December 2011
2 posts
it's a tree... a REAL tree!
Growing up, I loved having a real tree for the holidays. In the last few years, my parents have started putting up a fake one. It is beautiful and always perfect, but it is not a real tree. You don’t have to turn it to hide the kinda bare side. You don’t have to tie it to the radiator to ensure that it stands up straight. You also don’t have to water it or vacuum up the...
3 tags
birthday success!
We pulled it off…
After days of stripping, standing and painting we finally have a recognizable dining room and a living room fit for living. We had to call a few audibles (choosing to paint cabinets instead of stain, renting a table because our special order was late), but in the end we had ourselves a cocktail party. It was everything that I wanted. As usual, there are some finishing...
October 2011
2 posts
“I’m not worried - I just want it to be faster.”
– Mr. Gary, expressing a shared sentiment
1 tag
Update: Long, skinny, white dish
I apologize for leaving you all hanging for so long… I know that you were losing sleep over that random skinny white thing that Brandon found. I received some pretty good guesses. I am taking my favorite guess as a suggestion…
A Gummy Bear Boat!
It will be used as such at our next gathering.
Anyway, it appears that my friends, family and associates are much classier people than...
September 2011
5 posts
2 tags
Strippin'
All of the wood in our home is original (with the exception of the styrofoam “beams” in the living room and entryway). It boggles me that for so many years, the windows and doors in this house have been painted over and over again. We decided that we could not add another coat of paint to the windows in the dining room.
When we first moved in, these windows were cased in weird...
1 tag
Update: Dining Room
Over a month ago, I shared my birthday dreams on this blog. If you recall, the state of the dining room has been standing between me and my intimate birthday dinner. We were fortunate to have the help of a couple dear friends this weekend. After a great drywall job, the room was a clean slate.
We have done a lot of painting in this house. This painting is often followed by conversations...
“The raccoons have feasted at our expense for the last time. Next time, they...”
– Brandon G.
1 tag
Composting Update: There's been an emergency...
As you know, I have been very excited about my worms and their wonderful work. I keep a little bowl for them in fridge to collect all the scraps from cooking and love to feed them. So funny how it really is the little things.
Last week, as I was already running late to work, I found this in the driveway.
I sent Megan and Brandon a frantic text message with a photo of the above scene, with...
August 2011
2 posts
1 tag
I don't know what it is... but I want it...
Most of the buried “treasure” in this house is nothing to write home about… old uninteresting books, a lonely gym shoe without a mate, a child’s coloring pages about the history of Memorial Day. Most things that we find either leave us scratching our heads or send us straight to the trash. This latest find is of the head-scratching variety.
Brandon found it between a...
1 tag
Finally Composting!!
Two years ago, I was intrigued by the wonders of worm composting. I really wanted to start one, but there was something holding me back. A traumatic childhood experience left me with an irrational fear of worms. I won’t try to explain or justify it here… I know that it is ridiculous.
I’ve had pretty big gardening plans since I first saw this house and know how great a compost...
July 2011
5 posts
Kitchen Photos Are Here!
When you have a minute, please click on the new ”kitchen photos” link. I have finally posted a photo series to take you through the work that we’ve done in the kitchen, now that it is (almost) finished.
If you need a refresher on what the kitchen originally looked like, wander back to our early posts… can’t believe it’s been over a year.
M
4 tags
Making the most... last days of summer
I go back to work in a few days (already!) and am feeling under pressure to be productive in what little time I have left. Nevermind an amazing vacation, quality time with B and too many days spent doing absolutely nothing… it feels like crunch time. It’s too late for me to start the vegetable garden that I had planned, but it’s never too early to get a head-start on next year....
“All I can say is TAKE YOUR TIME… you try to rush through this stuff and...”
– Wise words from tuckpointing master whose name I have forgotten
3 tags
A Classy Cocktail Party... at our place
This year I turn 30.
I have recently celebrated Rachelle’s 30th in Greece. Some friends have planned Dirty-30 trips to Vegas, a big night out at the club, bungee jumping and marathon running.
I want to have a dinner party.
Initially, the plan was to do something intimate. I imagined my closest friends and family sitting around a beautiful table in a candlelit dining room. Soft music,...
1 tag
Guest Room (90%) Complete!!
I would like to thank Brandon for teaching me proper mirror-busting technique and taking his first stab at drywalling. Thanks to Ms. Yenior for spending part of spring break painting with me. Thank you Pete and Nikole for donating the futon and Rich for being our first guest. A special shout out goes to the miracles of acetone nail polish remover and the deals (if you really look) to be found...
June 2011
1 post
HGTV Concept
I have this idea for an HGTV show… don’t have a title yet, so you guys can let us know if you come up with something good. Anyway, on this show, new homeowners like us would open their homes to the past owners. And then the old owners would regret ever moving because the new people made the place looks so great. The old owners realize how terrible their tastes was/is and are so...
April 2011
2 posts
“Windy with showers. Highs in the upper 40s and lows in the mid 40s.
Precip: 40%”
– http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/60643 (Things are (kinda) looking up)
3 tags
46 with a 70% Chance of Rain
This Friday is supposed to be the big day… First Bonfire Friday.
I was feeling really good after yesterday’s beautiful weather, with a high in the 80s. I spent an hour in the backyard, reading a book and imagining the fire that will kick-off my spring break.
We have sent out a bunch of email/facebook invites. We have created a pretty lengthy to-do list. We have picked out a fire...
March 2011
8 posts
1 tag
Who dun it?!
For those of you who’ve been following along, you know that we have reason to believe that some pretty strange things may have happened in this house. I am now focusing my attention on what may have happened outside. In my eagerness to get things ready for the highly anticipated bonfire series, I took advantage of an opportunity to get things done in the back yard on a recent 60 degree...
