the Fruits have roots

Weekend Shenanigans

2010-10-24T09:46:00.000-04:00

This weekend's events.

My friend Jamey works for a company that outfits Jeeps with modified shocks, wheels, and basically anything you ever could want to add to a Jeep. Ha also has one he built himself for crawling (off-roading, generally speaking, but specific to jeeps, more or less), and I went out with him on Saturday. The first video below is of some other guy trying to go up a big rock and not making it. The second is of Jamey and me going up the same one yesterday.

Where others fail...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUMTgsR9ueY

Jamey and Byron succeed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ras1Lhhtz-c

Jamey's youtube page:
http://www.youtube.com/user/paineszj?feature=mhum

2010-08-12T20:39:00.004-04:00

Here's a post of happy things, just for someone special in my life (I hope she knows who she is!).

My friend Bree's baby boy, Jack! Born 10 weeks early, he's growing fast now!

Lily of the Valley from our backyard. I was so excited to see these coming up this spring!

My parents' dog, Lily. She adopted my family in the spring. Lily is the nickname for Little Sh!t. :)

And you all know and love this girl. She has a problem with personal space.

I hope these pictures put a smile on your face, my love! You know where I am if you ever need anything! {{{hug}}}

Team Fruit

2010-08-05T12:30:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday was the Kent State Blue and Gold Golf Outing. The outing is an annual event for three generations of Fruit men, and this year's event was especially enjoyable since it wasn't pouring down rain like it was in 2009.

As always, we tore up the course (literally, huge divots and disturbed foliage are the norm for us- the course is lucky it survived) and got to schmooze with big-wigs like the new Kent State athletic director, varsity coaches and student athletes.

The highlight of the outing was when one of the golfers in the group behind us made a hole-in-one to win a $56,000 Acura. It turned out that he was a former Kent State Golf team member.

Here is a photo of Team Fruit in our matching shirts- from left to right are Granddad Jim, David, me and Jeff.

2010-07-19T20:53:00.005-04:00

Here's a garden update! Things are growing like crazy out there now! I ate my first tomato today, a "Sweetie" cherry tomato that I grew from seed, starting in February.

I love the bright yellow cucumber blossoms. We should have our first edible cuke tomorrow! I'm not exactly sure how to tell when a cucumber is 'ripe' so I'll have to guess.

This picture is from June 25th. The basil and parsley (grown from seed) are starting to fill out!

Here's a photo from July 17th. Now we're talking! The tomato plants are up above the fence and the cuke vine is taking over!

Another shot for perspective of how lush this garden is.

Some baby tomatoes and blossoms. I think these are grape tomatoes, maybe?

Baby cucumber!

Cute little yard signs I got at JoAnn's. I need this mint to grow some more so I can make mojitos!

Sugar Snap peas grown from seed! These were never prolific enough to cook with, but I ate a handful as a snack everytime I checked on the garden.

Lush patch of Italian flat-leaf parsley.

Pea tendril with tiny spider on it.

Hope you enjoyed the garden tour... next time I'll have bushels of ripe tomatoes to show you (hopefully!).

xoxo

2010-07-12T15:40:00.000-04:00

Once we got the frame for the raised vegetable bed built, it was time to fill it! We went to our local garden center/drive-thru beer distributor (yes, you read that right) and bought bags of soil, peat moss, and compost.

The dogs were in their regular supervisory role.

After a little bit of (back-breaking) work, we were left with a pile of empty bags and a full garden!

The girls were relieved.

2010-07-08T15:20:00.001-04:00

On a beautiful day in early May, we set out to put our raised vegetable bed together. Following this tutorial from the Pioneer Woman, we got our materials and instructions put together.

The beagles gathered to supervise the process. They like to be the project managers.

Byron got to work making the boards square and even.

He hammered the stakes into the ground to stabilize the box and attach the upper level of boards.

Here's a peek into Byron's man purse, I mean tool bag.

Rosy continued supervising Byron. She takes this job very seriously.

A higher vantage point gives her a better place to view the process.

What a mischievous boy.

After all that hard work, we needed a treat.

2010-07-05T15:06:00.005-04:00

Since I determined today that we actually still have a reader (Hi Suzanne!), I've decided to try to revive the blog!! We've been really busy here at Fruits/Roots. I've started working full-time in Oakland and that, coupled with my 45 minute commute each way (to go 8 miles!) has really wiped me out! I'm not ashamed to admit I have a 10pm bedtime. Every night. :)

Anyway, despite being busy we're still trying to get some projects done around the ol' casa!

Here is one of my favorite easy fixes!

The concrete pad outside our backdoor is old and beginning to crumble. We want to replace it eventually, but this summer was not the time. But, when the beagles came in and out the door multiple times, they were tracking concrete dust and gravel in and out with them.

Enter IKEA's Platta tiles. They're designed to be used on decks and patios and worked out perfectly for us! They just snap together and 3 packs at $35/pack fit our back patio perfectly. Not bad for less than $100 and a half-hour of our time!

Somewhere I have a picture of the completely finished product, but it's lost in computer-land somewhere! I'll have to find it and put it here too!

xoxo

2010-05-12T16:10:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder how two former rabbit-hunting beagles adapt to suburban life? I caught our girls in action this afternoon after the neighborhood cat had been in our backyard (I think that's what it was). The deep bay belongs to the black beagle, Mocha, and the high-pitched one belongs to Rosy, our newest addition.

Sorry the video is sideways. I recorded it on our point-and-shoot camera and didn't think not to hold it vertically!

Enjoy!

2010-05-10T14:30:00.004-04:00

We recently jetted 0ff [drove] to our action-packed [relaxed] anniversary weekend in Paris [Seven Springs, PA]. On our itinerary? Eat, drink, sleep, Kentucky Derby, repeat [except for that part about the Derby, that only happened once].

Near Seven Springs Mountain Resort, you see a lot of this:

Trees, winding mountain roads and scenic vistas. Since it's still pretty early in the summer [late in the spring?], most of the trees were just getting their bright-green first leaves. The earth has come alive again! [This winter, I wasn't sure it would!]

Byron did the driving. He is very serious about driving.

See? More trees and winding roads.

One of our day trips was to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Built in the 1930s by Wright for the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh [of department store fame], Fallingwater is arguably Wright's most famous piece of architecture. It was even on the cover of Time Magazine in 1938!

