Stop the Pillows

Like so many women, my wife has an obsession with pillows. I never really realized this was a problem one could have until I got married. One evening when I walked into the living room I noticed an exceed of pillows on the couch. Rather than throw them on the ground I chose to add more cushion so I sat on a pillow. Yes, ON a pillow. Heidi came home and tried to explain to me that the pillows are for making a room look "comfy"...and proceeded to give reason after reason why we needed to continue to add to our stockpile of pillows. Things like pops of color, texture, and depth, most of which I thought only belonged on a wall. But we both knew the truth, we have enough pillows to make a small country "comfy."

There is also the issue of the heap of pillows on the bed. Heidi thinks its a must but the problem is they have to be stacked somewhere. Where do they get stacked you might ask? ON MY SIDE!!!

Like a chipmunk hoarding nuts, Heidi hoards pillows. When we change colors we find a new room to throw them in and call it decorating. Despite my objections I have learned this is the mind of a decorator savvy girl.

Pillow Fight!

... not the fun kind.  It's not even so much a fight as it is an "agree to disagree" ~ a marital compromise if you will.  I have a mild obsession with pillows.  But don't all decorator-savvy girls? I never realized it was a problem until I got married. One evening I noticed Eric sitting on a pillow.  Yes, ON a pillow.  I objected.  He looked at me like I was crazy and replied, "What else am I supposed to do with ALL these pillows?"  He was surrounded.  I tried to explain to him that pillows made a room look comfy.  That pillows brought that much need "pop of color."  That pillows tie it all together.  But we both knew the truth.  They're useless.  Especially if you can't sit on them (but really, ON a pillow?)

There's also the issue of the heap of pillows on the bed.  A must, right?  But then they have to be stacked somewhere and if one's bed isn't always made (don't blame me - I wake up first), they stay stacked in a corner.  And husband makes comments such as, "Why do we even have all these pillows?"

Our guest bedroom has a decent amount of pillows as well.  Again, a heap of pillows on a bed is just so ... right.  These pillows are left over from the old colors that our master bedroom used to be (redecorating - another obsession of mine, but at least I'm reusing!)  We have had one guest since we bought our home.  It was my sister, though, and I am CERTAIN she appreciated the pillows.  Otherwise, they are usually hidden beneath clothes laying out to dry or perhaps a sleeping cat.

Oh!  And our living room ... we just found some furniture for it (woot woot Craigslist) and the pieces are in desperate need of pillows.  Even Eric said so himself and I am sure he is kicking himself for that slip of the tongue.  That's all the push I need.  Within hours I was pillow shopping.  And still am!  It's exhilarating. 

So there you have it.  Eric puts up with pillows and I love him for it.  See the guilty obsession below ...

~ Heidi

                                                                        The TV room

                                                                       
                                                              The Master Bedroom

                                                                        Guest Room

                                             A possible contender for the new living room chair

                                   This adorable map of Paris pillow that I found and need a home for

Battleground: Front Yard

As a child my biggest weekend fret was which friend I was going to play with. As a teenager it was who I was going to the football game with and who am I hanging out with after. In college it was what city or state to drive to and as an adult my biggest worry about the weekend is what sprinkler section I am going to try to fix.
Since moving to this house I have replaced countless sprinkler heads, some pipe sections and the entire main sprinkler valve system. Despite winning these small battles the war is far from over. I have gained adequate coverage in the backyard by replacing 4 of the rotary head sprinklers. The side gardens seem to be flourishing and keeping damp soil but my ultimate nemesis has become the front yard main grass area. I have had to seed multiple sections that died from inadequate watering , which by the way I learned there is a difference between fescue and St. Augustine, and I have replaced 4 sprinkler heads and a small section of pipe. If you have replaced sprinklers in your grass area then you know that to accomplish this you must dig up your grass in a careful enough way to preserve the roots and replant the section of grass when you’re finished. This did not work out great for me and we now have several sections where the grass appears to be sinking. Despite my effort at repair I still have a dead patch looming in the front yard. Realizing the sprinkler head replacements were not accomplishing my mission I turned to making adjustments in the amount of water that was spraying from each sprinkler. Perhaps by limiting the spray on some I can boost pressure in others to shoot farther into the dead zone. Once again to no avail. Perhaps it was the type of sprinkler that I was using so I switched to high end Rain Bird quality firepower but still the water pressure enemy thwarted my plans. Now after months of study and countless diagrams (and some help from my wife) I think I may have plotted a battle plan to outsmart my foe. If you review the below drawing of my front yard you will notice that I have 11 sprinklers on a single valve line. 11!!! Way too many for a single line and that number doesn’t include several drip systems that also run off of the same line. By capping off the sprinklers marked with an "X" I can reduce the output by 5 sprinkler heads which will in turn boost the pressure within the pipes. But if I cap off the sprinkler heads how will the grass get water you ask? Well, the two marked with an "R" will become rotary head sprinklers and will cover a 180 degree area up to 20 feet. This should (in theory) allow the other sprinklers to build enough pressure to spray a normal distance thereby eliminating the dead zone. Game on! 


