Minutiae

I've been falling down on the blogging front....its been pretty busy around here.

This weekend we went to my cousin's wedding. It was lovely! My cousin married a Croatian girl, and let me tell you, you haven't been to a wedding until you've been to a Croatian wedding! Those people like to polka.

We also had Marsha's first birthday party (separate post forthcoming). I am exhausted from all the partying.

There's nothing like the thought of 30 people coming to your house to make you clean up your kitchen (and redo your bathroom). Of course, I did not take any before pictures, but honestly, you should thank me that I'm not subjecting you to the mess that was my kitchen before.

First, I made another cornice board for the kitchen window over the sink, just like the one in the bathroom, made from foam core board wrapped in fabric. I made it a wee bit too big, so instead of hanging it, its actually just wedged in between the cabinets.


Next, I removed the toaster oven and microwave from the countertop and installed them inside a free-standing cabinet on the other side of the kitchen. The picture below is where they used to be, and they took up the entire counter on that side.



While I am not exactly Annie Leibowitz, the picture above looks very slanted. The counter IS slanted. But not that slanted. Although you can see right next to the sink how the counter is buckled and wavy. That's not my photography.

The area above the fridge was a hot mess. Someone renting here prior to us took off the cabinet doors, and we can only find one of them, so we haven't reattached them. I hate hate hate open shelving, or anything open in the kitchen. Or generally anywhere else, for that matter. I have clutter, I just hate looking at it. Put it behind closed doors, please. So the area above the fridge was always an eyesore of plastic grocery bags, lunchboxes, giant containers of olive oil, etc. And moldy bread. Omg, the penicillin I threw away when I cleaned up there. The bread is no longer allowed to live up there.

Now, nicely corralled and sorted with pretty baskets from Target:

The toaster oven and microwave now live in a free-standing cabinet. Sadly, the two shelves now occupied by the microwave and toaster oven used to hold food items, which are now all crammed up into the upper left shelf. I will have to remedy this. Not sure how at the moment.


We also bought the kids new shoes. You may remember my previous rant about Geox and how much I hate their stupid holey shoes. However, after concerted nagging and whining by the 4 yr old, I buckled under the pressure (much like my counters) and bought the Geox. In my defense, they were 60% off. And the other shoes I was being nagged to buy lit up like a Christmas tree. I compromised with the white shiny vinyl.



I've tried to actively encourage Greg to wear the black Sperry topsiders when he goes out to play, so these shiny white shoes last more than a week. So, he goes downstairs to Grandma's apartment, walks into her kitchen, and informs Grandma "I can't wear my new white shoes on your kitchen floor, Grandma. Its too dirty, my shoes will get dirty." Grandma says "excuse me? What do you mean?" And Greg says, "Look all around! This place is filthy!" (Her place is not filthy, I assure you.)

Nice, kiddo. Inherited your mother's interpersonal skills, I see.