It's a quick daytrip from the city, and really close to Seven Springs. If you haven't been, you should go! The tour is interesting, the house is amazing, and the grounds are beautiful!

If I could only raise the ceilings of the whole house (they're really low) and scrounge up many millions of dollars, I could live there! Living right above the falls on Bear Run makes the whole house like nature's best white noise machine!

The rest of our anniversary trip consisted of multiple buffets at the resort, watching the Derby, and trips to CW Klay Winery and Glade's Pike Winery [I'm in love with Glade's Pike's Seyval Blanc!].

All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing weekend and I can't wait to do it again!

xoxo

2010-05-05T16:50:00.000-04:00

My, my! How things have changed.

Here's a picture taken just after "Snowpocalypse", on February 6, 2010. The pine tree was bent over, the picnic table was groaning under two feet of snow, and the snow was WAY deeper than a beagle is tall.

Really takes you back, doesn't it?

Let's move on.

Here are a few pictures taken April 10, 2010.

It seems, after all that snow melted, there were two beagles hiding under the snow! Wonder how long they were out there? ;)

Isn't it amazing what 8 weeks will do for a space?

Stay tuned for more springtime pictures coming soon!

2010-04-22T15:46:00.005-04:00

There are many benefits to owning your own single-family home. Ability to make important decisions, investment into your future, more space and amenities. But one benefit that doesn't get talked about much? The ability to have a backyard cookout with your family.

Byron likes to use a charcoal chimney for our grill. I hate the taste of "Match Light" charcoal so we use the untreated kind.

After getting the charcoal all fired up, Byron dumps it in the grill and we're ready to go.

The beef was marinated in salt and pepper, lemon juice and soy sauce. Yummy!

(Please note the beagle footprints on the picnic table. They think it is their own personal jungle gym.)

If you were wondering, this was indeed WAY too much meat for the two of us. I don't know what I was thinking. I headed to San Diego the next week, so Byron had pre-grilled leftovers!

2010-04-11T20:41:00.003-04:00

Here's Part II of our wine reviews! We wrote about a red previously, here. Now, since the weather has warmed up, we tried a white (the things we do for our readers!).

A favorite of our friend Laura, Hogue Riesling comes highly-recommended.

This wine does not disappoint! We drank this lovely bottle with our first grilled steaks of the season. This wine is sweet, light, and very drinkable! And it's a bargain (we probably paid $8.99 or so). Another bonus of this bottle is that it is a twist-off top. While not as fancy as a cork, it's perfect for a picnic or tailgate when you might not have a corkscrew.

We'd definitely drink this bottle again, and you should too!

Salud!

2010-04-09T14:29:00.005-04:00

Inspired by Michelle over at Blissful Musings, I wanted to post some art I've found on Etsy. I love the look of screen-printed posters and prints. Someday, if I can ever make up my mind, I'd love to buy a few for around the house!

Up first, a lovely sentiment from jessgonacha. A good reminder for the whole family. (5x7 for $8)

Up next, the ubiquitous "Keep Calm and Carry On" from pressureless. This one has been making the rounds on the home design blogs for a few years now. But I love the idea and design! (16x20 for $17.50)

Here's a light-hearted take on beagle-themed art! This one is super cute (from strawberryluna), but I can't figure out where I would put it! Suggestions? (11x14 for $16)

In honor of my new last name, here's a great hand-drawn monogram from jenskelley! Depending on the shade of blue, this would be great in our dining room or kitchen. I already have several "J"s around the house, maybe it's time to branch out! (8x10 for $15)

This one would be great in our kitchen! It's light green (which is the accent color in our grey and white kitchen) and features Fruit! :) (from luckybluebirdart - 8x10 for $16)

I really have to credit Michelle for the next one! I love a good gin and tonic and this would look great in our kitchen! (from dearcolleen - 6x7 for $19).

What do you think? Have any favorites? I can't wait to pick one (or a few) of these out for our house! Are there any other etsy sellers that you love?

2010-04-06T16:16:00.000-04:00

Scenes from the Dog Park.

Location:

Hartwood Acres Off-Leash Area

Cast of Characters:

Dusty - 9 month-old yellow lab - parents are Kate and Adam
Finley - 1.5 year-old puggle - parents are Megan and Tom
Mocha - 4 year-old beagle - parents are us!

2010-03-31T20:00:00.006-04:00

As you all know, we've been working on getting our bedroom put together. We've posted about it before here and here. One big piece that is missing, however, is the headboard.

Bedroom by JeniRae on Polyvore.com

Here are some of the beds I've been stalking online. Now, if were were millionaires, we would buy Pottery Barn for all of our stuff (that and Restoration Hardware). The bed below is gorgeous, and I'm sure well-made, but seriously, who buys this stuff??

Pottery Barn Hudson Bed - $1,599

Here's another PB product, a comparative steal at $400 cheaper...

Pottery Barn Farmhouse Bed - $1,199

Let's come back to reality now... here's the Tar-jay knock-off. We're now down in the 3-figure price range instead of the 4-figure (a place I'm a little more comfortable). This bed is well-reviewed and popular but being from Target, the quality and durability may be questionable.

Target Avington Bed - $199

It seems to be a good price, so this is actually a viable option for us! But, there's one more option below...

Farmhouse Queen from www.knockoffwood.blogspot.com - ~$120

Knock-Off Wood is a website written and maintained by a woman named Ana. She posts step-by-step plans and materials lists for wooden projects with simple designs. Basically, she reverse-engineers the plans and often bases her designs off of Pottery Barn originals. She claims the bed above can be made from pine for about $120. In this way, you can be sure what your product is made of, and finish it however you see fit (like the antiqued look above).

Byron and I are actually considering taking on this project. We'd have to rent an air-nailer and buy a few other things, but it seems simple enough. Take a look at the plans in the link above and let us know what you think. Do you think we can do it?

China

2010-03-29T19:16:00.001-04:00

I recently took a trip to Shanghai, China for work. There was a trade show in Shanghai where we had a booth, so I went over to set up some equipment and help out with the exhibit. This involved a 13 hour flight from Chicago to Shanghai, which was not as bad as I anticipated. I thought it was going to be thoroughly miserable, but it actually wasn't too bad. I slept a little, read quite a bit and watched part of a movie.

