My Buddy

One of the perks of going to see a concert in Dallas this weekend was getting to see Trey, Mel, & Luke.  Luke is no longer a baby, but now a little boy.  He walks, he talks, and he's just a ton of fun to be around. 

He's still sweet as ever and is developing such a sense of humor. For instance, he thinks it's funny to secretly grab a handful of dirt and turn around and throw it on his Aunt Lauren. Soooo funny.

Jason wanted me to add a thought bubble to the picture above and let you guys fill in your own comments.  I kept trying to teach Luke to say, "Ooo, ooo, ah, ah," every time he started doing that. 

 

If only we lived closer and got to hang out more often.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Kitchen Renovation Day 6

Time for the big granite reveal.  So, which granite did we choose?  If you remember, these were our choices:

Bu-ba-da-dum... we chose the sample to the left.  It's called Blue Pearl and it is wonderful shades of black, grey, and blue.  I love the way the blue and silver speckles reflect the light.  I also think it will be easiest to keep looking clean out of the bunch.  I figured that the darker ones would show more dust.

So, funny story about the middle option up there.  It's called Uba Tuba and it's the choice that Jason really liked, but our designer and I really liked the Blue Pearl.  We finally persuaded Jason to go with our choice, but we were also told that most men will automatically choose the Uba Tuba over any other choice.  Not sure why that is.  I guess it is the simplest looking of the bunch.  Maybe that's why?  Now that the Blue Pearl is installed, Jason totally agrees that we made the right choice.

Oh, and guess what?  We have a sink again!  Not a functioning one, but at least it's installed!

We are soooo close to the finished product!  I probably won't make another kitchen post until it's all finished.  It's going to look so different once everything is painted.  I can't wait!

Girl Band Weekend

We just wrapped up what we've affectionately been referring to as "Girl Band Weekend."  We went to three female led band concerts in four days.  (Jason actually snuck off to Austin Thursday night to see one more.) 

Our first show of the weekend was Wild Belle and Tennis Friday night at Fitzgerald's.  We were actually more interested in watching Wild Belle, who opened for Tennis, than staying for the entire main set.

     

Wild Belle only has a EP with two songs out, so hearing some of their new music was fun.  We only stuck around for a few of the Tennis songs since I hadn't been feeling too great the past week and since we knew we had a long weekend ahead.

The next day we drove to Dallas to see First Aid Kit at the Kessler Theater.  It was our first time to watch a show at the venue.  I was kinda bummed that the concert was seated, but it was a very good show nonetheless.  One of the top ten shows I've been to, I'd say.  I learned that the way you make a folksy girl band more rock and roll is to add head banging into the performance.  Instantly works.  

One of the highlights of the night (other than the head banging) was when they stepped away from the microphones, had the lights turned on, and asked the audience to join in on singing an acoustic version of their song Ghost Town.       

The grand finale of Girl Band Weekend was Metric last night at House of Blues.  Metric has been one of my favorite bands since the release of their second album Live It Out in 2005.  I've been trying to make a Metric concert every time they've gone on tour, but I never seem to be in the right place at the right time.  Needless to say, I've been looking forward to this concert for awhile.

Going into this concert I assumed that since I was the biggest Metric fan out of everyone I personally knew, then I would probably be in the top 5% of most dedicated Metric fans.  Boy was I wrong.  After seeing how extremely hardcore the audience was at this concert, I don't even think I make the top quartile.

It was a great show though.  Emily Haines is such a rock star and an amazing performer.  I'm glad I finally had the chance to watch her, even if it's been four albums in the making.

To see more pictures from the concerts, check out my Flickr page here.

Kitchen Renovation Days 4 & 5

While I was in St. Louis for work this week, our carpentry work was finished.  It's beginning to look like a totally different kitchen.  They've done a good job blending our existing cabinet boxes with the new pieces.

 

Here are a few more views.  The area above the stove turned out nice.  It will look even nicer once the new microwave is installed.

I love our sink area.  Can you see the nice little ledge built in the back?   Our trash drawer still needs to be cut to fit the trashcan, but you get the idea.  We also have a mock drawer under the sink that will hold the scrubbies and such.

