Peach Kennel Oil

I was checking my dashboard, as I regularly do, to see if any new comments have popped up on the blog here and I came across an interesting find.

Someone found my blog by searching for “peach kennel oil”!

So, there isn’t such a thing as peach kennel oil but there is such a thing as peach kernel oil which is used in soap, shampoo and other bath or body products.

Fitting, seeing as I’m a body product junkie.

I’m glad you found me, peach kernel oil searcher!

Bathroom: Chapter 4

Paneling! Beadboard! Wainscoting!

What do you call it?

Whatever you call it, it’s where we are!

After JB finished painting the floor the first time, it was time to cover up all the nasty crud left behind from the old tiles.

Remember?

Yummy!

*cough*cough*

Sorry, I got 50 year old mortar stuck in my throat…oh, that was nasty.

So, b/c Jerry and I really like doing things twice (the paint in the living room, the paint on the floor) we figured the beadboard should be no different.

The first installation went a little like this:

1. Cut to size
2. Nail around the perimeter of the piece to make it stick to the wall

“Um…are we going to be able to make those nails invisible, babe?”

I thought he was going to kill me when I asked him that.

“I’m not doing it again!,” was the response I got.

Hehehe…

After we finished the bath half of the bathroom beadboard using nails on only the top and bottom (where they can be hidden by moulding) and using a serious amount of “Strong as Nails” glue on every other inch of it, the mister allowed me to do some light demo on the sink/toilet side of the bathroom.

Do you get this at all?

I was then allowed to pull down the beadboard from the sides of the sink and toilet and behind one of the doors (at this point the new sinks and toilets were already installed and we couldn’t just take them out so the beadboard behind our porcelain had to stay the way it was).

Having some issues with pieces not sticking to the wall was no fun.

Our house was built in the early 50s so things aren’t always as square as Jerry.

BUT we managed to get all of the beadboard up as well as install the toilet and sinksssss.

Plural. I wanted two sinks, I got two sinks.

Fighting over a sink in order to save your shirt from toothpaste dripage is NO FUN.

PP Sorry for the crap photos. Apparently, when we were doing major projects in the house we didn’t bother to take photos of each milestone. Go figure. In our defense, though, sometimes two sets of hands just doesn’t seem like enough!

Mail Time

It has begun!

Wedding talk, that is.

Are you EXCITED?

Good b/c I’m not.

Let me explain…

My first venture into wedding-dom was an epic failure. I thought I would run on the bride wearing colorful shoe train so I ordered a pair of purple heels off of the internet last week.

Yesterday I got these in the mail:

When you’ve managed to stop laughing, I’ll be here waiting.

And yes, I have very large feet for a girl my height.

I have decided on the bridesmaids dress color and thought it’d be fun to match them in some way.

Not so much.

Once I, myself, stopped laughing at the hooker heels and the “you can hardly call this purple” purple, I let my feelings of “WTF?! I have to plan a wedding?!” overwhelm me. Suddenly I feel old. Grown up.

And who wants to be grown up?

Honestly.

The heels were surprisingly comfortable (coming from someone who maybe wears heels 3 times a year) but the heel is a little to large and slips right off so they’re going back (or onto craigslist so I don’t have to deal with the shipping, we’ll see). Oh, darn.

But then today, I got a much better package in the mail.

It was from my lovely step-mother, Jackie.

YESSSS…

It came with an “instant gift box” that is magnetized and snaps right together (easy peasy, wedding box squeezy!) to store receipts or business cards, a book from my Dad (to add to my Ireland collection), and a sweet card explaining what the heck it all was for (b/c I really had no idea – I’m that dense; I mean, obviously I knew what the wedding book was for but the other two had me totally confused).

Thanks to today’s package I feel like I’m ready to get back on the wedding planning horse. It can’t be all bad.

For real, I get to go to bakeries and they’re going to give me cake to test? For free?

It may take me a year to figure out just the cake!

PP I’m still accepting wedding tips and advice (forever and ever, amen)! Do you like the colorful shoe idea (aside from the mess I picked out already – seriously, google it, it’s a cute idea)? How did you stay organized when planning your wedding? Let me know!

Trial Tuesday: Quesadilla Maker

Introducing our newest gadget:

No, it didn’t come with the plates, peppers and cheese. Stay with me here.

We actually got this Sante Fe Quesadilla Maker for Christmas.

Jerry has been wanting one of these for quite some time.

