Ridiculously cute

Apparently the blue penguins that got caught in the oil spill in New Zealand benefit from a sweater while they await cleaning. Not only does it keep them warm, but it keeps them from preening and ingesting oil and sludge. A yarn shop in Napier posted a pattern and asked for help, and the sweaters are pouring in. I don't think animal first aid has ever been more adorable.

Enjoy your weekend!

Basic black

There's a third coat of poly to go on this, and then of course base moulding and such, but cute French Dan's crew is nearly done with the floors. We're very pleased with the results and nearly giddy at the thought we can move out of the master bedroom and back into the rest of the house.

Saturday night out

I turn 44 on Sunday. That being a sucky night of the week to celebrate anything, Brett's taking me to dinner Saturday night. I was told to choose anywhere I like, so I did (not McDonalds) and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also noticing a number of odd connections. Join me for a rambling, mildly interesting and ultimately pointless story all centering on one intersection in town won't you?

We're having dinner at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange at 20th and Main. They're having their first Rieger Invitational, a four course dinner prepared by chefs from four different restaurants in KC, Lawrence, St. Louis and Chicago.

This building is the parking lot where Port Fonda parks their Airstream and serves up Mexican street food every weekend. You know we love Port Fonda, The Facebook records a check-in for us nearly every weekend, and after drinks with my co-workers tonight I stopped for chilaquiles to soak up the scotch.

The restaurant is supposed to be very good, and in an old building called the Rieger Hotel. For years it was the Dixie Belle, KC's most infamous gay bar, with one of the nastiest (and frankly, most fun!) basements I've ever had a drink in.

The building was eventually bought and renovated with two very nice apartments upstairs and the restaurant space on the ground floor. The formerly filthy and scandalous basement was renovated (with industrial strength cleaners I'm sure) and became Ryan Mabee's speakeasy called Manifesto. There is also a two car garage off the back alley serving the larger (full 3rd floor/part of the 2nd floor plus the rooftop garden) apartment via both stairs and an elevator.

The building is currently for sale and you can see some photographs and the floor plans here. On the representing realtor's site the price is down to 1.85 million rather than the 2.1 on the information site. We toured the larger apartment on a downtown loft tour a few years ago. Its a beautiful renovation overall, although I think the fireplace in the main apartment is far too big, and the open shower in the master bath desperately needs floor to ceiling glass. The kitchen set up is a bit wonky for me, but it's nothing that couldn't be fixed. If I had a couple mil hanging around I could totally live there.

Except, and this is the final connection, it would kill me to pay the current owners anywhere near the list price. Who are they? I did some research and I believe it's the Omers. Yes, that wretched woman who's BMW convertible I yanked the bumper off while parking the Rover when I stopped to buy dog poop bags in Brookside.

Apparently they've moved to northern California where I hope she and her 325 continue to be battered by bad drivers and careless parkers. I'm sure the carrying costs aren't anything they can't handle, but I can't help but smile every time I see the For Sale sign. Yeah, the market's been hard, but what she's putting out into the world isn't doing her any favors either.

Blue bedroom, version 2

When we moved into the house we were sleeping in the first bedroom you come to when you walk down the hall. The blue flocked damask wasn't exactly inviting, but it wasn't as depressing as the faded pink damask in the master or the dirty burlap covering the walls in the third bedroom.

Burlap was the first to go and became the gray bedroom with the window seat where we sleep now, and we turned our attention to the living room, family room and entry.

With those rooms and the hallway and closets all renovated, all that was keeping us from having the floors done was the blue bedroom. As fate would have it Bill was available, as was Chris the electrician. Down came the walls and up went new wiring, insulation and drywall. Steve worked his mud and tape magic and it was time for paint.

We had no idea what we wanted, other than some contrast. I'd thought about some pale aqua blues, but looking at chips what hit me was Benjamin Moore's Blue Danube.

