That's a Wrap

...for my first generation iPhone, that is. Say hello to my little friend, the iPhone 4. Ok, you can't quite see it, but you can see a photo I took with it (with a flash, in the dark). Mark and my anniversary is coming up, and just so happens to fall on the first night of Hanukkah. My phone was starting to act all possessed-like, so I made the reluctant request for a new one. I say reluctant because if it aint broke, why fix it? -and my old iPhone was just possessed, not broken.

Anyhow, I'm in love. With Mark. -and the new phone, well it's awesome. I'm still learning the ins and outs of it, and am not holding my breath for more of my friends to get it so we can video call each other.


This is a photo I took last night of the gallery wrapped canvases I recently ordered. Tali took these great shots of Griffin and Lola back in August, and I'd been waiting (not holding my breath) for Groupon deals for CanvasOnDemand. If you're not sure what Groupon is, run, don't walk. They offer daily deals for cities across the US. Some are city specific, some are online deals.
Tali introduced me to this website that helps you sort through other cities' deals. And as for CanvasOnDemand, they produce the best gallery wrapped photo-canvases.

He was doing so well!

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

Get'er Done

We had such a busy weekend! Tons got accomplished (mostly thanks to Mark and our good friend Ryan).

First and foremost, I can no longer refer to our abode as the "Peach Palace" because Mark and Ryan painted the house! It is now painted Dunn Edwards' "Floating Lily Pad." It looks like a completely different house!
Sometime in the next few years, I would like to add a stone facade to the bottom half of the front of the house. Something like this. We also plan to eventually get a new front door. We're thinking a dark wood with wrought iron details.

Next on the list, Ryan helped install some under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen. I call it the "I'm not waiting up for you" light.

We also finally got the mirror back up in our guest bathroom. Remember that snafu we had with the mold behind the mirror that I discovered when I was prepping the mirror for molding? That wasn't the molding I was going for... We fixed all of the problems, but the mirror had been sitting in our hallway for over six months. Well no more! I repainted the new drywall, and Mark and Ryan got the mirror and the molding up, and it looks fantastic! We also finally hung a towel bar and a hook so that towels don't have to be draped over the shower curtain rod.

I also spent some time sanding and painting cabinet doors for the bathroom, Mark installed a nice new medicine cabinet, and let's not forget the lovely new house numbers next to our front door.

There's nothing like hosting visitors to light a fire under our tucheses...

Lola's first trip to Home Depot

My Three Lovies

Does the carpet match the drapes?

...Or more importantly, do the dogs match the couch?

Griffin and Lola's first time on the couch...

Blank Canvas or Pup Playroom?

The demo is complete! Our kitchen is an empty shell, and boy does it look good!
-The dogs think so at least.


They have taken it upon themselves to scatter all of their toys across what is now their playroom. Griffin is loving it because he's not getting crated during the day -there's really nothing for him to destroy.

Yesterday our cabinet guy Jimmy came by to take final measurements and our trusty demo-er/electrician/plumber/friend Yaya laid out plans for electrical/plumbing.

We've ordered the hood and sink too! Now it's just a matter of figuring out the granite for the counters. We want it to be on the lighter side since our cabinets will be a chocolate brown. I like this, this, this and this too! We're open to suggestions!

What-the-what?!

I'm baaaack! I think. Who knows for how long. It's been months. ages. eons. I'm still alive and kickin! In case anyone is wondering, or still reading for that matter, the main reason for my hiatus is I took on a new role at work which is more challenging than what I was doing before. I spend all day in front of my computer and the last thing I want to do is go home and be on my computer again. I love my new job though, and hopefully as I get more settled, the gaps between posts will be smaller and smaller.

Let's see. In the time I've been gone,

we got grass!

Lola got a brother! -Meet Griffin.

Griffin graduated puppy school!

...and Dahlia Jane, my adorable niece turned two months old.

So much more has happened. We grated the back yard (de-weeded and leveled), got a ping pong table, and have been getting closer and closer to starting the kitchen.

We've been out of town most weekends for weddings, camping, etc, but we'll be here this weekend, and hopefully make time to replant some hydrangeas and clear out the garage so we can relocate the kitchen in there. Stay tuned!

Back From the Dead

If anyone is still reading my blog, I apologize for my lengthy absence. Between devoting time to this blog/project for work, having friends in town, and just keeping busy, I just haven't had it in me to blog (here).

Rest assured, I'll be back with plenty to share soon. I have already begun the chair makeover, our stucco is complete, and we are getting closer to making our dream kitchen a reality.

But in the meantime, I'm happy to share that Lola graduated tonight! She will embark on an intermediate class next week. I told you we had a valedictorian on our hands!

Staring contest

Lola wins!!!