Eric

 

Landscaping

Now that the inside of the house is complete (for now), we decided to try our hand at landscaping. After sufficiently killing the Geraniums in our front planter, we dug out the carcasses and replaced them with a few other plants, including a Gardenia plant which will supposedly grow up a trellis (we'll see). Then we dug out the old rose bushes in front of the house (the neighbors said they hadn't bloomed in years) and replaced them with some Lillies of the Valley kindly given to us by my mother-in-law. Eric and I planted, placed large rocks and spread mulch and it looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Our neighbors then laughed at us and said the old rose bushes had once replaced Lillies of the Valley about fifteen years prior. We're bringin' it full swing! We also bought two plants to place in planters under our front window for some interest and hung up black shutters on the front window to add some character.

Last, we dug up dead grass and flattened the soil to prepare for sod in a few weeks. We are very proud of ourselves and just hope none of the new plants die! We still need to finish painting the outside of the house once the weather cools down (which may never happen with this ridiculous summer we're having here in SoCal).

Enjoy the pictures!

~ Heidi

 

Home Ownership: 4 months in

We have owned our home for about 4 months now and we have definitely had our ups and downs.  The first week we moved in, we encountered a plumbing issue.  Nothing too major, but possibly a big deal down the road.  Those beautiful mature trees in our front yard?  Well, apparently roots and pipes don't mix well.  It shook us up a bit, but we put it behind us and forged ahead . . . painting, carpeting, painting some more, hanging window treatments, painting even more . . .

Then the heat wave hit and our AC unit decides to break.  Three times!  We are really hoping our warranty might just replace it.  Here's to hoping, right?  And a few days ago we discovered our front lawn wasn't dying because of the 100+ degree weather.  Our front sprinkler system had broken and it hadn't been watered in almost a week.  Yikes!

In spite of these little joys of home ownership [insert eye roll here], we have had a blast making it our own.  Our last summer project was re-facing all the bathroom and hallway cabinets and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.  In fact, I'm pretty proud!  Hence, the posting of pictures =)

Still happy home owners though! 

~ Heidi

This is the sanding phase of the hallway linen cabinets ... all the cabinets looked like this originally.

Primed and painted

Finished!

Guest bath

Master bath (no hardware yet)

Italy Part 2: Florence & Rome

After the spectacular Cinque Terre, we headed to Florence.  At first, we weren't fans.  Florence is BUSY and the streets are all so tight.  It was also very hot once again and we walked around the first day feeling so exhausted.  But as time went on, we did grow to enjoy Florence.  We spent a lot of time in the Piazza Signoria, where Michelangelo's David once stood (now a replica has taken its original spot) and the amazing Uffizi museum sits nearby.  In the evenings, we listened to some beautiful orchestras play music under the lights (as we ate gelato of course) and we really liked the Boboli Gardens, a lesser known attraction in the city. 

