tlee blogs

Movie Critique: The Hangover 2

2012-01-23T08:24:00.000-06:00

Dumb.

My criticism isn't even because it is exactly the same movie as the first one. It's because...The pacing was slow. The situations weren't funny. And well, that's it.

I do not recommend.

Movie Critique: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2012-01-19T18:19:00.000-06:00

My dad loved these movies, so growing up I watched the originals. They never really kept my interest, but then again I was young. We picked up "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes" from Redbox last night to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to like it as much as I did.

I believe this movie is meant to reboot the franchise, and is taking a more "science" based approach than "sci-fi"; in this franchise the apes get their intelligence from modern science in the form of experimental drugs. Obviously the film is still science fiction, but the plot is easy to swallow, no time travel or astronauts or spaceships. Another difference is that instead of using humans in make up to play the apes; motion capture CGI was used for the main chimpanzee, Caesar. Andy Serkis, was the man in motion capture suit, which has to make him an expert at this point, but my one criticism might be that I could see Gollum in Caesar.

I once heard that good science fiction reflects social and/or political issues of the times, this movie meets that requirement, giving heed to advances in medicine and the fact that "some things aren't meant to be changed". Aside from it's moral, there are some real heart stirring moments when Caesar asks if he is just a pet and when the family Caesar has always known is taken away from him.

I liked it. I recommend it. If you've seen it, let me know what you thought.

My last project of 2011

2012-01-01T10:35:00.001-06:00

So this was my first attempt at recovering a seat to a chair. This is something I helped my mom with once upon a time, I've seen on numerous TV shows, but never tried myself. Actually it's pretty easy, it's kinda like wrapping a present...in fabric...with a staple gun. Here's the break down--

1) Take an old chair. (I scored this one at a thrift store for $5.) Unscrew the seat from the legs.

I liked the chair right away, but the fabric just wasn't for me.

2) Remove old fabric. Cut new fabric to about an 1-2 inches of overlap. I did two inches, but after it was all said and done I realized it didn't need to more than an inch of overlap. And, I actually cut the new fabric and a white piece of muslin, so I was attaching two layers to the chair. (I got my new fabric from Hobby Lobby with a gift card from the holidays; 2010 holidays to be exact.) Tip: When cutting the fabric make sure that you are getting the part of the pattern where you want it on the seat.

3) Start by stapling a single staple in the "north" and "south". Fabric should be taut, but not stretched.

4) Now do the same on the "east" and "west" side of the seat. Flip it over and take a peek.

5) On to the corners. Staple the very corner at a diagonal. Again pull taut but do not stretch.

6) Neatly pull to the left and right of the corner up, and staple.

7) Finish up by stapling all along the edges, filling in from the corners to the first staples from steps 3 and 4.

8) Reattach seat to chair, in this case with screws.

While I did the re-upholstery, my hubby gave the chair a good cleaning with wood cleaner. Here's the end product...

Boom! A new chair I love for about $5. Perfect to go by the shoe and coat closet to put on those winter boots.

So here's what I've been watching over my vacation...

2011-12-31T13:02:00.001-06:00

So as many of you know, we do not have anything besides basic cable; well that except Netflix and now On Demand, which is more than enough for us.

Here's what we've been streaming...

*More of The League...so hilarious I can't even stand it.
*Hubby has finally come around to Parks and Recreation
*And the stand by for a while now, 30 Rock

As for On Demand, I've been watching a lot of the following...

*American Pickers...I've gotten past how annoying the guys are just love watching what they find.
*Cash & Cari...Love the estate sales and especially love the refurbishing.
*Hairy Bikers...I kinda want to love this show more than I do. I love the travel part for sure.
*American Restoration...with the restoration team from Pawn Stars

So that's it. But I'm looking for other recommendations too. We're done with the available League, Parks and Recreation, American Pickers, Cash & Cari, and American Restoration. I noticed Mad Men is on Netflix Instant now, anyone like that one?

Our Entry Way...it's like a museum of us!

2011-12-28T14:06:00.001-06:00

We've hung pictures in our entry way, and I love them! It reminds me that we live here.

We didn't plan out our pictures first and just took a more creative approach, and started in the middle, and moved towards the ends of the hallway. The really nice thing about not buying additional things to decorate our new space is that all of our belongings are on remix! At our house the color frames were in one room, the black frames in the hallway, and the "Keep Calm and Carry On" canvas was in my office at work; now they all go together and I am really happy about the result. Many of the pictures are from our wedding, trips and travels, and good friends--it makes me really happy to see everything on a daily basis again.

