Peace Out

It's really not so much fun living in a construction zone: plaster dust is everywhere, workmen are coming and going, protective plastic is all over everything, you and your critters are confined to one room in the house, and there is no real way to cook dinner.  So you look for peace where you can find it.

Tonight, The Zadge hoped to find that peace in that one (crowded and dirty) living room, watching the Patriots get their asses kicked by the Saints, in front of a roaring fire with a cool vodka-tonic in her hand and her three loyal companions by her side.

So she got home from work and went to the closet to hang up her coat.  Then one of the closet doors fell off.  Literally, fell over and onto the floor.

And there appears to be no way to fix it, as the door is too short to fit into the frame.  The Zadge must now buy new closet doors.  Oh, but that's okay, because she really hasn't been spending ANY FREAKIN' MONEY AT ALL TO DATE ON OLD VICKY!

Frankly, I couldn't deal with the broken door right then and there. So I headed downstairs to settle in and watch the game, V & T in hand.  Fluffed the filthy dog bed pillows on the couch, flipped to ESPN and then bent down to turn on the fireplace.

Do you see a fire in there?

No, you don't.  Only the flicker of a sad, lonely pilot light.  Because apparently the fireplace didn't want the closet door to feel alone, so it too is now broken.

That is, until The Zadge pays some fireplace fixer hundreds of dollars to replace the gas fireplace system.  Oh, but that's okay, because BABY JESUS OF BETHLEHEM she really hasn't spent enough money on Old Vicky yet.

So, like I said, you look for peace where you can find it - you ignore all the (expensive) repairs needed in your house until tomorrow,  and sit back with your dogs and your drink and enjoy a really great football game!

Fin Faces

Just cuz The Zadge can't get enough of her littlest nephew:

"Go Broncos!":

"Should I go for the mashed potatoes or the string beans?":

"If I crawl really fast, I think I can catch up with my bigger cousins!":

"You'd smile all the time too, if you were as cute as me!":

Turkey Day Highlights

Just a few highlights from The Zadge's Thanksgiving trip:

Moomskers lovin' the Fin:

The Zadge lovin' her nephews:

We all loved meeting The Sista's new puppy, Lucy, a great dane mix.  Six months old and already 75 pounds!  What a face:

And the highlight of the meal for The Zadge was getting to make the Spinach Gratin - because of Old Vicky's Face Lift, I haven't been able to cook for weeks!  The Zadge lifted this recipe from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, and it is always a crowd pleaser.  Make this for your next dinner party and trust me, your guests will be thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

SPINACH GRATIN

1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions - chopped (don't use white onions - you'll cry like you are PMSing)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream (I know you're thinking you'll lighten it up some and skip this - DON'T!!!!!)
2 cups whole milk (Don't even utter the words "two percent")
5 ten oz. packages of frozen chopped spinach - defrosted and all excess water squished out - squish it good
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (and none of that cheap americano sheeat)
1 tbsp kosher salt (look for the sideburns and beard on the salt)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (Ms. Swiss Miss's favorite)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Chop the onions in a fine dice and saute in the melted butter over medium high heat until transulcent and soft, about 15 minutes.

Then add the flour and nutmeg, stirring for another 2 minutes. (If it gets too dry at this point, throw in some more butter - live large!)

Add the cream and milk and cook until slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Add the spinach - this is where you can pat yourself on the back for being so healthy -- and then half a cup of the Parm, salt and her friend pepper and mix well.

Pour the whole heart-attack-disguised-as-healthy-for-you-as-spinach-concoction into an oven-safe baking dish, throw another half cup of Parm and half cup of his Swedish friend Gruyere on top and bake for 20 minutes.

Pull out of the oven, serve and graciously accept the applause.

Finding the Sun

I love how the sun makes me feel - happy, alive and bright. That's one of the best things about living in Denver - it is sunny with blue skies 300 days a year!

Tulip loves it too - she always manages to find the best sunny spot in the house:

Am leaving the sunny skies of Denver today for the -- hopefully - equally sunny skies at Moomskers' house (Delaware) and The Sista's house (Pennsylvania). But no matter the weather, The Zadge is so excited to see her family and her three Big Guy nephews!!! Oh, and meet The Sista's new puppy, Lucy - a great dane/mastiff mix who is only 6 months old and already 75 pounds!

Stay tuned for photos of The Zadge Clan!

Sunday in the Park

The Zadge is packing for her trip back East tomorrow to visit her family for Thanksgiving (yea! The Fin!!).  She's going to miss her Boyz, so she spent some time with them in Wash Park today:

It was a beautiful, sunny day with classic Colorado blue skies (click to enlarge):

I'm hoping that Moomskers and The Sista will lend their computers so I can continue to post while I'm gone all week....maybe I can even convince The Sista to be my first guest-blogger?!

