THIS IS HER LIFE

Sunday Afternoon Productivity

2012-02-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

I have been ~~extremely~~ lazy this weekend. I do believe that I haven't changed out of pajamas all weekend.

I was feeling guilty that I have been so unproductive this weekend that I decided today to work on something that has been on my mind constantly for a while now... the old workshop in my basement. This was used by the previous owner's husband as a workshop area with many tools, bolts, screws, oil cans, pickaxes (maybe four of them), saws ... the list goes on and on.

My Sunday goal: transform cluttered workshop into art studio

During the move-in process (that has really lasted an entire year).... the workshop has, well, acquired many "to-do's". I kept piling stuff up in there that it got to the point where I could barely walk in.

See....Couldn't walk in...

A few months ago, Home Depot had a deal on storage containers... so I bought a few with hopes to get this mess in order someday. So I was "prepared" in a way.

First things first... let's get this ancient heater working... um.... see (above) how the instruction panel is stinking out of the heater? Yeah... no clue how to work this one. I eventually got it going... with some patience. But it was totally necessary... I could see my breath in there. This is an extension of the house that was built on by the previous owner so it isn't heated... it's almost like a garage.

Brrrrrr

A cup of coffee and a couple hours later, I had this mess under control and even had enough energy to put some of my flair up!

Just need to get rid of the dryer and queen bed frame... and I will be set!

Of course I need candles in there ;)

Light star... another must to get the right vibe going!

So I must say, I feel so much better now that I know that room is organized. It's one less thing to worry about.

Now I need to get my old sound system from my parents house and plug it in. Let's get the musical vibe going. I am sure my parents will be happy to get something else out of their house. :)

My goal is to turn this "workshop" into an "art studio". I really want this to be a creative space for me away from my computer. I seem to be on it all day and night working on photo/graphic projects. Somewhere I can use my hands and create things. It is something that is very important to me that I have seemed to step away from lately. I want the walls to be plastered with inspiration. I want this room to be colorful and full of my love for the art world.

my easel!!

A yarn hook art piece my mama made

But I did keep some of the "artifacts" left by the previous owners... Jerry and Judy. I have heard from my neighbors that he was quite the character. When I first viewed the house, this sticker was hanging up in the workshop and it made me chuckle. Things like this give a house character and history. There it hangs to this day...

Jerry made this sign and hung it in the workshop. I think it carries a great message and decided to leave it up. An inspirational message made by a hardworking guy. No matter what you do... these things hold true.

What a productive Sunday!

So... Anyone need a bedframe? [wink]

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/fuo/2848370773.html

Thanks for reading and stay posted!!!!!! xoxo

Evolution of Smooth

2012-01-26T21:23:00.001-05:00

So this is a very quick post about a product I purchased and received in the mail today. It's called EOS for short and they make many health/beauty products but the one that caught my eye was their chapsticks... Or spheres should I say.

They come in many "flavors" and I couldn't decide for a while which one I wanted. My patience paid off when I saw a deal on target.com to get a variety 4-pack. Word!!

It came in the mail today... The photos aren't great but you get it.

The product website is below. Try them out!! It's a good quality lip moisturizer that has staying power and a smooth feel.

Thanks to Sarah who showed me hers and perked my interest!!

http://evolutionofsmooth.com/

DOWN WITH SOPA/PIPA! Let's crush these bills..

2012-01-18T10:02:00.001-05:00

Today is the largest online strike in history... and I want to participate. Censorship and the smothering of our personal freedoms and expressions is NOT what this country is all about. I am not going to preach but PLEASE do your research to learn more about what freedoms you will lose. If you are as outraged as the rest of us... click on the links below and sign the petitions to fight these bills.

END PIRACY! NOT LIBERTY!! ... Uh Oh... am I pirating Google's phrase???

http://sopastrike.com/strike/

I think that The Oatmeal has said it best:

Source: http://theoatmeal.com/sopa

(BTW... I most likely wouldn't have been able to copy this GIF to my own blog if the SOPA/PIPA gets passed... because I "PIRATED" it... YARRRR.... It's not pirating...It's sharing! Isn't that what the internet is all about? Spreading ideas and information?)

Artists & Musicians Against SOPA/PIPA

TO members of the United States Congress

We, the undersigned artists, have all been empowered by the Internet. Today, artists can reach large audiences and make a living because the Internet and digital tools have democratized the means to create, distribute, and promote our work.

We write to you today because we are concerned with S.968, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). Copyright law exists to promote the arts, but the new penalties in PIPA could be used against the new social media channels we depend on to make a living, and endanger freedom of expression.

PIPA creates new penalties against sites dedicated to infringing activity, but we worry it will be abused to attack legitimate sites we rely on. Many trailblazing social media websites could look like piracy havens to judges unfamiliar with the Internet. In the past, music and film companies have attacked many new technologies - like the VCR and MP3 player - claiming that they were tools for piracy. Recently, these same companies have sued video hosting platforms like Veoh and YouTube.

We use online video sites, file hosts like Dropbox and Mediafire, and online music communities like Soundcloud to host our work, collaborate with others, and build a community. We fund our work with services like Kickstarter and Flattr. We publish our work on sites like Tumblr, Wordpress, and Blogger. Any one of these services could be sued under PIPA."

- Content taken from Fight for the Future

http://fightforthefuture.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

If you are a website owner:

How to strike: http://sopastrike.com/#how-to-strike

When I say freeze you just freeze one time....

2012-01-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

"When I say freeze you just freeze one time
When I say freeze y'all stop on a dime
When I say freeze you just freeze one time
When I say freeze y'all stop on a dime
FREEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!" - DJ KOOL

This IS how excited I am about my new deep freezer. I have been dreaming of this moment (I don't know if that is just sad). Ihave been running out of room in my freezer and now I can stop worrying. Being that I live the single life, I cannot eat 4 steaks in a week... so I have been using my FoodSaver and vacuum sealing those left over meals that I will "save for later". I have accumulated a bit of food... and cannot pack one more thing in the freezer.

I am also a frequent shopper of the bulk store, Sam's Club. I owe this to my mom... she buys in BULK and always has since I can remember. I don't really use my membership to buy large quantities of meat or food for that matter... but use it more for things I hate to shop for frequently like paper towels, toilet paper, cat liter, etc etc.

So yesterday, I finally broke down, and with the help of my mom (and a wonderful friend with a truck)... purchased a nice seven cubic-foot freezer. I was so excited to but that freezer box open and plug it in.

