Late Spring/Early Summer Ramblings

So it's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm just not sure what's going to become of this blog now that the kitchen is "finished" (and I use quotes because I suspect we'll always have projects or decorating updates). But, at the same time, I enjoy blogging and I love having a written record of what's happening in our lives. So, I guess I'll pop in when the spirit moves me. And today the spirit seems to be moving me.

Here are some of the things we've been up to:

• We've officially been in our house for a year! I really enjoyed the month of May this year because we had no idea what was going to pop up in our garden. Who knew we had forsythia, dogwoods, roses, and a bunch of pink/purple plants I never identified sprouting in our gardens? We also planted hosta, hydrangeas, lilies, and sea grass last fall that seems to be thriving. Yay!

• In the same spirit, we planted a killer vegetable garden, most of it from seeds. If all goes well, we'll have tomatoes coming out of our ears this August! We also have corn, onions, radishes, green beans, cucumbers, watermelon, eggplant, lettuce, peppers, and pumpkins. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few too. Oh, basil, cilantro, and parsley!

• And since we're putting all this effort into our yard, we decided to start composting. We're still new to the whole process but so far so good. [Sidenote: if you had told me two years ago I'd be carpooling to work in my hybrid, growing my own food, and composting, I would never have believed you. What can I say, I guess I'm a hippie at heart.]

• And remember how I said we still hadn't used our breakfast bar? Well four of my absolute favorite people in this world have christened it.

Snack time!

• This spring has also been a flurry of wedding/baby showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, weddings, birthday celebrations, etc. The typical springtime activities for those in their early 30s. I'm loving all of the excuses to get together with good friends.

• And, we're the proud new owners of a new Grady White! Jeremy's boat capsized on its mooring and was deemed a total loss (we need to break this streak, btw). Last weekend, Jeremy drove 5 or 6 hours (each way) to Philadelphia to pick up his new boat. He is smitten.

• And we got pretty into hockey playoffs this year!  I was a complete pink hat, bandwagon fan but it was still fun to watch. And, since I've lived in the Boston area, the Patriots have won 2 titles, the Red Sox have won 2 titles, the Celtics have won a title, and now it's the Bruins' turn. I've been to 3 of the 6 parades (I skipped the Bruins). It's an awesome time to be a Boston fan!



I just love that Tim Thomas.

• This is random (but then, so is this entire post). We were at a wedding and one of Jeremy's former softball teammates (and friend) told him that Dustin Pedroia reminds him of Jeremy. They're both little, scrappy, hard workers, they played the same position, etc., etc. I rolled my eyes and gagged a little. So, this past week, a separate friend of Jeremy's emailed to say that Brad Marchand reminded him of Jeremy for the very same reasons! DOUBLE GAG! It has gone straight to his head. PSA: Please don't compare Jeremy to Rondo or Wes Welker. I can't handle it.

• Today is the official start to summer. This week is my favorite time of year. I love how long the days are, the schools are getting out for the year (not that I get a summer vacation anymore), and we have the anticipation of having the entire summer before us!

OK, I think I've officially made up for lost time. Thanks for reading! Hope you're out there enjoying the spring/summer weather as much as we are!

MOVE THAT BUS!

So I've strung you along long enough! Ready for the big reveal? Warning: This post is very picture heavy. I figured I'd let the pictures tell the story. Also, I had a really hard time capturing these photos. The lighting and angles were tricky. And a few of the befores were taken from iPhone so the quality is not so great. Basically, you're dealing with an amateur so my apologies!

If you'll remember we started here. This picture was taken while I was making dinner back on March 2nd. This little hallway no longer exists!  In fact, that area where the fridge used to be is now a big open space in the center of our kitchen! We're trying to decide if we should add an island or not.



We tore out the hallway and opened up that back wall so that it became the entrance to our pantry, bathroom, and living room. This picture was taken from the same spot.



Here's a view of the whole kitchen. Again,  we opened up that back wall and got rid of the little hallway. It's made such a difference!

Before...

During:

After:



The old kitchen stopped right in the middle of the stove/hood

 Our old kitchen only had one window. This new layout has two windows with the stove in between them.



Our splurge


The window on the left was in the old bathroom, and the window on the right was in the kitchen. And a wet wall divided them into two rooms.

Here's a visual.

