Thanksgiving Success!

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch, and everything went smoothly! The turkey turned out perfectly, thanks to a super secret chile rub, and half time on the grill, half time in the oven.

My pictures turned out a little dark, but I hope you get the idea.

All the food tasted good, especially the sourdough artichoke parmesan stuffing, the caramelized pecans in the salad, and the pie! Oh pie- pumpkin, apple, and sweet potato pecan!

My table looked pretty, and turned out like my inspiration board:

And everyone had fun!

Some good stuff to come this week, possibly including canning, more upholstery, and demolition!  … stay tuned…

-Liz

Thanksgiving Table Mood Board

Less a mood board, more of a stock of items I am definitely using for my California Thanksgiving table, minus all the delicious food!

I wanted an informal, casual California Thanksgiving, and it will be, but it will have to be dressed up a bit with my formal china, since it’s the only way I can serve 8 people! So it will be more of an elegant, modern meal, but with lots of fun and lots of food and drink!

China: Vera Wang Wedgewood Grossgrain

Tablecloth: Dwell Studio for Target Suzani

Glassware: Crate and Barrel Viv

Flatware: Crate and Barrel Couture

Napkins: Vintage Linen (similar to shown)

Vintage Silver Candlestick holders (not shown)

 

I’m not doing place cards (they’re too formal!), but need some kind of centerpiece. Will the food be enough? What can I do easily and cheaply (and quickly) at this point?

-Liz

Glossy Gorgeous Table

I have a new looking table in my guest room, just in time for Thanksgiving guests! It looks way better!

Remember what it looked like

Before:

I sanded and smoothed…

During (after sanding):

And used a high quality brush to  paint two thin coats of glossy black.

Now it’s glossy and gorgeous!

After:

Wood Floor Wonderings

Photo by TiggerT

Brentan ordered a few wood floor samples this weekend, and they came last night.(!!)

We’ve been thinking about installing some floating engineered wood floors for the living room and kitchen for a while, and I’m excited to see what our options are. We got a few different colors and widths, and I’m drawn to something warm and not too dark.

Things to think about:
- Will the money be returned (or increased) when we sell the house in a few years?
- What color would be the best as an investment? Dark brown is trendy, but will it still be in 5 years?
- What color would be the best in the house? Our ceilings are dark wood and will more dark wood make the rooms look dark, or worse, like a hunting lodge?

Right now I’m leaning towards a medium width honey color that is warm but not red or dark. It’s classic, and I think that will translate well to our  modern house. Anyways, almost anything will look better and make the house more cozy than ugly tile floors!

-Liz

A Fresh Face

The new fabric is on! And it was easy! Really!

I pretty much completely reupholstered the chair in an evening. I started taking apart the chair a few days ago, but the recovering was done in one night. I decided to leave the ugly green fabric underneath my new beautiful fabric, since I didn’t want to deal with taking out all the staples that held it in place and 30+ year old stuffing underneath.

After a quick return trip to Joann Fabric (I needed a liner so the green fabric wouldn’t show through my light colored lattice fabric), I cut my fabric based on the pattern from the white fabric that was on it before, got out my staple gun, and stapled the fabric on to the chair frame.

I did get to use another gun–my glue gun! I decided that the piping I made could be glued on to the chair, just like it was before.  And I glued a piece of the lining fabric onto the bottom of the chair to cover up the unsightly springs, in case anyone looks underneath my chair.

Remember what it looked like before:

Now it’s beautiful:

I decided not to do anything with the color of the frame. I like the stain it has, and it fits with the room. I guess I could paint it bright glossy green, for a totally different vibe!

Do you like the blue pillow on it? It might be a little big for this smallish chair…

Here is the general area, but it seems to be missing something in the picture. Maybe some sconces on the wall? Or something on the wall by the mirror? Something that draws your eye up a bit? Or do you like the minimalist approach? That’s probably how it will stay until I come up with something else.

Yay new chair! I’m moving on to the bench next!

-Liz

Cleaning and cleaning!

Photo by Valerie Morrison

I spent a good part of today cleaning and doing laundry, and still didn’t get everything done.  Oh it’s overwhelming sometimes. I don’t know if I could ever handle a house much bigger than the one I’m in now.

So, how about some advice… how do you keep things clean on a day to day basis? Or do you let your space get messy messy?

I’ve learned that the more unorganized and dirty my space, the worse I feel. But that usually doesn’t inspire me to make it better!

-Liz

Uncovering a Chair Mystery

Uncovering this chair was like a mystery. How does the seat come off? What is underneath that white fabric? How will I attach my new fabulous fabric?

