My Creative Time is Lacking

Every time I think that we're done moving things around in the house I'm wrong.  Today I unpacked the last box which was full of obsolete CDs that are now stored in the basement.  I haven't done anything creative in over a month and it's driving me a bit nutty.  However this will change things.

 

NOW I can get back to making hats.  Huzzah!  Oh, and also cooking.  That's important too...I guess.


We're really lucky that we didn't need to buy much to fill the house.  The only room that needed some furniture was the study.  We had a chair and a bunch of boxes in there for a while.  What a great impression for visitors.  I went searching for a chaise and luckily found the perfect piece.

 I bought it at Home Goods.  It's an $800 chaise that I got for less than $200.  Score!  It fits perfectly with the room and gives me the opportunity to counsel people in comfort.  By comfort I mean I'll be on the chaise and they can sit in the chair.  What??


Tomorrow mom and I are headed out in search of a rug for the room that will partially cover the gorgeous, newly shiny hardwood floor.  Oh, she also bought us a housewarming gift.

This umbrella stand which is great since I have a ton of huge umbrellas.  However the color has to go.  Stay tuned for a spray paint fumes fueled post about this antique umbrella stand.


She also bought a lamp at an antique store, the same place where she got the umbrella stand.  It's...hideous.  Sorry mom!  The shade has fringe on it much like the leg lamp in A Christmas Story.  Now if she had actually bought a leg lamp then heck yes!  It would be put in a place of prominence.  But a fringed lamp with a lace pattern on the lamp stand?  Um, not our style.  I've lost count of how many people she's tried to give it to.  Poor lamp.  She's stuck with it in her studio, a constant reminder that a) you can't decorate other people's homes and b) her life would be easier if she had a cell phone that takes pictures.  Just saying.

Happy Hearts, Happy Home

Oh hey this thing is still on.

Sorry for the lack of posting.  Things have been bananas ever since we closed on the house.  We've spent the past two weeks cleaning, painting, and moving.  Let me give you an idea of what's been going on.

 We started the painting extravaganza in the master bedroom.  Before it was a dark blue/gray color.  This color is called vineyard.  It's a purplish brown shade.  I want the job of coming up with names of paint colors.  Better yet, nail polish colors!  I swear they come up with names by playing mad libs.

 Next we moved onto the entry room, now known as the study because it has books and also because we're sophisticated like that, yo.  Here's a shot taken before we tackled the walls with rollers.  Notice the depressing tannish before color.  Blah.

And now after, complete with two coats of...paint.  I can't remember the name of the color.  Too many fumes.  Just enjoy the bright, calming light blue.

We painted the living room the same shade.

Please note the painters tape still in place.  Also the lawn chair.  At that time we had two and that pretty much was the sum total of our furniture in the house until...

The movers arrived with all our stuff!  Holy crap, hiring movers is the way to go.  These dudes did not mess around.  Wait, that's a lie.  They did lock two of their buddies in the attic.  It was awesome not having to lift anything.  I made a grab for a small piece of furniture just to take it upstairs with me and the guy in charge quickly admonished me for doing so.  My only job was to tell them which room to take stuff.  Awesome.  They had the truck unloaded in a little over an hour.  Moving dudes, I salute you!

We also had an excellent painting crew made up of various family members.  It was great coming downstairs and seeing who had joined the party.  My dad stopped by and asked, "mind if I paint?"  Mind?  MIND?!?  Hereisarollerpleasestartovertherebeforeyourealizewhatyou'resaying.

Since the movers came life has consisted of getting things unpacked and into their new, proper place.  We've officially been living in the house four days now and the only rooms that have some semblance of order are the master bedroom, guest room, and living room shown here with Charlie modeling his yard mowing attire.

I will get back to hat making soon but first I have to find said hat.  Also the stove gets delivered Monday and since I need boiling water to continue with the hat the stove is rather essential. 

There's no way we could have accomplished so much so quickly without the help of our parents aka painting crew/wiring specialists/plumbing experts.  They're so happy to help and ecstatic that we moved closer.  I did get a nice break over the weekend when I went to my niece's baby shower.  Love that girl and am so proud of her.  She's about to pop and is still working at her job where she's on her feet constantly.  Can't wait to be a great auntie again!

Happy Homeowners

Hey, look what we got last Thursday!

After a marathon session of signing papers we were finally handed the keys to our new house.  Which we are not renting.  We are actual home owners!  It felt really good to check the box marked "owner" instead of "renter" on various utilities contact forms.

I couldn't be happier, especially knowing that it's home for me and the love of my life.  I can't wait to start a family and fill the house with many years of happy memories.  It's funny how things come full circle.  I've loved Charlie since we met at the summer camp where we both worked in 1995 and for close to three years we've been making dreams come true for each other.  This new chapter of our life is another dream come true.

So for the past week I've been cleaning the new house and putting away the fragile stuff we don't want to entrust to the movers.  Plus I'm not alone in the cleaning and painting departments.  My mom is helping with the cleaning and my mother-in-law is bringing her expert painting skills to transform some rooms.  We're so lucky that we have such supportive families and that they get along so well.  I'm looking forward to hosting many holidays and parties at our house.  God knows we have the room for it!

Of course I'll post a house tour featuring all the oddities we've found in the house.  And if you have any idea why the sellers put a lock on the attic door which enables us to lock people INSIDE the attic, please let me know.  Weirdos.

Cloche Hat 2: Progress!

And I'd happily show you the progress if I could find the hat in the sea of moving boxes that has become our current home.  We close on the house this week y'all.  And it has all come together really, really fast.  It seems like the mortgage and title companies got everything they needed on the same day and we were setting up the closing date for less than a week later.  We're actually closing on the house three weeks sooner than planned.  Yay!  So now it's a race to get utilities switched over and work out a moving date with the moving company.  Yes.  We do not have to recruit people to help haul heavy stuff into a Uhaul!  We have actual professional movers.  SO LUCKY.

You don't really care about that, do you?  Fine, here's a couple of pictures just to get you off my back.

Anyway, after the super crappy month that was March I decided I needed a pick me up.  A change.  And what says change better than going red with the hair?

That picture was taken the day the deed was done.  Also in a brightly lit place.  Bye bye brunette.  It has calmed down a bit.

Taken in a low light room.  So there you have it.  I don't think I'll be going back to brunette any time soon.  Red is fun.  Also, as an added bonus, it drives my dad bananas.  Muahaha! 

I Lost 15 Pounds in Two Weeks and So Can You! But Don't!

Fifteen pounds in two weeks, you say?  Yes!  It's possible and done in a most horrible, horrible way!  What, you still want to know how?  Okay, loony.

1. Stay in the hospital for a week and gain six pounds from IV fluids.  This was a shocker.  I figured when I was released and got on the scale at home I would have dropped some of those lbs.  Imagine my surprise when I found I'd actually gained six pounds.  Wha?  I guess a week of getting 150-200 ml of IV fluid per hour adds up.

2.  Catch a nasty cold from your spouse/partner/someone you live with.  Charlie picked up a nasty chest cold while staying with me at the hospital which I caught from him after I got home.  No fun.

3.  Live on a diet of Mucinex and cough drops.  Holy poop, Mucinex really does work!  Sure I'm still hacking up a lung but at least all the grossness is getting out of my system.  I hate their commercials tho.  So nasty.  Unfortunately for me medicines like Nyquil and Mucinex, which advertise helping you sleep, have the reverse affect on me.  They make me wired.  And cough drops?  Total appetite suppressant.

4.  Learn to live without your gallbladder.  Some medicinal changes were in order.  Enough said.

So week two post surgery was quite the adventure in misery.  On the plus side my incisions are healing up nicely.  I missed my post-op appointment because of the cold but will see the surgeon this week where he will finally meet my true skin color, uber pale, as opposed to jaundice.  I also had a scary blackout this week which resulted in me falling into the claw foot bathtub.  I don't remember much about it but, luckily, came out with only a few bruises.  I don't recommend losing weight this way to anyone.  I can't wait to get both my strength back and the all clear to start exercising again.  I have to get my moving muscles in shape.

We're supposedly getting another snow storm starting tomorrow night which is par for the course in March.  I am so ready to turn the calendar to April.  March 2013 can suck it.