Kitchen Beautification Project- Mission Accomplished!

For the last 5 days, we have been going through the final stages of the Kitchen Beautification Project. After weeks of preparation (new lighting, getting estimates, appliance shopping, tile selection, etc) we finally dove in. Instead of an update each day, I thought I'd post everything at once for a better idea of how it all went.

I can't tell you how great our contractor Jose is. I would recommend him to anyone considering a renovation of any kind. He owns City Painting & Renovation, Inc. and can be reached at (240) 476-7342 or by E-mail: citypainting@aol.com

Kitchen Beautification Project, Day One:

Today the workmen started on our place. They removed all of our appliances and ripped out the linoleum floor in the kitchen as well as the closet and laundry area.







They laid a new sub floor and spaced out the new ceramic tiles in both rooms. Because we aren’t getting the new appliances until the end of the week, the old ones are kind of strewn about our place awaiting haul away.



The washing machine is in our hallway and the dryer is in our bedroom, the stove and dishwasher are in our dining room and the fridge (the only appliance still plugged in and working) is in the living room.





Before Pesach, I had already relocated all of the kitchen appliances, pots, pans, utensils, stemware, cleaning products, etc into the second bedroom- so now our place is officially a complete disaster. The good news is that I didn’t have to even get up off the couch to reach inside the fridge for a bottle of water last night while watching Idol. The bad news is I think poor Jerry is very confused.

Kitchen Beautification Project, Day Two:

Today the workmen grouted the tile and finished the floor in the closet and laundry area. They also replaced our kitchen sink and faucet, and installed our new granite counter tops!




The washing machine and dryer are back in the right place, and we have reclaimed our bedroom. I learned what shoe molding is (goes around the bottom of the wall above the floor) and that you should ‘seal’ your granite every three months.




Kitchen Beautification Project, Day Three:

Today the workmen finished grouting and sealing the tile in the kitchen, and installed shoe molding to the kitchen and closet floors. They also painted and put up the molding underneath the granite counters.




Kitchen Beautification Project, Day Four:

Happy Appliance Delivery Day! Today we had our new microwave, range, fridge and dishwasher delivered. Jose also put new double doors on the laundry and storage closet. First came the microwave...



then the range and fridge...





and finally, the dishwasher.



I can't believe this whole thing took less than a week- it doesn't even look like the same room! We have successfully completed our first major home improvement and couldn't be happier with the results. (Now I have to learn how all these new things work!)


ta-da!



before and after

First Nationals Game At The New Ballpark

This weekend we went to the new Nationals ballpark with Becky and Aaron for the Nats-Cubs game.



I have to say that I had my doubts, but taking the metro was fairly painless. As Aaron said, “its all about strategy and positioning.” You stake out a good spot, and you get on that train. We arrived unsmushed and happy. When you exit the metro, the stadium is just a half bock walk away.


view from the metro

We got there a little early so that we could walk around a bit and check out the new ballpark. The place is really nice, and all the people who say “there isn’t a bad seat in the place” are right. We saw George Washington and a very angry looking Abe Lincoln walking around the park.







Because it was Passover, we weren’t able to enjoy any of the regular ballpark fare, but here are some pictures of the cleverly named vendors. There were also some local favorites.













My favorite pic is the kosher stand- the one place to get a kosher hot dog, and it was closed! (I mean what would they serve anyway- bunless hot dogs?)




scoreboard at the new stadium



It wasn’t very warm out, but Becky and I were thankfully distracted from the cold by her extremely boisterous neighbor (that’s him in the red shirt).


We had great seats and a really good timeat the game, but I have to admit that baseball isn’t the same without beer. David and I enjoyed our Passover-friendly snacks and watched the Nationals beat the Cubs 2-0. There were a TON of Cubs fans- I heard someone call it Wrigley Field East- they weren't too far off base!

To his credit, David hung in there with me for the entire holiday and we celebrated sundown with dumplings and noodles at Jade Billows that night. The best line of the whole day was when David, looking at all the yummy food at the ballpark and the cloudy sky asked me “Does overcast count as sunset?” No, it doesn’t, but that was a good try.

Vote for Jesse!

As many of you know, Brian’s best friend Jesse is a contestant on MTV’s show, Rock The Cradle. Jesse has had three amazing performances so far, but after spending the last two weeks with immunity from elimination, Jesse now needs your help.


Performing Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire in Episode 4


Jesse performing Billy Idol's Rebel Yell in Episode 2

Please go to the Rock the Cradle website, and vote for Jesse Blaze Snider. Jesse is an amazing performer. All of her performances are on MTV’s website, but if you’d like to see his performance from last week where he did his father’s hit We’re Not Gonna Take It - see below.





