A Few Checkmarks

I got a few more things checked off my to-do list over the last week or so, and thought I'd share my completed project. I mentioned before that I'd finally gotten my Pottery Barn wall organizers up. The space I wanted to put them up in was too small to use their rail system that they insist you buy to hang them. So, I removed the rail pieces from them and attached picture hangers in their place. In addition to that I used 3M Command Strips for extra support, so now they hang great and look like they're just floating there. Above them I put an Ikea Ribba picture ledge to display several of my favorite cookbooks and I also framed one of my grandmother's recipes, for brownies, to put up next to it. I'm so pleased with how it came out!

For some reason I went wandering around etsy looking for trophies (honestly, I can't remember what gave me the idea, ha) and stumbled across these blue spray painted trophies and loved the idea. I have been trying to think of things to liven up our entertainment center and this was just perfect. My family was big into bowling, so I stopped by my mom's house to see what was laying around. I found an old bowling trophy of my Grandpa's from 1971, and she gave me the go ahead to remove the top portion for my project. All this idea cost me was a $3 can of spray paint. I love how it turned out and it's the perfect pop of blue on our shelves. Plus it has genuine family value to me!

And then this week I finally checked a huge to-do off my list- my family photo wall. I've been working on this for over a year and I was finally motivated to get off my duff after coming back from seeing all the family in Iowa. Again, instead of using nails to make a bunch of holes in my hall, I turned to those 3M Command Strips. For reals guys, I love these things. Josh helped me to try and make sure my arrangement looked good and everything was symmetrical and level. I'm going to change out two of the photos, but what is in there for now looks great. The frames I got from Pottery Barn. Not as cheap as the Ikea ones I usually opt for, but our hall is quite narrow and the PB frames were thinner. I really love how this turned out, and my only regret is it took me so long to get it done!

Hey Dude

What a crazy summer it's been! I managed to survive my summer classes, even making a 100 in Statistics (miracle), and an A in Film Appreciation. Fall semester starts Monday, and I have no clue how I'm going to get up for my 7:20 AM class. Last Wednesday, two of my uncles, my cousin, my mom, and I made the trek to Iowa for my cousin Jon Tumilson's funeral. Jon was one of the Navy SEALs killed in the August 6th helicopter crash in Afghanistan. It was very sad circumstances that took us there, but I am very glad that I went and got to see so much of my northern family that I hadn't seen in so long.

In the little time that hasn't been occupied by school I've been trying to take care of projects around the house. I purged my old Christmas boxes and wrap, which were still laying all over the guest bedroom floor. I got some new plants, finally made some progress on my spice storage, and put up my Pottery Barn daily system organizers (which involved some MacGyvering on my part). I'm working on a couple other projects that I hope to finish this weekend before it's back to the classrooms for me. I'll try to take some pics to share soon.

I'm also seriously considering hosting Thanksgiving for my family this year. By "seriously considering" I mean I've already been obsessively planning it, but I don't want to 100% commit just yet. :) That is in part what is spurring me to wrap up some of the household stuff. One of the biggest pieces of the puzzle that needs to be in place before I can commit to turkey day is a new oven. Our oven started smoking from between the unit and the wall when I started preheating it one day back in July. Our extinguisher was out, so I had to call the fire department. Luckily the oven shorted out before anything too bad happened. Josh's uncle came by a couple weeks later to inspect the damage and we realized it was the wiring to the oven that had caught, not the oven itself. We were very lucky the whole house didn't go up, especially when Uncle Gary discovered the firemen had turned off the wrong breaker and there was still a current available to the wiring. So, for now my old oven sits in the garage in pieces, and I fantasize about when I'll be able to have Gary install the new stainless steel double oven of my dreams.

