tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352015689317120372024-03-19T03:53:42.936-05:00grace's birdcagealissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.comBlogger1644125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-1213064911452153282012-08-20T22:49:00.000-05:002012-08-20T22:59:07.358-05:00a goodbyeOver the last year my posts on Grace's Birdcage have become few and far between. In June I accidentally (or was it?) let my domain expire. Instead of renewing it, I decided it was time to end this chapter (what I didn't realize was that the domain host would immediately sell the domain as an advertisement for special men's medication.... my apologies if you happened upon it).<br />
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End this chapter. Tonight I had a great happy hour with <a href="http://becauseitsawesome.blogspot.com/">Tobe</a> and realized it felt good to verbalize <em>why</em> it's the end and that it's time to say goodbye. Which is dramatic. It's a silly blog in a world of 3459080987634 websites in a very clustered, chaotic world with infinitely more important things going on and who really cares. Honestly.<br />
But I started this blog five years ago and it has been so many things to me. So it is dramatic. But it feels good.<br />
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Blogs are a funny thing. My favorite are the most personal, where someone is really telling their own story and it's content is unique in a sea of samesies. The struggle I have is that to share something personal means putting it out there. For everyone. And sometimes that weirds me out, especially with people I know 'in real life' (if that makes sense). When people read this content you provide, day after day, they think they know you. They know what you've allowed them to see, which in all reality is a very, very narrow window in. At some point you begin to write content with those people in mind, editing and adding for someone else. The balance between a site of pretty pictures that looks like every other site of pretty pictures and my own authentic story is hard to find.<br />
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I look back on the ridiculous amount of time I spent here. It's easy to get lost. To post about projects - and never do them. Post about recipes - and never make them. Post about friends - and sit on the internet instead of picking up the phone to call them. That's not to say I regret the time I got lost. The blogging community let me discover an indescribable amount. Fashion became accessible, understandable through <a href="http://whatiwore.tumblr.com/">What I Wore</a> and <a href="http://www.kendieveryday.com/">Kendi Everyday</a>. I watched the hilarious experience of becoming a mother at <a href="http://www.modgblog.com/">MODG</a>. I was (and am) completely inspired by Myra at <a href="http://twigsandhoney.blogspot.com/">Twigs & Honey</a> and can still be cheered by cat photos at <a href="http://kittystampede.blogspot.com/">Kitty Stampede</a>. I was consistently, happily overwhelmed by the spaces on <a href="http://www.desiretoinspire.net/">Desire to Inspire</a> and the projects of <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/">Young House Love</a>. Don't get me wrong - I still check in with all of these and they are some of my favorite corners of the internet. I just keep it in check.<br />
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I named this blog after my oh-so-chubby and sweet cat, <a href="http://www.gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2011/11/grace.html">Grace</a>. It has been an empty book to fill with inspiration images (quickly replaced by <a href="http://pinterest.com/alissa_may/">pinterest</a>). It was a creative outlet during a time in my life that I really needed it. It was a bridge to meet people that I otherwise never would have - <a href="http://www.styleandpepperblog.com/">Jessie</a>, <a href="http://handmakerofthings.typepad.com/">Emily</a>, <a href="http://theperfectcompilationtape.blogspot.com/">Meghan</a> among so many others. More than anything it has been a daily journal, something I'm grateful that I'll have to look back on. Like <a href="http://www.gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2011/11/and-there-they-sit.html">this</a> and <a href="http://gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2009/04/dear-friend.html">this</a>, <a href="http://gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-know-that-we-are-young.html">this</a> and <a href="http://gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2009/04/you-spoke.html">this</a> and <a href="http://gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2009/04/dreams.html">this</a> and basically everything <a href="http://gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20poems">here</a>. I dont' remember writing most of these but I am immediately transported back to those moments. <br />
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There is a lot I have missed about blogging in the last year, the daily journal more than anything. Which is why I don't think I'm done. I just think <em>this</em> is done. I need to find that balance, determine what I want the next chapter to be, and then start. When (and if) I do, I'll let you know. <br />
Maybe.<br />
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Thanks for humoring my rambling goodbye and for reading over the last five years. <br />
I'm grateful for every day. <br />
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<br />alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-54547031026856175462012-03-18T22:10:00.002-05:002012-03-19T14:43:41.487-05:00weekend<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Random shots from the (incredibly warm) weekend...</span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTt2QWqZ0n6B9ZFpRmd02RK5QGbudsbq58RAnBkkSQJYymEUhp6D0c7PbtlwnIwV60wK2LnYX923gdIN6gCcNiLuVmQ8R0R0ySJ8VUW-Jwf1iCBeu-TgK7wgB0hyphenhyphenjdFudCHODWXfie7E/s640/marchweekend1.jpg" width="640" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This light is in our entry. I've never loved it - always just a little dingy and Victorian-in-a-frilly-way to me. Alas, I went to change a few of the bulbs and realized that of the 12 bulbs (12!) there were all different colors, wattages and types. There was also an <em>incredible</em> layer of grime covering all of the glass petals. This wasn't dust. This was so. much. bleh. I took the entire thing apart and cleaned every part and piece, replaced all of the bulbs with matching wattages, colors etc... And voila, a light that while still is a little frilly, looks pretty damn snazzy. Poor thing just needed a little TLC.</span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ms5UNfLFOxvsx64t6V1Lbw-VzVchJuRMPi2_NsD7A5mlwTrLrWHYvqhCS2q6lln-hhEGT8Iyp7ukGPwYDfadMLLJqb2BHtMNzKduCkvLOBgo5F7SB5kW4S9i66_hj4uCw9_H1tSXtBM/s640/marchweekend2.jpg" width="640" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After successfully keeping five (five!) succulents alive for almost a year, I decided it was time to expand the garden to our kitchen and potted these three pretty ladies. Cross your fingers, kids. </span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZrIdl21E2OZG-aV-LpwW09VKr8Sc_TFyB-plYFIzZPRCbscnskEgSirkYtp2uwy70gVLZDvv6uZ71j6qyRQe2PUWKZYmNlH1FlBZYSBh7U5EuK_04fXOtt_pmoHV_sMau64R4dVEnY8/s640/marchweekend3.jpg" width="640" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mmm artichoke. </span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8bNNv74YsxDmPjuWVSdv_9nnMt54K29zljQdp54_QCUwiaaBqFHjDSZWW3cEKVEovH97rMk4n2W_AkNTvjLuqb4mIZzlxiw9QWS6jDYMilIJ5spKHJAc-9DNWq9OP4EvTwFImDyBQNw/s640/marchweekend4.jpg" width="640" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Got a little 'when in Rome' on Saturday and grabbed a Guinness. I'll stick to the Boulevard Wheat or cider in the future. Don't mess with perfection.</span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkzON4sUmQil2EsgY9jRLBU6ghNV9dUck0vWU1R-MTaiY2-b19wquUPosXDpxXRhclra0lk-_CUKcbJZm01NZ2g03GqCRFRIl4HuP5XdczS2Zthre7PFzbqsUboopDmyB-pmYaSiDnkk/s640/marchweekend5.jpg" width="640" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to the Kansas City St.Pats parade and happened to notice a new Japanese restaurant in Westport - <a href="http://samakc.com/">Sama Zama</a>. After our trip last fall we have been craving some of our Japanese favorites and were pretty excited to see some of those items on the menu! So excited that we ditched our Irish spirit for an hour and popped in for an amazing lunch. They had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki">okonomiyaki</a> (before and after shots above.) It was fabulous. .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">How was your weekend?</span></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-49120859081110251172012-02-18T08:00:00.000-06:002012-02-18T08:00:05.190-06:00visiting japan : packing<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan.html">Intro about our visit to Japan</a></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We traveled to Japan in the middle of November and the majority of research said it'd be in the 50's for most of the trip - which was exactly right. We lucked out and only had one rainy day the whole time! The first few days were definitely cooler - I was glad I had brought a hat and mittens. We also had a few days that were gorgeous and sunny where we didn't even bring a coat.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">We were newbies to backpacking but knew we didn't want to haul suitcases around. I borrowed a backpack similar to <a href="http://deuteroutdoor.com/proddetail.asp?prod=ZM27536A">this</a> from a friend, it was about a 40 in terms of backpack sizes. It was definitely a small bag but I was able to pack lightly and we made sure to stay somewhere with access to laundry halfway through our trip (couldn't have done it without that!)</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Before we left I tried all over the place to find actual packing lists for what to bring. I found the phrase 'just bring lots of layers' about 164567 times. I'm a girl. I want specifics. So I present to you, my packing list:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVN1c2T7K5igLMYSe3ywz2B_uewzDYflxAH19tD3B4Q4mnvSVK7TWNAuHSo40PPCKxAAy6s3kIFiII8lQXaJgDu4Ck89U11h_ky5VQd5xwDcl4fBznMW3khGLbHEflcgmbyLrWgxYryW8/s1600/packinglist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVN1c2T7K5igLMYSe3ywz2B_uewzDYflxAH19tD3B4Q4mnvSVK7TWNAuHSo40PPCKxAAy6s3kIFiII8lQXaJgDu4Ck89U11h_ky5VQd5xwDcl4fBznMW3khGLbHEflcgmbyLrWgxYryW8/s640/packinglist.jpg" width="398" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">First, I know. My illustration skills are astounding. It's remarkable how life-like these garments appear. You probably didn't even realize they were illustrations - but no! that's not a photo! unreal.