Brown BEGONE! Bring on the “Golden Fleece”!

Sorry we've been quiet for a while...busy time of the year for all of us!  A few weeks back, we decided we wanted to paint our front door BLACK!  But we couldn’t do this until we put on a new storm door.  We couldn’t do this until we painted over the terrible brown exterior trim around said door.  And if we were going to lose the brown around the door trim…we might as well get rid of the brown on the porch columns!  So BASICALLY…what started as painting the front door turned into 3 evenings of nightfall painting fun.  J

Picked up the new black storm door at Lowe’s the last day that they were 15% off…KA-CHING!!  Used a “standard” 81” storm door as opposed to the 83” “custom” one I replaced.  This meant about half the cost of a custom storm door, but also that I needed to frame down the top of the door/sidelight openings.

On the plus side…this means that we’ll also be able to replace the entry door with a “standard” (cheap) 80” door down the road…double KA-CHING!!  Or who knows...maybe we'll find an all-wood vintage 83" at our local Habitat Restore one of these days!!

Always be sure to prime (exterior KILZ)…in the dark…after 11PM...while hanging upside-down off the porch roof!

Porch BEFORE primer 

(OK...technically on the day we took possession but you get the idea):

And AFTER primer:

Then after the new full-view storm door went on (see in final pic below), it was finally time to paint the front door!  I still wouldn't call it BLACK...but "Dark Kettle" is as dark as Valspar gets.  

Steps to paint a front door:

1.  Sand  

2.  Prime

3.  Paint

4.  DO HAPPY DANCE!!!

Every house in our neighborhood blessed with these square, wooden porch columns with the square corner trim is painted with the trim color on the corners, and the body color in the middle…so in an effort to blend in historically, we followed suit.  In went the “Golden Fleece” yellow paint…God love it.  Thanks for leaving 2 gallons downstairs guy we bought the house from!  J

So…what do you think?! :-)

Say Cheese!

I love photo booths.

For as long as these things have been around, they still manage to entice people to climb inside and press their faces together to make a silly statement in 4 frames or less.  What I particularly like about them is they have just one purpose to serve: Silliness. There aren't many things you can task with that one, single objective. 

Ok silly string, but that requires clean up.  A photo booth is just good clean fun.

We frequent another DIY blog of two twenty-somethings who like us, (this is the last year I can say that, so better get it in while I can) have decided to re-hab an older home.  The only difference between them and us is--- they are wildly successful with their blog, have attracted media attention and now write for DIY magazine, have a stint on HGTV and are supported by numerous big name advertisers.

So....

We're basically the same.

Anyway, I mention them because I was inspired by their equal love of photo booth-ery.  They even had one at their backyard wedding.  Two important points need to be made here: 

1. I LOVE backyard weddings
2. I LOVE the idea of a photo booth at a party/wedding/celebration
3. (ok...3 points) They cost about $1200 to rent for 4 hours! Say what?!

And that's where my love of them ends.

Evan and I have never actually been in photo booth together.  And in an equally as horrible example of terribleness, I have never done one with Alex either. 

Until now....

The aforementioned bloggers would place this on their sofa table in a tall goblet/jar/thingy where they keep and display all their adorable film strips. 

An adorable idea.  But with this being our very first photo booth experience, we are not ones to be outdone by amateurs--what with their incredibly easy to follow step-by-steps, fancy site features and money making advertisers-- we decided it was best to: Go Big or Go Home.

We went really BIG!

Okay...so in the end, we still haven't actually been to a photo booth.  But that's ok.  With a small (and finally complete!) first floor half-bathroom, a little imagination and Google Picasa, just about anything is possible. Even 3.5 foot photo strips. 

The best part: it didn't cost $1200 to rent a booth. And yes, we realize for a mere $4.50 we could have actually gone to the mall and started our very own mini-strip collection (which we may still do), but to make them life-sized would have easily set us back a few hundred dollars. So, we opted for the bigger and better DIY version, by making a relatively small investment ($28 including frames!) we saved some cheddar and just said cheese!

I Have A Kindergartener

This little girl and her little piggy tails went to kindergarten today...

My baby girl, who has grown into this little person with an enormous imagination, began her very first day of schooling today.  Maybe it's cliche, but really I wonder where the time has gone!?  It's true---they really do grow up so fast.

She looked absolutely adorable in her "French Toast Plaid" jumper, posing after bagels, right before heading to her French Immersion school---complete with matching hair bows for said pigtails, white socks and Mary Jane's. 

Clearly the only thing missing was a catwalk.

Getting to school was a breeze.  She did the summer enrichment program for 6 weeks and walking into school, seeing several of her friends from that, was super exciting for her.  And it made me feel pretty great too. 

Last night we hung out for a while before bedtime, awaiting the return of our hot water ....more on this later......and we watched Homeward Bound.  I lose it at the end of this movie, I'll admit it. Nearly 20 years after seeing it for the first time, it brought massive tears to my eyes.

