(Another) House Tour

Surely you remember when I posted about moving to a new house... in MAY 2010? You remember seeing photos of the new place after we moved in?

No?

Well that's because today I realized I hadn't posted any. No house tour, no brief photos of a living room or a bathroom. Nada. And it's not because I didn't take any (is that a double negative?). I took pictures when we looked at the house the second time and then pics again after we moved in. I wanted to write a post on choosing paint for the interior when I realized that would be the first pics you would see.

This. Will. Not. Do.

I realize now looking at the pictures that there's a reason I didn't post them... they look like absolute hell.  Worst pictures I've ever taken in my life.  They give you no idea about how big the rooms are and I didn't even photograph two of the bedrooms.  Whatever.  At least I'll feel better that there on here and in my mind I'll be convinced you're not confused (however anyone who reads this blog is going to be confused, this I do realize).

We moved in May before the store opened and I went back to work full time in July (do you even know about the store? BLOGGER FAIL.) I mentioned before that the house is a 3 bed 2 bath built in 2009. It's a generic house in a generic subdivision, which makes me miss the bungalow. But rejoice! for two bathrooms and a master bathroom big enough the whole family fits inside.

You walk in the front door (and stand in the corner of the living room to get a pic of said front door):

And see this giant wall and vaulted ceilings that remind me of a barn. Our TV has to live on this wall:

Straight ahead from the front door is the door to the backyard and these windows (the only in the LR):

Just to the left of the back door is the dining room with little (and I mean little) bump out and single window:

And then our kitchen.  It has WAY more counter space and cabinets than the bungalow.  That is awesome.  Two thumbs up also for the open floor plan:

If you walk to the oven and look left, you see the door to the garage, the pantry on the right:

And the laundry room on the left.  I thought the laundry room was HUGE... until we got all our dirty clothes in there:

Walk back through the kitchen and dining room, into the living room and see the doorway to the right in the picture below?

It takes you to a hallway which has the doors to the two spare bedrooms, the master bedroom, and the hall bath:

I told you these pics were capital B-A-D.  The hall bath has it's own linen closet and lots of storage space:

In the next pic, you can see the doorjams for the two spare beds that I didn't photograph.  In my defense, they are hard to photograph and whatever.  Excuses.  So here's the master bedroom:

Two windows on the west wall (at least I think that's west...):

And the wall where the headboard goes:

On the headboard wall, is the door to our master bathroom which is the greatest ever.  Two sinks, lots of cabinet space, linen closet and TWO count em' TWO walk-in closets:

The toilet has a privacy wall, which Justin thinks is awesome (for whatever reason):

And here is a terrible picture of one of the walk-in closets:

Now I realize I don't have pictures of the front of the house.  I totally could take a pic now and say it's from last May though, because we've done nothing (other than have it re-seeded TWICE).  Maybe I'll do that today when I get home...

The house is now full of all our crap and few things have changed and I blame A) the wedding and B) my laziness and general decor indecision.  But here's something I can promise you: this spring & summer, I'm going decorating crazy.  I have so many ideas and plans and just need to DO IT.  My concern though is that every time I do start decorating, we decide to move.

I'm kinda hoping that doesn't happen.

But I DO love a good move and a new-to-us house.

Now that you've met the house, it's time to bust out the design ideas!  Any suggestions, or general ribbing of my craptastic pictures?  Let me have it!

The one where I tell you I'm trying to lose weight. Again.

I'm guessing that I didn't tell anyone I was starting Weight Watchers... again. 

This got sideways glances from my husband because he doesn't understand spending $40 a month for Weight Watchers when I could just go get a $10 gym membership (a membership he's used twice in almost two months, btw and his reasoning is totally messed up).  His sideways glances also probably stem from the number of times I've said, "Well, we're back on points."  The we're part of that sentence is laughable, seeing as how the man eats out every single day for lunch... but at least the dinner I'm making him is reasonable (even when he eats 2 1/2 servings of meatloaf).  I'm just jealous he's eating out every day... while I enjoy diet soup, or crackers, or leftovers, he's eating at our fave bbq joint, our fave sandwich shop, our fave chinese place...

But I digress.

I started Weight Watchers with the plan to lose weight before baby.  I went in to my first meeting with the mindset that I was going to toss the old plan out the window and learn all I could about this new plan (I guess I should also tell you they've updated the plan to calculate points on new science or something blah blah blah).  I was "doing" WW before they switched to new plan, and new plan pissed me off.  Suddenly, all the stuff (read: crap) I was eating was now more points than it was before.  Oh, but hooray (sarcasm) fruit is now free!!!  What?  This. Is. Not. Fair.

