birthday festivities

ok, i know this post is a *little* overdue, but i have been very busy! really, i have! :) turning 32 isn't all its cracked up to be. sure... i still look like i'm 23, but i certainly don't feel like it. my birthday itself was pretty nice, ian made dinner for me and surprised me with lots of nice gifts. we've made our way thru disk 2 [of 7] of the first season of the O.C. i think we're officially hooked on it. nothing to be embarassed about there. i think thats one of my favorite gifts along with a beautiful pendant necklace ian got me. check out my fancy skills of photographing that in the mirror so you can see both sides.


other great gifts were some clothes, dvds, a beautiful black leather jewelry box and an ugly dog to go with our ugly dolls. thanks sweetie :)

we ended up going to eleven on friday night for dinner. wow. it was really amazing. i was a little disappointed with our table... we had a view of just the kitchen which was a little odd, but oh well. since i had my big burrito bday coupon, i ended up getting the filet. it was heavenly. after a few cocktails and a glass of wine on the house [thank you daryl :)] we ended up getting stuck in the arts festival traffic where i mentioned to snap some cute pics of us.

why is aimee smiling? why does ian look so serious? hmm... too many cocktails? giddy birthday-ness? frustrating traffic? you be the judge. oh wait, maybe i should have posted this one instead [but i didn't cuz i look horribly tipsy :) ].

hmm... in other news, kitchen installation is happening this weekend. photos will be posted shortly. pixies show last night was pretty good, considering the ungodly hot weather we've been having. frank black has gained a tremendous amount of weight, but still put on a good shot while sweating profusely. wow, how catty do i sound :) ran into quite a few old friends at the show, and surprisingly did not feel like the oldest couple there.

i guess thats it for now. i'll post kitchen + front landscaping photos shortly. still awaiting all those birthday cards + gifts. :)

mmmm :)

boston creme pie from whole foods. now thats what i'm talking about! :) its the little things that make birthdays worthwhile.

my day :)

happy birthday to me,
happy birthday to me,
happy 23rd birthday to me,
happy birthday to me :)

23? yea, i wish :) i'd even settle for 28. anyways, photos of my glorious birthday celebration will be posted later in the week. feel free to send gifts or take me out for drinks in the meantime :)

update coming later.

has it really been 2 weeks?

i guess i've let some time pass without updating. so bear with the long post ;) its been an incredibly busy 2 weeks. i was in erie last weekend, then out of town for some freelance work late last week, so i feel like i haven't been at home in ages. this past weekend was spent catching up... it involved *lots* of shopping and money spending, along with a little housework. over the weekend, we managed to buy a new sofa at ikea [i love that as-is section; ended up getting the sofa we wanted for about 1/3 of the regular price, once i add in the cost of the slipcover i'll be making]; a much-needed gas grill; some solar lights for the front lawn; and starting to price out a new tv setup. hmm... plasma or lcd? we're going for a flat-screen wall mount model to free up some floor space. any suggestions would be appreciated :)

the past few rainy weekends had set us back with all the landscaping plans, but we finally were able to get started on sunday. i spent the morning digging out a broken gutter drainage pipe in the front lawn. ian replaced the pipe while i mowed the back lawn and finally planted the vegetable garden. i just need to put up edging to keep those pesky squirrels out. this week i'm planning on replanting hostas in the front yard to hide the new underground pipe and install the solar lights as well. next step is putting in the retaining wall and planting the rest of the flowers. ian and i have decided to put the back landscaping plans on hold in favor of repainting the house and remodeling the front porch. its that whole curb appeal thing ;)

we also now have lights installed in the dining room and over the space where the kitchen island will be. everything is starting to come together... its looking great. more major purchases will be made this weekend including the remaining kitchen appliances [dishwasher, disposal, hot water dispenser, range hood]; kitchen flooring [still debating the slate tile]; dining room and living room floors [laminate or hard wood flooring]; counter laminate + backsplashes; plus a few more items we need for the front landscaping.

check back soon, photos will be added to the post as soon as my camera finishes charging :)

friday the 13th

the first post that doesn't involve home renovations! this weekend was way too busy to even try to get anything done on the house. friday morning i spent working at blattner brunner, finished up another freelance project, then went up to meet ian, his boss, and a client for dinner. had an amazing mexican meal and a very tasty margarita at the franklin inn in the north hills. i had been debating on hitting the ryan adams/rachael yamagata show at mr. smalls, but this made the decision much easier. plus, i didn't really want to spend 50-some bucks on a show that when i really only wanted to hear 2 or 3 songs. i *am* looking forward to the stars show there in june, plus the pixies and a few other good shows this summer.
the rain on saturday ruined lanscaping plans again. we're getting a little behind on that, so hopefully the weather will cooperate soon and i can build that retaining wall in the front yard. we ended up catching up on laundry, cleaning and making room for more stuff. we reorganized the back 'shed' and installed another shelving unit for ian's tools and some of my gardening supplies. that evening we ran out to monroeville for some errands and dinner, then met up with some of ians friends for karaoke.
sunday was devoted to the big move... packing up the remainder of ian's stuff and moving it over. we still need to pick up a few items of furniture and empty out a storage space. his mom gave us some beautiful pieces of antique silver along with a vintage modern dining room set that belonged to his grandmother that we'll need to pick up later this week. we've started to rearrange things and unpack but took a break to go grab some indian food with some friends later that night. last night we were completely worn out after the big weekend so we relaxed with a small batch of chocolate chip cookies and watched law & order and crossing jordan.
this week looks pretty busy so far... freelance work during most of the week; lots of unpacking; ordering laminate for the kitchen counters and starting to assemble those; and depending on weather... the vegetable garden will be planted and landscaped started. i also need to figure out which gym to join... bally's in penn hills or the one conveniently down the street, edgewood tennis and fitness. ian is currently a ballys member so he'll get a discount if i join, but since he's moved outside of his membership radius-thing, he can cancel with no penalties. hmm... what to do...

