Love and Olive Oil

Clips & Quips: Not a drop to drink.

Dramatic clouds in Melbourne, Florida

A few months back our neighbor noticed some waviness in his floors, which slowly grew to a small knoll in the middle of his living room, and finally split into a crevasse. While our own floors aren’t nearly as topographically noticeable, we do have some cupping (the edges of the boards are turning up causing an uneven feeling over the expanse of the floor). A few more units down the hall are experiencing varying degrees of water damage as well.

Not sure why it took so long, but they finally ripped up the floor next door to investigate, and found a good deal of moisture between the wood floors and the subfloor. Where it came from they are still unsure, although the most popular theory at the moment is that it’s a result of that nasty ice storm back in February.

You know what else they found?

Mold.

Not much, and (luckily) not the scary black stuff, but enough that they need to rip up and replace pretty much all the floors in all the units in our hall.

And since we live in what amounts to one big box, we basically have to move out.

At this point we don’t know exactly the extent of the repairs, whether we have to clear out the kitchen (if the damage goes under the peninsula they’ll have to rip that out too) or if they’ll have to repaint all the walls, which would mean the upstairs loft has to be emptied (or at least piled into the center of the room) too.

So yeah. We’re pretty much moving, without the excitement of a new home. All the suckage of packing up your entire life into boxes (why oh WHY do I have so many dishes?), the inconvenience of finding a temporary dwelling for a few weeks (or months? We don’t know at this point), hoping the cats don’t lose their minds in the process, and then moving back in and putting all your stuff back where it belongs.

Take this as fair warning that things may get a little quiet around here. Especially if we’re stuck in some dark little apartment or (worse), a gross extended stay hotel with a minimally stocked kitchen. I’m going to try my best to get a stockpile of recipes done before we have to move out (again, we’re waiting for them to tell us just when this is all going down).

On the upside, when we finally do get to come back home it’ll almost feel like a brand new place, with new floors and freshly painted walls and perhaps even a new kitchen peninsula (I wonder if I can bribe the contractors to chop off the bar so I can put in the single expanse of matte-finish counters I’ve always dreamt of…)

daydesigner

Thanks to Julie and her super swag skills, I’m now the proud owner of a Whitney English Day Designer, and let me say, I love it. I do wish it was a bit smaller/less bulky, but having a framework to ‘design’ my days has proven immensely helpful for my productivity. I find that the best way to get sh*t done is to set a rough schedule for myself the day before, which (A) helps me sleep because my to-do list isn’t running through my head all night, and (B) helps me stay on track during the day and not go off on 2-hour long tangents in the internet abyss.

I am quite possibly hopelessly addicted to Birchbox (hey there, get $5 off your first box if you sign up using my affiliate link!) It may or may not be contributing to our clutter problem (all my little ‘potions’ as Taylor calls them). But I’ve found some great (and not so great) new-to-me beauty products because of it (like this Pina Colada sunscreen spray or this über-thick facial moisturizer. I am still on the hunt for the perfect face wash that won’t turn my face bright red… maybe next month’s box. Side note: am I the only one that has a huge stack of Birchbox boxes piling up in their room? Because the boxes themselves are just so darn beautiful/cute/well-designed that I can’t bear to part with them? What do you do with your boxes?

Around the web…

Did you see? Purr got a new website design! Note to self: next time you set a hard and fast deadline for your website redesign, don’t leave it all to the last minute.

I love the fact that @AltonBrown has “Thyme Lord” as his bio on Twitter/Instagram. Brilliant, brilliant man.

Speaking of thyme/time lords, Doctor Who is back and I couldn’t be happier. I kind of love evil Missy.

This gorgeous plum tart would make a perfect dessert to serve at your Bachelor premier party (January can’t come soon enough, amirite?)

I’m totally on board with mission: brûlée ALL THE THINGS.

I will NEVER (ever) get a tattoo (my fear of needles runs deep), but if I did, it’d probably be one of these sexy ampersands.

We’re living in the golden age of American ginger beer. And I couldn’t be happier about it (spoiler: Rachel’s is still the best).

Nashville’s own Olive & Sinclair now has a new sister brand: Seersucker Candy Co. Let me tell you that the pickled cherry cordials are the BOMB.

This Tumblr blog makes the designer in me very, very happy.

Me too, Laura, me too.

There may be affiliate links in this post. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

7 Comments

  1. Dermalogica Calming Cleanser is great for sensitive skin, I have used that in the past.

  2. Okay, so are we twinsies or something??
    1. I LOVE my birchbox too!! For someone like me who hates spending money on products I may not like and who hates having a stranger put things on my face in public and gets totally lost in giant beauty stores (I’m lookin’ at you Sephora), this works for me. My favorite box (design) so far has been the Adventure one from this summer – fitting for my blog. I keep the ones I really love and use them to stash extra little jewelry or keepsakes that I want hidden. The rest I trash because I am not a fan of clutter, but I do have a hard time throwing away the really purdy ones. Keep them as gift boxes?
    2. Doctor Who. So glad he is back in my life and am really loving evil Missy too. Glad we get to see more of her. 
    3. Alton. Clever clever boy.
    4. What is it about ampersands? I am obsessed. 
    P.S. I am really sorry to hear about the water and mold issues. Great that they are fixing it though! Hopefully you won’t have to be out for too long. :)

  3. Wow. Packing is the pits! Sorry to hear about the mold, but glad they are doing something about it. My brother had black mold in his house, and it was a mess to deal with and clean out. On another more happy note, thanks for the ginger beer idea. Sounds wonderful. This is my fav right now. Ever try it? http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/129261/

  4. I am so sorry to hear about your living situation, the temporary move, and all the massive headache and stress that comes with a move! Wow, hang in there, Lindsay!!

  5. oh no! What a pain! 

    I am not a Birchbox gal, but I have similarly sensitive skin. So much redness! I have found that Origins checks and balances works great. 

Did you make this recipe? Leave a Review »