See you next year!!

hi gang! A few people have emailed me asking where the heck I've been (lol). Sorry if it wasn't clear but I'm taking a short break, I'll be back on Monday. Happy New Year everyone!!!

The Meaning of Christmas...

Every year Hillsy and I have a tradition of sending a note along with our Christmas Cards. The idea of the note, comes from my own personal obsession with the end-of-the-year update letters. I'm sure you have one in your family... the person who insists on sending you a very long end-of-the-year update... little susy is now in 4th grade, currently at a 10th grade reading level, top of her class and is playing the tuba in her spare time with the North Carolina All-State Band...

I've always found these letters hilarious so I wanted to start a tradition of sending the "anti" version. A parody.

Last year's went off without a glitch but this year I managed to offend some family members. I've apologized but I'm personally hurt that my own family didn't know me (us) well enough. I was pretty upset about the whole thing yesterday but I refuse to allow it to ruin the rest of my week. This was meant to be funny and light-hearted, we poked fun of everything including our own lives....

Here's the note in full, if any of you feel that you may get offended please stop reading now!!

See you all next year!!!!

Weekend update

This weekend felt longer than usual - probably because Hillsy worked from home on Friday, plus we had friends over for dinner. I think the key is to always do something on Friday night!

Unfortunately we didn't get to do so much on Saturday - I was hit with one of my famous migraines (thanks mom!) and was in bed trying to keep as still as possible as the earth crazily spun around me. Luckily the headache was gone when I finally woke up Sunday morning. A group of friends from the city (and NJ) came over for brunch. Guys, thanks so much for making the trek over to our home even with the weather acting up - we had so much fun and we'll definitely have to do it more often.

So unlike me but I completely failed to take pictures of everything!!! It was a great menu and I highly recommend it for brunch. It's pretty low-maintenance and doesn't leave you in the kitchen cooking once your guests have arrived.

Brunch Menu

Welcome drink: Mulled wine - a winter staple around here!


Bread with butter & jam. I bought three types of bread from Whole Foods and simply heated them up in the oven for 10 minutes (at 350F). Warming up the bread makes a HUGE difference. Serve it on a big wooden cutting board and you're all set.

I like to serve butter in little tiny pots instead of a stick on a dish. I just find it more user friendly and this way you can have several pots all around the table instead of one stick or even worse - several sticks melting midway (anal!). It's really easy, just take your butter out of the fridge and allow to soften then scoop out onto small pots and scrape flat with the non serrated side of a butter knife. I use unsalted butter so I also like to top it with big specks of sea salt. Stick it back in the fridge to harden again.

Thick greek yogurt drizzled with whipped honey. I also bought ready-made granola from Whole Foods and cut up some fruits for optional toppings. If you don't have greek yogurt around - you can take any whole milk yogurt and strain it overnight using a big sieve. This way, you get rid of the excess liquid and you're left with a much thicker yogurt.

Potato & Leek Frittata. I based it off of this Ina recipe, but added 4 additional eggs, pre-boiled the potatoes, added a bit more salt and added the whites of 2 leeks. Overall I was happy with the recipe but probably would add a bit more seasoning the next time around. This took about 50 minutes too cook.

Any recipe that requires 2 different types of cheese is A++ in my book!!

Since the Frittata was vegetarian, I had to fulfill Hillsy's one simple request... Bacon! I also cooked up some store bought breakfast sausage links but cooked it in a 1/2 cup of apple cider instead of water. I slowly added more cider at the very end to give it a nice sweet glaze. I cooked both of these 30 minutes before they were due to arrive and quickly popped them in the oven (which was cooking the frittata) 10 minutes before it was time to remove the frittata.


My friend Jessica was kind enough to bake a beautiful apple, pear and cherry pie and her famous oatmeal + raisin cookies. And another friend Fab brought over some great cheeses for a more savory end to the meal! I love honey + manchego cheese!

