These are a Few of My Favorite Things…

It’s been a whole year since my 1st Annual Favorite Things Post! Can you even freaking believe how time flies? Can you even freaking believe I remembered to write a 2nd Annual Favorite Things Post?? I know. Me either. Yet, here it is…

Oprah has not called me to compare favorite things (No worries, Opes. I know you’re busy.) and no one is begging me to feature their products on my fantastically (not really) popular blog, but who freaking cares? I’ve started a tradition, and dammit, Ima keep it going! Here are my favorites for 2014, all of which kick schnitzel with noodles’ ass (whatever that is)…

Favorite Thing #1

This Sewing Machine

The Singer 160 Limited Edition sewing machine is freaking gorgeous. Even if you don’t sew, you have to appreciate how pretty this machine is. I almost feel bad showing it to you (I know you will almost surely want one of your own) because it’s been discontinued (that’s what limited edition means…), but it is one of my favorite things, so hem’s the breaks. Sew sad… (haha see what I did there?)

Favorite Thing #2

Porter Cable Compressor Combo Kit

Installing trim sucks, but nail guns are fun! As soon as you get over the fear of nailing your fingers to a wall, or putting your eye out with a flying brad…

Not to be confused with…

Sexy, not flying Brad, who will not hurt your eyes. Like, at all.

Favorite Thing #3

The Walking Dead

(OMG! Can you believe the mid season finale!? I didn’t see that coming at all. When Daryl cries, I cry…) If you don’t watch this show, then you are missing out! Don’t tell me you don’t like zombies. It’s not really about the zombies. It’s about what to do if when the zombies show up. You don’t want to be unprepared for that inevitability…

Favorite Thing #4

Chris Hardwick

Chris is my new celebrity crush. He’s the perfect ratio of hot to nerd. (In case you’re wondering, that’s 3:2.) Don’t know who he is? This Rolling Stone interview with him will catch you up. Anyway, I’ve never met Chris, but I know deep in my soul that he and I would be awesome together. He’s smart, sexy, and witty. (Obviously, we have a ton in common.) We also share a mutual love of Star Wars which would overshadow any incompatibility issues we may encounter. Relationships based on Star Wars always endure. True story.

Favorite Thing #5

Chef

This was my favorite movie of 2014. You might think you need to love cooking in order to appreciate a movie called Chef, but I don’t even have a kitchen, let alone cook, so that’s just nonsense. Jon Favreau wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Chef and he was brilliant. Previously, I had mostly known Jon as Monica Geller’s millionaire boyfriend, Pete Becker, (who she might have married if not for his desire to conquer the physical world…) but after seeing this movie, I looked him up and he’s kind of a big deal. (He produced and directed Iron Man! Who knew?) See Chef on Netflix (one of last years favorite things) starting January 28th, 2015.

*Bonus! My not boyfriend (Who? Chris Hardwick! I just told you about him!) recorded an awesome chat with Jon Favreau for his Nerdist Podcast. Listen here.

Favorite Thing #6

Artwork by Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde

One of my all time favorite sitcoms is Friends. I’ve seen every episode so many times, I talk about the gang as if they’re real people that I know (as demonstrated in Favorite Thing #5), so when I stumbled across this image online, I knew I had to have it! I tracked down the artist to his Etsy shop. If you’re a TV addict like me, then you will love this guy’s work. He draws the floor plans from your favorite shows by watching dozens of episodes to gather clues as to what goes where. This was the first piece of art that I’ve ever commissioned and I am beyond thrilled at how it turned out. (The image above is not my actual piece. I haven’t framed mine yet and I don’t want to be taking it out of the box unnecessarily. I will show it to you in a future post for sure. It came out awesome!)

Favorite Thing #7

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I took a vacation this year. God knows I needed it. And hell, I deserved it too! I’ve been slaving away (okay, maybe more like working at a moderately lazy pace, but still working…) at my crappy house for over 3 years, so I decided that I would trade in a week of this bitter cold New York November for… a bitter cold Florida one. Seriously. It was like 40 degrees down there. I had to wear my winter coat! But no matter. I went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios to geek out and geek out I did. Without getting into the particulars of this amazing park (there are particulars all over the web), Universal spared no expense in bringing the books and movies to life. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, you simply must go! (I wrote that last part in my best British accent.)

Favorite Thing #8

These Pajamas

On the flight home from Florida, I passed some time perusing SkyMall. Always entertaining, but I had never ordered anything from them. Until now! How awesome are these pajamas?? Modeled by the invisible woman, (Like I would ever put a picture of myself in Batgirl pajamas on the internet…) they’re actually really well made. And they make me look like I have boobs. And ripped abs. What’s not to like?

Favorite Thing #9

Dial Complete Foaming Hand Wash

And speaking of germy airplanes… Usually I’m all for things that make life easier, but, as lazy as I am, I resisted self-foaming hand wash for a long time. I can foam my own damned soap! I’d say. But, the truth is, that squirt of regular hand soap usually slides off of my wet hands and down the drain before I can commence with the foaming, so I finally caved. This one is my favorite because the bottle looks OK in my bathroom. And it also works well too, so there’s that.