Apparently me crying is "so weird and embarrassing" for Alex, and she didn't miss the opportunity to tell me so.  I told her there was a good chance I would also cry dropping her off in the morning...so just to be prepared. 

She made sure to tell me, I "better not embarrass" her on her "very first big day."

Ah...it starts. :)

And I have to say, we've done the preschool thing before.  And as a working mom, I'm used to dropping her off in the mornings somewhere.  But there is just something about Kindergarten. 

 So while I held it together pretty well, while dropping her off....

I did however cry "Oui Oui Oui" all the way home. :)

And luckily for her, her reputation was spared.

******************************************

My Darling Alex,
My dreams for you are bigger than I could ever type, write or say.  We've been through so much together in 5 short years and I look with hope, anticipation and excitement at all we're sure to experience in the years to come.  You are incredibly talented and amazingly beautiful and I just love you so stinkin' much. I have been a fortunate witness to all of your firsts...and today is no different.  As you begin your first year of school remember always how proud of you I am and how much I love and adore you. You are a gift.

Your future is wide open, your dreams are always within reach and your mom is always by your side.


xoxo

Getting Crafty

I know what you're thinking...where have we been!?!? Right? Well, we've been pretty busy with lots of end-of-summer things, some celebrations and projects galore! But we're back to update on a few things we have been working on and some projects currently in progress.

When we last left you Evan was detailing the half-bath renovation.  Well, its still in progress but we should be ready for a reveal in a week or so, and all I can say is I'm really excited about how it's coming together and can't wait to put the finishing touches on it.  More on that later....

So.... we'll begin with our favorite used furniture website and the official deal of the month.  Good deals are always exciting, and we're still in awe of our super-duper mother of all scores from a few weeks back, but we love being thrifty and we love breathing new life into old or not-so-great furniture, so when we find a good deal, we can't wait to share!

Now I'll be the first to admit, we have found more exciting things on CraigsList, but at $5, this was pretty sweet!

Ok, so "kinda ugly" is more fitting....but wait for it....

Now normally I would jump at the chance to sand, prime and paint a piece, but it just so happens that Evan is the master spraypainter of the house!  I actually never knew what a huge difference a can of spray paint could make until I let him loose on a few projects, and he rocks! The finish always turns out fantastic and I definitly prefer it to the brush.  So I picked out a few replacements knobs from Anthropologie, and after a nights sleep, we had a new addition to the entryway and a great place to showcase a few items including all the wonderful congratulatory cards we received on our engagement!

Voila!

Not bad for 5 bucks eh?

Moving on.... after Evan surprised me with the mother of all chandeliers back in May, I became a big CB2 fan.  We recieved a catalogue in the mail a couple weeks back and another light fixture really caught my eye.  And when this one came with step-by-step instructions via the CB2 blog, and incorporated tea light candles into the design, I couldn't have been more excited.  Super cool, super affordable and super DIY----doesn't get any better than that.  So here is the advertised "after" shot via cb2.com...

Pretty cool huh?

And the Step-by-step shots:

And here is my box 'o CB2 globes...and our Meatball taking a nap. 

He loves CB2 too.

And a sneak peak at this work in progress....

And the rest...well you'll have to stay tuned for that. We're anxious to see if it actually turns out as cool as the advertised look and we're pretty excited to have a lighting option where there currently isn't an easy option for one. 

AND!!!! we have yet another really awesome project in the works; this one is happening in the kitchen and in the basement....simultaneously. Intrigued? We will definitely be raising our glasses to this one.

To be continued....

Half-Bath Bliss - The Resurrection Begins

Because all our millions of fans enjoyed my first installment of Half-Bath Bliss so much and couldn't stop raving about it...I decided Part 2 was overdue.  ;)

I left off right after I had demolished our entryway half-bath, and freed a frightened barn swallow who had somehow worked his way into our home. Now it's time to show you how we started putting it back together.

I started by fixing some inherited haywire wiring...goodbye junction boxes!! Hello functional fan!!

Luckily my handiwork passed Andre's electrical inspection!

After the rough-in work was done, it was time for drywall.  Of course I couldn't get started without my cheerleader!  :)  Don't worry Kelly, I'll sweep up the mess later...or maybe tomorrow...

And the ceiling fits!  I'm still amazed we were able to lift this piece and get it into position without breaking the little edge around the fan housing!  Look at those muscles!

My flat, cro-magnon skull did a great job helping hold up the sheet while we got the first few screws in.  But I'll be honest...I couldn't have done it without the help of my ladies (Alex took these shots, along with 20 more of the cat)!

Get in there last piece!!!

The un-mudded results...thank the wiring gods for shining upon me!

Functional fan.  Enough said...

My queen picking up some new mudding skillz.  She wasn't half bad!  :)

She may have found a new calling.  Somehow I don't think she's going to answer THAT call.  ;)

Stay tuned for the final installment where we mud, paint, and unveil our surprise counter top selection.  Thanks for reading!

