** A quick note about the last post. I'm glad that it was as coherent as it was because I was still really dopped up on Ambien when I wrote it. Why I decided to blog then is beyond me. The 2 hour layover in Newark is a blur as is the horrible turbulence we felt on the flight out. Drugs, I tell ya. **
The wedding was fun and I have pics to share, but it's going to have to wait til after this weekend. Why, you ask? Because this week has been devoted to final prep for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk which starts before sun up this Friday. Eeeeee!
I'm mostly packed, save for a few last minute things that need to be thrown in, I have my train ticket to SD and I'm ready to do this! I'm also mostly excited with a few nerves thrown in for good measure. I think I'll chalk the nerves up to the fact that it's a new experience and once I actually get out there, it should all disappear. Lastly, I'm worried that I'm going to be a sobbing mess here and there during the weekend, especially on the last day. I mean, really, I started tearing up during the safety video we had to watch to finish registering for the walk. Yeah, probably doesn't bode well for keeping the tears in check on the event itself.
Please keep Alyssa and I either in your prayers or your thoughts this weekend. The forecast is clear and I'm hoping for a great experience for us. :)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Red eye fun
I'm blogging this at the Newark airport as we wait for our connection to New Hampshire. We took the red eye flight and I took an ambien to try and get some sleep. I'm not sure that I really slept, but I was definitely in a fog. So much so, that I'm sure I resembled a drunkard as I stmbled off the plane to get to our connection. The upside to the drug is that the flight seemed very short and the very cute, but potentially loud toddler sitting in front of me, didn't bother me in the least.
We're here the rest of the weekend for a friend's wedding and then back to sunny Cali on Sunday night. Should be a fun trip, except that I'm already tired and feeling a bit off. I'm sure the sleep meds have nothing to do with this ....
We're here the rest of the weekend for a friend's wedding and then back to sunny Cali on Sunday night. Should be a fun trip, except that I'm already tired and feeling a bit off. I'm sure the sleep meds have nothing to do with this ....
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Project House
We've been in the house for a little over 4 months now and it's finally starting to feel like home. I think this is a combination of actually living here and continuing to add all those little finishing touches to make it feel like our home. The last couple of weeks, in particular, it's been all house stuff, all the time. I'm tired, but things are coming together really well.
Kitchen:
This room was basically good to go when we moved in... except for the terrible door handles and drawer pulls and the icky kitchen curtains. Blech! I found a dark oil-rubbed bronze set that is a little bit modern and a little bit traditional. Amazing how just changing out the hardware can change the whole look and feel of the room.
The curtains were more difficult. For some reason, the only kitchen curtains I could find were either covered in fruit or had more ruffles than an Easter dress. Ugh. I wanted to get something up, so I settled on a cream cafe curtain. Not great, but better than what was there before.
Living Room:
We started off with a good couch, tv stand and bookshelves, but we've recently added a rug, a new coffee table and side table. Those three things alone make the room so much cozier!
With the temperature dropping, we picked up fireplace accessories so we could finally use our fireplace. Target had a simple, clean line collection that was not only inexpensive (dude, those screens can be $$$), but fit the style of the room well.
A few decorative pumpkins jumped into our cart, too. Aren't they cute?
In the future, we'd like to add a console table next to the front door and set up a reading nook in the corner of the room next to the picture window.
Enclosed Patio aka The Bar Area:
It's finally getting some character! Some wrought iron wall decor and tall dark wood candlesticks and voila -- it's starting to look pretty.
Master Bedroom:
During the summer the light that would stream in in the morning was awful. Curtains suddenly became a necessity. Not only are they useful, but I think they add a bit more interest to the room, no? Oh, and we finally got around to hanging that picture frame, too.
Guest Room:
This was formerly the kid's room and it was a horrible lilac color. So not us. We opted for a warm creamy-beige for the walls, which was a nice background for the dark funiture and deep red linens. I'm actually excited now to have people spend the night!
Bathroom:
We only have one full bathroom and when we moved in it was soooo ugly. Dark blue-ish purple walls with tons of white tile, painted white cabinets and a faux marble counter. Ugh. I seriously cringed whenever I walked in. Since we feel like one of these days, we're going to do a major renovation of the bathroom, we opted to just change the paint and accessories to give the room a different feel. While the layout would still not be my first pick, it looks SO MUCH BETTER! The pictures don't do the transformation justice. The wall color is Cloud (a very light blue) from the Restoration Hardware Baby and Child line and the cabinets went from boring white to a rich dark brown. We swapped out the cabinet pulls for a matte silver that gives the room a more modern feel. Towels and accessories were a mix of good 'ol Tarjay and Lowe's. I absolutely love this room now. Love it!
The last room that is undergoing huge facelift is our basement aka my home office/craft room. I'm still adding some finishing touches so I'll wait to post pictures, but let's just say that it's becoming a little slice of heaven for me. ;)
Kitchen:
This room was basically good to go when we moved in... except for the terrible door handles and drawer pulls and the icky kitchen curtains. Blech! I found a dark oil-rubbed bronze set that is a little bit modern and a little bit traditional. Amazing how just changing out the hardware can change the whole look and feel of the room.