Home and The Range

Day 3 of Old Vicky's kitchen remodel looks like this:
(view from the dining room):

(looking from the couch end toward the kitchen end):

There is dust and plastic everywhere!! But great progress!

Your input on the pendant lights was so helpful!  The Winner is Number 1 - the stainless steel pendant.

And now, I need your help on the range.  For The Zadge, this is the most important appliance in the kitchen.  The Zadge loves to cook and bake. And this is the one appliance on which I am really willing to spend money.  I thought I had this decision down:  I was in love with an Italian beauty called the Bertazzoni.  Here she is:

Isn't she pretty?  30 inch, four-burner, stainless steel gas range (not enough room for 36 inch six-burner). The inside-skinny on this range is that it performs almost as well as the two big wigs - Wolf and Viking - but at almost half the price ($2700).  Because it is European, it's a little quirky - cute little knobs, different sized burners with different BTU outputs (high - 15,000 BTU, low simmer - 750 BTU, so you have to move your pots around, as opposed to just adjusting the flame) and a somewhat smaller oven.

I went to a local distributor today to check her out in real life.  That's when the waffling on the decision began.  The guys at the local distributors said the two most reliable ranges on the market today are the Berta and the Thermador (Viking, by the way, every seems to agree has a horrible track record for service).

So then I started considering Range #2, the Thermador:

Also 30 inch, gas, stainless steel.  But it costs $4150. It has higher fire power on all of the burners (15,000 BTU), better simmer capacity (350 BTU), slightly bigger oven, and these really cool slide out shelves - perfect for baking The Zadge's cookies!  Plus, it has a more professional look, without being all big and meaty like most of the other pro ranges.

And then I saw Range #3 and my eyes almost popped out of my head:

This is also a Bertazzoni, but is from their more expensive line called "Heritage."  It has a black matte finish.  I think it may be the best looking range I've seen (other than my friend Lara's utterly breathtaking LaCanache).  But this one is $4500.  (If I want dual-fuel -- gas cooktop and electric convection -- on any of these, the price goes up about $1300 each!)

So I'm utterly torn.  I think for overall performance, the Thermador wins.  Heritage wins in looks and ooh - aah factor. Berta wins on price.  They are all tied on reliability.

And I have to let my contractor know this weekend - it takes weeks and weeks to get a Berta....

What's a Zadge to do?

Lights, Camera, Action!

Old Vicky's kitchen makeover is on a fast track.  Walls were knocked down today and all of the old appliances, cabinets and countertops are history.  The new cabinets are coming in three weeks.  The Zadge's contractor needs to know what light fixtures to order, because they will have to all be installed soon.

So I have to pick out two or three pendant lights for over the new island/peninsula that will house the farmhouse sink, dishwasher and breakfast bar.   Have you ever checked out lighting fixtures on line?  Baby Jesus of Bethlehem, there are a gazillion to choose from!  I  have it narrowed down to three.   Keeping in mind that the kitchen will be all white cabinets, dark soapstone countertops, stainless steel appliances,light green glass subway tiles for backsplash and hardwood floors - what's your vote?

NUMBER 1 (and the leading contender):

NUMBER 2:

NUMBER 3:


Let me know what you think or shoot me some other suggestions!!!

By the way, The Sista turned me on to a cool site you should check out if you're looking for lights for an older home: Barn Light Electric.  While The Sista and I were checking out the site last night on our respective computers, we coincidentally both fell in love with this chic number - I think it would look great in my dining room.  But at $965, both The Zadge and The Sista will have to pass!!!
.

Day One of the Kitchen Remodel

It has started!!! Old Vicky's big facelift.  The demolition crew started ripping everything out of the kitchen this afternoon:

Which means that I've had to store all of the kitchen stuff in the dining room:

And then the contractor moved more furniture into the living room:

So basically, just when The Zadge had gotten the mess that was Old Vicky all neat and ordered, it's now total chaos again. 

And I bet my new neighbors are thrilled to see this pop up on their street today:

Plus no kitchen appliances for two months.  That's a lot of eating out.  The Zadge will be ginormous by the end of this project!

Harry the Druggie

Those of you with dogs may know about the health benefits of glucosamine for your big dog's joints. The Shone, god bless his little heart, has always had a few joint issues - starting with his hip replacement as a 10 month old puppy, and then his double elbow surgery a year later. Why do you think I call him The Six Million Dollar Dog?!

