Author: Kathleen

It’s Nice To Share

As you probably know already, David and I are relatively new homeowners. We bought our house in December 2008 and moved in this past January. It was in great condition, but since it was built in 1983 and an older couple owned it before us, not everything was quite to our taste. Eventually every room will need to be redecorated, but right now we’re just starting a little at a time.

Although I’m not 8 months pregnant, I have been feeling the nesting instinct. Maybe it’s just a female thing? I don’t know, but lately I’ve been addicted to watching HGTV and scouring the internet for home decor and furniture ideas. I wanted to share just a few of the resources I’ve found with you.

1. Young House Love – I’m addicted to this blog because it is written by a young married couple (John and Sherry) almost exactly my age who have totally redone their 50-year-old ranch house after two years. The blog has become Sherry’s full-time job and they now offer design services for others as well. Every Monday there is a great giveaway, and they are extremely responsive to readers. I love their taste and know that I’ll be using tons of their ideas in my own home because they are young and know what it’s like to be on a budget!

2. Bower Power – Katie writes about life in general but focuses on the home. She is also young and a somewhat newlywed, and it’s always great to connect with other people in my similar walk of life. Her blog is full of ideas, and I especially love her humor. I think that we could be BFFs if we met in person, but unfortunately she lives in Atlanta. That, and the fact that we haven’t even met online yet, considering I’m not extremely assertive in my blog reading habits. Hmm, hope she isn’t creeped out by this!

3. Houzz – You really just have to check this out yourself. It has tons of pictures and ideas, and if you set up an account you can save pictures to customizable “ideabooks” of your own. They have a feature where they interview design bloggers and show pictures of the blogger’s home. At the end of each interview there is a giveaway, and I’m excited to say that I am the most recent winner! I won this:

Wouldn’t it be super cute to put in an office, or eventually a nursery? I’m so excited! This giveaway was chosen by…

4. Ish & Chi – I just started following this blog after I saw Vivian’s interview on Houzz, and I am hooked. It has a perfect mix of pictures, ideas, and inspiration. Plus, she lives in Sydney, so that makes her extra cool.

I hope you enjoy these links! Let me know what you think, and if you have any similar blogs that you stalk, please share!

June 8, 2009
Ode to a Second Home

This is the home of my good friends Bridget and Dave. They are the ones I have been house-sitting for since 2006. They take lots of vacations, so I’ve spent a whole lot of time there. It’s a place that makes you feel immediately comfortable, and I love so many things about it that it became my inspiration when we were looking to buy a house of our own. I’m happy to say I think we actually ended up with one quite similar!

Anyway, Bridget and Dave are moving this week, and I am very sad about this. Of course it’s mostly because I have to say goodbye to them (and their dogs Teak and Riley, who were the real reasons for my house-sitting), but I’m also really going to miss their house. David and I have spent a lot of quality time there, and have had some important conversations under its roof. I was staying in this house when I graduated nursing school and took the NCLEX. I’ve had lazy, relaxing days there and sleepless, stormy nights. It really has been a second home.

Let’s take a tour through their cute little house, so I can always remember it.

This is what you see when you walk inside the front door. Yes, you will probably see the backsides of doggies Riley and Teak as well as that gorgeous grandfather clock.

They call their house “Wild Peacock Bed & Breakfast” because there actually ARE wild peacocks that live in the trees around their neighborhood! You can see them wandering the streets and hear their squawks quite often. Here are some peacock feathers that they collected and added to the decor of their home.

The main living room where I spent most of my time. I love how the walls are painted wood paneling. Those fans are amazingly powerful, by the way. We bought one for our living room but had to return it when we realized we couldn’t add a light attachment.

Another view of the fireplace. I’m thinking of painting the brick around our fireplace white too, because I like this so much!

The other side of the living room. Comfy couch, built-in wall of bookshelves, leads right into the kitchen, so lovely!

This plate always sits on the bar in between the living room and kitchen, and Bridget updates the saying on it as the seasons change. I think I might like to have something similar.

A cute little breakfast room that always had fresh flowers when I was there. And all of those pictures on the wall were taken by Dave.

I love an all white kitchen, especially with the bamboo accents. Makes that pretty orchid really stand out!

Just for posterity’s sake, here is the guest room where I slept so many nights.

And let’s not forget the lovely patio! I want to put pretty cobblestone like this down on ours so bad, but that project will have to wait until we actually get some furniture!

Their house wasn’t on the market for two days before they got an offer! I’m jealous of whoever gets to move in. But it won’t come with these guys:

Two of the cutest (and neediest) doggies around! I sure will miss it there.

Pictures of my own house coming soon!

