closet clean out

One of my favorite bloggers, Ashley at Our Little Apartment, is working on cleaning out her closets this month. She inspired me, and I'm sure many others, to clean up around the house.

Since I had today off, I started last night with the one linen closet we have.  Here is what it looked like before...

Pretty much a mess.  There were plenty of things that I didn't even know I had anymore and lots of things that I just don't need.  I realized that I have way to many sets of sheets for only one bed, and more towels than Ben and I could ever use in a month without doing any laundry.  I also apparently hoard liquid bath soap because I had 7 bottles of it for myself and 2 bottles for Ben.

I pretty much went shelf by shelf and decided what I was going to keep, what I was going to put somewhere else, what I was going to donate, and what was just plain garbage.  Here is what came out...

Oh yeah, I also had an empty curling iron box, a broken hair straightener, and a set of twin sheets that don't fit our bed.  There were also some old lotions that had glitter in them and why I had them I really have no idea.  A few things were thrown away but in the process I am donating two bags of towels and sheets to Purple Heart tomorrow.  This was another motivation for me.  Purple Heart is stopping at my house tomorrow to pick up any donations we had and now we have two bags to give!

Here is the finished, clean, organized closet...

I did go to Target and purchase three 6 quart clear containers to organize medicines, everyday things, and nail polishes and misc. items.  I can't believe how much room is actually in this closet.  It is so nice to see the back of it and to even see the floor.

Now, the hardest part is keeping it this clean.  That is the real challenge for me, so my goal is to keep this clean and once I can accomplish that, it's on to more closets!

Thanks for the inspiration Ashley!

busy weekend wrap up

What a wonderful weekend.  I have so much to be thankful for, and this weekend was another reminder of lots of those things.

Friday morning at midnight I went out shopping with my mom and we were able to accomplish lots of Christmas shopping.  I got home about 6 am and was completely exhausted but had a great time.  We've been Black Friday shopping for a few years now and I can't imagine not being a part of that crazy hectic day.

When I got home at 6 am I went to bed (if you can call it that), slept for a few hours and then woke up and went to work Friday night.  By the time I left you could barely make it through the bar without having your feet stepped on 20 times and a million people rubbing up against you.  Why people pay to drink at a place that is wall to wall crowded is just beyond me.  I don't get it!

Since I had slept so late Friday I was not tired enough to go to bed when I got home, so I started decorating for Christmas!  As of right now all of the decorations are up and the tree is in the process.  I ran out of lights so I have to stop tomorrow so that it can be finished (I love Christmas decorating).

Saturday morning we woke up and did lots of house chores.  We had to paint the chipping wood on the garage door and the side of the garage, we cut back the rest of the rose bushes, and we tore out the attic insulation.  Yes, a very busy morning/afternoon, but very productive!

I had the night off work so I went to dinner with my mom and sister, and then ran a few errands to try and finish up my shopping.  I met up with Ben after he was done at work for a quick bite to eat in Tremont, and then we met up with Melis and Anthony for a drink.  It was so nice to be out on a Saturday night like most of the other people our age.  What a change from what we are used to!

Today started with church, then more errands, then brunch, and ended with cleaning up/organizing the house and a quiet little dinner here.  I am so thankful for everything this weekend brought, and even more thankful for all of the other blessings in my life!

SOHO, Crop Bistro, good friends, and a new dishwasher

I have not done the best job this month of keeping up with NaBloPoMo.  I've been trying...I really have.  Instead of dwelling on what I didn't do though, I'm just going to keep writing whenever I do have the chance...like now!

Yesterday night was our November monthly dinner date.  The girls drove out to the westside since I'm always heading east and we met up at SOHO  in Ohio City.  It is a fun little restaurant with great atmosphere and a pretty delicious menu too.  I had the sweet potato bisque and fried green tomatoes, which I could have had another plate of if I had room. 

After lots of catching up, they headed back east and I headed to Crop Bistro to meet up with Ben for a drink.  We ended up staying out way later than I had planned and meeting up with more people than I thought possible on a random Tuesday night.  It was a great night though, and it made me realize just how lucky I am for the wonderful people in my life.