So I give The Shone Glucosamine-Chondroitin supplements everyday. Here's his bottle:


Oh, and here's my bottle of Vitamin D, said to improve everything from skin to depression:

Do you notice that both bottles are not on the kitchen counter where they belong?

Or that both are missing their tops and have teeth-like indentations all over?

Why do you think that is?

Is it because at some point during the day today, Harry decided it would be so much fun to counter-surf and pick off some (expensive) vitamin supplements to chew? Yippee!! Fun, fun, fun!!

But like any over-the-top Par-tay night, there's the inevitable hangover. See the, uh, wet, chunky spot on Harry's dog bed near the chewed up glucosamine bottle?

Or the wet, frothy stain on the new -- HELLO!!! Only a week-and-four-days-new and already on Stain #2!!! -- seagreass rug in the living room, next to the Vitamin D bottle:

Yes, the classic signs of the over-indulging Party Dog.

I do admit to a minute of panic as to the health risks to Harry eating 120 capsules of glucosamine chondroitin sulfate and god knows how many pills of Vitamin D.  But a quick google search assured me that "all" I had to worry about was vomiting and diarrhea. 

Check, got the vomiting.
Check, got the diarrhea.  Thankfully, outside.  So far.

Harry better have the best freakin' joints, skin and mental state from here on out after this Par-tay!

The Tailgate From Hell

So we were all rooting for the fun, romantic weekend getaway for The Zadge and Cute Guy, were we not?  Beautiful weather, cute new outfit, college football, romantic dinner for two and then, ooh la la. Right?

More like oh no you di-int!
But before we go down that ugly road, let's look at some of the high points of the trip:

These cute little monkeys are The Zadge's best buddy's kids.  I flew into D.C. Friday night and stayed at Best Buddy's house, even though Best Buddy was off getting her spa-on.  I made a pretty pink tiara for Best Buddy's daughter, who also happens to be my goddaughter:

Best Buddy's hubby kindly took care of me during my brief stay:

Another high point was having dinner Friday night with The Dukies, one of The Zadge's favorite couples, even if they did go to Duke:

Before I headed down to Charlottesville Saturday morning, I got to spend some quality time with my fairy goddaughter dressed up in a fairy princess outfit I had bought for her:

Ok, let's now get on to the Low Points of the trip.  

Of course, there is the hellish traffic in D.C.  How did I live in this for so many years? 

But things looked brighter when I drove into Charlottesville Saturday afternoon.  The sun was shining and the famous UVa Pep Band was headed to the game:

My hopes were high. 

But not for long.  See, I was supposed to meet The Guy Formerly Known as Cute Guy at a tailgate hosted by his fraternity brothers before the game.  He had told me that two very nice guys I knew from my first year dorm were going to be there with their lovely wives.

I find the tailgate.  I walk up to TGFKACG and he looks completely underwhelmed when he sees me.  No big hug, no big kiss, no big welcome.  Then I look around.   There are about eight guys standing around staring at me. I know none of them.  The two nice guys from my dorm are not there.  TGFKACG does not introduce me to anyone.  I then realize that other than me, there is only one woman there - and she's some bleached blond unsmiling Finnish model named Etsie or Anka or Aunsie,  dressed head to toe in black.  After about 15 minutes, I remember why I had rejected TGFKACG's advances for the past 10 years - BECAUSE I FELT ABSOLUTELY ZERO CHEMISTRY WITH HIM!

Ok, time for Plan B. 

It wasn't going to be some naturally romantic fun weekend.  Time for some booze.  Maybe I could find the chemistry that way.  After about an hour, we head into the stadium, where we did have great seats on the 50 yard line:

I took this photo before Plan B turned into Plan C.

At halftime, TGFKACG dragged me back out to his frat boy tailgate.  Because it was all men (Somber Finnish model had left by then, leaving only me to hold up the Estrogen side of the tailgate), the tailgate refreshments included no wine, cheese, fruit or anything a woman would naturally be interested in.  Only ribs, pork, cheesy bean stuff, ribs, hard liquor, beer, ribs and more hard liquor.

Soon, it really stared to go downhill.  See, these aging Southern frat boys (all married except TGFKACG) thought it was just so much fun to hang in the parking lot with each other and relive the glory days of 25 years ago that they wouldn't go back into the stadium. So they stayed there and drank and drank and drank. 

The game let out around 7 p.m. and everyone NORMAL left to go out to dinner, or see a band, or go home.  But not the Frat Boy Posse.  Nooooo, they thought it would be really fun for the EIGHT of them and the ONE OF ME to just stay in a totally empty parking lot -- the same parking lot that they had been in since noon -- and just continue to drink and act like total immature idiots:

Do you see anyone else around? No.  Do you see any restaurant serving The Zadge dinner? No.  Do you see The Zadge having fun? No you do not.