We love mexican food, we make burritos or quesadillas at least once a week.

At least.

So here are the pros:

• Cuts the time of making a quesadilla in half (no flipping the tortillas in the pan, both sides get done at the same time)
• The ring around the outside helps to seal your contents in the quesadilla (until you cut it into pieces but this is the “pros” section)
• The tortilla gets nice and cruchy…mmm…

The cons:

• When making a quesadilla with only cheese in it (ie a really thin quesadilla) the lid doesn’t close all the way! The two front triangles barely get cooked before the back and bottom are done.
• Somehow these nice little pockets are created by sealing the triangles shut but there is really no way you could get more than cheese and a little shredded meat in each pocket (ie no room for peppers).
• It’s another quirky appliance that takes up space when I can basically do the same thing in my Calphalon pan.

Verdict:

The reason I haven’t trialed this before now is b/c we were trying to see if we could return it somewhere. The quesadillas do come out really yummy but it doesn’t seem worth the hassle, especially since the front pieces don’t get fully cooked.

This bothers Jer-Bear the most.

And now that we found out we can’t return it, he’s going to try out his engineering skills on the hinge so that it comes down more in the front.

B/c girls only want boyfriends who have great skills (name that movie!).

It really was a great gift for us (we love mexican, we love quesadillas) but I guess it’s a better idea than an actual product.

PP Have you tried any kitchen gadgets or “as seen on TV” type products that you love? Any you are still crying over your spent money about? Let me know!

Bambinos

In my family, when you say “The Girls” you are referring to these two:

And if you say “The Twins” it is understood that you are talking about these two:

(In case you’re curious, they are all cousins of mine, and Alek and Grace are in the 4th grade and as tall as me. Just in case you were wondering).

So my mom and step-dad, Tony, have given the newest set of “girls” and “twins” a new name. The bambinos.

And they were here this weekend:

Somebody, most likely Grandma Jan, taught little Abs and Ema how to say “cheese” when a camera is around.

Yeah, we melted.

We also tried to give los bambinos bath time in the shower stall in our upstairs bathroom (since the Misters were tiling the downstairs bathtub).

It didn’t go very well.

They may need therapy when they’re older b/c of it.

Anywho, there was no photo shoot during this trip.

BOO!

It was just too crazy to try and get them dressed up and sitting pretty.

Let’s just say they love exploring new places.

And, much like their Auntie Em, they love to stay in their pajamas as long in the day as possible.

PP What did you do this past weekend? Oh, and for the record, instead of happening every Tueday, “Trial Tuesday” will only happen on Tuesdays that I actually have something new to trial. (I am on a budget, peeps!)

Work It Out: Week 5 & 6

I’ve actually been posting these about a week after I write them and it’s getting really confusing so I’m bringing you up to speed.

The original plan was to write a post on this monday for next monday so I would be ahead of myself and always have a monday post ready to go but…I’m lazy. And it is getting harder and harder to remember what happened two weeks ago.

So this week we’re playing catch up.

After the snowboarding nonsense…Jerry and I were pretty sore.

The next day we went for a walk and got engaged. *sigh*

The rest of the week we kept to our workout schedule and made jokes when Tony Horton (P90X instructor) told us that the tip of the day was to “ENGAGE.”

“And I’m not telling you to go out and get engaged -”

“But we did, Tony Horton!”

(Yes, we talk to Tony Horton while working out and yes, we always call him by his full name).

Anyway, last Friday we went out on that whirlwind road trip and missed 2 days of work outs.

YIKES!

We’ve been trying to play catch up since then. Here’s what’s going on…

Friday, 2/12, made our work out and then left for my Dad’s house.

Saturday, 2/13, drove the bulk of our trip (from point B to E in one day) so had no time for kenpo.

Sunday, 2/14, is a rest or stretch day so we counted it as our rest day.

Monday, 2/15, we were still in Ohio but managed to get home around 4PM. Too exhausted to work out.

Tuesday, 2/16, we finally got to kenpo and thought maybe we could pull two workouts in a day?

Not likely.

We were still pretty spent from all the driving.

Then on Wednesday 2/17, and Thursday, 2/18, we did the work outs from last Saturday and Monday.

Sarah and Dan came with the twins on Friday so I spent 5 hours cleaning like mad and had no time to work out but was sufficiently sweaty and exhausted from all the cleaning.

