Party People

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that I love to plan, re-plan and look forward to parties. Now that it’s over, I have that wonderful post party let down. Please understand that I think the party was a great success. I loved seeing everyone and hanging out in my house without having to do paint anything, strip anything or feel guilty about not doing the previously mentioned. Anyway, due to the ppld (post-party let-down) this e-mail may have a more serious slant to it than previous ones. Now that I’ve taken care of the disclaimer insisted upon by my legal firm, we can continue with a report of the party.

The first thing I want to say is a HUGE thank you to everyone who came by. It meant a great deal to me that you took time to come out. Those of you who had other plans, such as being in another state or iced in, I appreciate the good thoughts, phone calls and awesome gifts that you sent. I am blown away by all of the wonderful gifts that I received; gallons of paint, living room blinds, air conditioning filters and more. Granted they were in the form of small pieces of re-loadable plastic, but hey, that’s a lot easier to fit in an envelope!

The party started early, which was fine by me, as we rushed around doing all of those last minute things. Dav and Jon took the time to install a new mailbox for me, one that hopefully won’t leak massive amounts of water. After proclaiming my clearance find mailbox box cheap looking, (granted it was, so can’t fault him there) Dav and Jon set off to find an new one. While they were gone, I mowed my lawn for the second time since I’ve owned my house. (I bought it in August.) Now, in case you were thinking that my lawn was a horrible over-grown jungle, it wasn’t, that’s just how poor the “lawn” I have is. Granted, since I have so much time to take care of it, insert deep guffaw here, I don’t really mind having a horrible lawn. Thanks Cans for the use of your lawn mower by the way. One of these days I’m going to get mine to my house and fixed, but it hasn’t been a huge priority, yet…

Just after 2, while Jon was on a diaper run, Dav installed my new knobs in the bathroom. I’ve gotten pretty used to using the sides and bottoms of the cabinets and drawers to open them, but I wanted it to look more finished for the party. The cabinets all have a very dark oil rubbed bronze plain knob that lends itself to the black accents, but I went all out with the drawers. Anthropologie, a cool clothing store, also happens to sell cabinet hardware. I know, who knew? Anyway, they have unique pieces that really make a statement. So when Mom and I were down in Houston last, we hit Highland Village and I picked out 2 light green clear acrylic oblong knobs. Confused yet by the description? Check out the link and then look at the pictures for clarity. or better yet, come visit! (http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?subCategoryId=&id=47089&catId=HOME-HARDWARE-KNOBS&pushId=HOME-HARDWARE-KNOBS&popId=HOME-HARDWARE&sortProperties=&navCount=35&navAction=middle&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=min&colorName=MINT&isSubcategory=&isProduct=true&isBigImage=&templateType=)

Once the knobs were on and my makeup was finally installed or wait is that the other way round, no matter, I was officially ready!

From there it was a whirlwind of coming and going, laughter and friends. The guestroom has been officially broken in, including the train set, the Fisher Price airport and all of the dollies. What I was most happy about is that everyone said they would come back and play again. It was one of those fun times that you just really enjoy while it’s happening and then are sad when you realize it’s all over.

I guess the only downer to the party was when I opened my electric bill. Yeah okay, if you’re going to visit, dress warm and feel free to grab a blanket out of the linen closet because heat is going to be a thing of GREAT luxury. With a $300 bill, it’s either go cold or go hungry and I’ve never been the type of person who “forgets to eat.” So, pull out the wool sweaters or just ask and I’ll be happy to get one for you!

The bill has reinforced the need to get onto the next big project, which is a new roof. However, in order to pay for the new roof, I have to file my taxes and get my new homeowner’s rebate back. I’m sure that’s going to be a blast and a half even with the help of Turbo Tax! So, if you hear screams of frustration coming from room 405 (need the internet access) just ignore them, it’s only me attempting math higher than 4^th grade and remember where in the world I put form ??????.

Have a great week and enjoy the pictures and postings!