EJ

Marmaduke, MarmAlex, and MarmaPink

A few weeks ago Alex and I took a free Saturday afternoon to spend some quality time together. The plan was simple...a movie and dinner. Marmaduke (who knew Jack Bauer could pull off such a great canine antagonist?!), followed by dinner at Noodles and Co.

Going to the theater with Alex isn't quite as simple as buying some tickets and popcorn. A home-made, themed costume is always required!

Of course Andre supervised the scissor usage...

Ears...nose...Rock Princess shirt...

The excitement built en-route...

And of course, what kind of dog would she be if she didn't have a tail?! ("COME ON! LET'S GET TO THE THEATER!!!")

Making one random passerby point and giggle was all the validation she needed. SUCCESS!!!

Front row seats!

And what better way to end a trip to the movie theater than winning a pink, stuffed teddy bear out of one of the cherry picker, crane arcade games...on the first try...seriously. I told her she got one try...and that's all she needed.

Here was "MarmaPink" 5 minutes after being rescued from the arcade game, playing with dragon friends at Barnes & Noble. :)

Then, on to dinner with MarmaPink in tow...dear sir or madam manager of Noodles and Co...your particular establishment is missing the little plastic thingies which enable kids to use chopsticks easily. Get some. Otherwise, hire me as your full-time rolled-up paper thingy guy to allow kids to use chopsticks easily.

BAM!!!

I liked it so I put a ring on it!

And she said "YES!" :) That's right...on the 4th of July holiday I asked my beautiful/amazing/brilliant/sexy girlfriend to spend the rest of her life with me, and she went for it.

I didn't have anything fancy planned, but with a house-full of family there couldn't have been a more perfect time to pop the question. I just asked Kelly to come upstairs so I could show her this "one other thing from IKEA" that I'd gotten her. It was some sort of egg-shaped nesting doll-style container. When she got to the top of the stairs I cranked up "I'm Yours" and asked her to open it up. She says she doesn't remember a thing about it except that it was a huge surprise. Lucky for me I caught her off guard. ;)

Like I said, the timing was perfect as we were going out on the town that night with an amazing dinner planned at Michael Smith's restaurant. It was an amazing meal, celebrating our engagement as well as my brother/sis-in-laws upcoming baby. The food was amazing, the wine delectable, and the conversation jubilant!

Oh yeah, one other thing...Alex couldn't have been happier. It was only days after she gave us her best rendition of Beyonce's big hit..."Single Ladies."

I couldn't be more excited to spend the rest of my life with my partner, my soulmate, my better half, my best friend and now fiancée Kelly. Here's to a lifetime of joy, laughter, and successful home renovations!!! Na zdrowie!!!

Love Is In The Chair

If you've been following our adventures on this blog you know that one of us (me!) has taken quite an interest in designer chairs.  I have long been searching for the perfect molded plastic Eames chairs, and have been tempted many times by Overstock.com's near replicas.  In addition, I have set my sights on Bertoia chairs, seeing them pop up everywhere from the MOMA (I <3 NY) to my favorite design magazines and the living/dining rooms of other design blogs I frequent. It's a shame either chair, brand new, will break the bank at anywhere from a whopping $200-$600 a piece! 

(Courtesy of Knoll)

As an avid fan of Craigslist---okay, an obsessive fan--- I am always searching for great pieces and a great deal.  And should either of said chairs ever pop up there, I waste little time in contacting the poster.

Today we give you Reason No. 4,568 of why CL spells "love" for us and a brief history of Harry Bertoia and the famous Bertoia chairs courtesy of designaddict.com.

Harry Bertoia emigrated to America in 1930. He studied at the Cass Technical High School in Detroit and trained on a scholarship at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan. From 1939 to 1943, he set up a metal workshop and began to teach jewelry and metal working. In 1943, he worked with Charles and Ray Eames for the Evans Product Company where they experimented on molded-plywood seating. In 1950, he established a studio in Pennsylvania and introduced his famous 'Diamond' chair made of welded steel lattice work. Later came the also famous wire side chair.  The success was immediate and in the mid-50's the royalties he received for these chairs allowed him to devote himself exclusively to his sculpting career.

That being said, there are two kinds of Craigslist Posters.  Those who know better.  And Those who don't.  I am a big fan of the latter.  Today it is with great honor and total giddiness that I present our breakfast nook in the making.  As we continue to pull our kitchen together and round out the finer details, the posters who do not know any better, have offered up 4 new additions at the bargain price of $100.  Total. All 4.  Clueless. Just the way we like 'em!

You'll just have to imagine how incredibly geeked out with excitement I was and how difficult it was to hide it, as he named his price for all four. They were "left in the house when we bought it and we have no need or desire for them."  

That might be the most beautiful thing I have ever heard anyone say.

And just for fun, I thought I would also include a shot of my web browser and my list of one-click Favorites.  Notice how Evan has cleverly renamed my direct-link to Craigslist icon.  :)

Nice try! Not a chance! :)