goodbye 2005...

time sure flies.... it seems like just yesterday i was preparing for new years eve 2004. luckily, its been a very good year :)

someone pointed out that i hadn't updated the blog in a while... so here goes. things have been pretty busy on the work, life, and house areas. here are some pics of the progress of the house:







*finally*... we got the floor installed in the living and dining rooms over thanksgiving weekend. while ian worked on that, i was busy updating the old electrical outlets + switches in both rooms, installing a new front porch light. then, with a few days off, i managed to skip trowel the dining room and paint. i'll be able to post some pics of that once we get the baseboards installed and the furniture moved back to where it should be.

also, during one of our last trecks to ikea, i was very lucky enough to find a single kitchen cabinet [with glass doors] that matches what we just installed. lucky being that it was only $25 [when normally it would be around $100+], and that it was the perfect size to go on the wall above the bar. hopefully we will be installing that next week, building some shelves below it for cookbooks, and *ta da* the kitchen will be almost finished. yay!

on that note, time to get back to laundry and cleaning before getting ready for the nights festivities.

happy new year!

see that girl, watch that scene.. diggin' the drywall-ing queen

for those of you who think i can't even lift a sheet of drywall... well guess what! i was hanging drywall myself today! [well, greenboard, same thing really]. finally getting around to picking up where i left off on my side project of remodeling the 2nd bathroom. i need to finish hanging the rest [hopefully tomorrow]. which will leave the weekend to laying the tile in the bathtub surround. but we all know how deadlines go, so i'm not promising anything. if the weather is nice [and by that i mean no rain/strong winds], i'm going to be painting the front porch. i touched up the edging on the porch 'enclosure' today; just need for a nice weather day to actually paint the floor.

this weekend was 'new restaurant' weekend. friday night after much driving and traffic, we ended up back at the waterfront at yokoso! steakhouse. i give them a thumbs up for their french martinis and another thumbs up for the dinner. we split a teriyaki chicken entree, and ordered a few sides of sushi. it was alot of fun and the food was great. now saturday night we went to our second choice, halo restaurant on the south side. the atmosphere was great, but the big screen tv playing hockey all night just didn't fit in. i give them a thumbs down for their french martini and beer selection, but the food and service was good. i think the menu was very limited, but with the right choices, it would be a good dinner.

enough of my commentary! time to get back to some freelance projects, some tivo-watching, and finishing up adorably cute flower girl dresses for gary and ann's wedding.

holy halloween, batman

its been a busy week. lots of freelance keeping me busy, and even more house painting. we picked another color, and i'm loving it. its alot darker than we had originally thought we wanted, but it really looks great. see for yourself:




we still need to cut in around the upper edge, and touch up the white paint. next steps will be painting the porch [going with a gloss dark grey], and removing that icky lattice work and finding a new solution for that.

after a long week [and weekend] of work, we managed to get out saturday night to go to 2 halloween parties. had a good time, and got many compliments on our crazy costumes.




not much else has been going on. i'm loving the fall weather. i've started work on a few sweaters and scarves, and made this fancy little arm warmer.




yesterday i was feeling all domestic and made some tasty banana bread with chocolate chips, and chicken noodle soup from scratch for dinner. mmm... i love having a new kitchen :)

i was in hilton head and you weren't

after sorting thru 132 emails, its time for me to post our vacation recap. after rushing around thursday night, with packing, dropping sydney off with my sister, and some last-minute errands, we got very little sleep before leaving bright and early. with a full gas tank and warm drinks from starbucks, we were on our way. 13 hours later, after battling 2 rush hours, construction and downpours of rain, we arrived in hilton head and checked into the hotel.

saturday afternoon we went to a lovely wedding on the water, and had a great time at the reception ... drinking, dancing, and some very good seafood. sunday morning we wasted some time shopping and dining while waiting for the house to open up. came across this cute little gecko:



that afternoon we checked in the house that the murphys were renting for the week... and wow... theres no way to accurately describe it other than that. it was 10x better than we had expected. less than a minute walk to the beach, pool, view of the ocean, and fireplaces and tv's in many of the rooms... it was destined to be a relaxing vacation.



