New Year, New Blog Post

I can't belive it's been almost 1 entire year since I posted something on my own blog. Yikes, i'm a slacker that apparently hasn't had anything interesting going on in a long time.


I'm thinking that I need to start off the new year with a post about wine. Since this blog is supposed to be about things I love, red wine has to make an appearance. I'm sure some friends and family will agree that I have become a bit of a wine snob. My new motto is: If you won't appreciate it you don't get to have any of it. I'm afraid I did this to my wonderful mother-in-law (i'm not joking, she really is wonderful) on New Year's eve. I had a beautiful bottle of 2000 Chimney Rock that we decided to open in honor of telling 2010 good riddance. I decided she would love the Glorious Gewurz (apparently not for sale anymore) from Sequoia Grove and therefore I wouldn't have to share my 10 year old Cab. Shame on me but man it was good!

Since I didn't share any off this with you either I will at least show you a picture of the bottle so you can imagine you had some too. Also, to make sure you don't assume anything I love to drink good wine and you will never hear me describe the wine with a bunch of flowery words that make me sound really obnoxious.
Thanks for reading my blog and let's raise a glass of good wine (or whatever you like to drink) and toast to a fantastic 2011.

I want to be 5 again

Why couldn't I have been this stylish as a kid? I suppose it wasn't exactly practical for my days in the gym shooting hoops or out in the horse barn. Good news for my nieces and nephews. i can just buy this for them.

Wedding Envy...

Prior to my own wedding I was never the type to imagine my big day and plan every detail before snagging my own prince charming. When it was time to plan my wedding I had to start from scratch and thanks to my project mgmt skills I was more worried about time lines than finding the most beautiful things to have on my big day.

My wedding was still beautiful but now that i've attended friends weddings and seen a ton of photos from The Nichols Blog I wish I could marry Ron all over again so I could have this brooch wedding bouquet - so beautiful!

hey blog, i'm back and I want this...

I should really close out my renovation posts with a finished picture of my kitchen remodel but I was inspired by this site and wanted to share. I promise to post finished pictures soon.

This Venti Oval Tub from The Macbeth Collection could not be any cuter. I see a million different uses for it at parties & in the garden.



The site lets you customize everything from home office accessories to flip flops (one of the few things on their site that I don't like). The patterns are really pretty (not sure my husband will tolerate many) and make me wish that spring was already here.

In with the new

Considering how much is going on this week (Jury Duty, Vacation Prep, Real Work, etc...) I'm so overly excited about the fact that the new cabinets were delivered today. We peeled back a few boxes and so far the cabinets look amazing. I can't wait to see what they look like installed. I hope the two toned look is as great as we hoped it would be (Charcoal & Seashell). Since we have picked it I've seen it in magazines and it works. From here on out it's really just finishing work, I can't wait for the finished product.

Mom, just for you there is even a shot of the new floors. Enjoy!

French Doors Yeah

From here on out I think that I'll scale back the photos so I can sucker more people into coming to see the finished product. This week has been really productive. We have french doors in the living room, yeah! I am sure they will get lots of use and as Ron predicted the need for more projects is suddenly more pressing - an expanded deck & newly painted exterior would sure look good out there. I think that will have to wait.

All prep work should be done by Monday and the floors can start to go in. Unfortunately i'm not sure we can paint before they get started but I don't think we are too old to pull an all-nighter. We'll have lights installed by then so we should be good to go.

The house is still a mess but comparing progress of be before & after is pretty amazing. Money well spent.


Our former coat closet wall.

Our new drywall, don't worry the sliding glass door is not going to be covered permanently.

Our new french door, the light in our living room is great. Anyone have any ideas for moving a crazy heavy fridge?

Drywall Dust will not get me down

Sorry for the delay in posting, we have been busy busy. The contractor made good progress last week on the house and i'm ready for the finishing work to start. The house is a total mess between the removal of the popcorn ceiling and the trench that had to be cut in the slab to make room for electrical in the island. I love my shopvac but I have been abusing it severely. I think I need a new filter or a commercial size replacement (not in the budget).

Tomorrow we expect the plumbing work to be finished & the electrical to start. Drywall finishing should be done by the end of the week but that will depend on our duct work. Apparently we need to move a few things around so we need to call our friend Bill to come out and work on our A/C duct work (not budgeted for either - boo).

Here is our current view from the Living Room


& view from Kitchen


Emmie says hi & wants to know when her house will be fixed.