Happy Bouchon Birthday SuperMoto

I cooked SuperMoto a Thursday night birthday dinner because he is traveling on his actual birthday tomorrow.

We have a sort of California bucket list if you will. Replace the concept of death with moving away from California and it makes sense. Our list includes places to go and things to do in California that we know we won't do once we have moved. Bouchon, French Bistro by Thomas Keller was one of them, most certainly. We had never been there and had considered it a few times. It is a special place for treat and I figured that his birthday would be the right time to indulge.

I made a reservation for Saturday late afternoon to take SuperMoto for his birthday and surprised him.He was delighted. We had the most magical afternoon. The restaurant was so busy when we got there but cleared out into the early evening and we had such an enjoyable time. The food was incredible!!

These photos are some of the dishes that we ordered.

The desserts were unbelievable.

Getting in touch with his feminine side...

There was a day before the last trip that I was hunting for Crocs. I had heard the company wasn't doing well and really wanted to get a few pairs at Costco before it was too late, since they were so cheap there.

I suggested to SuperMoto that I get him a pair because they are pretty comfy. He was very against the idea but said as long as I don't get him pink ones that was fine. I went to Costco and in his huge size 13 or 12 or whatever those monsters are, they only had pink. I called and asked him and he laughed, assuming I was being a pill and a half and just razing him. As you can see I wasn't.

When he got home from work that day he was mortified but somehow they got packed in the car. (Of course, if you are thinking that somehow is that I snuck them in, you are correct.)

He was desperate one day going in and out of the house with the rain and the mud and starting wearing them. Now he can't live without them. Although I have promised to get him a manly color as you can see, he got in touch with his feminine side and wore them. I loved this picture because it was him in his girly shoes and then a big saw. I also promised him I would never show anyone the picture but, as I am desperate for blogging material until I am at the house the next time I broke my promise for your entertainment. Plus come on, SuperMoto in hot pink Crocs, who could pass that up???

Puppy Paws

Not sure if you saw the puppy paws in the first snow. (if you did sorry)I inched along under the window so as to not influence the integrity of the fresh (light) snow and paw imprints. I really was trying to avoid people prints at this point.

She got so excited when she saw the snow. She was so giddy and jumpy aroundy. It was adorable. We were in our pajamas and ran out in the snow together. (Well, she was in her fur coat) She sniffed it like the ground had become possessed overnight and she was sniffing out the perpetrator. It was lovely. I enjoyed watching her silly face as she ran around curious and confused. Her tail practically wagged off her body. It it hadn't been so cold I could have stayed out there forever playing in the snow with her. Unfortunately, as you know already, the snow lasted for such a short time.

I am dreaming about my third snow. I just hope I don't miss it. Please Please snow, wait for us to get back there. We will hurry if you can just wait.

A more complete look

We were so excited to whip these vintage stools out and put them in their home, under the overhang of the island.

We made some last minute adjustments when we were installing the island. We moved the island three inches towards the double ovens in a last minute decision that the walkway was too wide. In doing that we had the option to add those extra inches to the overhang of the island. We decided to add two more inches, to increase the overhang from eight inches to ten inches. We didn't want supports so that the island could actually have cabinets that open underneath the overhang and in front of the stools.

The next trip I am sure we will put the new table in it's spot and someday soon we will bring up the chairs. Until that wonderful day we will just have be use folding....

Will this ever end?

City vs. Island #3 The Restaurant Situation Revisited

This is SuperMoto at Roche Harbor's Lime Kiln Cafe. It is a tiny, breakfast and lunch place that is open during the winter only until the early afternoon but all day in the summer.

We found ourselves running to make it before 2:00pm many a day so that we could dine on their fine food. It is super incredible, yummy, unbelievable food, in the most casual but beautiful environment.

SuperMoto is having the clam chowder in this photo but the cheeseburger and the grilled ham and cheese and the grilled cheese all seem so gourmet even though they are simple, regular old food. Of course they have a bit fancier stuff too but we haven't had it. We have had wonderful pancakes there though and eggs and coffee too. So, we are happy to have found a new little place in our new home. We even have been running over to have lunch and had our neighbors on the road behind us going to the same place and ended up sitting together and having a nice lunch. It is fun and yummy and we love it!

The Knob

I don't think I have told you how closed minded and how flexible I am being about this home remodel. Sounds kinda contradictory but it is true.

An example of my closed minded openness is that I was certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was going to choose very modern, long handles for the cabinets. I knew exactly what I wanted I was certain. I borrowed a sort of card thing that had four or five handles on it and one little puny knob. I held the card up in front of the cabinets to get an idea of what I wanted and took a picture. This is the picture.