Mr. Freeze

The whole "installation" took us a matter of ... 3 minutes? The hardest part was getting the card board box off. I guess it is nice to install something that easy every now and then. I can't say I broke a sweat... but I guess that is a good thing.

I look forward to hoarding food for my freezer.

"Oh.... are you going to finish that? No? That's okay... I can freeze it and you can eat it later!"

I even purchased a bit of food just to put in the freezer. Crazy? I bought (in bulk) some Dunkin' Donuts coffee ... that should last me for a year. I also bought a pizza kit that includes 2 large pizzas, breadsticks, and cookies... just in case I have some unexpected guests! Never hurts to have a little something to quickly pop in the oven.

Anyway, yes, this a quick post about my love for the new freezer and I look foward to storing more food in the future? Maybe a deer? And best of all... I look forward to wasting LESS food... produce and all. What a relief!

Until next time!

Marnie & Tony's Wedding 2011

2011-12-21T22:18:00.004-05:00

So here they are ladies and gentlemen! Photos from Marnie and Tony's wedding. It's a little overdue but better late than never.

I loved working with these two. Marnie is a dear friend from my college days and it was a dream to have the honor of shooting her wedding. Tony is a kid at heart! Just perfect for Marnie. May they live happily ever after.

I first met Tony on a trip to Colorado right after grad school. He was a sweet heart. Marnie was smitten... I could tell.

Marnie and I studied art at Denison together... so you could say that she has been there every step of the way through my creative process, particularly photography.

I was invited to get ready with Marnie and all of her bridesmaids. I got to sip wine and take pictures of them getting ready. We listened to a mix I prepared for her. Marnie and I share a special bond with music - always coming up with playlists and new artists for each other. It was a lot of fun.

The ceremony was beautiful - full of flowers of every color. Very Marnie.

Pictures of the event are posted below. I hope everyone enjoys them. It was so much fun and such a learning experience for me. I can't wait to shoot my next wedding.

You can view more of the wedding on my website... www.alissalorentz.com

ALSO!!! ... Like me on Facebook!

Thanksgiving 2011... Hosted by yours truly!

2011-12-11T16:55:00.001-05:00

I decided to be a little ambitious and host Thanksgiving this year in my new home. I know, what was I thinking, right?

I thought that it would be nice to host my friends and family and thought it would make my house feel more like a home. In addition, my grandparents won't be around forever so I wanted a memory of us all being together for the holidays.

I did a lot of prep work and planning to make the day go smoothly. It really paid off. I did the appetizers and cookies, etc and it made the actual day a lot less stressful. I was able to focus on the major things on Thanksgiving... the Turkey of course! Dinner was AMAZING!

Below are pictures of some of the food that was at the thanksgiving dinner ... Mmm.

Pilgrim Hat cookies! Easy: Chocolate wafers, mini reese's peanut butter cups (I used dark chocolate), orange icing

Crackers, fruits, nuts, and sweets to go with the cheese and wine

Very easy and festive centerpiece ... any gourd you'd like... cut out a hole bi enough for votive candles to fit... that's IT!

Cheese Spread: light cheeses, brie, horseradish cheddar

A step back to take a look at what we had to give thanks for

The table in the middle of being set up...

Mom and Daughter looking over their glorious work. I did the turkey by using brine. It turned out perfectly!

Other dips and sauces to put on the cheese and crackers

A close look at the pumpkin-shaped cheeseballs I so cleverly made! Give a few extra crackers.

For the recipe... go here.

Gotta have the veggies and dips

Some other "fall" accents

some with paprika, some without

MOM and Me... I learned from the best!

Toll House Pie, Pumpkin Pie

Inspiration: Pick Your Battles

2011-11-01T20:53:00.003-04:00

I made some inspirational wall art today.

It is not 100% an original idea (saw something like it on Pinterest/Etsy) but the message hits home for me. I find it important to remind myself of my faults and give myself some inspiration to work through them.

Like many people, I say things I shouldn't. I try my hardest to sleep on my feelings before I say or act... but sometimes things slip through. This is a reminder to make a conscious decision of whether things need to be said or just let go. I would say most of the time, things just need to be let go. It's not worth the "battle". Think about what is worth fighting for and then fight for it.

I feel this is one of many pieces of homemade, inspirational art to come. I am on the constant journey to make myself a better person.

My First Halloween (In My New House)

2011-10-31T22:32:00.001-04:00

I was pretty excited to have my first largely celebrated holiday at my new home.... Old Hallow's Eve! Halloween isn't a Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter... but it is an opportunity to meet people in your neighborhood and also an opportunity to make home feel like home. I remember running around my local neighborhood(s) getting as much candy as would fit into my pillowcase(s). I still dress up to this day for Halloween. It's the one day (or weekend) where you can be whatever you want to be. This year, I was a couple repeat characters from my past due to lack of planning (or wanting to spend money on a costume). I was Max from Where the Wild Things Are and a Whoopie Cushion!

Before THE October 31st, I had a nice fall weekend that included Halloween events. I went to Halloween parties in Wooster ....

Max & Chief Brick Dye

Went to the OSU game and watched the Buckeye's take a nice win against the Badgers... along with the 75th anniversary of Script Ohio:

Enjoyed a nice costume party/contest at work with a BOO-RITO bar. You should be jealous... I do have fun at work!

My 2011 Entry

On Halloween... I bought candy (at the last minute) and carved a pumpkin in 15 minutes because I forgot to do it beforehand. Not too shabby for a 15 minute carve-job, right?

Ghost, Tombstone, Full Moon, and Scary Tree? Creeeeepy if you ask me.

Outside on the front stoop... in the rain. Boo.

I subsequently made homemade pumpkin seeds (seeds, butter, salt, bake). They remind me of home. My mom used to make them for us after we were done carving seeds. To me... this is HOME. Mom would leave chunks of pumpkin pulp on the seeds and the butter would crisp that up in the over. SO delish!

Before

After

After all of this... I only got ONE trick-or-treater. LAME SAUCE! The neighbors said that most of the kids have grown up but that they had around 25 last year. BUT... it was raining.. so maybe that's why? For a neighborhood this size... to get one!?... sigh. All that candy is now going to most likely end up in my belly. At least I bought bite-sized pieces (because that is all the store had so last minute). I also had play-doh to hand out to younger kids. The ONE kid that came was young enough that I gave him the doh. Hope he liked it. *Hmmmph*

So I made best of my night alone and watched scary movies and drank some red wine. Even my wine had a Halloween theme:

Spooky! (But cute)

For the lack of Halloween visitors, I still had myself a pretty good night. Maybe next year will be better!? Hopefully.

