robust rhubarb.

McAllister and I went to Niagara on the Lake for Memorial Day weekend. We did our USUAL - visited with friends and family, had bonfires in the orchard, took long walks along Lake Ontario looking for lake glass and shopped at Ikea.

Now from time to time, we may SMUGGLE stuff on our way back across the border. Since I was quite envious of my soon-to-be mother-in-law Sue's crazy big rhubarb plant, this time was no different. (I'm convinced they feed it steroids) We decided to try to risk it all and smuggle a couple stalks home with us.

Unbenounced to the US custom officials, our well-travelled rhubarb made it all the way back to the Roch. However, by the time it made it's way out of our trunk and into a planter - the wilty rhubarb's outlook didn't look promising.

Around day two, I decided to put one of my lucky rocks ('GROW UP') into the planter to help the poor thing's transition to US soil. Within a couple days, the droopy stalks all fell over and died. Then just as I was ready to shove something else in the dirt and pray like MAD it would grow, 2 teeney-weeney stalks starting SPROUTING up!

If this keeps up, I may need to start making more good luck rocks.

Day 3 - 4 dead stalks

Day 21 - two 6 inch stalks!

dirty birdies live.

Sondra and I went to the Rochester Public Market last Sunday to sell some 'Dirty Birdies' junk treasures. We were received pretty warmly from the crowd - we sold some items and handed out a bunch of cards. You too can have a fun garden fence or picket fence planter box for your yard, just holler and the junk birds will make it happen.

I don't know if we had more fun selling our JUNK, or running around from booth to booth buying other people's JUNK.

short changed.

What I like: Finding something that perfectly meets your needs when you're looking for it.

What I don't like: Buying that something perfect and then having it go on sale the very NEXT day. BOO.

Case in point, I went to one of my fave stores TARGET to get an outdoor rug for our front porch. As usual - I decorate through trial and error and have to buy one or two that didn't work before I find mr. perfect outdoor rug. I bring it home SATURDAY, set it up, love it lots for one evening and then on SUNDAY while reading the paper - I notice it's on sale for 10 whole dollars cheaper! BOO.

Now I'm mad at my mr. perfect rug. I sure hope my friendly folks at Target will give me my 10 whole bucks back without me having to lug it off my porch and into the store. We'll see!

sephora.

The female beauty gods are shining down on Rochester this weekend. They have listened to all our girly prayers and brought a SEPHORA to our local mall.

YEA to fun makeup, beauty products and tools all served up in a fun, inviting and hip store. No more stocking up on necessities while travelling to out of town larger cities. Now - when Justine steals my favorite Tweezerman's - I can run and get another pair rather than threaten to kill her if she doesn't ship them back to me.

To celebrate the store opening - I treated myself to a bareMinerals starter kit from Bare Escentuals. It's all I've heard about for months and many fun girlie girls are raving about it. This is my 2nd day with it and I just HEART it. The lovely named Kabuki brush is phenomenal and I'm digging the Mineral Veil.

It's the perfect solution for the 'no makeup' wearing crowd!!

tipping the scale.

garden art
Originally uploaded by cunhatuna.

Our front porch got accessorized last night.

I had some flowers left over from the market and no fun pots, containers or baskets to put them in. (boo) After rummaging through the basement, I 'found' the old scale I 'found' a couple months ago on a junk outing.

It was like CHRISTMAS all over again!! I threw in some dirt, the flowers and added some water and POOF - our porch got a fun new hanging basket!

I think the Empress of Dirt would be impressed!

dirty birdies.

Everyone knows how much I like JUNK. Well Sondra, my junkmate in crime, and I decided to take our junking habits to the next level. We're selling some of our most popular junk creations under the clever brand name - DIRTY BIRDIES.

Last weekend, we gave some of the creations a trial run at Sondra's garage sale and we were PLEASED. We got great feedback, sold a few items and even took a pre-order!! Fancy that. Sondra made us those super-cute labels (above) that doubled as 'biz' cards for some interested parties wandering on through!

