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!

while the cat's away...

One of the major benefits of Thom's job is having down time between projects. And I know you're all dying to know what he does all day while I'm slaving away at work.

This week he removed all the linoleum from the hallway between the kitchen and dining room and the pantry (or what will someday be the pantry). Sorry no before shots this time but trust me it was ugly. And, though I was thankfully not present, it definitely wasn't easy. There's still some yucky glue on the wood and the wood likely will eventually need to be replaced.

the many joys of home ownership

As instructed by the previous owners, I gave the kitchen counters a rubdown this week with mineral oil. Please note the before and after shots. Not too shabby!

we get into the festive spirit

I'm not even going to expose you to the decorations our neighbors have put up (maybe next week) since I haven't been able to successfully sneak a picture. But we've put up our tree and some lights on the downstairs windows. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but unfortunately our tree looks pathetic and tiny on the parlor level since it's a big open space with high ceilings. We may have to rethink this for next year.

Our door could also use some sprucing up - perhaps a wreath?

sunbathing

enjoying the last few rays

We got lucky and had some beautiful weather this weekend. This morning we took advantage of it and relaxed in our backyard. We still have a few finishing touches and some planting to do but it's still a nice place to be.

happy valentine's day to me

I was promised a grille last V-day and now, almost a year later, we have one in our backyard. We picked it up in New Jersey yesterday and had to unpack the entire box to get it to fit in the car. Thom put it together last night and now it's settling in to its new surroundings.

It'll be perfect to cook all the recent Fairway purchases.

on our way...

These are a few snapshots of our journey - the Brooklyn Museum and the new Richard Meier building.

the greatest place on earth

Our bi-monthly trip to Fairway - the land of yummy food! After suffering through a week of an empty fridge (after returning from Thanksgiving) we were ready for some fresh produce.