A house can be a home
It's funny when you're actually living life...you don't have time to blog it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, moving into a new house is exhausting. And like pregnancy and pot, it makes you ditzy and stupid. Like all you are thinking about is boxes, and unpacking, and putting things away. And all the things you have to buy. I spent nearly $200 on our groceries alone the first week...stocking the pantry and all that (don't tell Braden, he thinks I spent only $150). It is VERY expensive to get a kitchen and pantry started, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I think this is why college students and actors don't cook. They just move around too much. In any case, last week the bill was within budget so I think we're settling in okay.
We moved into our house on Thursday, the 30th. Coincidentally, our 2nd month anniversary. Ah, signs of moving too fast and being along for the ride. We ended up celebrating our new digs with quite a lot of Blue Moon and him, me and Boomer were sprawled all over the floor by midnight.
The next day we went to my grandparents estate to pick up my old college furniture. My big red chair and a half, the it's-so-comfy-i-can't-believe-it's-a-futon, some end tables and a bunch of stuff we scavenged out of the garage. Oh yeah, I've fallen in love with the ultimate dumpster diver, but in this case it's paid off. We have found some fantastic things at my dead grandparents, surpluses, and old lots. Braden really knows a find when he sees it. Like my kitchen...it had maybe 1.5 square feet of counter space. Not really all that much. Just a tiny bit on both sides of the sink. Well he found this totally kitschy industrial set of cabinets with numbers on them and then he found an old countertop and installed in our kitchen, tripling our space! Not only that...he built me all these shelves with hooks for all my pots and pans and goodness. As it turns out, I barely need the teal cabinets on the opposite wall (which he was gonna take down and put up more of those industrial cabinets...I protested. Big brown cabinets on the wall does not a pleasant room make.) Not only that he hung all my stuff up and it looked amazing. The way that man shows his love...I was floored.
I don't have any pics of the kitchen without the counter he put in...but just imagine it not being there. Doesn't it seem so empty and a waste of space? How did the previous tenants live? Also...that little cart under the cabinets. It has cutting boards all on it AND pulls at to become an island for prepping! So cool!! (It also served as a desk while I was remodeling the study/library).
This is the living room in its latest evolution. Eventually I want to get a better cover for that futon and the chair so it looks a little classier...but for now, it all looks really awesome. Braden pretty much designed everything. Those black bookshelves are mine...he put a board on top of them to create an ideal entertainment center. I doubted this notion, and I should never doubt him again. He has a gift for design...I do not (though he says I did an impressive job on my study). I just am good at finding pretty things. :) My favorite parts of the living room is the Mad Men-esque looking console table, the sunflower sculpture which his mom made and the picture frames with nothing in them. When my cousin came to visit she exclaimed, "This house is SO you." That's wonderful because apparently it's so Braden too.
Oh...there have been bumps along the way. Believe me, any new home owner/renter will tell you that. It doesn't help that our chatty old landlady went out of town for 2 weeks to Germany. The outlets are old and poor and at one point we couldn't have the living room AC unit running with anything else without blowing a fuse. And that was the second AC unit. The first one was so old that it sucked the juice out of the entire apartment and would only work at one temperature -- freezer level freezing. And when you're sleeping on the futon for the time being...feeling like a penguin does not equate to an easy sleep. The microwave blew a fuse, so did the vacuum cleaner. It was a frustrating puzzle figuring out what to plug where to avoid the inevitable "Fuck! AGAIN??!" The router has had to be moved about 7 times and until recently reset everyday. Finally it works in most places in the house. There was one night when Boomer ate a stick of butter of the kitchen table...and has knocked over and gone through the trash. He also crashed a funeral when I took him for a walk. And one of Braden's friends got trashed one night and went off with all my knives (we found all but one. he replaced it and apologized profusely...we are cool now.)
We have been really happy, but definitely fall into occasional bought of exhaustion (I think this photo personifies that). This is just the beginning. There's more to come...concerning a) how to go about painting a room when you've never done it before, b) how an amazing DIY guy can build a patio, an awning and outdoor furniture from mostly found objects, c) going through the estate on round 2 and convincing my dad to give us the motorcycle, among other things. More details coming soon.
Denouement: In a moment of insomnia, I dove through 150 pages of "Julie & Julia". I STILL have not seen the movie. But so far I love the book. I have been cooking up a storm, sometimes by my own design. Braden remains the grillmaster...his turkey burgers are to die for, and if you're anti-turkey burger, you haven't had these. Made with onions, garlic, brown sugar and a little bit of honey, they are savory sweet. Add pepper jack cheese and grilled peppers plus guacamole and you've got one of the most fantastic burgers I've ever tasted!! Plus I made sweet potato fries...I think that might be the only way I'm willing to eat sweet potatoes. They were also quite delectable. Add in some greek salad..and voila! Delicious homemade dinner of restaurant standards. I will definitely be taking more photos of food I make...perhaps my new blog project?
