Mission (Almost) Complete.

We had a long weekend. Not necessarily in a bad way, but more of a major 'kick me in the wallet' kind of way. Seriously, the Benjamin's we laid out this weekend could have taken us on an amazing vacation. There's always next year, right? I'm not bitter - just really need a vacation!


In the living room there are two windows - ok, well, if you want to call the monstrous window 'one' window, then we have two, otherwise, there's four total. Geesh, you peeps are quite detail oriented, aren't you? I like that in a reader. Nice shooting', Tex. Anyway, we needed curtains. At night with the lights on one could see crystal clear into our entire living/dining/partial kitchen space and I'm really not a huge fan of that feature. So, off to Ikea we went. Along with the multiple curtain panels and rods for the living/dining area and bedrooms we purchased, we also picked up an area rug (I think for the bedroom), a bookcase for Cman, chalk for Cman's chalkboard wall, and some other misc stuff that I can't remember. See that? We hand over gobs of our hard earned greenbacks and I can't even remember what we purchased. That store is a black hole of wonderfulness that casts spells on the unknowing. 

As we made our way up Rt. 17 in NJ, I requested a stop into one of my most favorite stores EVAH. West Elm. Don't know the name?? Tisk, Tisk! Here, I'll help you get acquainted, but don't go pointing fingers when you feel the overwhelming need to plunk down the plastic. www.westelm.com. You're welcome. Well, as made blatantly clear by our debit card that one beating wasn't enough, we purchased a shower curtain and bath mat at west elm and I got to visit my chandelier in person. Seriously love at first sight. 

As we made our way north, Ed and I had to go see a Pierre about a counter. At this point, as I reached for my wallet, I could hear faint whimpering coming from inside. I pulled out my debit card and that poor sucker was weeping at the very thought of being swiped for a third time in just five hours. In about 2-4 weeks (keep your fingers crossed it gets to us before xmas!) we should have fully installed counters. Before that happens though, the template guy has to come measure our cabinets and sink/faucet. Then we (Ed) gets to pick a slab of stone we like. Then they polish and seal it. THEN they install the counters, sink, and faucet. Homies, those counters are the VERY. LAST. GIANT. PURCHASE. for this house. Yes, you read that correct. The last cringe-worthy purchase we will have to make for (hopefully) a long while. All in all though, the counters weren't as expensive as I thought granite would originally be. We got 10% off, free installation, free beveled edge (fancy-pants!), and the purchase was tax free - which if there were NYS sales tax involved, forgeddaboudit.


Ed began unpacking the bazillion boxes we have already brought over to the hizzy. Mainly the items are dishes, glasses, some decorative prints, small appliances, etc. He ran about four loads of dishes through the dishwasher - which was fixed with a $48 part - whoo-to-the-hoo!! And let me tell you, that dishwasher is silent when it runs and does a fantastic job! Oh and all the knobs and pulls were installed on the cabinets. Thanks, Dad!

We still have to finish installing the finishing trim on the bottom of the cabinets and we are up in the air right now about the crown moulding. We want to see the counters in first then decide our cabinets decorative fate. We also ordered our built in 12 bottle wine fridge that will go under the opposite side of the kitchen in the 'island' area of the kitchen where the fridge is. Can you see the empty space between the two lower cabinets? We are taking suggestions as to which types of wines should be fully stocked. C'mon, I know you have input! (PS don't mind the mess. We were playing shift the shit in order to take up the plastic on the floors and clean a little.)

Once the counters come in, I will share what the kitchen has amounted to in comparison to what it was. Maybe a little video tour of the new and improved hizzy will be thrown in the mix and as a bonus feature I'm thinking maybe a budget break down just for fun. Ha! Fun! I'm even shaking my own head at myself. I think I need to get out a little more if I think breaking down a budget (and into tears) is fun.  

Being Thankful For More Than Turkey...And Football.

I cannot believe it's Thanksgiving already.  Seriously, where has time gone? Usually we view Thanksgiving as a day off, a day of amazing football, a day to stuff our faces guilt free, and the day before the madness of the Christmas/Hanukah season begins. This year, Thanksgiving will be different for my family and it has really put my perspective on what I am truly thankful in focus.


