abb_brooklyn's Profile

So funny... I was just discussing this with a friend at work the other day. She's from Staten Island and told me about calling a florist there to get an arrangement sent to a friend. When she specified no baby's breath, no ferns, the woman taking the order on the phone yelled back to the florist doing the arrangement, "Hey Frank! Make it Manhattan style!"

CJL, on the website it shows that you can use a power strip in the bottom of the charging station. With the slide-open front, you can just switch off the power strip when you're done charging and voila, no power drain.

My husband's accountant screwed up and put in for less withholding than necessary... a LOT less. But as soon as we said we were married (we filed separately this year, though that may change), his amount owed jumped up by more than 50%. Being married puts each of the individuals in a different tax bracket. Apparently the penalty is less if a) one of the spouses doesn't work at all, b) they have a lot of deductions, as when running a small business, or c) their income levels are more disparate (the penalty is supposedly more if you each make about the same amount).

I would much rather owe $ and pay the penalty than let the government use my money interest-free all year and send me a big check come April.

Almost done. Painted the bathroom on Saturday, still need to hang a mirror over the landing strip but that will have to wait until the weekend.

There is still a lot I would like to do in our office/guest bedroom, but we are well on our way...

Pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandabutler/sets/72157604665462584/

I'm very happy with what we've done so far. There is more left to be done (as always), but so far, we:

1. Got a new bed (mattress and bed frame) which has greatly improved our sleep, and the feeling of our bedroom.
2. Put up curtains in the bedroom which completely changes the feel of the room.
3. Donated a TON of crap we didn't need.
4. Reorganized our entire bathroom top to bottom, making it a joy to open the medicine cabinet!
5. Painted our front hallway a beautiful green, and got a new mirror for above the landing strip (hanging it this weekend).
6. Got a filing cabinet and other storage furniture for the office / guest bedroom, so that we can FINALLY file our papers.
7. Probably going to paint the master bathroom this weekend! Other rooms will require hiring someone to paint as the ceilings are very high.

Pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandabutler/sets/72157604665462584/

Ooh, pick me! My birthday is May 11th and my dad is coming into town... we'd love to go. (Not to mention it's right in my 'hood.)

It was an interesting challenge and I thought most of the contestants did very well with the $10 constraints.

I STILL would like to see them assign a vegetarian or vegan challenge. I realize that many "foodies" and gourmets are not vegetarians, but I do think that the chefs rely far too much on meat as the center of every dish. I would love to see what they could come up with for a meat-free meal.

That's the Prince St. subway station on the R/W line... I love that station!

The safari decal would look great in a nursery or kids' room.

I can picture it now:
"What time is it, honey?"
"It's... 1...... 2........ 5........ 3?.... Twelve fifty three?? Twelve fifty three! I think."

Too complicated for my household.

Last night I was rudely awoken by a claw in my eyelid. A claw. In my eyelid.

One of our cats likes to sleep on the pillow above my head (sometimes he drapes himself around my head like a wig). Last night he did an innocent little stretch in the middle of the night and extended his claws like he is apt to do, except when he extended his claw, he did so right into the outside of my right eyelid.

So we either need to clip their nails more often or kick the cats out when we sleep. After a soap-and-water treatment of my punctured eyelid last night, we did the latter.