Anonymous asked: Hahaha I love Morgan Freeman as your light switch. Classic!
Anonymous asked: Cool! Keep posting pictures of old random stuff like that. It's so neat.
-Alex
-Alex
2 tags
Letting in a little more light
In addition to uncovering the old window in the guest room, I was able to let more light in by removing the stupid contact paper that was covering the door. I assume that this was done in the interest of privacy, but it still seems dumb.
Each little pane was covered with perfectly cut pieces of translucent contact paper, which peeled off easily enough but left sticky residue that was a bitch...
3 tags
“Never take a wife till thou hast a house (and a fire) to put her in.”
– Ben Franklin (Looks like Bran got it right!)
3 tags
Operation: Fire Pit
I am officially obsessed with the idea of bonfires this summer.
When we first saw this house, I fell in love with the outdoor space, even it needs a lot of TLC. I also fell in love with the thought of entertaining. My vision is spending every or every other Friday night in front of a fire in our backyard. All friends and family have a standing invitation… no need to call ahead, just...
2 tags
(kind of) finishing up
There’s a lot going on at Camp Gary lately. It seems like there are a lot of things that just need to be wrapped up. So wrapping up we are.
Some of the current and ongoing projects…
Finishing the boiler job (Yes, we’ve officially experienced an entire winter without real heat): There were a couple really cold nights, but I’m actually proud of us. It’ll be one of those stories that we...
January 2011
6 posts
I Heart Our Dumpster!!!
Today was already a good day. It’s Friday. I have a cocktail date with Mom and Mal. The kids were really into their projects today… a good day.
Then I got an email from Brandon with a short and sweet message - i got a dumpster for us… the western saloon house of ill repute will be no more. (In case there is any confusion, the saloon of ill repute is like our pet name for the...
It's in the dungeon... I mean... basement
I feel like we have not quite communicated the weirdness/sense of avoidance associated with the basement. I guess as a rule basements are not “fun” places. When you think of owning a home, a finished basement is a plus but an unfinished one might not be a deal-breaker. I would definitely consider ours “unfinished” but not in the...
Great Work!
I love that the post are back. I’m not a big fan of blogs, but I love to follow this one. Can’t wait until its warm out so I can help out.
Construction Monsters & Squirrel Hunters
In the past couple weeks, a few friends and family have insisted that we are not properly documenting this home-making adventure. I honestly do not know where to begin with the unbelievable stories and projects we’ve undertaken.
In attempts to not only save money, but also to try our hand at the DIY life, Brandon and I have taken on a lot of projects ourselves to make this old house more...
December 2010
1 post
It's been a long time
So much has happened since the last post (months ago)!
We got married!!!
The heat and mosquitoes have disappeared
They’ve been replaced by snow and ice
I learned that I’d rather be without AC than heat
Trying to heat your home with space heaters and the oven isn’t easy
If you’re really nice to your neighbors, they might snow-blow your super long driveway
It’s...
August 2010
2 posts
June 2010
10 posts
It's a lot like camping
So I realized something as I was falling asleep last night - living in this house is a lot like camping.
You have to get used to the bugs. We don’t have screens on a lot of the windows so…
You will wake up with new mosquito bites
It’s hot. No AC in the attic means that you’ll probably sweat in your sleep
In most of the house, you don’t walk around...
WOW to the attic, you are both working so hard on this house! I like your posts super funny. I will keep checking on here! Take care guys!
Too cool!
I finally had time to view all our photos. What a cool blog … who is the artist? I love your house - lots of character. And that back yard - you and Mom will have a blast out there!!! See you guys SOON. Love, Aunt Di
ellipsesdotdotdot asked: I know you all have plans to make "green" renovations. How do you plan to dispose of the cabinets and carpets?
I am so excited you for you two! I can see the improvement since my last trip home. It looks great! I am sure that Stella is enjoying her new yard too! I can’t wait to see it in person in July!
Love you both!
Meg
demo days
So far our work on the house has provided some small, reallly rewarding moments. Until yesterday the kitchen had yet to be one of them. Every step has revealed a bigger job… pulling out an old dishwasher uncovered a rotted out mess. The mess means that we have to move forward on our plans to redo the kitchen sooner rather than later.
Last night we took on our first demolition project...
May 2010
4 posts
Is this house like Chinese food?
Every project is larger than anticipated. My efforts to clean the half bath revealed corroded pipes and a leak in the basement. Our one day push to paint the attic was quadrupled once we realized how long it takes to cut into the spaces in wood paneling by hand. Yesterday we had the old appliances taken out which left us with a huge terribly damaged wall that is being rebuilt today.
So last...
Finally!!!
Yesterday we closed. Two hours of signing papers.
And when it was all over, we left without keys to get into our new (old) house. Because of course, it couldn’t have been that easy.
So after a few celebratory cocktails and tamales we waited around for the selling agent to drop of the key. We got in and tried to come up with a gameplan.
So… after work we each made a run to grab...
Not today...
Today is the 5th.
It is the third closing date that we have agreed to. We’ve waited for the 5th for weeks, knowing that once we officially have the keys (we’ve unofficially had them for awhile) this part of the madness would be behind us.
The first two closing dates fell through after a storm of urgent emails and addendums. We are literally at a point where our addendums have...
Our Old House
We weren’t even looking for a house. We got engaged last summer and have a wedding planned for July. Buying a home was supposed to happen later… after the wedding. But we found it. About ten doors down from the house where I grew up (and my parents still live) was a foreclosure with our names on it.
With an amazing handyman dad, many knowledgeable friends, and months of an HGTV...