[note my cute scion out front]


the rest of the week was mostly spent on the beach on the good days,



... and driving around the island sightseeing and shopping on a few of the cloudier days:




we managed to find some time for fishing which was alot of fun, and flying kites on the beach on a clear night. one of our last days there we managed to make it down to the ocean to watch the sun rise...



it was really beautiful, but very cold. the last 2 days were the best weather-wise, in the mid 80s. obviously, we were on the beach both days :) here is the obligatory 'vacation beach pose photo':



also spent alot of time goofing around taking self-portraits. very few turned out:




hopefully i'll post a few more pics once the family sends the rest of them. we had a great time, but its good to be back. i missed sydney [picked her up tonight, thank you penny!], and im slowly getting back into the swing of things again.

thats it for now :)

where does the time go?

ok... before we left for vacation, i wrote a painstakingly-long email with an update of the past week... but forgot to post it. after my relaxing getaway, i have no idea what i did, let alone remember what i wrote :) so here's a brief recap:

ended up painting the front of the house not once, not twice, but yes 3 times. damn home depot and their paint mixing skills, and damn the sunlight for changing our nice grey green to mint green. here's a pic of the final color [and yes, we still need to cut in the edges and paint the windows, etc.]:



once thats done, i'm going to plant all my spring bulbs, mulch, and get ready for winter. yikes!

as gary was going to be cat-sitting over the getaway, we invited him and ann over for a yummy dinner with good food and lots of beer.



good times were had by all, and it was fun to finally be able to entertain in the new kitchen.

thats pretty much all i can remember. time for the real post now.

fun stuff

surprisingly, no house photos to post! the roof is finished, but thats not a very exciting photo, now is it? instead, i bring you the new frontman for inxs, jd fortune.... meow!



yes, i'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that i've been following the show, and was routing for jd. but now i can get back to my regularly scheduled tv on tuesdays, now that nip tuck, svu and the office are back with new shows.

and i normally don't get into all the blog quizzes to find out silly things like what type of coffee i am, but... this was fun, and very fitting, so here goes...

-----

"You Belong in Paris"
Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris.
The art, the fashion, the wine, the men!
Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park...
You'll love living in the most chic place on earth



What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz

-----

:)

relaxing...

time for some photos. here's the new dining room window:



for reference, this is how that wall looked when i first bought the house:



the window is above where the radiator used to be. last year i removed that whole shelving/closet system, and thats when i realized they had removed the window and boarded over it. i think it looks much better with the window :) now we just need to finish that wall and build a much nicer shelving unit and finish the area above the island.


here's another photo of the bar cut out in the tiled wall:




and... finally..., the new roof is in progress:



the roof was started saturday morning, and hopefully will be finished by monday. the workers are here now, luckily the weather has been great all weekend. decided to go with the architectural shingles, which cost a little more, but is definitely worth the investment. its looking great. next step will be finalizing the house color and getting started on paintingrel. we've been debating doing it an 'oatmeal' type color, a little lighter than the existing siding, or maybe a soft blue.

other than the roof, no real house work this weekend. ian is busy working on a new job, remodeling his parents kitchen, and it is nice to have a break and enjoy the house. we picked up an open box tivo w/dvd recorder last week, so thats set up with the flat screen and digital cable. its a good way to enjoy the almost finished living room :) and surprisingly... tan cat has been joining us down in the living room regularly. for those who don't know... black and tan [our 2 adorable cats] dislike sydney, our dog, and used to avoid her at any costs. but since we got the new couch and have fixed up the living room, tan cat is down there all the time! its great... [notice him sitting on the edge of the couch in the photo above]. its funny, when hes sitting with us on the couch, he just turns his head when sydney gets close and just pretends she's not there. hopefully one of these days black cat will be joining us.

last night we decided to venture out to tarentum to check out the new pittsburgh mills mall. i have to say, its a big disappointment. the new h+m is great, but thats it. i love the store, but i'm really surprised they put it at that mall. its really the only reason to go... if you're going to shop. i'm sure the bowling alley and theatre will attract people, but i don't see it being a big shopping place. hopefully h+m will come to the mall at robinson or somewhere close. ended out the night at rock bottom for drinks and dessert. they pretty much know us by name there and have perfected my french martini. :)

lets see... in other news, i've been working on the web design for wear, and i'm hoping to have that up by the end of the month. let's see if that actually happens. i'm also getting the items of clothing ready, and we'll see how that goes. i'm loving the cooler evening weather. i've been knitting on and off during the summer... [sometimes its just too hot], but now its the perfect time. i've got a few projects i'm ready to start, and finishing up a few. and some will be on the new wear site, so stay tuned!