I quit.

But now I'm back.  I think tonight makes my 4th weigh-in, so I've done three weeks.  I lost quite a bit the first week because I starved myself two days before and wore the lightest clothing I own to the meeting (I'd also spent the week before starting shoving my face with every piece of junk in my roly-poly reach).  The next week (last week) I'd gained a little of it back but I knew why.  What I'd done the first week was not do-able.  What I'd done last week (and this week) is do-able.  Slow and steady weight loss.

Boooo.  I love when people say, "It took you awhile to gain the weight, it'll take awhile to get it off."  Um, no.  I gained this weight pretty flipping fast so I'd like it to go away after one week of fruit and veg only.  kthx.

At our second meeting (when I'd lost 4.4 lbs.) our leader asked, "What do you use your extra points for?"  I, sitting in the back, mumbled, "Beer." and the ladies around me started laughing.  Our leader asked what I'd said and I had to say out loud (in a church) that I used my extra points on beer.  Now this story gets even funnier the next day (another story for another time).  The truth in this is that I used my extra points on only one beer... and a Chicago dog... and fries.  It's basketball season people.  And I was in a bar owned by a Chicagoan.  I HAD TO.

MY POINT IS (several rambling paragraphs later) I'm on Weight Watchers.  I'll be posting what I lose here.  Accountability, yo.  Also, a stolen idea from Allison at VAMH.  I'm not really putting a number on what I'd like to lose... I'd just like to lose and be mindful of how I'm eating, I guess.

Here's where we stand:
Week 1 (first weigh in): 0
Week 2 (first week on plan): -4.4
Week 3: +2
Week 4: -1

Anyone else trying to starve themselves for the summer get healthy?

The Lost Life Posts: Cedar.

In July 2010 I decided to move over to Wordpress. I started a life blog and my-wedding-specific blog. By September 2010 I was already back on this bliggity-blog. Up until recently, I forgot about those blogs... and the posts that are on them. So I'll be posting The Lost Life Posts and The Lost Wedding Posts here until we are all settled up.
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From August 10, 2010


I love cedar (insert sarcasm here). The boy has had this cedar dresser for who knows how long. In our old house, I hid it in our closet... out of sight, out of mind. When I realized in this house it was going to be front and center, I knew something had to be done.

(There are drawers for the top spots. The boy just moves faster than my camera.)

The boy had been on a sand-and-stain-spree, re-finishing our entertainment stand and coffee table before moving into the new house. We'd already done the entertainment center once, staining it mahogany. It worked... but I wanted it darker. At the time I was feeling a white/cream/black scheme. We picked up Minwax Ebony stain and he got to work. I wasn't involved in these projects... hence no pictures. He was very specific about doing the work on his own.

That would NOT be the case on this dresser.

My distaste for cedar is due to its smell, mostly. My mom and sister are both allergic to cedar, so it was never permitted near our house. That smell was always bad. If you've ever sanded cedar, you know... it smells. Oh! And the dust from cedar is out of CONTROL. The dresser appeared to be an easy sand until we discovered the insane amount of lacquer or poly or WHATEVER on that bad boy. I knew it was super shiny, so I expected some trouble but this was insane. Lucky for me, the boy sands and I stain.

After sanding all sides, I used a 1 inch foam brush to go in the direction of the grain. The cedar practically drank the stain. I applied two coats, lightly stroked it (hellllloooo....) with a dry towel and applied one more coat before putting it in the sun to dry. When it was dry, I applied two more coats, let that dry, and followed with two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane. The original knobs were also cedar (nothx) so a trip to Wally World produced a 10 pack of silver knobs. While I was not happy with the price, it saved the trip to Lowes and the finish option was very clear to me... my options were white plastic, gold, white ceramic or silver. Hi-ho-silver!!!

I love the way the edges of the dresser didn't soak the stain in completely (or maybe I rubbed it off a little? No one knows...) because it gives just the right touch I need. I've mentioned before the boy likes clean, modern lines and NOT chippy paint and rough edges. I heart chippy paint and rough edges.

Just a few nights of sanding (garage time for the boy) and one day of staining and this bad boy was finished. I love love love it so much more than the cedar! What do you think?