This year my thankfulness goes beyond football (although I am 100% thankful for it), it goes beyond turkey, it goes beyond a day off. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for a plethora of things that, on a daily basis, make me smile and feel complete. It is simply amazing how lucky I really am. Ok, queue the collective 'Awwwwww'. In a world plagued with selfishness, poverty, unemployment, corrupt ways of thinking, unjust news, volatile markets, war, and chaos, it proves to be a difficult task to simply sit back and enjoy life, riding the free breeze without a care in the world. Sitting down to write this and collectively gather thoughts of how many times a day I say 'Oh thank goodness' really proved to me that even though times have been tough, I have a lot to be thankful for. 


As we all know, my family lost a significant member this year and there isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of Will. I know for a fact Ed and I miss him terribly. However sad I may get thinking about our family's loss of Will, I am thankful I had the opportunity to know him, to love him as a brother, to laugh with him, and for him to love Cman and I back. 


In other thanks, my list could go on and on... I'm thankful for the givens: Connor, Ed, Mama, my Dad and siblings, Ma, Pa, my sisters & brother-in law, my homies, morning coffee, my health, my job (most days), my families health, RHN, and seriously, the list could go on and on. 


So, on this turkey day, I raise my glass and thank each and every one of you for being amazing and also for being part of our (crazy) lives. We big puffy heart you and want you all to know how thankful we are for you. 

Lightyears.

The new microwave is in. The new stove is in. The remainder of the cabinets are in. The refrigerator is tightly squeezed into its newly decorated corner. The dishwasher isn't in. Sad Panda. Ok, the dishwasher was in, but the darn thing suffered wounds we were hoping it'd survived during the big freeze a couple of years ago. No such luck. Dad and Ed plumbed and wired that sucka up and she wanted to work so badly, but spewed her hardest working part (water) all over the kitchen when she was activated. Ed did luckily find the part that was broke - which then of course translates to 'so we don't have to buy a new dishwasher'. However, as much as we would love one to match the stove and microwave, no can do homies, not until we invest in other items first. Anywhoosle, I didn't take any pictures of the whole sha-bang yet, but I can show you a sneak peek of the stove/microwave if you so prefer. 

The counter tops have been altered slightly in terms of style. Not in OMG-wtf-were-they-thinking-my-eyes-are-burning-out-of-my-head-I-can't-stand-to-look-at-it-any-longer-why-are-you-toutureing-me?! kind of way, but more of an oohhh-ahhhh-that's-pretty kind of way. So, my peeps, I present to you the stone we fell head over heels for: Blanco Taupe. Yep, like my phone, I wanted to make out with it. (Although I of course am kidding about actually acting on that description, because that would be gross, weird, and result in water damage. It's just a simple expression of my affection towards such products. Comprende? Sweet.) Our new love, Blanco T., is granite. She is beautifully proportioned in all the right neutrals and sheds onto the very solid non-pattered kitchen some personality and beauty. She's not for everyone and will not suit all tastes, but we love her and feel she needs a home in our hizzy. Plus, Ed thinks it's way cool that a piece of natural stone will be gracing our very presence everyday in his favorite room of the hizzy - um, yea, he is a Geologist after all, and loves his trees and rocks. If you ask him the scientific name of a tree specie, he belts it out like a dictionary...or rain main. At Christmas, I bet he, his sister and Tyler will have a scientific specie naming contest- Ed with trees, Mar & Tyler with corals. It's bound to happen which is pretty cool (and intimidating). All those Brandt's are so smart. 

L.O.V.E.

After a much needed trip to Home Goods on Friday night (I had been holding off for months) Ed and I walked out with one of the coolest pieces of furniture and of course treats and a squeaky loofa for the dog. The layout of RHN is open. The big room is open into the dining which is open to the kitchen. This leaves us desiring a break-up (of the openness, not us) and definition of which room is which. However, trying to accomplish such a fete can only be done with furniture - excuse me, fun furniture. So, lo-and-behold, I present to you the winner for the most fun piece of furniture we own...

Isn't it just beyond fantastic?! It is so comfortable too. I have the perfect pillow for it - a birthday gifteroonie from one of my best homies, Jen. I honestly thought Ed was going to shoot the chartreuse beauty down, but he felt as strongly about it as I did and it went home with us. I thought we were going to have to fight off another home goods patron, but as soon as I plopped my tushy on that sucka, she knew it was game over.  

Hasta La Bye-Bye.