You can see that I was focused on the the big handles and there is this little, quiet knob on the card over there on the side. It was this process that made me realize that the little quiet knob sitting there politely on the side of the card that was whispering, "pick me, pick me" was the one. I just knew. I called SuperMoto downstairs and asked him to evaluate with me. He knew which one I originally liked so I told him that I was going to hold up the card in such a way that each handle and knob would be in the appropriate place to evaluate what he liked. He of course asked me what I liked, assuming that something had changed, and I said I wasn't going to tell him so as to not cloud his judgement. I held up the cards and the hardware for him to evaluate and he picked the little knob too with no hesitation. So we are going with a small, unassuming knob.

Did I show you our sunrise on the morning of our first anniversary of owning the house?

It was the most lovely shade of pink and purple. The early morning was chilly and I ran out in my pajamas to get a few good pictures. SuperMoto stayed inside in the warm, in front of the fire while I "chilled out" literally in the cold taking pictures.

The Kitchen Continued...

I know, I know, I am back in California and still sending you pictures of the kitchen. The reason for that is clear, I have nothing going on here and I haven't finished sharing things, from there, with you. Just bear with me because I only have so many pictures and we only did so much work so you are safe, this can't last forever.

This photo is of the granite on the desk area.

The kitchen island has this incredible vein in it. the two slabs that were used for the kitchen were from the same exact piece of granite but just were different depth slices into the same parent piece. This next photo is the piece in the corner of the kitchen between the sink and the cook top and it has the same vein in it as on the island just a slightly different thickness of the vein. When you stand in the kitchen and see both pieces together it looks brilliantly.

I am so excited by it. I love how it seems to move through the room. I am amazed how much I love the granite being that I didn't really want granite in the first place. Somehow those slabs drew me in. It was as if they whispered my name across the granite yard and I followed. I know, I know, sounds so corny but it is kinda true.

I LOVE IT!!

The Granite is Here The Granite Is Here

We called to check in yesterday with the granite company and low and behold they were getting ready to call us. They had loaded the granite on the truck and it was ready to go onto the ferry first this this morning. They will be on the 8:50 a.m. ferry and arrive in Friday Harbor at 9:55a.m.

That means they will be here by 10:15.

EVERYBODY SAY WOOP WOOP! THROW YOU HANDS IN THE AIR & ....

ok ok, enough already, a rap, really Moto????? This moment calls for a rap??!?!?!?!

Can you say excited?

Here is the island from above...

The Lower Cabinets are Done!

WOW!! Here is your first look. This is the desk/buffet section of the kitchen. SuperMoto worked on this section until 5am the other morning. I got to take a two hour nap from 2-3:30am but he pushed on. We have the uppers to complete and some of the appliances but we are well on our way.

The best part about it is that the granite template dude came and our granite is being installed tomorrow. Tomorrow People! This time tomorrow we will have sinks, not working but installed, cooktop, again not working but installed, dishwasher, hmmm not working and installed, and GRANITE!!!

WahoooOOOOO!!!!!

I am freaking out. I never thought this would happen like this. I wanted this so bad I could taste it all this time and now, it is coming to fruition. I can't wait to show you, invite you to dinner, bake cookies for you, etc.

PS: Did you notice the old faux fruit dining table light? It is a lovely piece of art, isn't it?

FIRE? Does Anyone Smell Smoke

Just in case I haven't told you yet, we are eating out of our bathroom. Hmmm...that came out wrong but it is factual. Take a look. We have the essentials, coffee, fiber, paint rollers, and oh, what's that you say, a stack of fire alarms??

Why yes it is a stack of fire alarms now that you mention it. Remember when I said I wouldn't rip on SuperMoto unless it was really super warranted. WELL, IT IS!

He is burning down our house with his circular saw and particle board toxic combo. I can see my future now and it might include some strange, new particle board smoke lung disease. I feel a cough coming on as I type. Can you sue your partner for second hand particle smoke? Shouldn't there be laws about sawing in the house? Not to mention, the hearing loss from the numerous fire alarms, five to be exact, which are all wired together for just such a smokey occasion. ( coughing again) [psychosomatic coughing right now I think but don't tell him I said so.] The smell is horrid. The eye burning and watering isn't any better.

I am running to hide the saw as soon as I stop typing. Wish me luck as I might have a hard time breathing going down the hall.

My Kitchen Island Fantasies

So, I have been wanting a kitchen island from as far back as I can remember. I am not sure the first time I saw one but it was a LONNNGGG time ago. I have fantasized about this moment.

The new island is almost complete. The two doors in the middle are a big cabinet. The outer two "doors" are columns to make it look like a pretty piece of furniture.