The hotel I stayed in was a very nice Four Points by Sheraton in Shanghai. It was a very western hotel- the staff spoke English, there was western food, etc. The only odd feature was the window into the shower, shown below. I have never seen that before.

I had a chance to see a little of the city while I was there, which is unusual for a trip like this. I saw an exhibit about the urban planning and development for the upcoming World Expo in Shanghai. I also went to the Yu Garden to see some Temples and other local culture. For the entire album on picasa, go here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/byron.fruit/ShanghaiMarch2010?feat=directlink

I definitely recommend that you go to China if you have the chance. There is a great deal of history and culture there to see, much more than is possible in a single trip. I was lucky enough on this trip to have some local guidance from some of my colleagues from the area.

I will post some more about specific parts of the trip if I have a chance.

2010-03-27T18:27:00.002-04:00

As a new feature here at Fruits/Roots, we've decided to start an occasional series on wines we like to drink. Namely, cheap ones. In the words of the infamous Uncle Ed, "Anyone can find a good expensive wine. It takes talent to find a good cheap wine". Now, we do not have sophisticated palates, nor are we too picky. But for your entertainment and ours, we'll attempt a few reviews. :)

Up first: Funky Llama Cabernet Sauvignon. Available at your local liquor store for $6.99, but will be on sale for $5.99 next month in PA!

Jen's Thoughts: I like most all CabSavs (that's what the cool people call them). This one is pretty dry, medium-bodied (I don't really know what that means but medium is average so...). It's definitely drinkable, goes down smooth. I could see this with summer picnic foods. It's not too heavy and might go well with a burger or hot dog. :)

Byron's Thoughts: It's good, I like it. It's not bitter. I'd drink it again. I give it 3 llamas out of 4 (a totally arbitrary rating).

For our $5.99, we would drink this again. It's a good weeknight wine, inexpensive and drinkable.

Cheers!

2010-03-23T13:34:00.004-04:00

If you remember from my post about inspiration boards, we want to have dark furniture in the bedroom.

Bedroom by JeniRae on Polyvore.com

We have that dresser, are planning to get that headboard and we had some nightstands that were scavenged from Byron's parents' attic at some point. They looked like this:

Not particularly interesting, but they are solid with clean lines and fit nicely in the space available in our bedroom.

Also an option were the nightstands that match the headboard we plan to get. They are from the Avington Collection at www.target.com.

However, being a cheapskate, I refuse to spend $149 a piece on those suckers!

That's where Minwax Polyshades comes in.

For about $12 (I think), I was able to get a quart of this stuff in "Bombay Mahogany". I used about 1/3 of the quart for two coats on two nightstands. The nice thing about this product is that it seals and stains in one step. It's not a fine furniture finish, but it does the job with much less hassle than the traditional stain + poly route. One cheap paintbrush, two brushed nickel knobs, and a few hours later, this is what resulted:

Not bad for about $16, huh? By my calculations, that's a savings of $234. Take it to the bank!

2010-03-19T15:32:00.005-04:00

Need a neck pillow for your aching neck after work?

Don't want to spend the money at Target or in the AirMall catalog?

Adopt a Beagle!

All the support and warmth of a heated neck pillow, with the added bonus of lifelong adoration and occasional free ear-cleanings!

Happy weekend, ya'll! xoxo

2010-03-16T17:18:00.004-04:00

You may remember from this post that we refinished all of the floors in our house before moving in. The floors are in pretty good shape, considering their age (50+ years old).

Here are some before photos, from our sanding/floor refinishing "party". This is in the living room. Note how we taped over the outlets and registers before sanding. Turns out this wasn't really necessary since we got the light-duty sander which wasn't really that messy! A drum sander would have taken more of the old finish off but for what we wanted to accomplish, this worked just fine.

Now here are the long-promised 'afters'!

The floors are lovely and shiny again! This part of the home makeover process really helped to 'freshen' the place up, I thought. It felt clean and rejuvenated.

Here you can also see our lovely rug from Pottery Barn clearance! It was a steal at $129, if I remember correctly! Byron carried this sucker through the Ross Park Mall for me!

And he even vacuumed it too! Isn't he a catch? ;)

Was there anything in your house decorating process that really made the space refreshed?

2010-03-08T11:27:00.002-05:00

Now that we've talked about what we needed and wanted in our future house, let's compare our purchase to our list (made before we saw this property).

Our short list of neighborhoods was:
- Shaler
- Glenshaw
- Hampton
- Wexford
- McCandless
- Indiana Township
- Penn Hills

We looked at houses in:

- Shaler
- Glenshaw
- Hampton
- Wexford
- McCandless
- Indiana Township
- Penn Hills

plus Allison Park, not originally on our list.

The first category were "Must Haves". These were items that must already be present in the house or able to be added with little difficulty or expense.

Our house met the criteria in bold:

- At least 2 bedrooms
- At least 1 bathrooms (no outhouses for us!)
- Off-street parking for 2 cars
- Fenced or fence-able yard
- Central air conditioning
- Reasonable proximity to grocery/gas

Our next category was "Would Be Nice". These items were ones that, while not technically 'deal-breakers', would be icing on the proverbial cake.

Our house met the criteria in bold:

- Garage
- Finished or finish-able basement (see how I add -able to anything and everything?)
- Made of brick or stone
- Outdoor living space (deck/patio/porch)
- Young couples or families in neighborhood
- Semi-private yard (bushes and trees)
- Large closets
- Master suite

Now we head into the more negative categories. We called the next one "Prefer Not to Have". This was for items that we could live with, but thought we would want to avoid.
- Split-level or ranch style home

We ended up purchasing a "ranch over garage", which wasn't what we thought we wanted but was better suited for us than two-story houses in our price range (mostly cape cod-style bungalows). The two-story houses that we could buy often had a small half-bath upstairs and two bedrooms with slanted ceilings. They felt very small.

The final category was for items that would be deal breakers for us. We called this one "Must Not Have".

We avoided the items in bold:

- Dense neighborhood (no yards)
- Planned development (new construction)
- Home Owner's Association
- Major repairs needed
- History of water damage/mold

Byron blogged previously about our adventures with water and mold. To summarize, after we'd made an offer on this house, the inspection discovered mold in the basement and attic, and water in the basement. Luckily, our inspection was right after a huge rainstorm. We were able to negotiate with the sellers to have French Drains installed on their dime and to have mold remediation done in the attic, also paid for by them. We told our agent to tell theirs that if these problems weren't fixed, we would walk away. The sellers had lost a buyer previous to us (they didn't bother getting pre-approved for a mortgage before making an offer!) and were willing to negotiate. Thankfully, it all worked out and we haven't had any moisture issues since.

