Renovations at the Nut

This weekend Ryan and I did a ridiculous amount of work on the house. Here's a few shots of the progress:

Living room windows before....



And after!



Bamboo shades up look good, too.



Siena "helps."

No before shot of the other window, but just imagine mini blinds. Upgrade!

And the painting in the office continues...almost done with the first floor!

Freezin at the K, Part 2

You saw it in video. Now, here it is in photos. Because it snowed at a Royals game in mid-APRIL, I feel as though this event must be cemented in PH Balanced blog history (despite the fact that I don't actually have photos of the snow. I tried but you can't actually tell it was snowing.)

First, we arrive at the stadium. Each of us has at least 3 shirts on plus a coat and long johns under our jeans.



I spiked my coffee. Can you tell?



On the day of the game, Ryan's firm gave Ryan the company seats, so Sarv attempted to sell the tickets we had bought two weeks prior to the game. Because of the weather, we didn't have much luck. We ended up selling them to another scalper for $12 total, which is about $60 below ticket value. But, it was buck night so that equaled a hot dog fund of 12. Awesome.



The good ole days. #5!



Cold and losing but happy.



Slugger takes the stage.



Sarv caught a hot dog! [Insert any obvious hot dog joke here.]

Crown vision, baby. Billy Butler, yo!

Despite Billy's best efforts. We're losing and still cold. Sad face.

But hey, if we relied on the Royals winning to be happy, the entire population of KC would have been depressed for the last 23 years, so, smile Sarv!

Freezin at the K, Part 1

Ryan, Sarv and Adam and I bundled up and went to the Royals last night. Despite a Royals loss, being surrounded by Twins fans and even a bit of snow (yes, snow), we had a blast. Here's video from the event.

Happy Twinkies:

Watch the game:

Give me a hot dog, Slugger:

Hot dog derby:

His Name is Earl

Seeing that it's a dark and stormy night in Kansas City, it seems like the perfect time to share something I've been, well, experiencing...

First, a little background. Earl used to live in the Nut before it was called the Nut. Earl bought the house in the late 50s, raised a family here and passed away from cancer last summer. His wife had died a few years prior to that, we've learned from neighbors. Earl and his family were excellent homeowners, taking very good care of their property. The floors are on the whole in excellent shape, the windows are in perfect condition, and despite some questionable wallpaper choices, the Nut was a steal. (The house was only on the market for a day, and we weren't the only offer.) Earl also always kept a trim, weed-free yard and grew tasty tomatoes every summer. This all has left Ryan and I with pretty big shoes to fill. (Crabgrass...what's crabgrass???)

Over the past few months, I've noticed a few unusual incidents at the Nut. All have occurred in the two rooms of the house that connect the house proper to the backyard: the screened-in porch area and the mudroom. I frequently will go into the mudroom (I'm in there often because that's where Siena's food is and gosh knows she's a growing girl), come out and lock the door. Later I'll go back down to see that the door is unlocked. Same goes for the screened-in porch. Once, while Siena and I were watching TV (Ryan was out working late), we heard a strange noise (Siena's ears perked up and she woofed) and found the door to the mudroom open.

Now, it's totally possible that it's just the wind or change in air pressure from the two rooms into the house. Or maybe Ryan is just effing with me (but I honestly don't think he'd play along this long without cracking). But, maybe, just maybe, it's Earl.

Now, I don't feel anything malicious or bad in the house. I feel more like Earl is just checking on things. In fact, to Ryan's enjoyment, I had a quick convo with Earl, telling him that we'd take good care of things and that we're cool with him coming and going if he could, you know, remember to shut and lock the doors. (Just a suggestion, Earl.)

Earl was a smoker, so maybe he's enjoying a cigarette in the great outdoors. Or maybe Earl is heading out to his backyard of splendor to see how we're keeping his outdoor legacy up. I really don't know. I just hope to God he approves.

Just grillin'

Here are the pics from the impromptu grill out last Sunday. As you can see below, the weather was beautiful, and I spotted some more sights of Spring:



I'm such a sucker for close-ups:


Now begins Siena's first experience with a grill. At first, she was puzzled. What is this thing that billows smoke and feels hot but smells like meats?

Going in for a closer sniff:

Back to contemplating the Weber:

Siena's token "Orphan Annie" face. Can I puh-leaze have a brat?

Not to brag but...

I'm on fi-ya!!! With KU's amazing win last night, I cinched the NCAA Tourney bracket pool title from the guys, and today I randomly won four tickets to a Royal's Game of my choice and the special up-close parking spot at work for the month of May just for wearing Royals' gear on opening day.

Some may think I'm "unqualified" for certain things. But, I beg to differ. This is proof that I'm a winner, gosh darn it!

Impromptu Fabulousness

I seriously had the best, most relaxing weekend. We only had a few things really planned and the rest of the weekend just unfolded awesomely. Friday night we hit up an open house at our friend's new design firm. The place was swanky and the food was delicious. (Not to mention that our friend had brewed some tasty beer for the event.) If you're looking to get some graphic work done, Lagom Designs in the place to go!

Saturday afternoon we drove about 30 miles south to "the farm." My friends Alli and Gabe have the sweetest country set-up. With a beautiful home, land, a pond, a barn and a bunch of animals (3 dogs and 2 cats, plus lots of other visitors, including goats, more dogs, horses and cows from their neighbors' land), there's always something interesting going on. We spent the afternoon, chatting it up, enjoying the nice weather and feasting on bbq and margaritas. Can't beat a Saturday afternoon like that.

Here's a few shots of their nanimals:

Of course, Ryan and I brought Siena along to enjoy the country with us. After a couple of hours of playing/tormenting Alli and Gabe's dogs, Alli decided to see how Siena would do with some agility exercises. First, Alli and her dog Cheyenne showed us how it was done, easily jumping over and through an obstacle course. Next it was Siena's turn. Although I wouldn't characterize Siena's attempts as particularly graceful, she did catch on pretty quickly.

Look how long her legs are getting:



She's becoming quite the jumper. Check out that look of determination:

The boys, neighbor dog Buddy and Cheyenee watch on:




Next, Siena and Alli tackle the hoop. Cheyenne gives Siena advice:




It's amazing how focused Siena can be when there's turkey given as a reward:


Finally, success!


After our excursion to the country, we returned back to "the big city." Siena was quite pooped and decided to rest in her backyard spot of choice:


Later that night, we watched KU destroy UNC and then had friends over to play some Wii and drink some Keystone Light. I NEVER drink beer--especially beer like Keystone Light--but I managed to drink three of them, and I kind of enjoyed it. (Must have been a total mood thing. I don't think you could get me to drink three of them again.)

Sunday, Ryan and I watched the Royals win, cleaned the house like a mo-fo and then randomly decided to grill out with some friends. (I'll have to post more pics of this later. It was Siena's first encounter with the grill, and it was pretty funny.)

The whole weekend was just so relaxing. I've always said that fall is my favorite month, but spring is giving it a run for its money this year. There's really nothing better than being outside and enjoying sunshine and warmth after a horrendous winter. Plus, it's really fun to see Siena experience spring for the first time. So many new plants to destroy!