Good night ghosts & ghouls! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Lindsay & Billy

2011-10-09T18:09:00.000-04:00

Lindsay first contacted me because of what she had heard by word of mouth and what she had seen on my website - proof that these things are very important to a [small and growing] business. I had the pleasure of getting to know Lindsay and Billy during their engagement shoot in October. I was so excited to get another engagement shoot under my belt and this was the perfect couple to do it with. They were very laid back.... let me do what I do best. They were a bit nervous at first but warmed up to me after having the camera in their face for a while. We worked ourselves all over a beautiful, nearby park and by the end I was confident that the pictures were going to be amazing. They were naturals! I am so excited about these pictures! Engagement sessions are so important for many reasons - the biggest reason to me is to break the ice so that they feel comfortable on their wedding day. I cannot wait to shoot their wedding and be a part of their special day! This is just the beginning. Congrats Lindsay and Billy!!!

Out with the old...

2011-07-19T22:28:00.001-04:00

And in with the new! Starting with the dreaded doorbell.

Sorry! Had to...

Before:

Yikes!

Quite a nightmare! Very outdated. So much so that my dad decided that his housewarming gift was going to be a new doorbell! It must be serious if he does something like that.

He replaced it with this beauty!:

Thanks dad! It looks great! Sounds nice too.

And with that went the old button and we installed a new one!

Whew! Now that it is settled... what else can I try to break?

Oh... I know.... DOORKNOBS!

All the knobs in the house are brass like this. The reason I decided to mess with this very tricky thing to install is because I was getting stuck inside my room - the doorknob wasn't working. It would just turn and turn and turn and never open. I think that's legit right? I decided to go with an aged but modern look. They aren't completely black... there is some antiquing to them.

They were a lot harder to install then I thought. The age of the doors and knobs was an obstacle for installing the new ones. Well... that is the technology has changed and they are installed differently.

In regards to my weak blogging or lack there of... I apologize. Life has got crazy. There is a lot to show.... uhhhh... like the finished product! I am all moved in and the walls are painted. I am putting on some finishing touches. I will be in touch with those soon.

I'm being bad about blogging... :(

2011-07-12T17:27:00.000-04:00

I promise I will get back to it soon enough...

Follow-up On The Shoes and Garden

2011-05-31T19:52:00.001-04:00

Shoes

For those that read my last post about shoes and my addiction to them... there has been a recent development:

Another bag of shoes.

Yep, that's right. I found another bag full of shoes underneath that mountain of clothes. As for what I am going to do with it, I am unsure. I have wrestled with the idea that I shouldn't own more than 50 pairs of shoes, which means I would need to throw out/donate about 30 pairs of shoes. I really have zero room for another shoe rack but if I did buy another one, I am sure it would end up having more room for more shoes... therefore I would probably try to fill it up. So, I am making a rule: Only one shoe rack for my house.

So what does that mean?

It means that for now, they will sit in the guest bedroom collecting dust until I muster up the courage to rid my life of 30 pairs. *sigh*

Garden

Remember my post "How does your garden grow?"... well, I have some follow-up to share with you.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

Take a closer look...

A deer ate my Beefeater tomato plant!!!!!!!!!! Well, actually, he ate the Beefeater and the top of one of the jalapeno plants. GRRRRR.

Where do I live again? Oh, that's right... in the CITY! Believe it or not, there are deer and turkey and chipmunks and birds and blah blah blah allllllll over the place here. You could see a semi-truck stopping for a deer crossing. It's bizarre to me.

Just to demonstrate more to this issue, I thought I would make you a little diagram of the damage this deer made to my little garden:

He even stepped on my string beans... didn't eat them... but decided to prance around on them... probably to just rub it in my face.

Subsequently, my retaliation is to lay some of this down and say "whut up?? SCRAM deeeeeeeeer?":

I went to my local everything store and bought Deer Scram. A couple of coworkers say that it works well for them, so I think it's worth a shot. The ingredients are Dried Blood, Garlic, White Pepper, Cloves and Meat Meal.. whatever the heck that is! I am assuming just ground up pieces of undesirable meet product. MMMM MMMMMMMMM. (It actually does smell good.... is that weird?)

Here goes nothing! I hope it does the job.

Look how nicely the garden is coming along, however. Other than having an incident with a deer, everything seems to be healthy and growing.

The half eaten tomato plant is re-blooming. Gotta love nature!

Above is a before and now set of pictures. It's really doing well, huh!?

I had a question about the romaine lettuce and how to "cultivate" it when it was ready... how do you know when it is ready? And what is the right way to pick it?

I found this video helpful... I learned a few things about lettuce and "bolting" (when it starts growing up to produce a flowery seed which then makes the plant bitter ... hmmmm I could make a joke right here but I will refrain)...

How to harvest lettuce

I have also heard that you can pick the leaves of lettuce right off the plant and not cut the whole plant off, that way it continues to produce leaves. This sounds ideal so I think I will give this a try before hacking down the romaine.

I got really excited today because I have some awesome ginger dressing left over from a hibachi outing and really wanted to use it - I got bummed out because I didn't have any lettuce and I H-A-T-E grocery shopping. It then hit me that I indeed do have lettuce that I am currently growing in my awesome urban garden. YAY! Sounds like time for a snack!

While I am off doing that... I hope you enjoy your evening and thanks for reading peeps!

Hello. My name is Alissa and I have a shoe problem.

2011-05-23T20:55:00.001-04:00

Like I said.... I have a problem. The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?!?

I am starting to clean up this mess:

It's mostly a mountain of shoes and clothes, etc... mostly clothes. I had gone shopping at Marshall's and TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and among other things (many many many other things) I bought a shoe rack.

Let's just say that if my grandpa gives me a few bucks to put in my pocket... he literally says "don't spend it on shoes". This one seemed good... holds around 50 pairs of shoes, narrow so that it could fit in my closet, easy to put together....

So I started off with this mess... 3 boxes of shoes... well two boxes and a suitcase...

Seemed easy enough to put together... even with these convoluted instructions:

Tongue in groove"technology"...

So I got about half way and the unit started to give out under the weight ... arrrrrrrgggg.

So I broke out the hammer to make sure the bars were in the holes nice and gooooooood. I hammered on both sides.

