violetismycolor

photos of bed/bath remodel...

The bedroom/bath/office has gone from 80's mauve-and-blue to soothing latte brown (Devine paint color 'Grain") with red and green accents.  I love it. 

The bathroom originally had raspberry red tile around the tub and sinks.  The side of the tub also had the r.red tile and a couple of steps but the steps were taken off, and the tub sided with oak. The tile was replaced with Silestone, which has the benefit of never having to be sealed!  The floor was orginally carpeted in front of the sinks/tub, but there was water damage under the carpet and we decided to retile with Travertine Marble, which matches the tiny floor tiles in the shower bottom. 

The toilet was replaced with a water-saving model that has 2 flush modes.   And my favorite of all was that the light above the shower was replaced with a skytube, which brings in the natural light and also comes with a light inside for at night.  It has really changed the way the room looks, bringing in that soft, clear light. 

The rug was a real deal at Home Goods for only $39.  I kept the sinks and tub, but added new fixtures, which I got online for the half the price that I would have paid in Portland.  I also bought the toilet online, saving about $100 from the prices I found here.

There used to be a long, plain mirror above the two sinks and it was replaced with two smaller, gilded mirrors...also from Home Goods, and only $39 apiece!  I changed the lighting from a bar of 4 lights to individual fixtures above each mirror, with our own switches to turn on our own individual lights.  Hopefully, also an energy saver.

Throughtout the rooms, I had crown moldings installed, to give it a more polished look.  The carpet was replaced...it had not been properly stretched before and it had a rolling look.  And it was old and worn.  I made new drapes and have to yet have the blue chair recovered. 

All in all, I am extremely pleased with how it all came out.  It feels so much more restful to me.

you've got no mail...

I look forward to getting mail every day.  I do.  I sort through the junk, hoping beyond hope that something interesting will find its' way into my little black (locked) mailbox. 

What happened today?

My new neighbors, who I love by the way, are having new gutters installed on their house.  Fine.  Don't mind the construction noise for a day or so.  What I do mind is that my persnickety mailman didn't deliver mail to either me or my neighbor today.

Why?

I can't be absolutely certain, but I believe it's because the mailboxes were blocked by the contractors, who had their long gutters on sawhorses, measuring and cutting as they went.  The stuff was there ALL day, and here it is 5:26 pm and NO MAIL!!!

Not happy about it, not happy at all...

funny?

I am reading Salman Rushdie's newest novel, The Enchantress of Florence.  I have found him funny...let me repeat that:  Salman Rushdie is funny.  This is not what one thinks of an author who has been the recipient of a fatwa by the Ayatollas-that-be of the Middle East.  But he is.  

Examples from chapter one:

For vegetarians there were other, more silent cook-pots; vegetables did not scream.

Now he wanted the most comfortable bed that could be had, and a woman, preferable one without a mustache...

Much funnier than the heating-and-air conditioning technician that told me that I need a new compressor for my 8-year-old air conditioning unit.  No, he wasn't funny at all.

weekend revisited...

We really enjoyed having Adam and Priya here this weekend.  They, and Bonnie, drove Ross back to Corvallis on Monday...stopping along the way to visit my parents.  Their Oma and Opa just loved the visit, too, though my dad said he barely recognized Adam with the beard.  I think he looks very cute, myself.   

We did lots of eating and hanging out, and Adam and Priya spent a fair amount of time going to all his favorite parts of the city.  We were sorry to see them go on Tuesday morning, but there you are.

  

meeting Priya...

After spending the week getting the wrecked house in order after 'the construction', Adam and his girlfriend, Priya, arrived this morning from San Diego. 

John and I picked them up at the airport.  Hallelujah, the sun was shining and Portland looked lovely.  We met Bonnie and Ross at a local Mexican restaurant and all had lunch together.  We were probably a bit overwhelming for poor Priya, all talking (loudly) and joking and trying to be heard.  She could barely get a word in, edgewise.

Adam took Priya to the Rose Garden, which apparently had about 3 roses blooming.  Damn you, cold spring weather!  But then they went to the Japanese Garden next door and really enjoyed it. 

Tonight, we had my MIL over for a BBQ.  The weather had stayed nice and John did his special recipe bbq chicken.  I made my potato salad.  Priya shucked corn for the first time in her life.  We had corn on the cob and watermelon and it was all delicious and relaxed. 