It was kinda hard to shoot the long narrow hallway, but here are my best attempts. Let me know what you think, I love comments :)

Moving In & Getting Organized

2011-12-27T22:11:00.001-06:00

So we've been unpacking, and unwrapping all the things that we all too recently wrapped and packed up to move. I've decided to not buy anything new for our apartment here in Bloomington, with the small but awesome exception of the Charley Harper prints I now having hanging in our living room/dining room. Charley Harper is my favorite artist, many of this pieces have to do with animals and wildlife, and these in particular where commissioned by the National Park Service, another favorite of mine. I love them, love them love them--and got them for a great deal at the U.S. Government Bookstore. (I found them from a tip on Retro Renovation and hopped on the internet to order straight away.) This is how they look, let me know what you think...

Yes, that is Matlock on TV

And as always, I like to show a few pictures of the process. Lots of figuring out placement, measuring, and sinking anchors and screws.

We also hung my hubby's Great Aunt's painting above the fireplace. I think it looks great!

Lots of Christmas decor on the shelves and mantles, maybe I'll even go back and take a few pics after Christmas has cleared out and everything is set up "permanently". And speaking of Christmas, one, the JOY decoration on the fireplace was made by my bestie, Kelly, owner of Petals by the Shore, I just love it! And two, here's an obligatory picture of our Christmas tree.

I really hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Back to the Blogosphere!

2011-12-20T10:25:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! So it looks like my last post was in late August, and it is now just before Christmas, so yeah, I'd say it's been a while. But so much has been going on! My hubby was offered and accepted a job in central Illinois, Bloomington-Normal to be exact. So we put our house up for rent (selling didn't seem to be a great option), found a place to rent down here, started moving down, rented our place, put in notice at my job, and moved everything down. The last few months have been a lot of driving, a lot of packing and unpacking, a lot of cleaning, oh, and a lot of stress. But the end of all the headache is near. I am currently on two weeks of leave, then I'm back at my job for a little less than two weeks and then, I'll be with my puppy, kitties, and hubby full time. And I'll be blogging more again! So stay tuned.

Book Report: Norwood by Charles Portis

2011-08-30T22:50:00.001-05:00

An easy read, Norwood, is the first novel by American author Charles Portis. The title character of Norwood is honorably discharged from the Marines to care for his sister after his father dies. As the story starts Norwood is going about his life in Ralph, Texas, and working to keep busy--he has a job at a gas station, cleans up family's house and yard, and fixes up an old car. In getting his sister out of the house and into a job waitressing, he inevitably gets a brother-in-law when his sister weds a customer she waits on. From there life in Ralph goes from restless to revolting, and Norwood leaves looking for adventure under the thin guise of getting money back from a Marine buddy to whom he loaned $70. He believes his buddy, Joe William Reese, is living in New York City, but after getting there he is told by Joe's neighbor, a lazy travel writer who does not leave his apartment, that he has gone back home to Arkansas.

Norwood the novel is fun and humorous with great dialogue and interesting side characters, such as Grady Fring (the Kredit King) and Edmund (the world's smallest perfect fat man). Norwood the man is not particularly nice but is full of integrity and heart. After eventually collecting his $70 from Joe William Reese he nearly immediately loans the money to Edmund for his travels to L.A.

I would recommend this book to borrow or loan from the library. Read it. You'll grin through most of the book. Oh, and there is love on a bus, but you'll have to read it to find out more.

If you've read this book, please leave a comment letting me know what you thought of it too...

What's new on Kitschy Kitchen Goods

2011-08-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

What I've Been Watching on Netflix Instant Lately

2011-08-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

1) The League...oh my goodness so hilarious! Only the first season is up right now, but it has me hooked. I nearly peed my pants watching this show before.

2) American Pickers...the guys are a little annoying but I love the junk they find.

3) Cash in the Attic...similar to Pickers, but British and kinda slow moving. I still like it though.

4) Clean House...watching a show about cleaning and organizing is so much more fun than doing it ;)

Reaping what I sow!

2011-08-22T23:40:00.000-05:00

So a while back I did some sowing of wildflowers in our back yard. I did it a little late in the summer, but the seeds have sprouted and I'm finally seeing some awesome wildflowers. Take a look...

Next to my fence flowers

A few more days and everything will be FULL bloom! Can't wait!

Dear Skunks

2011-08-16T08:52:00.000-05:00

Dear Skunks,

I do not care how cute and cuddly you may look, or how adorable you were in the movie "Bambi", I do not like you. If you come into our yard again, tempting my baby dog to play with you and instead spraying her face, I will have to wage full on war against you.

I warn you skunks, do not get on my bad side.

Regards,
TLee

P.S. You smell.

Best Puppy Friends

2011-08-14T16:25:00.001-05:00

Today we had an impomptu puppy play date in our backyard! The pups had so much fun...

