Sweaters

I just came across a post on one of the other blogs that I follow - http://theivyleaguelook.blogspot.com/ - that features squash. I do have to admit that I'm a stranger to squash, however, I have played racquet ball in the past and do play tennis semi-regularly.

The point of this post is that the article (http://theivyleaguelook.blogspot.com/2009/07/squash-national-amateur-championship.html) features a gentleman in a great sweater on the left.

I've been looking for one like this for several years now, and was quite fortunate to purchase one similar to this in Europe last year, but the one I purchased does not have a neck cut as deep as this one, to my misfortune. Perhaps someone may be as kind as to point out to me where I can find sweaters in this style?

A house that got it all

Perhaps I exaggerated in the title of this post. Perhaps it should have read "A house that (almost) got it all" or "A house that got it all except me on the deed", but one may keep dreaming, right? I'm currently not yet in a position to seriously look for houses, but I have to admit that it's fun to look around - both realistically in the short term (e.g. locally) as well as optimistically a few years out. Like after I made my first million (which, per people's prediction I should have made by age 25; 2 years out but I'm nowhere close to that).

Either way, I do enjoy looking and believe that it's never too early to explore one's taste. While I do fancy an East Coasty (e.g. European) style most of the time, there are things about it that I don't like. I've come across a great website for floor plans for mediterranean style houses - perfect for any location that is warmer than Minnesota. And a location that is not in the Midwest, because if you wear or own anything exotic in the Midwest that looks remotely like it belongs in a warm place, you automatically look like a jackass. Or just plain moronic. I wouldn't want people to point at me behind my back and whisper "look, there's that guy that doesn't know how to turn to channel 5 and watch the weather forecast". It'd be like owning a swimsuit in England.

Anyway, let's look at some pictures of a house that I like. The basic floor plan can be found at http://www.weberdesigngroup.com/plans/cantrell-home-plan/24. I want to share the parts of the house that I like most including my thoughts on each, so here we go.

I really like the low build of this house with the wide stretch. It gives one an impression of spacious-ness and it doesn't seem overwhelming. I love the vegetation around the house - very tastefully done - as well as the lighting and the inviting atmosphere. The driveway roundabout allows for a smooth traffic flow when visitors come to the house.

The family room area, and the house as a whole, is very open. I'm not a great fan of too many walls and small rooms. I need the open space. In fact, that's something I like in particular about my parents' home in Europe. This family room has a terrific view of the pool and jacuzzi by the backyard. The floor is tiled and the whole atmosphere is inviting. I can see myself sitting here early on a Saturday morning sipping a long island with some egg benedict, toast, and some fruit.

The same goes for the living room. I'm a great fan of tall ceilings. Nothing spells "space" and "comfort" more than tiles, a tall ceiling, and an interior decor such as this.

This is the living room from a different angle. I love the stairs on the left with the inside balcony. It reminds me of one of the final scenes of the movie Scar Face. Without the blood, destruction, and bullet holes. Simply classy.

There's nothing I don't like about this house. The master bedroom and bathroom, the pool area, the lanai, and the kitchen are all very nicely designed with great taste and practicality in mind. I want to invite you to research this estate in particular further at http://www.weberdesigngroup.com/plans/cantrell-home-plan/24 and other houses at http://www.weberdesigngroup.com/. Feel free to share your thoughts with me. I'm always happy when I hear from my readers.

In a few days, I'll plan on posting on East Coast-y architecture in an attempt to provide a fuller picture of my taste.

Happy Fourth of July & God Bless.

Clarification on the drink

I went to Bella's last night here in Minnesota and ordered that drink that I had shared in a previous posting (in case you missed it - read about it here: http://serendipitously-witty.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-cool-beverage-for-summer-heat.html). I gave the bartender directions on how to make it and got the drink back in a short glass. I never thought that anybody would pour it into a shorty! It was disgusting (I suspect they also didn't use sweetened lime juice). Make sure you ask for sweetened lime juice and have it poured into a longneck. A long glass allows for more sprite and thus makes the drink less sour! The drink should be fairly sweet, and not at all sour! For sour, have a gin & tonic.

Extension

I received an email today from work asking me if I will be available through September. My manager requested for my contract to be extended. I accepted and have been having one hell of a day today - in a good way!

Three more months at a great job with great colleagues! Cheers!

A sudden urge to take a short vacation

Every once in a while, I get that odd urge to just go places. Not just places around the Twin Cities, but different places within the country. The places that I'm drawn to most are the coastal area of the deep south (such as Biloxi, MS, or Mobile, AL) and the East Coast like Maine, Nantucket, MA, or the Hamptons. Granted, I've never been to any of these places and don't really know why I've picked these of all the places (perhaps they are just the most prominent ones?), but I would really like to pay them a visit sometime.

Yesterday, it was East Coast day for me. I did a ton of research on sailboats and lighthouses. Yes, silly, I do admit. However, it does satisfy me for short period of time and the urge to take a vacation and spend a weekend there is temporarily relieved. My newest obsession is anything lighthouse and sailboats. My dad used to sail, however, I was young and failed to get into it when I had the chance. Today, I regret that, but hope to catch up at some point. I found a great picture of a lighthouse and some sailboats that I'd like to share here. The lighthouse picture is my wallpaper now.

I believe this is the Loraine Lighthouse (in Ohio - not on the East Coast, but it got an East Coasty look to me), however, I can't remember the website I got the picture from. A Google search might answer the question.

The second picture is of a boat that is for sale out in California I believe. I got that from a boat classifieds site.