The highlight of that trip was our experience seeing the David.  We had been told it would be our longest line and so we thought we might try to go before closing on our first night.  When we got there (yes, an hour and a half wait), we were told the museum would be staying open late for a few days so we could come back before 10 and maybe the line would be shorter.  So we had a leisurely dinner (that's the European style!) and headed to the Academia around 9 pm.  We got there and ... no line! We went right through security, turned the corner and down the hallway stood the magnificent David ... and only a handful of other people were in the museum!  We were able to enjoy it crowd-free and it really is such an awesome experience.  If I had brought a sketchbook with me, I would have loved to have drawn it.  Anyway, we felt pretty lucky ;)

Oh, and another highlight? Almost being taken out by a rogue segway. Seriously, we were walking through the center of Piazza Signoria and out of the crowds came a kid on a segway and he was flying!  As he came straight towards us, I truly thought this was the end of our trip.  But as we jumped out of the way, he swerved and completely ate it.  Poor kid.  But seriously, how terrible would it have been if one of us ended up in a European hospital (again!) because of being hit by a segway???  The look on that kid's face ... we actually couldn't stop laughing about it for the rest of the night.  Okay, the rest of the trip.

Florence really is lovely.  There is so much art to see and history to enjoy.  And we had some good pasta =)

*Sigh* ... Rome.  Rome is wonderful for so many reasons.  Big city.  Big charm.  Eric was so excited for this city as he is a history buff (especially Roman history).  The Coloseum was definately his highlight and I loved the streets and piazzas.  My favorite building was the Pantheon, though.  We walked A LOT in this city.  We enjoyed a tour of the Coloseum and forum/ruins on Palatine Hill, threw coins behind us into the Trevi Fountain (to ensure we return to Rome one day), took pictures on the Spanish steps, ate award-winning gelato (I had rose flavored ... and it really tasted like a rose even though I've never actually tasted a rose) and saw some beautiful churches.  We did visit the Vatican museum and saw the breathtaking Sistine Chapel and spent plenty of time in my favorite place ... the Piazza Navona, a ridiculously charming plaza with cafes surrounding a courtyard where people sell art.  There are fountains and Italians playing music for money and the most gorgeous church in all our travels.  We also had some spectacular food in Rome ... pizza that puts our American take-out to shame, wild boar pate (that was Eric's choice) and a romantic steak dinner in a wine cellar. 

Though it was sad to leave, we were exhausted and ready to come home.  It's time to plan our next adventure of course! (On the airplane, Eric looked at me and said, "So Hawaii next summer?")  Our travels home were not so smooth so when we actually made it home, we were so happy (think running through the airport at ridiculous speeds and then watching our plane pull away from the gate and then sitting on a chair gasping for breath and realizing that lovely handmade Italian scarf you were wearing went flying while you were running and now it nowhere to be found). 

Europe was amazing.  Loved everything, but next time my pick would be back to The Netherlands and then Germany, Switzerland and Austria.  I think that would be my cup of tea =)

Cheers!
~ Heidi

Italy Part 1: Venice & The Cinque Terre

After Paris, it was time to make our way to Italy.  This has been both Eric's and my dream for a long time and we were so excited.  First on the list was Venice, a destination we squeezed in only because I really wanted to see it, if only for a day.  Now, for anyone who has never been to Venice, you really only need a full day to see and enjoy it.  For us, it was HOT and HUMID.  It reminded me of Mexico in the summer.  Thankfully, Italy has something to offer its hot and weary tourists ... gelato.  Mmmmmmm.  It saved me many a hot day in Italy.  We walked around, window shopped, rode in the water taxi through the canals (no, not a gondola ... it may seem romantic, but it's actually pretty cheesy in my opinion as there's an Italian guy dressed in red stripes around every bend offering you a ride).  I will say Venice is a photographer's dream, even if it has been over-photographed.  One just can't get enough of a narrow water canal with clothes hanging out to dry between the windows above.

Okay, the best part of all ... after Venice, we trained a LONG way to the Italian Riviera where we stayed in Riomaggiore, the first of the five coastal fishing villages in The Cinque Terre.  This destination came recommended to us from some close friends with plenty of travel experience and we are so glad we took heed.  This place was spectacular and we really were able to relax instead of focus on sightseeing.  Now, unfortunately, upon arrival ... as we gazed out at the magnificent view of the ocean right below the cliff we were standing on ... a bird pooped on me.  Yep.  This is not the first, nor second, nor even third time I have been pooped on by a bird.  (In fact, I was once pooped on by a bird while I sat on a moving boat).  I looked up and realized I was standing under the ONE lightpole on the entire platform and on the ground around my feet was a colorful history of prior bird droppings.  Yuck. 

