What Ana Does

The Bed, Right When We Moved In A few months ago, just as we were going to sleep, we jumped at the noise of Leah's bed cracking and splitting. It was pretty dramatic. The bed was about eight years old from Costco and wasn't made to be taken apart and put together as many times as we did it, so we knew the end was coming. I tried to salvage the headboard and footboard, but eventually we decided just to get her a boxspring and frame and figure out the pretty parts later. Sure, we were bummed about losing the bed, but OH GOLLY all that raw material for house projects. Cha-ching! Or Huzzah! Or whichever jubilation makes sense in this situation. Our reusable assets: there was a footboard and headboard, some long side rails, the slates that held up the mattress, and the trundle parts. I started with building a set of hooks from one of the slates that held up the mattress. Leah has been requesting a spot to display her soccer medals and you know I'm a sucker for ho...

My Mom tends to find things at thrift stores and drops them off at my house. A few years ago, I got this framed picture of a gazebo that's so far from my taste, I almost threw it out immediately. But she pointed at the frame and thought I could make something of it. So it went in my basement and there is stayed for a few years. For whatever reason, I thought of this framed picture while in Mexico and thought I could use it as a wipe board in my basement gym. It's So Ugly I Didn't Bother Turning It Around So, I pulled off the paper and removed the staples holding the back in place. It was really no problem. The frame was no longer in great shape, but it's a exercise board for the basement, it doesn't need to be gorgeous. I dug out my old freind Rusoleum in a hunter green color -- the darker to hide the imperfections of the frame -- from my spray paint collection in the garage. While I waited for that to dry, I gift-wrapped the gazebo print in cr...

After spending a week at a Mexican resort, we all got hooked on the "green juice" at the breakfast buffet. When we asked what was in it, the waiters listed off things: cucumber, spinach, celery, orange juice and pineapple. Maybe apple? Ginger? It was hard to tell and each morning it tasted just a little different. But so delicious. The weekend we got home I got to work on the recipe. We thought it was a traditional Mexican juice and therefore a published recipe would be easy to find. Not so much. Our Mexican friend Patty had never heard of "jugo verde" and each recipe I found was very different. Cactus, parsley, cilantro, almond milk were also kicked around as ingredients. Undaunted, I got a few things we "thought" were in there and whipped up a few test batches. I gotta say, I was definitely off, but what I ended up with tasted pretty good. And the juice lasts a few days in the fridge, so it's only requires a weekly mess. Recipe Making My ...

I was getting suspicious but once I started to really clean out my pantry yesterday, the signs were CLEAR. Mice have been getting into the food in my pantry. Cleaning Out In Progress! Yes! Mice! Hungry vermin! Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross! I refuse to go into details. It was a horror movie. After I freaked out a little and dry-heaved in the corner, I got my big girl panties on and cleaned the whole darn pantry out. Anything that wasn't sealed up, got tossed out. And everything remaining (with nuts and chocolate, especially) got put into containers. So this is why people use these beautiful, labeled containers in their super-tidy pantries. ( Like this .) Consider me totally on-board. I also set a few traps because I'm going to catch those bastards and make them pay!! Lastly, I started walking around my kitchen to try to discover where they are coming from and if it's something I can plug up. Like a vermin detective! Ugh. Not the way I wanted to spend my we...

School year kicked off on the same day as the eclipse. Coincidence? I've now got a third grader and a sixth grader. And since I'm still doing the freelance-from-home thing, I get to see them off and welcome them home every day. Lucky me! Related Posts: All "Back to School" posts

You know when you're away on vacation and, sure, the first few days you're getting completely relaxed as you sit in a lounge chair and stare at a pool ... but after day three the mind wanders to house projects. Or is that just me? We went to Cancun, Mexico at an all-inclusive resort . Pluses: Menus with no prices and no checks to pay at the end of each meal; breakfast buffets; lots of drinks; many pools. Minuses: No beach; bad pedicure. We didn't leave the resort for any excursions or sight-seeing, so all my pictures feature the blue sky, a pool and whatever I was sitting under drinking a frosty beverage. My daily views: But I can't just sit there and NOT make a list, so after day three my mind wandered all over my house, inventorying all the tasks and to-dos I want to get done once the girls go back to school. Let me tell you, it was A LOT. And happy list-making was just about all I accomplished in the seven days we were away. And a super tan. R...

Back to normal programming on Monday ...

Every year I get all worked up about fall books that are coming out and this year is no exception. The big theme for the Fall seems to be favorite authors kicking off new series. WOW! Maggie Steivfater is starting a new series so of course I'm crazy-excited to get my hands on it. The first book is called All the Crooked Saints . Get it to me! Leigh Bardugo , who wrote Six of Crows , one of my all-time favorite reads, has Wonder Woman: Warbringer coming out at the end of August. A Wonder Women prequel??? YES PLEASE! Language of Thorns is also coming out this fall and takes place in her amazing Greishaverse. Kristen Cashore , who wrote Graceling series, another total fav, has Jane, Unlimited coming out. She hasn't released a new book in forever, so I'm falling all over myself to get it. Though, there's a "choose your own adventure" element (maybe) that I've read that sounds a little kooky. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air) is coming out ...

What the what?! So I'm doing research for my annual Fall Books post (coming soon) and happen upon this ... HOW DID THIS SLIP MY ATTENTION?! Rainbow Rowell wrote a short-story with the proceeds going to the ACLU?! Click here right now to get in.  For the record, I loved Fangirl with my whole heart. I practically fell into the book. I didn't love Carry On and I stopped reading Eleanor & Park because something very bad happens to the characters, and I don't read seriously-sad stories. Did you read Lifeline ? That's on my to-read pile. Will update post once I'm finished reading this short. Regardless, my $3 went to a good cause. Related Posts: All my "Book" nerd-out posts

You know what I'm talking about ... those rugs you get and toss on the floor in your bathroom or office or living room. And, if you're like me, you don't get the under-pads so the rugs move constantly (or you DO get the pads and they don't work ... argh!). And then there was that one time we washed a bathroom rug and it fell apart and broke our washing machine and I'm pretty sure we had to replace it. The rug AND the washing machine. See, my loathing of these scatter rugs runs deep. This week I've been spending a bit more time in my kids' bathroom than usual (we had company) and the two scatter rugs in there -- that I found on sale at who-remembers-where? store -- are just a mess. And I'm pretty sure I haven't decently washed them in an embarrassingly long time (because of the unfortunate washing machine incident mentioned above). They don't match (charming!) and I'm pretty sure they are not made for bathrooms. Total fail. So guess wh...