These are our granite choices and hardware.  We already chose which granite we like best, but I think I might keep it as a surprise until it's installed. 

 

Our faucet and microwave were delivered this week as well.  The faucet is heavy!  I think it weighs nearly 7 pounds. 

 

Next week the granite will be installed and everything will be painted.  I think the paint process will take several days since they have to use a special primer on the existing laminate cabinet boxes.

Have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to having this all done?  I'm looking forward to having a sink again, and cooking and eating at home, and not having to deal with scheduling, and not having guys track in and out of our house all day.  Oh, and I'm looking foward to having a much nicer kitchen as well.

Kitchen Renovation Day 3

Ok, the carpentry work is about 1/3 of the way done.  Today's pictures are going to be a bit of bead board overload (it kinda reminds me of old school wood paneling right now), but I think it's going to look awesome once everything is painted.

 

Today's work consisted of:

•  Taking down the old microwave 
•  Installing the back splash
•  Building some cabinet doors
•  Building drawers (including the trash drawer)
•  Working on the open shelving feature you see in between the windows

So the cabinet in between our windows looks completely different, huh?  I promise the old laminate cabinet is still underneath there too.  You'll see a similar concept above the oven eventually.

 

I really like our new doors.  They are really nice quality.  Do you see the pantry door in the picture above?  So much better than our last pantry door.

 

Our carpenter even built us some new shelves in this cabinet.  It was a nice surprise.  And do you see the trim around the top of our cabinets?  We didn't have any trim before.

We still have about 10 more hours of carpentry work.  Then comes granite, painting, plumbing, installing new light fixtures, and fixing our loose tiles.  Whew!  I get tired just thinking of everything that still needs to be done.  And I'm not even the one doing the work! I think it's going to be worth it though.  Heck, just having a sink again will make it all worth it.

Kitchen Renovation Day 2

Well, our contractors just wrapped up the second full day of the kitchen renovation.  And guess what?  We have cabinets again!  Yes, they might lack doors, drawers, paint, hardware, etc., but at least they exist!

So, here's the rundown for today:

• Removed the cabinets above and beside the refrigerator
• Removed the existing drawer fronts
• Built the new lower cabinet boxes
• Built new cabinets above and beside the refrigerator
• Added wood to the top of the lower cabinets where the granite will sit
• Started building the drawer fronts and doors

 

As you can tell from the picture above, we have changed the layout of the bottom cabinets.  We will now have a diagonal corner sink cabinet and the dishwasher will sit directly next to the sink.  Apparently, it's an inconvenience to have to take a step to load the dishwasher.

 

Here's a close-up of the corner sink cabinet.  To the right of the sink, we will have a trash drawer.  The other two bottom cabinets will just be normal with a drawer on top and cabinet door on bottom.



 

Speaking of sinks, how do you like this bad boy?  Isn't it pretty?

We now have a built in refrigerator.  Both upper cabinets now extend all the way up to the ceiling, and the cabinet above the refrigerator comes all the way out.  Before it sat in the back and was pretty much inaccessible.

We are also leaving the diagonal cabinet on the end as open shelving with no doors.

 

Here are our paint choices.  The cabinets, backsplash, and trim will all be a bright white.  The walls will be a creamish color - more specifically, Sherwin-Williams Clean Linen.  We will have an accent of turquoise, Sherwin-Williams Hazel.

 

Here's the start to our drawer fronts.  The drawer fronts will be plain and the doors will be shaker style.

Now that construction's moving along, I've started looking at decorating accessories.  After all, we will have quite a bit of open shelving now.  Check out my Pinterest page to see what I've come up with so far.

Painted Pumpkins

Last year decoupaged pumpkins were in; this year painted ones are. 

 

Today I had a little fun making my own. 

 

 

By coincidence, the chevron stripes and polka dots match the scrapbook paper on my "BOO" sign I made a few weeks ago.

 

So, what do you think?  Do you prefer last year's decoupaged pumpkins or this year's painted ones?