A Bessick Holiday

No bathroom debut yet, we've had a hold up putting the mirror and a not-so-centered light.  I promise, when it's done, I'll post. 

Onto a recap of our holidays.  We had a very busy winter break.  With only a little over a week to squeeze in our usual travels, we barely had time to rest.  Andrew worked all the way up through Thursday before Christmas so Friday spent taking down wallpaper and completing any last minute gifts for our trip home. 

I thought I start out with a picture of house decorated for the Holidays.  This year we added the second wreath on the left side of the house and we really like it.

I had Thursday off and had a chance to visit with the Wiederhoefts and their new addition Eagan.  While he was just over a week old, he was such a little nugget (and still is) and slept the whole time I was there.  Take a look at him snoozing on my lap, such a cutie. 

Christmas Eve: as per usual we spent Christmas Eve with Patti and Dan in Schaumburg for Fondue.  Because Jeanette and Adam had Eagan, we didn't get a chance to do our usual pre-Christmas fondue with them so we were REALLY looking forward to gorging ourselves that night.  It was a wonderful night of fondue, family and home-made gifts.  I've mentioned it before (find it here), but with Andrew's family we have a rule about gifts: it has to be made, re-gifted, consumable, or a game (that's a new addition this year).  With our trip to St. Maarten to celebrate Dan's 60th coming up soon, we didn't do too many gifts.  But there were a couple good ones.  Patti gave Andrew and I a portable table-tennis set that sets up on a table and you can play anywhere.  From Linds, Andrew got a whole football entertaining kit and I got many fun crafting accessories.  We also got a bloody Mary basket too.  

Christmas Day: We typically spend Christmas with my mom, and this year was no different.  However, our Christmas day was much different than usual.  We normally make it to Mom and Mike's house in time to celebrate with Mike's kids and their kids.  But because my mom is in the middle of a kitchen renovation (it really runs in the family), they have no kitchen and decided not to do the big celebration.  Instead, we went to Chinese (our favorite Sun Shui in Arlington Heights) and then played Rock Band the rest of the night.  For Christmas from then, we get to go to Destin, FL this summer where they have rented a house for the week for all of us kids!  We couldn't go last time and are supper excited to be able to make it this year.  

After that, we headed back home to get some work done on our bathroom.  While taking a break from the bathroom renovations, Patti and Dan had their second annual pierogie party at their condo up here in Madison.  I mentioned it in my last post, but wanted to add some pictures that I had from my phone.  As with last year, we invited the Ellefson's to the party.  This year, without Linds and Craig, it just wasn't the same, but we did enjoy some delicious pierogies, ham and red jello.

 

Andrew and I each with Baby Jacob. 

Hayden loved wearing Patti's Polska Pierogie apron the Linds made for her.

With being about 85% done with the bathroom, we headed back to Chicago.  This time, we spent a evening with Dad, Kelly and Brett.  I had been craving some of my Dad's DD's Chewy Meat (only the best steak you will ever eat--promise), so he made that for me.  With Brett off doing what 15-year-old boys do best, playing video games, we enjoyed a lovely evening chatting and enjoying several glasses of wine and port (too many for Kelly and I).

 While at Dad's, Fiona was quite the little snuggle bug .

The whole Conant Group: Top: Andrew, James, Amit and Brian. 
Bottom: me, Katie & Elliot, Min Hee and Jeff.
Such a good lookin' group!

While we were back in the Chi this second time, we had planned to meet up with Andrew's high school friends.  With Amit and Harini in California and Jeff and Min Hee in Philadelphia it isn't often that we get to see everyone.  Even with James and Katie and Brian in the Chicago area, we very rarely get to see them.  So with everyone back home for the holidays we had to get together.  The last time we all got together was for Amit and Harini's wedding in California 2 years ago.  Ferdie was unable to join us and we missed the Turtle, but it was so good to see everyone and catch up.  We were celebrating several birthdays and a couple babies too.  James and Katie had Elliot in July and Amit and Harini had Saanvi in November.  

Last, but not least, we celebrated New Year's Eve before heading back to school.  This year, we kind of laid low more than usual.  We hadn't been out to dinner with just Bryan and Janice in awhile so we went to Fresco, just the four of us.  As usual, we had a wonderful meal.  We then had a drink at Paul's Club, then Tipsy Cow then headed to the Majestic.  Because Bry and Jan have two little kids at home, we then headed back to their place to relieve the babysitter and finish off the night.  With some more beers and champagne, we ended the night with a bang.  Here a couple of the more appropriate pictures, I won't scare you with the end of the night shots.  It was another wonderful New Year's in Madison with great friends. 