Overall, our new home lined up pretty well with what we thought we wanted. The list we made really helped us stay on track and get the best property for us.

2010-03-06T11:04:00.003-05:00

When we first began searching for a house (I believe in late July or early August of 2009), we had to decide what kind of property and where we wanted to buy. We were pre-approved for our mortgage through PNC Bank and this set our upper limit for budget. We didn't want to spend this entire amount, so we picked a number slightly lower for our goal. Next we needed a realtor. My (Jeni's) cousin Sarah and her fiance Brett had just purchased a house in nearby Zelienople, PA (aka "Zeli"), so we asked for their recommendation. They wholeheartedly recommended Media Druschel of Prudential Preferred Realty. She also happens to be a friend of theirs and we trust their advice so we gave her a call.

We needed to give Media an idea of what kind of property we were looking for, so we told her our general area (north of Pittsburgh) and our budget ($1 million dollars... just kidding!). Then, she sent us the MLS listings for the properties that fit those criteria.

We looked at neighborhoods/school districts and asked for opinions from people we knew. Our short list of neighborhoods was:
- Shaler
- Glenshaw
- Hampton
- Wexford
- McCandless
- Indiana Township
- Penn Hills

We decided to focus on areas north of the city because of the uncertainty of my employment situation and proximity to Byron's office. Living north of the city means we can get north, east, west or downtown without having to go through any tunnels. For Pittsburghers, this is a major bonus. I won't know where I'll be working for another year or so and for this reason need to live in a flexible location.

We needed some way of narrowing down the properties and evaluating them systematically. We decided to devise a list of requirements and things to avoid in our potential house.

The first category were "Must Haves". These were items that must already be present in the house or able to be added with little difficulty or expense.
- At least 2 bedrooms
- At least 1 bathrooms (no outhouses for us!)
- Off-street parking for 2 cars
- Fenced or fence-able yard
- Central air conditioning
- Reasonable proximity to grocery/gas

Our next category was "Would Be Nice". These items were ones that, while not technically 'deal-breakers', would be icing on the proverbial cake.
- Garage
- Finished or finish-able basement (see how I add -able to anything and everything?)
- Made of brick or stone
- Outdoor living space (deck/patio/porch)
- Young couples or families in neighborhood
- Semi-private yard (bushes and trees)
- Large closets
- Master suite

Now we head into the more negative categories. We called the next one "Prefer Not to Have". This was for items that we could live with, but thought we would want to avoid.
- Split-level or ranch style home

The final category was for items that would be deal breakers for us. We called this one "Must Not Have".
- Dense neighborhood (no yards)
- Planned development (new construction)
- Home Owner's Association
- Major repairs needed
- History of water damage/mold

Other questions that we wanted to be sure to ask about were:
- Typical utility bills
- Taxes
- Flood zone status

I really encourage you, if you're looking to buy a house, to sit down with your partner and make a list about what you need/want/have to avoid in your future property. Next time, we'll compare the house we purchased to our list!

What would be on the "must haves" for you?

2010-02-28T16:16:00.005-05:00

I finally picked out new lighting for the kitchen and dining room. Currently, there are ugly ceiling fans in both rooms. The kitchen, I can understand. But I really don't want a dirty ceiling fan blowing dust down into my dinner. Plus, a pendant is much more stylish. :) The kitchen fan isn't too bad, your standard white blades with brass hardware. The problem there is that the bright lightbulbs in the kitchen shine in your eyes if you are sitting in the living room.

Here's the fixture I picked out. It can go from 10" tall (for the kitchen) clear up to 60" (for use as a pendant):

I ordered two of these. They were just $56.99 on www.overstock.com! This exact same fixture is marked down from $494.99 to $321.99 at www.lampsusa.com and is listed for similar prices on other lighting websites. What a deal! (If I do say so myself - which I do, because I can't help but announce prices when I got a deal!)

The description from the website says:

A contemporary rendition of an early 1900's colonial period look. This high quality Murray Feiss- Huguenot Lake collection boasts turned steel breaks, hand spun fitters and pressed glass. The inspiration from French antique design of the late 1800's is felt, creating a collection that has a European country sensibility combined with pragmatic American design.

Is it just me, or are these more modern looking than "early 1900s colonial period look"? They seem very Restoration Hardware to me.

These should arrive on Wednesday but I'll be in clinic so I'm going to leave a note for the UPS person to leave them in the side porch. We'll see if they'll actually leave them or if I have to sign for them.

I'm excited and will post pictures when we've got them installed!

2010-02-24T18:16:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures I took around the kitchen one day. I was making chicken noodle soup and putzing around (one of my special talents) and got a few 'detail' shots.

Here's a view of the kitchen you probably haven't seen before. I'm dying to replace the counter tops and floor so it isn't all so WHITE.

Here's a recycled glass pitcher on the window sill. I bought it for $3 at Marc's and thought I got a great deal! I later come to find out that to pour out of this pitcher is to take your life into your own hands (lest you be drowned by a flood of sangria). It's now our wine cork storage/objet d'art.

On the green theme (see: pitcher and tea kettle), here's my pistachio Kitchenaid mixer! While not the most-used item in my kitchen, I'm trying to become a better baker (measuring accurately helps!).

Another shot of the pitcher, showing the wall color in the kitchen.

My stock pot, which at the time was simmering a chicken carcass to make stock for the soup (TMI? Sorry.).

Whenever I boil something for an extended period of time (and it's cold outside), the windows on the back door get fogged.

And because what's a post without a beagle?

xoxo!

2010-02-20T17:40:00.001-05:00

Upon request from my cousin Linzey over at buono da mangiare, here are a few more pictures of the table in our bathroom.

This enamel-top table (we call it the kitchen cart) was a birthday gift a few years back, before I moved into my first 'bachelorette' apartment in Pittsburgh. It was purchased at the now-defunct antique mall in Chippewa, PA. It just happened to fit the awkward empty space next to our vanity perfectly. It gives us extra countertop and storage without blocking the register underneath.