Now, Adam and Priya have gone off to the Kennedy School to meet some of Adam's Willamette friends.  I told Adam to take Priya to the Detention Bar...she joked that she had never been in detention and it would be a first.  The sky is now thundering and raining and giving a good show. 

day by day, monday may 20...

Travel by plane...enough said!

day by day: sunday, may 18...

Sunday morning was gray and John headed to Syracuse with the car to get it exchanged for a new one.  The flat tire took up the entire trunk and there would be no room for our luggage with that there. Bonnie and I got ready for her graduation. 

The day was cool (about 45 degrees) and rainy.  What was Colgate thinking, allowing a 3-hour graduation to go ahead outside in the rain?  I saw grannies and grandpas being wheeled around getting soaked.  How many grandparents have to get pneumonia for Colgate to start caring about the folks watching the graduation, much less the poor seniors sitting there getting absolutely soaked?

We were very proud of our girl, however. 

We went out to dinner with Bonnie's friend and roommate Erin's family, again in Cazenovia...this time at the Brae Loch Inn...It was a delightful way to end the day and the weekend.

day by day: saturday, may 17...

Saturday:  

John arrived on Friday night and I picked him up at the Syracuse airport.  I had dreaded the hour-long drive, but after 2 days of packing boxes, going to the Goodwill drop-off and the post office several times, it was actually quite calming.  Added bonus:  a most spectacular pink and gold sky at sunset.  

After breakfast on Sat. morning, we went to the only-coffee-shop-in-town, The Barge (owned and operated by the college) and met up with my new friend, Walt.  I met Walt on Thursday morning at The Barge.  He is a retired English professor and we shared an hour or so, each morning, just chatting.  He and John also had a nice time meeting and Bonnie showed up at 10 to go to...

The History Reception:  where most of the professors came to schmooze with their (now former) students and their parents.  Bonnie's teachers were all interesting and friendly, and we finally got to meet Prof. Jill Harsin, her unofficial mentor and advisor.

More receptions, etc....like the AMS scholars...and the day was completed with the aforementioned flat tire.  Luckily, one of Bonnie's friend's had a dad-in-jeans who changed said tire for us.

We finished the day by taking Prof. Harsin out to dinner in the nearby town of Cazenovia.  Restaurants in Hamilton were impossible to get in to, and Bonnie had eaten at all of them before.  We (and bunches of prom night high schoolers) had a wonderful dinner at Lincklaen House.  

Unfortunately, we lost track of the time and forgot that Bonnie was supposed to be back at Colgate for the traditional Torchlight Ceremony, where hundreds of grads (some exceedingly drunk) carry sticks of fire around the Colgate Pond with fireworks blazing overhead, terrorizing lost ducklings and fellow students, alike.  

Bonnie arrived near the end of the ceremony, found her friend Dalia, and was regaled with stories of drunken frat boys trying to burn down trees.  Later, she found best friend-and-housemate, Erin...only to be told that drunken sorority girls had hurled a lighted torch her direction, she ducked it but not in time and she received a small burn on her hand and had her graduation gown sleeve CATCH ON FIRE!!!

Now, Bonnie has a real terror of fire and fireworks due to an early experience with a renegade sparkler, so she was nervous about this event before she even got there.  But hearing these stories, she was actually glad she was late and missed all the 'excitement'.  Erin said that she would forever remember the Torchlight by getting pissed off, over and over, at 3 thoughtless, drunk sorority girls.  

BB's graduation

We are in Hamilton, NY and our Bonnie graduates tomorrow.  Ack...2 kids DONE with their undergraduate studies, 1 to go.  Hard to believe that we have come this far.

But there's the bad news...the crappy car that we got from Alamo (a Pontiac Firebird, covered with scratches AND not very fuel efficient) got a FLAT TIRE tonight.  We are driving the on teeny-tiny spare tire (makes me nervous) and the old tire takes up half the trunk space, which we will need when we head out to go back to the airport on Monday. 

The good news, our BonBon is graduating Summa Cum Laud and she is so dang happy! 

let's dance...