June 7, 2009
wanted: a new car, please

Remember that minor annoyance I told you about, how I can’t lock my car anymore? Well, it turned into a little more than annoying today. I was at a furniture store looking for a kitchen table. The store was huge and overwhelming, I didn’t like much of what they had, and a saleslady was stalking me. She was like the cat who came back; she just wouldn’t stay away. I spent more time trying to evade her than looking at furniture. Anyway, I had to get out of there. But as I approached my car, my heart sank. I think I locked my car, I thought. And then I grabbed the handle, and my fears were confirmed. So although I had my key in my hand, I was locked out.

I pride myself on my muscle memory skills, but in this case they came back to haunt me. My truck was made in 1999, and it doesn’t have automatic anything. So I’ve ingrained in myself the habit of locking my door as soon as I open it. Once I found out about both of the locks being broken, I should have just unlocked the passenger side door. But no, I kept it locked thinking that somehow that would make it more secure? I don’t know. So there I was, stranded in the furniture parking lot, and it was hot. Very, very hot.

Thankfully, my husband David and my father-in-law dropped whatever they were doing and came out to work some coat hanger magic for this helpless girl. It really wasn’t happening that way, though. They struggled for a good hour before David decided to go to an auto store. He was able to borrow a slim jim and a wedge, and using those tools got it open in about ten minutes. It’s so great to have a man around who always takes care of me. :)

Unfortunately, when I got home and tried to open the door from the inside, I discovered that the latest trauma had broken the handle. I just had to laugh. I can still get IN my car from the outside, but to get out I have to crawl over and go through the passenger side door. I mean, this is getting ridiculous. I desperately want a new car, but every month I drive this one it saves us about $400. I can handle a lot, and I really like not having a car payment, so I’m sure I’ll just deal with this. But I don’t have to like it!

June 6, 2009
I’m Like Job, Only Not

I feel as if Someone out there is messing with me, trying to figure out exactly how many tiny annoyances I can take. Each one in itself is nothing to write home about, but the inconveniences just keep coming and it is driving me slowly out of my mind.

1. Our lack of furniture, and how we ordered it over three months ago and in the end just canceled in frustration. We continue to eat every meal on our laps or using TV trays.

2. A myraid of computer problems which, unfortunately, you already know too much about. And when I finally got my computer fixed up, our internet went out. I waited around the house all day long yesterday on my day off for the cable guy to come out and fix it, and of course he comes 5 minutes before his window is up. Then he tells me that our outside line is really bad and it will be a few days before someone ELSE can come out and fix THAT.

3. I’ve had this sore in my mouth for two weeks now. It’s finally starting to heal, and lo and behold a new one is popping up.

4. The lock to the driver’s side door of my truck is now broken. No big deal, right? I can just get in through the passenger side door. Nope. That lock has been broken for years. Since my truck is 10 years old and we’ll be getting rid of it when we have kids anyway (we both have trucks with tiny jumpseats in the back), it’s not worth putting money into to fix. So I just took everything valuable out of it and I’m leaving it permanently unlocked. If it gets stolen, oh well. I guess it’ll be time for a new car.

5. For whatever reason, a muscle in my back is really aching today.

Well this ends my venting session. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time here today!

June 3, 2009
the end is near

The end of what? Of this annoyingly long stretch of boring, picture-less posts that mostly have to do with my computer in one way or another. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel because yesterday I spent two hours at the Apple store, and in the end I emerged with a completely functional computer and a brand new iPhone, after I offhandedly asked a question about a small issue I had been having with it.

You would think that my problems would be solved, but you would be wrong. First of all, when I brought my computer home and attempted to re-install some programs, I found out that my administrative password wasn’t being accepted. I am convinced that the Apple Genius put it in wrong, and now I have no way of finding out what it is. Supposedly I can reset it by using the operating system install disc, but in order to use that disc I need my password. Very frustrating. So I’m about to hit up my good friend Google to see what I can do about this.

There is also the issue of our internet, which decided to quit working two days ago out of the blue. Thankfully, my aforementioned brother-in-law Scott is coming over tonight to fix it. I know he’s going to fix it because he’s awesome, and in return I will provide him with dinner. It’s not enough to pay him back for all the technology-related problems he’s solved for me, but it’s a start.

If I can get these two things sorted out, which I’m confident I can, then I will just need to undergo the process of transferring all my recovered data from my external hard drive back onto my computer, organizing it, and renaming it. Easy, right?

Well, there I’ve gone and written another yawn-inducing post about my computer, something I wanted to avoid. I’m too lazy to change it now. But in other news, I survived my David-less few days, and to my great happiness he is back at home again, enjoying the weekend off while I work.

XOXO,
Kathleen

May 30, 2009