who knew...

that our house would become soul train?

above all there was dancing...

good friends, good food

yummy mushroom lasagna

some of us were sleepy...

we did leave the house, really

Saturday night, before the city became too crazy, we headed out for dinner and drinks.

the calm before the storm

We prepare for the festivities...

Starting with some cheese and crackers...
We were lucky enough to have friends join us from DC (Mike, Kristin, Isabelle) and Florida (Jen, Ola) and uptown (Jackie, Ben, Julie).

who are all those people?

NYE was tons of fun...we drank, ate and danced like crazy. More pictures to come but here's a taste...

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.