I know, I know, two entries in a three day timespan isn't the norm, but I just had to share with you all my excitement over the kitchen floor and my plans for my lunch hour. Internalizing such fun would just cause spontaneous combustion, and really? Do you want that mess covering the newly redone hizzy? After studying messes like that in undergrad, I'm going to answer for you and say nope. You're welcome. 


Anyway, I'm here to declare that my husband is a rock star...at being an awesome tiler! Yea, he can rock a bass guitar pretty hardcore, but no base guitars were used in this particular rocking situation. Ed tiled and grouted the entire kitchen floor in three days - all after work on weeknights. See?? Rock Star. Ed works in NYC 99% of the time and leaves the house at 5-5:30am everyday to drive to Queens, only to get home at 6-6:30pm. Thats a long day and drive.... 

.....to go up to RHN and spend four to five hours more on the floor means pure dedication. Ok, well that and determination. So, Thanks, Ed!! The floors look fabulous. 


Today on my lunch break, we are going to see Pierre about some countertops. They will take about 3-4 weeks to arrive, but at least we can get the ball rolling. I FREAKIN' LOVE THIS KITCHEN!!! and the way it's coming together. Yes, I love it so much I had to yell it. Sue me. 


Finally. The last giant project of RHN is done. Let's all say Hasta La Bye-Bye to big undertakings and hello to little undertakings. I hear Ikea and West Elm calling our names. 

Check, Check, And Check.

Remember that check list I put together in a previous post? No? Ok, let's review.


The checklist stands as so (all-inclusive before and after check list because I know all you really care about are pictures):

• finish the bathroom vanity top
• install the bathroom sink
• paint the trim in the bathroom
• install sconces,towel bar, etc.
• fix hardwood floor in kitchen
• install the last 3 cabinets
• tile the kitchen floor
• have counter top installed
• install appliances

Out of those nine items we have checked off six big ones!  Holy sheet!rock! We have also set a firm goal date of the end of November to be moved into the red hizzy ... or so we hope. The kitchen floor is tiled. As in no longer can you see the horridness that was red tile or green asbestos vinyl tile or rotted sub floor. 

Need I say more?

Lookin' good! 

As you can most obviously see, the new floor is happiness pie and the old floor is sheet on a steek. Ugh. Just looking at that old floor makes me cringe and weep for my back and knees. Six layers of old floor, people. SIX! And no longer do we need a ladder to get from the hallway/dining room into the kitchen due to said six layers. Ok, I'm done. The new happiness floor is tiled with porcelain tiles made to resemble travertine stone, but is about a bajillion times stronger and more durable. These tiles were thick and heavy. I really liked that they have rounded corners and subtle texture. We still have to grout the floor and today may just be that day. 


In bathroom news...Wait. What's that? You want to see more pictures demonstrating how the kitchen looked before we kicked its sorry ass and after? Sure! I'd be happy to oblige. 

Ugh.

Ah. Yea. That seriously is the same kitchen. 

Makes me smile every. single. time. Oh! And you may have or may not have noticed, but the window in the kitchen as been framed (he didn't do it I swear!! It was totally the fridges fault) and painted its one coat of white (to the looney bin that poor framed window goes. All while the fridge is on its rampage). We also painted the kitchen a new color. It's lighter and softer and named Turtle Dove. It's a gray-green and hard to capture its beauty with a camera phone. 

Anyway... some doodads in the bathroom need a do over and yes those are totally a technical terms. For some reason my spidy senses were off a little when planning the bathroom. The fixes are 100% cosmetic and while the manly men are installing the appliances this weekend I will have my way with the bathroom (get your minds out of the gutter thankyouverymuch). I cannot believe Thanksgiving is upon us already. What is everyone doing? Anyone hitting up black friday? 

The Tale Of Two Molding's.

Ok, so you caught me. I'm not really going to blabber on in this post about moldings for 200 words (or more), but I will tell you that finding matching molding for the bathroom has proven to be a challenge. First the determination of how much one needs is math. Pure, full on, sixth grade math. Second, choosing a design. It's bathroom floor molding, so we went simple. Third, one must measure each piece of molding in height, for Home Depot likes to sneak 3.25" in with the 3" and laugh at you when you try to figure out why $86 worth of molding isn't matching up. Yea, fantastic. Thanks, HD. I thought we were homies considering we pay your salary and keep your lights on. I thought we were tighter than this. My father has exercised his vocabulary while fighting the molding powers that be. Anyway, we (dad) got all the molding installed in the bathroom. Yea, nice try, still no pictures.