Before:



Bathroom window

 During:



You can see the frame where the wet wall used to be.

 After:

The window to the left is the only thing that remains from the old bathroom

And here's a closer look at the corner. I was a little worried about the nook between the microwave and wall but it turns out my Keurig fits perfectly so it isn't as awkward as I thought it might be.



We decided to move the sink to the peninsula so that we I can watch TV while we I do the dishes. We knew we wanted a breakfast bar along the peninsula and I thought having a stove there could be dangerous once we have kids.  I have to say, I love it! I've been watching Oprah's final few shows while I make dinner. What am I going to do on May 26th?!!

Before:

During:

After:

And here's the breakfast bar. We have yet to sit at it but I'm sure we will someday!

And who could forget the beverage center?

Before...

During...

After...

And, finally, the eat-in kitchen area. My new rug is being delivered today so I might do a separate post since this will be the only tiny corner of the kitchen that's been accessorized. We have a lot of work ahead of us on that front!

Before...

Unfortunately, I didn't really take a "during" photo for this angle. Sorry!

After...



Phew! We survived. I had my doubts at times, but I can honestly say it was worth every minute of blood, sweat, and tears. We both love our new kitchen and it has dramatically changed the entire feel of our home (for the better). Renovating can definitely be a strain on your relationship but we were pretty lucky that this whole process actually brought us closer. We had to be a team and I think we surprised each other with what we were capable of. On one of my many Home Depot runs, I heard Dave Matthews song "You and Me." The words in the chorus are: "You and me together, we could do anything" And after all of the designing, demolishing, wiring, painting, cleaning, hauling, decorating, etc. we've done in the last 3 months, I really feel like there isn't much we can't accomplish together. (Sorry to be cheesy.)

So the biggest question I've gotten today (from the propane guys and co-workers who knew I was staying home for the big event) is "what are you making for dinner tonight?" Well, Jeremy is working late tonight so I'm not making anything fancy but it's delicious and certainly worthy of our stove's inaugural run. Pioneer Woman's Prosciutto Pizza. I highly recommend it!



Our Double Ovens

Just popping in to add some visuals to Friday's post.

A first-world problem, most certainly. But it's still annoying! 

Propane Woes

Hello! This post was scheduled for this morning but Blogger had a little blackout...so this afternoon it is!

So, I should know better than to promise big reveals because they never seem to work out the way I plan. The good news? The propane tank has been installed and passed inspection. The bad news? They can't come back to hook it up until next Thursday. So for the next week we're a two stove family. Sorry to leave you hanging!

We're pretty annoyed by the whole propane process. Up until this point, we had a done a good job-- if I do say so myself-- of keeping on schedule. One of Jeremy's many strengths is his project managing skills. We worked from a master schedule which we consulted daily and we often had to get creative to maintain said schedule. I think we did pretty well considering we had to accommodate various contractors' schedules, and construction projects are notoriously behind schedule. Things slipped by a week or two but we basically finished up when we expected to...with the exception of the propane installation.

But see that last item? We're almost a full month behind schedule, and that is so annoying! The propane company we're using is so s-l-o-w. It took them a week to send out their sales rep, another 4 days for propane installation, another 2 days to set up the inspection, and then a full week to come back and hook everything up. There's not much we can do but whine on our blog. So whine I will!

Hopefully I'll be sharing the final kitchen reveal a week from today! Cross your fingers for us. In the mean time, let me know if you have any topics you'd like to hear more about. Our Craigslist adventures? Family room reno? First meals cooked in the new kitchen? These are some of the ideas I'm kicking around so let me know if you'd like to hear about any of them.

Have a great weekend!

May You Bloom and Grow (Forever!)

Hello! Sorry for the silence...there haven't been too many exciting updates on the kitchen front. The propane tank is being installed this afternoon so we should have our gas stove hooked up tonight. YAY!!! That is the final, final step in this whole process--besides decorating/accessorizing which may take awhile since we spent a pretty penny on the kitchen and car. So, I'll be back tomorrow or Friday with the final pictures of the kitchen. Oh happy day!

In the mean time, if you've come to know us at all you know that we haven't been sitting around twiddling our thumbs while we waited for the propane tank. This past weekend we took advantage of the spring-like weather on Saturday and spent the day in our yard.

