Posts from — March 2018

I’m still working on the photos for part three of the house tour.  It is so difficult to get the lighting right! In the meantime, I want to share a minor victory with you. A first-world problem sort of victory.

When I moved in, I bought a new washer and dryer. Dave used our old set for a rental he is bought.

I am happy with the new machines, but I had a little annoyance each time I put in a load of wash. Logically, the laundry soap and fabric softener sheets were in the cupboard above the washer. The problem was that the lid of the washer interfered with the doors on the cupboard. I warned you, it’s a small problem!

Last night, I found the solution at Home Goods. People, I know I’m not the only one obsessed with Home Goods, am I right?!?

Anyhow, the area of the store I always hit first, is the clearance aisle. It was there that I found this porcelain cutie for $5. I knew instantly that this would fix all my worldly problems! OK, not all, but this one little pain in the rear, for certain.

I nailed it into a stud in the wall, and filled it with the dryer sheets, laundry pods… and a pair of tongs.

Why the tongs? Well, I’ve recently learned that I have short arms. I went all my life without knowing about this physical deficiency of mine. The washer basin is so deep that I can’t reach the bottom to pull out the clothes. I know, another first-world problem … thankfully with an easy solution, kitchen tongs!

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House Tour Pt. 1 was all about the new courtyard out front and the new exterior paint job. For House Tour Pt. 2, we come inside.

As previously mentioned, I moved into my new home on November 10, 2017. It wasn’t an easy transition. Many people say the moving process can be stressful and they’re not wrong there.

The courtyard started on November 13 and was completed on November 21. To keep things interesting, the interior double-sided fireplace facelift started on November 15.

If you’ve followed this blog for a long, you already know of my dear friend and co-worker, Kim Howard. Kim has four gorgeous grown children, the oldest is Cody.

Cody Howard is a talented craftsman and an amazing human being. Cody is a US Marine Veteran. He is an outdoorsman, he was a pro whitewater kayaker, oh, and he restores old homes too. Cody is a true renaissance man. His company is called Chisel Built.

Photo from Instagram

Cody and his finance, Chante, work together and outfit some of the homes they restore and use for vacation rentals. You can find them on Instagram at Chisel Built and Chisel Built Stays.

Photo from Instagram

As if that isn’t enough wonderfulness, together, they are adventurous and love to travel the world. And, oh yeah, Chante is a fashion model too. Yup, they’re quite the dynamic duo.

Anyhow, for the fireplace, Cody sent me to Summit Brick, I was drawn to the Morocco brick.

My next stop was the fabulous Porter Barn Wood to find some reclaimed barn wood for my two mantels. I knew I loved this place as soon as I pulled up a saw the building!

As I was typing this and looking for the link to take you to their website, I found a short YouTube video that PBW has up of Cody and Chante’s home, using their reclaimed wood all over the house. Enjoy THIS fun bonus.

Photo from Instagram

Here is the fireplace Cody did in their home, all done up for Christmas.

I’ll be making the food for their wedding in NW Arizona in mid-May. So, obviously, I could wax poetic about these two all day, but maybe I should just get back to my interior remodel for now…

This was the fireplace on moving-in day. *Please take note of the stuccoed beam that is on either side at the top of the fireplace, we’ll be getting back to that later.

Nice, but not at all my style. And there are no mantels! I need my mantels! Where else do you hang your Christmas stockings? How can you decorate or warm up a modern fireplace like this? I suppose you could build a fire, but that’s not the “warming up” I’m in need of.

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You have a week to pull off these two pranks. It only took me about 15 minutes to “make” my fruit and vegetable Easter chocolates. I can’t wait to see the reactions!

I went to Target to shop for the foil-covered chocolate eggs. After carefully examining what was available, I decided on the Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs over the traditional Hershey’s Eggs because they were slightly larger. You see, you’ll be swapping out the chocolate eggs for grapes, so a similar size is a necessity. The Nestle Butterfinger Nest Eggs were a perfect size too, but the foil isn’t as pretty or “Eastery”  – yes that’s a word!

April Fool’s Fruit and Vegetable Easter Chocolates

• Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs
• grapes
• Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
• Brussels sprouts
• a bit of patience

Very carefully and slowly loosen the foil on a Crunch Chocolate Egg. On the first one I attempted, I made the mistake of completely opening up the foil. Don’t do that! It is too hard to fold it back together nicely.

Instead, open the foil just enough to remove the chocolate egg.

When choosing your grape, go a little smaller, rather than larger or the exact same size. I used the grape on the left.

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This year we get two holidays for the price of one on April 1st.

I suppose April Fool’s Day isn’t a true holiday, especially when compared to the importance and holiness of Easter, but I’m going to give you cute ways to celebrate both anyhow.

Today is a fun and messy, yet clean, way to color Easter eggs, and tomorrow a couple of fun Easter-themed April Fool’s jokes to play on family and friends.

Shaving Cream-Dyed Easter Eggs

• Hard-cooked eggs
• White vinegar
• White shaving cream
• Food coloring
• Lots of paper towels

Place the eggs in a bowl and pour in enough white vinegar to cover. Let sit for 3 to 4 minutes and then remove eggs from the vinegar and set aside. Soaking the cooked eggs in vinegar before dying gives you more vibrant colors. The vinegar may then be poured back into the bottle and used again, no reason to waste it.

Spray the shaving cream into a cake pan or onto a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish. Use a spoon or spatula to press down the shaking cream to make it smooth and dense.

Add 4 or 5 drops of two different colors of food coloring, of your choice, to a small area of the pan.

Then run the tip of a paring knife or a toothpick through the two colors to “marble” the colors together.

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First things first! I must thank you for your kind, loving, and encouraging words here and on Facebook. It truly gives me the strength and determination to keep moving forward and onward. I’m sending you virtual hugs and kisses! xoxo

I’m going to start the house tour on the outside and share with you what I did the first week I moved in; the front courtyard.

I live very close to busy Tatum Blvd., close enough that I could see the traffic whiz by outside my front door and front two windows. Thankfully, the way the house is situated prevents the noise from being noticeable in the backyard, but the front needed a barrier, so a courtyard was the answer. I checked with the city on the possibility of building the courtyard before putting in an offer on the house. If it would not be doable, I would not have purchased the house.

Moving day was November 10, 2017.

Demo of the front patio began on November 13th. I’m not one to waste time. I have to live up to my life motto, “Get Shit Done!”

As if that was not enough, I was having a propane tank installed in the back so that I could have my all-important gas range AND the demo on the inside double-sided fireplace began on November 15th. Because, honestly, if you don’t have at least four major things being done at the same time, what’s the point?

More on the awe-inspiring fireplace next week.

My dear friends, Tram and Steve, recommended the people I used for the courtyard and who I am using for the current backyard and pool remodel.

The wonderful Garden Plus Landscape and Pools do the most amazing work. They are quick, clean, efficient, trustworthy, competitively priced, and above all, kind. Honestly, I can’t recommend them highly enough!

They had the courtyard (and a new mailbox) done in 8 days! I talking completely done; demo, a wall built, pavers in place, irrigation, planted, painted, gate installed, mailbox post constructed, cleaned up, and done in basically a week.

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I haven’t written a blog post in over four months. I haven’t written consistently for nearly a year. If you’re still here, I thank you and I feel I owe you an explanation, a reason behind my absence, and inconsistency.

The title of this post gives a clue.

“When in doubt, choose change.”  Lily Leung

I’ve undergone major life changes: Divorce. Selling our beloved family home of 18 years. Moving into a rental/storage unit for 6 months. Buying and moving into a new home. Yeah, basically starting over.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”  C.S. Lewis

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