I had a visitor checking in on me to make sure I was doing a quality job...yeah, that's my new roommate, Bug. Always checking up to make sure I am staying on task.

"These shoes stink... you should toss them."

Bored.

So I got about to here and it started to give out again! Grrr. (That's what you get with a cheap product.) But I was bound and determined to make it work. I moved the whole unit to one side of the closet as to use the wall as a crutch... to keep the units standing straight.

Seemed to work okay...

I was left with about 10 mismatched pairs of shoes so I knew there was another ~~box~~ bag of shoes missing so I went on a search for them in the mound of mess. Ahhh, yes, here they are...

"This is getting ridiculous"

I DID throw out some shoes... because I wore them down to the point of utter despair. It was sad though, because they were some of my favorite pairs (evident by the wear and tear).

I got all the shoes on the rack... I am not saying it is the sturdiest thing ever... but it will do (for now).

I did have a few stragglers but they might be in my car... fingers crossed.

And for proof that I tossed some shoes.... I am one step closer to managing my shoe addiction :)

On a different note... Have you "liked" my facebook page?! If not, please head over to facebook and give me a "like". Thanks readers!

How does your garden grow?

2011-05-08T22:44:00.001-04:00

As the sun rose up on Friday (I took the day off... yay me) I decided that it was the day to start my garden for the season! The sun hadn't been out in what felt like weeks, so with it peeping through the morning fog, I knew it was go-time.

Some prep-work was needed before getting to the garden... we started early to insure there was enough time to get to everything we wanted to do.

Unruly Lawn - Before


Hacking down the 12 foot grass was quite a fun job...

After all the hacking down (almost could have used a sickle), the unruly grass was gone. I got to try out my hand-me-down lawn mower. It has been handed down from my grandpa, to my dad (who never used it) to me! Am I lucky or what? Hey... it's another thing I didn't have to buy.... and that is good in my book. So thanks go out to the forefathers of my lawnmower... you kept it in working condition long enough for it to be useful to me... for that I am eternally thankful.

Once the grass cutting was done, there were leaves along the fence from my neighbor's tree(s). All the crazy winds and never-ending rain knocked over my neighbors tree last week..

Ouch! She got it cleaned up asap so it was no bother to me at all except to wake up to find it. So as you can see (below), the neighbor had the tree completely removed and now there is an open space there... but hopefully that means less leaves to clean up in the fall... I guess we will have to wait to find out.

The yard is really coming around and now that it is trimmed up - I am no longer "THAT" neighbor with the crappy-looking lawn.

Got 'er done... good thing it is small.

Cleaning up the leaves really made a difference in the way the yard looked... small things can go a long way.

Once all that was taken care of, it was time to prep the garden bed. I learned from my Greek neighbor that the past residences had grown a garden in this bed too... hopefully that means the soil is good to start.

We used a rake to get the mulch off the top of the soil, and then used a hoe to chop it up. We then took a bag of top soil mix and added it to the soil that was already there. This was to ensure that the soil had nutrients and all the good things that vegetables need to grow.

We then took a trip to Lowe's to get the goods for the garden. I love to spice up my dishes with fresh flavors so growing herbs was a priority. I already have an herb garden that is in one of those herb stands... so it is portable.. so I made sure to get herbs I knew that I didn't already have in that stand. Some of those included:

I also picked up some basil, chives, hot banana peppers, tomatoes, string beans, romaine lettuce, onions, green peppers, and jalapeno peppers (for some awesome salsa). I didn't want to do too much this year... I don't want to bite off more than I can chew (although it might be tasty), but I thought it would be fun to have some things growing this year. Really, everytime I need herbs I ended up going to the store and spending stupid amounts of money on a small package of them, half of them going bad already, and the rest of them I never end up using. It's a great money saver and it just makes me feel good to live some sort of self-sustaining lifestyle.

I then started to get to the digging and planting part...

I decided that having the herbs on the side would make it easier for me to pick them more frequently. Also, the grill (when I finally get it to Pittsburgh) will be to the left of this area making it very easy to pick herbs and get my grill on... NOM NOM NOM.

When planting seedlings, make sure to read the directions (most likely on the little plastic tabs that usually come with them). They will tell you important things like what kind of sunlight the plant needs, how far apart to space the seedlings, how far down to plant them, etc. Another feature that I really enjoyed, was that many of the seedlings came in biodegradable containers that you could just put in the ground as you planted. Less waste = less guilt = a happy me.

Once I got the herbs where I wanted them... it was time for the veggies..

The finished garden looked like this:

Once I got them all snug in the soil, it was time to give them a well-deserved drink! I bought a Miracle Grow for gardening that attaches to the end of a hose. I picked this certain type of gadget because it isn't one that sucks you in by only allowing certain re-fills to be bought. I can fill the bottom of it with whatever fertilizer I chose which is a nice feature.

You want to water immediately after you are done planting so that the plants have some water and it helps to accommodate the roots to the new soil.

Once the herbs and veggies were snug in their beds, it was time to put the fruit in. I planted grapes and raspberries. I bought a trellis for the grapes so that as it got bigger the vines had a place to go.

Grapes

Raspberries

I put the fruit on the lower part of the lawn. Fruits are known to attract bees and birds and figured that it would be in my best interest to keep them further from my house. Both beds (upper and lower) get a great amount of sunlight but are open to rain. I am excited to see how things grow.

As you can see below, I have a larger bed to the right of the smaller bed. Hopefully some day I will have that full of more edible goodies, but I didn't want to be wasteful and not take care of the garden the way I should. It was hard to resist... but I believe what I have now is manageable for me at this time.

I also wanted to jazz up the front of the house... it just seemed to boring and plain. I have LOTS of landscaping to do in the future, but little things can make a difference. I decided to buy some ferns!

One ended up being a bit smaller than the other but that's okay. I couldn't tell when I bought them but I am sure the little guy will grow in due-time. They give the front of the house a little character in my opinion... I would like to do window baskets at some point... but.... we will see how that goes.

So what's next you ask? I did mention that I don't like waste... so I am hoping to get a compost up and running but ... I do have this mess in my sun room at the moment:

[face in palm]....

Housewarming Love

2011-04-28T22:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks Tara!

I have such amazing friends and family... I really do. For example, I got this box on my doorstep today and was so excited to open it! An old high school friend (cough, Tara, cough) gave me a gift certificate to one of my favorite online shopping spots - Uncommon Goods! I know, soooo awesome of her, right?!