We started by ripping out a huge rhododendron in front of our side porch. Here's a before picture:

This thing was a beast! Jeremy used a chain saw to cut most of it out but we still had to get the root ball up and out. After about a half hour of prying, and one broken shovel later, we managed to pull the root ball out! Sweet victory.

And here's the gaping hole it left.

We bought a hydrangea and densiformus yew (which is a hedging shrub) to fill the space.

And let me tell you, it has made a huge difference.

Again, here's the before:



And here's the after:

Here's a close up:

We bought these rocking chairs from Ocean State Job Lot (one of my favorite stores these days) for $60 each. And then we bought the cushions and table from my other favorite store, HomeGoods. Oh, and we added shutters to this window. Guess who got to paint them?!



We did more than the little porch make-over. We also spread 10 yards of mulch:

And we finished it off by planting some annuals and perennials. This was a welcome change from the kitchen renovation. It felt so good to be outside, enjoying the fresh air and getting some Vitamin D.  We are officially ready for spring! 

The Pantry Reveal

At a pretty early point in our renovation (like, when we bought the house) we knew we wanted to add a walk-in pantry. So when we were turning the corner of living room into a bathroom we wanted to save some room for a pantry too.

You're probably sick of this picture by now but here's a reminder of where we started

And here it is framed out. The pantry is on the right--with the trash barrel in it.

And here we are today:

It's hard to tell but that's a reed glass door. We haven't had anyone in to see the house yet but this has been a big hit with our contractors! They all love it (and I do too!). We have three doors in that area--the bathroom door, the pantry door, and the door into the living room (which is a pocket door). I was worried it was going to be too many doors so we wanted to switch things up a bit.

We painted the pantry walls the same color as the bathroom (Silver Sage for those who've asked--and I love that too). We then added the shelf bases.

And I painted and painted and painted the shelves.

And the worst part? Painting that chest. For some reason I didn't want shelves that wrapped all the way around the pantry, and our kitchen designer Paula agreed with me. Jeremy and I thought about building something fancy but in the end we decided to buy something instead. We found this piece at a furniture store in Rhode Island. It was made by the Amish (this makes me really happy for some reason).

So, for those keeping track, I drove to Rhode Island to pick this piece up (2.5 hours round trip), then I primed it (2 hours), and then I painted it (2 more hours).

And 6.5 hours later, we added it to the pantry...and I hated it! But it's staying put and it's actually growing on me now that we've filled up the shelves.

So here it is with the shelves filled:

My favorite part of it? (Besides the fact that the cabinet was made by the Amish... and my reed glass door... and my Silver Sage paint.) Being able to keep all of my appliances and over-sized serving platters out in the open. These were in their boxes down in the basement this past year and I hardly ever used them.

But now that I can grab them quickly I see myself using them more often.  Eventually I want to Real Simple-ify this room...I envision mason jars, canisters, and baskets that hide our paper towels, gatoraids, taco seasoning, etc. 

But until then, I'll just enjoy what I've got, Amish cabinets and all.

Nature's Shower

The past two weekends have have been a flurry of activity in an effort to wrap things up on the renovation. This means we've had several projects going simultaneously, which is not my favorite way to work but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. We worked on the pantry, built-in bookshelf in the living room, the laundry closet, and the outdoor shower all at once, and, as always, there was no rest for the weary.
I was fully prepared to take Easter Sunday off as a day of rest. I even had a few glasses of wine at brunch. But Jeremy had other plans...on our way home from my sister's we stopped at Home Depot, in our Easter best, to pick up the outdoor shower materials and trim.

For about 30 seconds we thought about a mahogany shower but I couldn't stomach another painting and/or staining project so we decided to go with vinyl. It isn't the fanciest or nicest material but it was easiest and therefore we had a winner.

Jeremy dug some deep holes for the posts and then added concrete.

We then took the week off and revisited this project this past weekend. We had to take precise measurements for the sides. We used a hack saw to cut these down and then screwed them to the posts with these little brackets.

Finally, we had to even out the posts and add little toppers so it would look finished. (These are all very technical terms.)



So maybe it's not the most private outdoor shower...


And then we Jeremy installed the door hardware while I painted the pantry shelves.

We're planning to put down a cobblestone floor to finish it up.  

So why an outdoor shower? Well....we live 3 miles from this

Which brings us to this

I am so excited for summer!