New Project: Fix Couch

Now that we are pretty much thru the process of buying a house, I am working on new project. I hope this one is not as stressful.

We bought a couch a few years back. I really like this couch. It is the most comfortable couch I have ever owned (NOTE: all previous couches came from with the side of the road or Craigslist). Anyways, during our going away party there was an unfortunate incident where one corner of our couch was turned pink. It is really not that noticeable, but I know it is there.

When we bought the couch we added on an extended warranty. I know, I know, Consumer Reports took out a full page ad right before Christmas telling everyone NOT to buy an extended warranty. Silly us…even tough we bought the couch in 2004 and we had no idea of the future warning.

Well I am about to call it in. I am going to get my couch back to new or I am getting a new couch. Ian is not taking bets on this because he is “pretty sure I can do it.”

So here goes nothing. I will let you know how it goes!

(PS: Sarge LOVES the couch!)

Home Buying One-Oh-My-Goodness-5

Even though I am laid up with the crummy flu, today is a good day. Today our appraisal on the house came back and they said it was a couple thousand over what we are paying. For those of you just learning, like me, the amount they appraise has to be equal to or more than you are paying or the bank won’t give you the money buy the house.

Since the appraisal was good, the bank gave the green light. This was the last hurdle to getting the house! We become homeowners in 18 days. That’s just two days after our three year (official) anniversary.Also, today my friend Sam called and emailed.

Boy, if all it takes is for me to get the flu, and then everything else with the world goes right I may never get the flu shot again. Some how, my flu-induced-brain might be somewhat lacking logic. Let’s see how I am feeling in the morning.

Wink: The end of a fantastic birthday month!

The evening began with a beautiful dusk over the city.

For my birthday present from Ian he wanted to take me to Wink. One of the best restaurants in Austin. And Erica wanted to do the same for Micah. Since he is a February birthday also, we made it an event!

We got all dolled up and went over to Micah and Erica’s place to meet up with Ian and Paula too. The six of us had a few pre-dinner toasts (Micah still didn’t know where we were going.)

Then we headed over to Wink.

We arrived at Wink right at 8:30 for our reservation, but another group was taking their time (enjoying the 7 course tasting menu that I have been dreaming about all day). In fact they were enjoying it so much that they stayed an extra hour and a half. Which means that we were sitting outside at waiting. I have to say – anywhere else this would have totally pissed us off. But Wink did it right. With in fifteen minutes the manager was outside apologizing and explaining the si8tuateion, he then ordered us another bottle of champagne. (Note this would be glass 5 so far for the night – um, any one who knows me knows I was getting a little tipsy).

Then he came back out half hour later with some goat cheese and wild mushroom crostini. Thank goodness for bread! And half an hour later with another bottle of bubbly (6). When the other group left we were brought in and treated like royalty. First the menu was dedicated to Micah and me. And after a nanosecond of consideration we chose to also go for the seven course tasting menu.

I can’t even begin to describe the dishes. tuna tartar, pei mussels with tomatoes and Dijon, dayboat scallops with boars belly, foie gras with turnips, duck breast with mustard greens, hanger steak with alba mushrooms and balsamic syrup….and then an amazing palette cleansing cheese plate. And then, I am not joking, one of every dessert delivered on the house: chocolate cake, chocolate ginger soup, crème brulèe, lemon meringue, chèvre cheesecake, and cranberry-quince tart (my personal favorite). At 1 AM, as we rolled ourselves out to the patio to depart the manager met us out by the tables with another bottle of champagne. (In case you are keeping track, bottle 9 for the evening).

We drove home talking all the way about the service, the wonderful friends, and the wonderful end to the birthday month.

Thanks everyone, it was one I will surly remember for a long time!

Texas Twins: the big brother I never had

On Friday evening after another rousing about-to-be-new-homeowners-errands we hiked it out to Oak Hill to spend some quality time with Jax and French. (Here is Jax on the stage.)

We went to a great little pasta and pizza joint out by Lake Travis. (Picture from last May – it was too dark for lake pictures.)

The food was great, the waiter was superb, and the company was, as always, entertaining. After we got some wine in French we asked French why he thinks I could be his sister. See Jax’s post from two weeks ago.

He said that it is uncanny, we thing alike, we seem to be on the same wavelength, he said he even thinks we look alike (I am not so sure – you be the judge).
Here is a cute one of Jax and Ian (he says it's his best side).

Anyways, I have always wanted an older brother so now I have a Texas-Twin.

Blog Tag: 5 Things You May Not Know About Me

Last week when I was in New York, Jax tagged my blog. I wasn’t really in the blogger-state-of-mind at the time. I was more concerned with the pending snow storm and the fact that I was going to get a snow day in NY, and have to spend it in a little, crappy Upper West Side Hotel room.

Anyways, I read her post with the rules.