I spent today doing my best to get everything ready for dinner tomorrow.  I ran a few errands and then had to be at home because we were having a new dishwasher installed.  The old one wasn't working right and instead of having someone come look at it, we decided we should just get a new one.  Probably not the best idea because the guy who put it in said there was a part that had never been taken out of the new garbage disposal and that was causing it to not drain properly.  Basically, we most likely did not need a new dishwasher.  Right now, I'm trying not to think about that part, and instead focus on how quiet and nice the new dishwasher is in the kitchen.

Now it's off to bed to get some rest because we are hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow...yikes!

the lights are up!

This past Saturday, the afternoon weather was gorgeous.  It was sunny and warm...the perfect day for putting up Christmas lights!

I know, I know, Thanksgiving is on Thursday and Christmas decorations should not be up yet.  I (kind of) agree.  Let me explain.

No one really wants to put Christmas lights up in the freezing cold when there is a blizzard.  The best time to put them up is when the sun is shining and your fingers are not turning into little icicles.

Ben and I had the time Saturday before work and we got all the lights up outside.  I just need to get the wreaths put up and we are all set.  Don't worry, they are not turned on yet (but I really want them to be!)  To be completely honest, if we were not hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, I would probably have my tree up already!

Here's to the start of another happy holiday season!

sunday funday

Today began with one of my favorite things of the school year.  It was our Girls on the Run 5K!!

We ran the race this year in Peninsula in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The course was so beautiful and the weather could not have been better.  I buddied up with one of the girls and we finished in about 33 minutes.  She was so pumped and had such a great time.  I was happy to run with her, and she definitely is the reason that I finished so fast!

Afterward, I came home and Ben and I acted like grown ups for the rest of the afternoon.

It all began when we decided earlier this week to host Thanksgiving at our house.  Yep, crazy, but that way we don't have to travel which is something we both hate doing.  We will work the day before and the day after, and I will be out shopping at midnight, so it will be nice to have it here.

Since we are having Thanksgiving though, we needed a new one of these:

Ours broke awhile ago, and I've just been waiting until the last minute to go out and get a new.  Literally the last minute because it will not be delivered and installed until the day before Thanksgiving.  Just in time right!

Later this week I get to spend a bunch of money on tires for my car...oh how I love being a grown up!

being a grown up

There are many great things about being a grown up.

• Not having to live with your parents anymore
• Making your own rules
• Being legal drinking age
• No curfew!
• Paychecks
• Only cleaning when you want to
• Not having to eat your veggies and always drink milk for dinner

 There are also some not so great things about being a grown up.  I have come to this conclusion before today but it was reinforced after spending over 4 hours on the phone trying to get a better home insurance quote.

• Having to take care of everything
• Not living with your parents :(
• Cutting the grass, not because your parents are making you but because you don't want your yard looking hideous
• Making phone calls about all the bills
• Paying the bills
• Always cleaning, all the rooms in the house always need cleaning
• Water in the basement

I love my house and couldn't be happier with all the wonderful things I have.  I really have no real complaints, and most days I enjoy being a grown up and all that it has to offer.

But come on, who doesn't wish every once in awhile that they were just a 10 year old kid enjoying the summer and looking forward to getting new supplies before school started?

On a side note, I stumbled upon this video while on this blog.  Check them both out.

Productive weekends leave little time for blogging

Happy Late Memorial Day!  And happy summer!

I love three day weekends (I love weekends in general) and I love knowing summer is right around the corner.

This weekend was extra busy and fun filled.  I do not have pictures to document any of it, which is a failure of my new goal (see post on taking more pics) but it was awesome either way.

Friday night we went out for a family friend's 21st birthday at West Park Station.  It was a great time, as 21st birthdays always are.

Saturday I cleaned house, hung out with my mom, had dinner at Tartine Bistro and dessert at this great new gelato place in Rocky River.  Then I headed out to the eastside to hang out with friends to celebrate a birthday.

Sunday, I finally got some mulching done with my mom (thank goodness for her help!)  Then we went to another birthday party for a family friend.  Maybe I should have titled this post 'A weekend of b-days.'  I didn't even realize until I wrote it all down how much birthday celebrating went on this weekend.

Sunday night Ben came home from Belize and I was and am so happy to have him back!

Monday we finished mulching, grabbed some fast food for lunch and then Ben was off to work.  I had a delicious rib dinner with my parents and tried to get to bed early, which is very difficult when it is 90 degrees and you're to cheap to turn on the air.

I'm happy it has cooled off a little bit, but I don't mind the heat after all of the rain we've had!

