well, hello!

So, I accidentally took a blogging break. For two months. And a few weeks.

Honestly, I don't know where the time went! We were busy. The house is coming along BEAUTIFULLY and there will be lots of updates on that in the near future.

We went to Paris & Switzerland! You can read about it here, here, here & here. We made a pit stop in North Carolina for New Years and lazed about for three days. It was amazing.

We're buying lots of stuff and finishing lots of stuff and building more stuff. The entire house is covered in saw dust and power tools.

I'm not so much cooking. On top of the being busy part, we tried NutriSystem for a month. The breakfast was decent, the lunch was ick and the dinner was tasty! I didn't lose any weight because I cheated a lot and I didn't go to the gym. Chris did it for a second month, but now that I'm eating yummier food, I think he's going to cheat more often.

Business is AMAZING. I couldn't be happier with my little company. Although working from home is harder than I expected. It's lonley! And sometimes it gets to be 6 pm and I am still wearing my PJ's and glasses with crazy hair. That's happening less frequently as I get accustomed to this new lifestyle.

Anywho, I plan to be back. With pictures! At least once in the next two months. And a few weeks.

Getting the Living Together

The Formal Living room is really the last room that I should be thinking about. We don't NEED it. But, it's the first room you see when you walk in and architecturally, it's so beautiful. I can't not tend to it!

I've been working on the coffee table situation. Wasn't quite sure what I wanted. Then, landed on a large ottoman. Thought it would be PERFECT. So I searched for weeks. And then a large one in excellent condition popped up on Craig's List. We drove all the way to Covina with a tarp and pulley straps.

And "large" was no.freakin.joke. It's 5'x5'. That's as tall as I am. We strapped it to the top of the car and it hung off each side. It's probably the most enormous ottoman known to man.

It's totally not going to fit for what I want, but it was super cheap and we'll find a use for it. Somewhere.

We've spent the last two nights on it, hanging out in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and good friends. Last night we even roasted some marshmallows and made some S'mores! We've also fallen asleep on it for the last two nights because we're exhausted old people.

The next addition. The chair. Remember that chair I bought EONS ago? I found someone to reupholster it, then took a bit of time to find the fabric. I found it and called her. She was out of town. Then she was sick. Then we finally found a time to drop it off! Then she was sick again. Then she had to work. Then she broke her ankle. Then she had to go to Vegas. 10 weeks later, after a bit of angry emailing, I got my chair back. Just the way I'd left it. 10 weeks earlier.

So I found a new place! It's done and I love it!

Except that I have to keep it covered with red sheets because my cats have decided it's their new favorite scratching post! And the thin fabric rips.

What to do!?

Boots!

I've been fighting skinny jeans and boots for years. Loved it, but realized that it wasn't for me. I could never find boots that fit around my abnormally large calves. It never looked right. In fact, it looked downright bad.

Until Diabolina posted about these beauties. She also informed me that they were at Nordstrom for $119. I measured my calves and thought that they might even fit! They did and I bought them!

Then I realized I would have to buy the skinny jeans. Another fight I've been raging with my short stocky legs. But I would have to. It would be the perfect pair for touristy runnings through Paris.


I'm not entirely sure that I love the look on myself, but it's super comfy and I'm glad I surrendered. :-)

WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!

It was going to happen eventually. I was shooting for March. I was going to book a certain number of weddings, and then I was going to be a one-career girl.

But it came to a point where I had to make a choice. I was either going to book an event in Paris, or continue going to work... day in. day out.

I DECIDED!

We leave for Paris on December 17 :-)


And guess what? I booked my previously decided upon number on Monday!


(I'm giddy!)

I miss you dearest blog...

I'm not going to start this post about my bad blogging habits, but leave you with a tidbit... it will get better soon. In a few days. Promise :-)

I hope that everyone had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with good friends and deep fried turkey. I'm still full.

Today, we had a few things to grab. Ventured out on Black Friday. I was saddened to see how empty the parking lots were. A true sign of an economic downturn. Nothing serious for us to buy though. More hangars from Steve & Barry's. They are going out of business and selling unused, still packed in boxes, beautiful wood hangers... for $21.98 for 100. We bought 600. We have a lot of clothes.

We bought so many hangers because Chris started my closet! It's ringing in at 150 square feet of beautiful delicious space. We bought WHITE hardwood floors for it today. The cabinets will be black. I'm trying to convince him to break a hole into the newly nailed drywall for a chandelier, but I don't think he's having it. Dad-In-Law was out for a week and they got so many things done! The chandelier in the living room is a fully functioning piece of amazingness. In other news, my house and husband are covered in dust. Constantly.