Turn that frown upside down

Why do we often focus on the negative and fail to see the good in things/people or at least fail to (vocally) acknowledge them? I'd like to start jotting down some of my own experiences in an attempt to be more aware of my own negativity, give praise where it's due AND to see how many times I can flip a frown :)

Experience #1
I was going through a basket of clean laundry yesterday and my heart skipped a few beats when I spotted one of my favorite (wool) sweaters at the bottom of the pile. I immediately yelped "noooooooooo!" I must've tossed it into the laundry bag by mistake and not knowing any better Hillsy washed it along with the washable darks. Although it was only half (maybe even a quarter) his fault, I couldn't help but be angry - "god, it's wool for christ's sake!" (in my head).

After a couple of minutes of silent-fuming, I managed to calm down and silently muttered "hey ungrateful girl, at least you have a man who helps out and does the laundry without even being asked to!"

Would I trade that in for a J.Crew sweater? Not in this lifetime! Frown turned into a smile. Flipped!

image: jcrew.com

Deal of the Decade

I ordered these 2+ months ago, I seriously almost forgot about them. They finally arrived and I FREAKIN' LOVE them. So yes - they're Faux-Leather, but they look so so good, comfortable and $34.99 (+ free shipping) ... need I say more?


Unfortunately these Mossimo® Kinsey Boots were sold out last time I checked, but I'm hoping (for you guys) that they'll restock them soon! They're now in stock!!! hurry!!!

Hillsy Cooks

Rare event captured on film!


I wasn't feeling so hot this past weekend and the super sweet Hillsy came to the rescue and whipped up a nice meal for us.

First Snowfall

Our first official snowfall of the year! Here's what I saw when I looked out this morning. Looks so nice from inside, but I'm sure it's blistery cold out there.

I love snow but now that I'm out here, I'm afraid that it makes me feel trapped. Not sure if I ever mentioned it here, but I have a strange phobia when it comes to driving. I know, not exactly the most convenient for suburban living huh? And driving in less-than perfect weather conditions, NOT going to happen. It's a fear that I'm desperately trying to conquer. Growing up in the city, there was never a need for me to drive. I wasn't your typical 15 year old counting the days until she could walk into the DMV and claim her right to drive. In fact, I didn't get my license until I was in college. I'm not really sure where my fear stems from but my stomach literally goes into knots just thinking about getting behind the wheel.

This little problem is probably one of the biggest underlying causes of the "transition issues" I hinted at on Monday. The one thing I miss MOST about the city is the ability for me to walk, take the bus or take the subway anywhere/anytime. The most annoying thing I find about my new town - no one freakin' walks (which makes you feel like a freak if you do)! With that said, I guess that's my issue to deal with. On the flip-side, there is something to be said about being able to drive, park, do your shit, get back in your car (schlepping the bags on a cart) and then you're home in no time. Definitely better than walking to Union Square Whole Foods/Trader Joe's, waiting for the 14A for 30 minutes then climbing five flights of stairs with 50lbs of groceries dangling from your soon-to-be dislocated limbs.

So back to this driving thing... so how do I plan to get over the fear?

to be continued...

Hutch/Buffet Painted

I finally painted the Buffet/Hutch!!

Here's what it used to look like. The color was inspired by the green Domino book and one of Barbara's pieces (it's the green hutch on the portfolio page). I find myself being drawn to this green lately... wonder if I'm over all that grey yet?!



I'm such a huge fan of Knack Studios and would consider moving to South Carolina to work for food & lodging just to be able to wash Barbara's paint brushes or cut sandpaper pieces. She is the master of jazzing up furniture and has given me so much inspiration... So in her honor, I'm officially naming this Buffet/Hutch - BB (bee-bee) for Barbara Blair.

Home Improvement Challenge

Challenge: Unsightly wires
Solution: Black foamcore board ($6 each at Target) + double sided mounting tape + utility knife + self-healing cutting pad + ruler

We bought this IKEA shelving unit to use as a TV stand and at the time I didn't really give it much thought - it was cheap, right dimensions, neutral enough ... so why not? A couple of weeks later I realized that since there was no backing, the wires/plugs were all exposed and can be visible while sitting on the couch watching tv.

