Framed

We took our VanGogh Print to Michael's on Sunday for some custom framing action.  This is what we  went with.  It will be done in another week or so.  Thanks for the coupon, Pam - it saved us a ton!

Packed In

Only downside, it was a tad cramped. Zero leg room.

Charter flight

My first charter flight from Centennial Airport. Destination...Grand Junction.

It was pretty awesome - no TSA, show up 30 minutes before the flight, comfy leather chairs & coffee, doughnuts, juice, and water free for the taking while you lounge before boarding.

And, the price was 1/3 of the cost if I would have flown out of DIA.

These are my travel mates Ning, Dr Paul, and Chris:

Sunday Funnies

I was out hunting on-line sales this morning when I stumbled upon this clearance item at Restoration Hardware:

Looks like a hunk o' wood to me.  But behold, it is actually an 18" high  Salvaged Oak Stump Table:

Artisan-crafted of raw, unfinished oak that's been salvaged from century-old barns, factories and mills, these simple yet stunning stump tables bring rustic texture and rich, timeworn character to the home – whether used alone or grouped together.

• Artisan-crafted of raw, unfinished oak that's been salvaged from century-old barns, factories and mills, these simple yet stunning tables stump tables bring rustic texture and rich, timeworn character to the side of a bed, sofa or armchair whether used alone singly or grouped together.

• Oak is salvaged from barns, factories and mills built between 1830 and 1900

• Felted feet protect floors

• Due to its handmade nature and past history, this wood table may have cracks and imperfections. These nail holes, old joints, nicks and knots reveal its age and provenance and are to be expected and celebrated.

• By its nature, this stump is one-of-a-kind; there will be some variation in size, shape and color

The funniest part is the price:  This can be all yours for $99, marked down from $250!!

Andy Schu - Here is an idea for your future furniture store aka "stop trapping for pelts and start selling sawed off barn beams to the Appleton yuppies". Although, I would take a pair of double striped skunk gloves :)

Mom - What did you do with your barn beam mantle? 

Our Van Gogh Masterpiece

Chris finished the puzzle last weekend. Erica was pretty sick and it is safe to say she slept 80% of the days away and he had to keep himself entertained somehow.

Only problem is, we are missing a piece and can't find it anywhere.

Happy Hour!

My old colleagues from Utah were in town this week. Our teams went to happy hour together downtown at the Four Seasons Edge Bar. They have a reasonable happy hour and it goes until 7:30.

This is Brandon and me. Brandon is LDS and had never had a drink before in his life until he accidentally grabbed mine at some point in the evening. He was a good sport about it and we all had a good laugh.

Puzzled

We went to the Becoming Van Gogh Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum on Sunday Evening.  We were lucky to get tickets.  The exhibit closes on the 20th and it is now sold out.  

We picked up this puzzle of the Van Gogh painting, The Harvest.  It is 1,000 pieces and is quite challenging. Erica also picked out this print titled Almond Branches.  She thinks it is going to end up in the Master Bedroom.

Tupperware Sorting Party

Things got wild and crazy at our house last night:

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Our Tupperware Lazy Susan has been out of control - unorganized and mismatched.  We also have some really old stuff that is melted and stained in spots (we didn't get any new when we got married; we didn't think we needed it).

We had originally bought 2 sets of Rubbermaid from Target, but returned them when we found Lock & Lock sets on Home.Woot that got great reviews.  The only down side is this brand will not nest in each other, but we think we can manage this feature.

So, all of our Tupperware came out of the cupboards so we could sort through it all.  We now have a nice box of rummage sale items and much more organized cupboards, which makes Erica especially happy.

Tacos & Broncos

Trying out our new taco plates while watching the game. They are very handy!  No need to buy the fancy (and more expensive) flat bottom shells anymore.

GO Broncos!

Deal of the Day

It is 15 degrees outside.  The cold always seems to make for a lazy day, wrapped in blankets, reading and surfing the web.  I started out doing a little research on items needed to complete a project in the Young House Love book I received for Christmas when I stumbled upon this little guy at West Elm:

He is 4" tall and 2.5" wide.  He was also only $0.99 marked down from $6.00 PLUS free shipping.  I picked up three of 'em to join the lone owl I already have on the Christmas tree next year for $3.20 shipped.

Anniversary Dinner

We had a very nice dinner at Firenze a Tavolo tonight to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. The restaurant is about 12 blocks from the house.

This was the Caesar Salad:

Chris even enjoyed the anchovies.

Chris had Pappardelle pasta with wild boar ragu.  Erica had lobster ravioli.  Everything was delicious.  Both pastas were house made.

We shared a great bottle of wine, our first Super Tuscan, and they gave us a shot of Lemoncello on the house when we received our check.

Book List 2013

What are you reading in 2013?  We are always looking for good books!

Erica

Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update, & Show Your Home Some Love - Sherry & John Petersik

Chris

Yes, Chef: A Memoir - Marcus Samuelson

Book List 2012

We have not read as much as years past.  We have not been keeping this list over the course of the year (and was instead compiled just today), so there are a few others, we just don't have recall.

Erica

Outlander (Outlander Series #1) - Diana Gabaldon

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander Series #2) - Diana Gabaldon

Voyager (Outlander Series #3) - Diana Gabaldon

Drums of Autumn (Outlander Series #4) - Diana Gabaldon

Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James

Fifty Shades Darker - E.L. James

Fifty Shades Freed - E.L. James

The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1) - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (Hunger Games Series #2) - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay (hunger Games Series #3) - Suzanne Collins
Shakespeare in an Hour - Christopher Baker

Chris

The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1) - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (Hunger Games Series #2) - Suzanne Collins

Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson

Blacklisted

I lost my nook while traveling over the holidays.  I am super sad about it.  I am not sure exactly when or where, but I have a feeling it was on the plane from Denver to Milwaukee.  There was a small hope I left it on the coffee table back in Denver, but that was not the case.  So, after having mom check the house in Wisconsin one more time, I filed a lost and found report with Southwest.  I was feeling downright optimistic that a good Samaritan turned it in and I was definitely going to get it back.

In addition to filing a lost and found report, I also changed the password to our B&N account to prevent anyone charging nook books to our account.  I followed that by trying to deactivate my nook, but it was not listed as a device on the account - only Chris's was there.  We believe whoever found it did a factory reset which removed the link to the account and allows it to be registered under another user.

So, I called B&N customer service.  They said I could "blacklist" it if I had the serial number.  Luckily, we still had the original nook boxes (sometimes being a hoarder is a good thing) which have the serial numbers on them.  My nook is now blacklisted which renders it absolutely useless and no one can register it under a new account.  It had not yet been registered to anyone else.

The moral of the story:

1. Don't lose your nook.

2. Make sure you have your serial number written down somewhere.

3. The world is full of rat bastards.

Wisconsinites

Cards Against Humanity

We got a new game for Christmas called Cards Against Humanity.  It is basically a crude and politically incorrect version of Apples to Apples.  We introduced a few friends to the game last night while ringing in the New Year.

Happy New Year!