We moved into our house on Thursday, the 30th. Coincidentally, our 2nd month anniversary. Ah, signs of moving too fast and being along for the ride. We ended up celebrating our new digs with quite a lot of Blue Moon and him, me and Boomer were sprawled all over the floor by midnight.
The next day we went to my grandparents estate to pick up my old college furniture. My big red chair and a half, the it's-so-comfy-i-can't-believe-it's-a-futon, some end tables and a bunch of stuff we scavenged out of the garage. Oh yeah, I've fallen in love with the ultimate dumpster diver, but in this case it's paid off. We have found some fantastic things at my dead grandparents, surpluses, and old lots. Braden really knows a find when he sees it. Like my kitchen...it had maybe 1.5 square feet of counter space. Not really all that much. Just a tiny bit on both sides of the sink. Well he found this totally kitschy industrial set of cabinets with numbers on them and then he found an old countertop and installed in our kitchen, tripling our space! Not only that...he built me all these shelves with hooks for all my pots and pans and goodness. As it turns out, I barely need the teal cabinets on the opposite wall (which he was gonna take down and put up more of those industrial cabinets...I protested. Big brown cabinets on the wall does not a pleasant room make.) Not only that he hung all my stuff up and it looked amazing. The way that man shows his love...I was floored.
I don't have any pics of the kitchen without the counter he put in...but just imagine it not being there. Doesn't it seem so empty and a waste of space? How did the previous tenants live? Also...that little cart under the cabinets. It has cutting boards all on it AND pulls at to become an island for prepping! So cool!! (It also served as a desk while I was remodeling the study/library).
This is the living room in its latest evolution. Eventually I want to get a better cover for that futon and the chair so it looks a little classier...but for now, it all looks really awesome. Braden pretty much designed everything. Those black bookshelves are mine...he put a board on top of them to create an ideal entertainment center. I doubted this notion, and I should never doubt him again. He has a gift for design...I do not (though he says I did an impressive job on my study). I just am good at finding pretty things. :) My favorite parts of the living room is the Mad Men-esque looking console table, the sunflower sculpture which his mom made and the picture frames with nothing in them. When my cousin came to visit she exclaimed, "This house is SO you." That's wonderful because apparently it's so Braden too.
Oh...there have been bumps along the way. Believe me, any new home owner/renter will tell you that. It doesn't help that our chatty old landlady went out of town for 2 weeks to Germany. The outlets are old and poor and at one point we couldn't have the living room AC unit running with anything else without blowing a fuse. And that was the second AC unit. The first one was so old that it sucked the juice out of the entire apartment and would only work at one temperature -- freezer level freezing. And when you're sleeping on the futon for the time being...feeling like a penguin does not equate to an easy sleep. The microwave blew a fuse, so did the vacuum cleaner. It was a frustrating puzzle figuring out what to plug where to avoid the inevitable "Fuck! AGAIN??!" The router has had to be moved about 7 times and until recently reset everyday. Finally it works in most places in the house. There was one night when Boomer ate a stick of butter of the kitchen table...and has knocked over and gone through the trash. He also crashed a funeral when I took him for a walk. And one of Braden's friends got trashed one night and went off with all my knives (we found all but one. he replaced it and apologized profusely...we are cool now.)
We have been really happy, but definitely fall into occasional bought of exhaustion (I think this photo personifies that). This is just the beginning. There's more to come...concerning a) how to go about painting a room when you've never done it before, b) how an amazing DIY guy can build a patio, an awning and outdoor furniture from mostly found objects, c) going through the estate on round 2 and convincing my dad to give us the motorcycle, among other things. More details coming soon.
Denouement: In a moment of insomnia, I dove through 150 pages of "Julie & Julia". I STILL have not seen the movie. But so far I love the book. I have been cooking up a storm, sometimes by my own design. Braden remains the grillmaster...his turkey burgers are to die for, and if you're anti-turkey burger, you haven't had these. Made with onions, garlic, brown sugar and a little bit of honey, they are savory sweet. Add pepper jack cheese and grilled peppers plus guacamole and you've got one of the most fantastic burgers I've ever tasted!! Plus I made sweet potato fries...I think that might be the only way I'm willing to eat sweet potatoes. They were also quite delectable. Add in some greek salad..and voila! Delicious homemade dinner of restaurant standards. I will definitely be taking more photos of food I make...perhaps my new blog project?