week thirty

Yes, it is Monday again and a whole new week is ahead of us. Hope all of you had a great weekend. This is no ordinary Monday or post, today marks my 200th post. On one hand I can't believe I have written so many posts already on the other hand it seems so little...

Do you remember my to-do list from Friday? If not here is a little reminder what I wanted to accomplish this past weekend:

- paint door frame around exterior door ✔

- prep other door frame for painting ✔

- install new flooring in the vestibule - did not install flooring but cut it to be installed this week

- email contractors for estimates how much having the old wood door stripped would cost us ✔
 

I didn't finish everything on my list but got a good chunk of it done. My new plan is to paint the other door frame after work so I can install the floor next weekend. We were also able to get rid of one of the mystery appliances in our basement. Mystery because we have no idea how they were able to get them into our basement because they do not fit up our stairs or through any of the windows. P managed to disassemble the dryer and just ten minutes after we put it on the curb somebody picked it up for scrap metal. Yipeeeh it's finally gone! Which still left us with the washing machine. Its screws are so rusted that P was not able to disassemble it. I guess we need some kind of saw to hack it into smaller pieces, which sounds like fun if you ask me...

to-do for the weekend

The weekend is here again and I finally want to finish the vestibule. I started working on it in the spring of last year and it has been in this half finished state for way too long. Two weekends ago I already painted the interior side of the door white, it still had the primed finish that the door came with. My parents are coming for a visit in mid September and this gives me a push to finish up projects like this before they arrive. We have used upcoming visits from friends and family before as deadlines for getting projects done on previous occasions. Last year it was painting P's office so my sister and her boyfriends had a nice room to sleep in. 

Here is a list of things I want to accomplish this weekend:

- paint door frame around exterior door

- prep other door frame for painting (maybe paint as well)

- install new flooring in the vestibule

- call or email contractors for estimates how much having the old wood door stripped would cost

  us (I wanted to do it myself but do not feel like it right now)

What are your plans this weekend? Will it be all fun or a working weekend like mine? 

road trip

Yes, this is my last vacation related post at least for now. P and I both to love road trips and I frequently take pictures out of the car. This is what happens, there are reflections from the window shield and dashboards, wipers and rear view mirrors get in the way. On highways you mostly do not get to see that much besides cars and signs so I like driving down country roads...

 

 

 

 

These photo-realistic paintings by Linden Frederick remind me of road trips we have taken. See a selection of his work below. They look like someone could have stopped somewhere in small town America and taken a photo. The low light paintings seem eerily deserted yet make me wonder what happens in the buildings or around them. 

Are you fans of road trips too? What is your next destination?

All images by Linden Frederick

week twenty nine

Another week has passed so quickly. I guess times flies by when you are having fun. 

On Tuesday I had dinner at The Mercer Kitchen in Soho with a friend. Currently it is Restaurant Week here in New York and all participating restaurants offer 3 course prix fix lunch and/or dinner for either $24 (lunch) or $35 (dinner). It is a really good way to try out new places. On Wednesday we had the hottest day ever but it cooled down after a big thunderstorm hit, there was o much rain and hail that day. Unbelievable! Even from running two blocks to catch a subway I got soaking wet and it wasn't even raining that hard anymore. Last week we also discovered another waterfront bar with view of a marina. Oh and I had a shopping spree at Target, I haven't been to one in a while. Stopped there to kill some time and left the store with two pairs of pants (see one below) and a pair of shoes. Have you seen the collaboration between Marimekko and Converse? Love it but do I really need another pair of sneakers?

All my week was pretty eventful. How was yours?

and it was all yellow...

Today I have no vacation post for you but one or two more might be coming in the future.

Back in March I posted about knitted home accessories and that inspired my mom to start knitting pillow covers. First she knitted two pillow covers for my sister but used a different pattern and yarn. Because I like yellow she decided to make mine in that color. Apparently it wasn't that easy to find yarn in the bright color she had in mind. Love how they came out and the color is a nice contrast to our couch. And they are so soft too. Danke Mama!

So what nice things did your family, friends or even a stranger do for you? Or have you done anything nice for anybody lately? 

Have a great weekend everybody!

somewhere over the rainbow

Another post about red rocks and blue skies but this time I'll throw some water into the mix for good measure. On our second day in Page we took a boat tour on Lake Powell with Rainbow Bridge being our destination. It is in the middle of nowhere and you can only reach it by boat or if you like you can hike but that takes about 2 to 4 days depending on your speed.

The whole tour took about 5 hours and most of the time I braved the sun and the heat on the upper deck deck, most people spent the whole time below deck, where it was air conditioned and beverages were being served. I only went there to cool off once in a while because the scenery was just too spectacular to miss or just see it through a tinted window and off course I needed to take lots of photos to document our adventure. Once you hit the dock at Rainbow Bridge you just have to take a short walk (the website says 1.25 miles but it felt shorter than that) on a paved path to see the natural arch in all its beauty. Looking at the photos now it somewhat reminds me of half a McDonald's arch. Pop culture ruined me ;) But actually I can see why the Paiute and Navajo had called it rainbow turned to stone.

Being on the lake almost all day with temperatures above 100° F I was tempted to jump in more than once. But I find swimming in lakes scary. The fact is I do not like it when I can't see the ground below and this lake is very deep. What's also weird about swimming in lakes is that the water where your feet are is always a couple of degrees colder. It just creeps me out...What about you? Do you have weird fears like that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

week twenty eight

Hello week twenty nine, good bye week twenty eight!

The past week flew by as always. On Monday I wore my Marni for H&M silk pants, which I snatched up on Sale in their German online shop. They look a bit like pajama bottoms and are super comfortable, just like my jammies. I also found happiness on the street last week, I stepped inside the box and felt pretty happy all week. Coincidence? Another reason for being happy was my first Zara online order. I ordered the studded sandals below (also on Sale. Yay!), they are not the most comfortable (yet) but I love them already.

We started our weekend at Pier 13 and took a friend who was in town for a business trip with us. What better way to start your weekend with a cold beer and views of the Manhattan skyline? The rest of the weekend I spend working on small projects around the house. I finally painted the inside of our front door, weeded the front yard and did some more browsing through photos for the final vacation post. Hopefully I can keep up the pace and cross a couple of more small projects off my list this week...How was your week/weekend?

Have a great and productive new week!