the hairy baby

Photos by Jennifer Berges

who is that?

Thom's mom (thank you) loaned us some pics of Thom from his childhood. This one was actually taken by his sister, Amy.

While he may not have outgrown many of his habits he does look awfully different. Don't you think? More to come in the future as we have them really scanned in... (and you thought I was cute?)

jasper barrels down the stairs

ready to paaarty (with apple)?

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of experiencing our pathetic DJ skills - we have been trooping the one set of ipod speakers from floor to floor.

In preparation for this weekend's festivities we got the new Apple Hi-Fi (sounds insane) and Thom loves his new ipod video (which he promises never, ever to lose). This way we'll have some method of playing music on every floor of the house.

In case any one is interested - Justin Timberlake will be performing live this Sunday in our house (ok, well it will sound like it anyhow).

Ola is already here. Jen's arriving tommorrow and many more to come... Oooh I finally have a forum for exposing the tawdry pictures I will take. Perhaps now everyone will be on their best behavior...

jasper's new friend

Jasper loves his new pink octopus that Jake and Finn got him for Christmas.

this is what happens when i work from home

stuffed mushrooms!

summer rolls in winter

I've been itching to try this for ages. After several failed attempts, Tammy finally helped me find the right rice paper for summer rolls. We picked up some vegetarian shrimp and I practiced my rolling skills. Not too shabby for my first attempt.

Tammy would be so proud.

Plus they looked so yummy on one of my new Thomas Paul plates that Thom got me.

winter? not here

This past weekend we headed into Chinatown for a veggie dim sum dinner (and to snag some veggie duck at the grocery store). After dinner it was so nice and warm we walked back home over the Brooklyn Bridge. Thom's made the trip over the Bridge on several occassions but it was my first. I thought it would be pretty much the same as trekking the Manhattan Bridge (thank you, blackout) but it was breathtaking. We made a stop in Dumbo for a warm drink and then back on the train to go home.

I wouldn't live anywhere else...

stuffed silly

Olivia & Joseph in PJs
Thom and the new pup fight over an Xmas toy.
Jake lost in thought
We all had a great time in Jersey this weekend...eating, eating and eating (can't get enough of the veggie duck!).

sins against the house

To clarify the below post - we didn't paint over natural wood. The built in was missing its shelves entirely. What you see below is just plywood painted white.

Before moving into this house I never understood why anyone would paint wood at all. However, living surrounded by dark, dark wood I can understand the desire to have everything clean and white. But don't worry - I won't give in to temptation.

and some new lights to cook by

When we moved into the house we marvelled over the amount of grease caked onto the kitchen lighting. It was revolting - especially considering the lights were clearly not more than 15 years old.

Thom's replaced the lights in the kitchen which spiffs up the room a bit. It's still a temporary solution considering there are 4 light fixtures in the kitchen and this should be consolidated with a fixture that can provide enough lighting for the room.

He also painted some of the shelves in the built ins. Next we just need to get some glass for the doors...

preparations for new years eve begin

light to eat by

While I've been hacking and sniffling thanks to a nasty cold Thom's been busy around the house...

He replaced the most disgusting fan in the dining room with this light that Helen gave us. Fits the room much better.

butterflies in the dead of winter

Adding a little outside to our inside - our felt butterfly light in the entranceway (there's a reflection from the front door in the photo). Thom installed this too :)

Lilibbie playing dreidel

Hanukkah at the Levin's

We had a great time at Ben & Julie's tonight - with homemade apple sauce, latkes, biscotti...

heating up the night

Last night (Saturday) after a yummy dinner at V&T's we headed home to warm up with a nice fire in the backyard. Loving the chimenea (from Lowes).

It was pretty warm this weekend. I wonder how warm it'll really make things when it's truly freezing outside...

who's cuter than me?

the neighbors get in the holiday mood too

I've been biding my time - trying to get a good shot of the neighbors' yards with their holiday style blazing. Oddly, thought they've taken the time to set up all this fun they've only turned the lights on once. Once! Energy-conscious, you think?

Not sure if you can tell from the picture but there are quite a few different themes present - nativity, candy canes, African-American (or perhaps Caribbean, in this case) Santa...

the holidays hit the thomoli household

We've put all the presents under our pathetic little silver tree. And Val & Tony gave us the most perfect stockings (with our names embroidered!) so we took a trip to Target today to find some stuffer presents for each other. It was so bizarre to be running around Target trying to make sure the other person didn't see the silly things we had put in our carts. Naturally, Jasper even got some booty.

it's important to be regulated

I think we were both pretty nervous about how we would regulate the temperature in the house. Especially coming from the fancy newness of the previous dwelling. We were there for a few days in the heat of the summer (with no AC) and made it through, albeit a little sweaty. And now it's winter (although mild so far) and the heat is definitely working.

But our thermostat has not. It said 63 degrees - but was really 71. Now we have a fancy new thermostat (which Thom installed) and we'll actually know the real temperature. Imagine that.

I know, I know - we're fancy people.

my favorite person on earth...

thom got us a chimenea today! And it's pretty! And it's going to be the perfect 60 degree December weekend to use it!

(action shots to come)

I knew it!!!!

All the best ones are veggies.

say hello to alternate juror #3

I'll be temporarily separated from my computer (sob) for a few days while I serve on a jury in the great Kings County.

scarred for life

We're planning on getting a chimenea (pictured above in case you were curious) for the backyard soon and I was thinking of purchasing some of my favorite vegan marshmallows to prepare.
When I couldn't find them at my favorite vegan store ( Vegan Essentials ) I did a quick search. Apparently, they were shut down when it was discovered they were using an ingredient that wasn't even vegetarian.

Revolting.

i'll give up my secret...

I've purchased prints from a bunch of places lately for very, very cheap. And I should note that these pictures aren't really all of them...I'm addicted.

Here's a few of the places feeding my addiction.

Etsy (You can even look my profile up here and see all the favorite sellers I've marked...)

Thumbtack Press

Tiny Showcase (This one donates to charity)

Camilla Engman (Perhaps my favorite)

thanks for the suggestion, Emily - good idea.

target - the best place on earth

We stopped by Target on Sunday to pick up some frames for prints I had ordered online. Although the house is a mess and we're not hanging anything at the moment, they still dress up the mantles nicely.

saturday brunch

Helen brought us some beautiful flowers when she stopped by for brunch on Saturday. Since we were off to NJ for the day (for Thom's parents 60th birthday party) Helen took Jasper home to hang out with her until Sunday.

out on the town

Friday night we had a great time hopping around Soho and the Village with Ms. Aubree. We even stopped at a sake bar with its very own french bulldog.

it's friday afternoon!

and instead of doing work I would recommend a few of my favorite things:

My favorite Mormon

Her favorite rocker

Thom's aspiration

A shot of Grand Army Plaza all lit up.
(photo by urbanshoregirl )

In case it wasn't ridiculously obvious, I just looked up how to include hyperlinks in the html. I'm very proud.

jasper will never go hungry again

Thom also stocked up on Jasper's food. Now if we're snowed in - we may go hungry - but Jasper will have enought to eat for a year.

our own little parisian cafe

Thom's also installed an outdoor light. You can't tell due to my crappy picture (I must have been still sleeping this morning when I took it) but it's pretty cute. Light to grill by!