So Tara, this is what I bought with that certificate:

You may ask... what the $%#@ is that!? The first one is a Paper Pot and the second one is a Bottle Opener Fridge Magnet! COOL.

This is how the Paper Pot works...

You can use either toilet paper or facial tissue

TA DA! Love it. It's a really great product for me... I never have boxes of tissue laying around... but we all NEED toilet paper. It is ALWAYS around. That is what makes this so great. I bought it in a bright blue because I feel it will go well with the decor in my bedroom.... you will have to wait for more on that.

The Bottle Opener is cool too... it is A LOT bigger than I thought it was going to be... but still pretty cool.

See!!! I told you it was huge.

And it doubles as a mirror! BONUS!

No better reason to open a beer than to test out a new gadget!

Thanks Tara!!!

My awesome aunt got me some Cutco knives... by the way... they are freakin' sweet.

I don't have any pictures of them just yet (I will post them when I get them). I L-O-V-E Cutco.... I mean... they cut pennies and ropes! The will cut my steak and chicken just great. Thanks Aunt Lou!

My other aunt, Aunt Pam, hooked me up with a gift card! These come in handy with that mortgage lingering over my shoulders every month... ya feel me!?

My Grandma Burkhammer gave me a very meaningful housewarming gift that she passed down to me. She gifted me a jewelry box that was given to my great grandmother by my great grandfather.

It is made of a heavy stone material. It meant a lot to her so for her to pass that down to me means a lot. I am so lucky!!!

And my grandpop... for those that know him... you know how he is. He is a very generous and caring person that at any time is willing to help out. The best.

And of course, there is mom and dad.... unconditional love and attention. They are always around when I need them. Love you guys!

Okay, I am going to change gears here... I am so excited that spring is in the air and something as simple as changing a glass door out to a screen has never made me feel so ... springy! It was as easy as ...

One

Two

Three!

Bring on the fresh air and cool breezes! Yes please!!!

ANNNNND ... finally I got my favorite table together and set up! Nice... I don't have to do eat my food over the sink anymore. Gotta love furniture. We take these things for granted!

I am going to be the crazy lady that has felt pads on everything that touches the floor. That's another issue with doing the floors yourself... you become overly protective of them. So... with that all out on the table (no pun intended), I put them on the table leg feet... or whatever they are called.

The final result...

Ahhhhh... beautiful!!

I am about done for the night... After I finish one of the many beers I opened with my new bottle opener (yay!).

Good night!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's On Its Way!

2011-04-24T18:34:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it... happy Sunday to those who don't!

I thought I'd take a break from the usual and post something different that didn't have to do much with my house and things that I am doing with it. It is about family, food, and good times.

Mom really hit a home run this weekend. The food she served up was A-mazing! I can't get it out of my mind. It all started with me sharing a lamb recipe with her that I found online that looked absolutely scrumptious! I found the Herb-Crusted Leg of Lamb on William Sonoma's website. It just sounded too good to not try out sometime. Little did I know she was going to make it for Easter!

When I got to her house, the place smelled so good. Everyone was ready to eat anything in sight.

We started off with an arugula, parmesan, walnut and pear salad. It had a drizzle of vinaigrette dressing on it. It was so refreshing.

After the salad, all of the delicious parts to the main course were set on the table...

Herb Crusted Lamb

My mom decided not to get lamb on the bone and instead got a lamb loin. This was suggested by a fellow customer at Sam's Club who apparently lived in Greece for 13 years or so... Great suggestion. All of us thank you. It was easier to work with, cook and serve... and we all agree it was juicier because the bone wasn't in. Below is that recipe:

Herb-Crusted Leg of Lamb

Ingredients:

1 bone-in leg of lamb, 5 1/2 to 6 lb., fat trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Directions:

Pat the lamb dry. Generously season with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. 

Preheat an oven to 400ºF.  

In a bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, rosemary,  thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper. Coat the lamb on all sides with the  mustard. Pack the bread crumb mixture on the underside of the lamb.  Place the lamb, fat side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Pack the  remaining bread crumb mixture on the top and sides of the lamb.  

Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven  temperature to 350ºF. Continue roasting until an instant-read  thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat, away from the  bone, registers 130ºF for medium-rare, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours more.  

Transfer the lamb to a carving board, cover loosely with aluminum foil  and let rest for 20 minutes. Carve the lamb into thin slices and arrange  on a warmed platter. Serve immediately. Serves 8.

 Williams-Sonoma Kitchen. 

She also made a lamb sauce that complimented the lamb. It was amazing. It is strong, so you don't need much of it but my brother and father could not stop talking about it. She was nice enough to give me that recipe:

Lamb Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 cup Plum Sauce
4 teaspoons Soy Sauce
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons crushed rosemary
2 teaspoons crushed tarragon

Directions:

Combine in a small bowl hoisin, plum, soy sauce, minced garlic, rosemary and tarragon.

Tip: Freezes well in airtight container.

More and more things were added to the table:

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (with a slab of butter on top)

Asparagus (a personal fave)

Grandma's famous green beans (with bacon)

And then she served up these bad boys...

They are similar to croissants but are full of air in the middle. They are doughy, crusty, and cheesy! They have cheese baked into the top. Yummers!!!!

BLT Popovers (don't let the name fool you... there's nothing BLT about them)

The story behind the popovers is this - My mom frequently visits New York and gets to try out some pretty fabulous restaurants. While dining in New York she was served these popovers... WITH THE RECIPE!!! Yes, that's right, they gave the recipe away. Crazy... because she will probably never go back to the restaurant due to the dolla bills, ya'll... but she will forever be able to make this popovers.... and so will we! Here's the recipe:

BLT Popovers

Makes 12  popovers

Ingredients

4 cups of milk,  warmed

8  eggs

4 cups of  flour

1 1/2 heaping  tablespoons of salt

2 1/4 cups grated  gruyere cheese

Popover  pan

Preparation

Place the popover  pan in the oven.  Heat the oven and 

pan to 350  degrees.  Gently warm the milk over low 

heat and set  aside.  Whisk the eggs until frothy and

slowly whisk in the  milk (so as not to cook the eggs).  

Set the mixture  aside.  Sift the flour with the salt. 

Slowly add this dry  mixture and gently combine until

mostly smooth.   Once combined, remove the popover

pan from the oven  and spray with non-stick vegetable 

spray.  While  the batter is still slightly warm or room 

temperature  (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup 

3/4 full.  Top  each popover with approximately 2 1/2

tablespoons of the  grated gruyere.

