i heart the blue and gray

Inspired by this blog post by Carissa of JL Designs, I have to confess a love of alliums... but I would much rather have blue than purple any day. From Brecks.



I also like curl willow used in moderation.



And finally, I love this little gray succulent boutonniere Carissa made! (It's just a simple succulent accented by some cream colored reindeer moss and finished in off white grosgrain according to her comment here.)

cute cute cute

Yesterday, Jason was sitting on the back porch watching the birds, and he commented, "It's like living in a bird sanctuary."

Our number one common love is plants, but just being outside and enjoying the sun and the sound of the birds is probably somewhere in the top ten.

Too bad these cards are $1 each. [etsy] They're adorable.

the dress that got away

It is terribly unfortunate that this dress is probably too short for the future in-laws.

Style PL238 | Priscilla of Boston

It is also unfortunate that it's only name is PL238. It needs a cute - but scandalous - girl's name like Trixie

Let's get serious

The boy is away tonight.

He worked hard last weekend taming the lilac trees in the backyard.



So tonight he's out with his friend Rishi.



And I'm getting serious about the wedding planning.

It helps that this OJ isn't just OJ.



Last night, while we were cuddled in bed, I tried looking at evening gowns at Nordstrom's to get inspired. You see, I've reached white-poofly-marshmallow-overload with real wedding dresses. I desperately needed to see something in color.

Jason then suggested that I look at various other sites like bliss because he had thought he had seen some cool dresses there. (We realized later that we just liked the photography and there were few "inspirational" dresses to be found there.)

But... BUT!

This got me thinking that I need to start collecting ideas. I'm running out of time, and I need the wedding to be perfect.

It's time to get serious folks. No more kittens for this blog. It's time to talk weddings.

Two for one special on... kittens!!

This just in from the Seattle Animal Shelter volunteer email list... They're having a 2-for-1 special on kittens!

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Hi Everyone!

As many of you know, this Sunday from 10am-12noon, we will have a special kitten adoption event here at the shelter. [...]

Also, starting with this event and running through September, we will be doing a 2-for-1 adoption fees on all pairs of cats or kittens that are adopted. Total cost will be around $129 instead of $214 for two. Licensing fees still apply for both cats.

Of course, the screening process is still the same, but we hope this convinces adopters to take home two kittens instead of one. It's better for the kittens to have a buddy to grow up with.

----

Whooo! Hurry on down to get your basket full of kittens!

Thanks for being so "helpful"

Frank and Aaron aren't at work today, so I have no way of venting my frustration other than to blog about it.

I asked folks at work about finding someone to service a commercial range. The responses have ranged from somewhat helpful to downright annoying.

Here's my first email request:

This is a long shot, but why not…

Does anyone on this list have a commercial stove in their home?

If so, who do you get to service it?

FWIW, it turns out a lot of folks licensed to work on commercial stoves in commercial installations don’t want to touch them in residential installations,

Here's the first "helpful" response - not too bad really:

Liability is probably why they don’t touch them. Commercial stoves are not as well insulated as residential ones, and therefore get much hotter on their outer surface. I have heard a couple horror stories involving children when these stove/ovens were used residentially.

Here's my clarification email where I try to steer back to my question:

> Liability is probably why they don’t touch them.

Yep. Agreed. I’ve read all about them.

For those that are curious and want to know more about pros and cons of commercial stoves, this is a great resource:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/appl/2004064556019303.html

People do have them though.
e.g. http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/811-14th-Ave-E-98112/home/135289
(This is NOT the house I’m buying, btw.)

We are inheriting one with our new house, and the only “con” that we are finding difficult to deal with is the servicing.
FWIW, we know Seattle Home Appliance in Bothell will take a look at them, but it would be good to have a second opinion.
(We’ve asked the sellers to have it serviced before closing.)

Thanks for any solid leads on servicing you guys can provide!

And HERE is the one that set me off and caused me to feel the need to blog my frustration with "helpful" people:

At one time I was the housemate of a guy who’d had a catering business, and he had moved its commercial stove into the house when the business ended. It was an unbelievable nuisance. Using that thing for anything like normal home cooking was a nightmare. It got way too hot (this was Texas, too), and it was so large that it was actually physically difficult to work around. We actually ended up using the gas grill in the yard for a lot of cooking!

If it hadn’t been the last vestige of a bankruptcy, it would have seemed like an preposterous indulgence, like putting a mounted polar bear in the bathroom or something.

Yeah. You read it right.

Mounted polar bear.

WTF?

Thanks for your "help" finding someone to SERVICE THE STOVE.

Arson dog!

The most exciting post I've found on Everyblock so far:

Incident type Arson dog assisting other district

This occurs when the fire department sends the arson dog and the captain of the fire investigation unit to assist another jurisdiction.
Units MAR50

http://seattle.everyblock.com/fire-dispatch/by-date/2009/6/2/729814/