Love The One [Mortgage] You’re With.

This past weekend was oh-so good. Not only was it full of oh-so good friends and festivities and a ridiculously lovely wedding… …But it also included a moment of utter and absolute validation. Now, as most of you know, we have a love/hate thing going on with this homestead of ours. We love that we have a homestead. We hate that, roughly once a year, something of epic proportions happens to the homestead which renders it borderline unlivable. But on {Read More}

Organizing My Kids’ Closet Out Of Necessity (And Not OCD).

As many of you know, I am currently 82 months pregnant with my third child. Thusly, the Big Girls (as they are suddenly/weirdly being referred to) are going to share a room. This means they need to share a closet. And being as this is still the fixer-uppiest home on the northwest side of Chicago, I have yet to fix up Nora’s closet. We’ve been way too busy with things like exploding sewers and rats in the kitchen. (Come visit!) {Read More}

Mini Kitchen Makeover, Part 3, AKA P.J. Thinks The Backsplash Looks FINE.

Apologies for the utter lateitude of this post: I was busy feeling every single minute of the four hour and thirty-five minute flight to LAX next to the totally awake and needing to acknowledge/touch/drink everything Susannah. (Interesting sidenote: right before the descent, she asked to sit with P.J. so I swapped daughters. And Suzy fell asleep as the plane touched down onto the tarmac. GOOD FOR YOU, P.J.) But back to the kitchen. It’s done! [Ish!] Over the past few {Read More}

We Are All So Very Tired. And Dreaming About Grout.

Last night, I was awakened at 3am by a smallish person, excitedly telling me about dreams and stories and silly things. Well, I had to take her word for it because frankly, I wasn’t finding her jive all that hilarious. But she’s usually pretty spot on with these things, so I’ll trust her that it was all very funny. Anyway, the 3 year-old didn’t wake me from the soundest sleep. At the time of her arrival in our bed, I {Read More}

Mini Kitchen Makeover, Part 2, AKA P.J. Gets Out The Power Tools.

You guys. Turns out, getting parts of your kitchen remodeled (and then repeatedly walking in and out of said room) is better than waking up to check your stocking or Easter basket or Valentine envelope or birthday table pile (what?) in terms of Immediate Gratification Awesome Feelings. Last week we got these ridonk cabinets resurfaced. This week? Oh my word, QUARTZ COUNTERTOPS. Let’s review what we had been working with: Man oh man, those cabinets are purty. That counter is {Read More}

Mini Kitchen Makeover, Part 1, AKA PJ Twitches In The Corner.

So, once upon a time there was this kitchen. And it happened to be placed directly into the house which I had so recently purchased. (Meaning it now fell under the category of things which were entirely my problem.) Here is a photo of said kitchen, circa 2009: Funny story- we have no idea what that brown glop consisted of, only that it required a chisel to pry free. A CHISEL.Also, that orange travel mug on the counter was what I used {Read More}

The Post Where I Beg My Dad To Come Back To Chicago.

Dad, today you start your seventh round of chemo. And while it’s not the super-funnest thing you’ll ever do, I’d like to remind you of a time when you were working on a house so hopeless you [silently] wished to burn it down. That house was my special fixer-upper house, Dad. And I’m so very glad that you didn’t follow through with your initial response of kicking the house into a bricky heap while choking back Ugly Tears (uh, maybe {Read More}

The Perfect Day (Doesn’t Exist).

“No, please, tell me more about your Plan For The Day.” Some mornings I wake up with A Plan. And I know exactly how the day will unfold: I’ll finally finish that scene. That one that’s kinda holding back the progress of this, the latest draft of twenty for this godforsaken play, and it will All Make Sense. (The success of this show, of course, will catapult me into crazy Financial Comfort. Because let’s be honest: I really don’t want {Read More}