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Bottoms</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">skinny black pants. Jeans are bulky, take a long time to dry (wasn't sure of the dryer status in these laundry places) and aren't necessarily comfortable for travel. I brought the <a href="http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46800&vid=2&pid=861885">Globetrotters</a> from Athleta. They were heavenly for the 15 hour flight without looking stretched out and/or wrinkly at the end. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">boot cut black pants. I brought the low rise <a href="http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46800&vid=1&pid=773875">Dipper Pant</a> from Athleta. I hate the photo on their website - they look very wide leg or something but they are definitely more of a fitted bootcut pant. They were perfect for our one rainy day because they dry so quickly and I loved how I could squish them into my backpack and they never looked wrinkled. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">basic black cotton skirt and tights.(skirt was from H&M a few years ago) These were not a necessity. But in general I had packed for walking-all-day-comfort and wanted to be able to put on something a little nicer at night for dinner. I think I also wore the skirt one day for sightseeing when I was pants-out. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Tops</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">long sleeved tshirts. I probably didnt need to bring four. Excessive and could have saved a little room in the bag. Mine are all the basic tall t's from the Gap (<a href="http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=17159&vid=2&pid=719978">like this</a>). </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">henleys. Again, two was more than I needed when I already had four long sleeved ts. Mine were from the Gap (I swear this post wasn't sponsored). I bought them specifically for the trip and it turns out they stretch out like crrrrazy and ended up being terrible for travel (they aren't available anymore on the website, probably because they suck).</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">random vintage button down. This is one of my favorite shirts, similar to the skirt it was probably not a necessity - but was fun to throw in the mix every few days to change things up. My only mistake was that this vintage shirt has shoulder pads which do not travel well smooshed in a backpack. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>For warmth</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">sweater. This is a really basic cotton sweater I got from Target a while ago. It's a little too big which is nice for layering on top of other shirts. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">jacket. Mine is a mid-weight North Face jacket (<a href="http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/womens-jackets-vests/women-39-s-vicente-jacket.html?from=subCat&variationId=SR9">similar</a>) a little waterproof is a good thing. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Shoes</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">You might have read in the Harajuku post, but I brought two pairs of shoes - first a tall pair of boots (<a href="http://www.endless.com/Womens-Shoes-Boots/s/ref=topnav_sd_womensboot_gw?ie=UTF8&node=242261011&pf_rd_r=1MT885NANA7GDDXWB58G&pf_rd_m=AF16NM0QF9TKW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=homepage&pf_rd_p=1344840282&pf_rd_s=headernav2#__ie%3DUTF8%26cAsin%3DB00525XHPS%26fromPage%3Dsearch%26sr%3D1-14%26qid%3D1328486591333%26asinTitle%3DMadden~~20Girl~~20Zandora~~20Boot%26contextTitle%3Dsearch~~20results%26clientPageSize%3D100%26node%3D242261011%26bootcircumference%3D2308877011%26sort%3Drelevance-fs-browse-rank%26nodes%3D242263011%26bootheight%3D2290212011%26rnid%3D2290210011%26asin%3DB00525X2GC%26ref%3Dsr_1_14%26pageCode%3Dd">similar</a>) that I love love. Second, a pair of mary-jane like shoes (<a href="http://www.zappos.com/keen-golden-mj-black">similar</a>) that I bought a few years ago for another walking-heavy vacation. They're not attractive but they're comfortable for looong days walking on concrete.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Accessories</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I brought a knitted hat, a cirlce scarf (I can't believe you couldn't tell what that was in the illustration!) and a pair of mittens. I brought one purse that I used 24/7 - a favorite cross body bag big enough to fit my camera.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3lk6g4an4he5j6yDinpWNCoLTtQvI-CMo0BP28vA40mfm2jLlNaGDiF1UnxvmoxGAxhjhScAjFrJNX3pS8_ZflHeCAXVv5yOFEol8NOE_5CaMD95XSt0EawKSB39jPJcj7kFoeODZS8/s1600/DSC_0695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3lk6g4an4he5j6yDinpWNCoLTtQvI-CMo0BP28vA40mfm2jLlNaGDiF1UnxvmoxGAxhjhScAjFrJNX3pS8_ZflHeCAXVv5yOFEol8NOE_5CaMD95XSt0EawKSB39jPJcj7kFoeODZS8/s640/DSC_0695.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">And that friends, is my rambling packing list. </span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-57697243255355226292012-02-14T20:11:00.000-06:002012-02-14T20:11:00.583-06:00visiting japan : kyoto 1<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan.html">Intro about our trip to Japan</a></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFl1wYBaN9WMsqy-xHzArnCunjeq1bR110C11RybC9C1KNUDP7r5aT1Xw1jTZ7a4e83o2aaEnGijKwKJPkXtDeurLYaMxw5t8jApQXcHYPV-2qma-TEdHpnhpQPcBL6ESWEk0vrXPx7rU/s1600/DSC_0423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFl1wYBaN9WMsqy-xHzArnCunjeq1bR110C11RybC9C1KNUDP7r5aT1Xw1jTZ7a4e83o2aaEnGijKwKJPkXtDeurLYaMxw5t8jApQXcHYPV-2qma-TEdHpnhpQPcBL6ESWEk0vrXPx7rU/s640/DSC_0423.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Tokyo we took the Shinkansen train to Kyoto. On the way we passed Mt. Fuji and I managed to snap a quick photo out one of the train windows. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We decided to stay in a hostel while in Kyoto to save some pennies - we stayed at the <a href="http://kshouse.jp/kyoto-e/">Backpackers Hostel K's House</a> and had a good experience. Rooms were clean and it was in a pretty central locations. I think if we went back we'd stay somewhere else to change it up - but we had a fine experience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyway, dropped our bags at the hostel and hopped on a bus to our first destination, one of the most iconic Japanese places to visit, Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion). We could not have picked a better time in fall (mid/late November) to visit as the trees around Kyoto were <em>amazing</em> shades of red and orange. If you visit Kyoto you can't miss the Golden Pavilion, the grounds around it are amazingly beautiful and while it was crowded with tourists (the fall leaves bring some of the highest crowds after the cherry blossoms in the Spring) it was still an amazing sight to see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next morning we took a train to the Fushimi Inari Shrine (also known as the 'torii gates'). Torii gates can be seen all over Japan at Shinto shrines but this specific location has <em>thousands</em> of the gates lining a path up a mountain and into the forest. I can't describe how beautiful and peaceful it was walking up the path. Each of the gates is carved with symbols that can only be seen when you turn around and look back down the path. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This was one of our highlights on the entire trip to Japan, it was absolutely gorgeous. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">To speed this along, we spent that afternoon walking around Kyoto seeing a fraction of the stunning shrines and temples there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Kyoto has a famous selection of candy - I loved watching them be made, watching the locals shop for them in the crowded stores and admiring the packaging. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We took a quiet walk through the Gion district. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We didn't spot any geisha I'm afraid. But we did see...faux geisha. For a price in some local shops you can have the complete geisha treatment with makeup, wigs and the traditional garments. You can then go walk the streets of Gion and fool the tourists. This tourist was not fooled I'm afraid. The girls were tripping in the traditional sandals and carrying cameras - not to mention walking around openly in large crowds. Faux geisha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In my life I have never seen power lines like those in Kyoto. Is that a weird thing to notice (and take multiple photos of?) Seriously, they're crazy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Next up, day two in (and around) Kyoto...</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-81901360945562964322012-02-10T08:00:00.000-06:002012-02-10T08:00:05.346-06:00visiting japan : getting around<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll continue with the recap of Kyoto next week but wanted to take a break and talk about general travel stuff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Getting to Japan</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We started the journey flying from Kansas City to Chicago. In Chicago we boarded our 15-hour flight on <a href="http://www.ana.co.jp/asw/wws/us/e/" target="_blank">ANA </a>(a Japanese airline). We had just booked through expedia and picked the best deals and weren't sure what to expect on this airline. As we lined up to board in Chicago we were definitely some of the only non-Japanese people getting onto the flight. That flight ended up being one of the best I have <em>ever</em> been on. The flight attendants were amazingly sweet. Part way through the flight they asked if this was our first trip to Japan. We said it was and then watched as all of the attendants gathered in one of the common areas and talked for a while - one of them occassionally looking up at us and smiling. A little while later they came over with postcards they had filled with all of their favorite places to go in Japan and things we couldn't miss. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The food was wonderful. Airline food. Wonderful. Our seats each had a tv that not only had movies and TV shows (both Japanese and American) but video games to learn Japanese! I don't know how anyone was hungry after the meals but if you were there was a snack bar set up in the common space. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">On the way home our flight was a jarring, crowded mess on United. The staff was unfortunately some of the least friendly I've ever seen, the food was typical airline food etc. Completely unpleasant compared to our ride <em>to</em> Japan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you can fly <a href="http://www.ana.co.jp/asw/wws/us/e/" target="_blank">ANA</a>, I absolutely recommend it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Getting around Tokyo</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As I mentioned in my first Tokyo post, we took the Narita Express from the airport into Tokyo. While we were in Tokyo we walked alot - but the city is huge and we used the train to get from one major area to another.