A Room With A View

The weather here in North Texas has been freakin' fantastic lately. Warm, but not the sweltering temps of summer. Fall in Texas is sort of like the spring we were dreaming of 6 months ago. Except even better because sometimes you spy a tree full of autumn shades, or get to crunchily walk through some fallen leaves. I've been enjoying the weather even while I'm sick by throwing open the bedroom windows. While writing this post even, I'm sitting in bed feeling a slight breeze and just moments ago heard the sounds of wind chimes. There's nothing like an open window on a pleasant day, right? One of my favorite things about our house is my view out the window while laying in bed. Our yard full of Live Oaks makes for some pretty scenery.

Never Lacking in Ideas

As I have previously mentioned, I have a knack for mentally starting a new project before I've even really gotten under way on my current one. So, naturally, as I start school next Tuesday I have spent a good part of today thinking about redecorating my bathroom. I tell you, a dreamer's job is never done.



*Please note this bathroom is not my bathroom, and has barely anything in common with my bathroom. Other than, you know, a toilet and a bathtub. Photo here.

Gimme Money, That's What I Want

As I mentioned before we recently picked up a new car. We still kept our little troublemaker, the VW Bug, and after some repairs it is back at the casa. It's sitting in the driveway however because we had a bunch of junk in the garage in it's place. Our garage is actually pretty tidy, but it is lacking in cohesive organization. I got my mom to take back her shop vac, we bought a wall bike rack (don't ask about it though, turning out to be a pain in the behind), and I've been chucking stuff on Craigslist to try and get some more space. A side benefit is that from the stuff I sell, I get to put that cash back into the house decor. This week we got rid of the biggest piece we had sitting around, our old entertainment center. It was a nice piece, but we had no space and no need for it, since our new living room came with a whole wall of built-in storage. I almost got enough from the sale of it to get the two benches I want from IKEA. I didn't mention in that earlier post that I want two benches, but I do. Still patiently waiting for someone to take me up on a cheap metal bed frame that I myself picked up off Craigslist, but which turned out to be too small, along with a lamp, some curtains and other miscellaneous items that don't work in the new house. Anyway, looks like I'll get to make that trip to IKEA this weekend, because I also need to pick up a frame for one of the prints I'm preparing for an exhibition in August. Two chores killed with one hop, skip, and jump to IKEA! And then my dining room will be much closer to done and maybe I'll even share a picture or two.

Three Things

I think these three things would have my dining room nearly finished. Of course, I don't have any money for these three things, so only time (and scrimping) will tell.

Come On In

I reallyreallyreally want to paint our front door red. It's a big wish on my house project list. I have to figure out the right shade, if it's possible to protect it from sun fading (which is a current problem with our front door), and how you go about painting your front door without your house filling up with bugs. Young House Love has a tutorial on painting your front door red, which I'm sure I will rely on when I'm ready to take the leap.

How Does My Garden Grow?

I finally FINALLY got my veggies into some dirt yesterday evening. I planted my herbs a while back, but had been planning on getting some different planters for the veggies, which was the cause of the hold out. I can never find just what it is I'm picturing in my mind. But when I realized that my strawberry plant was actually growing tiny little strawberries I figured I'd better get them in some earth and I can transfer them to the bigger, better containers of my dreams as soon as I can hunt them down. I had a strawberry, a pepper, a tomato and, as it turns out, a cantaloupe plant to get arranged. The cantaloupe came as a surprise. I thought I had picked up a squash plant. Unfortunately it was an unwelcomed surprise because I hate cantaloupe. I stuck it in a pot all the same, but if it actually grows anything you can perhaps look forward to receiving a cantaloupe from me because I won't be eating it. I deadheaded my two rose bushes while I was outside too. Here are some pics I snapped!