Bake at 350 degrees  for 50 minutes, rotating pan

half a turn after 15  minutes of baking.  Remove from

the oven, remove  from the pan and serve immediately.

As you may have read, you are going to need a popover pan... below is what that bakeware looks like.

Aunt Lou (to give scale to the popovers)

Seriously... so good.

Grandma in action

Mom workin' (too) hard

After the meal disappeared quickly, we had dessert waiting for us.... can you hear the sound of buttons popping?

My mom and aunt Lou had made carrot cake! Homemade carrot cake - nothing like it.

For the following night, we had smoked, honey ham, green bean casserole, carrots, rolls, potato salad, deviled eggs... and a glorious German chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Seriously? Seriously.

It was so creamy and delicious. The topping was coconut icing and the crust was graham cracker.

Honestly, it was one of the best set of meals I have had in a long time. We ate like kings and queens. We are so lucky to be able to eat like this from time to time and enjoy the food and company of our loved ones.

Grandpa gives it an A++.

Happy holidays!

Cut That Grass

2011-04-18T22:53:00.000-04:00

I finally had to cut the grass for the first time today. My dad graciously gave me my grandfather's old lawn mower... and it works just great! It was awesome to not have to buy one. A hand me down will do just fine... especially for the smaller yard that I have.

The Green Machine

I have crab grass so it is growing back from the winter months a little patchy. It was looking kinda funny with little sprouts of new grass and patches of brown crap. I figured cutting it would make it at least look better while it worked so hard at growing back!

Before

After

I think it looks a lot better, don't you!? Well, except over by where the mower is sitting.... still brown town.

A positive thing was that mowing the front took like 5 minutes. It was awesome.

Then I tried to take the mower down to the back to cut the grass which was a bit more of a challenge. Once I got it down the steps (eeeeek), it wouldn't start. Awesome... sike.

I tried for a good while and figured out that I had probably flooded it somehow and needed to let it sit for a while... which means that I took it back up the stairs and didn't cut the back yard.

This all translates into one very awesome thought... my yard, as it is currently, is a mullet of sorts! Business in the front (clean cut) and part in the back (long and unruly). In my mind, this is very awesome. YARD MULLET. Keepin' it classy!

Anyway, I will have to attempt the back yard at a later date. Yard work and home ownership... gotta love it.

Feeling Color-FULL

2011-04-14T09:13:00.001-04:00

I have officially given myself too much time to pick out colors for my house.

Yesterday, I finally narrowed it down to a handful of colors and then had my mother's friend/interior designer, Bridget, come over during lunch to help me hone in on exactly the look I am going for (remember this post?).

Having Bridget come over was a breath of fresh air. I have surrounded myself by great friends and family and although I value their opinion.... they are, well, my friends and family. They are either too conservative or too all over the place. What I am saying is... I needed to get some advice from a professional.

Some may wonder why it was so hard to pick colors being that I am a graphic designer and do all that "artsy-fartsy" stuff? It could be a combination of the following: 1) I do it all day and I can't think when I get home, 2) wrapping my head around colors in 3D with particular lighting is HARD and 3) I wanted to make sure my color pallet didn't scream "psycho" or "nightmare"... it's all color psychology.

The good news is... I have finally picked the colors for my rooms. YAY!

The Rockwood Pallet is:

(From left to right - Avid Apricot (Bathroom), Modest White (Molding/Trim), Down Home (Dining Room), Hardware (Living Room Choice 1), Sheraton Sage (Living Room Choice2), Perfect Greige (Stairs/Hallway), Classic French Gray (Master Bedroom), Sleepy Blue (Guest Bedroom)

Don't they all look so calming!? I am so excited to start painting. So excited, in fact, that I already bought the paint for the living room and dining room... and already painted the dining room the Down Home color.

Like many paint supply places and design websites, Sherwin Williams has a color visualizer that allows you to upload pictures of your spaces and paint them with their colors. They are a little fickle but once you have uploaded your images and have your surfaces cut out... they are pretty nice to get the gist of how things might look. For instance, I have two colors to choose between for the living room - Hardware or Sheraton Sage... applying the different paint colors on the visualizer helped me .... visualize... what the room might look like if painted in one or the other.

Hardware

Sheraton Sage

Once you have done all that visualizing... it's time to get that paint.

The colors in the Rockwood pallet above are Sherwin Williams brand paints but most home improvement stores will do color matching. They have some pretty cool color matching technology out there these days. A local hardware store in my area had a really great BOGO deal on Pittsburgh Paint! I decided that the deal was too good to pass up (plus an opportunity to rep my hood with PPG paints)... so I went there to have them color match. I guess their technology wasn't up to par and I spent an hour and a half waiting while they tried three times per color to get it right. You hear that right - 1.5 hours! They wasted 4 cans of paint getting the color correct. GEEZ. Once it was right... it was time to check out and pay. BOY, was it nice to have two cans of paint for the price of one. It was good for the ol' budget! Saved myself a good $45. Not too shabby.

By the time I got home from that-took-too-long trip, I wasn't really in the mood to start painting. It was late and I had finished dinner... had a glass of wine.... and then boom! After the wine, I was all of a sudden ready to bust out the paint. Gotta love vino.

I had already taped off the room so all I had to do was put down some plastic to protect my newly finished floors and then get to painting.

I used a mini 2" angled brush pictured above due to the advice I got here. They also have a great story about a bold color painting experience here that helped me work through putting on fabulous and bold colors. Great blog, by the way.

Here is what my room looked like after it was finished.... well almost. I haven't painted any of the trim that modest white color just yet. That is a back and forth argument - whether to paint the trim before painting the walls or to paint the trim after. There are many people with theories on this and I just stuck to my gut-feeling to do it after I paint the walls. I will take my good time to do the trim... perfection painting - after I am done with the slop it on painting.

By the way... it only took one coat to get these results! Fantastic!

I am still amazed how different colors change during different times of the day. It's interesting and something that needs to be taken into consideration when picking out paint. Do I like this color when it is nice and sunny out? Do I like this color when it is cloudy and rainy? Do I like this color when the overhead light is on and it's night out? ... or maybe I am just crazy in the head... all things considered, I liked this paint at all times of the day and think it is a great choice. What do you think?

Next room is the living room in the color Hardware. I will let you know/see how it turns out!

Ok, I am going to skedaddle. Until next time!