Well, the seat comes off with a little force. And there is ugly green velvet, probably from the 1970′s, under that white fabric!

As I started taking the chair apart I noticed that it had been recovered before, some of it looking quite professional, with upholstery tacks. Those tacks were a bit difficult to remove and I ended up using a hammer to wedge a screwdriver under the tacks to pry them loose.

And some of it looking a little homespun, with hot glue on to hold the piping in place:

And how I put the new fabric on…. well you’ll just have to wait and see….

-Liz

A New Outlook

 

Goodbye old

 

I like a good project as well as the next person. I like to put things back together and make things useful again. I enjoy the thrill that I get from making something from nothing. When I’m on my game, I will squint and chew my lip and think of nothing else.  I love to be in the zone. My projects usually consist of fixing a broken chair leg or painting a room or re-upholstering a couch or getting a stain out of a vintage table cloth. I have never done any real pick axe and sledge hammer kind of home remodeling. Oh I have bashed out the tile wall behind a bath tub and put in new cement sheet rock and tile all by myself. I guess I have also helped to put a new roof on our chicken coop/shed. I’m not afraid of getting dirty. But what I saw happen at my house yesterday was nothing short of a miracle.  Three strapping young men drove up to my house at around 8:30am and got down to work. They pried out the old windows, measured and cut and sawed a new opening, and wrestled a  set of HUGE windows to put in their place. They worked and worked and worked until they could work no more. The last bit of caulking was done on a ladder outside while one guy held a flashlight so the other could see. Look what they did. In my lifetime, I could not imagine being able to do this. Awesome. Who says that you cannot get good help these days? -Peg

 

The window truck

 

 

Windows in!

 

 

the windows after

 

California Thanksgiving Thoughts

Chile Spice Turkey

This year marks a couple firsts for me on the Thanksgiving front:

1. My first Thanksgiving in California
2. My first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner!

I decided to combine the two into a casual, comfortable, Californian Thanksgiving dinner for the theme of Thanksgiving this year (also may be the first Thanksgiving with a theme for me!).

I want to have a dinner outside with a few of my Californian friends and family, if the weather cooperates, and have some fresh California cooking (lots of avocados, perhaps).

Here’s my dinner menu so far, with my main source of Sunset Magazine:

• Chile Grilled Turkey with Mole Gravy
• Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing
• Spinach and Persimmon Salad
• Grilled Fingerlings with Dill
• Chile-Roasted Acorn Squash
• And of course some California wine, yet to be determined…

Oooh, and here’s a complete California menu from Epicurious, featuring Barbecued Turkey with Maple-Mustard Glaze and Sourdough, Apple and Almond Dressing. Yum!

Sunset Outdoor Feast featuring Urban Outfitters Paper Cutout Placemats

Or Perhaps Thanksgiving on the Beach?

For other table ideas, I could do something like this Martha Stewart idea–these stickies are all over the place here!

Sweet Gum Tree Spur Placecard

Grapes mean autumn in California:

Grape Centerpieces

As usual, any suggestions would be helpful! What do I really need to know about hosting Thanksgiving for the first time?

-Liz

Marvin K Mooney Will You Please Go Now!



 

Our tired old "Marvin" Windows

 

We have finally decided that it is time to replace these windows.  They are tired. They are old. They are worn out. They came as freebies from my sister’s house back in 1992. Barb was remodeling and did not want them. They seemed perfectly good to me, they were only  20 years old. Now, I’m not one to throw away anything so I said that I would be happy to put them to good use.  We filled this wall of our new family/reading room and put on the finishing touches days before Henry, our baby was born. Over the years, they lost their air seal and had moisture build up between the glass. I researched and replaced a few of the bad sections but things got worse. They became drafty AND foggy so I used a hair dryer to shrink wrap them with 3M window film which is great stuff if you have frigid winter winds blowing through your windows. BUT, I’m tired of blow drying my windows. I’m also tired of wasting fuel and heat. So we have decided that the time has come. The time is now. Just go. Go. GO! I don’t care how. You can go by foot. You can go by cow.  Marvin K Mooney will you please go now! …you can go by ballon…or broomstick. OR you can go by camel in a bureau drawer. You can go by Bumble-Boat..or jet. I don’t care how you go. Just GET! Get yourself a Ga-Zoom. You can go with a…………BOOM. Marvin, Marvin, Marvin! Will you leave this Room!

Tomorrow is the day that we get our new Marvin’s….Marvin windows that is.  -Peg