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Tokyo subway map</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">At first glance, theTokyo subway was by far the most confusing I've ever seen. At the same time it is also the cleanest, most promt and organized I've ever seen. Once you get a hang of the map it's fairly easy to get around - just be patient and leave yourself a lot of time to get where you're going. Especially if you go through stations like Shinjuku (where we would go in the station and by the time we got on our train we had walked -underground- to an entirely different station)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Getting around Japan</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">After reading quite a bit about the national trains and taking into account all of the trips we'd be making in between cities, it definitely made sense for us to purchase a <a href="http://www.jrpass.com/?gclid=CN7c7fnnh64CFbMAQAod1l_E7Q" target="_blank">JR (Japanese Rail) Pass</a>. These are only available to people that live outside Japan and you MUST purchase them ahead of time, outside the country. Once inside Japan you exchange a voucher for your pass (we did this at the airport) and then activate your pass on the day you want to start using it. We were in the country nine days and had bought a seven day pass that we didn't want to start using until the third day if that makes sense. At one point we tried to figure out how much we saved using this pass and it was definitely <em>at least</em> half of what individual tickets would have cost - if not less.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The <a href="http://www.jrpass.com/" target="_blank">JR Pass website</a> is extremely easy to use and made it clear how to use the pass, it's limitations etc. Hand in hand with that website is <a href="http://www.hyperdia.com/" target="_blank">Hyperdia</a>, a timetable/trip planning website that allows you to put in your current location and destination and it will give you the trains, times etc. <a href="http://www.jrpass.com/blogs/route-planning-with-hyperdia" target="_blank">This</a> is a great video on how to use Hyperdia with your JR Rail Pass. I downloaded the Hyperdia app on my iphone and it was really useful as we made our way around. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We used the Shinkansen (bullet train) between a few of our major locations and smaller trains between others. We had an excellent experience with the trains and would absolutely do the same thing if we go back to Japan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I will say that packing lightly (we backpacked) was nice on the trains. Some, like the Shinkansen, were spread out with assigned seats and plenty of room for bags. Others ended up being fairly crowded and I was grateful we didn't have large wheel suitcases to drag along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>my travel tool (iphone) and my husband's (obsessively precise maps)</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>iphone in Japan</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Speaking of apps, I did bring my iphone with us. We didnt plan on using the phone for calls or texts but absolutely thought it'd be valuable to have along for google maps etc. We purchased an <a href="http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp#data" target="_blank">international data plan</a> from our carrier (AT&T) that had a limited amount of data - we went with 125 mb. They showed us how to monitor the usage to be sure we didn't go over (it'd be a very pricey mistake!) When we arrived in Japan I turned my phone on and it took a few minutes but finally found the network and was all set. For the first few days we were careful to use it as little as possible but once we realized we weren't using that much data, we used it as a map (holla gps, I love you) and to email some photos back to our families every few days. We also used it to look up the occassional Japanese word we wanted to learn. And maybe I checked facebook a couple of times. Maybe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Granted we stuck to pretty major areas and cities, but we always had a great signal and no problem using the gps. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Other apps we used - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/japanese-phrases-free/id303734644?mt=8" target="_blank">JPhrases Free</a> I used this language app before we left to lean some key words and phrases. There are alot of similar apps out there but I liked the way this was set up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trains.jp/id344946340?mt=8">trains.jp</a> We only used this a few times in Tokyo if we were unsure about the subway map. We could put in our current station and where we wanted to end up and it tells you the most direct way. It doesn't have timetables, which would be helpful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://currencyapp.com/">Currency </a>Ok, this one is frustrating. We downloaded this ahead of time - a quick calculator to change yen to dollars. When we arrived in Japan we attempted to use it and it <em>never</em> worked (despite saying it did not need any internet connection etc - which we had if it did need it!) Basically a waste, if you can find a better one I'd recommend whatever that is:)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>maps</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Before we left my husband went a little nutty on google maps. Worried that the iphone wouldn't work, he printed out maps for all of the major sites we were going to. He highlighted the paths we should walk and used the satellite street view to create landmarks for himself. Most of the maps would have English spellings for the major streets but not the smaller ones (and some places had very few street signs) so the landmarks helped. It was almost bizarre walking around with him because despite never setting foot in the country he'd say things like 'we're going to need to turn right up at that orange sign and then there will be a wood building around the corner'. Personally, I would have hated doing what he did because it's like a preview of everything you're going to see! But I won't lie, it was handy to have those navigation tools around. </span><br />
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The Japanese people were so, so friendly and absolutely helpful. In more than one train station we had people approach us and ask if there was anything they could help us find (apparently the blonde and the 6'-1" guy stood out?) When we were a little turned around we never hesitated to gently ask a passing local if they could help. Even when the language barrier was a problem, they were always very polite. <br />
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It's intimidating to try and get around a whole new country but I definitely say don't worry, do your research and you'll have a great experience. </span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-71319143104784439532012-02-08T08:00:00.000-06:002012-02-08T08:00:10.070-06:00visiting japan : tokyo 2, meiji jingu shrine<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan.html" target="_blank">Intro about our visit to Japan</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan-tokyo-1-tsukiji-market.html">Tokyo 1, Tsukiji Market</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan-tokyo-1-ginza-ueno-park.html">Tokyo 2, Ginza + Ueno Park</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bright and early on day two we stopped by the observation deck in the Metropolitan tower. It was a beautiful way to see Tokyo from above and really be overwhelmed (in a good way) by how huge the city is. When we were researching Tokyo we read that the city is essentially <em>three</em> Manhattan, NY's squished together. So kind of big. It was a little cloudy so we were not able to get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji - but still a fantastic view.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the photo you can see Yoyoji Park that we headed to next. We took the train to Harajuku station and went directly into the park to head to the Meiji Jingu Shrine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Under the immense wood torii gate at the entrance to the park.</em> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Offerings in the park.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We arrived at the <a href="http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/" target="_blank">Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine</a> inside the park and encountered so many beautiful traditions and details. After the emperor and empress died in 1912 and 1914, people honored them by donating 100,000 trees from all over the world to create the forest. The Shrine was established in 1920.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Seeing the shrines and temples in Japan was one of my favorite parts of our trip. I grew up in a Christian home. Visiting Europe you see church after church and they're all beautiful - but also familiar in the sense that you know the traditions, the stories, the symbols etc. Visiting the shrines and temples was the opposite - I had some knowledge of Buddhism but very little understanding of Shinto. It was <em>fascinating</em> to watch and learn. We had read that many of the traditions at shrines are signs of respect that everyone should do regardless of your religion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As you approach a shrine there is a temizuya - water with small bamboo ladle-esque dippers that you use to rinse your hands and mouth. We watched many, many people do this at the first shrine before trying it ourselves to make sure we had it right. At the main shrine we watched as people would step up the the shrine, put some coins in the box, step back and bow, then clap their hands twice and bow again. It was very quiet and peaceful. </span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were lots of families at the shrine with children dressed up in traditional Japanese attire being photographed. So basically the cutest thing ever.</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial;">We were lucky enough to arrive just as a wedding procession walked through.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We left the beautiful park to go to Harajuku, stay tuned...