War

You know how we've been house hunting like, oh, you know, every two or three seconds? Well, we found a dream home on Friday, and within four hours of seeing it (and less than twenty four hours after it came onto the market) we submitted an offer and crossed our fingers.

Twenty five hundred square feet. Two stories with a detached garage. Double lot. Built in the forties with nearly all of the original architectural detailing intact. Surrounded by properties selling for four times the price.

Three houses from the ocean in one of the sweetest little beach towns I've ever seen.

There was a bidding war with multiple other buyers. Which did not go well. For us.

Sad.

I was going to show you a few photos to get it out of my system, but now I realize that I can't bear to.

So sad.

In The Trenches

Hello there.

Guess how I found The Master Bathroom shower when the tenants moved out of The University Townhouse?



"Kelly, we made every effort to leave the home in exceptionally clean condition."

Cracks.

me.

up.

Grody times infinity.

Anyway, I used this and put a scrubby attachment on my sander and Andrew went to town.



BAM. Back to it's former glory.

"Kelly, we made every effort to leave the home in exceptionally clean condition."

Really, you kill me.

Random

My first bathing suit casualty of the year, the sad part being that I hadn't even worn this one without the tags yet. It's the Vix Florence Hipster Clasp, minus a hipster, plus a misbehaving clasp. They're sending me a new one, which I've promised myself will not sit in the closet for two or three months while I run on the beach in ripped up collegiate shorts and tan line inducing sports bras.

I've decided I will wear this magical suit like a true hipster poser, lounging on the sand, and doing absolutely nothing except for texting one hundred and sixty words per minute while listening to the most obscure indie rock band my Ipod can come up with. Which will last about five and a half seconds. Maybe six.

In other self absorbed news, I'm into honey masks right now.

And taking photos of myself melting into the sink.




I wear them for about an hour or so or until I'm convinced that they've eradicated the freckles that started popping up on top of the bridge of my nose over the last few years, which my dermatologist refers to as age spots, which are NOT, they are freckles, at least until I start relying on Depends or wearing holiday themed visors to the beach. Or poking fun at hipsters.

(Did I just write that out loud?)

My milking stool made an appearance here yesterday, if you'd like to wave hello to Ms. French and check out her oh-so-lovely finds.



What else?

Oh, I keep forgetting! Look.



Did I show this to you yet?

I saved it eons ago so, of course, I have no idea where it came from, but I found it cleaning out my old computer and it's, like... a happy little cocktail, no? Someone please enlighten me as to where it came from.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be back soon with something more organized.

Probably.

Say Anything

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi

Big Surprise Here

Another recipe post. I know. Enough. ENOUGH ALREADY.

It's like I think I can cook or something.





I think I posted a similar recipe last summer, but I made this the other day, and I'm posting it again because bleu cheese and granola are a devastatingly evil combination. And by evil I mean good. And by good I mean bad. They're the bad boys of good food.

Like, Sid and Johnny.

Except, you know, with lettuce.


Crunchy Berry Bad Boy Salad

2 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
3 ounces low fat crumbled bleu cheese
1 cup vanilla almond low fat granola
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
salt
pepper
1 bag salad (whichever blend you prefer)


Slice strawberries thinly.

Combine the oil and vinegar in a large bowl. Add the sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.

Add the strawberries, bleu cheese, and granola.

Add the bag of salad and toss lightly.

Serve with steak off the grill.

Before + Progress: The University Townhouse: Master Bathroom

Further evidence that our previous tenants were either:

A) colorblind
B) uncivilized
C) watched one too many episodes of Barney during potty training and liked it

We're back from the sixth or (twenty eighth?) Gainesville Painting Expedition, thankgaaaaaaaaawd. The colors they used weren't even the most horrific part, it was how they spilled paint all over the ceramic tile and the grout lines and the baseboards and the doorframes.

Horrific.

Thank you for not commenting about how you'd never let your tenants paint the walls or the ceilings or even their eyebrows in your rental, because I'm sure that you know that I'm careful and cautious and do my due diligence with approvals and deposits and by screening with questions like, "You're not a total moron when it comes to things like splattering purple latex all over a muted ivory bathroom, by chance, are you?" PLEASE DO TELL.

I should mention that these are the future doctors and lawyers of America.

Anyway.

Before I forget, someone asked me, How did you paint the baseboards over the carpets in the bedroom?

Which is a great question, because I've never actually had to do it myself before. (Which is kind of hard to believe, if you think about it.) After a few minutes of trial and error I figured out a way that was really pretty easy...

1) Put a line thick paint tape halfway up the bottom of the baseboard and halfway along the carpet all around the room. Do not put tape on the top edge of the baseboard yet.

2) Use your fingers to press the top of the tape underneath of the baseboard. If the area between the base and your carpet is too snug, use a flathead to slide it under, being careful not to rip the tape.

3) Grab your paint, a brush, and another roll of tape. You'll also need a short cardboard box lined with an open trash bag.