Also visible in this picture is one of my favorite new purchases. It's a shadowbox from TJ Maxx that was just $12.99! Inspired by my other cousin, Laura, I'm showing off some of my jewelry collection in it.

The magnetic clasp on the door also gives Byron a safe place to keep his wedding ring when he's working out. You can see it in the picture below, along with several of my pearl pieces. :)

Hope you like how we used a piece we already had to solve a problem in our bathroom... it's working out perfectly!

2010-02-16T17:18:00.008-05:00

On one of those dark winter weekend nights (you know, those ones that get dark at 4pm?), we decided that our dining room wall was a little bare. I've always loved the simple look of photos in black frames with white mats and asked for a few for Christmas. Here's how we spent one exciting Friday night (or an hour of it anyway...).

How do I remember it was a Friday? Well, because I was wearing my Friday Sweatshirt, of course! It always ends up on the top of the clean laundry pile and more often than not I'm wearing it on a Friday.

Apparently I forgot my Friday Smile. ;)

To determine the layout of our frames on the wall without poking 1742 holes to do it, we used the scrap paper method. We made templates the size and shape of the frames and taped them to the walls, adjusting until it was 'pleasing to the eye'.

Byron the attached the photo hangers at the places we'd previously marked on the templates.

He admired his handiwork. (Actually, I think I had attached that template to the wall upside down and so he was really looking for the mark. Which was on the bottom.)

Ta da! Thanks, Vanna!

We haven't decided what to put in the last two frames yet. The other three are wedding photos. Should we stick with the 'wedding' theme or branch out? We also have wedding photos in the guest room.

What do you think?

2010-02-16T17:03:00.008-05:00

The lovely image above (from The Kitchn) is what I was trying to make last night. Steel cut oats.

They're sometimes called Irish Style Oats and they're much better for you than regular instant or rolled oats. According to Wikipedia, they have a lower glycemic index and more complex carbohydrates than rolled oats (both good things). So, in the interest of having a hearty, healthy, warm winter breakfast, I picked up a canister last time I was at Trader Joe's (my Mecca).

I read all about them on various cooking sites and found a few recipes which called for the oats to be cooked overnight in the crockpot so that we would wake up to warm steel cut oats with cranberries and walnuts! Yum, right?

Well, we woke up to burnt wallpaper paste with cranberries and walnuts.

I think our crockpot is just too hot for this recipe. I don't have any photos of my results, but rest assured that it was an epic FAIL of the highest degree. To get the burnt part out of the bottom I added vinegar and boiling water to the crock. It was ugly.

I think I'll try steel cut oats another time with another method. I just need some time to recover from the sight and smell of this batch first. :)

2010-02-12T17:34:00.003-05:00

I finally painted the bathroom! Hallelujah! It's been so sad and pitiful, when everything else has a fresh coat of paint. I debated back and forth about how to paint it (color above or below the chair rail?), what color to paint it (Juniper Ash or Elephant Skin), and how to treat the peeling walls.

Here's the before picture:

You might remember that wallpaper. Marcia had the task of peeling that off on our workday prior to moving in and the bathroom sat like that for almost 4 months (?), with the peeling remnants of old paint.

So this week, snowbound by the Snowpocalypse 2010, I bit the bullet. Elephant Skin, above the rail. White paint we already had below. So far, so good - til we got to the white paint. It was frozen. And destroyed. :( I hate wasting money! Anyway, since Byron's away for the week, I decided to git 'er done! (ahem, sorry. What just happend there?)

Here's the results:

Much more calm and serene. I need some art on the walls and perhaps a new rug, but I love it. Our own little spa.

2010-02-10T18:07:00.003-05:00

So I spoke a little too soon. Mother Nature hadn't really unleashed her fury at the time of the last post...

Here's the house during the storm on Friday night. I was in the street taking pictures (no one was driving in it anyway!) and Byron was watching from the house so if I fell and knocked myself out in the street he could drag me back to the house. Or at least to the garage. ;)

Here's the backyard at the conclusion of part 1 of Snowpocalypse 2010. The top of that picket fence is above my waist.

Here's the neighborhood the morning after the first part of the storm. This was around 9am; all the neighbors were out shoveling because the power was out and no one could do anything else!

Another picture of the backyard, Byron went out and knocked the snow off the top of that pine tree so that it didn't snap off like our neighbors'.

Byron was a good Mr. Homeowner and shoveled the driveway. (Actually, I get my Mrs. Homeowner badge for doing it too!). The snow was way past my knees and we shoveled for 2 hours. The neighbor came and finished the last 20% or so with his snowblower.

Later in the day, our street was mostly clear so we decided to head out to Home Depot. Byron wanted rock salt and I wanted paint for the bathroom (What? I wanted to paint!). This is what greeted us when we turned off the street:

We had forgotten to figure in the fact that the fire station is at the end of our street and consequently it gets really good care during storms. Whoops. We rode around the block and came back.

Here are a few pictures of the house, mostly so you can admire the red front door!

Happy Snopocalypse from Fruits/Roots!

2010-02-08T21:22:00.007-05:00

So... after registering for wedding gifts, two bridal showers, a wedding and so much generosity from our family and friends, we recently determined that we don't have a gravy boat.

Exhibit A:

Need a close-up?

That, my friends, is a homemade pot roast with carrots, onions, potatoes, all the fixins, so to speak. I even lit candles! I was attempting to get my homemaker badge for the day! But there was no gravy boat. Homemade gravy, yes. Boat, no. So I improvised. And we were accurately able to measure how much gravy we had poured. :-P

At Macy's the other day there were these lovely gravy boats on the clearance rack:

Lovely, no? However, please note that I said gravy boatS. Plural. These boats come in a set (fleet? flotilla?) of two. Who needs two gravy boats?! 99.99% of the time, I don't need ONE gravy boat!

I couldn't fathom buying (and storing for all but one day a year) two gravy boats. However, I did find this set on the same clearance rack:

Please refer to the cute lil cream pitcher and sugar bowl hiding in the back of that grouping. This was the set I found. I thought "Hey, that could be a gravy boat the 0.01% of the time I need one and a creamer pitcher the rest of the time!" (And who doesn't need a sugar bowl?) I grabbed that set and ran it over to the price check scanner thing to see how much it was. $15.20?! Not such a terrible price, but this is the clearance rack and the tag on the box only says $14.99! (But this is Macy's and you know how they like to change their prices on a weekly basis...). I took my box, marched up to the lady at the counter and demanded she check the price (noting the discrepancy... and probably politely asking, not demanding). "Why, look at that!", she said. "Well, I'll just give you 40% and an additional 50% for being on the clearance. That'll be $4.88".

