The New Meaning of Outdoor Living

One of our favorite things about our new home is the outdoor spaces.  It has such a Charleston feel to us--every time I step outside I feel like I'm on vacation.   I laughed that the courtyard would be my oasis from all the mauve (seriously--thank goodness its gone)!  Here's a of our updates to give you a glimpse of our great outdoors.

Again, here's the outside. We've since changed out the flag with a good ol' Kentucky state flag.

Behind the front boxwoods are hostas, lillies and ground cover.

Bench with impatients on the front porch. Ignore the painter's dropcloth--we were having the outside painted.

My oasis--i.e, the courtyard.

Multi-colored glass lantern bottles and a bird feeder we got from the Woodland Art Fair hanging in our magnolia tree.

 

Our baker's rack of flowers and lamppost.

Marigolds on a bench and pots of herbs.

Bricked walkway from the courtyard to the rest of the yard lined in coneflowers.

Backyard. Our dog is killing all the grass when she uses the bathroom. Any advice to keep the grass green?

Backyard from the steps from the driveway.

Close up of one of my favorite parts: the unpainted old brick fencing.

Back from the Arctic (So I Post Pictures of Our Living Room)

Okay, not really the Arctic, it just felt like the Arctic.  It was Alaska/Canada, and we were about 250 miles away from the Arctic Circle, which is plenty close for me. Let's be real, it was definitely cold enough. Still, it was beyond amazing.

We are sifting through our over 1,000 pictures--so I promise that as soon as we go narrow them down, I'll share them. Until then, here are a few more pictures of our home: 

Before: Yes, that is mauve/deep red trim, shelves and fireplace with dark off-white walls. To me, this makes it all look super busy and dark. Not our style at all.

Please ignore the little fact that none of our furniture matches because well, it still doesn't match as that's a whole other remodel down the hopefully soon road.  We have the pieces picked out and it's our next big home adventure.  We hope to have the money saved up by next year so that we can complete this room.   

For now, let's all just enjoy the paint, because it made one heck of a difference.

Covering everything to paint the walls

After of the fireplace: Porter Paints Eidelweiss trim, Wheat Sheaf walls, and Ceiling White ceiling.

The concrete around fireplace was cracked and had to be repaired, so it was painted black to hide the repair work and to pop (and the framing around the picture is getting painted black tomorrow to match).

The built-in shelving was also the same red. I wanted it to blend more and not compete as much with the reddish hardwood floors, so it was also painted the trim color Eidelweiss (a warmer grey white).  I am really pleased with how this room has turned out: much more modern, simple, and light.

Found on the Bathroom Walls

The people who owned the house before us had a Colonial/Shaker taste that was clearly reflected in the color scheme.  Cam and I knew the bathrooms walls were the first things to be changed as they were, ahem, a bit busy for our taste.

Exhibit A: our bathroom:

By busy, I mean the competition among the large print nuts and berries wallpaper, black and white tile, and navy shelving.  I do love the awesome tiled walk-in shower, large jacuzzi tub, white cabinetry, double sink, great tile, and plantation shutters.


Exhibit B: The first floor bathroom:

Just so we're clear, that is NOT wallpaper.  That has actually be hand-stenciled. Yes, stenciled. By a person. With their hand. All up and down my bathroom walls. Also, they mixed chrome and brass a lot in this bathroom.  The door knob, toilet lever, and window hardware are chrome.  The light fixture, faucet and stopper, and light switch are brass. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. But, the clearly more pressing concern is paint because the bathroom is newer.  Sigh, the bathroom renovation will be saved for another day--the paint is a big step for now. 


Here's the after of the downstairs bathroom's paint (we've hung the mirror back up since):

 Here's ours bathroom with the wallpaper stripped:

And the final product with the paint and shelves/hooks back up:

 

Crazy Going Slowly Am I...

