Pushing the Paws Button

In honor of my birthday, Jesse agreed to a brief renovation detente. It's not that I don't want our house to get done - more like I wanted to feel calm and relaxed when I get home from work for a little while, which is difficult when you come home to sawdust nation.

So in lieu of demolition he began working on our much needed filing cabinet. He was just going to buy one the other day but decided that he had something particular in mind and just couldn't find that at any of the stores he went to. So the purchasing idea was scrapped and he instead purchased the materials to build one. He's worked with veneer at many of the cabinet shops he's worked in and had some extra anigre that he'd been saving - so an anigre filing cabinet it was.

It took a little longer than expected but about four days after the project was begun, it was finished! Here are the final pictures:




As a little girl, I loved getting into and staying in very small places. I'd beg my parents to sleep in my toy box or behind my dresser, my sisters would stuff me into our cat's little wicker house, and I lived in a bedroom that was 5'x9'.
As soon as I saw the half-finished cabinet I excitedly said, "I have to get in it!" People would marvel at the tiny spaces I used to be able to contort my body to fit into, and it turns out I still can. Jesse seemed impressed...

On a completely unrelated note, a women with whom I used to work keeps a food blog - her and her husband are wonderful (and serious) cooks. I've heard them talking/blogging about Brandt Beef for a long time. They're a 'local' ranch that is really good about treating their animals well, not pumping them full of crazy meds, feeding them a completely vegetarian diet, and generally being good, kind ranchers. And their beef apparently tasted like heaven. I had to try it.
This past Saturday, I got myself out of bed around 7am to get myself to the PB farmers market to try some Brandt Beef. I purchased a few ribeyes, some potatoes that had been picked not three hours before my purchasing them, and some adorable little carrots. Jesse was skeptical about the beef and the price I had paid for it. That is, until he tried it. I think I saw a tear coming from his eye. It was seriously good. Below is our meal - served of course on our borrowed living room table.

Cheers!

Oh, in case you're wondering - the renovation detente should be over by next Monday. This Friday we're headed to Joshua Tree for a day of climbing then down to Palm Springs for two nights. Saturday morning we're waking up bright and early for a 3-hour jeep tour of the San Andreas Fault then after a nap during the hottest hours (Palm Springs' highs will be over 100 degrees this weekend) we're headed up the Mount San Jacinto tram to the top o' the mountain for a hike around the high, and hopefully cooler, elevations. From up there we should be able to see many of the climbing areas that we usually take very different routes to get to but are situated pretty close together as the crow flies. Saturday evening will be for reading and drinking by the pool and Sunday we'll wake up and head back into Joshua Tree for some more climbing until it gets too hot.
Phew! I'm tired just writing about our 'vacation!'