And it's already Wednesday which means another weekend is right around the corner!

Thanks Mom

One day a year is just not enough to thank your mom for all that she does for you.  At least it isn't for my mom.

What a wonderful person she is and getting the chance to celebrate that with her makes me feel extraordinarily lucky.  The sun was shining today and it could not have been a nicer Mother's Day (especially considering all of the rain we have had lately).

We celebrated by enjoying brunch at Market.  Yes, this was my second week in a row having brunch there, but it's just that good.  They gave all moms a complimentary Mimosa, which is so nice and enjoyable as well!  Brunch was delicious of course and mom loved the new edition to her Pandora bracelet.

For the afternoon, my mom, dad, and I headed out to Petitti's so that I could finally get some plants for the back garden.  It was packed but we picked out 10 shrubs/trees that will hopefully complete the backyard garden.  Thank goodness for my dad's truck which helped get everything home.

Then my wonderful parents helped plant all the new shrubs/trees!  It was so nice out that spending the days indoors was not an option and since they are so wonderful they are always willing to help out in anyway they can.  So we spent the afternoon digging holes and planting plants.

The garden looks pretty good.  Of course everything is small right now but will hopefully grow over the next few years and be a nice colorful place to enjoy.

The day was beautiful, and spending it with my wonderful mom made it even better.  One day of thanks a year will never be enough, because my mom deserves a thank you everyday for all that she does for everyone around her.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Goodbye April...Hello May!

What a wonderful weekend!

Friday night was the annual Tribe game with the girls.  This was the first time we've ever gone in April, but we had great seats for a great price.  It was a little chilly out but not too bad.  I loved seeing the girls because it has been awhile and the game was great!

We won in the bottom of the 9th with a walk off grand slam!  Oh yea!  The Tribe is killing it this season so far and I'm looking forward to watching them this season.

I finished up the night by meeting up with another group of friends at Happy Dog.  While there we had a little argument about the neighborhood the bar is in.  I'm pretty sure it is located in the Gordan Square District/Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood but one of the boys was positive it is part of Ohio City.  He was super stubborn about it, and I still think I'm right.

My best friend was in town this weekend from Columbus so we grabbed a quick breakfast Saturday morning at The Red Chimney.  I'd never been before but her husband grew up in the neighborhood and loves the restaurant.  It was the cheapest breakfast we've probably ever had and it was perfect.  Yummy diner food that hit the spot.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Ben working in the yard and hanging out with the dog.  We planted some flowers and moved some stuff in the yard.  We're still working on what is going to happen with that back garden we have and need to decide what veggies we are planting this year.  Since it is still ridiculously cold, I think we have time.

Saturday night I participated in a Cornhole Tournament at The Slovenian National Home and of course lost in the first round.  It was hosted by the best friends husband and was a definite success.

I finished off the weekend with a late Brunch at Market with Ben and the best friend and her husband.  I cannot say enough good things about this place and will be going back there this Sunday for Mother's Day.

Sorry for the long post, but it was a busy weekend!  Happy to see May on the calendar...makes summer break seem so much closer!

Yesterday I saw the Sun!!

Aren't four day weekends wonderful?  Mine started off Thursday after work with a happy hour stop at the one and only Prosperity, which happens to be my favorite stop in Tremont.  They always have Blueberry Ale in the bottle and their Good Samaritan (Dirty) is the best dirty martini.  Happy hour with work friends is always a good time and a way to catch up with things that have nothing to do with work.  It was great!

Then I made a stop at ABC The Tavern in Ohio City to meet up with the boy for a drink.  I had never been there before and it was quiet for a Thursday night.  I had a nice Apricot Ale which I enjoyed and then we headed out.

We decided to hit up pretty much every little neighborhood possible and headed over to ABC's sister XYZ The Tavern.  The food was great and it was very busy which is a lot more fun!  We got a nice spot at the bar, enjoyed some more adult beverages and a good meal.  All in all, it was a good Thursday night!

Friday I did something stupid and got the itch to paint.  There is only one room in my house that has not been painted, so I figured why not.  After painting the woodwork and the ceiling, starting to paint the walls and realizing I did not have enough paint and then making a third trip to Home Depot in two days, I remembered how much I hate painting.  It's almost done though, and as soon as I finish this post that is what I will be doing!