The Home Improvement Wish List

2011-04-11T12:47:00.000-04:00

I had a little time on my hands so I sat down and thought about all the things I would love to do to my house if I had the time and money. I pretended like money wasn't an issue so that I can get all the dreams and hopes down on paper before the reality of being broke-as-a-joke had time to settle in. It was nice for about 10 minutes. As the fantasy wore off, I looked over the list I had just created.

I had a mini panic attack.

My list was LARGE and in CHARGE. I had written down over 35 things that I could do to my house to make it an ever greater place to be.

I wrote down things ranging from building a deck, a total remodel of the kitchen, to fixing a broken window seal.

I know the next step in the wish list making process is prioritizing. What do I really want/need and what is petty and unnecessary? Dang! I guess that gold statue of myself in the front lawn will have to wait! ;)

Once I sit down with someone (aka MOM) and talk through what is really manageable, I am sure I will feel better about it. I understand that it will take years to get through this list and many of the things listed on it will never get done, but it's nice to have goals and things to look forward to. Hey, I can't say I am bored!

Til next time!...

"I can't get no... in-spir-ation!"

2011-04-06T20:46:00.002-04:00

I have been chewing on paint colors (not pain chips... don't worry) for the past 3 weeks and have decided on... wait for it.... NOTHING.

At this rate... I am feeling I like I will never be able to pick a paint, a look, a vibe...

So today, a friend starting sending me pictures of things she thought I would like. She would know what those things are because we practically sat nose to nose at work for two entire years.

Once she started that ball rolling, I began to get ideas of the look I was going for. After some research, I finally could define my decorating expression. I have an eclectic vintage style. Real Simple defines that as the following:

"A rich, layered look combining flea-market finds, furniture designs from various time periods (including Victorian pieces and 18th-century French styles), and a diverse collection of accessories and artwork. Dusty colors, timeworn or handmade textiles, and collected objects create a lived-in feel. Think Paris flea markets, Granny’s teacups, the film Grey Gardens."

According to Real Simple - this look includes, but is not limited to, the following features:

Furniture with shapely, feminine silhouettes, intricate detailing, and weathered finishes.
Jewel tones mixed with washed-out, chalky shades.
Antique and vintage elements interspersed with newer, offbeat items.
A varied mix of fabrics (on pillows, upholstery, and window treatments), including jacquards, paisleys, ethnic tapestries, folk motifs, botanicals, and florals.
Crystal chandeliers and embellished lamps.
Abundant art and decorative accents on walls and surfaces.

I totally agree, Real Simple! Thanks for helping me find style!
(By the way, I have to say I heart jacquards!)

My grandmas couch that is now my favorite item

My fabulous chair from Lincoln Interiors in Wooster (now closed, sorry)

I also love rich colors. I like warmth. I like mixing old and new. I love pops of color. YAY! I finally felt like I was getting somewhere. If you want to discover your style, checking awesome resources like The Lennoxx might send you down the right path. I just love that site.

Back to picking paint color...

In the picture below, I really found the look I am going for with the olive and mauve tones. I have to remember to keep in mind that my floors are darker and my spaces are different (smaller). This is hard to keep in mind when looking at photos like this.

I also like these looks below...

These are just some of the inspirational interiors I found. I am still looking and have also decided to consult a friend of my mom. She is my moms "color lady"... sounds exactly like someone I need some advice from. I sent her all the pictures above plus pictures of my spaces so she can visualize and give me some sound color advice.

I also got some paint samples and put some paint on the walls. I needed to feel like I was moving forward and not treading water.

They look darker in these photos then what they do in reality... don't freak out! The color on the far right is definitely a NO-GO. It turned out nothing like the color card. This is a very good example as to why doing tests before painting, staining, etc is always a good idea. Also, the colors below are for the accent wall. I wouldn't paint the entire room this color... just one wall.

Living Room:

Dining Room (top color is Behr Macchiato UL170-2):

I really like this inspiration card that Behr has on their website.

I really like the Golden Leaf as an accent color...

So anyway... as of today, that's where I am. We will see how I feel about all of it when I wake up tomorrow.

I will keep you posted as my decision gets narrowed. Thanks for reading!!!

The Pain of Stain

2011-04-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

Let the stain begin!!!

HOOOOOOOOLD UP! There is more to this process than popping open some stain and just getting to it.

I couldn't decide on a color. I tried three different stain colors until I got so frustrated I forced myself to pick one. I decided to go with Minwax (mainly because it was convenient and I hadn't read anything to make me feel it was the wrong choice). I tried (in order from right to left on the picture in the closet below) Dark Walnut 2716, Red Mahogany 225, and Jacobean 2750.

I tried them in this order on the floor in the coat closet. You want to test out the color before you start staining and you want to pick a place that no one will see on a daily basis. I tested out three colors and wiped the stain at different time intervals to see how dark the stain would get. I wiped off immediately, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 mins, and 20 mins.

Honestly, I did not think any of these were as dark as I wanted. I later figured out that's because the wood is different than the floors - it was part of the stair landing. I wanted the floors pretty dark, but not so dark that it would hurt the resale value of the home. I decided to go with Red Mahogany 225. I liked the red tint and the unique look that would bring. Many of the homes built in this time period in this area had a boring golden oak look to them and I wanted to set my house apart from that, while keeping the original wood. So after figuring out what stain I wanted and what time it needed to set into the wood to get the results I wanted... we started to stain. I had three helpers besides myself. A friend, a mom, and a dad... all there to help me get the job done. And boy... it was quite the job.

So this is how it goes.... make sure to use a tack cloth (pictured below) to get up any dirt or dust still on the floor. It is almost like a cheese cloth with a wax on it. Next, only stain as far as you can reach, wait, and then wipe it off. In my case, we stained for 20 minutes and then started to wipe it off. It was almost like a boot camp. My dad kept us on a strict time schedule.

We used disposable, industrial paper towels that you can find at any major home improvement store. They came in a box of 200 or something like that.

Tack cloth

From the picture above you may be thinking... HOLY CRAP! That's DARK! It did look very dark but I truly think that's because of the major contrast between the raw wood and the stained part. Don't get me wrong, my floors are dark but not that dark.

WOOSTER brushes! That's fitting!

My dad was the timer and paper towel runner. When we needed something, he was on it! Even basketball scores...

At this point, there was only room for one person to work... and yes, this being my house, it was me. We started around 2pm and I ended at 12:30am. That is a VERY long day.

Someone has been sniffing too many fumes! Only kidding mom!

You are supposed to paint your way out of the door. So... that's what I did.