Needless to say, I bought the set. And next time I make gravy, I'll be ready. I still don't have a gravy boat, but I've got a solution that works for me!

2010-01-31T12:19:00.006-05:00

As support for my cabin fever post, I present photographic evidence.

We went from this scenic vista, in late October, early November...

To this in January.

From a lush, verdant lawn in October...

To the Pittsburgh tundra.

We watched the snow accumulate on the picnic table. First a paltry inch or so (is that all ya got, Mother Nature??).

To 4 inches... (now we're talking!)

To eight inches... (okay, you can stop any time now!)

To ten inches (really, we get it. You're the almighty Mother Nature. We won't disrespect you again!).

To snow as deep as a beagle (Mother Nature, Mocha is only 15 inches tall. Her lawn has been restricted to the 6 square feet under the picnic table. Can't you give a girl a break?).

It has been kind of nice, though, to look out our back windows to see this...

As long as they stay in my backyard and out of the grill of my car, they're welcome in the neighborhood.

If for no other reason than to torment the dog. :)

2010-01-30T11:15:00.002-05:00

How many days 'til spring?? It's 13 degrees outside today and I'm dying for warmer weather. When we moved in in October, we did a few things outside. We built a fence for beagle containment, trimmed the front bushes and bought a reel mower. (Yes, we're those people who downgraded from a gas-powered mower to an old-fashioned human-powered mower!).
But besides those things, we didn't have the opportunity to do much outdoor work. So, come spring, the outdoor environs are uncharted territory!

Here are some images inspiring me to get through this bout of cabin fever!

I'd love to have a raised vegetable bed. As we discovered when drilling fence post holes, our yard doesn't have the best dirt. Also, the raised beds warm up sooner in the spring, dry out faster after rains (important in our wet backyard)and keep the soil fluffier (for a lack of a better term). I'll be planting the usual suspects: tomatoes, basil, cukes, zucchini, etc.

Also, I'm looking forward to doing a little landscaping along our retaining wall. I like the look of bright, fresh sweet potato vine and it seems to be pretty low-maintenance as well.

Have any other landscaping suggestions for me?

2010-01-25T16:02:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick post on front door painting. To stand out in our neighborhood of very similar brick ranches, we decided to paint our front door red. (Actually, I have always wanted a bright front door and when Byron didn't hate the idea, it was a go!). The paint color is Red Delicious by Glidden. The door was originally white and this was after 4 (5?) coats. I think I may apply one more eventually. It's still a little uneven in person.

What do you think? Does this add a little snap to our boring brick neighborhood?

2010-01-17T16:41:00.005-05:00

Here's a photo narrative of our holiday season! (I wanted to post this before it was completely irrelevant!)

Here is my glitter "Happy Holidays" banner I got on clearance at Michael's 2 (?) years ago. I love it.

Mocha turned 4 on December 15th! She celebrated by eating a bone the size of her head!

The 'theme' of our tree was 'Star Trek meets Starbucks' and had some martinis thrown in for good measure.

We purchased Phillips LED multicolored net lights for the front bushes. We severely underestimated the size of the shrubbery and had to buy two extra sets to make it look right. Around New Year's Eve, one of the middle sets burned out, making it easy for our guests to find the house (convenient!). Byron went out and looked and several bulbs were missing from that set. I think the mailman is screwing with us. In the third picture here you can see our snazzy new house numbers!

We had 3 other couples over for NYE. All of the ladies are also (nearly) audiologists. We played Cranium and Last Word and great fun was had by all. We woke Mocha up for midnight. Here also are my centerpiece, the whole room, and my cinnamon broom turned modern art piece!

Happy Holidays!

2010-01-09T18:40:00.000-05:00

We live in Pittsburgh and we have a basement, which means that we have water in that basement. This is especially unsurprising since there is a big hill behind the house and it's easy to see how water can come down the hill and collect in the ground in the backyard when it rains.

When we first looked at the house there was some mold in one corner of the basement, so we had the sellers pay for a contractor to come in and get rid of the mold and clean up the little bit of water damage that there was.

We figured that would be that. But no, several weeks later we came back to look at it again, and there was water in the same corner. This time the sellers agreed to pay for a contractor to put in a drain all along the back wall of the basement to carry any water that came in over to the sump pump.

Since then we have not had any more water, but we'll see what happens in the Spring when the snow melts. So far we have been extremely lucky that all that happened before we closed and the sellers agreed to pay for it.

2010-01-08T17:07:00.002-05:00

"Let's do the Time Warp Again..."

Want to know what time of year we are in here at Fruits/Roots? Here's a few hints...

I'm still posting chronologically, so we'll continue to be a little bit behind. But we've got lots more to show you!

2010-01-04T14:10:00.003-05:00

When we purchased our lovely new abode, the previous owners had done us the favor of removing the carpet but had never done anything to refinish the hardwood in all the rooms but the kitchen and bathroom. So, we strapped on our dustmasks, rented a sander and got to work.

Here is Byron in his very best floor refinishing clothes.

A somewhat blurry picture of the floors in our bedroom, post-sanding. The paint in there looks much less grey and more blue in real life.

Another blurry picture (sorry!). This is, I believe, the office.

The guest room (these are all post-sanding, pre-finishing).

The final two pictures are the living room. If you look closely at the last one, you'll see Byron's dad, Jeff, doing something very important on the floor. What? I'm not sure.

We ended up renting a 'screening' sander which just took the top layer of the old wax and polyurethane off and was much easier to use than a typical drum sander. We then vacuumed, used a tack cloth, and used two coats of a water-based poly. The whole project was finished in a Saturday, thanks to the help of Byron's parents. We did have to apply the final coat to the living room floor in the dark so it's not perfect but we're happy with how they turned out! Look for 'after' pics coming soon!

2010-01-03T16:22:00.002-05:00

This is a story of one of my first home-making disasters...