I was aimlessly walking around Target (I notice myself doing this quite often these days) and spotted these boards and knew it would be perfect. So I bought the last two black ones and hurried home to see whether it would work.


Measure and get a sense of the size that you'll need for each panel, keep in mind the measurement of all 3 so you don't end up with overlapped board panels. Fit them on the panels to make sure you but them the right size before sticking on the tape strips - just in case you have to go back and adjust the sizes.

Cut with an utility knife or xacto knife.


Cut double-sided mounting tape and attach to edges (don't peel the protective layer off until you're ready to mount). I had some leftover from the backsplash project but was too thick so I cut it in half.

Attach.


Tada! It worked!

Sucker or Taking the Highroad?

I'm a firm believer that I have no control over what other people do or how they choose to deal with relationships, but what I do have control over is how I react to the actions that affect me.

When someone wrongs you*... do you:
a) Call them out on it or
b) Let it go

I go back and forth on this all the time. I was recently wronged but I've decided to just let it go (I guess half-let it go since I am writing about it here!). I can't lie - I kinda feel like a sucker butt for it.

* I don't mean in a life-altering way, just in a rude & petty kind of way

The Aftershock

So here's the story that I owe you...

We were sitting around chatting with a nice group of ladies at the sample sale last week and one of them asked where we were from. Turns out someone at the sale has a sister who also lives in our town... cool I thought. So she calls over the girl (Lizzie) and she begins describing her sister and her brother in law "... they run a bar in the city..." ... at this point cool turned to no freakin way!! Turns out, I've met her sister before and we almost became neighbors. When we were down to two houses, we rang her sister's bell and she kindly sat down and answered all of our questions about the neighborhood, the street etc. I've been meaning to send her an email to say thank you but of course I lost her business card during the move! How crazy is that??? How freakishly random?? What are the chances??

Anyway, we continue talking and we realize that we also have something else in common... we both just recently made the transition from uber-urban lifestyles to a more... well, I haven't quiet found a label for THIS yet. Lizzie convinced me that it would be a really good idea to talk about the transition. Share the challenges and frustrations I've been facing since I've moved from the East Village to the burbs (coz believe me, they exist). I realized that I've only been sharing the candy coated version of our move (though I wouldn't exactly consider removing 600 feet of wallpaper sweet), but you know what I mean. And since LIFEFLIX is supposed to be about my life... I've decided to change that immediately.

to be continued...

Happy Friday

It finally stopped raining, now I can finally go in the basement to see if there was any damage. Hillsy and I decided not to look last night because what would be the point? It's not like we could do anything about it right?

I can finally see a hint of sun/blue in the sky which means I can go outside into the garage and spray paint something... if only I wasn't feeling so crappy. I think my body is totally fighting something and I hope I come out winning - coz I can't afford to get sick this weekend.

I know I owe you a story... next week I promise!

Have a great weekend!!

Painting wooden floors

Reselling is always on the back of my mind (way back there) and with my recent choices (bright teal office) and now painting the bedroom floors cottage white. I can't even imagine what future buyers are going to say about this one...

You're supposed to first sand the floor - I didn't.
I vacuumed the floor to try and get as much of my hair off the floor (it's so gross how much I shed). Choose the furthest corner from the door - you don't want to paint yourself in a corner :) First I used a brush to paint the edges. Then I took a regular roller and rolled on the paint - pretty easy. It's best to wait let the paint dry overnight. It may feel dry but it's not! It's also best to work in an empty room - I didn't. I was too lazy so I ended up shifting everything to the right, painting, dry overnight, shift everything to the left... etc.

I'm thinking about putting a coat of polyurethane for extra protection - we'll see.

Blog HQ

I finally started working on the "office" upstairs. I like to refer to it as blogging central or HQ. This photo I teared out of some magazine is the inspiration for the entire room...

Slipcovers

Remember these Danish style dining room chairs? Well, I knew I had to do something about the cushions - they were pretty dirty when I bought them. But for $5 each, I couldn't pass them up and I knew I could whip something up. Unfortunately they weren't the easy to reupholster kind - it wasn't just a matter of unscrewing 4 screw and voila - stapler time. Nope, this was a case for the ol' slipcover.