 So I go to brush my teeth this morning, and notice two toothbrushes in my drawer.  C alerts me that one is his--that he put it in the wrong drawer--and he retrieves it.  Confused, I stare at him.  I'm pretty confident that one was mine, right? But it's wet from where he just used it, so maybe it is his. I look suspiciously at the one left, and honestly decide I've never seen this thing before.  I promptly throw it away and go get a spare. 

Only logical solution to all this: someone broke into my house and switched my toothbrush in the middle of the night with a  used toothbrush I've never seen before. Clearly. 

Is it July 27th yet? I need my common sense back...

Oh...and when I went downstairs to the basement to get the spare there was water on the floor--in the middle of the floor.  Nothing wet around it, and no cracks in the floor. Let's all pretend like it didn't happen until at least the end of this month, okay? I've had enough expenses and stress. 

 

All Moved In...So Let the Renovations Begin

We completely moved into the new home last week and it's been so busy around here. We are in love with this new house.  The new house was built in the 1930s by a local architect who designed quite a few of the buildings downtown.  The house has so much charm, so we are doing our best to maintain the vintage feel where its possible.

Oh but ladies, the biggest shocker was two hours after closing, I'm at the new house (with my wonderful in-laws who came in town to help us move) cleaning and getting things put away.  The inspector had mentioned that the jacuzzi tub had some brownish water when he ran it from where the water had sat in the pipes. So, we took some bleach, mixed it into the water, and ran the tub for a while.  After it had thoroughly cleaned, we drained the tub. I walked downstairs to put something away, and at the bottom of steps I see the bleach water running down my chandelier, down the walls, and the canned light fixtures in my eat-in kitchen (breakfast room). I panicked. Luckily, we plugged the tub and got buckets quickly enough that no damage was done to the oriental rug or table in the room.  The light fixtures all dried out, and the plaster ceiling has been repaired.  The drain on the tub had apparently dry-rotted and has also been replaced.  

Also, the desk didn't fit through the door frame to the office by less than a half-inch, even when it was taken apart.  I was beyond sick when I walked in and my darling husband was literally chiseling the 1930s crown-moulding off around the door. He completely ripped out the door jam, so the poor door frame was gone through major restoration over the week.  But, we got the desk into the office so apparently that's all that matters.

I've found a great handyman (who has a great painting crew) that can fix pretty much everything we've thrown at him thus far (everything--the plumbing, the door frame, the plaster repair, interior/exterior painting). Seriously, there is no question that he's become my new best friend.  Our wallet is probably needing a break, but I'm in love with all the updates thus far. 

I'll give you an itemized list of each thing we've had done to the house, and I'll try to post pictures of each room's before and after eventually (let's just say we can all agree that if I fail the bar, it won't be for over-blogging, sorry guys). 

• Removed all wallpaper upstairs 
• Repainted all trim, windows, doors, walls, and ceilings in the hallways, bathrooms, kitchen, breakfast room, and living room (they're still working on doing second coats to all the trim)
• Refinished (er...refinishing as we are still in the process) the kitchen cabinets and the built-ins in the living room and breakfast room
• bought new pulls for the drawers (and have narrowed down the selection for cabinet knobs).
• Repaired all damage to the plaster behind the wallpaper and from the tub leak and sanded, filled, and restored the door jam in the office
• Sanded and repainted all exterior trim (and touch up of brick when it was needed).
• Most importantly--removing every inch of mauve in the house (unfortunately, we still have navy to do at a later point).  

Ahh, house decorating/fixing up is so much more interesting than the Bar exam.

Hello From Hell

My hand is literally cramping from making note cards on Conflicts of Laws and Criminal Law (I wish I was lying when I say I stopped counting after 120 today), so I thought I'd take a break from bar prep and try to numb my hand with a beer and a little blogging. 

Clearly, my life will extremely boring for the next two months.  I keep telling myself that if I pass, it will be the last test I will ever have to take.  That's enough incentive right there to work my butt off. 

Cam and I have packed up most of the house now because we move in a week!   I literally have packed away his shaving cream, my hairdryer, and our checkbook.  Oops.  We have finished with the appraisals, inspections, and final negotiations.  We're just ready for that house to be ours and to start unpacking all these boxes.