The mess you see above was a result of one of my first attempts at doing laundry in my new laundry room. The washing machine has a tube that runs from the output on the back of the machine up and into the washtub to the right (it's the black tube in the picture). Well, on this day, the tube kept threatening to pop up and out of the tub, spewing water all over the floor. To prevent this from occurring, I decided to yank on the tube to place it more securely into the tub. What then happened was unexpected. The other end of the tube, on the back of the machine popped off... during the spin cycle! There was a veritable fountain of dirty water erupting from the back of the machine, where I couldn't reach it. I ended up man-handling the washer (thru sheer adrenaline) to the side so I could reach the back and get the tube back on. When I succeeded in doing so, the other end popped back out of the tub, continuing the spewing from another source. I finally got the tube all settled and the water fountains under control. Now I had to deal with the flood. Did I mention this was before we moved in? I had no towels or rags... newspaper was the best I could fine. Worked pretty well! Needless to say, the tubes are now securely clamped in their respective locations, courtesy of Byron.

Additionally, I found this janky mop in the basement to help with the clean-up. Mocha decided it must be some kind of wild animal carcass...

Pass It Thru, From Me to You!

2009-12-16T19:29:00.005-05:00

When we first looked at this house, it came pretty close to meeting our list of requirements (I should post that sometime!). One of the things it was missing was an open floor plan. We were pretty realistic about this item on our wishlist, as most of the houses we could afford were built before the advent of the popular 'open concept' floor plan.

After thinking about it for a while we decided that the empty wall in the kitchen (empty save for an outlet and heating register) could be knocked out to create a more 'open' feel to the living space in the house. When doing our pre-purchase inspection, we found out that said wall was load-bearing. And, being proud new homeowners, we didn't want to cave our pretty new roof in. This is where a pass-thru comes in.

To refresh your memory... this is what the room looked like before:

Behind that big empty wall on the left is the kitchen. This is the view from the front door.

After determining that a pass-thru would let the wall remain load-bearing (and determining what I wanted was called a pass-thru), I started to look for some inspiration online.

Not as great as a truly open floor plan, this would allow us a little more breathing room in the kitchen and flow throughout the living/public areas of the house.

Here's our pass-thru after...

Looking into the kitchen (with a sneak-peek of the re-finished kitchen cabinets!).

Looking out from the kitchen to the front window...

From the front door again...

And the gratuitous beagle shot.

All in all, we're very happy with our pass-thru. It was well worth the money to have someone do this for us. Our guests don't know it isn't original and it makes entertaining and watching Jeopardy while cooking dinner so much easier!

2009-12-11T15:00:00.005-05:00

I'm still being a bad blogger (but... I'm being a good student!) so I'm going to post a bunch of pictures to try to get you all up to speed... we're still in October in Fruits/Roots land!

Up first... our ugly, broken, thankfully-not-glued-to-the-wall mirror. Marcia taped it all up so she, Callie and I could remove it safely. I neglected to get a photo of the way the previous owners updated the paint colors by carefully painting around the broken section...

Here are some 'action shots' of some of my painting supplies. I am/was so sick of painting. I went to the massage therapist because I hurt my back and she asked me what I'd been doing because my right side was so much tighter than my left. I couldn't think of it at the time but Byron mentioned later that I'd spent dozens of hours painting in a very short period of time!

The paint color in the office and guest room is "Tatami Mat" by Behr.

Buy yourself an angled 2" good quality cutting-in brush. It was the best $10 we spent. Another fine recommendation from John and Sherry at www.younghouselove.com, our home reno/deco idols!

Having a 5'10" sister-in-law is very useful. Saves money on ladders. ;)

Having a 13" tall beagle does not.

After applying the fancy, color-changing spackle to the walls, Callie declared it looked like our house had leprosy. Thankfully, it dried clear. That wall to the left now has a giant pass-thru in it and the whole living/dining/hall is painted "Sanctuary" by Behr!

I'm going to scour my hard drive and SD cards... see what other photos I can come up with. We're having our first real 'party' this weekend with my classmates so hopefully I'll remember to get some photos of the house all dressed up in its holiday finest! :)

Polyvore!

2009-11-22T17:34:00.003-05:00

There's this great website - www.polyvore.com - which allows you to make digital collages of images from the web. Here's a few I've made!

This first one is an inspiration for our bedroom. We already have the Hemnes dresser from IKEA, and I'd like to get the pictured Avington headboard from Target. We ended up going with a paint called "Juniper Ash" by Behr. It's a blue/grey/green color. I have big plans to stain the nightstands dark like the ones pictured and we have light blocking curtains in a tan/taupe color as well. We'll have to see if you think our bedroom turns out like this collage!

Bedroom by JeniRae on Polyvore.com

Here is another board I made when we were registering for wedding gifts and trying to imagine them in a fictitious "someday" house instead of our apartment.

bathroom by JeniRae on Polyvore.com

Our bathroom still needs some work, mostly because I got off the painting train and haven't been able to get back on! :) Look for progress in the future!

Finally, here's the board I made when we were registering for kitchen items. It's not so much decor as 'stuff', but I think you get a feel for the mood I want in the kitchen. We have almost all of these things, except for the cupcakes, unfortunately! :)

Kitchen/Dining by JeniRae on Polyvore.com

Looking back on this post, I see how much I like that seaglass green color! So, it's not surprising I just purchased a green 'demijohn' bottle a bit like these! ($15 at TJMaxx!)

Hope you're liking my inspiration... hopefully soon I'll be moving onto the 'after' pictures!

In Progress

2009-11-19T16:28:00.004-05:00

Here are some photos of some of the work we've been doing. It's much more complete than this now, but I like to show the 'before,' 'during,' and 'afters'. :)

Here are all of the kitchen cabinet doors being laid out and labeled for easy reinstallation. Mocha is supervising.

This is the kitchen 'before,' with doors removed.

Here is one view of the kitchen primed with Oil-Based Kilz primer. We got our cabinet painting technique from www.younghouselove.com, my favorite home renovation/decoration blog.

Here's another view.

These are the doors on our side porch, laid out and drying on the sawhorses (AKA picnic table benches).

Mocha was tired of supervising and decided to play with her beloved peanut butter jar instead.

Beagle Containment

2009-11-17T19:40:00.009-05:00

So we now have a fence to keep the dog from running away. She tried to convince us that she would just stay in the yard of her own volition, but we didn't believe her.

Thanks to Jeff and Justin for their help in putting the fence up last weekend.

Here is the yard before..

And after...

And here is the little one surveying her territory.