The project took me about 2 days to finish (a total of 4 tie-back slipcovers). I'm sure I could've done a better job (straighter seams, tighter fit for the white one - but seriously I just wanted them done! I'll be painting these chairs white - surprise surprise.

Happy Belated Birthday Mom

I'm often surrounded with people who know way more vocabulary words than I do, have read more books than I will ever have the time or motivation to read and have the ability to debate any topic to death and come out the clear winner in five minutes flat...

Unfortunately I wasn't brought up in a household where education and academic knowledge were a main focus - it just wasn't something that my mother harped on while I was growing up. Not that I'm blaming her for my inadequecies... well, ok, so I guess sorta. Let me be clear on one thing though - it wasn't because she didn't care. I think she was sooo busy trying to make ends meet to support us that it was one of the things that fell outside of her immediate radar. Now don't get me wrong, she was constantly on me when it came to my grades, but to her it was enough to see the numbers/letters and wasn't exactly hands-on when it came to my studies or when it came time to choose a college.

However, what she lacked in this department she more than made up for in lessons of strength (as a single mother, my mom was always a superhero), self-respect (she left my father and started over), kindness (my mom was one of 7 girls and was and is probably still the least difficult and most mild natured of them all) and of course growing old gracefully (she's 75 years young). I guess to me, it's not how much you know or what you're capable of but more about what you do with those powers and more importantly how you treat those who may fall a tad shorter or weaker than you... another lesson learned from mom. Happy Birthday!

Blogland

Saturday was such a great day. Minus the whole annoying knee thing.

Traditionally, Blogland human interactions are limited to mediums such as emails, comments, IMs or phone calls if you're lucky. If you're REALLY lucky, you actually get to meet "blogging friends" in person and if you're REALLY REALLY lucky - you even hit it off! Well that's actually how I met my friend Melissa. I met her through HH and one day we decided to meet up and fast forward - 4 months later, I now live in her town and consider her as one of my "blogging friends". Melissa and I headed into the city on Saturday to check out the Bryant Park Holiday Market. Susy, who I met through Melis, is a member of Mixed Co.. They've set up such an A-MAaa-zing shop - truly stands out from the rest. If I wasn't watching my spending, I would've totally went nuts in there. Laurel Denise was manning the shop - who by the way is such a sweet and endearing gal AND makes the most adorable necklaces and journals. Not to sound all cosmic-stalker-creepy, but you know when you meet a stranger and they exude a natural-effortless niceness about them? No? Go ahead call me nutty, but she totally had it.

We also met up with Persephone, who Melissa met via blogging but never in person. She turned out to be another very cool gal, funny and just plain pleasant to be around! There were hardly any awkward blind-blog-date moments and we all spent the day chatting like we've known each other for years. Persephone, sorry for chewing your ear off at Le Pain! To press our luck even further, we headed into Brooklyn to meet Deb of Bonbon Oiseau for the first time. She was hosting a sample sale party at her studio (gorgeous apartment by the way). Again, sweet {and talented} as hell and someone who I really look forward to seeing again. The party was so much fun, met some really interesting people - one in particular (seriously a "no freakin' way!!" moment), who I'll be sharing a story about later this week...

SIDE NOTE: Can you believe that I almost missed this entire day thanks to an adverse reaction to a Chipotle burrito I ate for lunch on Friday - thank goodness I manned up and forced myself to go into the city, despite the potentially gross gross gross complications that could've occurred (but luckily didn't....phew)!!

How'd you hurt your knee?

I wish I had a more exciting & sexy answer to this question but I was literally on the G train looking at the subway map... then all of a sudden I felt a sharp shooting pain in my right knee. So basically it hurts anytime I put any pressure on it - ie. standing or walking. Hmmm. This could be tricky. Alright, the jig is up - who has the voodoo doll?