</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-33000449852455701992012-02-07T08:00:00.000-06:002012-02-07T22:45:58.701-06:00visiting japan : tokyo 1, ginza + ueno park<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan.html" target="_blank">Intro to our trip to Japan</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan-tokyo-1-tsukiji-market.html">Tokyo 1, Tsukiji Market</a></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">After leaving the fish market, we walked up to the Ginza shopping district. I'm glad we paired these two together because they're so close - but it is a little strange to go from the fish-smelling, hope-I-didn't-step-in-fish-blood mentality to one of the most high-end, glamorous shopping areas in the city. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We backpacked in Japan (more on our packing in another post) and room in the ol' pack was tight. Meaning shopping was not really an option. Not that we'd be dropping any dough in most of the Ginza stores anyway (Dior is <em>slightly</em> out of my range, you know) but given the packing constraints, most of our time spent in any of the Japanese shopping districts was strictly window shopping and drooling over the gorgeous buildings themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm lucky that my travel companion is an architect and enjoys the design-dork architecture/interiors sight-seeing as much as I do. We went in a few of the high end stores to see the gorgeous finishes and displays. We were both impressed at the store's exteriors more than anything - an entire neighborhood of gorgeous, incredible, unique buildings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>While walking through Ginza we noticed a big crowd of people in a dessert store. We figured 'when in Rome' and joined them - purchasing a gorgeous mochi ball (I'll be honest, we didn't love it but fun all the same).</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Hoping for a little green space, we next hopped on a train up to the area around Ueno Park. We walked through the shopping area above on the way to the park, looking for a late lunch. Enter: the ramen vending machine restaurants. After watching a few locals go through the process (attempting to be discreet), we hopped into one of the small restaurants and stepped up the vending machine. The machine had a series of photos of each of the dishes offered with a price next to it (no English but the photos are all you need!) and we each picked one, paid and then handed our printed tickets to the hostess. We were seated and within a few minutes two glorious bowls of ramen were delivered. It was <em>delicious </em>and inexpensive - about $7 per person. My husband had pork while my ramen had seaweed, bean paste and lots of green onion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We had read this ahead of time, but it definitely proved true - when the Japanese eat noodles they slurp them loudly. It's a sign of 'this is very tasty' respect and we tried our best to slurp with the best of them. I admired their art of slurping without ending up with broth all over themselves (luckily I wore a lot of black).</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">After lunch we walked up to Ueno Park. The park was beautiful and it was great change in pace to be among the quiet and trees - however given our short time in Tokyo I'm not sure we'd recommend it (there's so much to see I'm not sure this should be on a quick itinerary like ours). We did decide to pop into the zoo and visit with the elephants and pandas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Walking through Ueno Park.</em> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>We walked by a shrine inside Ueno park. At many of the shrines we noticed long bars with hundreds of strips of papers tied to them. We found out (and if this isn't correct please let me know!) that you can get a fortune at the shrine. If it's a good fortune, you take it home with you. If it is bad you leave it at the shrine where the spirit can get rid of it.</em> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While inside the zoo we stepped up beside a group of school children watching the gorillas. A little girl looked at me and then whispered to her friends. She turned to me and said "Hello!" I said "hello! ... konichiwa!" (Japanese for hello) she smiled and turned back to her friends and they all giggled. It was so sweet!</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On our way back to the hotel we went through the 'electronics district' this was another sensory overload of neon signs, arcades, casinos and electronics stores. Another spot we'd probably skip if we ever to go back to Tokyo but it was fun to see the crowd of young people that hang out there.</span><br />
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Coming up, day two in Tokyo...</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-27833923497049229392012-02-06T08:00:00.000-06:002012-02-06T08:00:17.602-06:00visiting japan : tokyo 1, tsukiji market<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2012/02/visiting-japan.html" target="_blank">Intro on our trip to Japan</a></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We flew into Tokyo's Narita airport (I'm planning another post about travel to/from/within) and took the <a href="http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/" target="_blank">Narita Express</a> train into Tokyo. We had researched ahead and planned to take this - finding the ticket counters was pretty easy and we also exchanged our JR Rail passes in the same place (again, more info in the travel post). We arrived in Shinjuku about an hour later. Shinjuku station is one of the busiest train stations in the world. I'd be lying if I said we didn't get lost <strike>once or twice</strike> a few times, however it's clean and safe (blanket statement for everywhere in Japan from our experience!) and we used it everyday to get around the city.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">In Tokyo we stayed at the <a href="http://www.princehotels.com/en/shinjuku/" target="_blank">Shinjuku Prince Hotel</a>. One of the best parts of this hotel was that we walked out of the train station and could see it within a minute. After 24+ hours of travel this was the most joyous site we could imagine. We'd highly recommend the hotel, the rooms were small (expected) but very well done, <em>very</em> clean - and with an amazing view of the city to boot. We had learned a few key phrases before we left (the basics-hello, my name is, thank you, it's delicious, excuse me) and the staff was so friendly, I think they appreciated our 'hello' in Japanese but spoke English to give us details of the hotel etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Our view as we stepped out of the train station - sensory overload!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Dinner the first night in Shinjuku. I'll be honest, this was my only bad food experience in Japan - but since it was the first I immediately panicked that we were in trouble. I'm a pescatarian (vegetarian who eats fish, planning a post on eating veggie in Japan) and admittedly I'm a pick eater. Layer that on a menu of symbols and unfamiliar foods (we were surprised at how many places had English menus or a friendly server to help us navigate though) and I worried. This dish is a "bowl of vegetables with noodles". It's hard to really understand from the photo - but the vegetables were an extremely slimy, sticky texture. And there was the raw egg on top. And that the whole dish was served cold. Like I said, my only bad experience!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Our first morning in Tokyo we woke up very early (which wasn't a problem - I never adjusted to the time change and was awake at 4am every morning!) and took the subway to the <strong><a href="http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm" target="_blank">Tsukiji Fish Market</a></strong>. If you go to Tokyo, you <em>cannot </em>miss this. The fish market is the biggest in the world (from what we were told) and where the majority of the restaurants in the city get their fresh fish everyday. It is definitely a working marketplace - NOT a touristy destination. They are kind enough to allow tourists to wander around after 9am, you're able to walk through aisle after aisle of fish stands - trying to avoid getting run over by forklifts filled with giant frozen tuna and dodging big puddles of fishy water. It's not necessarily a glamorous experience - but it is <em>amazing</em> to see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Before you are able to go inside, you can walk around a little marketplace just outside the market that is filled with tiny little sushi stands and stores selling cooking supplies. We had a traditional sushi breakfast in one of the little stands and this is where our Japanese food experience shifted from yikes to good-lord-this-is-amazing. By far the freshest, most delicious sushi I have ever had (or probably will ever have) in my life. It was served with miso soup (mmm) and hot tea, perfect for early November morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>ordered the tuna and cooked crab bowl. I will think about that crab for the rest of my life, so. unbelievably. amazing.</em></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6oK2WwmWURyU2MkfPtIQnNbOUuLkoLmglBmbe1eYjhPDXi9kk5HpDwfNxGUPysD_i5Q5f8wuX48SVzEVic8iG74h5aWPgALotNRySzVZZYuz7MUL28cHmRpAV7uvcs8KvzhL-O_WPA4/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6oK2WwmWURyU2MkfPtIQnNbOUuLkoLmglBmbe1eYjhPDXi9kk5HpDwfNxGUPysD_i5Q5f8wuX48SVzEVic8iG74h5aWPgALotNRySzVZZYuz7MUL28cHmRpAV7uvcs8KvzhL-O_WPA4/s640/DSC_0018.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>My husband ordered more of a 'mixed plate' with a variety of raw fish and rolls.</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Next up, the rest of our first day in Tokyo - Ginza, Ueno Park and our first real ramen experience (aka where I fell off of my chair from delicious overload).</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-37910639897194145442012-02-05T15:34:00.001-06:002012-02-05T15:34:34.090-06:00gotye<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been obsessed with this video...</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8UVNT4wvIGY?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-9502262162375415712012-02-05T11:35:00.001-06:002012-02-05T20:18:33.808-06:00visiting japan<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In November my husband and I were able to take a <strike>little vaca</strike> <strong>trip of a lifetime</strong> to visit Japan. My brother moved there a few years ago and we had planned/saved/hoped and finally decided to book the tickets and head over there to see him. In the universe's traditional way of don't-even-make-plans-silly-goose, my brother was called away from Japan for work while we were there. So no visiting brother (sad), but we still had an amazing trip (happy). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm going to post all about our trip - selfishly as a little journal of what we did before it completely escapes my memory - but also as a resource for anyone out there that might take a similar trip. We tried to do <em>a lot</em> of research before we left, knowing that Japan would be significantly different than anywhere we'd visited before, and I figure it's best to pay it forward sharing our advice, tips and experiences. