I build furniture

in that ludicrous way that things sometimes happen- I ended up building two nightstands for our soon to be guest room... they were inexpensive and it seemed like a good idea at the time I ordered them- and to tell the truth they really weren't that hard to put together but that emboldened me in a way that it probably shouldn't have...LOL

anyway- we had beds- we had bedding (which I had ordered well in advance because I saw something I liked in mid January right after we had a contract pending... and now we had nightstands - almost a room - LOL- well kinda sorta a room... it progressed- 

this is already stage two - adding the throw pillows with the shell motif- and then the lamps with that I filled with shells to continue the tie-in... a veritable Martha Stewart- LOL - NOT!!!

then I built headboards - which by the way did not match the frame holes so I improvised with some fancy tie-wrapping to attach them on one side of each bed- LOL- a gal's gotta do what she has to in order to make it work...

finally one more pillow ordered for a chair in the corner - and we are good to go for now-  wall decor and curtains will have to wait until the fall....

moving on to the guest bath- I brought the shower curtain with us- it was one Phil and I picked out in 1997 right when we started dating - LOL- I always liked it and so even though I didn't have a place for a shower curtain up north I held on to it--- now it has a new home and I still like it!

I found these pretty bottles on line at a close out website and the glass beads in sea glass colors at Bed Bath and Beyond for a nice window treatment- still lets in lots of light-

bathroom with the shell/starfish nicknacks and the sea glass beads - looking a little more finished ---

and one more room I worked on early on- the screened porch- which Penny and Lucy think is just great! I found this set of outdoor wicker for a very reasonable price all packed into one box - the ottomans nest into the chairs which fit together in an H pattern around the table - very nifty and the size is not gigantic as the porch is not really all that wide and this gives us some room to move around on it-

above the view of the lake through the screens and below- Penny enjoying a rest on one of the ottomans...

and here is a shot of Lucy on the patio - in the courtyard in the front-

I ordered a table to go with the chairs we bought and were using at the rental- it is cast aluminum and has a lovely laser cut pattern which made a pretty cool shadow on the slate paving stones in the courtyard-

the courtyard is "caged" - open to the sky but screened- so Lucy gets the sense she is roaming freely in the outdoors but is actually still inside the confines of her home... we are surrounded by wonderful trees and lush vegetation.

 

our bedroom overlooks the courtyard and the guest bedroom opens onto the screened porch view-

one of the things we accomplished before we left was to get two of the closets fitted with California Closet style finishes-

so little by little we make progress- and the night before we moved in we brought friends Lew & Ellie over to see the place and then two days after we moved in CBGB came to lunch and we welcomed friends to our new place.  we also had our real estate agent for drinks to celebrate - so we had champagne in the frig even if there was no food - LOL - we have our priorities!

this time they do it

but just barely-

we headed south to Ft Myers for another Cardinals game- this time against the Twins.  They played poorly and so did the Twins but they pulled it out in the last inning and won by a run.... we headed to Grimaldi's for pizza before heading back home- lots of appointments for service and deliveries to the condo to try to get somewhat settled before we leave to return to Chicago...

and our favorite pizza!

so up next- a room evolves and we go to a play...

the house of john

is what Ca d'Zan means in Venetian dialect.

well on the 14th of March we closed on our own "house" Ca d'phil & tor LOL-

here are a few photos of the place from the prior prior owner - who had a serious green thumb... but you will get the feel of it- a small two bedroom condo with nice outdoor space for our own Penny and Lucy to go gecko hunting!

photos run from the front to the back of the condo- which overlooks a small lake-

the very next day we had the cable people in to install cable and Internet and had beds delivered... then we zoomed off to the wine event a Ca d'Zan the Ringling Estate.

This was something I am so glad we made time to do-

here is the detailed run down of the enchanted evening...



we started off at the first station just inside the entrance building-  wines from Washington and Oregon from the Lange vineyard among others.  the food station there had duck terrine with Oregon berry sauce, pomegranate cured gravlax and rabbit sausage with mushroom ragout... along with a couple of other goodies.

then we moved on to the California stop where we feasted on mahi tacos and "In N Out" burgers and had seven California wines to choose from.  Next stop Argentina and some fabulous goodies of rock lobster skewers roasted on a salt brick and beef and cilantro empanadas served with four wines ranging from Torrontes to Malbec.  We stayed an extra long time here and went back for seconds of both the food and the wine.

