TWTW - the one with the cleaning ladies

I believe your life is only as good as the people in it. Mine is pretty damn good with these people who have been there for over 20 years plus their people we've picked up along the way. Friendsgiving at Zorba's in Fairmount on Friday. Missing: MFD, who was being head boss at the shore.

I drove to the shore from there, fell out around 12:45 and was up for the sunrise. I met Lori down at the beach.

Lori is so good that she folded my sheets and wiped down my baths and vacuumed my house at home before transporting my dogs to the shore with my mom. At the shore, her and my mom were my cleaning ladies and cleaned the whole house. They were also in charge of the dogs all weekend.  I drug them on a mission outside of town to buy a cheap dresser (completed) and pillows for the remaining bedrooms plus some other odds and ends. I was in search of some shore decor so we hit Asbury Avenue and they were having a big small business thing.

I got half priced paperbacks for the house in a discount bookstore I could live in and we ate lunch at Bennie's Bread. SO GOOD.

We even saw Santa. Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving is on my naughty list but one does not pass up the opportunity to get a photo with Santa in a row boat.

I largely struck out in the decor department but Lori bought me a so bright it hurts pink sweatshirt and a tie dye tee because I can't and won't quit tie dye clothing. Back at the house I put shit away and did some kitchen organizing and brought the dogs up to the main house while MFD, Joe, and Dan put the tedious dresser together down in the efficiency. Apparently if you want to score a very cheap dresser the assembly is going to be a bitch.

This weekend was mostly a finishing touch weekend. I hung valances on the main floor and curtains in the powder room - imagine these actually on a rod, which will happen next weekend so they don't look like someone with hair too long. When that's done, the powder room will be done.

Something that has been vexing me: where to store books for our future renters to peruse and take to the beach? Since I was a little girl the beach has been synonymous with worn paperback books. I couldn't own a home there and not have some to share with others. There is no room even for a skinny bookcase anywhere other than the third floor or the bathroom so I'm storing them under the coffee table. Not ideal but better than nothing! And yes, of course I bought a used copy of Jane Eyre. My mom and Lori contributed some books from the discount bookstore too. The rest will be coming from my house. I also happened upon this Jack Vettriano wall tile in the thrift shop. We modeled one of our wedding photos after one of his beach scenes so I had to have it.

The sofas also got new pillows - all of them are washable with cases that unzip and can be swapped out and washed as well because who wants to lay on the spit of hundreds of other people? No one. I got a cushion for the bench from Kohl's and the last two coral boat cleats were hung, one on the stairs and one over the powder room door (hanging sign coming for that).

MFD went down Wednesday night to receive appliance delivery and to pick up and install new bottom cabinets on the one wall in the kitchen. He totally kicked ass down there. The top photo is updated canvas art in one of the bedrooms. As with downstairs, I used my pics and put them on Canvas when I found a sale online. Boom. The bottom is appliances. Counters get measured this Friday. I was initially reluctant to replace the appliances but it is nice to know going into our first rental season that everything is solid and they look nice. So I have to concede that MFD was right on this one. Plus the kitchen is the easiest area to update and in a 115 year old house, a little update is good. The rest can stay old beachy. 

While he was down there alone with no cable or wifi MFD also laid area rugs and pads in the bedrooms and built the remaining nightstand in the blue room. Target storage pieces rock for cheap nightstands. That room got updated canvases too and is now complete. 

I was hot to get out of there on Sunday since we'll be back for an extended time next weekend. I dropped the dogs off at home and hit Marburn Curtain for my missing curtains. Of course one of them was out of stock, so I put it in a bubble, blew it away, and got a mismatched one because I was not driving an hour to another store. I survived Trader Joe's  on a Sunday with a trip for a turkey and some other things. Why are Trader Joe's parking lots always like hell on earth?

No real food prep this week. I rarely do any the weekend before Thanksgiving. Breakfast is breakfast burritos I made last weekend, lunch is a veggie burger over baby spinach, and dinners are scrambled eggs and salmon with steamed veggies. Snacks are granny smith apples, cucumbers, and orange bell peppers.

In lieu of winterizing the yard and raking leaves, I got a manicure/pedicure/brow wax (OPI Bogota Blackberry on the feet and Baguette Me Not on the nails), put a new duvet cover on in the spare room at home since the quilt that's been on that bed for five years is making its way down the shore, and made roasted brussels sprouts that I served with some garlic parmesan bread topped with mozzarella and a side of olives. I also started this book of short stories by Nickolas Butler. His writing is just incredible to me. When I read it I feel it inside.

I would be remiss in leaving you for the day without wishing my fabulous friend Gwen (Confessions of a Gila Monster) a happy happy birthday today. You'll be seeing more of her here on Wednesday for this month's recommendations. I had to borrow her facebook profile pic for this because I just love it. Happy birthday my friend!

Short week. Hallelujah and amen! Are you working this week or off? 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending