a fun, productive, and hot weekend

since we started our house hunt a few years ago (it was on an off for a couple of years), andy has been talking about his big plans for the basement.  he had grand plans for an ultimate "man cave" complete with a bar, Virginia Tech themed paint, football memorabilia, and a shuffle board table.  all along, i have agreed to let him have his "man cave" and even agreed to help him with any of the projects he was working on.  in the back of my head, i kind of knew that it would either 1) take such a long time for andy to get around to doing any of it that he would forget or 2) not happen because of our laziness.  i know us well enough to know that we kind of procrastinate on pretty much everything and end up taking the easy way out a lot of the time (we both drive cars we hate because we covet our weekends and don't want to give one up for car shopping, so will most likely drive our cars until we are no longer physically able...the AC in andy's car is showing some signs of weakness, so maybe it will be sooner rather than later).

this weekend we finally got around to crossing off one of the big milestones toward having the dream man cave.  we painted!  and it took a really long time!

here is a photo pre-painting / post-taping:


(notice all of my measuring tools on the footstool: level, old school ruler, tape measurer, pencil and painter's tape)

and some post-painting pictures:








sorry for the iphone quality...my battery on my other camera was dead and i didn't want to wait to take pictures...again, i'm lazy.


the process of taping and measuring and taping over again took the largest chunk of our time.  we started working at about 11 am on saturday and ended for the day at 4:30 am on sunday.  after six hours or so of sleep, we went to the big McD's and stopped at home depot to pick up some more paint.  we painted on sunday from about noon until 4:30.  we finished up with some white paint details after work on monday and finished up at about 11:30 pm.

since i enjoy doing arts & crafts type things, i had a great time.  i was singing along to the music blaring out of my iphone dock and was humming along at 4 in the morning.  andy was not as amused at the whole painting thing and was pretty much grumpy all day sunday, but appreciative of all of the help i was giving him.
now that the pain in our backs has started to die down and the blisters have popped, we are both thrilled with the way it came out.  it definitely gives us a lot more confidence as home owners and aspiring diy-ers.
this project has definitely whet my appetite for painting and decorating.

i hope to start on the office/guest room this weekend or sooner, but know that sometimes teen mom gets in the way of even the best of intentions.

it's pretty awesome, i think, that i still stop almost every night and wonder if all of this could truly be my life.  it's usually after we're done watching tv or doing other stuff in the basement and i'm making my way upstairs to the bedroom.  i usually stop and stare at the stairs and think "holy crap.  i have stairs.  and i have a house.  and it's awesome."  and when i'm out doing errands with andy on the weekends, i still stop and think "holy crap.  i have a boyfriend. and he loves me".  (he is no longer my boyfriend but is, in fact, my husband...i am still not used to that yet). 
yes, it is amazing to me that i have the life that i'd always thought was out of my reach.  but that's not really what i'm impressed with.  what i am most impressed with is that i am in the moment & mindful enough to actually stop and think and be grateful.  i can honestly say that this is one of the first times in my entire life when i've been able to do that.  usually i'm complaining about how annoying things are and how many curve balls life has thrown my way.  it was a rough few years back at the beginning of my adulthood, but all of the hard work and patience has finally paid off.  and lately life has been pretty darn good to me.  i'm recognizing it now, and i hope that i will remember this feeling when the next wave of stress/anxiety/negativity comes my way. 
now that life has settled down a bit for me (yippee! the wedding is over!), i'm thinking more about house projects i'd like to do.  i'm definitely not going to be doing any major renovations any time soon since the house is in pretty good shape and i'm not exactly "handy". 
i've been working on a photo wall for a while now.  i bought a ton of frames from ikea when i first moved into my house, and i just went back to supplement my collection a couple of weeks ago.  so far i'm loving my choices - all white frames with some pictures from the wedding (we will haven't gotten back our professional photos yet...), a couple of pictures of my niece/nephews, and a few different pieces of art work that i created (inspired by finds on pinterest).  i haven't put anything on the walls yet, partly because i have to buy the hanging wire stuff (the placement of the hook by ikea is a bit awkward) and partly because i'm not sure if i want to paint my lower level first. 
because i always love when they do lists over on younghouselove, here is my list of different things i am hoping to accomplish around the house this summer:
- paint red "accent wall" in the living room.  i'm thinking subtle greyish blue.
- paint entire downstairs (main level is my territory, basement is andy's)
- paint stair railing?
- hang photo wall
- find or build bookcases/storage for huge empty wall in living room
- clean out "office"/extra bedroom.  take some stuff up to the attic, donate everything else to gw
- find another bedside table for upstairs guest bedroom at gw and give it a makeover
- find another bedside table for downstairs guest bedroom
- find or make a desk for an "office". i'm sort of considering using the upstairs guest bedroom closet as a small, makeshift office
- organize all of my crafting supplies
- purge all of my old clothing and send it to gw
- go through basement closet and get rid of old stuff that we never use any more