Here's a sneak peek at the plans we have in store for our future home hopefully sooner than later: 

• Scrape and paint some of the exterior wood that is peeling
• Refinish the kitchen cabinet (seriously...there are mauve). 
• Repaint the walls and trim (because their mauve and navy to match the kitchen, of course)
• Buy koi fish for the pond outside (Cam isn't sold on this idea, but who has a koi pond without koi?)

For now, we're just hoping nothing goes wrong in the next week!

Bare: An Update on the House

We have "passed" the homeowner's inspection on our current home and both appraisals, so the only thing left is the homeowner's inspection on the future home until our closing.  Three weeks from today until the big move!


C came home yesterday and said that the house feels "bare" so I guess that's a good sign that the packing is coming along.  

Our office, all packed up.

The dining packing room with all the fragile boxes

We're on a grocery store strike, so our pantry is becoming very empty.

Poor pup has been mopey. This house is the only house she knows, and all this packing is making her nervous.

Like I said yesterday, we are down to basically the essentials. I know it seems early, but we need to get as much done as possible because tomorrow I switch gears to start studying for the Bar.  Let's just pretend like that isn't happening, okay?

Welcome to our *Almost* Home

We have a verbal agreement on the new home now and should have the signed contract sometime this morning.  Assuming all goes well with the inspections on both homes, we should be moving by July. 

I know it sounds cheesy, but this house reconfirms that God has a wonderful plan for us all--even if its not our original plan.  Cam and I had picked out two houses we loved. As pathetic as this sounds, I've prayed often over the past few months for our house to sell so we could buy one of these houses.  Dear Lord, please let our house sell so we can get this specific house(s). Over the past few months, it seemed to go nowhere.  Cam and I think we have a beautiful home, so we never imagined our house would sit on the market (along with every other house in the neighborhood though).  

Well, I was talking to my mom Monday night and she said, "Pray for the family whom God will guide to buy your house--that they be happy in your house and it be perfect for them.  Then pray that you all find the perfect house."  It's embarrassing to admit that it was a rather novel concept--I had basically been offering up desperate pleas and sometimes my frustration, especially when both of the houses we wanted sold on the same day. 

Well, these people had come to look at our house Monday morning but said that while they loved the home, there was another in the neighborhood they liked better. Clearly, I wasn't getting my hopes up. Monday evening after talking to Mom, I prayed for the future buyers--that they may enjoy our home and find as much happiness as we have here (we actually got engaged in the dining room, so this house will always be special and filled with wonderful memories). I then prayed that we would find the house meant for us.

Interestingly the next day, the Monday people called again and apparently had not liked the other house in our neighborhood once they saw it in person.  They wanted to come back to see ours as soon as possible.  As I had some time to kill, I decided to pray the rosary that God's will be done.  A few hours later, we had an offer and negotiated the sale.  

Of course, we googled the people and what do I find? The wife's blog.  They are an adorable, sweet family that are moving to Lexington. And they are very strong Christians that pray often about their move and future house.  Call me crazy, but I know God sent this family to our home. Sidenote: as tempting as it was, no I did not leave a comment on her blog.  I don't want to admit my stalking ways, except on my own blog, haha!


We then began the hunt for a new home.  We had our eye on one that we liked--one that we both agreed we could live in.  But when the time came to make the offer, we decided we wanted to look at a long list of homes in our price range again.  On Wednesday, we went to seven new houses and two we knew we liked.   We walked into one, and knew it was our home.  We adore everything about it--the location, the gardens, the layout, the charm.  We loved it so much we knew we couldn't make an offer on the first house--it would be selling ourselves short.  We even like it more than the original houses we thought we wanted. 

The house reminds us of one of our favorite places: Charleston.  The side of the house faces the street, it is old and beautiful, and it has the most unbelievable gardens.  The funny thing is this house just came on the market last week.  If we had sold our house even a week earlier, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to even see our dream home.  I'm now so thankful that it  seems to be working out perfectly.  We are so incredibly blessed.  So, without further adieu, here are a few pictures  of our *almost* home:

A peek inside the front garden.