Our garden fences and planter boxes seem to be customer favorites and we also sold my large ruler easel that I made a couple months ago. I'm surprised the book vase didn't go, it's one of my FAVES. I have some pics online of our creations.

We're going to be selling some of our trash treasures at the Rochester Public Market this weekend for Garage Sale Days. If you are in the area - stop on by!!

happy 100th anniversary.

100 as in the NUMBER of posts I've contributed since my relatively new entrance to the blogging world.

I was so excited about 100 that while sporting my new 'do and sunburnt nose - I busted out my vintage apron and baked BROWNIES for the occasion last night! They were just as good as the cupcakes I baked to celebrate my 50th post anniversary.

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and provides comments. Here's to 100 more!

locks pics.

it's gone.

Well the day finally came for my hair to go on the CHOPPING block! Today I went to the Thomas Laurence salon in Rochester in order to cut and donate my hair to Locks of Love.

For those who don't know, I've been growing my hair since November to donate it. Once the weather got nice, it started to be a lot to maintain my long locks - so just last month I decided to chop it instead of growing it longer. I made my appointment at the beginning of June with a new stylist, Jason, that my girlfriend Lanie recommended.

Lanie came with to be my photographer and moral support, and she did a great job documenting my experience with photos. The pics are online now if anyone wants to check them out. My story will be up on Kodak's 1000words blog soon enough. It was a great experience for such an amazing cause - so I'm encouraging of anyone even thinking about donating.

Thanks again to the Thomas Laurence salon and stylist Jason, the support from my friends and family and especially McAllister - he has put up with LOTS of my moaning and groaning about ponytail headaches over the last few months.

flowers.

For the first time all year, I went to Flower City Days at the Rochester Public Market last weekend. I can't believe how late in the season I got there!

That said, the weather was NICE and cool for it and I went early to beat the crowds. Without McAllister as my runner or a shopping cart, I had to make many trips back and forth to the car. As the morning went on, I found it tough to remember all flowers piling up in the car!

I usually pick up all my annuals here each year to make my hanging baskets. Which I did the rest of Sunday morning. I also am testing my gardening skills b/c I picked up a Japanese Maple tree as well. The price was right and I've been eyeing one since last summer, but it will be a tough guy to lose to my not-so-green thumbs. I'm off to research tips on how / where to plant it!

Flower City Days' last weekend is this Sunday - so if you're looking for some gardening supplies, head on out!!

gardening gold.

In our attempt to be good, green citizens - we've started a compost. It's introduction required a change in my 'toss in the garbage' behavior. However, like any quick learner - I was speedy up the learning curve. I now look forward to reducing our weekly waste that used to go to the curb.

Up until last night, things with the compost had been going GREAT. Granted - I don't like the look of the ugly thing in the back of the yard, but McAllister has promised me that our gardens will flourish as a result of the organic material that it produces. Plus I'm now distracted with some fun composters I found online and rekha's great comment about using the bamboo fence to hide it.

Well - last night McAllister informed me that those crazy city squirrels of ours have dug a little tunnel underground that leads up and into our compost bin! Those little buggers are FEASTING on what is supposed to turn into gardening gold for us!! BOO.

I guess it's better they eat our onion scraps rather than the onions we planted in the ground - but I'm still fuming. And they better NOT call on all their friends about the feast like they did with our Indian Corn last fall. I'll be really steamed.

Perhaps I'll call my friend Sondra for the ingredients in her squirrelly cocktail. That'll teach 'em.

new pad.

IT'S MOVING DAY!!



THE MOVING CREW!



THE NEW PAD!