Reupholstering Madness

I spent the better half of day yesterday reupholstering a few chairs. It all went smoothly, apart from an annoying blister from the staple gun. Maybe I'll post a more step by step breakdown next week for those of you interested in giving it a try but for now... here are the after shots!


and remember these chairs?

Me time?

Lately I've been struggling... I think it's because I just got back from Thanksgiving break and it was so nice to spend time with my family and not have to worry about the house and my blogs for several days. My mind was so occupied with home improvements and the HH holiday zine before I left - I knew that I was spiraling down the all too familiar "overwhelmed" state. So the break came just in time. I think working for yourself is even more stressful, because I don't think we're cut out to allow ourselves to let ourselves down. So it's a constant internal battle. I guess it's a lot easier to tell someone else to go screw themselves.

I do miss the days when I was able to watch the Martha Stewart Show and had the time to just sit and think about what craft project I was going to try next. Don't get me wrong, I love writing my blogs but I definitely miss MAKING things myself. So for Christmas, I decided to make presents this year. Not only for budgetary reasons but for another selfish reason - to fill my recent crafting-cravings. So this year, I'm attempting to make soap. This one is a tea/rice/coconut concoction - that I'm quite happy with! I'm recycling used milk cartons for molds.


Oh and I'm REALLY obsessed with the Twilight series and I'm currently on the second book (less than 1/4 left). I'm aware that it's meant for teens, but since my taste in tv shows skews in that direction, I'm not surprised to find myself in love with Edward Cullen and Alice (my two fave characters) - Hillsy just laughs at me.

Second Chances

Now that the wallpaper is up, I've decided that the teal chair was way too loud for the room. The color just clashed with everything - not in a good, I did that intentionally kind of way!

So, I repainted it the same yellow as the kitchen "fresh pineapple"... for several reasons
1) I have the paint and I'm trying to spend less money
2) it goes so well with the area rug

Lesson learned: It's never too late to change your mind when it comes to paint!

Congrats Liz & Tess!

I've been a big fan of metremade since learning about their amazing free wallpaper patterns via How About Orange. I've been using their patterns as my background here on Lifeflix for as long as I can remember. I was so excited to find out about their latest project with Grippiks™. They've designed a line of decorative pattern 'accents' for IKEA furniture!! The pattern pieces are pre-cut to size for popular IKEA furniture items, and you simply peel and stick for a fast and fabulous furniture makeover! Congratulations Liz & Tess!!

Don't forget to check out their latest desktop wallpapers over at metremade.com.

DIY: Clusters of White

I saw this picture in Living Etc - the windows caught my eye (I wish I had windows like that)! I also loved the cluster of bottles on the side table and wondered if there was a cheaper alternative.

We were putting together our recyclables last week and I thought... hmmm could I spray this two buck chuck wine bottle? I spray everything else so why not?



First remove the label by soaking the bottles in warm water for a few hours or overnight. Then spray with 2 coats of white lacquer spray or glossy white. Make sure you spray the inside of the bottle, just the top where it's visible. Optional - spray with a clear gloss to coat and protect.

I used glossy white and added an extra coat of clear gloss. I think white lacquer spray would've been better, but I was too lazy to head down to Home Depot.



Isn't it a great way to recycle your bottles? Or random vases/baubles/candy plates you have laying around the house. And you don't need to stick to white either. How about metallic red and silver for the holidays? Be on the lookout for different shapes and sizes, the more variation, the better the cluster!

Hi Jared!

We're back! We had such a great time in Texas. I don't get to see my family too often, so it was such a treat to hang out with everyone. We basically ate Filipino food, chatted and laughed all week long. Hillsy and I decided to host next year's Thanksgiving reunion, I'm so excited. Now I just need to figure out how to fit the entire family in our home.

It's always a shock to see my nieces and nephews - sort of a reminder that I'm actually getting older. Jared, my 12 year old nephew (much too wise for his age) took me aside and said - hey, how come you never mention me on your blog... well Jared, here you go! Thanks for making me and Jonathan laugh this week and I can't wait to see you next time!!!!

PS. Karen, I'm in love with Edward Cullen!!! I think I'm going to finish the book on Day 3.