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtoJw9xT8ORz2hTBj_P-4Ze3-stTQASZP-12uElseI7FDxu-N_x6ndxbUsW3UD_R5cLxizhlcE_YNbdVE8e6MrQVix7qm4NQWkqWH9CqpiASGuHe_76N5kZPbeeNLdR3KzhgLMbP2HAw/s1600/mapthroughjapan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtoJw9xT8ORz2hTBj_P-4Ze3-stTQASZP-12uElseI7FDxu-N_x6ndxbUsW3UD_R5cLxizhlcE_YNbdVE8e6MrQVix7qm4NQWkqWH9CqpiASGuHe_76N5kZPbeeNLdR3KzhgLMbP2HAw/s640/mapthroughjapan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no way to describe how much we loved Japan - the country, the people, the traditions, the food. It's a place I would recommend everyone visit if you can. I'm already excited to go back someday.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Stay tuned for my recap, place by place with a few general topics added in. Feel free to email me if you have any questions!</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tokyo 1, Tsukiji Market</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-29127571800701049232012-01-02T18:55:00.000-06:002012-01-02T19:50:29.067-06:00the kitchen project : before and after<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>You can read more about our kitchen project at the start <a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2011/08/kitchen-project.html" target="_blank">here</a>, a list of <a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2011/11/kitchen-project-what-we-did.html" target="_blank">what we did</a> and some in-process <a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2011/11/kitchen-project-evidence.html" target="_blank">working photos</a>.</em></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only (ahem) weeks after promised, here are before and after shots of our kitchen. Truth be told, we're still missing the final quarter-round trim along the bottom of the cabinets and base so we're not 100% finished. But we'll call it darn close.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">before...</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-weDX0kaDR4I/TwJS3RLc-RI/AAAAAAAAG3g/ko2vq5sltvY/s1600/kitchenafter3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-weDX0kaDR4I/TwJS3RLc-RI/AAAAAAAAG3g/ko2vq5sltvY/s640/kitchenafter3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and after...</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rOs-DrdJFjU/TwJS0__TihI/AAAAAAAAG3Y/kVQ4rmbt9PI/s1600/kitchenafter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rOs-DrdJFjU/TwJS0__TihI/AAAAAAAAG3Y/kVQ4rmbt9PI/s640/kitchenafter2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Our main goal with the choices we made was to have a bright, classic/neutral, durable, functional space that we could still be happy with in 18 years. We wanted to do absolutely as much of it ourselves as we could (which is why it took 5 months) to learn, appreciate and save some moolah. We were lucky that the previous owners had semi-recently updated all of the appliances and while they don't necessarily match each other they're in great shape and work perfectly so we didn't mess with them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">A few of the specifics:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The <strong>counters</strong> were really what spurred this entire project. They were very old plastic laminate with quite a few chips and stains - not to mention an awkwardly placed built-in cutting board an in-counter blender (a big metal plate with a button - when you pushed it a 30 year old broken blender popped up!) The counters had to go. There are obviously a lot of counter material options out there. Our absolute favorite is white marble, however its known to stain and these puppies needed to be ready for the long-haul. We didn't find a granite we were crazy about (we like a very monolithic look without a lot of grain/pattern to it) so it came down to solid surface (like Corian) or quartz/engineered stone. We really wanted a medium gray and had a hard time finding the right color in solid surface. Quartz is extremely hard and durable (again, looking for the long haul) and we ended up finding the perfect concrete-like gray.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nLenJdQrEy4/TwJS69SpVpI/AAAAAAAAG3w/rOxMM6IqIJA/s1600/kitchenafter5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nLenJdQrEy4/TwJS69SpVpI/AAAAAAAAG3w/rOxMM6IqIJA/s640/kitchenafter5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It bugged us that the existing <strong>sink</strong> was not centered on the window - it was almost - but off enough that we noticed it. Also a personal preference, but we didn't like a double-bowl sink. We used one side 90% of the time and rarely touched the other. We had seen the <a href="http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?item=13964002&section=1&category=5&subcategory=36&retail=false" target="_blank">Kohler Indio</a> sink in a showroom before we even owned a house and declared it the perfect, most amazing sink ever. One big, beautiful basin with an offset faucet and drain. Extra bonus was that the offset faucet hides the fact that the sink isn't centered! This sink isn't crazy expensive - but it isn't the cheap basic model either. The quartz counters had to be cut to a specific sink dimension, meaning we were committing to a sink for as long as we have these counters (which is going to be a loooong time) so we decided it was best to go with what we really, really wanted. We were jazzed when this guy arrived. </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ed8yRv05DrY/TwJdRj9g-BI/AAAAAAAAG38/4vxSn061T-4/s1600/kitchenafter7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ed8yRv05DrY/TwJdRj9g-BI/AAAAAAAAG38/4vxSn061T-4/s640/kitchenafter7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The <strong>tile</strong> is matte white from <a href="http://americanolean.com/series.cfm?series=146" target="_blank">American Olean's Profile</a> collection. A very, very basic 3"x6" subway tile. We also purchased the coordinating edge trim pieces for our window sill. We decided to use a gray grout (I believe it's Delorean Gray from Home Depot.)</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-weM647OQm08/TwJSzZB4tEI/AAAAAAAAG3Q/vfXoxAFm2BQ/s1600/kitchenafter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-weM647OQm08/TwJSzZB4tEI/AAAAAAAAG3Q/vfXoxAFm2BQ/s640/kitchenafter1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Heck yes that's a bottle of whiskey up there. Along with a few of my cookbooks that I wrapped in brown paper after seeing an image of something similar on Pinterest.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The <strong>floor </strong>is <a href="http://www.johnsonite.com/FlooringProducts/HarmoniumxfLinoleum/tabid/787/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Johnsonite Linoleum</a>. 'Lineoluem' has mistakenly been used to describe any sheet good flooring - when the majority of the products people are referring to are actually vinyl. Linoleum is a material that was used a lot in the past - it's being used more and more now as people chose it for the sustainable qualities (it's made with 95% natural materials like flax, wood, linseed oil and limestone) and the fact that it's very durable. We chose a medium gray that has a slight marbled pattern of lighter and darker grays and we've been really happy with it. Completely surprised at how good it is at hiding everything - our floor looks deceivingly clean even when it isn't quite so.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XYqlQi9YbTc/TwJdUY-dINI/AAAAAAAAG4E/DrlUGFEAuzg/s1600/kitchenafter6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XYqlQi9YbTc/TwJdUY-dINI/AAAAAAAAG4E/DrlUGFEAuzg/s640/kitchenafter6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So many of the kitchen inspiration images I had pulled together had glass front cabinets. We didn't want to replace our doors so we got quote from a local cabinet company to retrofit our existing doors with glass. It came back around $230 (higher than we expected) - so we took a chance and tried it ourselves. My husband carefully removed the center panel (we tested this on one of the cabinets we had removed just in case). I had glass cut from Lowe's and put it in with clear silicone and added a little wood trim inside (email me if you want more info.) We were happy with how they turned out - and it was only $30! </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ksS_JIw6ot4/TwJS463a2TI/AAAAAAAAG3o/DA4BibhY1wA/s1600/kitchenafter4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ksS_JIw6ot4/TwJS463a2TI/AAAAAAAAG3o/DA4BibhY1wA/s640/kitchenafter4.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That's the long-winded kitchen scoop. Let me know if you have any questions or would like more information!</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-19189106431258815062011-11-20T16:39:00.001-06:002011-11-20T16:55:43.614-06:00grace<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTY6wppY-dkUaX6ht6Ifq7tXmo9ial0w2FDF4WJqfnOrIqcpHK14B2PQ5yNzaKbMaijbRp366orrsc8dd5GjXzfuIU2hRrCKjRaLW_OuBCBTtj2gpoyUUogBAQf9qnZf7hPrC3MccdrtU/s1600/graceinbw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTY6wppY-dkUaX6ht6Ifq7tXmo9ial0w2FDF4WJqfnOrIqcpHK14B2PQ5yNzaKbMaijbRp366orrsc8dd5GjXzfuIU2hRrCKjRaLW_OuBCBTtj2gpoyUUogBAQf9qnZf7hPrC3MccdrtU/s400/graceinbw.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">my Chunky Monkey, Babaganoush, Munchkin, Pumpkin, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">le Chat Lunatique.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Rest in peace my Grace.</span></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-43298447684712088552011-11-17T12:00:00.000-06:002011-11-17T12:00:01.642-06:00and there they sit<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So I hope this photo doesn't offend anyone. I'm not sure why it would except that I can see where it might. So I don't know.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That being said, I love it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have had the two religious pieces (are these statues? trinkets?) for as long as I can remember. My father gave them to me when I was little and I think there was an association with my grandmother (his mother) but I don't know if the association was just 'she was Catholic' or maybe they were hers. For my entire childhood they sat on that exact shelf of my dresser. Probably with a layer of dust exactly as you see them here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I bought the hula girl in high school when I upgraded from a 1982 Chevy Blazer to a 1994 sea-green Ford Taurus. Holla. I glued it to my dashboard and we bopped together for a few years. She even came to college with me. Then one day I was in an accident and totalled the poor Taurus. Thank my lucky stars no one was in the passenger seat because when the airbags went off that hula chic was like a plastic missile that definitely could have ripped some one's face apart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This dresser still sits in the bedroom I had in high school. Over the years I've slowly taken things to my home or thrown things away etc - that widdling away that you randomly do every time you visit. These three are pretty much all that's left. