it taken care of, and then called her to report back in. Her response…"We are so proud of you. Good job!” Seems like “we” are forgetting the events that lead him to go to court in the first place, but I am staying out of it.

My low point:

• At about 10:30am this morning realizing it wasn’t a good life decision to skip the shower. I am just not one of the lucky ones who can take a shower the night before work and call it good. My hair resembles the mane of a lion and I smell like a cross between a 17 year old boy and the lady standing outside the perfume counter at Macy’s shoving samples in your face. Don’t think this is forcing me to take refuge in the privacy of my lux cubicle though. Oh the contrary…you see I have a pretty serious disorder that forces me to tell those around me the details of my private life {hence, this blog} whether they want to hear or not. {Hey, at least you have a “un-follow this blog” button if it gets really bad}. So, just like a real life zoo lion, I am drawing quite the crowd of curious on-lookers.

Happy Friday, my dear friends.

Resolutions

Remember this post? Well, it’s been a year and I have to be honest – I didn't keep my resolution, I never took over our finances. I was lazy, the live in was happy doing it, and so nothing changed. This year is a different story though. Completely different, actually. As of January 1st the live in dropped his financial responsibilities cold turkey and has agreed to go on a financial diet. Aka a budget.

I put together a monster of a spreadsheet which outlines our finances on an annual basis. It impressed the live in. It also terrified him.

You see, for the last seven years I have been wandering through life in financial bliss. Okay, I was clueless…it wasn’t until last week that I learned how much my take home pay was. But, regardless of my total reliance on the live in, he had it pretty easy too. In a way, he had total financial freedom himself. Spending and saving as he pleased. My eyes were opened to accounts I never knew we had, in banks I never knew existed, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn of off-shore accounts or funds in Swiss banks. The live in knows his stuff, I’ll give him that. Saving, however, is not really his specialty.

So, you can imagine the state of concern he is currently in regarding our new financial diet. Over the weekend he came to me and asked…"how do I get to buy things?” “Like what?” I asked. “Like the things I need to buy.” And our conversation went on and on like this until I learned that the live in doesn’t even know what he needs to buy – he just wants to buy.

My friends, it’s the 11th of January – I hope your New Year’s resolutions are off to a great start. Mine have been challenging so far, including this financial one. However, just like I told the live in, we’ll be thanking ourselves at the end of the year. So hang in there!

Mint Tea

This morning I’ve been drinking mint tea,

and the smell immediately took me back to my childhood.

My grandparents used to grow mint in their garden

 and we would often pick the leaves to make a fresh pot of tea.

I remember really enjoying it.

Happy New Year!

Happy twenty ten!  I thought I’d start the year off right with a story about the live in.

Prior to Christmas the live in received a letter from the DMV, which I proceeded to open on his behalf. Half way through reading the letter I cornered the live in and asked if there was anything I should know about. He said no. So I told him the news. The live in’s license will be taken away the beginning of February for failure to complete the terms for his speeding ticket.

Just swell {sorry, I’ve been watching Mad Men}.

I wasted no time in letting him know that Tri Met has a very comprehensive website that will be happy to assist in his future transportation needs. I for one will not be shuttling him around. I even closed my eyes and envisioned him stepping off the bus in his Don Draper like suit, hustling off to a meeting, only to explain to everyone that his bus was late and he was truly sorry for the delay. And because the buses are always late, he’d be having this conversation daily. My day dreaming was cut short by the sound of him tearing the DMV document out of my hand to examine it.

He had paid his fine. He had gone to traffic school. But, what he didn’t do was read. He neglected to read the not so fine print which explained the paper work that needed to be returned and processed. So now the live in is required in court.

Before you all come forward as character witnesses, please keep in mind that today marks the live in’s third failed attempt at making it into court. Although he doesn’t have a scheduled appointment with the judge, he does have a deadline. And it’s just around the corner. I’ll give him a pass on the second attempt though, which was last week during the commute-a-palooza.

Oh well, maybe we’ll save some money on car insurance once he gets his bus pass.

Regardless of this little “misunderstanding,” as the live in puts it, there is no one I’d rather go into 2010 with…no matter how deep in the court system he is. {I draw the line at conjugal visits though, live in.}