Wee strawberries


Tomato tot


L'il pepper




Roses

The Incompleter

If I was a "New Character" on Conan I'd be "The Incompleter". I am terrible at finishing things I start. I always have a million ideas and never enough follow-through. I stopped by Lowe's yesterday after work, as I said I would. I picked up a couple packets of moonflower seeds, two basil plants, a cilantro, a small tomato, a strawberry, a dwarf pepper, and a squash plant. I also got some soil to mix with my regular soil and compost, and two planters which I've already decided I'm going to return. I'm going to go to Handley Feed Store on Saturday to find bigger ones. Anyway, I don't even have anything planted yet, and today my mind has already moved on to trying to figure out what I'd like to do with our bedroom. We never got around to painting it, since several straight weeks of painting had completely put me off doing any more when it came time to do the master and spare bedrooms. There's nothing wrong with our bedroom. It just isn't finished. The furniture is all taken care of. I'm fond of our bedding although it could use some finishing touches. I finally found bedside lamps awhile back that I liked and would work alright with our space. I dislike the wall color, although it's just a beige, so not technically offensive. We have nothing hanging on the walls. And there's the fact that I insist on watching television in the bedroom, which means I need my big black satellite/DVR and dvd player too, naturally. Hmm, I wonder how long I'll be pondering this one before I've moved on to my next purely-in-my-head project?

P.S. Don't worry, I'm totally gonna get those veggies and herbs planted. They may not live long while I'm off staring at paint samples and pillow shams, but at least I'll have half-finished the job. Which is a lot more than I can say for most things I take on, ha.

Garden Party

I'll be leaving work shortly and I'll be stopping by Lowe's before heading home. I've decided the time has come for me to start my plans for growing some herbs and veggies before we get too far into the season. Of course I would decide the time to do this is the week/weekend before we're throwing a party. A party which I will fill you in later, but I have done almost no real work on, aside from jotting down my to-do list. Luckily it's gonna be a loosey-goosey sort of hang out, but with my penchant for planning everything down to the last, itty-bitty detail I'll still manage to make it a monumental task.

Lowe's has some fruit and vegetable plants on sale and I already needed to go by there to look for some larger pavers to support our rain barrel. Hoping I'll find some decent tomato, pepper, and strawberry plants on sale. Oh, and some basil. My life just might be complete if I can manage to not kill some basil. Okay, maybe not complete, but certainly slightly more delicious. The list of projects inside the house has certainly not gotten that much smaller, but it's just the time of year when your mind wanders to the outdoors, isn't it?

Photo from Real Simple

Apartment Therapy Cure

As I mentioned I got the Apartment Therapy eight-step home cure book for my birthday. I decided to get started on it last week and over the weekend, despite my myriad of illnesses, I managed to take care of most of the steps for week one.

.Week One
Make a complete list of repairs and solutions: half done
Vacuum and mop the floors: check
Remove on item from your apartment and put it outside: check
Buy fresh flowers: check
Sit for ten minutes in a part of your home you never sit in: check
Look into earth friendly cleaning products: already done for the most part

I changed out a light bulb/put the extensions on our gutter downspouts/tidied the guest bedroom/vacuumed, swept and mopped/sat at the dining room table for breakfast/listed our old dining chairs on Craigslist/picked up more vinegar and baking soda for cleaning/bought a bouquet of spray roses. Not bad.

On The Home Front

So, I finally got off my lazy butt and called two foundation repair companies to come out and give us free estimates on the house. It is quite apparent to us that the house doesn't want to just shift back to where it was, and something needs to be done before it gets much worse. It will undoubtedly be a horrifically stressful experience for me, but I'll make it out the other side in one piece I'm sure. And, at Holly's wise suggestion, I've got beer in the fridge for post estimate wallowing. We've got a decent amount in the house fund, so hopefully we can mitigate the damage on the bank account. But this is just one aspect of continuing to make our home a happy and healthy place to be. Upon approval from Josh I ordered new dining room chairs today. I am so sick of our old chairs, which are pretty worn out at this point. I'm going to try and clean them up some and hopefully get a little scratch for them on Craigslist. I'm excited about the new chairs though! We ordered the copy cat eiffel-base shell chairs from overstock.com in white. I'm fully aware that I'm late to the trend, although I would like to state that I'm not so much late to the trend, as late to the purchase. I've wanted these chairs for quite sometime, but just now was able to buy them. Yay chairs! Also, yay overstock.com's $2.95 shipping on 4 chairs.

Post Christmas Catch-up

Oh my! I'm finally starting to feel back in the swing of things. Of course, it follows that there's still New Year's to get through too so who knows how long this feeling will last. Christmas eve turned out to be quite eventful, in that we practically had a blizzard in these parts. It started snowing before 10 that morning and it just kept coming. It took forever for it to start sticking, but once it did it accumulated rather quickly. The roads eventually started to ice over too. Mom and my brother Justin and his family were supposed to be coming over for dinner and presents. Mom still made it, but Justin had to make a quick stop by himself to deliver gifts since my niece came down with a bug that day. What bad luck! But we had a nice evening anyway. The snow finally eased shortly after Mom arrived. I roasted a chicken, which we had with stuffing and roasted veggies. We lit some candles and opened a bottle of wine and had a nice leisurely dinner. Afterward we played a little Beatles Rock Band to show Mom what it was like, and then we had apple cider, egg nog, and opened our presents. My bro called so my niece could say Merry Christmas to us all. We visited for a little longer and then we helped Mom out to her car. Her door was frozen shut, which took some yanking, and I had to scrape her windshield off for her. Luckily she just lives around the corner, so she didn't have far to go on the slick and slippery roads. Then Josh and I put on the new pajamas Mom gave us, had some cocoa and more nog, and watched Muppet Christmas Carol before settling in for our Christmas sleep.

Christmas morning we had a nice sleep in and woke up to glistening snow all over our yard. I previously had hopes of taking a little family portrait in front of the house, but all the cold and snow called for a quick readjustment. I set up the tripod and snapped a pic of us in our Christmas pajamas on the sidewalk instead. Then we had some bacon, hash browns, eggs and coffee for breakfast and opened our presents. We spoiled each other as usual! Josh loved all his presents, and I of course loved mine. He got me most of the stuff I posted from my wishlist. Then I got changed and went outside to make a little snowman. I just couldn't let the white stuff melt without a few minutes of fun in it. We spent the rest of the day enjoying our presents and then got ready and headed to his Mom's house that evening. I helped Deana in the kitchen while the guys watched a movie. We then had dinner and opened gifts, finished the movie over dessert, and headed back home.

Day after Christmas consisted of Josh leaving very early in the morning and me sleeping in. I spent most of the day in my pajamas with the after Christmas blues, watching movies and stuff off the DVR. Went out that night with Holly to see Holy Moly at the Aardvark, followed by some post drinking Fuzzy's Tacos and back home to bed. Josh got home on Sunday, we grabbed some lunch, and then headed back out to House of Blues for the Rock School showcase and the Back In Black concert. Monday we slept in, then got ready and hit the road to Austin to see Woody Allen. I'll write about that in another post though, cause that was a big life moment for me!

Here are a few pics from our holiday weekend. You can see a couple more here.

Clean Laundry

I'm having kind of a rough day so far. I left the cat outside longer than I probably should have in this cold weather, overslept this morning, and then- well, let's just say having your faults pointed out to you, while a wonderful opportunity for growth and personal improvement, isn't exactly my idea of a fun time. So, let's wash all that no-good stuff away by concentrating on my newly organized laundry area. I finally finished the little bit I had left to do on it last weekend. I knew I wanted to improve my hang drying capabilities, have a place to store my soap and other laundry accoutrement, and something on the floor so dropped clothes don't hit the concrete. Most of my problems where solved by a trip to IKEA. Well, let's face it, when does IKEA not solve most of my problems? I picked up three ANTONIUS drying racks along with the 70 7/8" wall supports to hang them. I was hoping to find the HALSTED runner, but they were out at our IKEA. Instead I picked up two of these HALSTED door mats. And then lastly I ordered a slim storage cart from Target, after not finding what I was looking for in-store or at Container Store. I've been really pleased with the efficiency of the area since the improvements. I can hang/flat dry much more than I could before, I don't have stuff piled on my washer and dryer, and I can more easily reach my cleaners since they're no longer on the shelf above. Here are some before and after pics.

Before:


Afters:

Drying racks down


Drying racks up


Cart next to washer and dryer

House Project Progress

I've finished my laundry area, but forgot to upload the pics so I'll have to wait to share that completed project. But another, bigger project is underway at the Casa de Hoover. We had our gutters installed yesterday! I didn't know it was possible to be so excited about such a thing, but I actually like to look at them. I made Josh go outside with me to see them when he got home from work last night. The color matches our siding so well, and they are so shiny and new! I was worried that I wouldn't like how they looked, that they might make our eaves look bad, but that's not the case at all. Of course now that they're up there is no rain in the forecast. But that's okay because it's still a project in progress. Last night I ordered our rain barrel for the front yard. We splurged here to have something that wouldn't be an eye sore since it will be right by our front porch. We plan to put a series of connecting rain barrels in the back yard, and we'll save by using the not as pretty, but budget and eco-friendly recycled food-grade barrels. Our front yard barrel is a real beauty though, and I can hardly wait for it to get here. Which probably means it will take forever! Once it arrives I'm hoping the weather won't be too cold to put in the french drain for the garage-side flower bed. Then the front will be done, and I'll just have to work on the rain barrel set-up in the back. Here's our lovely Cascata 65 gallon rain barrel!

Our Living Room

Remember that time I bought a house, showed you some before pics and idea boards, and then never really followed up on that? Well, I'll probably be posting some more house glimpses here in the days to come, especially since there will be Christmas decorations to share and I'm near finishing my laundry area project (which has only been derailed by all the Christmas business). I finally got around to taking some photos of our mostly done living room a few weeks ago. And then last night I finally got around to uploading them, so thought I would share them with you on this fine Friday. Since it's been so darn long, here again is what our living room looked like when we bought the house, and my idea board can be seen here.

Befores:































Afters:


View from the hall doorway


View from the dining room doorway


Our built-in. Such an incredible pain to sand, prime and paint.


Used a picture ledge opposite the window to add a bit more architecture to that side of the room.



You can see the pics bigger (and with notes!) here.

Christmas Plans

The past week or so I've been trying to decide what decorations I would like to buy for Christmas this year. I cleaned out a lot of our old, discolored hand-me-down ornaments after last Christmas. It made sense to me to have a bit of a fresh start for our first Christmas in our new house. I didn't realize just how stressful I would find narrowing down my choices for our new decorations would be. Don't get me wrong, it's the fun kind of stressful! But so many ornament options! But here's the general idea I've put together. I've already gotten 4 wreaths and a roll of red velvet ribbon. I plan on hanging them in the front windows by a loop of ribbon with a bow on the bottom. I will hang our same old wreath on the front door, with the addition of an small wooden "H" that I plan to paint with gold glitter paint. I have a couple lengths of garland that I will trim the front porch in and a few faux white and red poinsettias added to it for some color. I hope to be able to put some classic white house lights up, but was waiting until we get our gutters installed and I'm waiting on the color samples to get that under way. That pretty much covers the outside decor for this year. And for the tree I think I've settled on a similarly classic selection of ornaments in red, green, silver and gold along with pine cones, snowflakes and the several boxes of icicles that we kept last year. Then our smattering of personal ornaments that always hang on our tree. I know we'll put white lights on our tree, and in the past we've also put colored lights on- not sure if I'll do that again or not. And there's definitely some bargain hunting involved here because I'm doing it all with the gift cards and money that my dad and sister's were super kind enough to give us for our housewarming. I got the wreaths and garland for 50% off and ribbon 30% off, so I'm off to a good start I think. :)





















House photo found via Between Naps On The Porch

Buzzing

My head is buzzing with so many ideas recently! I am so excited for the holidays, especially since it will be our first Christmas in our new home. And I'm looking forward to the new year too. It always feels like an opportunity to start fresh, make needed and wanted changes and think about molding your future into what you want it to be. Here are a few of the things that are buzzing around in my brain.