Things We've Purchased

2009-10-20T13:05:00.010-04:00

Sorry for the absence, readers (reader?)! Turns out it is a lot easier to blog about your house before you move in than it is once you're actually here. We've made lots of progress and have lots to show you!

We've been dropping some money into the house purchasing some new things.

Like this fancy new fridge! It's much more appropriately sized for our kitchen. And, coincidentally, we just happened to pick paint color for the kitchen that matched the sides of it exactly!

If anyone ever wants to take an adventure, go to the Sears Outlet in Lawrenceville. It's the scratch-and-dent center for Sears. While we ultimately didn't purchase our fridge there, there were many many options. Don't let the fact that it's located in a nearly abandoned industrial park and that it has a sign which faces not the road but the Allegheny River scare you off.

If you'll remember, our old fridge was big-ass. Conveniently, my parents have a big-ass kitchen and their 12 year old fridge had nearly kicked the bucket. So they got the old one and we got this one! Two birds, meet one stone. :)

Another recent purchase is this rug from Pottery Barn. It was on clearance!

It's technically an indoor/outdoor rug (it's some sort of plastic) but you really can't tell! And it's perfect for life with a dog. Especially since she deposited candy-corn colored puke on it this afternoon! (she found my stash!)

Another item we've purchased- the Expedit workstation from Ikea.

We already had the bookcase and as such just bought the desk part. You'll see it in our new office soon. :)

Continuing on the IKEA theme, we also picked out these curtains. Continuing on the "Jeni is cheap" theme, they were $14.99. A. Pair. They're cotton and have a lovely linen texture to them. They really look way more expensive than that price!

One of my favorite purchases are our new house numbers. These ones are from Design Within Reach and are $48 PER NUMBER. Never gonna happen.

However, I found these at Home Depot for $5.99 per number! Practically the same. Both sets are 'floating' and give a really cool effect, but my set has a much cooler price. Look for them in an upcoming post!

That's the round-up of our latest purchases. What do you want to hear about next?

2009-10-19T17:34:00.005-04:00

Okay... one last post about the... let's call them... "quirks" of our new pad. Then we'll be onto the makeovers! :)

While I like the sentiment of "Home Sweet Home", and it does match the heart cut-outs on our shutters, I think this will be replaced. With some nice modern, streamlined house numbers. :)

This gem of construction is the little 'jail cell' opening between our laundry room and basement. We're not sure why it is there. Decorative, I guess.

This is part of the water damage/repair from our basement. Which deserves its own post. Maybe I'll have Byron rant at you about that.

And here's our TINY dishwasher. We're going to have to run it every day, at least. It is really as small as it looks!

Our dead tree stump in the backyard. Would be perfect if we had a cat that needed a scratching post!

God Bless America, these people really loved their faded wooden decorative items!

Exhibit C: The crooked wooded mailbox, with a convenient large HOLE for entrance of rain and snow!

That's it for the 'quirks'! Up next... painting!

2009-10-16T11:09:00.005-04:00

Sooo.... the previous owners loved decorative lightswitch covers. This we have established.

Their other true love? Ceiling fans. Lots and lots of ceiling fans. Want to see a selection?

Kitchen-
This one brushed the back of my head when I was removing cabinet doors for painting. (pics of that coming soon!)

Dining Room-
Yes, I said dining room. I guess maybe to cool your food off while it sits on the table?

Guest room-
Strikingly similar to dining room, no? At least they're consistent!

Master bedroom-
Who doesn't want to look up and see that in the morning? (not to mention it seems like it's a little out of balance and may fly off the mechanism at any moment!)

Office-
Please note the angel fan pull.

Need a close-up? Here you go!

Happy Halloween! (if that won't scare you... don't know what will!)

Only a few more posts featuring snarky commentary, I promise. Soon we'll get to the makeovers!

2009-10-09T09:56:00.003-04:00

The next blog post is going to be about some of the... let's call them... "not-so-chic" aspects of the house. No offense intended if you love these design decisions, but we'll be changing them out...

Up first? The variety of lightswitch covers throughout the house. This first one was, we presume, located in the previous owners' daughter's room. We hope. I tried to convince Byron to keep it, to no avail...

Next, the main bathroom. Who knew you could get a white wicker lightswitch cover?? coordinates perfectly with the fruit basket wallpaper. (Maybe that was the idea?)

This gem of electrical engineering was created to fit a very specific spot. This is the switch for the basement lights, and is located halfway down the stairs.

And finally, in the master bedroom. Nothing against Americana (some do it very well), but this is the only indication of anything of this style in the house...

Up next... the ceiling fans!

Inside the house... the nickle tour...

2009-10-05T20:22:00.005-04:00

After that extensive outdoor tour... here are some shots from inside. I'm still getting the hang of the photo thing...

If you couldn't tell from the other photos, the house is a ranch over a garage, with 3 bedrooms, a bath, living room and dining room on the main floor.

The upstairs bathroom. Please note the fruit basket border. The shower window was just replaced; the balance was broken and the window wouldn't stay open. That sucker was $300!

The dining room. Pretty self-explanatory... View from the living room, kitchen is thru the door to the right.

The big-ass refrigerator. This fridge is so big it didn't fit under the cabinets. Those cabinets above it were taken down and just sat upon the top of the fridge. Behind the cabinets the previous owners were kind enough to leave us some Frosted Mini Wheats and Protein Powder. Door to side porch is on the right.

The kitchen, with the big-ass exhaust fan. That thing is like a jet engine! It opens up a little flap on the back wall of the house.

The living room wall, which may soon have a 'pass-thru' into the kitchen to open the room up some.

The master bedroom. Please note the square left on the rug from the previous owners' bed.

The (tiny) office. Will contain desk, bookcase, chair and not much else!

Closet in the guestroom. Looks pretty much like the other rooms! Will eventually be called the guestroom/library/reading room.

Up next... the lowlights! The best collection of ceiling fans and light switch covers you've ever seen!

2009-10-05T18:11:00.004-04:00

Welcome to our new house! This first post will give you the general overview and highlights of the house! (We'll cover the lowlights in another post!) Hopefully through this blog we'll keep a record of our improvements and design choices so ya'll can stay posted! I posted these way out of order... so bear with me!

The backyard...

Front of the house and side porch/mudroom:

Back of the house... and back of my head!:

Back of the sideporch:

And finally... front of the house!:

It's not the biggest mansion on the block, but we like it!