this Rena Tom jewelry makes me want to do some more beading (actually it makes me want to buy it, but since I don't have any money it makes me want to bead)

Here's a shot of how the kitchen looks now, it turned out awesome and I love it. Incredibly talented contractor-friends took out the walls, did electrical, and installed the peninsula and sink. I tiled the counters and backsplash and helped paint. My Love did the floors in the whole joint and painted a bunch. My roommate jumped in whenever we got in trouble. Kim convinced me to stop being so stubborn and Jaya loaned me his truck for dump runs. Thanks everyone!

I need to figure out how to do a slideshow of all the before and after stuff.

My idea of a perfect Monday night:

1. Double up at the gym with step class followed by yoga with favorite teachers.
2. Thai leftovers reheated with love.
3. Margarita on the rocks with salt.
4. Extreme faux drunkenness brought on by a single margarita after the gym.
5. Long massage including hand and scalp massages.
6. Make out until you fall asleep.

coconut cake sounds really good, huh?

guess what I'm buying for my current summer music conundrum:

one which people will listen to while they fall in love with each other, and then the world will onced again be a sugary dark place shot through with jungle-green rings of light in unlikely places.

I'm looking for something pretty and dreamy, but not sad. Let me know if you have any ideas.

so far the Citron looks sort of modern creepy in the kitchen. We still have the tape up and everything a mess so I guess it could look good when everything's tidy. Also it is still very cloudy today so the light is not helping. I got semi gloss since it's a kitchen but the shininess makes it look bad. I might get a white glaze and wash it over to mute the color and the moderness. I like clean lines but this looks like Germany in the 90's gone wrong. Something about it looks a little gorey. You know what it looks like? that slime/gak crap on Nickelodeon.

It is raining today in June: ridiculous. Tonight we will paint the kitchen Behr Citron, I'm going for sort of a Florida/garden room look with all the white tile and silver metal. This weekend I will have my first brunch party for which I will have to get some chairs for people to sit on.

summer makes you feel good!

There's a nice thread on Apartment Therapy about Method cleansers and it gets into using Dr. Bronners which I have a big jug of the peppermint kind. I want to use it in the shower but find it very drying. Does anyone have a special way of mixing it with oil or something to get the tingle without losing all the moisture in your skin?

Tia posted this info about using it as a spray cleaner:

My favorite all-purpose spray... reuse a spray bottle, add a squirt of Dr. Bronners, 10 drops each of lavender, tea tree, and coriander EO, and fill to the top with water. Cleans, disinfects, smells great!

What is the difference between "clean" and "cleanse"?

Over the long weekend I had a little time to get my final plantings done for the season. All of the plants I've ordered are in the ground so that's good and I think I only lost two due to delay but I planted them anyway (the clematis Ramona and the President). Due to the craziness with the front yard and the house I have about 20 seed packets that I never planted and now I feel like it's too late. I might still try the sunflowers though.

The house is coming together again and I feel like I can breathe. Sabine is acting sort of like a normal cat which is a good sign for a variety of reasons. We are squashing some new dressers and definitely a new computer into my little house, but I must say it's nice. I am told my back porch is the perfect spot for playing Dungeons and Dragons. Here's our newest addition.

I got a chance to visit the Tomato Man this weekend. Since I grew my own tomato plants from seeds this year, and I feel like five varieties is probably plenty, I did not get any tomato plants. But I did pick up a few pepper plants so I can try to make salsa this summer if my plants produce at all. I got three different kinds so we can do taste tests to see what we like: Jalapeno, Habanero, and Garden Salsa. (I don't know how to do the little dealy bop on top of the N's) Also got a sweet pepper, Blushing Beauty, for grilling or whatever. I love this page on the tomato man's site with growing tips for our hot summer climate. I think it will be fun to further mortify the neighborhood by mulching my front yard tomato plants with straw. Also really liked to hear that I don't have to take the suckers off the plants, I hate doing that and don't really see the point.

My greatest wish is that I will be able to sit on my couch and watch Buffy on dvd this weekend. My second greatest wish is that I will be able to eat snacks prepared in my kitchen while I do this.

I hate it when people give you that condescending smile and tell you everything is attitude. Their cat obviously did not pee in their bed last night.

This Spring cleaning project looks pretty fun and I have a perfect candidate project for participation. I am told that my life could become normal this week. If that is the case 14 days should be plenty of time.

Look how pretty this fabric is. Week two of pathetic self pity is in full effect boyee!

p.s. Dave?

I feel like Dave Meyers in So I Married an Axe Murderer: this blog . . . Sucks?

I think I could make this ottoman and I have some pretty cool fabric. The laminate project has finally turned a corner and it now looks like I will come out of this with my house intact. If I am friends with you and have been out of contact, please forgive me. I can't function without a home and that includes using a phone.

We are going on day 4 of complete demoralization, complete annihilation of the home or any sense therof. No one in my household has anywhere to eat or rest or relax. The cats are covered in what is probably asbestos. I feel like I am trying to run underwater and have started eating heartburn medicine like candy.

I'm back and you should see the house, or you will see the house whenever I get it together to post pics. The kitchen is about done so I figured we should rip out the carpet and if there's any disgusting brown institutional linoleum underneath why not rip that out too. My house is more of a war zone that it has ever been and will remain so for the entire week. I am very grumpy today so that is all I will post.

updates to the updates before I go on vacation:

1. I shoveled a giant pile of dirt and it looks like a lot of dirt on the ground now. The vegetables are in the front. A neighbor specifically came over to tell me I'd be sorry, his exact words.
2. The peninsula looks awesome, the new wide doorway looks awesome, the tile looks pretty good, the glitter in the grout is awesome.
3. My back is so strong that I predict when I go to the beach the music will stop and everyone will turn to look at my rippling back muscles.
4. If you are getting a brazilian, particularly your first, please ask for the technician with the most experience. My amateur brazilianator was a nightmare. The results are not cute.
5. If anyone else would like to tell me to install a sprinkler system, just leave your directions in the comments.
6. I will actually be going to LA for the real LA Story and then to San Diego.