There's a toilet in my bedroom + summer favorites

We're finally, finally re-doing our master bathroom, a.k.a. the "you cause me depression" room.  Seriously, starting every day faced with Brady Bunch-era cocoa brown wall tiles and 1960's special coordinating floor tile wasn't pleasant.  We ridded the house of much of the 60's touches when we moved in.  For example, our living room which had some fantastic mauve carpet with matching walls.  But it was ok because the trim was DARK mauve.  Nice contrast.  So that's gone, as is 95% of the wallpaper.  Ugh, the wallpaper.  It was everywhere and it was hideous.  

So the renovation is underway.  The toilet has moved from the bathroom to a corner of our bedroom, which is lovely.  There's a fine layer of drywall dust over everything.  We are now sharing a bathroom with the boys, which is a little bit shock and awe for me.  I was brushing my teeth one morning when H. came in to use the bathroom.  He was doing his business and saw a squirrel through the window and then turned his DOING HIS BUSINESS body away from the toilet to track the squirrel.  Shock and awe.

Looking good, future shower.

There's a pocket door separating the shower area from the vanity and Carter's been keeping the door shut to avoid more drywall dust escaping.  But I can't help peeking.  And he called me out on it: "Do you keep opening that door expecting Nate Berkus to pop out?"  Me: "Don't be silly."  But secretly, Yes. YES I TOTALLY DO.  And well done, Carter, for knowing who Nate Berkus is.  

Some of the things I've been loving this summer:

We went to the Toad Hollow tasting room in Healdsburg, CA, and had a nice time.  A really nice time. So nice of a time that we ended up ordering a case of a past vintage of this wine to be delivered to our house in Chicago.  It arrived and, strangely, it didn't taste as nice as it did in Healdsburg.  We suffered through.  I was shopping for a good summer Rose (no accent on Blogger) and found my little Toad friend again.  This vintage is really good.  Served ice-cold it's been our summer go-to wine.  (Ann Arbor friends it's at Plum Market for about $8 a bottle. Bar-gain.)

American Spoon (nice Michigan company) Cherry BBQ Grilling Sauce.  This makes everything better.  Shrimp kebabs, salmon, chicken, pork, all your fish and meat items.  It's really, really good.  Summer staple.

Arizona Tea Arnold Palmer Iced Tea & Lemonade Stix (even though 'stix' is not a word).  Loving these little guys.  Just enough caffeine to power through a late afternoon slump.  I took a couple to the lake today and they helped me be "fun mom" as opposed to my usual, "you guys know how to swim so I'm going to sit in the shade and read my book - mom."  

Smoothies.  The boys and I have one a day and I jam so much good stuff in them they have no idea. Greek yogurt, 2-3 cups of frozen fruit, a raw egg (Salmonella be damned), a little OJ, water and at least two cups of spinach.  I know.  The first time I heard of spinach in smoothies I recoiled a bit. But then I tried it and it adds no taste but plenty of fiber and vitamins.  And the boys haven't even noticed. Suckers.  Just kidding.  But not really.    

What?  SPF 110?  That's totally normal.  Carter calls it liquid denim.  And it kind of is.  I need a spatula to scrape this stuff off at the end of the day.  But after my dermatologist suggested that, due to my red-haired-fair-skinned gift, that it's not "IF but WHEN" I get skin cancer, I'm going to hedge my bets.  

Whell, Hillbilly Handfishin' is coming on and I must go watch my stories.  Until next time...