Finally posting photos from our big snowstorm on Super Bowl weekend…
The beginning of the storm. On our way to a friends’ house to watch the game.
Loved watching the snow come down Sunday night.
The pristine newness right after a snowfall is the best. Hardly anyone was out walking around and I loved being alone with all of it.
And the kids (and Sam) enjoyed it, too.
1) The week my husband went out of town, it snowed. And snowed. I shoveled three times and I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed it. Don’t even try to “just you wait” me. I get that six weeks from now when it’s below 10 out and there’s a driveway piled two feet deep of dirty, heavy snow, I will hate it. Might hate it. But I don’t hate it yet. Nah-na-na-boo-boo.
2) You know you’re getting old when your three-year-old beats you at a matching game (aka memory game) and you were actually trying to win (we’re competitive up in this house).
3) Is it just me, or do the freaking Christmas lights never fit back in the box? Mine always end up looking like this (and that’s one of the better ones). Why don’t I just do away with the boxes all together, you ask? Couldn’t tell you.
Speaking of Christmas lights… it’s the beginning of February, people. The baby Jesus wants to go home. Shut ‘er down.
4) Checked out the Detroit Auto Show with some friends. I haven’t been to a car show since junior high, when my Uncle used to take me. I love anything shiny and sparkly, so I enjoyed the whole showy-ness of the whole thing.
The driverless Mercedes car was very cool and they’re supposed to be ultra-safe (I heard an NPR segment), but….not sure I’d be able to fully relax. The concept does seem rather nice, though, no?
5) Our sweet, sweet boy Sammy turned nine this month. How can you not love this face?
6) When ordering pizza in Grosse Pointe, make sure to ask if they use fresh mushrooms or canned ones. Who even uses those? I don’t think I saw a canned mushroom my entire time in San Francisco. I’d actually forgotten about their existence until I lifted the lid on my pizza box. I’m not sure which word best describes my reaction. Disgust. Horror. Shame. Ick.
7) I took a knife skills class at Cornwall Bakery, a new spot in Grosse Pointe Park. I was the only person who came solo, so I felt out of place at the get-go.
It was their first-ever class, so they still have kinks to work out (like timing. I had to leave before the fajitas were done), but the instructor was super nice and I did learn how to hold a knife properly (although my wrist! And my long, creepy fingers. Gah). I wish I’d learned more about knives and the actual act of cutting vs. how to julienne a carrot properly, for example, but I’m glad I went.
8) AND! Oh my gosh I am just remembering because of this photo. One of the girls brought a bottle of wine and only shared it among her little group (there were eight of us in the class, five in her group). When that went down I was tsk-ing inside my head. San Franciscans do not roll like that. You bring wine, you bring wine for everybody, capiche?
9) I love how the lake changes every day in winter. I’ll see beautiful shards of ice sticking out of the lake one day, and the next day they’re gone. Such a contradiction to the other parts of nature. While everything else is quiet and bare, the lake is very much alive. Pretty cool.
10) I love a fireplace. In San Francisco we had a faux fireplace (it had been covered up, but the facade was still there). We kept talking about opening it up and bringing it to life again, but it never happened.
I love coming downstairs in the morning (okay, not really, because my brain is in a fog of sleepiness and one or both of the kids are trying to tell me something and the dog wants to eat and I have to figure out what to pack for lunch…but I digress)…and turning on the fireplace and keeping the kitchen lights dim while I make my espresso. It’s all very picturesque. Until the girls start fighting over who gets the turtle plate. Wah-wah.
11) Since I haven’t been able to find a restaurant here to satisfy my Thai cravings, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. Literally. My sorority sis recommended this book, which I bought a couple weeks ago. I’ve always been intimidated by Thai cooking (the ingredients!), but desperate times call for desperate measures. Now where in the world am I going to find birds eye chilies?
12) I popped into Josef’s bakery the other day for a dry cappuchino and almond croissant (which they were out of. Had a chocolate-almond croissant instead. Not a good substitute). I started chatting it up with two older ladies (long story. someone dropped a spoon). They both thought I was 20-ish. Twen. Tee. I suppose that’s one good thing about being the only Asian in town?
I’m loving winter. It’s been a mild one so far, with some very cold days and a few inches of snow, but no extremes. My husband and I were just saying yesterday how we wished the Northeast blizzard were here instead of there.
The winter sunrise is gorgeous. The last few weeks the sun has been coming up around 8 o’clock and we can see it from our street. It’s so beautiful reflecting on the snow and the wet concrete. Golden, pink, orange. Soooo pretty and of course photos aren’t nearly as good as the real thing.
I love watching the snow fall. And the way everything looks before snowplows or footprints ruin its newness.
