head shaking madness.

lucy's soccer ball should have come with a warning - *may induce head shaking madness*

paint splattered trim.

while priming the living room, we really noticed how BAD the previous paint job was. apparently the homeowner before us did NOT believe in any prep work for his paint jobs. our trim and outer edges of the hardwood floors were covered in teeney-tiny paint SPLATTERS. they have just been hard to see all these years with the LUCY hair that covers our floor!

evidence
i googled my little heart out to try and find a way to get latex paint off the wood trim without ruining it. i didn't want to strip it and re-stain.... waaaay to much work. i found a several websites and forums that suggested using Goof Off (or some equivalent) to lightly rub paint off the trim. i immediately thought it would take off the finish on the trim, but i tested it on an inconspicuous corner and voila! it worked magically!

i painfully went around ALL the baseboards, crown molding, windows and doorways with a Q-TIP. i diluted the goof-off with 1/3 part water and used a LOT of elbow grease. in many cases, the paint just popped right off with light grazing of my finger nail! to give you an idea of how long it took, mcallister primed the entire room and i had only accomplished a 16 ft wall with a doorway!

bye-bye orange.

today we primed the living room. i can't WAIT to get a new lighter color on the wall. the previous orangey-yellowey-gold mixture was okay but we really want something that accents the trim a little more.

we primed it so that we could see all the IMPERFECTIONS that come with having 100 year old plaster walls. and there are LOTS so that will be our project for the next week. thoughts on the color?!! i'm leaning towards staying in the same color palette as our kitchen.

pink wellies.

spring is in the air with my new wellies. their pink with white polka dots and i'm LOVIN 'em!

happy v-day.

my crayon hearts are up!

maple leafs.

go leaf's!

bad commenter.

this week I've had a few blogger profiles comment on my FUN posts with BAD links. 2 to be specific (fejar and malabei). i've deleted them a couple times but they keep coming back. please do NOT click on any links in weird, mysterious comments!

these are NOT nice people.

i sincerely apologize for any of my readers who have clicked on the link. (including myself) i've reported them to blogger and so have a LOT of other people. they are not just doing it to me!

in the meantime, i've turned on comment moderation and word verification. your comments may not appear instantly like before, but once your comment profile is approved by moi - you can comment like crazy.

comments make the blogging world go 'round ;-)

time flies.

just when you thought I might not be THAT weird - here's the newest office accessory. a fly swatter clock! isn't it FUN!? the second hand is a black FLY that goes around a real fly swatter.

i got this for christmas from my bro's girlfriend LISA. we must be on the same like-weird-objects-with-great-design wave. i learned about the designer, david dear, here including that the clock is AWARD winning!

missing sunshine.

yesterday it was almost 50 degrees here in the rochacha. even so, i'm missing that florida sunshine BAD. seasonal depression kicked my butt in gear to FINISH getting our trip photos online.

can i just say how much I HEART pictures?!?! going through them was like re-living the weekend all over again! i may get slack for taking a gazillion of them... but if that's what it takes to capture all our memories - I'll take the heat! you can check 'em out on my Kodak Travel Page.

my 'i love lucy' sand photo below is my desktop wallpaper at work. it helps get me through the long, grueling days. if you want to use any of the pics as your window to the sun:
- click on the image to make it bigger
- right click on it to save
- find the image on ur computer and open it
- right click on it 'save as desktop background'.

day brightener.

two happenstances that can brighten a MONDAY:

1. quick trip to the salvation army! I spent a whopping $6 at the VOA and turned my monday frown right upside down. what a score.... vintage christmas ornaments, green glassware that I'm addicted too and a glass apothecary jar!