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Holding down the fort, keeping it real.</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-37458578984560837562011-11-16T12:00:00.000-06:002011-11-16T12:00:02.652-06:00the kitchen project : evidence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWAj84LbP6Wslhww8ShmTvIaHcBIWkS0u5z5Xn6ze2OudGBh8QpEfD6T7GW78iQL5gg-KXVLwyBG7tJcQPZaxR-uquZsNwUGB1HiBMnsEf_lm5VgreF9YsGMRyCOExfihfJ4vGGkxpLE/s1600/kitchenren12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWAj84LbP6Wslhww8ShmTvIaHcBIWkS0u5z5Xn6ze2OudGBh8QpEfD6T7GW78iQL5gg-KXVLwyBG7tJcQPZaxR-uquZsNwUGB1HiBMnsEf_lm5VgreF9YsGMRyCOExfihfJ4vGGkxpLE/s400/kitchenren12.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A better blogger would have done the dishes before taking the official before photo. And probably put these photos in a more story-telling order. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QlQKaPlUUo2jT9r7yrGe_H5YFF_G00fnaWd31XQo9LpAnfRh_ulYXSyEXg-cPgfaJHnox2TSeAU4Xwsu_Na0ygDEZatsN2aB0dO6HRR_sMJVbBZtAs75CWEDUmoneXuexQQzl1VO2_Q/s1600/kitchenren11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QlQKaPlUUo2jT9r7yrGe_H5YFF_G00fnaWd31XQo9LpAnfRh_ulYXSyEXg-cPgfaJHnox2TSeAU4Xwsu_Na0ygDEZatsN2aB0dO6HRR_sMJVbBZtAs75CWEDUmoneXuexQQzl1VO2_Q/s400/kitchenren11.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Same corner, three different looks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Stay tuned for the final result!</span></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-61663918940674341292011-11-15T12:00:00.000-06:002011-11-15T12:00:05.166-06:00the kitchen project : what we did<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I've struggled with how to share the scoop on our <a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2011/08/kitchen-project.html">kitchen renovation</a>. I started to go all <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/">Young House Love</a> and write entire posts about every single decision we made. Which, on the one hand, would provide solid blogging content for the next four months, but on the other hand would probably drive everyone away (I just can't spell it out as well as the YSL crew!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So this is the process post. With a list of everything we did (and what we hired someone to do) and next I'll do a post of progress photos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">For the dramatic effect of keeping you all on your toes, I'll post the finished product in yet another post. For the drama or for the fact that I haven't taken final pictures yet. It's one of those.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>What we did (in order):</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">1. Ripped down the sexy coffee-house cartoon border. It took about 46 seconds because they put it up with a child's glue stick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">2. Ripped out the wall of cabinets above our stove - along with the microwave. I hate microwaves and I'm determined to never have one again. This microwave was giant and sitting way to low over the stove. Peace out radiant lover.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">3. Painted the upper cabinets white.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">4. Realized we used the wrong kind of paint on the upper cabinets. Stripped, sanded and primed every single one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">5. Painted the upper cabinets white.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">6. Ripped out the plastic laminate counters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">7. Hired some nice young men to come and install new quartz counters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">8. Hire another nice man to come patch the wall where the previous owners had chipped out all of the plaster to put in the old counters. And also shot at the walls with a machine gun by the look of it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">9. Painted the walls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">10. Ripped out the fake-wood/laminate floor. Completely didn't match the rest of the house and was a floating floor (meaning not glued down) on a non-level substrate. So it was bouncy and needed to go. This took us 20 minutes - heck yes on the not being glued down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">11. Tiled the walls, backsplash and window sill. This literally took us over 30 hours spread over a few weekends but it was important to us that it was done carefully (we worried anyone we hired would rush vs. measure and level every damn tile). I tiled while my husband used the tile saw. Then I grouted while he went behind and cleaned. Probably my favorite part of the whole kitchen project and so happy with how it turned out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">12. Had the floor installed. We chose old-school linoleum (not vinyl floor that people call linoleum) This is a product that used to be used a lot - it's made from cork, linseed oil and jute. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">13. Covered the asbestos encased <strike>stripper pole</strike> radiator pipe with a paintable wallcovering. Much easier/safer than the process of cutting it out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">14. Retrofit some of our cabinet doors with glass fronts (this does deserve a post of it's own as I did it by myself in an afternoon for $30 after a cabinet company quoted us $250).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">15. Hung a stainless steel shelf over the stove. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">16. Replaced all of the dingy, unmatched outlet covers with stainless steel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">16. Removed the ceiling fan that hung way, way to low in the room. I'd love to say we then put a finished plate over the whole, but to be honest there is still a hole in the middle of our kitchen ceiling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>Things that we still need to do:</strong> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">-put trim back on the cabinets at the floor and re-install the transition strips in the doorways. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">-install the new glass cooktop after I leaned on ours while tiling and cracked it. sonofa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">-eventually replace the lighting - very cheap track lighting that we don't love but it's not terrible. Someday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Next up, progress photos!</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-91804968870844542782011-11-14T20:00:00.000-06:002011-11-14T20:00:01.852-06:00when it was summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9OCQf-Re6kbx48l8XLCLJj4TU2ztTkYqyhPL-y6KJJtsM5nnTwfNjOQH5WWDD7Lode47_Ucrv9JVYSL2tdDjHUUZnx5KHr8BVij5SDr-nXYHRJQZql0k5ust1pNtgUZKJD9M0Q0VRdo/s1600/isf2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9OCQf-Re6kbx48l8XLCLJj4TU2ztTkYqyhPL-y6KJJtsM5nnTwfNjOQH5WWDD7Lode47_Ucrv9JVYSL2tdDjHUUZnx5KHr8BVij5SDr-nXYHRJQZql0k5ust1pNtgUZKJD9M0Q0VRdo/s320/isf2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Having lived in Iowa, you'd think I would have spent quite a bit of time at the famous Iowa State Fair each summer. This is not the case. If it wasn't for the fact that the Goo Goo Dolls played at the fair a few years in a row when I was in high school, I'm pretty sure I would have never attended. Some people like fairs. I like fairs every five or six years. Get your fix and get the hell out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This year a trip back to Iowa just happened to fall right in the middle of the fair so my husband, his best friend and I stopped for a few hours. The boys tried the gamut of fair food (fried twinkie, fried snickers, turkey leg etc) I had an awesome snow-cone and a vegetarian corndog (also awesome). We rode the ferris wheel just as the Maroon 5 show started movin like Jagger and the boys played a few carnival games. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Obviously we went to see the butter cow (for those not familiar it's exactly what it sounds like, a full-sized cow made out of butter.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">How could you not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So it's apparent how long I've been gone when blogger itself has completely changed in my absence and I have to relearn how to use the darn thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Alas, I'm here. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I found this set of stamps a few months ago at a thrift/antique spot in Kansas City. I rarely have the cajones to negotiate at those places but I managed to on this guy - making it all the sweeter. The case needed some wood-glue-lovin-repair and the stamp pad had dried up decades ago, but I loved how used it felt. Clearly created something, somewhere for someone. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This is where I'm going to break some crafter's little heart. I want to display this lovely piece on the wall. Which would result it all of the stamps tumbling to the ground unless you glue each one in place with a little dab o glue. Which is what I did.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I wanted to give a few of the stamps a last hurrah before sticking them in place for the next few decades. Voila - stamp photo shoot. Work it. </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAof1HxFMnk-EN45ly0K6CKtRTNJ22FsBd_F26L4WtqyitgqzE3C4EBV8VaqLs5qWY7xod0bvJ0ufV4FccvjmZkxiHe3DTpnrflszyT54QQtfjy3q9rd1Yw3rAHZzFFzW6cAMV45TDu_E/s1600/stamps4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAof1HxFMnk-EN45ly0K6CKtRTNJ22FsBd_F26L4WtqyitgqzE3C4EBV8VaqLs5qWY7xod0bvJ0ufV4FccvjmZkxiHe3DTpnrflszyT54QQtfjy3q9rd1Yw3rAHZzFFzW6cAMV45TDu_E/s400/stamps4.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXw-jM7e7kz5zD1qR3lpekZ3-2yYL8vIcDP4TWmXuKit0cVfAZab_KTh7HPZA4BjmkHkVm8nx98TfL9epnEtVrjsd3ISbadbhvsavUKkCFRRVBIAG4IuJqluJZwtRLGvngUTu9_fkL5bg/s1600/stamps3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXw-jM7e7kz5zD1qR3lpekZ3-2yYL8vIcDP4TWmXuKit0cVfAZab_KTh7HPZA4BjmkHkVm8nx98TfL9epnEtVrjsd3ISbadbhvsavUKkCFRRVBIAG4IuJqluJZwtRLGvngUTu9_fkL5bg/s400/stamps3.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkh1P3nKwPWCqFE9HCyhOXS4w14BOCGVY2wV5kaL3_jN4bmP2qVjc67MfOUTNnzeos2h5PwMmUJH2_MCINcE1XAqVmyOEQtH83-7J9kreGunI-G5sPMvnTGEO62AErwUtd_j1sys5k8pg/s1600/stamps2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkh1P3nKwPWCqFE9HCyhOXS4w14BOCGVY2wV5kaL3_jN4bmP2qVjc67MfOUTNnzeos2h5PwMmUJH2_MCINcE1XAqVmyOEQtH83-7J9kreGunI-G5sPMvnTGEO62AErwUtd_j1sys5k8pg/s400/stamps2.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrtGGGfPPIs172LWGlZOleyOWuoAaZ2a5QXbbg3xP2hOT5NwGSwR232H1p_dyf_wV5gkkOpmvybBmOniOSuStdRr7qr6-3jJ82FnV2nv8Zsr0MDf3F3b5scmmBJLBObC62-y9WIq0b2Q/s1600/stamps1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrtGGGfPPIs172LWGlZOleyOWuoAaZ2a5QXbbg3xP2hOT5NwGSwR232H1p_dyf_wV5gkkOpmvybBmOniOSuStdRr7qr6-3jJ82FnV2nv8Zsr0MDf3F3b5scmmBJLBObC62-y9WIq0b2Q/s400/stamps1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-61598333394654196942011-08-22T08:48:00.001-05:002011-08-22T08:48:00.129-05:00fairyland resort<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJn3ZMv_be8TEVagp4ZkQ2i4FM7ncWqhiO0ubNn3l-suATko5Wz3gVn48hIe6NOCEHvfXsv7d8EbsO4_tzeLXbF9g_7Pf6h2vkhO14s5O3QdYOyl5Kr8yPMbtAoiKQmCVebi70wcOxFdQ/s1600/faland_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJn3ZMv_be8TEVagp4ZkQ2i4FM7ncWqhiO0ubNn3l-suATko5Wz3gVn48hIe6NOCEHvfXsv7d8EbsO4_tzeLXbF9g_7Pf6h2vkhO14s5O3QdYOyl5Kr8yPMbtAoiKQmCVebi70wcOxFdQ/s400/faland_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