No one really likes moving, especially after you have done it more than a half-dozen times throughout college and beyond. But Jon and Lisa endured a move last weekend and are all settled into their new pad in Arlington, VA! I didn't get to join in the muscle building activities of moving, but McAllister did!! He tagged along and was a great sport (at my request) to document all the events of the weekend for me!! What a photographer! Thanks to him, when viewing the pics - it's like I was there... minus the sweating and tiredness of hauling boxes all over the place!

Which, for the record, is my kind of moving ;-)

dinner.

McAllister went all the way to DC and back in 4 days to help my little bro and his g-friend move into their new apt. I was so thankful for him helping out, that I whipped out my DUSTY apron and put my beginner kitchen skills to work to welcome him home after his LONG drive.

A spinach, strawberry salad with balsamic dressing was the starter. For the main dish, I marinated chicken and then tossed a few items in a roasting pan with some basting oil and VOILA.

Roasted chicken a la Nicky!

save the date.

Remember how long my hair was back in November and even just last month? Well it's really, really long now (growing about an inch a month!) and getting unmanageable for me. I'm a low-maintenance gal and the time it takes for me to blow dry this mop could be better spent sleeping in the morning. Plus the weight of my ponytail can give me headaches.

Those are just TWO of the reasons why I'm so excited that I booked my CHOP for CHARITY appointment today!!

Next Friday, June 8th - I'll be chopping off as many inches as I can for Locks of Love. Stay tuned for the pics!

hybrid parking.

'

When we were in Canada last weekend, I dragged McAllister to one of my fave stores - IKEA. On our way in, I noticed Ikea now has parking spots reserved specifically for hybrids! Even though I don't have one yet, I think it's way cool. I later read that despite the 'hybrid' text on the sign, any 'green' vehicle can park in these spots. And I'm not talking about the color of your car either.

A green car is any low-emission vehicle, as defined by the recent Canadian federal government incentive program. Ikea even has implemented an anti-idling program, to encourage shoppers to turn their car off while LOADING up all their goodies. Neat-o.

I wonder when the Ikea stores in the US will start to have the sign? Just another example of the 'going GREEN' trend phenomenon that is occuring all around us.

naked fish.

Here's something that doesn't happen often - I travel and FORGET to bring my camera! That never happens b/c it's always in my handbag - but I downsized for my quick, 2-day trip to Boston and it forgot to make the leap to my luggage. BOO.

Last night, my Aunt Tina picked me up at the hotel for dinner & she had the BEST surprise. She brought along Aunt Karen w/o me knowing! Completely MADE my day! No camera didn't stop me from snapping a camera pic of the DELICIOUS meal we ate at the Naked Fish last night either. This restaurant started in Massachusetts and is known for providing fresh, simple, naked fish seared over a grill with olive oil and lemon. I had the Mahi-mahi, mmmm, and also tried Tina's tuna which was stellar! I hope to be back to the area soon to visit family and perhaps try one of those cuban cocktails - the Latin Love sounds great!

bamboo fence.

In our backyard, we have a pretty unsightly chain link fence that stands about 4 feet tall. It's so ugly, that I had to go back to the photos I took at our engineer's inspection 2 years ago to find a picture of it. It does it's job, but I really don't like looking at it too much.

Last year, we priced out a wooden fence option to replace the chain link. Even with a teeney-tiny yard, it was going to be PRICEY. This year, I've been debating an alternative to the wooden fence which is much more affordable. I've been looking at BAMBOO.

Bamboo is a natural, architectural material that is both durable and economical. There are a lot of different styles, however the one I like (to the left) is a rolled bamboo made of split canes. It is affordable and fits right into the GREEN environmentalism trend that is sweeping the nation. It would be quick and easy to install, we could do it in an afternoon and wouldn't be so permanent like the wooden fence.

Thoughts?

labels.

Does everyone know about 'labels'?

When I'm writing up some nonsense for my blog, there is space at the bottom to 'label' it. I can add as many labels as I want, which will appear at the bottom of the post online. Like 'party', 'lucy', or 'projects', etc.