The next 20 minutes remind me of a scene from a movie.  Not a specific scene, but one you would expect to see in a movie.  As Eric and I stood near the platform staring out at colorful houses built into a cliff, we realized we had NO clue where to find our little inn.  A sweet Italian lady came up to us, looked at the address on our paper and pointed us in the right direction with a friendly smile.  Welcome to Riomaggiore, the most wonderful hidden gem.  We followed her direction and came to a rather steep hill (the only real road in the village).  Now, we're young and spry and can certainly handle a hill or two, but you see, both our pieces of luggage had broken by this point in the trip and my dear husband was dragging my giant suitcase while I had his.  So this hill looked like death.  We strained our way up it, though, until we came to the inn.  Thank goodness; not too far up the hill of death.  Eric went in and I stayed out with the luggage and petted a cat sleeping in a flower box.  Again, welcome to Riomaggiore, the most wonderful hidden gem.  In a few minutes, Eric returned followed by a little Italian woman.  Horray for being led to our room.  Or not.  She began walking up the hill.  Eric and I exchanged glances and had no choice but to follow.  With broken luggage and sweat dripping, we forged ahead behind the woman (who seemed to be having no trouble at all).  Up we climbed ... and up ... and up some more ... until I thought perhaps she was playing a cruel joke on us.  Silly Americans.  Finally, we arrived.  She opened the door and we followed her in.  To where you may ask?  A staircase of course! A tiny, cramped, creaking, spiral staircase that went up three floors.  As I hoisted Eric's suitcase on my hip to fit in the staircase, I lost it.  In a fit of giggles, I made it up to our room where the nice Italian woman smiled and left us to burst into laughter.  It seriously felt like the Olympics.  But our room was awesome and up one last spiral staircase was our private rooftop terrace with a tiny ocean view.  Totally worth it.

The next two days were spent dipping our feet into the water down at the marina, sitting on the rocks at Riomaggiore's beach as the waves swept up onto us, eating gelato while sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean, ferrying to the other villages, exploring a couple of the villages (including a hidden cobblestone path in Monterosso which led us up to the most breathtaking view) and lounging on the beach.  We ate a lot of good food, got some sun, did a wee bit of shopping and had the time of our lives.  We could have stayed for a month.  (In fact, we did consider following Cory and Tapanga's idea and find jobs so we could live there.  Eric could lead scuba-diving classes and I would make jewelry.  We had it all figured out.)  

We will definitely be returned someday.  Though I'm afraid by the time "someday" rolls around, the villages will be over-run with tourists, but hopefully not.  Goodbye Riomaggiore, the most wonderful hidden gem.

~ Heidi

Traveler's Log: The Next Few Days in Paris

I loved The Netherlands!  In fact, if it didn't get so cold there, I would consider moving =)  Delft was probably my favorite destination that we visited ... so picturesque Europe and with hardly any tourists.  I would also like to give a big thanks to Annelies, John, Nadine & Vincent for welcoming us into your home and giving us a taste of true Dutch life.  I just may start putting sprinkles on my toast now!  I also must find a place here in the states that makes a tompous ~ the most delicious Dutch pastry.  But for now, Eric and I will take a stab at making some of the recipes from our Dutch cook book from Annelies (perhaps minus the raw herring).  But yes, the "homeland" was spectacular.

After leaving S'Gravenzande in The Netherlands, we trained to Paris.  Oh Paris.  I was intimidated at first and very much overwhelmed by the city which I found curious since I fell in love with New York the moment I stepped foot in it and Paris is very reminiscent of New York ... just with European style.  But I did grow to love Paris and especially the language.  First off, the weather could not have been more perfect as we explored the city by foot our first day.  Throughout the next few days, Eric and I became pros at the metro system and soaked up Paris ~ we visited all the tourist attractions, picniced in the park next to the Eiffel Tower while eating fabulous french bread sandwiches from a Rue Claire market, ate gelato in the park (a few times), gawked at giant Monet paintings, squinted at the tiny Mona Lisa, sipped espresso at cafes, ordered food in French (butchered French no doubt), watched the final EuroCup soccer game at a pub (apparently the French love the Spanish ~ lucky for us, it made for a great time), visted the gorgeous Palace of Versailles and finally spent a day in Montemarte, which was described to me as "old Paris" and it really was the most charming.  Van Gogh, among other famous artists, lived and dined here and it is the backdrop to a few lovely films, such as Amelie and Midnight in Paris.