No, I’m not counting that as my workout but we did sub in shoveling layers of ice and snow from the driveway for over an hour as our cardio on Thursday. :p

Needless to say, no working out happened on Saturday or Sunday as the gang was all here.

In summary, JB and I are 6 days and 5 workouts behind (Sunday is a rest day).

Now you know where we are at this very second.

So I’m off to work out.

Wish me luck. :\

Sparkly Little Secret

So things have been a little different around here this week.

A little on the personal side and that’s not what I intended this blog to be really.

The reason for the recent personal posts is that I’ve been building up to something MAJOR.

Yep, I’ve been keeping a secret…

…and it’s sparkly!

So without further ado, here it is:

YES he liked it!

YES he put a ring on it!

YES that is one sparkly diamond!

YES those are tears in my eyes!

YES my “hubs” will actually someday be my hubs!

YES I covered up that sparkly diamond as soon as this picture was taken b/c my hand was freezing!

WOOHOO!

Don’t you just love surprises?

I know I sure do.

Jerry surprised me with the best surprise ever on our 7th anniversary, Super Bowl Sunday, February 7th, 2010.

So what took us so long to share the news?

I’m glad you asked.

This:

That is one big blue circle through 3 states, 4 stops, 1,331 miles, 2 snow storms, 1 long Valentine’s Day weekend and visual confirmations of at least 20 smiling faces.

Totally worth it.

That leads me to my next topic of discussion: wedding planning.

Which I am now doing in full force with the help of the mister, excuse me, my future Mr.

No, wedding planning will not consume TPP but you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be mentioned from time to time.

(Hopefully, not too much to irritate you but enough to keep you wanting more!)

Any tips for a newly engaged couple? Anyone know any great vendors in Rochester, NY?! Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Work It Out: Week 4

One month is done!

I want to quit!

This whole “food” issue is really annoying me.

When Jerry and I went snowboarding on Saturday it kind of wrecked my eating detox I was following from Glamour magazine.

For lunch I had chicken fingers and french fries…with mayo.

I know! I know!

I may as well quit now.

I think I need a diet doctor. Did you know they exist?

I need one.

Badly.

That I don’t have to pay for.

Any Pro Bono Diet Doctors out there?

*sigh*

I’ve been working out religiously to P90X and I’ve gained a pound.

The past few weeks I was going down and then WHAM!

Two days of bad eating gets me back up 3 lbs? Is that even right?

I quit.

UGH!!!

Jerry has lost his love handles and I gained a pound.

It would be totally different if I felt like my clothes were fitting better or if I could look in the mirror and honestly tell myself I see some changes.

I’m currently looking for other means of exercise and other eating changes I can make that won’t be as far-fetched as detoxing for me. Any suggestions?

I think I’m at least going to try to get to the end of P90x this time.

Maybe a miracle will happen in the last few weeks.

PP Sorry for all the text and no photos. That’s the kind of mood this puts me in right now.

Birthday Boy

Nope, not another post about my Valentine’s Day pooch.

I really do love February and this post is for reason #3.

Not only do I get our anniversary and Eddie’s Adoption Day, I get to celebrate the day that the Jer-Bear came into this world.

I guess I should have posted this yesterday on Jerry’s birthday (2/15) but Eddie’s birthday came first so that’s how it was done here, too.

So in honor of the man’s 27th birthday, a list of why I love him and why he’s so awesome:

1. That face:

Call me shallow all you want, those eyes and those dimples (hidden by scruff here) were the first things I noticed about JB as we crossed paths going to and from Cheel Ice Arena for meals.

2. He’s a family man.

Sometimes he talks to his brothers longer than I talk to my sisters. Didn’t think that was possible? Yeah, neither did I.

When we go back to Ohio to visit, he wants to make sure we see EVERYONE. And when your entire family lives in the same town – grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins – that’s a lot of people to see in one long weekend! But I don’t mind. His family is the reason that even I get homesick for Ohio.

3. He’s a handyman.

He can fix just about anything I break and if he doesn’t know how to do it, he will in 10 minutes. Case in point: the bathroom.

4. He’s a great work out buddy.

I.E. He’s a giant ball of encouragement and motivation whenever I need an extra kick in the batootie to get moving. This quality makes him a great person in general in my book. (But in regards to working out, Yoga X has made him flexible enough to do this):

Are you dying?! B/c we were!