now go enjoy this nice weather :)

labor[ous] day

very busy weekend, combining house renovation and parties galore. saturday was errand day... picking up a window for the dining room, mulch for the hostas, joining ballys gym, then relaxing for the night and going to see the 40yr old virgin. very funny movie :) i highly recommend it.

on sunday i did the usual yardwork of cutting the grass, pulling up some weeds and mulching around the hostas and lights in the front yard. the roof is going to be started this week, so once thats done i can start to plant bulbs in the retaining wall garden as well. ian was able to install the new window in the living room... for some unknown reason, the previous owners had removed the window [which faces the beautiful sunset], boarded over it, and a built a closet. i can't believe what a dramatic change it has made.. theres so much light now.. i love it. photos will be coming soon :)

we spent the night at a party in the south hills, did some shopping, then spent sunday cleaning the place up for our own party. we had ians family over to see the house and have dinner, which was a selection of grilled chicken, potatoes and asparagus, fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden with olive oil and mozzerella, and a very tasty pitcher of sangria. it was alot of fun and everyone raved about the place. i'm happy everything is coming along :)

[hoping to post photos later today of the new window and dining room set up.]

tiling madness

another very productive weekend... err... 4 day weekend? its amazing how much you can get done when you can dedicate the time to it. ian was lucky enough to have thursday and friday off work, so we took that time to get as much done as we could on the kitchen.

thursday was mostly spent picking up lots of supplies and getting the tileboard installed in the kitchen:





next step was deciding which floor tile to use. after seeing that home depot dropped their price on real slate, we were very tempted to go that route. but after doing a few tests on it, and knowing how high the maintenance is on it... we opted out. [tests being how badly sydney would scratch the floor with her nails, etc; the high maintenance would involve repeated sealing of the tile every few months...]. hopefully we'll get a chance to use it somewhere down the road. luckily, we found a porcelain slate-look-a-like tile at lowes and ended up using that on the floor.




we also made a last minute decision to use the faux-concrete tile to cover the duct-wall between the living/dining/kitchen area. i wasn't sure how it was going to look, but it turned out great. it has really opened up the rooms:




working on the wall gave me enough practice with tiling and using the wet saw that i'm hoping to get the 2nd bathroom tiled in the next few weeks. during some downtime this weekend, i finished up framing the room where some old wood had rotted from water damage, and got the rest of the insulation installed in the room. next step is hanging the greenboard and finishing that. can't wait to have that finished.

needless to say, i'm very happy with the progress we've made and how great everything is looking. i was also lucky enough to find the grout we need at construction junction [saving money anywhere i can ;) ], *plus* i picked up 8 glass shelves that were 4'x1', with predrilled holes that we're going to use to make a hanging/floating glass shelf unit in the dining room.


suprisingly, we actually had time to enjoy ourselves this weekend too. friday night we went to the harris grill in shadyside where i had a wonderful pomegranate martini; saturday night we hit il pizzaola in mt lebanon before visiting ian's sister and brother in law. last night we made the usual stop at mad mex :) once we grout the kitchen floor [or at least where the fridge + stove go], we can move the appliances back into the kitchen and be able to cook again.

cookin' time

i can't believe i'm saying it, but the kitchen is almost done. we've accomplished alot over the past 2 weeks, and the end is near. here are some of the latest photos...

ian built a "wall" around the ductwork that was installed for the heat and AC. here's how it's looking, as viewed from living room looking towards kitchen:




not the *exact* same view, but what it looked like after the ductwork was installed [the kitchen island is now where that wall used to be, coming out of the "closet"]:




and a view of the other side of the wall, looking from the kitchen:




we *finally* got those darn handles installed in the kitchen, just need to even out the doors so everything looks level. also put up the shelf behind the stove for fancy cooking stuff:






picked up 2 samples of potential floor tile for the kitchen. a texturey black/grey look, or a faux concrete-ish look:






i think we're leaning towards the darker tile and considering tiling the duct wall with the concrete tile. hoping to decide soon so we can get that installed this weekend, and hopefully the laminate wood in the living and dining room.