weekend recap

another busy busy weekend. [which followed an incredibly busy week... lots of freelance work keeping me busy.] friday night was fairly non-exciting, just lots of eating + shopping. ian and i headed out to robinson after a day of working. we hit ikea to pick up some home essentials and look at new sofa options; we're still undecided on a dining room light ... any ideas? after that we went over to bahama breeze for a late dinner, but at 9:30pm there was still a 70 minute wait! we ended up at joe's crab shack for a filling and relatively inexpensive dinner. stopped at walmart after that to pick up some ceiling paint and to make fun of the kids showing off their prom fashions at walmart. made no sense to me.

saturday i was disappointed with the early morning showers which put a dent in my landscaping plans. i ended up rearranging my office and doing a little freelance work while ian painted the dining room / kitchen ceilings. it looks great... i'll wait to post photos til the actual light fixtures are installed. a plain white ceiling isn't that exciting :) later in the day the weather was beautiful so we took advantage of it and finished the chain link fence and got the gates installed. sydney was in heaven! running all over the yard and rolling in the grass. very very cute. she hasn't jumped the fence yet, we'll keep our fingers crossed. i spent a few hours after that getting the vegetable garden ready... i've cleared a section about 12 feet square and have a lovely blister on my hand to show for it. i still need to do a little weed work in there, and pick up some soil to fill in some spots. i've got my coffee grounds from starbucks to mix in there, so hopefully i will be ready to plant by the weekend. i'll post photos once the garden is planted.

saturday evening ian and i headed over to former co-worker gil's in shadyside to catch the end of a kentucky derby party then joined him and his crew at doc's place for some burgers and brews. it was fun to hang out again and catch up on old times. then we hit silky's in bloomfield for drinks and dessert before meeting up with some of ians friends.

sunday was spent cleaning up and relaxing after a very good brunch at walnut grille. we ran out to the waterfront to do a few quick errands before heading out to dinner with ian's parents. we also loaded up his truck with some of his heavier furniture and had his brother help us unload it at the house. the 'cat room' has been painted and is starting to look lived in with some actual furniture.



the desk setup in that room is great.. fits right into the window nook where the former radiator was, and has an amazing view of the sunset. the cats are loving the new furniture to sleep on too :) settled back in around 8pm to finish up 2 freelance projects and getting back to designing my website for the clothing venture.

only 3 full shopping weeks til the big 3-2 :). we're hoping to throw a party once things settle down... but i don't think it will be in time for that. maybe in july... all depends on how smoothly the kitchen renovation goes, along with assembling some sort of spot in the backyard to entertain. we'll see how that goes :)

sigh...

it seems that every weekend is busier than the last. its monday night and i still haven't had a break. here's a quick recap...
friday night was relaxation... dinner at mad mex, then hanging out watching the surreal life. you go adrienne! :) saturday started with an early run to starbucks to get some fuel for the day, and then some drywall tape at lowes. we got the kitchen/dining room ceiling skip troweled, and its now ready to be painted:


i also refinished a dresser that we pulled from a dumpster about a year ago... it now matches the other bedroom dresser:


progress is also being made in the "cat" room. [for those who don't know... there is one bedroom that has been used mostly for storage.. holding the old dresser, bookshelf, etc... my 2 cats had taken refuge in that room and claimed it as their own, now referred to as "the cat room". tan cat even helped out. ]

a you can see, it had some water damage on the ceiling:


which is why it was used as a storage room :) this weekend i scraped the paint in the room, patched the cracks and got a coat of white paint on 1 wall + ceilng + trim. ian is currently painting the other walls a nice blue-grey color [how surprising ;)], as i finish up a freelance project. photos of that will be coming soon.

in other good news, even tho i turn 32 in a month.. i got carded at lava lounge on saturday. feel free to start your shopping now :)

all work and no play

the weekend started off with dinner at fuel and fuddle on friday night, then relaxing and watching tv. saturday morning we needed our energy for the day and decided on square cafe for brunch. yummy crepes with strawberries and bananas. ian spent the morning hanging drywall on the boxed in ductwork and patching in where the ceiling meets the wall.