As a blog reader, you could click on any label - like 'party' - to see all the other posts I have written about over the last 10 months with the same label.
I like to think of it as categorizing my nonsense for myself and others. It's like a search engine to my nonsense. It's also probably helpful b/c even though my blog has one topic (ME), there can be a lot of subtopics within me. I'm pretty diverse ;-)

it's official!

No last minute snags or hiccups, the kids made it across the stage! What a nice weekend for everyone!

I had so much fun hanging out with the family in Albany and getting to meet Lisa's family. What a sweet bunch! Looking forward to the next celebration already.

Pics are in and online. Trying to find a tool to so that everyone can upload to the same album. That way we can see who has better photos and order prints if we want. Stay tuned!

Albany Pump Station.

The Albany Pump Station draws its name from its location. It's a warehouse-sized building that was formerly used to draw water out of the Hudson River and pump it into Bleecker Reservoir. In 1927, the pump station moved over 7 BILLION gallons of water. It's a brew PUB today, with a bunch of its own varieties of beer on tap. The distilling vats are up above the bar, visible from all areas of the restaurant. There are also the huge CRANES that were originally part of the water works, which I found out have been restored and are now used on occasion to lift the fermenting vats.

Saturday night, we went there for some great food and beer. We were celebrating the college graduation of my little brother Jon and his girlfriend Lisa. There was about 15 or so of us, and we were in GREAT company. I had the popular 'Pump Station Burger', accompanied with a nutty, brown Ale called 'Kick-ass BROWN'. All in all, it was FUN. A great alternative to all the popular CHAIN restaurants that are always within arms reach.

graduation weekend.

It's finally here! Graduation weekend (University @ Albany) for my little bro Jon (aka: birdman) and his girlfriend Lisa. Hard to believe that those 2 faces will be awarded a college degree in just a few days....

We're off to Albany, NY tonight for lots of weekend festivities. A little rain isn't going to stop this party. Hat's off to the graduates!

snail mail.

I have some crafty friends who are great at making heartfelt, personal cards. While I'm not so paper/scissors crafty, I do know that I can take a GREAT picture. Which is why I love getting cards from Kodak Gallery.

You can MAKE cards or invitations and ship them directly to you, which I'll do if I'm buying like 20 identical notecards. I'll pick out a cool photo and leave them blank inside so I can write messages later. OR you can have a one of a kind card made and shipped directly to your recipient, which is much more FUN. Even the 'not-so-crafty' can get very creative with the right tools!

Take for example, the Kodak Gallery card I just mailed to my friend Allison. Do you remember how much I HEART Mikwright greeting cards? Well, I love them so much that I decided to make my own 'Nicwright' card since Allison loves them too. I uploaded a funny, provocative photo from our Europe trip to the Gallery website (no judgements PLEASE), added an even more provocative message to the inside and on the back and VOILA! You can't buy that in the greeting card aisle! I should also mention, it's just as cheap as a regular card. (and I won't have to worry about all those 2 cent short stamps I have.....)

I've also decided that Mikwright should run a CONTEST for their card purchasers to design a new card. I know some people who would be great at coming up with just-slightly-left-of-center ideas & photos! The prize should be... hmmm... unlimited mikwright cards for LIFE!

bathroom update.

This past weekend, my mother and her boyfriend Tom came to visit. We had a nice dinner at PF Chang's Saturday evening and Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day by attacking some household projects.

We purchased a new sink/vanity for our upstairs bathroom. The old one was a bisque color and didn't match the white toilet and bathtub. The new white one is what they refer to as a 'european' style, meaning it the vanity itself is slimmer and doesn't stick out as far from the wall. We like that, because the bathroom in our old city home is teeney-tiny. The 6 inches we got back really does help open up the small space. I'll take it despite the fact it's 106 sq in more that I have to clean!

Check out the photos on my projects page for the before/after!

postal rate hike.

Today marks another day that stamp prices increase, they go up to $0.41.