also trying to decide on the color for repainting the actual house. there is some icky tan-ish siding around the dormers and on the sides of the roof; trying to find something to match that. photos of that will be coming soon...

phew.

my aching back...

realizing that i haven't posted since mid july, and it is now august, i think i'm falling a little bit behind. we've managed to get alot more work in on the house, and i've had a busy month with the freelance work. so lets get to the photos :)

since the last update we've installed the kitchen island, plus its countertop. ian needs to put the trim around the counter, and we still need to install all those handles in the kitchen. here are a few pics.

looking into kitchen from dining room:



view of island w/countertop on:



this is what the room used to look like, during the wall-tearing-down phase:



on top of that, we finally finished up that retaining wall. well, almost. here's how its looking:



we picked up the 18 remaining blocks we needed, 480 lbs of gravel and 800 lbs of dirt, but it looks like we'll be needed another 100 lbs of dirt. now you understand the title of the post :) once we pick up that, i can start planting so the front will look a little better. next step is to repaint the front porch and rip off that hideous lattice work. we're hoping to get the house itself painted this fall too,... still debating the colors on that one.

some good news is that on one of our many trips to lowes, we scored a GREAT deal on some wood laminate flooring for the living and dining rooms. just happened to come across a clearance display of some high-end discontinued flooring from armstrong. we got it at almost 1/3 of the original price, spending only 89 cents a square foot. you can't beat that! look how pretty it is:



other good shopping deals [this one from ebay], that will hopefully keep me from spending so much money at starbucks.



i think thats it. time to get back to some real work.

photo time

taking a quick break to post a few photos. no "real" house-type work was done this weekend. decided it was time for a nice break and enjoyed the weekend. friday night we had our first house guests over to watch a movie on the new lcd and had some tasty pad thai. saturday was kicked off with breakfast at pamelas, doing a little shopping in squirrel hill, then off to the south side. sat near the fountain in south side works for an italian ice break. ended up having a late lunch at fatheads which consisted mostly of a few beers and a basket of fries. i was still full from breakfast, i swear! we ended up going out to ikea again to pick up a few of the remaining items we needed for the kitchen and living room. here are a few photos of the progress.

new shelves installed in kitchen:


a few views of the living room:







finally received the cover for the couch and got that on this weekend. this week we need to pickup the wall mount for the tv and longer cables so it will definitely look nicer than it does now. the wall color isn't coming out too well the pics... its looking very white. its actually an oatmeal-ish type color. once the tv is set up, we're going to paint the fireplace so it blends in a little more with the surroundings. next step [which may not be for awhile... installing the new floors]

i think thats it for now. back to work on my sewing projects!

3 day weekend

its amazing what you can get done when you have an extra day in your weekend. this weekend was incredibly busy [as usual], but also very productive. not only did we get a LOT accomplished on the house, we managed to fit in a viewing of war of the worlds [pretty good], another great dinner at mad mex [i am loving their pomegranate margaritas], partied it up at gary + anns on saturday afternoon then at jeff + sam's that night. got some shopping at ikea in; still need to hang the shelves and kitchen accessories purchased there. ended up trying out the newly improved houlihans in the galleria as well. i must say, i was impressed. it had the ambiance of eleven, but at 1/2 the price. one of the great items on the menu were the 'mini' selections... you could get a margarita flight of 3 mini martinis for $6; mini desserts for 1.99 each, and mini espresso martinis for 1.99! you can't beat that.

anyways... here are 2 photos of the progress on the kitchen:





as you can see... still need to install the toe kicks, outlet covers and the door handles. still working on ideas for the floor... debating the slate tiles. once thats done, we'll need to clean it all up and starting putting everything away. as you can see, i've already started sorting thru spices. the one remaining "issue" in the kitchen is the fridge. next week kenmore is delivering new doors [including in the warranty!], so that the handles can be reversed and open the right way. its way too frustrating right now... hopefully it will be worked out soon.