my job was removing 3 radiators. doesn't seem fair, does it?! we've found an easier method to do it... using a sawzall to cut the radiator apart in sections. we loaded up the truck with 1180 pounds of radiator, and about 50 pounds of old piping and radiator covers in the basement. of course it starts to rain by the time we make it to the scrap yard. too bad i didn't get any photos of that. our hard work paid off with $101.66. woo hoo! we came back, cleaned up and treated ourselves to dinner and drinks.

sunday was spent tape finishing the ceilings.


it was awkward at first, but i got the hang of it after awhile. luckily, i have a massage scheduled for tomorrow to ease the tightness in my neck and shoulders from all the ceiling work. once the ceilings have dried, we'll have to do another coat before we start the skip trowel treatment.

after cleaning up, we ran out to the waterfront to grab some coffee and a snack then hit lowes to check out counter laminate and paint colors. this is what we've decided on so far:


now we just need to order the laminate so ian can build the counters, and track down a nice metal laminate for the backsplash and front edge of the counters. phew... long weekend!

"do we really need a drywall lift?"

words i will never utter again. that is one of the best inventions ever. this weekend was spent hanging drywall on the ceilings in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. a fairly extensive amount of work, but it looks great... the rooms seem alot more spacious.

ian spent most of saturday attaching furring strips to the ceilings and building boxes around the ductwork; since there was only 1 nail gun, i lended a hand measuring, doing some yardwork and finishing up a few freelance projects.
step 1:



we got an early start sunday by heading to home depot to rent the drywall lift. after getting that assembled and working with 18+ sheets of drywall... ahh, the fun begins.
step 2:


new kitchen ceiling:


now we just need to spend a few evenings finishing the drywall and painting the ceilings. then its time for the real makeover... cabinets, counters, backsplashes... oh my!

so little time

this is going to be another busy weekend, starting now. i have a few freelance meetings today, and a new project to start this weekend. it always happens when the weather is nice. plus, i'm going to miss my nephews birthday party this weekend. bad aimee. hopefully i can schedule the actual "work" early morning or in the evenings so i can enjoy bits of the weather and get a few house projects started too.

last night i removed the remaining dropped ceiling on the main floor... the living room. i have hated those ceilings since the moment i moved in. this is what i'm dealing with:

we'll need to box in around the new ductwork, which is luckily just in this room. once thats done... up goes the drywall. i'm counting the minutes until this part of the project is finished. i'm hoping that everything else will go smoothly and i will have more photos to post soon.

depending on time this weekend, we may also do a little landscaping work out front.

we need to build 2 small retaining walls where the white outlines are... the way its set up now, we've found a few leaks in the basement... so we'll be waterproofing the foundation, installing a french drain, and putting in retaining walls with lovely flower beds. and removing that hideous lattice work. then comes the house repainting ...

but in other good news... the shins are playing a free outdoor concert tonight! it will be a really fun time, especially with the weather being so nice :)

sunshine on my shoulder

i am loving this weather. absolutely loving it. even tho there is a LOT of work to do inside, i'm taking advantage of the nice weather and spending more time outdoors. i've gotten some quotes a new roof, which will hopefully happen in the next month. yesterday i spent most of the day in the back yard with sydney, developing plans for the deck/patio/landscaping and just enjoying the free time. i had to rake up all the dead branches that had fallen into the yard, trying to get ready for preparing the spot for my garden. i've started the vegetable seeds indoors and they're ready to go outside as soon as the last frost passes... which is hopefully soon. after a hard day of work, ian helped with getting more of the chain link fence installed. last fall, i installed a 6ft tall privacy fence on the south side of the yard. there was an existing chain link fence on the north side. we're connecting the two with the new chain link:


its not too hard to do, just a little time consuming. we have one more small section to do, where the fence connects to the house, then install the gates. sydney will be able to run free! in the photo, you'll notice behind the fence is a 30x20 ft section left un-fenced. that is where the vegetable garden is going. that leaves a 30x60 section of fenced in yard. that should work... and once the landscaping/patio is finished.... it will be well worth the effort.

considering this is what the back yard looked like when i first bought the house, its looking pretty good :)

busy busy busy

house update: wall between kitchen and dining room is finally gone!
BEFORE:

AFTER:


i've been spending the past few days getting that cleaned up. next step is putting up the ceiling in both rooms. electric has already been updated in both rooms including recessed lights, undercab lights, dimmer switches, and hookups for dishwasher, disposal and hot water dispenser! phew! its been a busy month. doing a *complete* renovation takes a L..O..N..G.. time. if i was only throwing up new cabinets and laying a new floor, i would've been done last year! but this is worth the time and patience. its going to be amazing when completed, and add lots of $$$ to the resale value. i'm excited for the next steps :)

more to come....

that first post didn't count :)

so i'm new to this blog thing, we'll see how it goes. a few months ago i made a website/gallery documenting my house renovation. so many people have been asking how its going, i figured it would be much easier to document here. i don't have the patience to update that gallery :) so hopefully in the next few days i'll be uploading some pics...

in other news... time for my massage. isn't that a *lovely* site? :)

finally...

wow, a blog.... :)