Snow and wintry skies add mystery and intrigue to buildings.
And the lake is constantly changing.
Ask me again in March, whether I’m sick of the cold yet. I do hate that I can’t run as often (sure, there are folks who do, but I don’t gear up unless it’s warmer than 29 degrees). But I’m trying hard to enjoy what’s in front of me at this moment. Right now. So often I’ve not lived in the moment with heavy regrets later on. So I embrace you, winter. All of your harshness and vulnerability. I see you. And you are beautiful.
1) Teepees make me want to be a kid again (the girls got one for Christmas from my mom).
2) School pick-up line in this order: Ford, Pontiac, Yukon, Jeep, Dodge, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Land Rover, Yukon, Ford and….Honda CRV (me).
3) Went to the new Corktown restaurant Gold Cash Gold (they kept the name of the pawnshop that used to occupy the space) during its debut week. The frites (with pickle mayo) were to die for and my grilled cheese sandwich was scrumptious. Another win for Detroit.
4) You know you did not spend last winter in Grosse Pointe when you are praying to God every night to please make it snow (alas, no white Christmas for us).
5) I’m not sure what possessed me to try the sushi at both Trader Joe’s and Kroger (grocery store kinda like a Safeway). I don’t need to tell you that all but one bite of each ended up in the trash bin.
6) I opened my new H&M catalog and could not believe my eyes when I read the words “Mom jeans.” Ladies, raise your hands if you want to look like you have a droopy butt and huge thighs.
7) Michigan, you are killing me with the tailgating. The latest: school bus (full of kids) honking at me and trying to pass me on the shoulder in a 25-mile zone. Craziness.
8) We had carolers! Two gals from Grosse Pointe North who were not only so sweet, but also really good singers. Love, love, love. Not once did we get carolers in San Francisco.
9) Winter makes me want to stay inside all day with a hot bowl of chili with loads of cheese and sour cream on top. And wine. And cookies. And Baileys on the rocks. Mmmmm.
10) Hot flashes are no joke. I don’t know if it’s the medication I’m taking (side effect is hot flashes, go figure) or my age (nooooo), but whoa. I usually run cold, so it’s very weird for me, this sensation of feeling overheated. It actually works in my favor, now that it’s winter, but I’m worried how well I’ll fare come summer.
11) Speaking of summer, maybe I should not be eating that sour cream or those cookies or drinking that Baileys on the rocks. Curses.
12) A visit to Benjamin Moore always lifts my spirits (I mean, how can you not smile when you walk into a shop and see these guys). I stopped by with a few holiday treats and to say thanks for all their help over the last several months. Until next time!
1) This tree off of Lakeshore Drive is one of the last remaining (pear? cherry?) trees that were planted when the French first settled in Grosse Pointe. I know this because Alan Marschke, owner of the Oriental Rug Gallery told me so. I had to cut his story short to pick up the kids from school (he told me what kind of tree as I was dashing out, but I forgot), but trust me, I am going back to see him soon and will report back.
2) I called the Grosse Pointe Historical Society to see if they knew anything about the tree. They seemed genuinely thrilled to help me find out more about it and they will get back to me in a couple weeks. She may also be able to dig up some historical information/photos for me about the street we live on – sweet!
3) Squirrels = creepy. I’ve said it before and now it’s official. (And next year I will be throwing the pumpkins away much, much earlier.)
4) 14 degrees is cold. It is even colder when it happens in early November and you don’t have snow boots or a parka or even wool socks because you weren’t expecting it to be 14 freaking degrees. For a whole week.
5) Winter clothes are expensive. Dang.
6) Once you do have the right winter gear, it’s kind of fun to play outside in the snow. For about five minutes.
7) Bunny tracks in the snow are really, really cute.
8) It was not fun, not fun at all, having the stomach flu go through our household. The only good thing about that week was capturing this moment where the little one was so exhausted that she crawled into bed on her own one afternoon and promptly fell asleep.
9) A police car pulled into my driveway one morning. Concerned, I went outside to meet him. He was there to deliver my wallet, which I’d left at the Farms Market (aka Fresh Farms Market, a local grocery store). Now that, would never have happened in San Francisco. Score one for Grosse Pointe.
10) I went to my first professional hockey game at the Joe Lewis arena in Detroit. We scored, we fist-fought, we won. Gooooo Red Wings (I actually quite enjoy hockey and had a great time).
11) Small town Christmas parades are awesome (even when its 27 degrees out and your toes freeze because you still don’t have wool socks). It’s one of the reasons why we came here. Not for the parade, of course. But for the small town community thing. I love it.
12) The newness of everything is starting to wear off, which scares me. What happens now, after I’m done unpacking and remodeling and settling in? Luckily, Christmas is just around the corner, and with two little girls in the house and family coming to visit, there’s lots to do to prepare. Wishing everyone a very happy December!