Before
After
After
The curtains were more difficult. For some reason, the only kitchen curtains I could find were either covered in fruit or had more ruffles than an Easter dress. Ugh. I wanted to get something up, so I settled on a cream cafe curtain. Not great, but better than what was there before.
Before
After
After
Living Room:
We started off with a good couch, tv stand and bookshelves, but we've recently added a rug, a new coffee table and side table. Those three things alone make the room so much cozier!
Before
After
After
With the temperature dropping, we picked up fireplace accessories so we could finally use our fireplace. Target had a simple, clean line collection that was not only inexpensive (dude, those screens can be $$$), but fit the style of the room well.
A few decorative pumpkins jumped into our cart, too. Aren't they cute?
In the future, we'd like to add a console table next to the front door and set up a reading nook in the corner of the room next to the picture window.
Enclosed Patio aka The Bar Area:
It's finally getting some character! Some wrought iron wall decor and tall dark wood candlesticks and voila -- it's starting to look pretty.
Master Bedroom:
During the summer the light that would stream in in the morning was awful. Curtains suddenly became a necessity. Not only are they useful, but I think they add a bit more interest to the room, no? Oh, and we finally got around to hanging that picture frame, too.
Guest Room:
This was formerly the kid's room and it was a horrible lilac color. So not us. We opted for a warm creamy-beige for the walls, which was a nice background for the dark funiture and deep red linens. I'm actually excited now to have people spend the night!
Before
After
After
Bathroom:
We only have one full bathroom and when we moved in it was soooo ugly. Dark blue-ish purple walls with tons of white tile, painted white cabinets and a faux marble counter. Ugh. I seriously cringed whenever I walked in. Since we feel like one of these days, we're going to do a major renovation of the bathroom, we opted to just change the paint and accessories to give the room a different feel. While the layout would still not be my first pick, it looks SO MUCH BETTER! The pictures don't do the transformation justice. The wall color is Cloud (a very light blue) from the Restoration Hardware Baby and Child line and the cabinets went from boring white to a rich dark brown. We swapped out the cabinet pulls for a matte silver that gives the room a more modern feel. Towels and accessories were a mix of good 'ol Tarjay and Lowe's. I absolutely love this room now. Love it!
Before
After
After
The last room that is undergoing huge facelift is our basement aka my home office/craft room. I'm still adding some finishing touches so I'll wait to post pictures, but let's just say that it's becoming a little slice of heaven for me. ;)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
It's a beautiful morning
I've got my first Peppermint Mocha of the season and I'm still enjoying the after-glow of the historic win by Barack Obama last night. Such a freaking great day!
A few personal thoughts from last night:
* I thought McCain's concession speech was really good. It felt like the first time we've seen the real McCain all campaign, which is a bit sad. I'm glad he went out on a positive note after a hard fought campaign.
* Palin still scares the crap out of me. I stand by the fact that she was the nail in McCain's proverbial coffin. I know a lot of folks for whom she was an absolute deal-breaker, which doesn't surprise me in the least. I truly hope that she is not the future of the Republican party.
* I was already aware of this, but OMG, how great of an orator is President Obama?!?! He is the perfect blend (at least for me) of pulpit-style rallying and eloquent speaker. It comes so natural for him, which is not an easy feat. I think that many Americans find his style comforting and I think this will bode well for him in the years to come.
* I feel so hopeful after last night's speech. Many parts of it brought me to tears as I felt like he was really speaking to each of us personally, charging all of us with helping him get this wonderful nation back on track. I'm excited, I'm hopeful and I can't wait to see how the next few months will unfold.
* It looks like Prop 8 will, in fact pass, which makes me sad. I'm fairly confident that it will eventually be over-turned by our courts, but what a sad day for many couples here in California. Sigh. I think we're definitely moving in the right direction as a country, but we're obviously not completely there yet.
Happy Hump Day everyone!
A few personal thoughts from last night:
* I thought McCain's concession speech was really good. It felt like the first time we've seen the real McCain all campaign, which is a bit sad. I'm glad he went out on a positive note after a hard fought campaign.
* Palin still scares the crap out of me. I stand by the fact that she was the nail in McCain's proverbial coffin. I know a lot of folks for whom she was an absolute deal-breaker, which doesn't surprise me in the least. I truly hope that she is not the future of the Republican party.
* I was already aware of this, but OMG, how great of an orator is President Obama?!?! He is the perfect blend (at least for me) of pulpit-style rallying and eloquent speaker. It comes so natural for him, which is not an easy feat. I think that many Americans find his style comforting and I think this will bode well for him in the years to come.
* I feel so hopeful after last night's speech. Many parts of it brought me to tears as I felt like he was really speaking to each of us personally, charging all of us with helping him get this wonderful nation back on track. I'm excited, I'm hopeful and I can't wait to see how the next few months will unfold.
* It looks like Prop 8 will, in fact pass, which makes me sad. I'm fairly confident that it will eventually be over-turned by our courts, but what a sad day for many couples here in California. Sigh. I think we're definitely moving in the right direction as a country, but we're obviously not completely there yet.
Happy Hump Day everyone!
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