The Lost Posts: Genius

In July 2010 I decided to move over to Wordpress. I started a life blog and my-wedding-specific blog. By September 2010 I was already back on this bliggity-blog. Up until recently, I forgot about those blogs... and the posts that are on them. So I'll be posting The Lost Life Posts and The Lost Wedding Posts here until we are all settled up.


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From July 21, 2010

Can I tell you how the Genius function in iTunes has changed my life? I don't have a ton of songs on my iPhone's iPod, but I do have music I love. I like to use the shuffle function and zip through Kings of Leon, John Mayer, Glee soundtrack, etc for an afternoon. But the Genius function.... ahhhhh. If you're not familiar with it, you select a song from your iPod, click/tap/push the Genius icon and it creates a playlist of songs that sound like/sound good with the seed song you selected.


Today, I chose 'You and Me' by Dave Matthews Band (its kind of my wedding theme song) as the seed and let Genius do it's magic. The playlist goes like this:

*You and Me, DMB

*Heartbreak Warfare, John Myaer

*You Are the Best Thing, Ray LaMontagne (seriously, if you don't know this song, go... go now and listen.)

*Hey Soul Sister, Train

*Walk Away, Ben Harper

*I'd Rather Be With You, Joshua Radin

*Wordplay, Jason Mraz

*Grace is Gone, DMB

*This Years Love, David Gray

*Who Says, John Mayer

*Cold Desert, Kings of Leon

*One Sweet Love, Sara Bareilles

*Falling Apart, Matt Nathanson

*Someday, Rob Thomas

*Don't You Evah, Spoon

*Right as Rain, Adele

*Somebody to Love, Glee Cast

*Half of My Heart, John Mayer w/ Taylor Swift

*Ragoo, Kings of Leon

*1000 Things, Jason Mraz

*Have a Little Faith in Me, John Hiatt

*Bottle It Up, Sara Bareilles

*Give Me the Meltdown, Rob Thomas

*Giving Up, Ingrid Michaelson

*Almost Honest, Josh Kelley

I love that among the love songs are a few KOL rock and roll numbers and to end this playlist with 'Almost Honest' by Josh Kelly? Shut the front door. I can't say it makes the day go faster when good music is involved, but I can say it makes it a little better.

And because I love you too much to let your day go on without hearing Ray, I give you this video courtesy of YouTube.

You're welcome. Now thank me in the comments (I kid) and share a song I should download and make a playlist of.

The Lost Posts: City Farmhouse

In July 2010 I decided to move over to Wordpress. I started a life blog and my-wedding-specific blog. By September 2010 I was already back on this bliggity-blog. Up until recently, I forgot about those blogs... and the posts that are on them. So I'll be posting The Lost Life Posts and The Lost Wedding Posts here until we are all settled up.


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From July 20, 2010



While working VERY hard (hi mom!) I accidentally tripped and hit the computer... what popped up but the Pottery Barn website! I knew PB had to have new items on its site, as I have a stack of new catalogs sitting at the house waiting to be read (remember, I'm working). I always head straight to the Design Tips section on the website for special videos on new items, designer commentaries, etc. and what do I see, scrolling down the screen?


A new interactive Design Your Own Bed feature.

SHUTTHEFRONTDOORILOVEINTERACTIVESTUFF.

You select wall color from Benjamin Moore's PB line and then go crazy with duvet, sheets, quilt, and shams. Once you're done with your selections, you choose the size and confirm all items go straight to your shopping cart in the color/size selected. Sweet!

I based this set off the fact that I already have the Cranberry quilt (awesome eBay purchase from a few years back) and the Sophia duvet reminds me of a set of sheets my grandma had when I was a kid which makes me luuuuve it.

I want navy blue walls somewhere in my house so why not mock up a bedroom with the blue? I went neutral with the bedding because honestly, blue and I have a so-so relationship, so it probably wouldn't last long.

I miss my chocolate bedroom walls from the old house so much. They worked so well with red bedding... The Vintage Floral quilt with ruffle edge is another PB favorite.

I could go on and on with different options. If I was a math minded person, I'd totally figure out just how many options there are... but I'm not math minded...and that would take away from creating more bedrooms!

How many stripes are too many stripes?

I love pattern.  I love pattern so much I'm afraid to use pattern because I want to use them all.  Seriously... our house is devoid of pattern in EVERY room (except that ugly master bath shower curtain) because I'm SCARED.

What a weenie I am.

Mixing pattern is where it's at, and I know that.  But right now my obsession with pattern is centering on one thing and one thing only...

