Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!! Isn't this dress beautiful? I seriously have no idea how this woman does it!

Happy 30th Birthday! Off to Miami

How many times can I say how amazing my husband is and how lucky I am that I have him in my life? Not enough, EVER! He planned a whole trip as a surprise for my 30th birthday, this past Saturday. I knew there was a trip but I didn't know where to. We both definitely needed a break from our regular lives. The house work and the regular stuff just needed to be left behind for a few days. My parents were amazing to come down on the 11th and help us with a lot of housework. As you may have seen in the pictures we are cruising right along for our move in date. My father continued to work on the house when we were on our trip, and the result is a beautiful hardwood floor.


Well back to the trip, Friday morning we left for our 6am flight and that's when I found out we were going to MIAMI! There were a few little hints here and there that I thought Miami was one of the top possibilities. Oscar kept joking we were going to St. Louis. I have nothing against St. Louis, but it's not really where I wanted to escape to. We had such a great time just relaxing and doing whatever we wanted. We slept in EVERY morning until 9am at least! I mean seriously do you know the last time I slept in? We did lots of stuff and ate lots of food. We visited Oscar's Aunt and Uncle and his Great Aunt, we went to Calle Ocho and drank lots of cortaditos (Oscar is now re-addicted to coffee), we walked South Beach, we snorkled on our drive to Key West, and canoed among the mangroves, we cuddled on the beach at night, rented bikes to see Key West, ate at the Taste of Key West, and just enjoyed being Jenn and Oscar. Just when you think you know someone pretty perfectly he does one thing that surprises you. For instance, I KNOW Oscar is not a person who enjoys the public spectacle restaurants can make of someones birthday. So I was pretty sure I dodged the bullet on having a group of waiters come and sing the loudest Happy Birthday...NOPE! We enjoyed a yummy cuban meal at Versailles on Calle Ocho, we ordered dessert and then it happened. Five waiters and waitresses came over singing Happy Birthday Panchita to me! Now I'm sure you can all imagine what shade of red I became. But it was really sweet and totally unexpected.


The girls were well taken care of by Nahnah and Pahpah though I'm pretty sure Nahnah and Pahpah are going to retreat the Upstate NY and sleep for several days straight. Both girls took this trip a little badly. As soon as Nahnah and Pahpah arrived Luli just wasn't herself, acting really snotty and mean. I really couldn't believe her behavior and it apparently continued for 1-2 days while we were gone. Fiona on the other hand is our "feeler" and apparently she did a lot of crying and cuddling the last 2 days of the trip. The girls definitely tried to push Nahnah and Pahpah to see what they could get away with and I think getting away with things lasted a short period. They are amazing little ladies but they can be difficult if they want to be.


Now that we are home I'm really enjoying being with my girls. Luli ran in our room at 6am and showered us with hugs and kisses and then cuddled and laid with us until Fiona ran in at 7am and showered us with more hugs and kisses and we all cuddled. Today we took a trip to the library for new books and have enjoyed reading and playing together. They've been in good spirits. I think once the house is finished and we move the transition time will be over and they'll settle down. It's a lot going on for them right now and they are trying to process it all.

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!
Isn't this tank beautiful! Fingers crossed I get picked!

The arch is in!

Check out the pics from today! The arch is in and we had a great surprise with the wood panelling today. Dad found there is sheetrock under it, so down it went!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! We've had a lovely morning, taking it easy and enjoying a little bit of laziness before we get back to the house work. The girls woke up very excited for their egg hunt and their baskets. The Easter Bunny wrote a letter and it actually was listened to! In their baskets they received matching gymnastics outfits (as you can see here).





In house news, my parents arrived yesterday after our trip to the circus (more to come on that). We took them over to the house, gave them the tour and got them to work! Dad and Oscar removed the wall from the kitchen to the library, and it looks amazing! I really can't believe how much it changes the whole house. The wall came down pretty easily. We we're very lucky the tile floor continued under the wall and hadn't been damaged when they closed in the room. They closed in the room in order to rent out the room with the fireplace. The guys got the opening back to the original wall and will be installing the arch in the coming days, along with a new hardwood floor in the library.


I put primer coat number 2 on the girls bedroom, so the sewing room and girls' room are ready for our color choices! Today I'll be finishing the sanding in the master bedroom and priming that room. Hopefully we'll be getting some of our colors in tomorrow! Check out the album of the House Work, I added new pics this morning. Enjoy!

Things I've learned while renovating...

* The "wonderbar" IS a wonder!
* DIF spray on gel wallpaper remover is horrible.
* DIF concentrate with water is awesome (and WAY less expensive)
* Apparently insane amounts of hair can be caught under wallpaper while applying (I have had to wash away a lot of the person's hair who put it up, and yes this grosses me out)
* A radio makes a difference
* Food fixes bad moods

Fixin up the house...

We started our home repairs early Saturday morning and have been at it ever since. Saturday and Sunday we were there all day and got quite a lot accomplished.

On Monday and today I was there from morning till about nap time. Oscar came Monday for lunchtime with a new ladder and removed the molding in the stairwell. Today Oscar worked at the house during the morning while a plumber came to check our leak, which mysteriously stopped leaking...hmmm. We've gotten all of the molding out of the top floor, all of the wallpaper border removed from the house, spackled and sanded the walls in the bedrooms, cleaned the walls in two of the bedrooms, cut the carpet away from the baseboard molding so we can paint it properly before new carpet arrives, sanded and primed some really bad spots on the wall and begun some of the spackling in the hallway and stairs.

The girls have been pretty good during the whole process. I have threatened several times call a sitter and bring them home. They get a bit whiny here and there but for the most part are playing in their makeshift playroom and doing well. They are eager to help but at this point there isn't much they can help with. They really want to paint, so hopefully we'll start that this weekend. We have a great picnic table on the deck that we've been able to eat at for the most part, but when it's rained or been to cold we have a picnic on our blanket in the kitchen.

An album is to the left and it will be updated regularly with new pictures of our progress. Next week should really see some great improvements. My parents are coming down and I'll wait until we have the pictures to show you what happens! It's gonna be great!