okay, that list is long enough for now.  i'm not sure how much i'll get done this weekend - my mom is in town and i'll feel guilty if i'm dragging her to home depot thirty times in one day (why is it that i never get everything i need when i go to home depot?  i always forget at least one thing...so ridiculous).

i'm off to see wicked tonight with some friends.  i'm not usually the going-out-in-the-middle-of-the-week type, but i'm trying to come out of my shell more and take advantage of living in an awesome city at an awesome time in my life.  anyway, it should be fun.  and a little bit of culture never killed anyone.

wedding update

In a little over a month, I'm getting married.  I signed into theknot.com today to update some RSVPs we got this week and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that there are only 44 days until THE day.  HOLY.

I feel pretty comfortable with where I am as far as wedding planning goes.  I have taken care of most of the big stuff.  There is still one thing on my "to do" list, and each week I transfer it over to a new "to do" list, but each week I put it on the back burner and don't get around to it.  So, if you're planning on coming to my wedding, you better hope I cross it off my list or you're not gonna have any plates or champagne flutes at the wedding.  Why haven't I crossed it off my list?  Most likely because it involves making a phone call to someone and I just hate making phone calls.  Especially when I'm at work all day and that would mean all of my co-workers in the cubes surrounding me would overhear my conversation and it would just be embarrassing to be arranging for dining ware for your wedding only 44 days out, right?  I wouldn't want them to think that I can't handle it.

One of the things I'm most excited about is all of the fun arts & crafts projects I've got lined up for myself.  It should be a good 'ol time at my house for the next 44 days.  On the list of things I'll be working on:


Decorating the dozens of jars and bottles I've been collecting over the past couple of months:

Source: iloveswmag.com via Liz on Pinterest

Creating an escort card display similar to this:

Source: projectwedding.com via Liz on Pinterest

Painting a sign similar to this:

Source: ruffledblog.com via Liz on Pinterest

Gathering supplies to make bags for out of town guests similar to this:

Source: 100layercake.com via Liz on Pinterest

While picking out a wedding dress and choosing on cake flavors is super fun, the things I'm looking forward to the most about getting ready for the big day are these little projects.  There is finally an excuse to channel my inner Martha Stewart.  I just need to get my office all set up upstairs and I can lock myself in that room for the next 44 days.

p.s. If you are coming to my wedding from out of town, DO NOT expect something fancy and lobster-cloth-bag-like to greet you upon your arrival into town.  I'm going to make 'em cute, but there's no way in hell they make a bag like that for Dublin, Virginia. 

cookiemas 2010

as i mentioned in my last post, cookie baking is what i live for.  unlike most people, i don't get together with a bunch of girlfriends and bake cookies all day.  i like to do it in the quiet calm of my own kitchen with christmas carols playing at a reasonable decibel in the background.  something about measuring out the specific ingredients for each cookie, mixing them according to the instructions, and then pulling them out of the oven looking like the little picture at the top of the recipe is therapeutic for me.  at a time when i feel like i am doing a number of things the wrong way (ahem, what wedding??), i need to have these small things to remind me that i am capable of completing something successfully.

here is my day (actually, two days) in pictures:

first i wanted to do something easy to get my feet wet, if you will.  so i went with hershey peanut butter blossoms.  they are so simple and the recipe always produces massive amounts.  they're a good filler cookie.

then, to honor my nephew, i made o'henry bars.  not only do these bars share a name with owen, they are delicious as well.  if you have never had these, make them.  you will not regret it.

next up on my list were these bad boys.  three years ago, andy's mom gave me a great cookie recipe book.  i told andy to browse through the pages and pick one he's like me to make.  he picked these, and they have been a huge hit in the family.