1. I blog a list of five things that you might not know about me.
2. Then, I tag (or identify by blog or email) five other bloggers to tell five things we don't know about them on their own blogs.
3. Then those five bloggers tag five other bloggers, and so on, and so on, and so on, just like that Fabergé Organics shampoo commercial. (really I don’t know what she is talking about here).

So here are my 5 things:

1. I was named after Morgan le Fay. My dad originally wanted to name me Mary. And in my family the first boy of the first boy is names John so my bother’s name is John Joshua. My mom refused to have kids names Mary and John (a little too religious for a not-so-religious woman). But, Mom did give in and have me baptized. So even though I haven’t been to church in an extremely long time I am Catholic and I was almost named after the virgin herself.
2. Many do know this, but not everyone. My goal in life is to be an elected public servant for the (great) state of Minnesota. I plan to run for Mayor and Governor in the next 15-20 years.
3. I hate recreational-educational reading. I read so much every day that is jam-packed with information. When I am home and reading for fun, I go out of my way to read trashy novels or “chick lit” as they call it. I love it. Ian has tried many times to give me good literature, classic reads and I just can’t bring myself to stay with it. Poor guy.
4. I think that Malibu’s Most Wanted is one of the greatest movies ever. Not the top by any means, I would never go that far, but I absolutely love this movie. It is hysterical, but it is full of bad jokes and pop culture. So Mom, don’t Netflix it.
5. And finally, I love “bad” music. I love post-1980 country music. I love John Denver, Neil Diamond, Kenny Loggins, James Taylor and Steve Goodman. I have seen STYX and REO Speedwagon on eight separate occasions. I seem to have gotten this from my parents – as my brother also has the same affliction. But, I love it. I turn it up as loud as possible and sing at the top of my lungs. So might argue that this is line up is not "bad," but I have been told on countless times by people I trust that it is amazing my iPod has not blown up due to the crap I put on it.
   

So there are my five. I am not going to do what Jax did and declare my five blogs that I am tagging. Instead I am going to “next blog” and tag the next five I come across.

And finally, here is the pic to make this a phlog: Morgan le Fay

Christmas in February: Grandpa's roses

This year I received a very very special Christmas present – an oil painting that my nana commissioned as a gift for my grandpa. He used to be an avid gardener and he won many prizes for his roses. After three different roses won the blue ribbon Nana had this painting done. My mom had it reframed and Too built a crate for it and shipped it down to me. It arrived today. And I love it. Can’t wait to get it up on the wall.
The roses in the picture are Peace, Helen Traubel, and the Detroiter (Note: the link goes to the Snowfire rose – I couldn’t find the Detroiter. The Snowfire is a cross breed of the Detroiter and Liberty Bell varieties.)

Philly: Reading Terminal Market

After New York I went down to Philly for the annual Winter Buyers Market of American Craft. If you want to see photos from the buyers market go to the Coyote Blog. Here are photos from the Reading Terminal Market across the street….if you have never been you must go!

This place maks a tourkey, chanberry, stuffing sandwich on wheat. It is just like the day after Thanksgiving!

How to find: Salon Evolve

Here is something interesting: the number one Google search term that people use to find my blog is “Salon Evolve” Gresham, OR. The thing is, that’s my brother and sister-in-law’s salon outside of Portland. Well, I told Josh and Michelle this and we decided that if you are looking for them, you should find information about them. Click on this to see a list of their services and to make an appointment call (503) 618-7280. The hours are Monday - Saturday 10AM - 9PM and Sunday 11AM - 6PM

I miss Amtrak

During my trip east I had to go from New York to Philly. $49 bucks and an hour and a half later I was there. No traffic, no horns, no carsickness…just hop on the train and head to the City of Brotherly Love.

Hard to take a good photo at 80MPH…

The Big (frozen) Apple

Sorry about the hiatus. Just got back from a week on the East Coast. First up to New York for work. Got to visit with some of my very favorite people in the whole wind world.

It snowed and the office closed, but I still had to work from my hotel room all day – which was a bummer. Here are some shots of the city:

Coyote Blog: No Knead Bread Knews

Reading this post from the Coyote Blog: No Knead Bread Knews got me thinking. What's the recipe they are talking about? I looked it up and it is a Mark Bittman recipe. I love this guy. He is famous for his "How to Cook Everything" books.

I plan to give it a go over the weekend.

Tax season sucks

Today I filed my taxes. Even though I have never had to pay taxes, I have always gotten a refund; I still hate the process with a passion.

Here are a few reasons why:

• I have now been on hold for 25 minutes because the dolts double charged me
• I filled out their form at the end and told them how much I hate them and then it asked me to put in my phone number so they could follow up with more questions (and being a good consumer I was happy to oblige) but there was nowhere to put in my number and the stupid screen kept giving me an error telling me to fill in my number. Talk about dumb.