I'm thinking a Kentucky state flag is in order...

We negotiated the vintage church pew and potted inpatients on the porch..isn't it just charming?

Other side of the porch...I'm thinking a large rocker but Cam wants a cafe table..

View of walkway around back that leads to...

...this brick courtyard.  This is seriously my new oasis...

There's even a koi pond and fountain.

I don't want to do too many inside pictures because it has their stuff in it, but here's a picture of the foyer. I'm leaving this wallpaper I think as it is neutral.

The entire house will be hopefully be painted, but isn't this great room amazing and full of potential?! (don't worry, the kitchen cabinets will be refinished...)

Fingers crossed and lots of prayers that all goes well with inspections and such so this beautiful home will be ours by July.

 

HOORAY Thanks St. Joseph :)

I know I never do two posts in one day--but this is too big not to share :)  We accepted an offer on our house today. I'm so excited and we are set to close in a month, so I'm gonna be busy packing before the bar studying gets too crazy.

Both houses we liked sold two weeks ago (actually on the same day), so we have spent the evening picking out houses we want to go see.  We are looking at 9 houses tomorrow and hope to have an offer in place by Friday.   I'll definitely share the details as they come.

Here's to Saint Joseph (and Mary because you know my Catholic butt clearly said a full rosary today when they were looking at the house...).  

Halfway There...

I have become the world's worst blogger....ever.  I have one final to go until graduation, and I'm ready to get this show on the road (let me correct that--I'll be ready after I start really studying for this test to get this show on the road).  But, I have a lot of other things taking up my time beyond school: 

Except the grass is actually green now...

1. Our house is still on the market.  So, if you want to come buy it, please by all means do and make me the happiest girl in the world! C and I are clean people, but keeping the house ready to show at all times is a lot of work.

2. C's been sick. Poor baby has been on a z-pac for a while, but that hasn't stopped his fever (or his sweating through the sheets at night...or his general grouchiness...).

3. Pomegranate sale.  Okay, this is just what is taking up my time today--I'm getting ready to head out there right now. I'll be sure to share my finds!

4. Eh. I have endometriosis, and I have been able to tell for a little while that it hasn't been getting better (and realized last week that it may be worse).  Well, I finally got in with the doctor and she wants to do surgery...again...the week after the Bar.  Just the way I wanted to celebrate!

5. Junior League. I joined Jr. League this year, and it is a lot of fun--but it can be very time consuming, especially as a provisional. I've loved getting to meet the girls though and getting involved  in Lexington, so it has definitely been worth it.

So jealous they'll be able to go cheer on Big Cous in person :)

6. Sacramento. C's little brother just got a job in Sunny Sacramento! He's excited--and we are so thrilled for him.  He and his girlfriend are embarking on the "Goodbye Tour" so that they can see all of the family before they leave.  Don't worry...we've already started planning wine trips to Napa with them--we've got it all covered.

7. This Weather.  Just call me Dorothy (and pup can be Toto). I live right next to a park, so C and I have gotten little sleep/rest lately because the park's sirens are constantly going off and the weather just keeps coming.  For example, I got stuck in the church basement for 2 1/2 hours yesterday during the tornado warning. Also, Kentucky is being absolutely devastated by flooding--we're over $34 million in damages from the storms already.  I am just thanking God that nothing like what happened in Tuscaloosa happened here (and that all my friends at UA are okay).  Alabama is heavy on my mind today.

8. Royal Wedding. I'm not die-hard about this, but I am excited to see this wedding tomorrow!

I've decided this one was my favorite concoction--pineapple, mango, and coconut yogurts with fresh fruit (and gummy bears). Yum!

9. Study Breaks. I've been taking quite a few study breaks--especially to Orange Leaf and Magee's.  Let's just hope my graduation dress will still fit...

No more excuses though...I'll try to get better!