to add a little something new to the mix and also to use some sprinkles, i decided to whip up some whoopie pies (hint hint if you need to get me a christmas present - i would LOVE this cook book).

i think they are adorable.



amidst all this cookie making, i called my parents and asked my dad what he wanted me to make him (of the cookie variety).  classic dad, he said he wanted chocolate chip cookies (sad horn).  so i made some of those.  is it me, or are these the hardest cookies to make?  i can never make these right.  for that reason, no one except immediate family members will be munching on these this holiday season.



these ones were new last year, and i decided to bring them back for an encore.  they seem to be lighter and healthier than all the other cookies (i can believe what i want to believe) and sometimes it's nice to have a break from all the chocolate.  the only downside is that you have to make the dough ahead of time and then let it chill in the fridge for two hours.  i tend to forget about that part.
 

i have been making buckeye balls for a number of years.  they're always well-received.  they are incredibly easy to make, they just take some patience.

every year there is a last-minute cookie idea.  it's usually because i forget how much i've made and i panic that i haven't made enough to share with everyone.  this year's panic cookie was the snickerdoodle.  they are pretty easy to make in a hurry and the recipe calls for standard ingredients.

i could have kept going.  i seemed to have endless energy when it came to making these cookies.  i didn't care that i was washing the same bowls after every batch and i didn't care that my hands were so dry from washing dishes that they were starting to crack.

thankfully, i ran out of eggs and had to stop. 


 

christmas preparations

i love christmas.  always have.  i love decorating the house and i love baking cookies.  it's the one time of year when i feel like i can fly my martha stewart flag high and show my face in the craft store without feeling like i'm forty years too young to be thrilled about yarn.

i was sick last week.  so sick, in fact, that my christmas preparations were in real danger of never even happening.  there is so little time between thanksgiving and christmas.  those few weeks are critical if you want to pull off the perfect christmas.  and for some reason, this year i was determined that it would be close to, if not perfect.  probably a continuation of the whole buying the house and wanting it to be absolutely perfect the moment i moved in thing.

anyway, last saturday when i finally started feeling at least a little bit better, i felt so behind on everything that it was overwhelming and i almost just said screw it, i'll wait 'til next year to have a perfect christmas.  i even thought that i would forgo the cookie baking thing (if you know me, you would know that i live for christmas cookie baking.  this was a big deal).  i have no idea what it was that lit the spark in me, but one minute i was relaxing on the nap couch and the next minute i was yanking the christmas tree box out of the storage closet.  i even had andy help me bring it upstairs.

andy is somewhat of a reluctant christmas celebrator.  it's not that he doesn't like christmas, it's that he doesn't like the setting up of christmas trees and the sending of christmas cards and all the work that goes into christmas.  he basically complained the entire time we were setting up the tree...."why are we even bothering to do this when we're leaving [for my parents] in ten days?"..."why are you bothering to set up a tree when we have a kitten who messes with everything?"  i tried telling myself that it was just him being a boy and that all the christmas preparation is part of what makes it special, dammit.



after we set up our christmas tree with colored lights, i went to town on the mantel.  i was inspired by this mantel i saw at crate & barrel:

now that i've linked it i'm embarrassed to show a picture of my mantel because mine looks pretty pathetic compared to this.  but what the heck.  you only live once.





note: i did not leave the stockings up for long because god forbid i have anything dangling in the way of curious kittens in my house.

once i had finished my tree and my mantel, i added a wreath to our front door and voila! it was christmas.

later that evening, i was sitting downstairs on the nap couch with andy watching real housewives of BH and working on another craft project when we heard a loud crash and the scamper of little feet.  we ran up the stairs and i stuck my head around the corner, then immediately tried to draw back so that andy wouldn't be able to see into the living room.  despite my efforts at pushing him down the stairs, andy came up beside me and said "well, that was worth it".  someone had knocked over the tree onto the hardwood floors, which shattered the ornaments i had put on that side and also broke the stand of the tree.  so that was it for the short life of our 2010 christmas tree.  it was fun while it lasted.



decorating the house got me in the mood for baking cookies.  a post dedicated to cookie baking is coming soon.

december house update

we got a couple of big items in the past few weeks that have made our house look pretty much complete.