I attended my last Friday Fish Fry of the season with the parents this week.  We switched it up and went old school to a good old fashioned church basement fish fry.  It was a nice way to end the fish fry season.

Saturday in the midst of painting the sun came out! Yes, the sun!!  It does exist here in Cleveland still.  So I took a break from painting and went outside to soak up some much needed Vitamin D.  Since it was so nice out and we don't get to go out Saturday night together, we got take out lunch from Melt.  If you have not been there yet I highly suggest you going, like yesterday.  And don't worry, they are opening a new one in Independence soon that used to be a huge Winking Lizard, so hopefully you won't have to wait 2 hours to sit down!

After a nice long walk in the Metroparks with a very happy dog I did a little more painting and then called it a night.

Now off to more painting and then a Sunday night out just because I don't work tomorrow!

Happy Easter!

Brunch and Shrub Shopping

Since Friday and Saturday date nights are not an option for the boy and I, we chose to spend Sunday morning/afternoon at a Sunday Funday brunch.  We headed to Market in Rocky River and had a wonderful time.  I had dinner there recently with my mom and saw that they had a brunch menu that was right up our alley, so we decided to start our Sunday their.

We sat at the bar and had a nice time chatting with our bartender who just happened to be from London.  He was great and lots of fun.  I started with a Mimosa and he started with a Bloody Mary that you get to add all your own toppings to using their Sunday Funday Bloody Mary cart...very awesome.  After tasting that I realized I needed my own and quickly enjoyed my drink so that I could join in the fun.

We had a Pigs in a Blanket appetizer and I ordered the Eggs Benedict (a go to breakfast for me whenever it is on the menu) and he had one of their Market Skillets.  Great food, great service, great time.  We will absolutely be going back and hopefully sitting on their patio in the sunshine.

Drinks!

Eggs Benedict

Market Skillet

We then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for shrubs.  There is this garden in the backyard that I just cannot decide what to do with.  I love flowers and I love gardening but I am indecisive and really wish I could just have someone come in and say put this here and this here and it will look fabulous.  Ok, that's not exactly true because I do like putting things together and feeling as if I contributed and helped to accomplish something.

Today we got pretty far though.  A very nice salesman at Petitti's showed us some things that we liked and he said if we bring in a picture of the space with dimensions they can help us plan things out.  Exactly what I wanted to hear!  So we left with four red planting pots for the front yard and enjoyed the ride home with a little dog in the back seat who loves the sun and car rides.

Happy Sunday!

Saturdays are for yardwork

Call me crazy but I actually like doing yardwork.  I was super excited when the weather forecast was calling for a dry sunny Saturday.  Well, the sun just decided to come out...around 5 pm, but it was dry this morning and afternoon so I have nothing to complain about.

The first time back in the yard after a long winter of shoveling is the best!  Yes, it is all clean up and pick up of garbage that somehow was left behind, but it is the start of a nice spring/summer/fall of time in the yard.  Today I was able to pull some weeds, rake some leaves, and clean up a bit around the little tree stump I am left with.

I have daylillies coming up and the grass in the backyard is green (too bad I cannot say the same for the front).  The gardens have all been raked and turned over and are ready for planting.  I have three small vegetable gardens and one large garden that sits in the back corner of the yard.  Last summer it was used as a veggie garden, but I am currently working on some ideas to create a beautiful perennial flower garden.  The beds in the front have yet to be touched.  They really could just be left alone, but that's no fun at all.  I love changing things up and moving things around to make things look even better.  I am most definitely a green thumb wanna be, so I am still working on making things actually look like they belong together.

Now I am off to what I know will be a delicious dinner at a lovely little place.  You will hear all about it tomorrow!

One more thing, all of my hard work today was not done alone and would not have been possible without one wonderful boy, and one crazy little dog.

Missing Branches

After a nice Monday at work and successfully completing some errands (I really do not enjoy grocery shopping one bit), I finally made it home.

Except something was different.  So different I almost drove right past my own house.

When I left this morning, this tree had branches on it.  Lots of them.  Now it is just a trunk and there is sawdust/woodchips all over my yard.

I'm assuming when I get home tomorrow I might not have a tree at all.  You have no idea how weird it is to look out the front door and see so much more than you have before.

Maybe this is a good thing though.  Now I will be able to fix that buckling sidewalk, which is only buckling because of the huge tree roots underneath it.  I guess I will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, and if today is the last day I have a tree on my tree lawn.