STRIPES.

I want striped drapes, striped shower curtains, striped rugs, striped bed spreads, striped dressers, striped walls.  And because I know all these things can't be striped (I mean they could, but come on) I'm having a hard time deciding on where to put the stripes.  Here's some inspo that's been saved to my computer and saved to my brain heart for some time now.

Shades of Light rug

Shades of Light rug

West Elm duvet (killing it. seriously NEED)

West Elm Shower Curtain (again... love!)

Brynn Alexandra painted table

Country Living

Source Unknown (bad blogger!)

Nester's Window Mis-Treatments (brilliant)

YHL's striped bath at old house

Yellow Cape Cod's drapes

I could go on with stripe inspo but I'm not at home with my database of stolen borrowed pics to keep this stripe-happy train going.  I'm wondering if limiting myself to one major stripe per room is too much.  Maybe it would provide some continuity in my self-diagnosed Design ADD?  Like striped drapes in the living room/dining room, striped rug in the office, striped shower curtain in hall bath, striped duvet in master bed, and another striped rug in the master bath?

Too much?

Or not enough?

(Okay the answer is probably too much.  But asking a question at the end of your post gets people to comment.  Maybe asking two questions gets double comments? So COMMENT.)

Considering this.

After watching the first episode of the new Celebrity Apprentice, I'm considering changing my blog name to:

'Bologna & Dirt'

or

'Sperm Farmers'

Vote for your fave in the comments.

Unpublished Draft: 5 1/2 months

Going through my posts, I realized I had a lot of drafts, mostly unfinished, but a few that were complete and I just didn't press 'Publish' on for whatever reason.  I'm going to start publishing these posts for fun.

Since my plans this weekend involve photographing a lot of wedding stuff so I can *finally* detail the event of the century (keep the laughs to yourself...) I thought publishing this post from July 2010 would be semi-appropriate.  It's funny to me now to see what I was thinking just 5 months from the wedding. 

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My Knot checklist states I have 152 things to do for the wedding... 30 of which are 'past due'. This checklist started back 8 months ago and since then I've completed only 37 items. Some of those things were easy to mark complete, like 'Hire a calligrapher'. I'm not getting a calligrapher so hooray! I've accomplished something.

My mom will tell you I'm a list maker to a fault. I can't help myself. I enjoy the rush of marking something off the list. Done. Finished. Complete. So I'm not complaining about the list by any means. I'm worried about the 152 items that need to be done in 5 1/2 months. To make myself feel better, let's discuss what I HAVE done.

* Let friends and family know you're engaged - I changed my facebook status to 'engaged to...' in November. Complete!

* Choose a wedding date - In November, I ran through the months to select a date. I wanted a spring or fall wedding but spring 2010 was too early. June, July, and August are not only hot sweaty months (who wants to sweat on their wedding day?) but the boy's softball season is in full force. September is the month my cousin got married so it's out. October 2010 is when my Aunt is getting married. I don't like the month of November so it's out. December, January, February, March (now 2011) are cold. This led me to April 2011. I mentioned this to my grandma and she said, "Why so far away? You're grandma might not make it that long." I laughed. She laughed. So I backed it up to December and my lucky number. Ta-da! Complete!
* Hire a ceremony officiant - Easy. J has said since we got serious that when we get married, his softball friend "Pastor DJ" would do the ceremony. J asked, he said yes! Complete!

* Find a ceremony/reception venue - We viewed two locations, a hotel and the firehouse. The hotel was going to be almost $6000 (!!!!!) for the space, appetizers for dinner and limited bar. Insane. I also felt the hotel limited how I could decorate... I'm rustic/vintage/whatever and it was going to feel cheap because I knew I couldn't decorate the way it would need and it wouldn't feel like ME. (Or us. Do I have to say 'us' or do we all understand 'he' doesn't really care?) We saw the firehouse and booked it the next day. It's everything I wanted if I was going to have an indoor December wedding. Complete!

* Select and inform your bridal party - Easy. I don't think a step could have been any easier for us BOTH. We each had 5 people that we couldn't imagine the day without (besides family, natch). We asked, they said yes. Complete!

There are other things marked as complete (florist, bridesmaid dresses, calligrapher) and probably a few more I'm just a couple of minutes of decision-making away from checking off (save-the-dates, order dress, confirm caterer, finish wedding guest list). Some girls at 163 days to go are just getting started and I'm 37 items in. Not so bad, I guess!