**Doesn't she remind you of the Sphinx?

Case and point

Lola has fantastic doggie dental hygiene...

Crazy Dog Lady

I know this blog started out as a home improvement thing, but it's clearly evolving into a blog about a certain dog whose owners, ok well just one of them, is a tad bit obsessed with her. I promise, we'll get back to the joys of home improvement soon, but honestly, isn't watching Lola explore, play, and learn new tricks way more fun?

Puppy Love

I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!!!

Mark and I kept it mellow with a nice home-cooked meal. We started out with my favorite cheese fondue. Our dippers consisted of pumpernickel bread, baby carrots and granny smith apples.

I then followed this recipe to make a relatively healthy chicken cordon bleu. I substituted light jarlsburg swiss for the laughing cow cheese. It was absolutely delicious and super easy to make. I paired it with the crash hot potatoes.

Then we enjoyed these customized m&ms for dessert. :)

I also took advantage of the beautiful weather to experiment with Mark's SLR and take some photos of the Lolabear.

It was a fantastic, love-filled day!!!

Doggie floss

Lola had her first puppy training class this Saturday. She's totally a valedictorian in the making. Our homework was to practice "watch me" with her. She's got it down like nobody's business.

In the video, you also get a glimpse of her favorite toy, which I now refer to as "doggie floss". What used to look like this now looks like a mangled ball of thread -and that's how she likes it...

I'm still alive!

I know! It's hard to believe, but I'm alive and well and haven't floated off into the Pacific with this week's never-ending torrential downpour.

I promise there will be updates coming, I've just had too much going on to make the blog a priority.

To tide you over, I'll share one of many photos that Tali took while she was here visiting last weekend. Who knew Lola was so ticklish?! You can see a couple more from her shoot on her blog.

Stay dry Los Angeles...

Lola learns a new trick!

In just a couple of weeks, Lola has mastered "sit" and has just caught on to "shake"!!!

When I sago

...Oy... We spent the last couple of hours at the emergency vet with Lola. She got into a pile of our yard clippings that included some sago palm frawns which are highly poisonous to dogs (and people). I found a chewed up frawn on her outside doggie bed and called animal poison control. The vet said that since we don't know what she actually ingested, we had to take it seriously no matter what. The toxin in sago palms is known to cause liver failure. The vet induced vomit and gave her some active charcoal, which sucks up any lingering toxins. She was happy before and after and never showed any signs of sickness, but typical symptoms of liver problems may not show up for 2-3 days, so we'd rather not take any chances...***Update*** It's been four hours since we returned from the vet and Lola is doing great.

The morning was filled with Mark working on a second B.o.P. root bush, taking down our Hanukkah lights, weed wacking, and I worked on the guest bath. I had my protective gear on, just to be safe.

I first cut a 4"x 4" where the mold was at the top of the mirror. The back of the drywall was looking good and dry. I then realized that there was trouble at the bottom of the mirror, where we had seen just a tiny bit of mold. The drywall was wet all the way through. Mark helped me saw out the damaged goods which was another 4"x 10" or so.

I then stuck my camera in the opening to take some pictures and see if I could see more signs of trouble. It looks all clear. The stud that was backing the drywall is still damp, so we are leaving the opening for a few days to make sure the entire area can dry out before we seal it up.

Pup playdate

Today we had Booie, Adrienne, and Brian over for Lola's first at-home playdate. The dogs had such a blast together!!! It wasn't more than five minutes after Booie left that Lola passed out. Lola is so happy to have found a new bff!!!

Her name was Lola...

Scratch that, her name is Lola! The newest addition to Chez Braffe. She's part corgi, part terrier, and all love.
Mark and I have been talking about getting a dog for a little while, and went to a couple of adoption events yesterday. We found Lola at an adoption event that our friend Jana was volunteering at.

At first we didn't even think to get to know Lola, because we had been in search of a medium sized (30-50lbs) dog, and Lola probably comes in at about 20lbs when she's soaked... But Lola wasn't having that. She was the happiest dog in the bunch, and was hardly flustered when the German shepherd nearby started a ruckus with a cocker spaniel and had all the dogs around going bonkers. She just wagged her tail, and in that moment, we knew she was the dog for us.

We originally planned on waiting until we returned from Vegas (next Sunday) to bring a pup into our home, but knowing that Lola would be headed back to the shelter if she didn't come home with us, made us change our minds. Plus, we received a generous offer from one of the volunteers to watch her while we're gone.

We'll have to go through some training with her, because at 1-2yrs old (the shelter's estimate -they don't have much information on her, as she was brought in as a stray), she is unfamiliar with any commands. But she's a happy dog, loves people, other doggies, and life! -and we love her.