2. receiving a hoops-n-yoyo card! Today I got their 'day-brightener' e-card from a friend which brought a big smile to my hazy monday. some of you know I'm addicted to these characters and if you haven't heard of them, check 'em out!

if they don't make you laugh, i'm afraid we just can't be friends.

anything brighten up your Monday?

game day.

i present you... one crazed SUPER fan.



let's go GIANTS!

vote for the cause.

my good friend and fellow junker SONDRA got quite the surprise over the holidays. her boyfriend whisked her off to Vegas for an impromptu vacation and POPPED the question. how wonderful is he?!

ok folks here's the deal - she is casting a vote on her blog for her bridesmaids dresses. since yours truly is blessed to be a part of their day, i'm selfishly interested in STACKING the vote ;-) (j/k - i think i'll look good in ALL of them)

i won't sway you with my favorites, but I will encourage you to go check out how lovely they are and vote for your favorite. i love ALL the styles and colors she picked out which go perfect with their fall wedding.

say it with junk.

ever since i joined the american junk club, i get these fun emails from the junk ladies. the theme to their recent emails is say 'it' with junk... 'it' being whatever you want for us junk-lovers.


this week they sent how to say 'love' by giving your honey jewelry made out of JUNK. i just HEART the vintage silverware bracelet! and i'm sure i know some folks who'd love wearing recycled flatware on their arm too!

check out the rest of their jewelry for sale. they even sell supplies to make your own for those of you who don't love HUNTING for your own ;-)

lucy update.

good news: lucy's hips and legs are great.
bad news: lucy's back.

x-rays revealed lucy has a bone spur in her lower back which is pinching on a nerve. although they can't confirm with x-rays, her vet suspects she may have a slipped disc which has caused the bone spur to grow. probably caused from an injury which has been aggravated over time.

unfortunately - there isn't much we can do. pain medicine for when she goes to the park and SPOILING her even more than we already do. thank you all VERY much for the kind and thoughtful words of support!

lucy-goosey.

keep LUCY in your thoughts and prayers today. she's at the vet right now getting x-rays on her hind legs because they've been giving her problems for the last year.

she's being sedated with anesthesia in order to get the necessary angles for the x-rays. which is great and all but i'm such a nervous nelly when it comes to this stuff. i'm hoping i don't chew off EVERY one of my finger nails before picking her up. we'll hopefully know more later!

colorful welcome.

look at the rainbow that greeted me when I landed in the San Jose, California airport. i think it is so cool - we never get RAINBOWS here in the rochaha!

my whole trip was quite a whirlwind, with no real time to take photos other than from my window seat on the plane. oh - and the stares i got from people! what's so wrong with taking photos of the CLOUDS?! apparently they haven't read my post on the Kodak blog.....

other shots from the skies:

buffalo chicken dip.

*warning* anyone who are on a diet, or happen to be lactose intolerant, close the browser quickly. if you don't, i'm not liable for any keyboard damage that may occur from your drooling.


yummmmmm. go giants!

buffalo chicken wing dip:
- layer of cream cheese (two 8oz packs)
- layer of blue cheese
- boil 1 lb boiled chicken and then shred with fork
- add chicken to 12 oz FRANK's red hot and 2 tbs butter
- layer mixture ontop of blue cheese
- layer with more shredded CHEESE of your choice
- cook for 20 min @ 350 until bubbly

serve with FRITOS scoops.

go 'cuse.

today we got decked out in our orange and blue to go to the SU vs Villanova basketball game. mc got the tix for free from a guy at his work and they were GREAT seats. thank you nice man i don't know!

'cuse stayed on top most of the game, but lost it towards the end. i was intensely watching on the edge of my seat most for so long... i didn't even have time for a dome dog with my nachos. maybe next time.

seeing stars.

for christmas each year, i try to make homemade gifts that people will enjoy. last month the main project was creating STARS out of sticks.


it all started when i saw them for sale at the rochester public market. i immediately fell in love with everything but the PRICE as one lonely star was going to cost nearly one hundred smackers. i thought i could make those easy-peasey for WAY less.

while visiting NOTL in early december, we got the entire king family involved in my crafting project! i hadn't done much research you see... so it was a day of trial and error. i'm happy to report the output of the day was magnificent!

Check out the pics on my Projects page!

boys and their toys.

mcallister got a rice cooker for christmas. this means i'm eating rice every evening while i learn the history about what new rice he is cooking with.

sushi every week? i really can't complain ;-)