.<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At the end of July we went up to northern Michigan to a spot my family has been gathering for a long time. It's definitely one of my favorite places on our little planet. I have more photos to share from the trip, but one of the highlights was this random discovery on the beach one evening. We saw a funny cluster of rocks where the sand met the grass and got closer to investigate. We ended up finding these masterpieces. Tiny little villages someone must have spent hours creating. An insane amount of hours. I can't even describe them and I know the photos don't do justice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There was a gym - complete with a basketball court (colored rocks created the pattern on the court floor), weight room (dumbbells in all sizes made with little berries on blades of grass) and a punching bag (pinecone suspended by blades of grass). We found an amusement park with rides, a house (dining room table had plates and food). Just this tiny, <em>detailed </em>little world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYlUhA4S0yTwl6dUUPsNjnIzLdtLW9onscIy9zO1yf4lWA-y7LGrnw8BCuut8uVy1maNzNHrEXpF8JGoatDyPp2rGhuOoEnK2J2SKuPKrOyd2FAS_6Sq5Zv1JjG7Fvmw3qkPvMo4RO4s/s1600/faland_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYlUhA4S0yTwl6dUUPsNjnIzLdtLW9onscIy9zO1yf4lWA-y7LGrnw8BCuut8uVy1maNzNHrEXpF8JGoatDyPp2rGhuOoEnK2J2SKuPKrOyd2FAS_6Sq5Zv1JjG7Fvmw3qkPvMo4RO4s/s400/faland_6.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirQaolPsWogeZ9D-le-tvPTf6x2QCWgShEYvyK518rpopK31zKsUZE7_JJp1hvTzAOFm_dxggjNVVWbvj6f8xiKRoI7GIJZVYSIjiNweuHPuoNKf0W8SgBaVB192wFiL_NFCng2gwk_s/s1600/faland_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirQaolPsWogeZ9D-le-tvPTf6x2QCWgShEYvyK518rpopK31zKsUZE7_JJp1hvTzAOFm_dxggjNVVWbvj6f8xiKRoI7GIJZVYSIjiNweuHPuoNKf0W8SgBaVB192wFiL_NFCng2gwk_s/s400/faland_4.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjflYOwpyUOc5QOgZiIDz4HLyXlT49_0dUY9A25Z8bBJVy9TYEdDhGRRnV7e3mJLD9NvNZMForm84iQbNCFVEL88VioVKRLWa-7jmW1MCLhhLn4ZN7nZYa7wkLDj5Zt1vq31WyWqukt38/s1600/faland_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjflYOwpyUOc5QOgZiIDz4HLyXlT49_0dUY9A25Z8bBJVy9TYEdDhGRRnV7e3mJLD9NvNZMForm84iQbNCFVEL88VioVKRLWa-7jmW1MCLhhLn4ZN7nZYa7wkLDj5Zt1vq31WyWqukt38/s400/faland_3.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_lELfvL5ejtNFwmJ9yFpyIRVJSjdXBHjaj159CPhIdmA93kpQ0XZPa8v_eTxzEZWFfBEJ3yQKBTHOVFl3ow_SkfKmPUuQS6FGyvW6YLUnL1EzEGvuly9tZgclL_oWTMUMNKjTT9mEuA/s1600/faland_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_lELfvL5ejtNFwmJ9yFpyIRVJSjdXBHjaj159CPhIdmA93kpQ0XZPa8v_eTxzEZWFfBEJ3yQKBTHOVFl3ow_SkfKmPUuQS6FGyvW6YLUnL1EzEGvuly9tZgclL_oWTMUMNKjTT9mEuA/s400/faland_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dc4A6FhXVMa-WHlCz6KfTGXka35UdoK3Vc22_qwp8s-1e-nxMJAaWthhWMWoeKZPHEB270Ci5GA2ymynk5d6DVoYfDvHFpXLgyDetQVY7W7IZ56symRqQnKbE9SiDpKads6BFDw7kd0/s1600/faland_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dc4A6FhXVMa-WHlCz6KfTGXka35UdoK3Vc22_qwp8s-1e-nxMJAaWthhWMWoeKZPHEB270Ci5GA2ymynk5d6DVoYfDvHFpXLgyDetQVY7W7IZ56symRqQnKbE9SiDpKads6BFDw7kd0/s400/faland_5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>.<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Still fascinated. They created it knowing that the first gust of wind/high tide/dog running etc could come along and everything would be destroyed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just a little bit of magic.</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-19223054479245791752011-08-21T22:28:00.000-05:002011-08-21T22:28:59.353-05:00the right mix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCNBb4I4Prc8LDSVLB6DT2Ou5sIfQ6fwfsNAgOixc-GxZI1JRZNEyps-0Iw_TDPiWqQG2TNc5er3vHbsrdo90NOefBIAPP88V_4j3yOJpu07LHqrbjpVfa480ClmSVLYJ50VKtXyhPZg/s1600/composition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCNBb4I4Prc8LDSVLB6DT2Ou5sIfQ6fwfsNAgOixc-GxZI1JRZNEyps-0Iw_TDPiWqQG2TNc5er3vHbsrdo90NOefBIAPP88V_4j3yOJpu07LHqrbjpVfa480ClmSVLYJ50VKtXyhPZg/s400/composition.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>.</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>via <a href="http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2011/7/8/house-of-honey.html">Desire to Inspire</a></em></span></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-25281202709195121452011-08-10T08:08:00.000-05:002011-08-10T08:08:00.580-05:00in this dress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpLXXDTVgKU1whhJ45cjYBnfO82FMvk7HoUMma61lkjVssf7KB_o-KGjMv2afYZg_wHHNn6PeeGq-5qG_AFgn7NTUt7rEBhBlfdDJ_p8DD-PvClbjMU5hJLXKSqpsQpewl_wN4Gl9gLo/s1600/miablackdress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpLXXDTVgKU1whhJ45cjYBnfO82FMvk7HoUMma61lkjVssf7KB_o-KGjMv2afYZg_wHHNn6PeeGq-5qG_AFgn7NTUt7rEBhBlfdDJ_p8DD-PvClbjMU5hJLXKSqpsQpewl_wN4Gl9gLo/s400/miablackdress.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mia Wasikowska in Harper's Bazaar Australia August 2011, </span></em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">photographed by Will Davidson. via </span><a href="http://dustjacketattic.blogspot.com/2011/07/mia.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dustjacket Attic</span></a></em></span></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-42475355019407692612011-08-09T08:08:00.005-05:002011-08-09T08:08:00.641-05:00eames in black<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO9y97qQPvT2rxPsisPclLCFDeA_y-QiAJoOxLQEjBAAf_ZQS5-jkv1UdbQnxQCwtqray2JnvVzD1bc4dV5maocKHAV0R1Sl8FCQKg3XCXgTIcuQlGZ9til6LnkbfiFO9WgW5-Bdohv8/s1600/eamesdining2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO9y97qQPvT2rxPsisPclLCFDeA_y-QiAJoOxLQEjBAAf_ZQS5-jkv1UdbQnxQCwtqray2JnvVzD1bc4dV5maocKHAV0R1Sl8FCQKg3XCXgTIcuQlGZ9til6LnkbfiFO9WgW5-Bdohv8/s400/eamesdining2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is one of my all-time-absolute favorite chairs. A true classic, looks good in just about any setting, in any color. Red is usually my favorite, but this black is perfect.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Eames-Molded-Plastic-Chairs"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eames Molded Plastic Chairs</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size: x-small;"> - </span></em></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo via </span></em><a href="http://frenchbydesign.blogspot.com/2011/07/thursday-mix.html"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">French by Design</span></em></a></span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-74036386509339767172011-08-08T00:12:00.000-05:002011-08-08T00:12:23.539-05:00the kitchen project<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At the beginning of this summer we decided to take on the biggest renovation project we've done (and probably will ever do) on our old house. The kitchen. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dun dun dun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I think we figured it was one, maybe two month project. We're currently going into month three. We also figured we could do the entire thing without really losing the ability to <em>use </em>the kitchen. That is hilarious. We haven't used the stove/oven/sink in a solid five weeks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I'm going to break the renovation into a couple of more detailed posts, but here's the background.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECyGuYKFaV4q7CCkN9dvs-X_uaMf9555itvgxEGwFJZB8nmdl-iqoSr9qkx8U3ilDprWeWHrLLe6fVNpnK_Sh8vYbU6hthkOoOJCe3cqigwi1OQiQ2tzjTCyfIMGAOqJ8n2imLTkeQ0k/s1600/kitchenplan_before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECyGuYKFaV4q7CCkN9dvs-X_uaMf9555itvgxEGwFJZB8nmdl-iqoSr9qkx8U3ilDprWeWHrLLe6fVNpnK_Sh8vYbU6hthkOoOJCe3cqigwi1OQiQ2tzjTCyfIMGAOqJ8n2imLTkeQ0k/s400/kitchenplan_before.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This is our kitchen ala sketchup. For a little context, the door on the left goes to our hallway/backdoor, the door on the right goes to a small butler's pantry and the top door heads down the hall to the dining room/rest of the house. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Things we liked: the big window, plenty of storage, the general layout and the appliances.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Things we didn't like: the crazy wallpaper border, chipped old counters, all of the black cabinets (too dark!) mis-matched/inconsistent tile backsplash, the ceiling fan, low microwave over the stove and the flooring (fake laminate). So a few things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It started with the 1970's laminate counters. They were chipped in a few places and had a 'built-in' cutting board in a strange location. And the highlight? The in-counter blender. It just looked like a random metal plate until you pressed a button and a 30+ year old blender popped up. It didn't work, ate up the entire cabinet beneath it... and meant we kept a wooden cutting board strategically placed over it at all times. These counters had to go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The problem with projects like is the way they steamroll from 'we need to replace these counters' to ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">While we're replacing the counters, we should do the backsplash too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">While we're replacing the counters and tile, we might as well replace the sink.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Since we're taking down the border, we should paint.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Since we're painting, we should go ahead and paint the cabinets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">If we're messing with the cabinets, we should rip out the ones we don't like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">If we're doing all of that work, we might as well get rid of the floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">and voila - you've pretty quickly signed yourself up for a summer project.