Happy Halloween!

It may have been Alex's 4th Annual Ice SCREAM Spooktacular, but it was officially our first one in our new-to-us home at 26 East!

In years past we've had a decent turn out of party animals.  Last year, if I recall correctly, we had about 8 kids and that was mass chaos on its own.  This year, just under 6 hours ago to be exact, we had 23 adorable little monsters in our home, and surprisingly, it went very smoothly!

Almost everyone in her class (not all pictured) showed up and we welcomed all their siblings too and after a delicious dinner of ice cream sundaes with Halloween fixen's --- bat brains, werewolf hearts, skeletal bones--- we hit the streets for some trick or treating, ambushing anyone who dared to answer their door. 

All in all we had a blast! Such a great time!  Trick or treating as a group definitely beats a solo effort, and much to our surprise, the house wasn't in terrible order after everyone left!

A little breakdown of the festivities to follow and a Happy Halloween to you all!

What's not to love about this tradition!?  Costumes. Candy. Chaos.  We love Halloween!   

Spooktacular

The Pumpkins are carved!

Around here, we just can't get enough of Halloween!  We've been slacking on the blog the last few weeks, still have lots of great projects to update everyone on, but for now, a little break in the action to celebrate our favorite time of year.

We carved our Girl's Team and Boy pumpkins last night and Alex submitted the design, but was less interested in the actual carving, and more interested in making "witch stew" with all the goo.  Either way, they turned out pretty cool and you can't tell from the pic, but the one on the right has a saw through its head.  :)

The fall in this part of town is incredible!  There are so many awesome trees and the leaves are falling all over the place.  With Alex's Halloween party on Sunday, followed by trick or treating, and the still-warmish weather, we can't wait to hit the streets and celebrate our very first Halloween here!

Here's wishing everyone a spooktacular weekend!

We Don't Wanna Brag....

....but this panda bear just won "Cutest Costume" at her school Halloween party!

And we can't help but agree. :)

Cheers!!!

“Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy.”  
          -Benjamin Franklin

Wise words from a wise man.  There is an ever wiser wo(man) however, my fiancée Kelly.  When we watched a “Renovation Realities” one evening where a young couple, such as ourselves,  installed a beer tap in their kitchen she said to me “we should do that!”  I stared deep into her eyes for a moment, kissed her passionately, then let her fall to the floor like John Belushi dropped Carrie Fisher in The Blues Brothers and started sketching up the blueprints for this…

BAM!!!

We’ve known for a long while there was an old chimney hiding behind some drywall in our kitchen, we just never knew what to do with it.  When Kelly had the beer tap-iphany, we knew the chimney’s destiny at once. 

BEGONE DRYWALL!!!

  (I wanted to start small and maybe have the chimney only PARTLY-exposed.  My "irregular" cutout with the router just wasn't right though.  In the end Kelly was right...it was all or nothing!)

Just as the brick smokestack of Boulevard Brewing Company has for years been a symbol of local brewing at its finest, so our little chimney would as well.  Cheers to you brick masons of 1912!

In a matter of days I found a fridge, CO2 tank, keg coupler, and beer faucet (yes...this is really what they’re called) on the cheap…where else, but on Craigslist.  I picked it up and somehow conned a friend into helping me hoist it down the stairs.  Cheers to you Travis M! 

(Andre pictured admiring my test-pouring setup downstairs...sorry we didn't get any muscle shots Travis)

(the gear...brand new CO2 tank and regulator...thanks again Craigslist!)

After one stop at Habitat Restore and another at our local Grainger, I picked up enough PVC fittings and a small, electric blower to put together a cold air-chilled beer line from our basement to the tap upstairs.

(you can see the back of the fridge in the bottom left)

(thank you Dad for handing down the fabrication skills!)

After one more stop at BedBath&Beyond (shudder) I found the perfectly sized tap tower mounting surface in the form of an upside-down, broken apart bamboo silverware tray.  Cheers to you for the idea Baby!

And finally cheers to you HGTV for coming up with Renovation Realities in the first place!  J

Bottoms up!