It's darker and more blue-green than it looks here, the flash kind of washed it out a bit. The ceiling is the same pale grey (Sherwin-Williams' Fleur de Sel) we're using everywhere, and when the white base and crown are up I think we're going to be pleased.

I'm planning on hanging a lot of black and white art in medium toned wood frames. I got a start on that last Tuesday at KC Auction Co's fall catalog sale. It's an abstract mixed media by Lei Molin (Dutch, 1927-1990). The catalog described it as having a rabbit on the right side, but Brett sees a buffalo. Either way, it's the kind of thing I like, I got it dirt cheap, and I can't wait to get it to the framer. Public artwork service reminder: a mat serves to preserve the work, do not sandwich your piece between the mount and the glass!

Fashion Friday

I'm still in the mood for a new coat, and I'm still enamored with LBM 1911. This is their pea coat. SO handsome.

Have a great weekend!

Schnauzers galore

Happy Friday, let's celebrate with puppy pics! Tucker got his first haircut, making him even more insanely cute. Brett had to hold him as he still doesn't often stop moving. And there's Alex, up on the bed for a little time away.
My mom has a new addition as well. Here's Sadie, who's all of 10 weeks old, looking a lot bigger than she actually is. Black and silver schnauzers are kind of rare, I'm really hoping she keeps her color, but thats puppy hair so who knows what she'll end up as. Again, not holding still gets you picked up. Oh and I guess I should say here's my mom too. She'd probably prefer a picture of herself when she was a bit more put together but she doesn't read my blog so she'll never know.

And here's Sadie looking at the dogs across mom's cul-de-sac. She makes Tucker seem comatose by comparison. She's a non-stop needle-toothed biting monster. Mom called one day, I asked how the baby was and she said "We can't catch her." I said "Tell me you're not taking her out without a leash" and she said "No, I mean inside."

Like I always say, they make them cute so you don't kill them.

Shelving choices

I've been looking for a pair of bookshelves to flank the opening between the living and dining room. Its been surprisingly hard to find something simple, in a material I like, in the size I need. I think these parsons towers from West Elm are pretty good in the walnut finish and they're the perfect size.

Here's the question for those of you who see these types of things: Have you seen something similar in glass and steel?

Curtain up

Our new performing arts center opens this weekend. Info on the building, ballet, symphony, opera and more at www.kauffmancenter.org. Those of you interested in architecture (Stefan I'm thinking of you especially) should also google 'Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts' or check out http://kauffman.kansascity.com for more photos. Open house all day on Sunday, with free performances inside and out. Locals I hope to see you there!

House progress

We've had some stuff going on at Chez Malaise. Yay! The hall has had the old gold wallpaper stripped and is currently being skimcoated. (Pardon that gray bar, I can't seem to get that pic to upload right).
The second bedroom, formerly a sea of faded blue flocked damask wallpaper (except for the strips that had fallen off the wall), has new wiring, lighting, insulation and drywall. Mud and tape should be finished this week. This is especially exciting because the bedroom and hall were the only things standing in the way of having the rest of the floors refinished.

And because I'm incapable of waiting until everything is done before shopping, here's the rug I bought. I'll post a better shot when its down on the floor, but I'm really pleased. We wanted some pattern and we both like orientals, but finding the right one wasn't easy. I wanted orange rather than red, and not too much tan. I thought we'd hit every rug gallery in town until we remembered one we'd missed, and they had the winner.

We bought a 6X9 as we're working on the short axis of the family room. They have one more of this same rug in a larger size which is an interesting thought for the living room. It was rolled and folded over in a corner of the shop, I'm kind of hoping they leave it there until we're ready to furnish that room.

The anniversary

In July of 2001 I was laid off my job at Sprint. After nine years in Long Distance I'd been at Sprint PCS for a year and while I liked my boss and co-workers the rest of the company was batshit insane. The end of my position was a relief more than anything. I sat across the table from my Director, one of a number of truly wretched women I'd worked with, while she tried to find some semblance of human emotion to let me down easy. It was taking her forever, so I finally said "Crystal, I've figured my severance and really this is fine." She thanked me for making it easy for her (looking back I wish I would have made myself cry) and we were done.