Ange and I enjoying a drink at Paul's.

 Bryan and Janice.

 All four of us--such great friends.

I thought I'd end this post with Midnight and her favorite toy from my mom.  A catnip filled mousy.  She just loves it!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends and fun.  Here's to a happy and healthy 2012.

Functional Bathroom

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  Andrew and I made a quick trip back to the burbs to visit with family.  We were with Ange's family for fondue on Christmas eve and my family for Chinese (my parents are in the middle of a kitchen renovation) and rock band on Christmas. 

Here are some pictures of the bathroom with the first layer or wallpaper off.

 Ready to scrape.

 We used Dif to help us.  It made it a lot easier.

 Ugh, but look at that mess.

When we returned back to Madison, we really had to focus and get our bathroom done.  With the wall paper off, we primed the whole bathroom.  The bead board took two coats of prime while the rest of the wall and ceiling only took one. 

Oh yeah, we did some filling of holes too.  Here is Ange filling those holes. 

 I'm the rolling machine.

 All primed and ready to paint.

We then had to make the tough decision about paint.  We are kinda of nervous paint buyers and have to get several samples to make sure we pick the right color.  We were not worried about the white, because white is white and we went with White Fur.  The green, however, was not so easy.  We had 5 samples to choose from, which I had painstakingly narrowed down from about 15.  In the end we went with Chinese Jade.  We thought it looked the best with the shower curtain and that it didn't look too much like baby poop.  It's the color that is second from the left.  White fur only needed one coat, but the green needed two.

 

Our green paint choices with a glimpse of the shower curtain.

All done painting!

 You can't really tell the color in the pictures, but you can tell that it's green.

So after a break for pierogies with Patti and Dan and the Ellefsons, we were back to try to finish the bathroom.  

Look at those pierogies!! 

After the pierogi break, we did some caulking, major scrubbing of the tub and floor, some electrical work and drilling so we just about have a functional bathroom.  We did have some electrical issues and had to call up our old friend Jamey, the electrician, as Andrew just about blew up the house.  Not really, but after a shortage and puff of smoke, we decided we better be safe and give him a call.  So now, we are waiting for him to come check out the bathroom until we can put up the mirror and some other shelving.

But for now, at least we can shower!  Next post will be the reveal!  Make sure to check back soon.

Goodbye Wallpaper

We are in the middle of another renovation.  This time, it's the main bathroom.  Our plan: take down the wallpaper, prime, paint, add new fixtures, new tile, shower curtain, and voila, new bathroom.  This will be the first renovation project without the help of my handy father.  Wish us luck, I think we are going to need it.  

It started yesterday when I went to start the process of removing the wallpaper.  The top layer peeled right off--woohoo.  I took off the top railing of the bead board and the mirror just about fell on me.  I then realized it was going to take more than just a quick scrap to get the rest of the glue off.

Taking down wallpaper is just awful but it was pretty easy for us.  With the recommendation from my wallpaper expert mom, we dowsed the ugly wallpaper from 1995 with Diff, let it sit then scraped the hell out of it.  It took two sprays of the Diff to get everything off.  Then Ange rinsed it with water.  It took us about 5 hours to completely remove the wallpaper but after some hard labor, we are ready to prime and paint.  I'm just glad it wasn't the WHOLE bathroom.

I'm still working on paint colors, but I know I will be painting the bead board on the bottom half of the wall white, and the top half a nice, zen green color to go with my new shower curtain (take a sneak peak).  I'm hoping for a relaxing spa-like feel.  You can take a look at my inspirations on my Rub-a-Dub-Dub Pinterest Board (and follow me too!).

I tried really hard to keep with the corn theme from our kitchen (see here), but I'm thinking it's just not going to work.  The only green that corn produces is the stalk and I'm not about to paint my bathroom that color.

Here's a picture of our bathroom before just to refresh your memory of the awesome bead board and wallpaper.  It actually doesn't look that bad and that's what it looked like when we bought the place.  I forgot to take before pictures of the bathroom we've been using the last 3 years, but to give you a clue, the wallpaper started to peel, the tile is hideous, the towel hook fell off and I was just ready to trade out the dark bead board for something more fresh and relaxing.

 

Next up, after Christmas, we plan to remove the toilet (a project in itself) and paint!  I'll make sure to keep you posted on all our hard work, and if we can manage this reno without the help of my dad.

