Tribute to the 8bit Nintendo

Although we lived in our house this time last year, this is the first year we've gotten into any sort of Halloween spirit. Last year, you may remember was Mark's 30th birthday and we spent it in Boston. Thankfully, no disgruntled trick or treaters egged our house. Therefore, we will show our appreciation by giving out candy this year...

We've done some minor (I stress minor) decorating inside and out. Outside, we switched the regular bulb in our entryway light to a black (purple) one. I also (wait for it.... wait for it....) bought a pumpkin! I plan to carve it this weekend -but not sure what I'll carve just yet.


Inside, I just strung up some of that fake spiderwebby stuff, put out a black ceramic pumpkin, some candy corn in a bowl *(I just learned from a friend that combining candy corn in a bowl with peanuts is amazing! If you eat them in the same bite, it totally tastes like a Payday bar. You're welcome.), and a fallish candle.


And of course Halloween isn't Halloween without some costumes! For this Halloween I decided I was going to put together a costume with things I already had. So I'm a duck hunter. Believe it or not, I already had that orange hat with ear flaps. I also have a fake rifle and a stuffed Canadian goose (dog toy). Before you think me super barbaric, hunting Canadian geese prevents overpopulation... and emergency landings in the Hudson. That and my friend Debbie is Mario, so it was only fitting that I be duck hunt. :)
I also took it upon myself to dress up the dogs. Lola aka Lolicious aka Licious is a butterfly. Griffin aka Grifferdoodle aka Puppy is wearing a collar and tie, and a hat which obviously makes him Tony Soprano. Duh!

Happy Halloween!!!

He was doing so well!

...and then he peed on the carpet. GRRRRRrrrrrriffin!!!

While you were fishing...

Mark went out of town this past weekend on a hiking and fishing trip with his work buddies and much to his surprise (and hopefully not dismay) I made some decor adjustments to the lily pad.

First, I started that family photo gallery I mentioned a few weeks ago. I love it so far. I plan to sprinkle in more objects and add photos over time.

It's hard to see in the photo, but that 8x10 frame is the color version of Mark as a toddler standing next to the grill of a Rolls, with a license plate that reads "MGB WEST" like the one on the lower right. The black and white one is a photo of my Grandmother shortly after the Holocaust and her chopping off her long honey blonde hair. Cliff and Griffin are missing from the wall -I just need to get some photos printed.

The next project I tackled was supposed to be hanging a wooden ledge in our master bath. 5 giant holes, 2 broken wall anchors, 1 broken screw head, and a blood blister later, I was over it. Instead, I relocated some framed photos that Tali took from the hallway to our bathroom. I wish I had done that to begin with. It looks great, and it helps tie in some additional color. The photo above the toilet is also strategically hiding the evidence of my failed attempt.

It's hard to tell, but the towels are a dark eggplant purple.

I also did some seasonal decorating with fake spider webs, a ceramic pumpkin, witch's cauldron, and painted carnations (I got this idea from Young House Love and just so happened to have some still living from an otherwise dead arrangement). Photos of that to come...

Pendantic

Forget that there's a Lamps Plus pretty close to where we live. Online shopping was the way to go on Friday -especially since the pendants came with free shipping. Believe it or not, they arrived on Saturday afternoon. Yes! Trip to store averted.

Not so fast. When Mark took the pendants out of their respective boxes, we discovered that one of them was bent. No biggie. Mark called the store, and sure enough they had a couple in inventory, so he shot over there and swapped it. Phew.

And behold.

The pendants are hung! One of these days I'll stop taking crappy grainy photos with my first-gen iPhone, but that day is not today...

It pays to wait!

It pays approximately $100....

Remember the Capiz Tiffany Style pendants I mentioned wanting to hang on either side of the hood?

source

Well it's a good thing we were broke patient! The pendants are on sale for $99.95 each! That's a savings of $100 for both! There is plenty of great lighting on sale at Lamps Plus right now!

Happy Friday!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to celebrate Dad!

It all started last Wednesday when I received a call at work from mom -unexpected, but not unheard of. In a calm and collected (stay strong for your daughter) voice, she informed me that dad and her were on a walk on Tuesday, during which he experienced sudden chest pains. He went in to see the doctor, and after multiple tests, learned that he had a 95% blockage in his heart and would need to undergo a triple bypass.

It was shocking to say the least. Dad -the person who doesn't touch fried food with a ten foot pole, the man that eats more fruits and vegetables than a million hungry caterpillars, the man that exercises regularly, the man that is supposed to be invincible- was in need of open heart surgery. I burst into tears. Mom continued to explain that he was in the hospital and that the surgery would take place on Thursday. I immediately booked a ticket to get me to Austin Weds night.

I called Mark and explained what was going on. He rushed home, packed me a suitcase, (did a great job, I might add,) and headed to pick me up from work. When we arrived at LAX, my phone rang. It was dad.

Dad: Is there any chance you can cancel the ticket?

Me: Why?

Dad: I feel fine! If I wasn't stuck in this hospital, I'd be at home gardening!

It was the first time I had laughed in hours.

Me: Dad, I'm coming to Austin. I want to be there.

He accepted my decision and I was Austin bound.

I was unable to see him until Thursday morning. Mom, Tali and I spent Thursday by his bedside until it was time for him to go in.

The doctors and nurses at the Heart Hospital of Austin were amazing. They were in and out of his room, checking his blood pressure, pulse, and all that good stuff every hour. They answered all of our (mostly Tali's) questions and reassured us that all should go smoothly.

And it did! Better than smoothly. Dad was in surgery for less than three hours. We were given constant updates on how he was doing. When we were finally able to see him Thursday night, he was still under the affects of the anesthesia, but come Friday morning, he was good as new. Dad was labeled the star patient there. He only took the pain meds for one day, needed no encouragement to get out of bed and walk around, and grumbled about it not once.

He was able to go home on Monday morning and has been doing great ever since.

This has served as a serious wake-up call for me. This is in my genes. My grandmother underwent a quadruple bypass about fifteen years ago and is still going strong. Now dad. Will a time come when I'll have to have something like this done? Who knows? All we (we being everyone really) can do is take care of ourselves to the best of our ability and take comfort in the fact that medical technology has come a long way, and just hope for the best.

Since I was little, whenever people would come over to my house for the first time, I'd always go around showing them all of the amazing things dad created. Dad has never been one to brag, so I guess I've always taken it upon myself to brag on his behalf. His talent is remarkable, and I want to take this opportunity to share a recent project he just finished.

I don't have much in terms of before shots, but the bathroom was long overdue for an update.

Before: Yellowed "white" cabinets with gold fixtures

After:

The amazing bathtub/plant holder

Window looking out from the shower to the bathtub

Meticulous tile work

Beautiful dark cherry cabinets and detail throughout

My photos don't do this bathroom justice. This is 5-star hotel quality, and dad did it all himself. It may be a little while before he's able to get back to undertaking projects of this magnitude, but unlike the governator, he'll be back for sure.