Disclosure:  My childhood nickname was Twinkletoes.  This was because I was always dancing/walking/running on tiptoe because I wanted to be a ballerina. 

So, it's probably no surprise that I just love watching Dancing With The Stars!  I was a huge fan of Apollo Anton Ono, when he was on.  And now, I am definitely hoping Kristi Yamiguchi will be the ultimate winner.  She is such an incredible dancer...not surprising, given her prowess as a skater. 

I also have to admit that I love watching Marissa and Tony dance.  Marissa is so full of enthusiasm and verve, and Tony is such a great dancer that he is incredible to watch.

I always went to dances in high school, and loved going out disco-ing when I was in college and in my 20's.  I would love to do some ballroom dancing, but I just don't think John would be into it.  So, the next best thing is dancing vicariously with my 'stars' on Monday nights. 

I have to go off and vote for my faves on the ABC website.

house destruction...

My bedroom is Under Construction.  Which means that I am not sleeping there.  John and I are now in Adam's bedroom.  The good news is that he has a really comfortable bed.  The bad news is that we have to step over, around, and through construction debris every day to get dressed.  Yuck.  And now that they are tiling the bathroom, we need to take a few days worth of clothes out, because we won't be able to get to them, otherwise. 

We are going from 80's mauve-and-blue wallpaper and raspberry red tile to light tan silestone (quartz in it is a variety of shades) and Travertine marble bathroom floor and latte-colored walls.  I also had some crown molding installed, which gives it a nice, finished look.  There's more to the change than that, but the biggest deal is that the whole color scheme is changing.  The colors we had just didn't say "Rest here, relax here"  and the new colors will...we will have red and green accents in the bedding and accessories.

MY biggest project is making the drapes.  Not hard, but the materials are always somewhat bulky, and overlarge.  And I don't have a gigantic construction area for the cutting, etc., which makes it a little awkward.  Pictures to follow next week or so. 

I spend a lot of time in my room, which contains my office, so I am really looking forward to moving back in.  Not that it will be completed much before we return from Bonnie's Colgate graduation on the 19th.  Veronica will be living with the construction zone, but she is mostly in another part of the house, anyway. 

mom's weekend info...

Mom's Weekend, OSU-style--was a blast. Not because the school has lots to do, but just because it was so much fun to hang out with Ross.

We started off (on Friday afternoon) by taking a walk along the riverfront in Corvallis. The city has done a great job making this area enjoyable and lovely. There are paved paths, for walking and biking, benches for sitting and pondering, scuplture, water features, a skateboard park, new restaurants and shops, etc.

After the walk, we found a little restaurant, where we split some cheese fondue and had dessert. Then we saw the movie, The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan, which we agreed was cheesy in parts but highly enjoyable.

On Saturday morning, I picked Ross up bright and early (10 a.m., he IS a college kid), and we went out for breakfast, followed by a hike at OSU's Peavy Arboretum, which is about 5 miles outside of town. There was an OSU-sponsored logging competition, which we saw a little bit of. But the major draw was the beautiful old-growth forest, complete with lots of spring wildflowers and a gnut swimming in the lake we hiked around.

After a quick lunch of Taco Bell and then a shower, we headed off to another movie, this time with Ross's friend Sarah and her mom. We went to see Ironman, which was really very good. Robert Downey, Jr. is not usually who I think of when I think 'superhero' and yet, he did a great job in this part. Jeff Bridges plays his incredibly evil nemesis, and Gwyneth Paltrow plays his faithful aide, Pepper Potts.

Dinner was delish onion rings and burgers at Clodfelter's Pub on Monroe Street, right across from the university, with Sarah and her mom. Then, Ross and I went on to the 9 o'clock Comedy Show, with 2 Comedy Central stand-up comedians. Very funny.

Another 10 am breakfast was had on Sunday morning. We picked up Ross's friend, Melissa, and enjoyed some Belgian Waffles with Strawberries. I took off after that, driving the backroads up to my parents' home in Woodburn. OMG, it was such a beautiful day and driving through the backroads of the Willamette Valley is a real treat. It's gorgeous.

All in all, a great weekend with The Boy.

mom's weekend...

I'm off to Mom's weekend. Ross and I are going to see a movie or two, do a hike, go to a comedy show, and just enjoy some one-on-one time.