Jesse rockin his dad's We're Not Gonna Take It on Episode 3

Brian went out to LA last week to visit Jesse and reported back that he is loving the show and thanks everyone for taking the time to vote. Voting closes Saturday, April 26, at 9 a.m. so please vote for him before then.


Proud Pappa Dee watching his son


Jesse performing Led Zeppelin's Rock& Roll on Episode 1

You can also vote by calling: 1-866-979-7903 (toll free) or by texting the number 3 to 97979. You can vote by phone, text message or online as often as you like, so please vote- and vote often!

Thanks so much! And if you want to watch more of Jesse or the show, checkout the Rock The Cradle main page.

How Many of Me

I dont know how accurate this is, but I was entertained for a few minutes by this website.

There are over 300 million people in the United States. Census Bureau statistics tell us that there are at least 88,799 different last names and 5,163 different first names in common use in the United States. Some names are more common than others.

There are 50,188 people named John Smith in the United States. There are 1,062 people named James Bond, 114 people namedHarry Potter, 510 people named George Bush and 9 people named Chuck Norris

Check out how many people share your name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 3 people with my name in the U.S.A. how/'>http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

Allison:

• There are 139,805 people in the U.S. with the first name Allison.
• Statistically the 421st most popular first name.
• More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Allison are female.

Ehrlich:

• There are 6,413 people in the U.S. with the last name Ehrlich.
• Statistically the 5594th most popular last name.

Passover 2008: A Feast Without Yeast

This weekend we went to the Sunshine state for a little time with family and some unleavened goodness. We flew down to Florida on Friday afternoon, picked up our rental car and drove to David’s grandparents’ place in Sunrise for the night.



Our Saturday afternoon was a relaxing one. We (David, his brother Ilan and myself) mostly just caught up Sara and Joe at their place, enjoyed one last pre-Pesach meal at some Italian restaurant and spent time with Fran and Dov. Then we headed to Delray that evening for Seder.



We had drinks and appetizers on the patio, took some pictures (of course) and looked at Fran and Dov’s copy of our wedding album.







Because the first two nights of Passover often fall on weekdays, we have not had a Seder with the family in a few years, so it was really nice to be together this year. It was kind of bittersweet because it was the first time David’s grandparents were able to celebrate Passover with my family and our first as a married couple, but also the first time we did a Seder separate from my Aunt Anne and Uncle Harry who stayed in NJ.

More than anything else, I think I was just relieved to have my Grandma Ruth home and happy. She spent three whole weeks in the hospital and a rehab facility, and just got home a few days ago. She must have had at least 100 get well cards!



Brian (of course) rocked the Four Questions. The guy is a pro at this point.



We had a traditional Seder lead by my Grandpa Paul and David’s Grandpa Joe. It was a mix of traditions and melodies, and very special.



For dessert we had a birthday cake for my grandfather (his birthday is next week, but we won’t be in Florida to celebrate) a yummy sponge cake that Sara made, and this awesome fruit basket from Edible Arrangements. Then we went back to Sunrise for the night.

On Sunday, we had some of Sara’s famous latke’s and soup before heading over to Ruth and Paul’s place for the afternoon. David helped my grandfather load new pictures into the digital frame we got for his 80th birthday last year, and I helped my mom prep for dinner, set the table and run a few errands.



Although he is no Marty Koles, David did a great job carving the Turkey. I mean I love the guy, but he has years to go before he can make the varsity carving squad.



This Seder was also really nice. We were joined by Nikki who did a fabulous job at the Four Questions (even while people were taking pictures of her) and everyone participated. Fran even read a little of the Seder en Español.






Uncle Al reading a portion of the Passover Seder


Gandma Ruth taking a turn



Fran reading a bit of the Seder to us



After dinner everyone kind of relaxed and I got to spend a little more time with Nikki who is awesome. Then we headed back to Sunrise for a final night at David’s grandparents.


On Monday we split our day in half. We spent a few more hours with Sara and Joe- and David helped his grandfather hook up his printer. Then we went to Ruth and Paul’s place. Grandma Ruth worked with the therapist on her range of motion and physical therapy- and she is doing great! Afterwards, we had a lunch of yummy leftovers and departed for the airport.



We left the 85 degree Florida sunshine and arrived in rainy and chilly Maryland last night around 8 PM. Got home, unpacked and watched a little Top Chef before collapsing into bed. What a weekend!

I just realized that wrote an entire post about a holiday where you are required to have four cups of wine each night and didn’t write about a single wine. However, there was an article in the Washington Post recently, about Passover wines.