As you can see, even the dog admires it. I am excited to get the counter top on and the sink in and then bake something. YEAH!

Hanging on for the Ride...Cabinet Wisdom

It turns out that doing work, such as home improvement, you need strength. I am sure you are thinking that I mean brawn. I mean strength.

Physical Strength.

Emotional Strength.

Strength of Character.

A steady hand.

A steady heart.

A steady mind.

This process, it seems, isn't just a physical one. There are emotional components that I didn't account for ahead of time.

It seems the most important part of it all is the strength of character to keep your wits about you when all of the other aspects of the project are being challenged.

It turns out that I have almost none of these character traits. It also turns out that SuperMoto has all of them. So, whilst I am crying my eyes out and have to have the math explained to me for the fiftieth time, he can keep a cool head. Disclaimer: I know people who overly praise their husbands like they are saints. SuperMoto is NO SAINT. It just so happens that in this capacity he excels. It also seems fair to assume that I have no reason to pick one of his faults and highlight it here. It is extremely unlikely that I would have reason to do that unless, he is being a big butthead and I have to highlight it. So, if you are getting the idea that he is perfect, he isn't. He is simply putting in every effort to make this place wonderful for us.

He was born for this kind of work. I guess being an engineer makes it seem obvious that this would be the case but, as I don't ever have the opportunity to see him in his work environment, I really had no idea.

When we are faced with what seems like an immovable obsticle, one that makes me bitter and angry, he has this uncanny ability to see the solution and impliment it almost instantly. Unfortunately that ability I lack so I am left in his wake flailing and unclear how we are going to move forward. No worries though, I don't really need to know how to move forward because while I am flailing, he has moved forward and all I need to do is find a way to catch up or hang on for the ride.

The First Appliance Is Installed

Consistent with my priorities, the double ovens have been installed and are functioning properly.

True to form, SuperMoto then informed me I need to bake some cookies, like now.

NOW!??!?! With no sink, the dirty mess, no mixer, nothing clean or that which is clean is boxed up, now?!?!?!?Guess that just shows how much he likes my cookies. YEAH!

Wonder how he will like my new speciality, sawdust cookies with an extra cup of bugle head screws with a dusting of dog hair, mixed with a Phillips head screw driver and scooped onto a piece of plastic covered cardboard baked at 375 for 10 minutes and then let to cool on a sheet rock hot pad. YUMM-O!

The Bed Revisted

Did I ever tell you we got a refund for the bed we bought. We bought a leather bed (I blogged about it) and then the company that manufactured it went out of business. We were sad because we wanted a dark brown leather bed with a footboard that had a low headboard. They aren't that easy to find really.

I gave up on the idea knowing that over time we would find something. Because we were forced to go off the rock; (don't I sound so local now??? LOL) we had some time to kill and ran into a furniture store called Tracys. They told us to go upstairs to the bed department and after a long flight of stairs, we arrived on the second floor, turned the corner and there it was, this bed. We fell in love with it. It was exactly what we were wanting. We bought it, picked it up at the end of the day and then assembled it that night and slept in it. We both love it so much. It is comfy and cozy and as you can see the GeoDog loves it too.

And Now...What You Have All Been Waiting For...

...The first sneak peak of the kitchen as we are installing it. These aren't great pictures mind you, as it is dark and rainy here today and the lighting has been removed down to two terrible lights that are all yellowy and gross making the room's color look all distorted and strange.

So, with a gasp, and wide eyes and excitement, I give you what I am fondly referring to as...

The Kitchen That Didn't End Our Marriage

Did I just say that? Well, it turns out it is a bit more challenging to do this level of a project when you have two super headstrong people working together.

Of course, we have great love for each other. Thank goodness 'cause I am not sure how we would survive. It has been such a struggle. Not to mention that I have had a cold and the rain started yesterday.

Oh, let's see, I forgot to mention that some of the doors and drawers are still not on the cabinets, the double ovens are missing, the cook top is yet to be installed, the dishwasher isn't there yet, none of the uppers have been addressed at all along with the hood and the Fridge isn't in it's place and the desk area is yet to be installed. I did mention this was a sneak peek right??? (giggle)

Can't work any faster so we will see where we get this trip.The counter tops are being fabricated on Monday and we are hoping for an installation this week. We would be golden if that happened. If it doesn't we will survive. I will have to come back soon, oh bummer, and supervise the installation. Hopefully that won't happen because both SuperMoto and myself really want to be present to witness the fruits of our labors.

As I have more pictures and we have gotten more stuff done, I will post. Thanks for your emails and support. We appreciate all of you!