Mae is gangsta

Little Maeby: the one kidney kitty!

 

(Mae was fixed last weekend, and during the surgery they discovered she only has ONE kidney!)

Ultra cuteness

Ah, what better than a cute little monkey video on a Friday afternoon.

And THANK GOD for the subtitles, so we can understand Australian.

Can you say "waste of money"?

I've been spending a lot of my time lately reading design blogs, scouring the interwebs for deals (and fun things to add to our registry) and watching Million Dollar Decorators (oh, hello real life Karen from Will & Grace), and I've seen a lot of funny/odd decorating choices.  But I just came across the biggest waste of money I've seen in a while, a la Pottery Barn:

 want to buy?

What? you ask.  That's a beautiful wooden bowl! Yes, that is true.  But what they are selling are the BROKEN PIECES OF TILE IN THE BOWL. Sayulita Broken Tile Vase Filler. Good Lord.

Casa de Cantiello

Well, today (ish), Evan and I entered into the world of HOME OWNERSHIP! 

Meet 6361:

Isn't she cute?

Don't worry, there will be PLENTY of before and after pictures as we attack this little beauty with our DIY skillz! 

And now, one more little sneak peek to whet your whistle:

nothing like a good stair picture

Silky smoooooth summer skin

Want silky smooth skin for the Summer?

You could buy this body polish, at $54 a pop:

OR

You could do what I did, and use BROWN SUGAR straight out of the bag. It costs about 2 bucks. That is much better, fiscally speaking.

Here is what I just said translated into a math equation:

$2* > $54 

*Ok, $2 is a rough estimate.  I'm not sure what sugar is going for these days.

 
P.S: I would recommend adding a little bit of oil to the sugar as well (luxury, people!).  I suppose you could use olive oil or some other variation that you have sitting around, but that sounds really gross to me.  I also like to add lemon zest just to give it a little ZING.  You could use salt instead of sugar, but I find it dries your skin a bit.  Rub the mixture on your skin, and then rinse off in the shower! 

Summer is here

Well, it's official.  It's Summer.

I know this, not because the weather forecast looks like this:

Or because all I want to do is eat my food in cold liquid form:

Or because all I can seem to do today is lay on the couch sweating while watching the these classy ladies: 

all that fur is making me sweat more

But because I have seen the return of COLD PRESS COFFEE!

Finally, the local shops have started serving it! PTL! 

I am a snob when it comes to my summer coffee drink, you should know.  When I order it at a coffee shop, I ask at least twice to be sure it is COLD PRESS and not iced coffee.  And IF for some reason I end up with an icky cup of watered down drip coffee, I will be cranky, so stay clear of me.  I was introduced to a fantastic cafe this past weekend, where the barista clearly understood the seriousness of a good cold press, and even offered me a small sample, as if a wine tasting, so I could be sure the brew was up to par.  It was good, and I was in heaven.

Cold press, dear friends, is exponentially better than iced coffee and I'll tell you why.  Many people make a hot pot of drip coffee, then dump it over ice- melting a good portion of the ice and watering the coffee down.  Some think ahead, and stick the pot of hot coffee in the fridge, which is a step up, but hot drip coffee turned cold tastes like burnt left over coffee.  Never good.

With cold press, heat is never used to brew- which means there is never that burnt flavor, and since it is already cold, no need to pour over ice and watering it down!  It also is surprisingly less acidic, so it's easier on your belly.  You can make it at home, it's super easy, you just have to plan ahead (as in, the night before). Simply mix your grinds in cold water, soak overnight and then filter it through a french press or coffee filters. YUM!

However, BE WARNED- it makes you crazy.  Something about the caffeine... it's intense...