The unknown perils of house remodeling

Okay, I know that everyone knows about the big well known perils of remodeling a house, the accidental slice of a skin, the slamming of a finger by a hammer, the falling off a ladder and breaking a nose, but today I would like to point out those things that no one mentions…

My face!! My skin to be more exact broke out in August with the purchase of the house and STILL is a great game of connect-the-dots! In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m washing my face daily and using clean products! The point of this rant is that I’ve never seen a Lowe’s workshop or a This Old House newsletter detailing how to ensure that you face doesn’t break out after installing your new insulation. (Which I heard President Obama said was sexy?!?) I guess the next question is, Does Bob Vila also have this problem or is it just me?

You know the other thing that Home Depot is missing? Heavy duty cream for dry skin! Between the primer, paint stripper, cleaning products and concrete, my skin is dry and cracking. OUCH! I have found several things that help, one of which was a free sample of Chapped Hand relief from Bath and Body Works, and no, I’m not getting any kickbacks, I just thought someone else might like to know…

Now, on a completely practical note, a friend of a family member has graciously agreed to look at my plans for my kitchen. Now, other than timeless, a lots of storage, I have yet to have super specific ideas. What I’m looking for are things that you wish you had or had done with your kitchen? Which storage do you never use, which do you use all the time? Are there any large tools that you can’t live without? Is there any wasted space that you have a great idea for? Any parts of your kitchen that do double duty for you and work wonderfully? PLEASE send me your ideas and thoughts.

Quiet Happenings

It’s officially been one week since I’ve been living in my own house. No fanfare, no big deal, I just quietly moved in right after Christmas. I truly appreciate all of the offers for help moving things, but I needed to do it quietly. I’m sure Freud would have a field day with that!

Last week Jes, Dav and Jes’ brother Just came over and helped me clean out my storage room and get it ready to turn back over. I am very grateful for the help in paying for it from Aunt Gail and Uncle Bubba, but it would be quite hard for my guests to sleep in storage a couple of miles away! After 3 pick-up loads and one full Tahoe, we achieved the following results.

The chairs were my great-grandparents on the Purvis side. They were the first furniture that they had in their house. The wall color is finally the shade I was going for. I had to go back and have the original shade tinted with black to make it grayer. The other shade was too baby blue for me. This seems to be a more washedout blue, suitable for a beach house. The exact direction I was headed in. I wanted someplace you could come in and kick your feet up and play a while!

The guest bed is my bed from childhood. It has a trundle for all of the sleepovers that I’m apparently going to be hosting. (Kar and VJ have big plans already!) The trim hasn’t been painted nor the real blinds hung, but it’s looking like a fun place anyway. The wall you can’t see has some Disney cartoon cells on it and the closet

is housing some pretty fun toys. Kad had a blast playing with the train and Little People airport and declared them still good after all these years! Speaking of the closet, I’ve had to find some odd places to store things until the living room is usable for furniture. In the middle of my guest room closet currently sits a TV. It’s not hooked up but it makes for an interesting conversation piece! (Picture of TV will have to wait. File is being a pain and won't load correctly.)

The office is also slowly starting to take shape. Mom and Ter very carefully took down all of my craft stuff and for those who know, that’s a HUGE task, transported it all over to my house and reassembled it in the same place. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and work on it, but I’m looking forward to some quality crafting time. The office also holds another guest bed for older guests. (Those who are married or prefer not to sleep in the local FAO Schwartz!) It’s actually a raised Aerobed borrowed from Les and M3. Thanks Guys!!! (If anyone has an extra one of those lying around, I’ll be glad to take it off your hands. I’m still planning a road trip to pick up the bags of concrete that were offered!)

Mom came over earlier in the week to help me set up a kitchen of sorts. It’s VERY basic, but it should let me make easy items and allow me to get some veggies in, instead of just fast food. Santa brought me a two burner hot plate and that combined with a microwave from teacher’s lounge should be beginning of a fabulous Food Network career!! My stove is currently sitting on top of my dryer and Grandma’s old plant stand table is my new dining table. We’re working on moving the washer and sink into the laundry room, in an effort to make it more productive. Now, some of you might be thinking why in the world would I be moving the sink out of my kitchen, but here’s my thoughts. We clean a bunch of stuff out in the sink, paint cans, brushes, rollers, chemicals etc. Often, other people, not me of course, splash these things all over while cleaning them out. I’d really prefer to not have these items splashing all over my food, plates, utensils etc. So, the sink is headed for the laundry room. Look for more pictures later this week. Have a great week!