It is just my luck that I recently bought a ROLL of 100 stamps. BOO. As recent as like 3 weeks ago. I was obviously unaware of the planned increase, and was not informed either during my purchase. That doesn't make me happy. Am I supposed to buy 100 two cent stamps now?! Perhaps I can return them for the new Liberty stamps. Apparently they are good forever.

If you can believe it, stamp prices have increased from .10 to .41 in just 32 years! I wonder where the future of mail is going? It'll likely go digital like everything else. I'm thinking digital like perhaps the 'EZPass' of stamps, they'll just charge us as we ship!

oh.... but then what will the stamp collector do?!

towel rack.

Just in time for weekend guests, McAllister and I finished a JUNK project that we started a bit ago. We made a TOWEL RACK out of an old ladder I scored from a recent junk outing with Sondra. For $20 total (ladder + custom glass shelf), I think it adds the perfect vintage touch to my shabby chic guest room and I am very happy with the results.

Check out my projects page for the how-to!

mini toletries.

This week I stayed at the DoubleTree in San Jose, California. Nice hotel with some nice staff.

Not to McAllister's surprise, I forgot my toothbrush back home. Happens everytime we, or I, travel. I must have the most diverse, traveled portfolio of toothbrushes from drugstores across the continental US and Southern Ontario.

This trip was no different. What I found HILARIOUS (and atleast got a laugh out of the gent who delivered it) was the size of the TOOTHPASTE that the front desk gave me with my toothbrush. It was itty-bitty and did not even contain 5 grams of toothpaste. I mean it's awfully considerate to assume I'll need toothpaste as well if I'm enough of an idiot to forget my toothbrush. But really - that thing didn't even last me 2 rounds! It's a good thing I remembered my travel size toothpaste.

swiss pics.

I'm slowly getting through ALL the European photos we took on vacation. It's time consuming weeding through them all, tossing the ones Mc took (HAHA) and giving them fun and appropriate photo titles. (btw - I'm kidding about Mc, he took some pretty NICE photos with his new digicam!)

I'm very happy to report that Bourg St Maurice (that's in the heart of the French Alps in FRANCE) is done and up on my Gallery Travel Page. There are not a lot of them, we were only there meeting up with friends for one night. We love visiting these friends, and we only get to see them once in a great while since they live down in Hilton Head, SC. It's just crazy ironic that we happened to be within an hour of each other half-way across the WORLD!! Pic highlights include the scenic hour drive from Geneva, the Eiffel Tower of Beer and the fresh food of the market we hit up for breakfast before we bounced on out of there. Actually... there was no bouncing.... we hit MAJOR traffic given it was Saturday morning in a TOURIST town with ONE street get to and from it...

In case you haven't seen the rest of our Europe photos, every city/country is up on my Gallery travel page except ITALY. Stay tuned.

california bound.

The wiki says: On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the atmosphere and the solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the sun is above the horizon. When the direct radiation is not blocked by clouds, it is experienced as sunlight - the intense combo of heat and bright light.

We enjoyed some beautiful weather here in rochester this past weekend. Sunlight was ALL around and the clouds were sparse. Today I'm headed to california for work. Looks like more sunny skies lie ahead for me this week and that makes me happy. SUNSHINE is good for the soul.

browncroft.

What: More than 200 neighborhood-wide garage sales.
Where: Eastern edge of the city! Map the route.
When: Sat. & Sun, May 5/6 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Why: You’d like some junk in your trunk.

piperlime.

I heart SHOES. Who doesn't? I received an email from Gap about Piperlime, an online shoe shop that they opened. I love the name and their logo, makes me hungry for lime flavored Tostitos. Although I'm not sure whether I'd buy shoes online, they're website is so FUN. Fresh Juice is their scoop on shoe news and trends and it's great for shopping the latest shoe style and trends. Search styles like peep toes, fabulous flats, metallics, bows, black and white - there is a pair for EVERYONE!