Weekend in North Carolina

This year for teacher's convention weekend at the end of October, we took a quick trip to North Carolina to visit Andrew's sister Lindsay and her fiance Craig.  We also just happen to see my bestie Beth too!!

We took off Thursday morning and flew out of Milwaukee bright and early.  I think we got 4 hours of sleep before we had to head to the airport at 3:00.  It was well worth it though to get to see Linds and Craig. 

We flew into Greensboro and Linds picked us up from the airport.  We headed straight downtown in the Big G and had lunch at Natty Greene's where we enjoyed lunch and brews on the patio on the 75 degree day!  We then headed back to their house and had more brews and some game playing then a wonderful spaghetti and meatball dinner.  

On Friday, Ange and Craig went golfing and Linds and I went shopping.  It was about 40 degrees, windy and rainy, but the boys still had a fun day on the gold course.  Linds and I headed to Bridal Mart, where we found NOTHING and then headed to the outlet mall in Mebane.  Not before, though stopping in Saxapahaw, Lindsay's old stomping ground.  We had a lovely lunch at the general store, then got our shop on.  

Friday night, we met up with Beth and had dinner at Southern Roots, and adorable little restaurant in Jamestown, NC.  We then headed downtown Greensboro again and spent some time at a couple of bars.

My bestie Bethie!

 My peeps-Ange and Beth.

 Linds & Craig.  Love you guys.

 Ange and I.

 We are Family.

 Again.

 Love you guys.

 They can really pull off the dazing look.

 Us-not so much-but we do try through...

Lovin' the Swizzle.

Saturday we watched some football and enjoyed the lovely cooking of Lindsay E. Bessick who made delicious bacon and egg biscuits and several other football Saturday foods-including a dip they call throw-up dip.  It sounds gross, but it's just a cracked out version of Velveeta and Rotel.  We watch a lot of football.  It just also happen to be the weekend of the Ohio St. vs. Wisconsin Game.  Craigers is a HUGE OSU fan.  OSU beat WI which happen to be a great game. 

The breakfast Linds prepared-bacon, egg and cheese biscuits and bloodies. 

 We love College Football!

 The boys throwin' the ball around.

 Look at those boys.  They're cute!  Linds and I are so lucky!

 Spaghetti and meatball leftovers.

 Typical Craig.

We then headed home on Sunday.  It was a quick trip, but it was so good to see Linds and Craig.  They live so far away, but it is always so good to see them.  These trips just make us want to visit them more.  It's always a good time with the Dye's.

Again, I didn't take too many pictures--I think I've just been enjoying all the good company.  So that's all I've got.  It was a great trip!

PSU vs. Iowa

We spent another long weekend in State College this year.  This time, however, Iowa played Penn State so we had someone to cheer for.  And, we got Mom and Mike to join us. 

We took a road trip and drove out to Pennsylvania.  We left bright and early Friday morning and drove through to Edinboro, PA where our wonderful, long-time friends Ann and Gary live.  We stayed with them Friday night.  When we got into town, we took a tour of their beautiful home.  Mom and I hadn't been there in at least 10 years and they had done a lot of updates to the house, like adding a marvelous great room, so we got the tour.  We then went to a fun brewery outside of Edinboro.  Laurie and her boyfriend, Jon, were there as well so it was good to catch up with them.  

On Saturday morning, we got up really early and drove to State College to tailgate and go to the game.  With the 3:30 start, we enjoyed breakfast sammies and some great  tailgate food.  Darrin, Linda and Layla, more long-time friends, and more Grants, Elisa and Mark, joined us for the tailgate.  

Mom and I!  She's even wearing Hawk gear!

Ange and I.  America-Love it or leave it!

 Mom & Mike (by wearing black, Mike really is rooting for the Hawks!)

 Had to represent.  Hawks and Bears!

We then headed into the game, where we had some pretty good seats, but DID NOT enjoy a good game.  Iowa looked awful and couldn't score more than 3 points.  The atmosphere is always fun though.  The final score was PSU 13-Iowa 3. :o(

Our seats.

 Here come the Hawkeyes....

We then headed back to our tailgate to let the traffic thin out and drove to Hudson, OH, where we caught a quick night's sleep then drove the rest of the way back home on Sunday. 

It was a whirlwind of a trip, with almost 24 hours of driving in 3 days, but it was totally worth it.  The Grants and the Thorntons are such wonderful friends and it is always great to see them.  We just wish Iowa would have shown up to play.  I didn't take too many pictures but here are the ones I have.

Ann and Gary, thanks for having us!  It's always great to see you. xoxo