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So here is the before shot <em>(heaven forbid we do the dishes before taking photos)</em> :</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BsEOI7KdJOYtgyHgWPApl-_rs_LJo3eZ33ppL693u26cilzzk0Mkiil_arPHQfVBtFJHMDTJTtVwZZdNJbvrKLwWZktKpPXqJ61CyckAvrBZ81cHz1scIPUj7U13l2sqopKUOmuvOqI/s1600/kitchen_before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BsEOI7KdJOYtgyHgWPApl-_rs_LJo3eZ33ppL693u26cilzzk0Mkiil_arPHQfVBtFJHMDTJTtVwZZdNJbvrKLwWZktKpPXqJ61CyckAvrBZ81cHz1scIPUj7U13l2sqopKUOmuvOqI/s400/kitchen_before.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Stay tuned for our first steps...</span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-91519889098603727512011-08-07T11:08:00.002-05:002011-08-07T11:08:00.541-05:00favorite summer shoe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHYfPc6MGInmQfPGVmtxqMpTqCGhaLjdccQQm2FpRfQX871ywLOhlNAHrNnlHd089lKOT4Z559X6h8xQv3Y0lM52YcPcQYtRyXgQXoRk75PGcUqyC4rABalAyCsvntkl7cN_GgQz7WGw/s1600/sedelman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHYfPc6MGInmQfPGVmtxqMpTqCGhaLjdccQQm2FpRfQX871ywLOhlNAHrNnlHd089lKOT4Z559X6h8xQv3Y0lM52YcPcQYtRyXgQXoRk75PGcUqyC4rABalAyCsvntkl7cN_GgQz7WGw/s400/sedelman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had been watching </span><a href="http://piperlime.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=30849&vid=1&pid=863466&scid=863466012"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">these shoes</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> from Sam Edelman this Spring and when they suddenly went on sale this summer? Mine. They're sky-high, very comfy AND have velcro. Which is just kind of awesome.</span> </span>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-63355691005332529582011-08-06T11:08:00.002-05:002011-08-06T11:17:18.363-05:00backyard wedding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-X-1zE7KOqsHtyBftqtIopBpvsgozQIOl76NmF8udriYep_5wGqN5XywsR6aIp3fqlWENThlSaCji1umX-ocS8dK9eRjhVMjhh9MWOWK32CQ-iN1-Jhu0u8TBVce3kNQ55vPLL4Ri8lc/s400/gbc1.jpg" width="400" /></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Well hello there. I <em>may </em>have accidentally just taken a two month blogging break. Oopsadaisy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But now I'm back, all refreshed with lots to share. Backyard wedding? You bet. Tiny magical fairy resort created out of found objects on the beach? On it. Insanely bigger-than-I-expected-completely-draining kitchen renovation? Oh nelly, got it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Let's start at the very beginning. Which, according to Julie Andrews, is a very good place to start. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You might remember </span><a href="http://www.gracesbirdcage.com/2010/10/wedding.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">back in October</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> my sister got married in Northern Michigan. It was a small ceremony with a few family members by the beach. This June they had a backyard reception to celebrate with all of their friends and family. We had so much fun dancing the night away under the lights, surrounded by trees on a perfect evening. Once again I got to try my hand at a little flower arranging...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD2-tvqsp1XuuW6WpHBmGeykwNZriBy-ewnf_5POlpVWwTRIFjTUQ4WBBT-u2mFvroU-wYXHoTNSG-Mp1SbSmb2cNHK6sWUhvCiBLciHgALnF5TL9FKYkCzccXGH0I4LCa-nflmpt4SA/s1600/gbc9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD2-tvqsp1XuuW6WpHBmGeykwNZriBy-ewnf_5POlpVWwTRIFjTUQ4WBBT-u2mFvroU-wYXHoTNSG-Mp1SbSmb2cNHK6sWUhvCiBLciHgALnF5TL9FKYkCzccXGH0I4LCa-nflmpt4SA/s400/gbc9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We used lots of roses and craspedia with stock, rosemary, larkspur, bupleurum and lavender.</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia;">My sister collected a crazy amount of blue glass bottles and jars for the flowers and candles. She also gathered vintage/thrifted plates for dinner which I loved - way more fun than plain white rented plates, more friendly on the environment than paper and added a fun eclectic element to the tables. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGLfi8ol-JsLguHwqREW0CXouWtHpfmv0qiQIWna57wdAlglzkbmGXYN6ECoaOqoyQvEG2oMRNMrKgdZPPrd4oLh6S-0vAeEHPMxQid3It1cSzqG7jeHPuYvxWr-ADg_pQSR2bLD4AWU/s1600/gbc5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGLfi8ol-JsLguHwqREW0CXouWtHpfmv0qiQIWna57wdAlglzkbmGXYN6ECoaOqoyQvEG2oMRNMrKgdZPPrd4oLh6S-0vAeEHPMxQid3It1cSzqG7jeHPuYvxWr-ADg_pQSR2bLD4AWU/s400/gbc5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHyrCDyzBU8O7_KCC7h6Qi69iPwFEUVQawYwfpn-NCx2a2Zzt_iredpYbhdOT1MRk7J0ZUTbwFb-iDawuNi0EgBvCluD_qdLTQiG0QuwwT1LD6wcn0ijqOwYziuXVXbF9eW79NBiXgQ4/s1600/gbc6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHyrCDyzBU8O7_KCC7h6Qi69iPwFEUVQawYwfpn-NCx2a2Zzt_iredpYbhdOT1MRk7J0ZUTbwFb-iDawuNi0EgBvCluD_qdLTQiG0QuwwT1LD6wcn0ijqOwYziuXVXbF9eW79NBiXgQ4/s400/gbc6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuEkVMgg1s5RuAlBRAnRJWQGUAgF0K5DDEicW54CQfyxPTI2lsM8-z44Nddc2M3Y9qNflZKk9Q5bVGIVj-wDv9cO7XE9oDlL7j83ezQwzJPp2MLGRhsRJ9Qpw_tKbXiPV2mtUK23HM0E/s1600/gbc4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuEkVMgg1s5RuAlBRAnRJWQGUAgF0K5DDEicW54CQfyxPTI2lsM8-z44Nddc2M3Y9qNflZKk9Q5bVGIVj-wDv9cO7XE9oDlL7j83ezQwzJPp2MLGRhsRJ9Qpw_tKbXiPV2mtUK23HM0E/s400/gbc4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW20x3VPwxyed4muvlOaq2PzaNXzqxEE7o28VS6B-GgHFGLXgh_UqinlP_6VKxUDaa6g_m9igVJRBddiJD8rb5w_9YwZD_nsetQ_CyZpOTTXW1tK2hhKcVKrX0SSAfJ_XeanoOX8TH7I/s1600/gbc3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW20x3VPwxyed4muvlOaq2PzaNXzqxEE7o28VS6B-GgHFGLXgh_UqinlP_6VKxUDaa6g_m9igVJRBddiJD8rb5w_9YwZD_nsetQ_CyZpOTTXW1tK2hhKcVKrX0SSAfJ_XeanoOX8TH7I/s400/gbc3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfWcFS3c5lzrwmX9Q21WEhCBBVl-E2DJhgxuePiP0fee5RpJoDUIvBlhIVh-nio1ib8DJ7SkWLeP4u-s6ghNDZSd-OV8zTM_h272D-0V6lkNl_OrzWqR0goGdKkOYhZTAhRnxFCpeZVM/s1600/gbc2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfWcFS3c5lzrwmX9Q21WEhCBBVl-E2DJhgxuePiP0fee5RpJoDUIvBlhIVh-nio1ib8DJ7SkWLeP4u-s6ghNDZSd-OV8zTM_h272D-0V6lkNl_OrzWqR0goGdKkOYhZTAhRnxFCpeZVM/s400/gbc2.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uICJPKUd_E7z5LsHkIW6H6iFnP9oZvPRGOB-Hakao6chnGHH4es9ipRCnH_5PMZ1_xhrgn4qgjJxeFYnlYVqBO66CZqGWPQoD3bxmkhiNhofTTA-UxejKVsfW7SnCEV_nGq7fcS5v8w/s1600/gbc7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uICJPKUd_E7z5LsHkIW6H6iFnP9oZvPRGOB-Hakao6chnGHH4es9ipRCnH_5PMZ1_xhrgn4qgjJxeFYnlYVqBO66CZqGWPQoD3bxmkhiNhofTTA-UxejKVsfW7SnCEV_nGq7fcS5v8w/s400/gbc7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYQ73mXk6Kf4-44UUWbn-8cDAgzf_bkVJd-YAZP7fLERgCOz1DD8p9hdzHcJH_JdaJvgWPbuApDOx31H-mwW6iTjLQkjsTpVroZ1_HZoeg-6y9OKKn4Iw75stRZGe6vc3jHFgpjLwYG8/s1600/gbc8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYQ73mXk6Kf4-44UUWbn-8cDAgzf_bkVJd-YAZP7fLERgCOz1DD8p9hdzHcJH_JdaJvgWPbuApDOx31H-mwW6iTjLQkjsTpVroZ1_HZoeg-6y9OKKn4Iw75stRZGe6vc3jHFgpjLwYG8/s400/gbc8.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is my sister and her husband's <strike>pony</strike> dog. He insisted on sticking with them throughout the evening, even laying down in the grass beside them during the first dance.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">It was an amazing evening and a great celebration of their relationship! Awesome way to start the summer.</span></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235201568931712037.post-69359910875994533912011-06-17T09:22:00.000-05:002011-06-17T09:22:19.135-05:00neocon details<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just returned from <a href="http://neocon.com/">Neocon</a> (commercial interior design trade show at the giant Merchandise Mart in Chicago) always a great source of inspiration checking out new products and getting to see installations. Aaaand a few days in the fabulous windy city isn't bad either.</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia;">A few random detail shots...</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQA4smnv9mQnwmryNt4VWuGZUydGg9xkpKUTor8HzxDke7Pps08SZ0Q-mrZBv607f_yTRh68P_OnWV0IhsiwUWRiaPWhzP-c93Prr23MIJ2sjlhb360yv1fy3M_vHsDJzyHo2uE6MM8E/s1600/neo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQA4smnv9mQnwmryNt4VWuGZUydGg9xkpKUTor8HzxDke7Pps08SZ0Q-mrZBv607f_yTRh68P_OnWV0IhsiwUWRiaPWhzP-c93Prr23MIJ2sjlhb360yv1fy3M_vHsDJzyHo2uE6MM8E/s400/neo1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGNPBuZrj8um12tVVqQ1lDX-M3YGVwN1-c7YpTgtRWYzSoVZt3hy_qWh90884Uz-Y4JB0n19xow6wlMRSF5CJgqD8MyTsnVBPUz5zFa99XyX5w9vqYkK5usF690jrphSAW5TkHA1Cf6I/s1600/neo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGNPBuZrj8um12tVVqQ1lDX-M3YGVwN1-c7YpTgtRWYzSoVZt3hy_qWh90884Uz-Y4JB0n19xow6wlMRSF5CJgqD8MyTsnVBPUz5zFa99XyX5w9vqYkK5usF690jrphSAW5TkHA1Cf6I/s400/neo2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0C2Lv-e56d66ebHAqvn9WNZvlNNEDbMjGwHa6SssKb3MqJ6NetRUfxc1GAxkMzvtDl_62Qpe0unRnLYNhMZNJG60JbWZlA61uKvBqQMb6Nq0tChvmoUDkF80zix96I4u136O-DgSgcY/s1600/neo3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0C2Lv-e56d66ebHAqvn9WNZvlNNEDbMjGwHa6SssKb3MqJ6NetRUfxc1GAxkMzvtDl_62Qpe0unRnLYNhMZNJG60JbWZlA61uKvBqQMb6Nq0tChvmoUDkF80zix96I4u136O-DgSgcY/s400/neo3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VJdx3lCfwtcX4r6PL2Vhujb0ScTmYfkSTHCBUdZQD0DOgvdepn_R4eNErlTT8i-Cdz2d-u8oiyqynHUvjsiJNC6fTER5RVgY8ek4jhUUwOGm7ARhciQ2KspU0s82pg3sAUPwvLLqJOU/s1600/neo4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VJdx3lCfwtcX4r6PL2Vhujb0ScTmYfkSTHCBUdZQD0DOgvdepn_R4eNErlTT8i-Cdz2d-u8oiyqynHUvjsiJNC6fTER5RVgY8ek4jhUUwOGm7ARhciQ2KspU0s82pg3sAUPwvLLqJOU/s400/neo4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwW0TUc0H5LuJVUurKEHvNpljb86-_E2WEDhi2Fz0ghj9xyrrwpgQ4byhi6ZI8czzuEsLnUY4hXj5bVvRlPFolxRkjZEBzt3WErV2ZW1lFwtnmIdtsfXw6lKWtELzBe0CAOn4Uty3sYXE/s1600/neo5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwW0TUc0H5LuJVUurKEHvNpljb86-_E2WEDhi2Fz0ghj9xyrrwpgQ4byhi6ZI8czzuEsLnUY4hXj5bVvRlPFolxRkjZEBzt3WErV2ZW1lFwtnmIdtsfXw6lKWtELzBe0CAOn4Uty3sYXE/s400/neo5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNt7e5fXbImoplXRiUZNgGZfVm5jLP_9ATiCarGI21wNlhZwDaJ1IPYWfCQa-6WAiyENX8hd5h3cDV8HWnFf9zcVp8T8kuiQXsYBeBiZNJOxJkFcwiN0VRt4UnmydQJv_GWK5Z7_18J70/s1600/neo6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNt7e5fXbImoplXRiUZNgGZfVm5jLP_9ATiCarGI21wNlhZwDaJ1IPYWfCQa-6WAiyENX8hd5h3cDV8HWnFf9zcVp8T8kuiQXsYBeBiZNJOxJkFcwiN0VRt4UnmydQJv_GWK5Z7_18J70/s400/neo6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">1. Bernhardt chair w/ Maharam textile 2. graphic in...Turnstone? Izzy? 3. Steelcase media wall 4. Vitra rubber band wall 5. Maharam Deconstructed Rose 6. Lamp in Haworth showroom</span></em></div>alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01529395431712591169noreply@blogger.com4