photos will be posted in a few days of the new and improved dining room. walls have been painted, flat-screen is hooked up, new slipcover arrived yesterday... its gonna be nice. stay tuned...

where do i start....

time for another update. it seems like the weeks have just been flying by, i can't believe june is almost over. at least we've been getting alot accomplished.

kitchen:
base cabinets + countertops are installed. all plumbing is working, including the hot water dispenser that i am loving. its great being able to make 1 quick cup of coffee in the french press whenever i want :) 2 of the wall cabinets have been installed over the sink area; i need to run out to ikea this week to pick up 2 shelves to go under those cabinets to hold plates, mugs, etc.; here are 2 shots of the kitchen so far--





we're hoping to get the remaining 3 wall cabinets installed this week, the walls finished, and hopefully painted [at least the sink wall, so i can put the shelves up and start putting stuff away!]

with the ungodly hot and humid weather this weekend, landscaping plans were put on a hold a bit. i have 3 levels to the front retaining wall up but ran out of stones. we need to pick up one more load to finish the last level... then comes the fun part, adding the plants i've been growing and making it look nice and pretty :)

managed to remove another radiator, this one from the master bedroom, to make a little more room in there. photos of that coming soon once its cleaned up, haha.

to even out all the heavy labor of the weekend, ian and i also managed to get lots of shopping in. we finally took the plunge and bought a 37" flat screen LCD that we've been eyeing up for the past month or so. hopefully by friday at this time, it will be hanging here:



thats the view from our new couch. we also bought a slipcover for that off of ebay this weekend; the folks at ikea were kind enough to find some samples of discontinued fabrics that were being sold. photos of the living room will be posted in the next week or so, when the couch is covered, tv installed and if we're lucky, the walls painted! also need to call and get order some kind of cable service. trying to decide between adelphia digital cable or direct tv. since i have no experience with either... not really sure which way to go. we have 4 tv's throughout the house, so the direct tv deal may make more sense. hmm...

i think thats it for now. time to start unpacking all the kitchen and cooking tools that have been in storage for much too long.

post of many photos

finally, some kitchen updates and some great weather to work on the yard. lets see, i spent last thursday and friday building the base cabinets for the kitchen and ripping out the old base cabinets, sink and counter. that was reallllly gross.



i ran to lowes to pick up the laminate we had ordered for the counters, and oddly enough the sink ordered from ikea mysteriously showed up on my front porch later that nite. i'm just glad i didn't have to drive out there again to pick it up. saturday morning we got a very early start with breakfast at steak and shake [no kitchen water yet...] and picking up a few supplies at lowes. ian spent most of the day getting 2 base cabinets installed and reworking all the plumbing underneath. we had a few issues with the faucet i ordered last year... its much heavier than we realized, and we had to do some extra work to get the sink to support it. so long story short... ian built the countertops, installed the sink, how water dispenser and garbage disposal, and the dishwasher is in place, ready to be hooked up.




i've started putting in the drawers and doors. hopefully we'll finish the plumbing tonight and will have running water in the kitchen again. ian is going to put the edging strip on the front of the counter and finish up a few more small things. we still need to install the 2 cabinets on the other side of the stove, which shouldn't take as long since there is no plumbing. phew! just running the water line over to the fridge. once thats done, we can start on the upper cabinets, finishing the drywall, install the backsplash and paint! i think we've decided on natural slate for the floor... it works well with the oak cabinets and countertop we decided on. more photos will come as progress is made.

we've also managed to install the dining room chandelier and the light that will be above the kitchen island.




while ian was busy with the kitchen stuff this weekend, i took advantage of the beautiful weather and started on the front landscaping. i managed to get a nice start on my tan and got a great workout lifting all the landscaping blocks. before that i had to dig out a small tree in front of the house and level out the ground for the blocks. i also had to touch up quite a few spots where the mortar had worn off the foundation.... wasn't as hard as i thought. just murder on the hands. so much for my manicure :) this is how its looking so far:



hopefully today i can get a coat of tar on the foundation and put some plastic down. we need to pick up a shit load of gravel and soil later this week, after i get the next 2-3 rows of blocks on. once all thats done, somewhere down the road we'll be painting the house. so if i have any volunteers to help..... :)