Fun tidbits: Eric and I stayed in a studio apartment on the 3rd floor of an old building in the heart of Paris (so much fun and surrounded by locals), but it did come with some quirks (but that's what makes traveling such an adventure, right?)  When we arrived, it was so hot inside so I swung open the big picture windows only to have a view of everyone else's apartment in the courtyard.  Oh right, city living.  Within the half hour, we got a knock on the door and a French woman was standing there looking very frustrated.  For the next 10 minutes, we had a "conversation" mostly made up of hand motions and loud, annunciated words (as if the other person MIGHT understand our language if we slow the words down, haha).  We finally figured out that she was there to clean the apartment (hmmm, good thing we didn't touch anything yet) so we left her in peace and prayed our luggage would still be there when we returned.  Later on in our stay, Eric broke the lock (ahem, just being honest) on the shared toilet room so using it was a real joy now that the entire door wouldn't close completely (you know the feeling ~ "please nobody come around the corner ...")  And lastly, when we attempted to wash our clothes in the washer, a few things went awry and we ended up with sopping wet clothes that took days to dry.  A lovely smell for our future travels.  Awww but so much fun! Waaaay better than a hotel ;)

~ Heidi

Traveler's Log-The first four days

Hallo, Goede Morgen! We just left the Netherlands after spending two days with John and Annelies and their two kids Nadine and Vincent. They took us into Amsterdam where we were able to see some city highlights such as the red light district and the home of Anne Frank. We also got to explore some of the areas where windmills were used a few hundred years ago. Yesterday we took a trip into the city of Delft to visit some churches from the 1500's and walk around the city which was amazing. John bought some raw herring that we ate between bread...well...I ate, Heidi ran. After, John and Annelies took us and the kids on a bike ride around their town. I wish they had paths in Upland like they have here. It would make exercising much more enjoyable. We stopped to get some ice cream and watch the ships pull into and out of the harbor. To top it off what bike ride would be complete without Heidi running into a pole, which we got to see. I know she was meant for me as it is something I have done as well. At this time we are on a train headed for Paris where we plan to see all the usual tourist sites. We will post again soon. Thank you John and Annelies for letting us stay in your home.

Eric

One Week Away ...

... from heading off on our biggest married adventure yet!  We're goin' to Europe baby!  This has been a dream of mine FOREVER and I am so excited to go!  I never did the studying abroad thing when I was in college (a big regret), but getting to experience this trip with my best friend is going to be amazing =)  I know the hubs is excited, too, seeing as though his last trip to Europe (a backpacking extravaganza with some buddies) ended up with him in the hospital and a sudden ticket home.  So, here's to no hospitals and lots of fun!  We saved up for this trip, thanks to an awesome travel rewards card that we took advantage of and a handful of less shopping trips from yours truly (it wasn't easy), but now the trip is around the corner!

Here's the agenda:

1) The Netherlands. I am half Dutch and looking forward to seeing "the homeland" as my brother calls it.  We're staying with some wonderful family friends who live near Rotterdam and have been so kind to let us stay in their home and even show us around =)

2) Paris.  This was not on the original schedule, but I begged Eric to take me.  It's supposed to be romantic, right?  I am looking forward to picnicing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

3) Italy.  This is our main attraction.  Eric did not make it to this leg of his previous journey (because of said hospital visit) and I can't imagine a better place to enjoy art as I so do ... we'll be hopping around from Venice to Florence to The Cinque Terre and ending with Rome.

No Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Spain ... but you can't see it all in 3 weeks.  That will be the next trip ...

So this week will be filled with cleaning, laundry, shopping, packing and dropping the babies off at my parent's house (my mom and dad will be blessed by the Lord indeed).  My biggest fear?  Trying to pack for 3 weeks in one small suitcase.  This should be interesting ...

Cheers!

~ Heidi

Santa Barbara Day Trip

Yesterday we spent the day in sunny Santa Barbara for our good friend Danielle's birthday.  It was the perfect weather for visiting the chalk art festival at the mission and wine tasting on the urban wine trail on State Street.  We finished the day with dinner & dessert at Opal Restaurant.

Cheers to a beautiful day & great friends =)

~ Heidi