Favorite Thing #10

Egor

OK, so yeah. Egor was on last year’s list. But he’s going to be on every year’s list, so you might as well just get used to that. If you have a cat, then you know. And if you don’t have a cat, you really should get one. And then you’ll know. (Unless you’re allergic. Then you should not get one. But then you won’t know. Sucks for you…)

I’m hoping 2015 will be a big year at my crappy house. I have a lot of projects planned and, finances permitting, some of them will be big. Maybe not kitchen big, but definitely floor big. You don’t want to miss any of that, so do us both a favor and subscribe below to be notified when I post something new. (Which is not terribly often, so it’s not like I’ll be junking up your inbox or anything…)

May all of our lives be a little less crappy in 2015.

Happy New Year!

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16 Comments

  • LaFawne

    Love the FRIENDS floorplan! But the closet with the question mark? That was Monica’s secret
    junky, messed up closet! Remember that episode? One of the best. I can (and do) watch reruns several times a week

    Love your kitty too! Looking forward to many more cool posts in the coming year-

    Have a great day!
    LaFawne

    • My Crappy House

      Isn’t it fantastic? I totally remember that episode! And the artist does as well. This was his reply on a message board to someone who brought up that exact issue: “I saw that episode and I know perfectly well what was in that room. It was very ugly to draw something messy like a dump, the effect not was good. I opted to put a “?” that represented the mystery, the interrogation of that episode.” So it was artistic license

      You sound like a fan. Take this quiz. I got ONE wrong…

      Happy New Year

  • Susan

    Being a “Friend’s Lover” and quoting every line was one of the first things we found out that we had in common, Miss V. The recliners at J&C’s are the only thing “off” in his pic – – but who am I to correct an artist and his vision. Happy New Year to you. Oh, I love the snow in this post. See, we do pay attention to the things you do.

    • My Crappy House

      Yeah, the chairs were more directly in front of the tv for the episodes that featured them, but I think they were off to the side in others. There was also a closet in Rachel’s room at one point because she was cleaning it out the day she moved, but it was gone in others. There are a lot of inconsistencies in the show. This artist chooses the best / most common layouts for his plans. Wait until you see it in person!

  • Susan

    Oh, and I have to ask about your friend LaFawne. I see her posts and keep wondering – – Did she ever work at Kurt Weiss/Angel Plants in Dix Hills?

    • My Crappy House

      I actually don’t know who LaFawne is in real life. I think I’ve reached the point where there are more people reading my blog that I don’t know than those I do. Success!

  • Le

    That pajama rocks!

    I can’t watch Zombies. I’m too scared. But it doesn’t really matter. If a zombie apocalypse occurs, I’ll just die. Staying alive is too much work.

    • My Crappy House

      I promise to keep you alive as long as I possibly can, then put down your “casing” when you turn.

  • julieanne

    Dear ‘Crap’
    U make me laugh!!
    CHEF was great movie…. but I know u would appreciate BAD WORDS…
    Do u have a Southeastern Salvage close by? Great:
    rugs, reno supplies, tile, furniture. Ya would ewwww and ahhh in this store and save a lotta $$$$.
    Happy New Year!!

    • My Crappy House

      OMG I forgot about Bad Words! I remember the previews being hilarious, but I still haven’t seen it! I love Jason Bateman

      I don’t have a Southeastern Salvage. Stupid northeast!

      Happy New Year!

  • Terhi

    I also loooooove Friends, I have all seasons on dvd. I took the quiz, got 62/75 right (I’m terrible with names), but what really cracked me up was the question “Why is Ross suspended from his job at the museum?” to which I just wrote “sandwich” and it approved my answer. Maybe I need to watch the whole series again, it’s been a couple of years. I also love the Walking Dead. Awesome show. Happy new year, I can’t wait to see what projects you do this year. Belly rubs for Egor from me!

    • My Crappy House

      Haha I think I wrote “rage” to that question and it accepted that as well. I actually don’t have the series on DVD. Though I practically know them all by heart, I also know that broadcast TV has been editing them over time and a lot of bits are missing – to squeeze in more commercials, I’m sure. Luckily, NETFLIX (man, do I love Netflix) has just acquired the entire series as of January 1st. I’m psyched to watch them all again in their unedited glory!

      Egor thanks you for the belly rubs. Happy New Year!

  • Jengland

    Love #10-I am kitty free right now but am sure one will adopt me again:) I too am a TWD fan and actually dream up episodes while sleeping when its between seasons. None of the regular charactors are in my dreams but I never get bitten and I am always skinny and can run!

    • My Crappy House

      lol running is key! Zombies are slow! I hope a kitty adopts you soon. Life is more fun with fur babies

  • Marissa Melton

    Hello, fellow solo female house fixer-upper (I meant we’re female, not the houses, although who could say?) who also owns a fig tree that drives her nuts because she doesn’t eat figs . . . and by the way, the cold winter is giving our trees hell. That is what’s happening to your tree. After a mild winter, it will be as fertile as the Duggar family.

    I’m reading through your blog now. Partly for courage. Partly for inspiration. Partly because it’s super-fun and totally beats getting my work done. But I am moved to contact this because I wondered if you’ve realize yet that your boy Jon Favreau often teams up to produce films with Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story? (This fact might mean nothing to another person, but I’ve seen your Christmas lamp.) You can catch him doing cameos in a lot of Jon Favreau films. He’s quite handsome!

    • My Crappy House

      Hey there! We’re like twins!

      I actually recently went down the rabbit hole of internet sidebar articles and came across a “Where are they now” for A Christmas Story, so I actually did know that. I was glad to see Ralphie found success. (And did not shoot his eye out…)

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