John Mozena in the showroom at Mutschler Kitchens.
I first heard of Mutschler Kitchens during our house hunt. The sales blurb about one particular home included a “beautiful Mutschler kitchen!” or some such. The photos showed a dark brown kitchen that was dated and very much not to my liking. I didn’t know what a Mutschler Kitchen was, and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to see one again.
After we purchased our home and started putting feelers out for kitchen builders, the name Mutschler kept coming up. Even though the word, “expensive” was usually spoken after “they’re the best,” the praises were hard to ignore and after perusing their website, (online presence here is SO different from San Francisco, where even the tiniest company has a website. Some businesses don’t exist anywhere online here – inconceivable) I decided to give them a call and was put through to John Mozena.
I had a pretty good idea about what happens during a remodel and a ballpark idea about financial commitment, but I knew nothing about how to get to that point – the process, the planning, the length of a project from start to finish, etc. John gave me an overview of the process and answered all my questions.
I also learned that most specialty kitchen designers/construction companies only use certain cabinet brands. Mutschler happens to deal with the high-end Woodmode and Brookhaven (custom and semi-custom), made-in-the-USA cabinet lines.
Image on Mutschler Kitchen website featuring WoodMode cabinetry
At the end of the call, John said I was welcome to stop by their showroom on the Hill (main shopping district in Grosse Pointe Farms) to look at cabinets and grab a few brochures (which I did do shortly afterwards).
During the quote process, I stopped by the office again to view the proposed designs (plans can’t leave the building without a signed contract). At the meeting, I was shown the scheduling board. It was a calendar of sorts, with each project assigned to a different color (I think) and labeled with the client’s last name. The entire project was mapped out from beginning to end, showing everything from inspections to deliveries to which vendor would be doing what on which days. Swoon.
Mutchler Kitchen and The Blake Company offices (just beyond the purple flowers) on the Hill.
Ultimately, we chose Mutschler because of their reputation, experience, their promise to get the job done for the dollar amount agreed upon and yes, because of that OCD to-the-day scheduling board. When I ask John what sets the company apart from others, he echos the same – they have good designers, they can get jobs done faster (than other builders) without sacrificing quality, their level of detail and their honesty (in regards to pricing).
John’s parents started Mutschler Kitchens in 1954. Back then, Mutschler was a brand of cabinets made in Indiana. At that time, he says, cabinets were usually done by carpenters. The kitchen wall served as the back of the cabinet, you put some boards up and you’re done. Grosse Pointe in the ’50s was the perfect place to introduce a high-end line of custom cabinets, and the company thrived.
Image credit: Flickr
In 1969, John started working there in the summers. It was the path of least resistance, he says, and adds that he’s never had a job interview (imagine!). He did a little of this and a little of that – tear outs, odd jobs, office work, sales – and eventually learned the art of kitchen/bath design through a woman at the office who became a mentor to him.
John sold the business to The Blake Company (who kept the Mutschler name for obvious reasons) in 2001 and continued working there as a sales rep and designer. Today, the company does roughly 50-60 remodels per year (mostly kitchens and bathrooms, but also house additions and corporate projects), and works on five to six projects at any given time.
I asked him about strange requests or unexpected construction stories and he told me about a client who requested a whelping box in the kitchen and a guy who stuck his bowling ball in the oven to warm it up (um, okay) and accidentally set it to broil instead of bake. He said most construction surprises are the result of poor construction or shoddy work (cutting corners and what not).
John and Chris Blake, owner, in the 2010 Designer Show House (it’s a thing. I’ll tell you about it sometime). Image credit: The Detroit News
When I got to the question of trends, John says that Grosse Pointe is kind of in a time warp. Meaning, it has remained a very traditional, classic community (in terms of design) and hasn’t ebbed and flowed with design trends.
People here prefer white kitchens….wait, really?, I say. What about all that dark stuff I saw when looking at houses? Well,according to John, their clients do prefer the white kitchen (guilty as charged). What about opening kitchens up to other rooms, like what we’re doing? Some people are starting to give up formal dining rooms in order to have one big room, but he wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a trend.
We’re halfway into the project and so far, working with Mutschler Kitchens has been worth every penny. Not just because of the job they’re doing (at this point, I honestly wouldn’t know. Thank goodness for husbands who do), but also (and mostly?) because I don’t have to stress out about any of the technical stuff.
Which means I have more time to ponder other matters such as what color to paint the family room (oh my gosh you guys) or the first meal I’m going to cook in my new kitchen. Things are really starting to take shape and we’re super looking forward to the home stretch!
Pointes of View 