And then they started peeing on the truck holding the tailgate.

Oh, yes they did...each and every one would say, Oh, I gotta take a piss, and walked to the front of the car and start peeing.  During this time, I was asking, then begging, can we go get something to eat? What's the plan?  Can we get out of this parking lot? 

Well, the plan apparently was to be as gross and immature and rude as possible.  Are you ready? Here it comes.  Around 8:45 p.m., the drunkest of the guys - let's just call him The Pig -- walks up to The Zadge and says, "So, I hear you like to suck dicks." ....Oh yes he did....

This did not sit well with The Zadge.  She glared at him, and in her most serious Top Secret Day Job voice said, "You DID NOT just say that."  At which point TGFKACG tries to apologize for him, saying he's drunk, blah, blah, blah.

Then, the second drunkest guy --  let's call him Drunk Asshole -- started referring to his recently-divorced wife, and mother of his four children, as a word not to be spoken, that starts with the letter "C" and rhymes with Bundt Cake.  "Oh no you DI-INT!"  At which point, The Zadge gave a fairly vitriolic speech to the Frat Boy Posse that this is NOT what I had signed up for and sort of started yelling at TGFKACG that he misled me about the whole damn weekend. 

That gets us to Plan C: wherein our heroine decides to pretend that she was going to go to the Port-o-Johns up the street, but just keep walking the 2 miles to my hotel.  It was dark and a long walk and I was buzzed but I couldn't take it anymore.  By this point, I absolutely HATED TGFKACG and his dumbass frat boy posse. 

That's when The Pig walked back up to me and said -- I zadge you not -- "What are your views of a gangbang?"  (Oh lord, poor Moomksers!)  I turned toward him and said -- I zadge you not -- "You get near me, you drunk fuck, and I will bite your dick off."

That's just how The Zadge rolls sometimes.

So I headed to the Port-o-Johns to execute Plan C.  Unfortunately, there was ONE good apple in the whole bad bunch.  Cute Guy Ned said, "I can't let you walk alone. I'll walk you there and wait for you."  And he did.  What now?

Well, TGFKACG ended up giving me my escape.  See, they all decided how fun it would be to go to their old fraternity house - even though THEY WERE FREAKING OLD ENOUGH TO BE THE PARENTS OF THE FRAT BOYS AND THE FRAT BOYS WOULD THINK THEY WERE THE LOSERS THAT THEY ARE -- and just hang out.  No way, I said.  So TGFKACG said, Ok, we'll drop her off at her hotel.   Well, Cute Guy Ned, recognizing what a LOSER TGFKACG was being said, "Hey, why don't you take her out to dinner and then you guys can meet up with us later?" But TGFKACG wasn't having any of such a normal dating plan:

So at 9:00 p.m., I was dropped off at my hotel, hungry, alone (THANK GOD!) and pissed off.

I'm thinking I will send TGFKACG a bill for the $1000 the weekend cost me.  What do you think?

The Zadge Goes Back to School

The Zadge just got home from her cross country trip to Charlottesville for the, um, "Big Weekend with Cute Guy."  Let's just say that I should have called it the "Big Disappointment with the Not-So-Cute-Guy and his Eight-Gross-Drunk-Fraternity Brothers and, oh have I mentioned that The Zadge got REALLY pissed off Weekend?"

But I don't want to start the week off on a disgusting, sour, immature-asshole-smelly note, so for now, let's just look at the stunning place where The Zadge spent her college days:

While it was snowing in Denver, The Zadge ran around under blue skies and in 75 degree weather taking these photos this morning, while trying not to be really pissed at the Guy-Formerly-Known-As-Cute-Guy:

Thomas Jefferson really was a genius.

And here's the Chapel....guess what? The Holy Zadge has never set foot in it!

Here's the famous "Lawn," where 47 star students get to live in a tiny room with no bathroom - uh, The Zadge was not such a star student:

But I got to pee and shower inside, so that's something. 

There are all these secret gardens all over campus (although we snobby Virginians call it "the grounds"):

Come to think of it, they'd make a good place to stuff 9 drunk assholes aging Southern fraternity boys so that they couldn't do anymore harm.

Or maybe just knock their misogynistic drunk asses down the stairs of the Ampitheatre:

But it really is a beautiful place...

The Jeffersonian architecture is amazing...

I have to say -- all personal bias aside -- I think it is the prettiest campus in the country:


But let's just say that last night with The Guy Formerly Known as Cute Guy and his disgusting Posse was NOT BEAUTIFUL....but let's not spoil the week just yet.   I'll give you the ugly details tomorrow.