4) Put one line of tape on the wall above the baseboard, doing your best to make it about the same length as the stretch of tape below.

5) Stir your paint and put a thin layer on the portion you just taped. Start your strokes in the middle of the baseboard before covering the top and and bottom.

6) Put a second coat on immediately after your first coat. Trust me.

7) Carefully tear off the top layer of tape and put it into the trash bag in the box. Make sure to do this right. after. you paint.

8) Separate the bottom layer of tape away from the next piece underneath of the baseboard.

9) Carefully remove the bottom layer of tape for the section you just painted by pulling up. It seems like this would smear the baseboard, but it doesn't, and it protects your carpet from smudges.

10) Repeat around the entire room. Voila.

Mix It Up

A while back, Erin ordered a slew of handmade stirrers from the shop for her wedding.

I found this in my email last week. Aren't the jars a nice touch?

Still Kicking

Oh boy.

We have a lot of ground to cover. Where to start?

Well. I got one of these.




Or, actually, Andrew got one of those, and I claimed it. Doris promised to teach me how to use it, right after making me swear to never again flash my flip phone in public which forced her to hear about all of the times that I've dropped it in the washing machine and the bathtub and the mouth of a Tyrannosaurus rex and the effing thing kept right. on. ticking.

That's called loyalty, kids.

Let's see. What else?

We still haven't found a house, and we've let our new tenants extend their move in date again until September. There's been quite a stall in the market down here, primarily because of the legal holds that were put on foreclosures, and there's hardly any new inventory in the two areas that we're looking in. Things are supposed to loosen up in August and we're keeping our fingers crossed for a barrage of new listings.

Which probably explains why there's been a lot of this.





(That's my version of an insanely good Bacon Wrapped Scallop recipe that I hacked apart and reassembled from Men's Health. It's already after midnight, but I'll share it later, maybe? Any interest? I dunno.)

I've been trying to squeeze in some summer cooking, and I'm starting to realize how much I'll miss our new kitchen and all of it's perks. Like, you know running water. Electricity. FLOORING.

*sigh*

Speaking of the kitchen, Country Living emailed me. I had a couple more items featured on the front page of Etsy, and they wanted to know if I'd be interested in doing an upcoming photo shoot featuring pieces from the shop.

Um, yes.

So that was kind of random and neat-ola, but then they found the blog and she called me back and was all, Your home this, your home that, can I send your kitchen to our Style Director?

And I was like, of course. Have her leave a message on my flip phone.

(KIDDING, Doris, kidding!)

So. Anyway. I sent them some shizzle for their shoot and we'll see if anything happens with the other. Fun fun fun.

What else?

Oh. I forgot about the bad stuff. Issues. Lots of issues. Exhibit A.



Don't worry I fixed it. Well, mostly. By the way, I have a new favorite paint color. Glidden Polished Limestone. See?



Anyway, there was more, like the bathrooms, WE WILL NOT EVEN DISCUSS THE STATE THAT THEY LEFT THE BATHROOMS IN. And the refrigerator. Don't mention the word refrigerator. Ever. And the carpets. And the oven.

Also?

I had two other tenants skip out on a lease, and another one who I'm chasing down two months of rent from. And. AND.

I just found out that one of my properties never had several major permits closed out when I purchased it (a few years ago). It was actually brought to my attention in May, but apparently the severity was majorly downplayed. Did I say majorly? Because I meant MAJORLY. Like, I'm losing sleep over it. I should find out in the next week or so if I'm going to have to sell a kidney to pay for the electrical upgrades and such. So there's that.

But I guess that's why they give you two, though, right?

To end on a positive note, Andrew and I have been plotting the details of the next part of this year's travel adventures. There may or may not be seven hundred pound bears involved. Watch out, world!!!

Crispy Eggylicious Sourdough Avec Sweetened Berries

Hellooo.

When I whipped this up the other night it was one part accident, one part fate.

Lovely lovely lovely fate.

You should probably make it immediately.




I hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend!


Crispy Eggylicious Sourdough Avec Sweetened Berries

2 eggs, beaten
a generous splash of whole milk
4 slices of sourdough bread
2 tablespoons of sugar
a few handfuls of strawberries, halved
a couple of scoops of Breyer's Smooth + Dreamy Vanilla Bean
honey
grated lemon zest


Mix the beaten egg with the milk in a shallow dish. Dip the bread slices into the mixture and shake off the excess. Sprinkle the slices with sugar then place them into a frying pan on medium-high heat. Cook for a few minutes on each side until golden. Set aside in bowls.

Dust the strawberries with sugar and place them in the hot frying pan for only a few moments.

Top the warm bread with dollops of the ice cream and warmed sweetened strawberries. To enjoy earlier in the day, replace the ice cream with fresh whipped cream or whipped cream cheese. Drizzle with honey and top with lemon zest.

Enjoy!