...r u n n i n g...

...a n d p l a y i n g...

...a n d r o u g h h o u s i n g...

...a n d c h i l l i n'...

True friends let you share a water dish!

More Recent Adds to Kitschy Kitchen Goods

2011-07-30T21:57:00.000-05:00

1970 Big Eye/Sad Eye Puppy

Good Night Wooden Wall Art

Ceramic Snoopy Look Alike

Pink Pig Piggy Bank

3 of the "Four Fat Harlequins"

Vintage Waif Girl

Green Vintage Flower Necklace

Blue Vintage Flower Necklace

Summer Salad

2011-07-27T21:15:00.000-05:00

Corn

Cherry Tomatoes

Mozzarella Cheese, cubed or small balls

Basil, fresh is better

Nasturtium Vinegar, or a nice White Wine Vinegar

Mix it all together and you get a nice refreshing summer side salad to enjoy! (Thank you Patrick for sharing!)

And a few more Etsy posts

2011-07-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

A few more posts at my Etsy shop, Kitschy Kitchen Goods...

1950s Old Car Vintage Martini Shaker

Small Multicolored Flower Vintage Tray

1960's Vegetable and Dip Tray

Celery Stalk Ceramic Serving Platter

Ceramic Asparagus Serving Platter

I think these will be my last adds for a while, I'd like to get a nibble on some of the things I already have posted. If you belong to Etsy, please list my store as a favorite. And if you know anyone who might like one of my items, please pass this info on to them. Thank you!!

A few more posts on Etsy

2011-07-25T22:06:00.000-05:00

So my intention is not to turn my blog into an advertisement for my Etsy shop., but as I'm adding stuff I will continue to post here. If you see anything you like, shop around.

Yellow Metal Flower Candle Holder

Country Chain Link Metal Woven Basket

1960's TV Trays

Sunflower Pattern Milk Glass

And this one too...

"Kitschy Kitchen Goods" is born

2011-07-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

So I decided to move into the world of "selling crap on the internet". Well, not crap to me but you know what I mean. So to weed out of some of my vintage wares, I started an Etsy site called, Kitschy Kitchen Goods. Here are my first items for sale...

Vintage Green Pear Canister

Rustic Rooster Basket

Vintage 1970's Orange Ice Bucket

1 Quart Pyrex Casserole Dish with Gold Leaves

Asian Inspired Metal Napkin Holder

Share with friends!

Our Bedroom, Kitten Approved

2011-07-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

So if you remember (or even if you don't) we began a little "facelift" to our bedroom back in March, and it's been nearly finished for a long time, but we finally completed it! I think it looks great!

We painted all the trim white, removed the rug (it was gross), made it so we could each have an alarm clock on our side of the bed, put in reading lights on both sides of the bed, put in a new ceiling fan, and painted and trimmed out the ceiling. Take a look! "Befores" on the left, "Afters" on the right...

One more "After"...

Don't be fooled by the crop of the above pictures, the room looks bigger than ever, and is cleaner that it's been in a long time. I know the projects were a complete success because the room has been kitten approved!

Camping @ Kettle Moraine South Unit

2011-07-17T18:57:00.000-05:00

This camping trip started slow, since we started getting ready Friday morning, but thankfully Kettle Moraine is not far at about an hour and half away. Our camping reservation was at the Whitewater Lake East Loop (which if you have similar reservation, you must check in at the "Contact Station" before going to you campsite--it doesn't say that anywhere, but that's what you have to do.) Below is what the sites looked like, or ours anyways, some were a little bigger, but most were about this size.

After setting up camp a little we went to Whitewater Lake to swim. The swimming area is small but nice providing sun and shade. We swam a little, and then laid out and read a little. When we headed back to camp we continued to set everything up...without a cloud insight we (and with my insistence) decided not to put the rainfly on to sleep with the breeze blowing through the tent. We started the campfire, and began cooking.

Hot ham and cheese
Sweet tomato rice

Some time after making dinner it started to sprinkle, so we scrambled to put the rainfly up...the rain actually stopped by the time we had everything up...I guess we should've just put it up from the beginning. Then we played Bananagrams. We also made several attempts at dessert, finally perfecting it. We used the pie iron to make tarts: raspberry cream cheese and peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallow. The tarts are made with crescent roll dough on each side, and need to watched while cooking to not over cook or under cook. No camp fire is the same so there is no real consistency, so just keep checking if you are making these yourself.

Sometime in the early morning hours it began to rain much harder, so I am so glad we had in fact gotten that rainfly up and on the tent.. No water in the tent so we just continued to sleep and sleep, finally waking up quite late in the morning, which felt great. We ate a little breakfast and walked down the street from our campsite to a scenic overlook.