The fact that he actually wanted to try this after seeing how easily I got in there is another reason why I love Jer-Bear.

5. He takes care of Eddie and me.

If left to my own devices, I’d be sleeping on somebody’s couch or living in a cardboard box owing a lot more money to college than I do. For whatever reason I haven’t figured out yet, he loves me. (He even humors me with all of my picture taking). And you know Eddie’s story now, too.

He is our hero.

The reason behind our “one-man is all we’ll ever need” stance.

As the blog world as my witness, Mr. B, I love you.

PP Sorry for all the gushing but it cannot be helped in this area of discussion.

Valentine Baby

Er, puppy.

Allow me to officially introduce you to Eddie:

Blog readers, this is Eddie.

Eddie, these are my blog readers.

Now, it’s story time:

4 years ago on February 10, 2006, I sent an e-mail to Jer-Bear with a link from Petfinder while he was at work.

I must have sent Jerry 100 of these e-mails.

More even. Tons. Tons of “potential dog” e-mails littered his work inbox from June (when we moved in together) until this seemingly usual day in February.

Jerry wouldn’t make up his mind. He seemed to want a dog but he kept coming up with excuses:

“Very active? Emily, “very” is written in all caps – we live in an apartment.”

“It says this one needs a lot of training. We really don’t have time for that.”

“Seriously? An Irish Wolfhound?”

I tried and tried and tried and was beginning to lose hope.

Even so, I tried again.

And this time was different.

On that evening of February 10, 2006, when the man came home from work, he said he’d like to go see this dog – what’s his name?

Eddie.

We made the trek out to the Beverly Animal Shelter in Waterloo, NY on February 11, 2006.

I was unreasonably nervous.

Even more nervous than when Jerry and I decided to move in together for the first time, 3 hours away from our nearest relatives.

We accidentally drove by the shelter twice before we entered the shop and told the clerk we were interested in adopting a dog we saw on Petfinder.

“Oh! Sure thing! Let’s head over!”

The building next door was the kennel.

As soon as the door squeaked open we were overcome by the roar of a hundred dogs jumping higher on their cage doors than I am tall.

I grabbed Jerry’s hand.

“Go ahead and take a look; all names and the sex are on the sheets attached to the cage door.”

Slowly walking hand in hand down the center of the only hall, Jerry took the left side and I took the right.

“I think that’s him.”

Jerry whispered it but was still walking.

“You saw him?”

I glanced back and caught a glimpse of a white dog in the back of his kennel.

“Yeah, I think so.”

For whatever reason, maybe as to not offend the dogs in the back of the kennel, we kept walking. Reaching the end, we turned around to see the clerk with a question on her face. Jerry found his words first.

“Could we see Eddie?”

She nodded and we met her at Eddie’s cage.

He was chubbier than in his photo and cuter.

WAY cuter.

He was laying on a blanket next to his water bowl completely oblivious to the fact that we were there for him.

The other dogs continued barking and jumping as we exited the kennel to take him for a quick walk around the property.

I couldn’t stop smiling.

“He’s it?”

I nodded.

“He’s it.”

We informed the clerk we would like to adopt Eddie and she told us that while that was great news, Eddie wouldn’t really be up for adoption for 3 more days.

In New York, you can’t adopt out a dog until he’s been in the shelter for 10 days…just in case someone lost him and is planning on coming back for him.

She told us in this case that this was unlikely and then told us his story.

Eddie’s former owner had been evicted from their apartment and it wasn’t a good situation.

The landlord brought the cops on the final eviction day and found Eddie sitting on the couch with the TV on.

The renters had left and abandoned Eddie.

The shelter workers weren’t even sure of Eddie’s name.

“When you come back for him in 3 days, you can name him something different. I don’t think he’s used to Eddie yet, it shouldn’t confuse him.”

3 days!

We finally found the dog for us and we couldn’t have him for 3 days!

What if that no good evictee came back?

Would they just hand over our dog to them?

The next 3 days I was a ball of nerves.

Jerry was as cool as a cucumber, he had no doubts that Eddie would be joining our family.

And he was right.

3 days later, on Valentine’s Day 2006, I took the 45 minute drive out one more time.

Signed a bazillion papers, paid my $75 shot fee and strapped him in to the car for his first ride home.

So now, every Valentine’s Day has a special meaning for our small family. Eddie’s Adoption Day!

PP Do you have a dog? Did you adopt? Tell me your dog-gone story!