Heat is a wonderful thing. That is all.

It says heat. As in NOT 35 degrees inside as it did last winter. Right Jan? Our realtor knows all about it!

We began tackling Frumka's room (office/spare bedroom). The battle of the bulge began. Ok, smart-asses, I wasn't talking about me Ed. On the left hand wall, the holy sheet!rock had a major-it-looks-like-it-swallowed-a-thanksgiving-turkey-you-should-walk-that-off bulge. Honestly, we couldn't figure out why there was a mountain in the wall. So, armed with a 13 year old and a crowbar, we (cman) destroyed the bulge.

Under that bulge was a whole-lotta studs, not so stellar insulation, and just plain ol crappy holy sheet!rock. The sheetrock itself was bowed out due to poor installation and also the middle stud is slightly protruding...not a lot, but enough to bow the sheetrock a little. My dad and Cman only took out the section of sheetrock that was bulging and replaced it with a new, look-the-wall-got-lipo piece of rock. What-up?! Word to your spackle knife, yo. Skinny walls all up in the hizzy.

It just needs some facial expressions and it could be a Japanese anime character or an snow monster. 

In the kitchen, Ed got to take his new circular saw for a spin on the hardwood floors. Ha! I just heard you say 'SAY WHAT?! Girlfriend, have you lost your marbles?!' See, there were pieces of flooring where the kitchen and dining room met that had been mistreated over the years and when I say mistreated, I mean what the he-double-hockey-sticks happened there?! Underneath the seven layers of tile floors in the kitchen we found that the last tile floor was brought out into the dining room quite a bit and some genius just tiled over the hardwood floor for a good almost five inches (plus there were places where there was no flooring at all or it was rotted. We replaced parts of the sub floor too. Hmm, seems to be a prominent tend at RHN). 

With that being said, we had no choice but to replace it, but the question was how. A box of identical hardwood flooring covers some crazy amount of square feet; we needed less than one square foot. *Enter side stage Mr. & Mrs. Toth*  One of my bestest gal pals, Jen, parents (Mr. & Mrs. Toth) had extra hardwood flooring in 3.25" width pieces from their re-model. The color was different than our hardwood floors, but the wood was the same and the price was an apple pie (still have to make that payment!). So, the only thing I did was buy some course 80 grit sand paper, grab my handy-dandy impulse purchase sander (best investment, btw), and sand away at the many coats of poly and stain to get them back to the natural wood color. Once the planks were natural wood, I sanded them with a 140 grit fine sandpaper, then I simply coated them with two coats of outdoor strength poly and wham-bam-thank-you-mam we have floors! Don't the new pieces look as if they belong there? The strip you see in between the kitchen floor and hardwood will be tiled and properly thresholded. Sweet! Oh, and as you can see in the picture, we finished installing the cabinets. Do you see how uneven the floors are? No? Look at the amount of shimming we had to do just to get those suckas level. yo. 

I bet you all are curious as to what it is I do exactly seeming as if I'm not in any of these pictures and I'm always speaking of my father or Ed doing all the (fun) work. I'm usually painting. Yup, the most dreaded job and I get to do it. Ah boo. Along with painting I can also be found working outside, doing a little woodworking, playing with power tools, taking pictures, whipping the minions (I kid, I kid. Although little yellow goggled minions that speak in beeping might be cool to have around. However, I wouldn't whip them. Too dang cute!), and patting dad, Ed, and Cman on the back. So there you have it, kids, what we did at RHN this past weekend. Next weekend we tile the kitchen floor and install the bathroom vanity. Guess I better get cracking on purchasing bath accessories. 

         Minions!

The Snowpocalypse, A Birthday, And A Decided Decision.

I have been debating telling the story of a birthday snowstorm that Mother Nature lovingly gifted Ed. The reason for the great debate is because 1.) it's snow and we live in the Northeast. It's not a new phenomena. 2.) I'm pretty sure you've read seventeen other blogs talking about snow in October. However, my dear RHN fans and not fans (hell, you could be reading this strictly due to boredom) I have decided to enter the literary world of the October Snowpocalpse 2011, and divulge to you all the wondrous (sarcasm detector just went off. did you hear it?) white stuff that has my/Ed's shoulders and back really pissed at me/us. But first: Happy Birthday, Ed!