On a routine trip to the Empire Center today, we may have accidentally purchased a washer & dryer. See, my husband is a slight dumpster diver. When we moved from the condo, we rented a U-Haul. There was a stacked washer & dryer in the trash room. Chris FORCED me to move the broken/trashy/ickygross washer/dryer unit from the trash into our U-Haul and into our garage. I prayed the entire time that no one would see me hauling trash. Well, Dad-In-Law made it work! So we've been using it for a bit knowing that we would move it to the guest house when the renter moved in (he moves in on Dec 1...wheeee!) So, we thought we'd run through Best Buy, knowing that we should buy something. Soon. Turns out the most beautiful pieces were right there waiting for us. At 50% off.




















Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and a fruitful Black Friday :-)

Words to Live By

This popped up at the top of my gmail page this afternoon.

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat." - Lily Tomlin

How does Google know who I am?!

Words to Live By

"Somebody once said, Everything you want in the world is just right outside your comfort zone. Everythingyoucouldpossiblywant!"

-Jennifer Aniston, Vogue, December 2008

Pasadena Flea Market Finds

I have been a bad bad blogger. Does "I'm so crazy super busy" hold water anymore? :-)

Last Sunday we made it to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market. I am suddently OBSESSED with all things old/ugly/disgusting/in-need-of-refinishing. It's my new thing.

We bought two things that fit the bill. The first, my new friend, Bill. Bill was all kinds of different colors. Mostly pastels. So I sprayed him white. And now he sits on the mantel in the pool room.


I've been wanting to do this for a LONG time. I found an old picture frame and painted it white. Then cut down a piece masonite to fit and painted it with chalkboard paint. It'll go in my office!


In other news, I walked into the garage to cut the masonite with Chris. It's like a freakin' Home Depot in there! 5 different kinds of saws, clamps, tools, saw horses... all kinds of stuff. Apparently we've been collecting stuff since we moved it... I had no idea. Where have I been!?

Hell & Pigs

Hell has frozen over and pigs are flying.

After a two month hiatus, I exercised. And then, I cooked dinner. And yesterday, I spray painted a pumpkin.

Life is beginning to return to normal.

Yippity!

It's DONE! My new photography blog went live this week :-)

It was such a long process, starting with who I wanted to be. Really putting down into words and images the photographer that I want to become. Then making that look fantastic (Thanks Anne!) and then making it visible to the rest of the world (Thanks Sarah!)

I am BEYOND thrilled with it all.

www.hazelnutphotography.com/blog

... now, on to the next project!

A Tag!

I got tagged by Anne and must list 6 super random things about myself. (I love tags. A lot.)

1. I am OBSESSED with email. OBSESSED. I love getting it. I love sending it. I check it at least 800ish times a day. On my phone. On the computer. While in traffic. While standing in line. While I should be doing something else...

2. Pumpkin is clearly the best tasting thing on the planet. Pane e Vino has a pumpkin ravioli special every year in October, but the actual week varies. Every Monday in October I call and ask if it will be on the special board that week. When it finally is I make the reservation for as soon in the week as my friend Ani and I can get together. When I ordered last year, the waiter said that they were out. OUT?! I threw a mild tantrum and the chef "found" some. It was delcious. We topped it off with pumpkin cheesecake. Perhaps this is the week :-)

3. I am a planner. I love lists. Writing out lists of plans is heavenly to me. I have at least two To Do Lists going at once. There's always a pad of paper in my purse and a running list on my phone. The thrill of checking off an item is beyond amazing.

4. I grew up in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. I lived down a long dirt road, drove an hour to the nearest movie theater/mall/Wal-Mart/fast food joint, spent many a first date driving through mud puddles and shining spotlights on bears, and left my keys in the car when I went to the grocery store. The county only has one stop light. It's 25 minutes from my house. When we got a temporary second one to deal with some bridge maintenance, it made the front page of the newspaper. When I decided to go away from college people asked me "Why you goin go so far away from you Mama?" And when I decided to move to Los Angeles they thought I was crazy.

