Tuesday, April 25, 2006

My Hips Don't Lie

Oh, internet. I've decided to upload all my favorite blogs into bloglines and it's taking forever. Seriously, there are just too many interesting people with blogs.
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Darwin would like everyone to know that his new favorite band is Arctic Monkeys. He would like you to know that he bets you look good on the dance floor.

Griffin's new favorite band is We Are Scientists. He claims that his body is your body and he won't tell anybody and if you want to use his body you can go for it; but I say you have to wait until he's 18. Because otherwise? That's just gross.

My kids obviously have excellent taste in music. I'm so proud.
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For all those people who were envious of my driveway...


Yeah. Bet you're not so jealous now, are ya? ARE YA?
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Gratuitous garden photos...




The pansies will soon be replaced by geraniums...


... which are being held with some of Griffin's gardening plants.

Oh yeah, Griffin's getting his own garden this summer. He's growing carrots and watermelons and orange flowers. Obviously, Aaron is quite excited and wants to go a little overboard...


... I'm gonna have to reel that grandiose idea in a bit.
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Yesterday I made myself tea. Like a normal adult.


And I had a piece of my gluten-free carrot cake with it.

And my brown sugar is from Germany. I'm a bit of sugar snob.

Aaron's company sent him to work at their plant in Germany about seven years ago. He was there for so long I got to visit him (his company paid for my plane ticket). While I was there I fell in love with their sugar for tea. We can't get it here. It's like sugar in the raw, but even more raw. It's like little sparkly brown crystals. I love it. Luckily, we have a really good friend that lives in Germany so we have him get me some when I run out. Luckily for him (unluckily for me), I don't go through it very fast. I rarely get to have my tea time since I've had kids.

I should definitely reinstate my tea time.
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My dad bought us this buffet this past weekend, which was incredibly nice of him. We need storage and have no money.


Anyway, I'm going to sand it, paint it white and get new hardware. Any recommendations for brands of paint? Also, it came from a house where they smoke inside (ewwww). Any ideas of how to get the stench out? We plan on using it for linens (can you believe we have no pantry, no linen closet and no coat closet? This is what sucks about living in a old house) and we really don't want our sheets smelling like cigarettes.
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Has this post been random enough for ya?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

My kids been singing Ray Charles "I got a woman!" Nice curves at your house. Very purty flowers. And did someone say "paint it white!" Hello! The queen is right here. I can't recommend any paint cuz I just always use whatever we happen to have. Do go with a high gloss though since you'll be actually using this piece of furniture. Smoke smells suck. I remember reading something about ridding the smell once, but can't remember it. I'm sure once you sand it most of smell will be gone. Oh maybe it was something like- sit it outside for days and put vinegar in open containers in all the spaces? or was it baking soda? to absorb the stink. Ah...do a google search I guess.

LLA said...

randomness - I love it.

I also love the buffet as well! I like it now, but I think I'll like it even more when you are done with it...

Couple of ideas about the smoke smell:

If you're going to paint over it, I believe that one of the sealer/primers (Kilz? maybe) has an odor blocking component to it. Ask at Home Depot about this, but I think that this is a primer that they use when homes have been smoke damaged.

* The other thing you can do is see if you can rent on ozone generator - then just plug it in, point it at the buffet and let it run for a day or two. Ozone generators are amazing, and are used to get rid of smoke smells and are one of the only things that can get rid of mold/mildew odors (as well as killing the mold and mildew). This might not be as easy, however - I am not sure how available they are to rent. Our neighbor is an HVAC guy, and he lets us borrow his on occasion....

As for paint - go with Behr at Home Depot. Consumer Reports gave it big props recently. It's inexpensive, covers well and is easy to work with.


Final Note - you should go visit my friend, Phil - he's in a very heavy Arctic Monkey phase as well....

Anonymous said...

Kilz, Kilz, Kilz. (Well, Kilz 2) It's up there with duck tape and WD40.

Maybe sand it, then scrub it with vinegar/water. Then Kilz it. Then paint it. It'll be so cute!

laura capello said...

Oh crap.

Are you people expecting me to paint the INSIDE too?!

Kim said...

Yes, I can believe the no closet story. It's a Kansas thing, I think.
When I asked the leasing agent at our apartment when we were sentenced there, she said, "Well, these were built in the 80's." I confirmed that she did, indeed, mean 1980's, because, you know, people didn't wear coats back then.

lindiepindie said...

This was like a 10-post post or something! Where do I start? I like rain - even rain on a driveway. I like tea as well, but never get a chance to drink it - lucky you. The GF carrot cake looks delicious!

Our home is 13 years old and has the smallest triangular-shaped linen closet in the guest room so I get what you're going through. That is a nice buffet that will do the job well. I'm thinking baking soda sprinkled all over, dusted out after a day or two might save you from having to paint the inside.

lindiepindie said...

Oh yeah and bloglines will make your life SO much easier!

Ali said...

Like your pansy colour combinations!
Why won't my kids listen anything other than jingly jangly *r*p?
Is bloglines worth it and do you get the pictures with each post?
Don't like brown sugar in tea, but I do like those chunky crystal things for eating - yuk I know.
Good luck with the smell removal - absolutely no hints whatsoever.
Random comments for your random post!

Anonymous said...

Ok, Capello, if I was closer, you know I would come over, help you sand and stain it. Paint inside and out will definitely cover the the stinch. I can't wait to see it. Only 5 more weeks till I am there.
I am so jealous of the flowers. All we have out is pansies. It is still to cold in Wisconsin to plant anything. I miss planting in March. I used to plant in Feb in St. Loius.
I miss you lots.
See you soon!!

Anonymous said...

Ok, forgot to sign my note, but I figure, you will know it is me.

Love,
Your Wisconsin Best Friend

Marshamlow said...

I use Blogliness, but agree the set up was a bitch, love it now that it is set up.

We have afternoon tea. We don't always drink tea, but we have a formal snack time with the good china, my Lily and I. I feel like it helps me with the feelings of missing out due to diet and food allergies etc.

I love your flowers, pansies always work well for me, I hope they work well for you too, and I can't wait to see your giant pumpkins for Halloween.

The buffet is GREAT. Wow you are so lucky. I recommend: using Murphy's Oil Soap. Take the thing outside in the sunshine, use the wood soap, take out all the drawers and was every surface and let it dry in the sun.

diana said...

Hey girl I like your randomness.. bc I learned
alot from your readers advice .. I have no additional advice... You might want to put it in the garage and open it up for a bit... or wait... I have some bounce sheets I dont need... do ya want those ????
lol

Anonymous said...

Hey there! Found you through cheryl's blog and had to click through cuz of the post about aged peeps. My DH is the same way. So I buy/ripen them about a week before Easter. Gross to me, but who am I to say?

On the smoke thing - FEBREZE! I use it on cigar boxes too - squirt it and let it sit. Works great!