And, before you say, I should be happy, I am getting money back from them – I want to point out it is not them, it is the government. And I would be happy with the government about the refund had they not made the tax filing process so unbelievably complex that I had to pay some intermediary $40-bucks to help me thru it. Which by the way is why I am still on the hold trying to get my money back (since they double charged me).

Seriously – how do they sleep at night putting smiling people on their website as happy customers?

Take it or leave it: Morgan's 2008 prediction (ok fine, wish)

Ok, I have said it before and I’ll now say it publicly for the entire world to ridicule me post-November 4, 2008 I am rootin’ for a Edwards-Obama ticket (and win). I know all the juice is behind Hillary. I know that everyone is talking Clinton-Obama ticket. But, coming from a girl who has read every Buying of the President and watched every presidential election coverage since she was born – I’m not feeling it.

So here it is – I am putting in my two cents (for real that’s all my opinion on this is worth – you want hard hitting analysis find someone else).

Now, let’s put in this caveat – it is still 21 months until the election. A LOT can happen in 21 months to all the candidates.

In fact, take a look, these are the crazies that think they can win. Please note: they wouldn’t run if they had no hope – they leave that to third party candidates. On the subject of third parties: I am all for them, but I would like to see them (a) get a higher percentage of the vote and (b) woo some votes away from the Republicans for once (Hey Pat Robertson, why don’t you take ’08 for a spin – that’ll learn them).

Dems Actually in the race:

• Senator Joe Biden of Delaware
• Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
• Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina
• Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska
• Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
• Senator Barack Obama of Illinois
• Former Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa

Dems who have formed exploratory committees:

• Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York
• Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico

Dems who have expressed serious interest:

• Retired General Wesley Clark of Arkansas
• Reverend Al Sharpton of New York

Rightys Actually in the race:

• Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas
• John H. Cox of Illinois
• Representative Duncan Hunter of California
• Michael Charles Smith of Oregon

Rightys who have formed exploratory committees:

• Former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia
• Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York
• Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
• Senator John McCain of Arizona
• Representative Ron Paul of Texas
• Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts
• Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado
• Former Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin

Rightys who have expressed serious interest:

• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia
• Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
• Radio talk show host Michael Savage of California

Now, the rule goes that more former-governors than former-senators have been elected. That’s true: There have been 15 former-senators and 17 former governors. So really it is too close to tell if that really makes a difference. One thing I know, Senators spend a lot of time voting for bills with tons of pork in them that the opponents can later use against them. And Governors have veto power. So, in my opinion there is a bit of leverage there.

And finally, since this is a phlog here is the picture to make this a real post. This is from when my Grandma J came from Illinois to stay with me in DC two years ago. It was a blast. We visited with some locals while she was there.

PS: The other guy is Senator Dick Durbin from IL and the reason for all the green is that it was St. Patrick’s Day and there are a few Irish in the photo.

Home Buying One-Oh-My-Goodness-F*&% (4)

Sorry about the lag time since my last post. After the birthday party (and a lot of champagne) I had to be up and out of the house at 6AM to head to the airport – where I flew (my least favorite thing to do) on my actually b-day (my favorite day of the year – yes I am a little princess). I got to DC and had the change to see my favorite 4 month old Annie! Then headed in to a work dinner (another *fun* thing to do on your birthday).

Got back yesterday, post an unexpected extra night in Washington (but I got to spend it with Annie) after some sort of plane problem that I promptly blocked from my memory.

Got back to Austin and went immediately to work yesterday where I proceeded to make it thru 8 hours of tasks in my zombie-like state.

This morning, after a bit of sleeping in, Ian and I experienced our first home inspection (it took four hours!). Yup. Some time in the last three CRAZY weeks we bid on one home, it fell thru, we went and saw a few others and returned to one that we saw the first day we went out looking a month ago. Hello whirlwind! So here is the skinny:

We bid, they countered, we bid, they excepted. We are currently in what’s known as the “option period” where we have the house inspected by as many experts as possible (today we had three, Monday there is another, and Wednesday there is one more). Then we go back in and renegotiate and come up with the final-final deal. We all sign about 500 pieces of paper; give the bank all the money and take ownership mid-March.

Here is the house:

Here is where it is in Austin:

(click on the map to see the details and my notes)

This is a crazy, wonderful, hectic, stressful, fascinating experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Ok H.A. this one’s for you and Brian!

Thank you both for this awesome gift, it brought joy to all of us!

Sorry it took me so long to put this up, but Sarge doesn’t have thumbs so it takes him a while to do such a big puzzle!

Happy Birthday to me!

Oh boy, 27 is going to be a blast!

This is how a future governor parties!

Amy, Jax and I went to Carnaval Brasileiro 2007 last night. Everything I own is covered in glitter.

Amy whatch ya gonna do?

Sorry about the delequency of posting the last few days. My best friend Amy is in town. We are having a blast. Here's one from the vault....