5. I was bored in high school, so I tried out for the track team. I hate running! I don't think I ran a single lap in the three days of tryouts and I made the team. (They even cut other people!) I am not a quitter and have never quit anything in my entire life... so I had to stick it out through the year. I spent a lot of time "sick" and "dehydrated" so that I wouldn't have to run the races. I was really really bad and always came in last. But I stuck it out through the entire season. I blame my super short stocky little legs. I am nothing if not stubborn.

6. I have cankles. Chris has amazingly beautiful skinny legs and such a defined strong Achilles tendon. I pray that our children get his leg/ankle/foot combo. I have considered and totally would get cankle surgery.

The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
Now, I tag these folks....

- Diabolina
- Jen
- Mary
- SamEd
- Paola
- You!

Decor: Chandeliers

Chris has this way with things. He always wins the prizes or somehow gets the most amazing deal. Except when car shopping, but that's a whole different story.

Anywho, I came home last week and was pushed into the kitchen and told that I wasn't allowed into the front room. His mom and dad were here, and the three of them convened in secret meeting in the living room. If my footsteps neared the living room, I was reprimanded.

I was scared. There's absolutely no telling what could occur when the three of them get together. I feared walking into the room that had been repainted with zebra stripes. No joke.

But I walked in to this.


Freakin' awesome chandelier. At the Habitat for Humanity. For $100. The tag retailed it for $3,600.

It's ENORMOUS... at least 4 feet tall and probably five feet wide. It has quickly become the centerpiece of the pool room. I'm thinking of maybe painting it black... umm...

Decor: Desk

I could potentially open an ick furniture store in my garage.

I had a vision for the desk I wanted in my office. BIG. Wood. Black. Interesting legs.

Found her on Craig's List for $80! Its previous home is just around the corner from the house and the seller even dropped it off for us!

It's the heaviest, most ridiculously solid table. I'm going to refinish it with a black stain and put it in the center of the room. My computer will go on the left side and on the other end, Chris' computer will go on the opposite corner. Then we can stare at each other :-)

Decor: More Chairs

I'm going to have to change the blog from "The Jordana Project" to the "Buy a Bunch of Junk and Turn it into Something Awesome (Fingers Crossed) Project."

I bought more chairs. And a table.

I've been searching for these chairs for WEEEEEEKS! Trolling all kinds of sites day after day hoping for something junky that I could refinish and turn into all kinds of amazingness. Still in it's ick stage, my new most favorite office chairs.


How close to what I was looking for?! I think I even like them better than the other version. They are beyond fantastic and I can't wait to sit behind my new desk in this fabulous chair, with the amazing fabric I bought weeks ago with the perfect vision in mind. Ahhhh!

We went down to the Santa Monica Flea Market to take a look on Sunday. And in the back corner, just when I thought it was a total waste to drive all the way down there, I spot these. And I think, "They're going to be AT LEAST $80 a piece and it's sooo not worth it." So I ask. $20 A PIECE!!! ACK!


And one of them is broken, so I tell her I will only pay $15 for it. She's fine with that. EEK!

There's also a table. All kinds of broken. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it but I kind of love it. I'm thinking about painting it all black and having glass or wood cut to fit the top. Or maybe something off the wall like stainless steel or concrete.




I'll have to go to town with the wood glue. And perhaps never put anything of value on it should it collapse into a million and a half pieces.

Decor: Chairs, Chairs Everywhere

I am currently obsessed with antique chairs of the Louis variety. Obsessed.

I found this one on Craig's List and picked it up on Friday. It's not going to work for my office because it's too small, but I'm thinking now for the living room. Painting it black and then reupholstering it with something fantatsic. Maybe white. Or maybe a print. Or maybe I'll leave it a bit until I reorganize my brain.

Decor: Photo Wall in the Pool Room

Remember the smurf blue living room? Well, it has been renamed the pool room and Chris wants to hang chlorine tablets from the ceiling. The color and the rounded walls into the ceiling do feel pretty much like an upside down pool. Kind of like floating at the top and looking down at the bottom. Perhaps we will repaint at some point in the future, but I'm tired of painting. And I don't want to. Chris' father suggested hanging 3ft, 6ft, 12ft signs on the walls. I suggested hanging them upside down. It's kind of funny :-)

(the green in the dining room was not my choice. It will be changed as

soon as I drum up the energy to put my painting clothes on again.)

But we're here for the photo wall! I'm so freakin' excited about this wall. I've wanted a giant wall that I can with as I please FOREVER. But I've just never had the space. Now I have more walls than I know what to do with and I knew exactly what it would be. An entire wall of black and whites. It's absolutely heavenly and I adore it. I think it needs a bit of rearranging and a few more photos, but it's almost there!

eekkkkk! A Photography Feature!