This boat costs about $3,000 (it has a few years on it) and I don't know much about prices for boats, but this would be the most terrific toy for the summer! Go out on one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes, have a few longdrinks, do some fishing, have a good time with some friends...

Going back to the first picture: A picture like that would be perfect for how I want to decorate my future house. In fact, I remember an article from last year posted to PreppyJournal.com (http://preppyjournal.com/node/1144) that had some great decorating tips. I'd like to share some of the pictures here. All copyrights with PreppyJournal.com:

I especially like the light linen look of the living room. That together with some red or blue gives your house the perfect "boat" look - very relaxing, but also with a sense of adventure. Pictures of boats and lighthouses would definitely underline the experience.

Linen clothes speak Summer and a relaxed lifestyle

First off, thanks to everybody for the great feedback on my previous post! I'm glad that ya'll enjoyed the drink and I'll make sure that I'll post more recipes in the future if I come across anything worth sharing!

Anybody that knows me well personally knows that I work very hard and I'm good at what I'm doing, but I also like to have my share of fun. Perhaps, at times, a bit too much, but we all need some sort of outlet for the stress that we have everday, don't we? I've grown over the past few years and getting older does require a fresh look at my style. This summer I'm all about linen and leather assecories instead of denim, I decided. Let's take a look at two pictures I took before I made a purchase. The blazer I ended up not purchasing due to issues with the size. I haven't decided yet whether I want to spend extra money to get it fitted by a tailor.

The outfit on the left is from Banana Republic. I went originally to Kohls to see what they had but didn't find anything. JC Penny and Macy's (I never go to Macy's) both didn't have anything either. Well, that's not entirely true. They do have things I'd wear, but they're in the Men's section and a small is usually a bit too big for me. Seeing that I'm 5'9'' and about 145 lbs with a 31 waist, most 'grown up' clothes is aiming for bigger people than me. I'm fine in the kids of teen section if I get L or XL, but found that most department stores don't carry a great variety. In other words, today's teens and kids don't wear the style I wear, so I walked around the mall to look for smaller stores that specialize in people just out of college.

At Banana Republic (I actually found a sales associate who wanted to help), I found white linen pants (left) and a linen shirt. Both go together very well and I can roll my pants up and sport my light brown wingtips I got in Europe last year wearing no socks. Very laid back. With that, I can wear a white/brown leather Nautica mesh belt I found at Macy's a few weeks ago. The blazer in the right picture is great - it's all linen as well at can be found at JC Penny. However, the smallest they have is a 38 - about one size too big for me to have the 'fitted' feeling, so I decided not to make the purchase. Linen feels great and gives you a relaxed and laid back look for the summer. It looks great in light colors with dark or light brown leather assecories. Good drinks to go with it is Rum & Coke, any long drink, or - of course - the drink from my previous post.

A great cool beverage for the summer heat

I just got back inside my house after having been forced to sweat in the sogging heat of a very warm Minnesota evening for several hours. I forgot that I had taken my car keys and house keys of my regular key chain (it's not fashionable to have bulky pockets) and grabbed the key chain without keys and locked myself out of the house for two hours. It was incredibly hot today and to make matters worse, humidity was past the point where it's bearable. Granted, today would have been a nice day to be laying on the beach, but I got to spend most of my day in my cool office at work dealing with my computer and its problems.

On my way home from work, I decided to stop by the store and pick up some toothpaste and mouth wash. Well, Rainbow does a great job making people buy more once they're in the store, so I bought some cheese, ham, crackers, and pasta as well. While I was at it, I figured I'll stop by the liquor store next door as well and restock my reserves for the next few months. I bought a bottle of Bacardi Silver, some sweetened lime juice, and a bottle of Southern Comfort. Why am I telling you that? Well, hang on for another paragraph and I'll tell you.

I got home being hot, sweaty, exhausted, and all worn out from a stressful day at work, so I decided to go outside around 7pm when it starts to cool off a bit and enjoy the weather. Of course, I had to get my drink on, find something to read, and needed something to do while reading (I often multi task).

Here's what I came up with:

• Recent GQ to for my reading pleasures (the cover may be questionable)
• iPod and headphones
• Cell phone and headset (not sure how I can always pull that off while listening to music, reading, and drinking)
• ....aaand
• A drink

Now, the real point of this story is that drink of mine. Bear with me another paragraph or so - you won't regret it. I promise. The recent GQ featured three drinks: Rum Fizz, Gin Fizz, and something that I can't remember right now. Last Friday, I went to Friday's (it's a sports bar) with some friends, right after starting to read GQ and finding those drinks. I wrote two of the recipes down and handed them to the bartender. I wanted something rum-based, but he didn't have the right ingredients for the Rum Fizz, so he made the Gin Fizz but with rum substituted for Gin. It was so-so to be honest because he used spiced, brown rum (Captain Morgan).

Today, I decided I'll try it again but make a few changes. Here's the recipe (make a pitcher of it - you won't regret it on a nice, warm summer evening!!):

• 1-2 shots of Bacardi Silver
• 1 shot of sweetened lime juice (from concentrate)
• some Diet Sprite

Combine the rum and the lime juice with about 4-5 ice cubes in a shaker and shake well. Pour into a large glass and add Diet Sprite until it tastes right. It is an ultra-delish drink and one of the best that I've had this year and it is easy and fast to make - even in great quantities if you have some guests to entertain. You can adjust its potency by adding more rum. I'd say a shot of rum and a shot of lime juice can easily be combined with half a can of Diet Sprite.

Cheers!!