After our short hike we decided to climb in the car and get a lay of the land, and took a drive along the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive heading north. The Kettle Moraine area is absolutely beautiful!

When we got back, we got ready to go canoeing on Rice Lake (next to Whitewater Lake, and right down the road from our campsite). Rice Lake is great place to canoe, and may be a great place to swim too, but we didn't find the best area. We got out in a mucky area were I stepped on a fish (so gross!) and when we swam out there was tons of weeds. The water felt nice, but swimming was short lived. Here's a few pics of the lake...

That night for dinner we cooked in the pie iron again making "calzones" with bread, tomato paste, roast peppers, turkey pepperoni, and cheese. It was DE-licious!

After dinner, we played more Bananagrams, and Hubby read aloud to me by the fire.

This morning, we woke up and broke camp to head home. It was a great trip in a close but beautiful area. Great memories!

This birdie has a new lease on life!

2011-07-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

A couple of summers ago my mom got me pretty ceramic mushrooms, the biggest with a little birdie sitting on top. Well after a few year in the ground, the largest garden ornament lost it's stake and the bottom of the mushrooms broke too. I kept them because I thought they were pretty and didn't want to get rid of them, but I didn't exactly know what to do with them either. Well, Hubby found a cool piece of wood in our backyard, and an idea was born!

I had Hubby drill some large holes in the cool looking log, and I dripped some epoxy in the drilled holes and around the base of the mushrooms, and ta-DA!! I'm really liking the way it all turned out and that these gifts got a new life on my garden table.

Fence Flower

2011-07-10T17:50:00.001-05:00

So back in the spring my husband picked me up a magazine called "Flea Market Gardens" which I loved. I wish I could link to it, but I can't seem to find a website to go along with it; but if you too came across it you may have seen the article "Glass Act". In the article they made "flowers" by stacking plates, which I thought looked really cool, so I set out to find plates. I instead found a metal placemat, a white plate with gold trim, and bundt pan at Goodwill and said perfect! While at home I also found a rusty little bell that fell off some wind chimes. One by one I glued them together using epoxy, and made a tiny twine hanger.

A screw was sunk into our fence post, along with a dark green metal stake that we used to use for Christmas decorations but have since abandoned for a better solution. I think the finished product looks really cute, and just makes me want to make more flowers for my fence!

And an extra pic of the side yard with coneflowers, queen ann's lace and metal javelina I bought with my little brother in Arizona. These coneflowers are looking much healthier than they have in years past!

Backyard Wooden Windchimes

2011-07-09T16:12:00.001-05:00

Easy as drill, knot, hang!

I found the wooden kitchen utensils and metal colander at a thrifts stores all for about $2. I used twine from home and knotted through the utensil holes that I drilled and then knotted the other end of the twine through the colander. Of course fishing line, or any host of products could be used instead, but I liked the more rustic look of the twine. I drilled a hole and the top and bottom of one of the spoons to attach an additional spoon for the middle "chime".

I made the hanger for the wind chime in a similar fashion, tying knots to the holes in the bottom (now top) of the colander, and viola!

When the wooden/bamboo utensils hit together it gives a really nice earthty mellow thud--very zen.

My one tip is to the leave the string long enough so that all the utensils can clang together easily. Mine are long enough, but if I were to do it again, I might make them a tad longer.

Here are a few more pictures...

A few more shots from the Dunes

2011-06-27T20:15:00.001-05:00

More about our camping trip here.

Camp Eats!

2011-06-27T19:59:00.002-05:00

So I think we ate pretty well on this last camping trip and wanted to share with you our meals.

I know when camping it can be hard to think of meals to make that are nutritious and easy, so I hope this gives anyone looking for some good camp eats a few ideas.

Lunch Day One

PB & J
Corn Chips
Fruit

Dinner Day One

Sandwich shown above was made in our pie iron shown here.
Sandwiches, I call Mexi-Melts, were made with bread, turkey chili (no beans), shredded cheese, and green peppers.
Side of Spanish Rice made on the camp stove and cut up green peppers. Yummy!!

Lunch Day Two

Peanut butter tortillas
Spinach salad, cherry tomatoes, ranch and guacamole
Corn chips

Dinner Day Two

Quesadillas made over the fire with smoked salmon, shredded cheese and spinach and a dab of guac

Day Two and Three Breakfast was vanilla yogurt and a banana.

I tried to plan meals that re-used some of the same ingredients like bread, tortillas, peanut butter, cheese, spinach, guacamole, etc, to cut down on the amount of food needed to be brought.

I hope this helps with planning your own yummy camping meals. Happy camping!!