-Yesterday I signed up for an online photography course from TCU. It starts November 11th and goes for 6 weeks. If it turns out fun and educational they have several other 6 week courses I might sign up for.
-My brother has tentatively agreed to go to a Swing/Lindy Hop/Charleston class with me at a local hall. He's supposed to come by tonight so I can see if he has any general aptitude for the basic Charleston. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
-I'm looking through my old MS Living's, other magazines, and tear sheets for Christmas decorating ideas. I got rid of a lot of our old decorations last year, most of which were hand-me-down items we had collected when family members cleaned out their closets. I get to start fresh and I am overwhelmed with the possibilities!
-I've started a new little project over at Small Time Cooks for the month of November, which has already provided me with one success in the kitchen.
-I'm excited to put together my Christmas list, lots of helpful things I need and a few fun things I wouldn't mind finding under the Christmas tree this year.
-So busy with two birthday celebrations this weekend, one birthday, a concert, and a shower next weekend, then our typical three family Thanksgivings, and we haven't even gotten to any Christmas events yet!
-I want to finish fixing up my office- need a chair, rug, plant pot, and some more decor/organizational fixes.
-Hoping to put together some vignettes of framed family photos down the hallway, which requires narrowing down the photos, getting them framed, arranged and hung. Oh how the simple things turn out to be so difficult, ha.
-Want to finally get some pics of the rest of the house that I like enough to share with you here.
-We are looking for a solution to our lot's drainage issues- looking to get some gutter installation estimates and looking into ways to use rain barrels to make the best of this situation in the future.
-Ideas for making the laundry area better organized and more productive.
-Stephanie should be having the twins by Christmas!!!
-Josh's office Christmas party, which I get to go to this year.
-Looking forward to making s'mores around our fire pit.
-Trying to cross off a few more of my 2009 Resolutions, before compiling my 2010 list!

I love being charged with so much inspiration and anticipation!!

Catch Up

This past weekend can be summed up in a few words. These words are- fun, family, friends, cleaning, cooking, recuperating, and Rock Band. Friday and early Saturday were all about party prep, and then before I knew it it was time for our friends to start arriving. I had a moment of panic once all the food was on the table- what if no one comes? Funnily enough that idea hadn't occurred to me before then. And luckily it proved not to be true, as within an hour our house was filled to capacity. I was so happy that so many of our friends came to see our new home, and over the moon to have my sisters there with me. And after all the party people left, I got to sit outside and have good girl talk with them while Josh cleaned up all the mess. That's some kind of double luck or something. Sunday was all about recouping. Lots of laying around and playing Rock Band while we ate party leftovers. We've been eating leftovers since the party. I realized that one of the things you learn after throwing your first party is what you over and under estimate on in the food category. Next time more cheese and less veggies. The biggest hit of the party? The cheese ball, I'd say.

Unfortunately, the luck left me as I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and am just now back in the office today. I feel increasingly that sticking a couple of skewers in my ears and twirling them round might be a good idea, just to scratch that unreachable itch and irritation that is engulfing my head, throat and chest.

Now that the party planning is done, the travel planning takes it's place. One week until we head to Cali to visit Diggy!

House Projects

Basically the only thing that keeps me sane when there is disappointing stuff going on with the house (cracks, in case I haven't mentioned it enough), is making a list of all the improvements and projects I want to undertake. Raises my spirits. Considering it's STILL RAINING, I could use some raising.

-Install gutters on front and back of house, with rain barrels on each side of the garage, to help with drainage and lower water bill
-Put drain in flower bed by garage to help during flash floods
-Hire electrician to upgrade wiring and install switch in hall bath for over sink lights
-Get trees trimmed
-Dig up bushes near the shed
-Plant moonflowers along back backyard fence
-Build raised beds next to deck for vegetable gardening
-Plant container garden of herbs on south side of house
-Finish out laundry area with counter top, on-wall drying racks and rubber mats
-Arrange photo wall for the hallway
-Get Manhattan map framed for dining room
-Put trim up in bathroom and around mirror
-Extra insulation in attic?
-Get art for drum room
-Paint trim
-Paint spare bedroom
-Paint master bedroom?
-Re-do backyard shed