That began what I referred to as my Blissful Unemployment. Free summer days, sleeping in days, pool days, all unencumbered by a pesky job. I had no clue what I'd do next, but I was paid through January, so I had time to figure it out.

At the beginning of September an old friend called. He was the head of Operations at a commercial insurance brokerage, and he had a position to fill. We had lunch, and I said yes. And we decided on a start day. I remember telling him "I've enjoyed my joblessness so much, I need one more day. Lets make it Tuesday."

So there I was in my cube, just a bit before 8:30 central, setting a picture of Brett and the dogs on my desk when my new manager Kim stopped by. She said "You should come watch the television in the conference room with us, a plane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers." I was watching that television with strangers who would become my friends when the second plane hit.

I remember Mike getting to the office, having heard what happened on the drive in. I remember calling Brett at work to make sure he knew. The only other thing I really remember is the email from Kevin, the owner of the company, telling us he had no idea what was happening, but that we should all go home and be with our families. The rest of the day I remember mostly as sitting in front of the tv, and the appearance of flags everywhere.

The disaster showed us our best and our worst, made the world love us and revile us, and changed us in ways both significant and ridiculous. I wish I had some big take-away, but I don't.

Putting antiques to work

Previously our entry was divided from the living room by an opening that was smaller and contained a built-in planter and some curly, scrolly wrought iron. It fairly screamed "tired, old house." When we began planning the reconfiguration we knew that we wanted to keep things feeling open, but we also wanted a bit of separation too, which we weren't sure how we'd achieve.

Looking at furniture at Kincaid's one day we also noticed a number of old Chinese lattice panels. Really beautiful, most of them were originally either doors or floor screens and too big for what we thought we needed. Cindy mentioned there were a few more downstairs, and what did we find but some big, simple square ones, just about the right size for our wall. We brought it home and Bill reframed the opening to fit with a couple extra inches on all sides.

After spending most of our Labor Day relaxing we decided to finally hang it. A little bit of measuring, a bit of eyeballing, and four screw eyes and hooks (3 on top, one on the bottom just to steady it) and we're done, and really pleased.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Enjoy your long weekend! If you're traveling (like Sarah Palin, say, to Iowa or New Hampshire) please be safe and enjoy.

Oh, and Sarah, I know that 71% of republicans don't want you to run, but I say don't listen to them. Many of us are counting on your crazy bullshit and praying for a poorly-timed photo of you eating a corn dog. Don't let us down.

MidMal Reviews: Ralph Lauren Candlelight

The second bedroom is demo'd and the electrician will finish up this week. Then Bill and Steve will be in for insulation/drywall and mud/tape, and finally we'll be ready for (totally sexy) French Dan to come refinish the floors. With that milestone in sight I needed to paint the dining room ceiling and crown moulding.

The room has the same big backlit moulding and coved ceiling we saved in the entry. I was so happy with the white trim and pale turquoise ceiling paint we used there that I decided to do the same thing in the dining room. It looked great when it was all done.

Ralph Lauren has discontinued a lot of their ancilary paint products over the years (I always thought their stencils were good), but still available is Candlelight. It's a clear topcoat designed to change the way light hits your walls. If you look at the pictures on the RL website its subtle and pretty. Hoping to enhance the already good looking ceiling this weekend I gave it a try. Here's a review.

The Product: You'll be stirring this for a while, you might want to ask your salesperson to run it through the shaker. Also note this stuff stinks like wet gym socks, and that odor will hang around for a day or so. Don't paint before you have people over for drinks like I did.

