We finally got our bookcases installed a little over a week ago. We spent last week filling them with records and books. We were able to get so much stuff out of boxes, and Rob purged some of his vinyl as well. Things are really shaping up around here, I must say. I can see the floor of my office now (it’s been a long time).        

So, we had a mjor storm roll through town on Tuesday night.  Apparently, there was a tornado spotted west of town and the sirens went off while in was in class.  During our break, we all headed down to the basement of the Business School/SPEA Building until we got the all clear.  It was pretty crazy.  It left behind some debris in our driveway, mostly little twigs and whatnot.  This would not normally be an issue, but now the second Snowpocalypse (first of 2008) is coming tonight and tomorrow I’ll likely have a date with my Toro snowblower (for interested parties it’s a model 1800 Power Curve electric snowthrower which can be found in the $300-$350 price range).  But before I take care of the snow tomorrow, I had to take care of the twigs and debris today.  I started with a push broom, but that was an exercise in futility, so I decided it would be a great time to bust out my recently purchased Toro Electric Ultra Blower.  I could have spent more and gotten a gas backpack blower and been cordless, but who wants to keep a gas can and oil around?  Using my same orange extension cords that I use to throw snow, I plugged in the blower and cleared off the driveway in a matter of minutes.  It was a little tough getting used to controlling where the twigs  changed my path of attack.  It’s perfect for the little touch-ups after storms or windy fall days between landscaper visits.  And a bargain at $69.97.  Seriously, I should just buy stock in Toro since they have been making my life easier this winter.

Last week, I also purchased (on the recommendation of Real Simple Magazine) a Zyliss salad spinner.  We usually can’t eat lettuce before it rots, and it seems to rot so quick.  So, I bought a head of iceberg and some romaine hearts, brought them home, cut them into small pieces (with one of those green plastic lettuce knives) and put it in the salad spinner for a wash.  A couple pumps on the handle, then I took out the basket and dumped the excess water in the bottom of the bowl and put the stored the lettuce in the bowl in the fridge.  A week later we still have crispy fresh lettuce to eat (well, we did before we finished it at dinner tonight).  Salad, easy and ready to go and lasts longer than bag salad.  I have also read you can wash it and wrap dry paper towel around it before putting it in a Ziploc or Tupperware to keep it fresher longer too.  You can get the Zyliss at Bed Bath and Beyond or at Linens ‘n’ Things.  They also have one that has a cord that you pull (like starting a lawn mower).  It does the same thing, and the nice thing about the Zyliss (either the pump handle or the corded one) compared to other models by other brands like OXO is that the lid is flat so if you need to stack something on top of it, it’s not an issue.  And to top it all off, you can get them in fun colors like lime green, red, and orange (I got white because that’s what they had in stock at the time).

Lastly, don’t forget if you’re shopping at Linens ‘n’ Things or Bed Bath and Beyond to horde the coupons from both places.

1. Even though there’s an expiration date on the coupon, they don’t look at them.  So if you have one with an expiration date from like 5 years ago, they’ll still take it.
2. You can use one coupon per item.  So if you have 5 items in your cart and 5 (expired) 20% off coupons, you’ll get 20% off your whole order!
3. Both places honor each other’s coupons.  So, if Bed Bath and Beyond is nearest to you, but you get Linens ‘n’ Things coupons in the mail or paper- horde ‘em and use ‘em at Bed Bath and Beyond (or vice versa)!
4. They apply the coupons in order of highest priced item to lowest usually.
5. If you’re taking something back and then buy something else on that visit, and you used a coupon on the item you took back, they will apply your coupon from teh returned item to the new item.

So, go and start hording those coupons!

I know that Sears often gets a bad rap, but I actually like shopping there for tools and appliances. Our refrigerator we bought awhile back was from Sears and was a Kenmore Elite. Today I needed some Craftsman, and I was off to Sears.

While getting ready Saturday night I was looking for some plum eyeliner. I recently acquired one in a cute Bourjois makeup kit. Our master bath has 4 drawers in the vanity. They have no glide to them and they are really too deep. I had a bunch of stuff in the closet in totes with lids attached. But I had used this eyeliner in the past two weeks and knew it was either on the countertop or in one of the drawers. I looked to no avail and then gave up and used some black eyeliner. Anyway, I knew I needed a better way to organize my bathroom. I remember watching that Bravo show Blowout and the hair stylists stations were actually Craftsman tool boxes. Problem solved.

I check today’s ad and there was an offer where if you bought the Midnight Blue 6-Drawer Roll Away cart, you’d get the 10-drawer chest that sits on top for free (a $219 value). I really wanted red, but as our vanity currently has yellow formica, it doesn’t really matter too much. Plus, I figure that it won’t matter the color if it ends up in our garage in the future. I’m not one of those people that needs a totally matchy garage. If the toolbox works out, then I can always move this one to the garage and replace it with a good-looking stainless steel one when we redo the bathroom someday.

Now, if I could just find an old card catalog…

Behold my Craftsman tool chest of beauty…click this link to view it on Flickr where you can rollover the picture with your mouse to see what’s in the drawers.

So, last weekend we got a new fridge. The old fridge was probably 20 years old. It looked nice in the kitchen, but the icemaker didn’t work and the crisper drawers wouldn’t open all the way and stuff in teh freezer eventually ended up freezer burned. Now we have water in the door (even though we buy water and have a water cooler) and an icemaker in the freezer. Rob was really excited to get ice. Well, he’ll have to wait until our plumber comes and installs the bathroom stuff. After two trips to Lowe’s I got the water line conected, but I don’t know where to turn it on in the crawlspace. Plus, I was a little scared it might leak since I had to cut copper and whatnot, and the Leeps do not have the best luck with water in the house.

In addition to cleaning out the fridge (so there’d be less to transfer), we got a lot of stuff organized in the house. Rob purged almost half of his 45’s, and we took a carload to Goodwill on Saturday afternoon. We were crazy productive!

Old Fridge

New Fridge

The new fridge is not counter depth like the old one, but it’s pretty cool.

We can see everything! Lots of Perrier, pudding, and yogurt in our fridge. As well as fruit and carrots in the drawers.

The freezer fits a bunch too, but our icemaker is filled with fake ice right now until we get the water turned on.

So, today I ordered a new toilet and a washlet. Believe it or not, when we were in Japan we fell in love with the bidet seats that were in almost every bathroom (well, not the really spartan public ones, but in probably about 85% of the public bathrooms we used). We’re going with a Toto toilet and washlet. I couldn’t decide what toilet to get, but I found this plumber that has a message board where people talk about their new toilets, and based on recommendations there I am going with the Toto Drake. If you need a new toilet, you should check out the site. Click here to visit Terry Love’s site. Click on the Plumbing Bulletin Board to see user reviews of toilets and bathroom stuff.

And if you want to see everything the Washlet does, visit cleanishappy.com

We also ordered a new vanity and sink for the hallway bathroom, so in a month or so, we’ll have a whole new bathroom and all of our visitors can experience the Washlet.

My mom and Paulo (my sister-in-law Diana’s dad) have been busting their butts doing repairs and repainting at the old house and the sign went in the yard today. It’s in a great neighborhood with the Monon Trail in the backyard, tons of square footage, 4BR/2.5BA, and a new kitchen. I’m pretty pleased with the pictures, but discovered that I will need to invest in a better wide angle lens to really show off houses in the future. Asking price is $319,900, so if you know anyone looking for a house in Broad Ripple (the Canterbury neighborhood just east of the Monon trail between Kessler and 54th St.), send them my way. Or if you know anyone wanting to get their hands on some Indianapolis real estate, make sure you let me know.