then it was on to Japan and the sushi table along with Sake-tinis of various blends with things like Cucumber vodka and Peach tea vodka... excellent - although the sushi choices were limited by the time we arrived at this station.  then on Italy! where the food was a fabulous choice of anti-pasta and home made breads and smoked mozzarella along with super Tuscan wines. YUM!

by now the sun was setting on the house of John and it was looking very much like Hotel California...LOL

the front porch had wine bottles lining the steps with candles behind lighting them in a lovely manner and there we split up- Phil went back to find the New Zealand and Australia station for the shrimp on the barbie and lamb lollipops... while I went on to the France station and the incredibly beautiful array of handmade chocolates.

there was a band playing on the terrace and tea and coffee for all... we sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the lovely weather and the beautiful evening- before hopping a tram to the entrance and heading home... a long day but worth the effort to get to the evening event- we will definitely return next year for this wonderful event.

next up - two plays and another chance for the Cardinals!

espn zone - disney does baseball

so the day after we got back from the big bat mitzvah weekend we went up towards Orlando to see the Cardinals in spring training against the Braves.

the long and short - both teams were bad but the Cardinals were worse and it was cold and rainy (for Florida) and on top of that it was freakishly Disney in the park (the worst one yet) with bad expensive food and a rule of no umbrellas (huh?)

so anyway- here are the photos - not much exciting - and we spent four plus hours on the road to see less than three hours of "baseball" such as it was--- won't be heading back there next year...

next up condo closing and fabulous wine event!

marissa's big weekend!

so then Friday we went to lunch at the pastrami place - I would call it Mile End but that one is the Brooklyn one- this one is the Portland one---LOL - and now I remember it is Kenny & Zuke's (what kind of name is Zuke????)

the sandwiches were good but hey - it was no Schwartz's from Montreal...

then we went to S&S house to pick up Grandma Sue and bring her to the hotel for some rest (she got in at 2AM last night!) and later everyone came to the NINES for the casual dinner - sushi, chicken wings, and good finger food- followed by wine time at S&S house - including Marissa's birth year wine- a 2000 Bordeaux!

so here are a few photos to get us started - of the NINES (as in "dressed to the") - the location used to be a department store - actually still is - just a shrunken version now with a hotel on the top floors. Lobby level eight.

first two from Kenny & Zuke's where they had my favorite (available in N. America) ginger beer!

then the NINES - where these ladies obviously were not dressed to...

then off to S&S's - where the wine was a special pour for Marissa's Bat Mitzvah and a photo of a painting by her brother Jack! along with a very very very cute dog that calls Marissa "mom" - LOL - her name is also Lucy (just like my little cat- frequent star of blog photos! LOL)

then the next day was the big day! Marissa's Torah portion went very well and the service set a new record in length of time it takes to get through the thing- Catholics have nothing on the Jews (being Presbyterian- sort of- I can't understand how it takes more than 40 minutes to get through a "service"... so the more than three hours - and we didn't even get there for the start - seemed interminable to me!)

 

 

the kiddish luncheon was super! - worth the wait for the mac and cheese and some really super salads along with tables of cookies that we managed to down a huge selection from.... then time off for a few hours until the party begins!

 

the party started with an incredible sushi buffet and lots of good passed appetizers and then we went into dinner... the kids had kid style food and spent their time socializing and readying themselves for dancing. We watched a fun slide show of Marissa's long (LOL) life from birth to 13!  And then dinner for the adults was served course by course....

 

 

the party went until the appointed hour but I did not- as I was attempting to stay on eastern time as much as possible.  However- we did have time to stop by the photo booth to have our photos taken to add to Marissa's scrap book from the big evening- all in good fun -

 



the next morning everyone joined for brunch in the lobby eatery - a farm to table place with really good food...

 

 

 

 

then later again headed back to S&S's to wind down the big weekend- and eat left overs all afternoon... along with the famous Voo-Doo donuts (which I wasn't all that thrilled with considering the wait was a mere 45 minutes - although the bacon maple one was unusual) - then back to the hotel at a reasonable hour because we had a 6 AM flight out on Monday morning - it takes all day to get back to Florida - so we weren't home until nearly 6:30 PM!

my cousin Michele had been our cat sitter so the girls weren't eve n cranky when we got home- but they did have some trophy geckos to show us! LOL - little killers!

so next up-  some ball games, closing on the condo, a great wine event, two good plays - actually one GREAT one- some visits from friends and then we head into April... better late then never!