at the top of the list is our new couch.  don't be fooled by my seemingly nonchalant attitude here -- the couch was many years in the making, and it did not come easy.  no siree.  you see, this is the couch for the man cave, andy's sanctuary where he can hide from me and all my annoying little habits.  we went to countless furniture stores and sat on easily over 200 couches, and finally the big beast came home on december 3rd.

in order to arrange to have the new couch delivered, we had to get the old couch out of the basement.  this turned out to be fun and not at all annoying.  we simply brought the couch up the basement stairs, removed the feet of the couch, angled it every imaginable way while adding numerous scuff marks to the already worn basement walls, then had to go back down the stairs so we could take it out the basement (sliding door).  but that's not where it ended.  it was pitch black outside and it had been raining for days.  luckily no one slipped, but good lord it ended up being such a pain.  thankfully, the thing fit through the front door or i would've flipped my lid.

the new couch was delivered and is definitely worth the wait.  the minute the guys were done setting it up i had to take a nap on it.  10 out of 10, baby.

since the old couch was moved up to the living room, i got to do whatever i wanted with it.  i covered it with the slipcover we bought a few weeks ago so that it would coordinate with my new armchair, and i tossed a few ikea pillows on 'er for a little pizzaz.  i'm quite happy with the way it turned out.

now i think we are pretty much set for house stuff.  we still need some bedroom furniture for the two empty bedrooms upstairs, but it can wait.

thanksgiving re-cap

andy and i went down to southern virginia for thanksgiving.  the drive down was beautiful (although, it was a bit busy since we were one of the millions of cars on the road the wednesday before thanksgiving).  the crowded streets and massive buildings slowly gave way to farms and rolling hills, and soon we were approaching a bright orange and pink sunset that served as a beacon leading the way to a slower pace of life (and hardee's).

the view from the car

every trip to andy's home town seems to be marked not in hours or events, but in restaurants.  prior to our arrival, we always talk about the places we might go for dinner, lunch, breakfast, etc.  i think that must be the thing andy misses most about his home town -- the comforting smell of a hardees biscuit.

with that said, i will now do a run-down of the four-week trip.

wednesday night -- arrived in wytheville, met andy's family at cj's, a fine establishment specializing in pizza, calzones, and subs.  we ate with andy's mom, sister and brother-in-law.

thursday morning -- andy and i drove to wal-mart to get a sports bra for me and i changed in the back seat of his durango so we could get a little bit of exercise.  we jogged for about half an hour, then met his mom at hardee's, where andy proceeded to eat a biscuit, eggs, cheese, and who-knows-what in a bowl drowned in gravy.  i had some oj.

thursday afternoon -- i helped andy's mom prepare the corn casserole (corn cassy for those of you who know me well), green bean casserole, broccoli casserole and various other side dishes.  kyle drove down from his parents and andy's granny came over and had thanksgiving with all of us.

thursday evening -- leftovers and football.  yum.  for some reason andy went through his old clothes and found a pair of pheonix suns shorts (that go with the coordinating jersey) that he wore in middle school.  let's just say he may or may not have put them on and worn them all night to make us all feel awkward and uncomfortable.  we played grey's anatomy trivia, trivial pursuit and scrabble slam.

friday morning (black friday) -- andy's mom got up early to go to walmart to get a tv.  i slept in until 9 and then vegged on the couch with andy for another hour or so.

friday afternoon -- we met andy's sister and brother-in-law at red robin for burgers, then went to every virignia tech bookstore in blacksburg. andy's looking for some inspiration for his basement. we also went to target and pier 1, where i picked up a few christmas decorative items.

friday evening -- leftovers again (i think).

saturday morning -- the entire group went to hardees.  andy reminisced about his friend's dad who used to go to hardees every morning and sit and read the paper while smoking. ah, the good 'ol days.

saturday afternoon -- the big commonweath cup (i think that's what they call it).  virignia tech played university of virginia and creamed 'em.  andy was happy.  we also set up andy's mom's christmas tree and ordered from his favorite chinese place (peking) at half time.

saturday evening -- we left andy's parents' around 5:30 and got stuck in post-game traffic in blacksburg.  i slept for about an hour in the car and we listened to christmas music and taylor swift.  when we got home it was close to midnight, and we both crashed.

as always, it was so good to get out of the city and the hustle and bustle of every day life.