Over at Elizabeth Anne Designs! Go check it out.

You're probably going to be sooo over me blabbering on and on about how amazingly blessed I feel these days. This little thing I started is growing and becoming so big! I am overwhelmed with how supportive every single person in my life has been. Beyond amazing.

The Perils of DIY Handiwork

Chris and I are DIY people. We like to get in there and get dirty. Well, in everything except cleaning and plumbing. The former because we hate it and the latter because that's just something that should be left to the professionals.

Last night we had our first disaster. And I'm down to nine toenails.

The moral of the story... pick up boxes MUCH higher than you think you need to. A box housing new kitchen cabinets slid across my right foot last night and took my nail with it.

The good - my nail polish was a nice red anyway, so sans bandaid, you can't even really tell that the nail is missing.

The bad - the internet tells me it could take a year to grow back... if it even does grow back. WTF!?

Do they make fake toenails?

My Life in Bullet Points

Too busy. WOOO!

- Auntie was in town a few weeks ago. Whenever she's here we eat like rock stars. There was Tower Bar (the most beautiful atmosphere), The Ivy (where we saw Shauna Sand, but thought she was a porn star, until I was clicking through channels and she was on TMZ. She super skinny and looks like a porn star. Is she a porn star?), CUT (by far, the most fantastic meal I think I've EVER had. Mr. Puck came out to introduce himself and see how our meal was. I think I may have gawked a bit) and topped it all of with an old favorite, Il Sole.

- I have the most amazing husband ever. He strips, he builds, he paints and he's doing most of it without me! I'm working all week and shooting all weekend and editing all night. Adore him. A lot.

- The plumbers have come and gone. The dry wall has gone back up. The ceiling has been depopcorned. The flooring is nearing completion. Nearly all the walls have been painted. That place looks fantastic. Would it be wrong to live in the rental unit of my house and rent out the house part?!

- Chris' parents are coming in October. I keep thinking we have so much time to get out of the boxes, but then I realize that October is next week. Holy shit.

- Photography is the best thing that ever happened to me. More on that soon.

- Attended a wedding show with Paola complete with blue martinis and pistachio cake (really the best part of wedding shows). We followed it up with dinner at The Abbey. There was a show and it was fabulous. Realized that I should get out of the house more often.

- The gym has not been graced with my presence in nearly a month. Seriously. I should go back there soon. I'm a poufy jiggly mess.

- I haven't cooked in over a month. Now that the house kitchen has been cleaned I feel safe using it until we can completely rip it out. But I haven't. Most times I ask Chris to cook and then give him a really big kiss and hug and tell him how good he does it. He is a fantastic cook. But mostly I just don't want to do it.

- A lot of my plants are dead. Moving traumatized them. (Or perhaps lack of water murdered them.)

- Bingley and Jack love the new house. But Bingley was chased by a dog and Jack fell off the roof. Both boys are fine. I am totally going to be an overprotective mother that follows her daughter to the movie theater on her first date, sits in the back with wig and Jackie O sunglasses and spies with bincoculars. It's going to be bad. Should probably work on that now.

I PROMISE pictures soon. I JUST downloaded the pictures from the first day I broke in to "Guerilla Move."

House: More Demo

Super crazy busy busy weekend at the new house!

There are three parts to our house. The original house, the kitchen/living addition and then a later Mother-in-Law Addition. The last part completely closes off to the rest of the house, has its own entrance and is about 600 square feet. So, we decided to tear it apart, build it back up and rent it to some friendly/quiet/nice folks. One problem... it's ugly as hell.

So, I learned how to break up and tear out tile this weekend!


Lots and lots of angry aggression came out of my body, through the hammer and into the ugly floor. It's now out in the back yard! WOOO!


Chris took on some heavier things... the closet! We ripped out the closet and are putting in a kitchen/living area.


The backyard is currently a disgusting disaster area. We've cut some trees and ripped out carpets and torn down walls... and it's all on the ground in the backyard. We figured that if we're going to hire someone to come haul it all away, we were going to make it worth their while :-)


Please note another stupid previous owner move. See that wire behind Chris' shoulder? It's strung throughout the backyard just like that. From a post. To the corner of the house. To the ground. Yeah, it's the water feed for the sprinkler system. Apparently burying it like normal people was a bit too tough. Nice, eh?