 

 

Non-cake birthday cake. 

The original forecast for the weekend was around 6in of snowfall total. Then as the week went on it went to 8in total. Then 10in, then bam! 10-15 inches of white stuff. In October. Happy Snowaween, peeps; and Happy Birthday, Ed. Grab a shovel. The rate of falling snow here was 1-3inches an hour and the ground wasn't frozen. So, doing simple I-grew-up-in-the-northeast-I'm-tired-of-this-crap math, we can determine that the sum of those two variables equals a giant sloppy mess. As Ed and I were determined to get the furnace up and running before the pipes refroze, we fired up the new green monster and let er' rip! It was on and running for maybe ten minutes when the power went out. Wah-wah. It was cold in the hizzy at a staggering 49-50 degrees so we decided to head back to my Dad's where they was heat and power. Once we got outside six inches had already fallen which then became our cue to go. While we weren't really worried about driving because we had Ed's rental 4x4 pick-up, we were more worried about trees being down and roads being closed - this snow was wet and heavy. Well, with that being said, we hopped in the truck, put it in reverse, took off the parking break and BAM! Holy sheet! A giant maple tree limb fell on our truck with us in it and scared the beejeezeus out of us.

 

After we put our hearts back into our chests, we squeezed out of the truck drivers side, we (Ed) went in and grabbed the battery operated sawzall and began chopping away at this monstrous tree. Luckily for us (and Enterprise) there was minimal damage and Ed and I weren't hurt - oh, and either was Mama. However, the lamp post and lilac didn't fair so well, but I do have to thank Mother Nature for helping us take down limbs that we were going to trim back in the spring! High-Five M.N.! The other side of the hizzy suffered a lot of down branches too, but nothing directly hitting the house. Damn! We were hoping for a new roof due to tree damage. Oh well. All in all, the snowpocalypse dumped a little over a foot of snow on us and we lost power at RHN until last night. The big green monster in our basement is now being fed and is heating our chilly residence. Yay for electric and heat. 

In other non snow related news, we have made an executive decision on the kitchen. The original plan to pour concrete counter tops has been slashed. No, no, not the slash with the top hat and Gibson Les Paul; although that would be seriously cool to have slash jammin' at RHN while we talk counter tops. Anyway, the concrete isn't going to work out as much as we want it to. It's cool, peeps, no sad panda faces. We are going to go the Corian/Staron route which I think is just going to be a better fit for us in terms of work (making the molds and pouring the counters), upkeep on said DIY counters, overall durability and resale value. We have a color/design in mind and also a back splash in mind. So, do you want to see how I envision our final kitchen looking like?

 



pinterest.com

That's quite a far cry from where the kitchen began just six months ago. The picture is almost identical in terms of cabinet color, counter top style, lighting, and appliances we already have in RHN which makes the envisioning much easier. I love the design element in this kitchen. It is modern and clean, yet inviting and homey, yo. It will help poor big RHN transform into the home we knew it could be...well on the inside at least. Plus, it will be a lot easier on the eyes than the before:

Cringe worthy. Yuck.

We are coming close to moving in -everybody say it with me- FINALLY, with only a few projects to go.

The checklist stands as so:

• finish the bathroom vanity top
• install the bathroom sink
• paint the trim in the bathroom
• install sconces,towel bar, etc.
• fix hardwood floor in kitchen
• install the last 3 cabinets
• tile the kitchen floor
• have counter top installed
• install appliances

Then we are move-in ready, homeys. I know the list may look long to you, but honestly, this is a 1mm in length list compared to what we began with in May. Right now I am debating whether or not I should pick up the dining room chandelier I have been eyeing for years. It's on super-sale right now and I can hear it beckoning our names, calling for us to rescue it from the depths of the warehouse to which it was exiled. I really think it needs a home in our dining room, even Ed thinks so. I also have 2 free chairs, a dresser that will soon serve a totally different purpose, a desk, and a headboard for Cmans bed that all have to get painted. We have a plan of attack for Frumpkas/the bad kids room and it is fabulous! No, seriously, I'm not kidding. That's another post for another day. I have to do a little research before we engage in a full on battle - both blog wise and construction wise.