Application: Along with the paint you need a couple of specialty RL rollers, one 4 inch and one regular 9 inch. They're very shaggy to mottle the surface. They recommend completing an entire wall (or ceiling in my case) at a time, and also that one person do all the painting. The small roller is used to cut in edges, but only two regular roller lengths at a time. Then two regular strips are rolled on, filling the roller twice for each strip. Finally, X's are made in rows over the freshly painted strips, picking up the roller after each stroke. It sounds worse than it was, then again I'm very comfortable with paint techniques. Either way I think the whole ceiling took me about an hour and a half.

The Result: I'm not in love. I was expecting something subtly magical, what I got seems more reminiscent of semi gloss paint. The increased sheen is also going to emphasize any imperfections in your surface.

The Verdict: We're going to live with it for a bit and see if it grows on us, but I smell a repaint in my future.

Easy Closets Again

If that doesn't stem the tide of coats, jackets, hats, gloves, scarves and umbrellas, nothing will.

Baseboard, a new light fixture and some doors and we can count the entry closet done. The system is the same Easy Closets that we used in the bedroom and again, I'm pleased. It took us about 3 hours start to finish but was no big deal. I'm still a fan.

Fashion Break

With the little break in our hellish weather I started thinking about a new fall coat. Wouldn't this unconstructed beauty be great? It's Lubiam's more casual LBM 1911 line.

Congratulations Michelle Bachmann

on your Iowa Straw Poll win! I'm pulling for you, I really am. And not only because your husband Ladybird is going to be skewered by SNL at every opportunity. Your inability to be photographed NOT looking bat-shit crazy will be the best thing about the upcoming Presidential campaign. Run you incomprehensible religious wingnut, run!

Enjoy your weekend

I've got some painting and odd little tasks to finish up, but shower glass was installed yesterday and the 48 hour silicone cure period ends Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning's shower should be the highlight of my weekend. Here's to no more pink bathrooms!

Modern Love

Mrs. Blandings has mentioned Joanna Votilla and Modern Love, her shop at 45th and State Line a few times, and with good reason. Joanna has a great eye and her place is always filled with beautiful things you'd love to own.

I drive by pretty regularly (Kincaid's is in the neighborhood as well) and when she was open Saturday I had to run in because in the window was this incredible lamp.

Simple, yes, but oversized in scale. The base is 13 inches in diameter and the whole thing is 40 inches tall with the (original, unadorned and unblemished) shade. Best of all though is its shiny, pristine, burnt orange glaze. Its not far off from the can of paint waiting to cover the sideboard that I'm anxious to get to work on.

When I picked it up over lunch today she said "Live with it for a few days and let me know." I've moved it around a bit and its great on a table by a comfortable chair (although probably not that chair in the first picture). It's also terribly handsome on the grey antique Chinese cabinet, but sadly big enough to block the tv that will hang there soon. So while I'm not exactly sure where it will end up, I'm absolutely positive its not going back.

Modern Love is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to five, at 1715 West 45th Street (just east of State Line).

Confidential to HGTV

Ok HGTV, tonight I reached the tipping point. We've all been watching competition shows for a while now, and there's a systemic problem: the team challenge.

I know you think that drama makes good tv, maybe it does or maybe it doesn't. There's one thing however that I'm absolutely sure it does, and that is dilute the design.

David Bromstad told one of the contestants tonight, "We're a design network." You need to decide if that's true or not.

These people barely know each other and have wildly varying design backgrounds and personalities. When things inevitably go wrong its the room that suffers, and then we get to hear Vern tell the meeker/quieter/more polite of the pair that they should fight for what they think is right. Hey Vern, what exactly should Karl have done tonight to stop Cathy from overstyling the kitchen? He told her he didn't think what she was doing was right and it was obvious she had no intention of changing course. Should he have physically restrained her from stacking up more food?

The designers could have interesting ideas or points of view, but we never get to find out because you're emphasizing the competition over the design. And with the exception of David Bromstad, the competition hasn't even produced stars or compelling shows. Its time to do this differently.

Lindsey Adelman Studio

Via Decorno. How hard would this rock my dining room. If only it didn't cost as much as a decent used car. They're all good, check them out here.