I left for the weekend and let the stain cure into the wood. I wanted to make sure the stain was absolutely dry before I started walking on it.

They looked great at this point.

Not much after I got back from a fun filled weekend that didn't include house work ... it was time to polyurethane. UGH! Honestly, at the time, it felt like it was never going to end. That feeling is why many people hire people to do this for them. I am a penny pincher and I like a good challenge.

Next, I was on the hunt for the right polyurethane. I based my decision on the opinion of a knowledgeable Lowe's employee and on price. Polyurethane was not something I found to be smart to skimp on. You want the best coat of protection you can get on the floors you just worked so hard to stain. I chose Varathane oil based clear semi-gloss. I went with an oil based stain and polyurethane because my research found that they are tougher than water based. Yes, they may be more of a pain when it comes to clean up. Tip: use mineral spirits when cleaning up your tools. I use environmentally friendly, odorless mineral spirits.

I found that a 4" finish brush worked better than a push broom applicator. The push broom took less time, but wasn't giving me the kind of results I wanted. The wool applicator would leave marks where I started and where I stopped no matter what I tried. I did two coats upstairs with the push applicator and finished it off with the hand brush. I did the stairs and the entire downstairs with the brush.

Once you finally get your first coat of Polyurethane down and let it dry... you have to do the one thing that hurts the soul just a bit... you have to use a sander on it. AHHHH! They do sell sand-less Polyurethanes but I think there is a purpose to it. Like I said earlier, I didn't want to cut any corners in protecting my hard work.

I used an electrical hand sander (pictured below) and used 200 grit sand paper on it. You want to use very fine sand paper when sanding the poly-u between coats. The sanding isn't meant to take off the poly. It is meant to scuff it up a little bit so that the next coat of poly sticks to the one below it.

Sanding the poly-u in the living room

sanding the poly-u in the master bedroom

Sanded poly-u in the guest bedroom

After you have sanded, you must use tack cloth to wipe up the residue left from the sanding. I swept between those two steps... but I don't know if that was overkill. You just want to make sure you don't get anything (hair, dust, dirt, scuffs, etc) between your layers. You can see them when the light hits the right way... and if you are like me... it will DRIVE YOU NUTS! So, if you are going to do something like this, make your motto "do it right" or you will end up sitting on your couch starring at the one spot on the floor. .... or maybe not... it may just be ME.

When you are all done... your floors will (hopefully) turn out like these babies!

By the way, if you are wondering if I sanded the upstairs floors... the answer is no. The floors were in great condition and I didn't see it worthwhile to refinish them. I did put three new coats of poly on them. They are nice and shiny! I think the transition between the two tones is great. The landing at the top of the stairs is where the transition happens. It's very slight. In a way, I think it's pretty cool that I have two different color floors in my house. It's the best of both worlds - classic and modern.

Let me know what you think! Post a comment! Thanks for reading.

Get your sand on!

2011-03-31T22:16:00.001-04:00

Well, remember this mess?

The above issue was the reason I decided that sanding the floors down and re-staining them was the only option I had at this point. There was no making this issue go away.... I could put a rug down and call it a day, but those that know me know that is never an option.

So what did I do? I went out and rented a sander. I checked around for places that I could rent something like a sander. I looked at the large home improvement stores and found that the renting wasn't so much pricey as bulky. The sanders at the home improvement stores are big and heavy.... and orbital? After some research, I discovered that there are a couple different types of sanders. There are orbital sanders and there are belt sanders. Orbitals take circle disks of sand paper; Belts take well... belts of sand paper.

Orbital sanders, from my understanding, are good for floors that are in pretty good condition and just need the top layer off for new finishing. They usually take 3 disks of sand paper at a time and spin the paper in a circle to do the sanding. From the few orbital sanders I got my hands on, they were big, heavy, and hard to maneuver. They didn't seem like the right solution for what I was looking to do. For all I know, that crazy rope pattern went a lot farther down in the wood than the orbital could handle.

Belt sanders, on the other hand, are for floors that need to be ground down, leveled out, etc. Belts are for the more heavy duty job. I also think they were easier to use - about the size of an old-school vacuum cleaner and, in a way, forward-propelling. By the way, don't take anything I say verbatim. Do your own research. This is just what I found to be the case after my research and due-diligence.

So with that said, none of the chain home improvement stores had belt sanders. They were all rocking the orbital sander... most of them out of commission. So... I continued my search and found a business in the area, Taylor Rental, that rents out large construction-type equipment to companies and individuals. SCORE! Using their website, I learned what they had available and when it was available. They had a deal going where you rent the belt sander and get the edger sander at a discounted price. The edger is a hand held orbital device. Perfect! I rented both of these machines plus sand paper (grits 16, 36, 60, 100, 120) for less than $200 for the weekend.

I have to admit, I thought sanding the floors "wouldn't be that big of a deal". I use quotes around that phrase because I was later reminded (many times) that I said that. So... here I will admit... the sanding was the hardest part. There, I said it. Here are some good steps to follow when refinishing your floors.

ANYWAY, first we covered the windows and the vents. I didn't want to have to deal with vacuuming the windows and blinds and I wanted to make sure I kept the breathing air clean.

After that, I plugged the machine in and dug right in. It was scary... a "there's no turning back" kinda thing. I started in the dining room. I started with 60 grit paper (because that is what I was advised by a couple of people). Here is what the floor looked like after a few runs of 60 grit paper.

We continued to use 60 grit paper... it seemed like it wasn't taking enough off, but it was hard to really gauge it. The amount of times that we had to go over it seemed almost ridiculous - didn't seem right.

I tried the 36 grit in the living room and it seemed to be taking more off. Better.

It wasn't all work and no play.

Dunford on the stairs... he tried and tried but nothing came up

Zach Daniels

The best mother ever stopped by to stock up my cabinets with food! She's the bombmom.com

We couldn't get the floors sanded down enough and it became a point of frustration. So I called a friend of a family friend that does floors for a living. He informed us that we needed to sand the floors in an "X" ... at 45 degree angles followed by going with the grain after that to even out the 45 degree sanding. The "X" sanding levels out the floor where it is uneven - where sanding with the grain was only getting the highest pieces of wood. An "ah-ha" moment.

Once we started to do that, we saw improvements in speed and effectiveness. YAY. Oh... and then we ran into more issues.... go figure. The 36 grit paper REALLY didn't like the 45 degree angle thing. We had about 15 sheets of the 36 grit paper... and we ran out before finishing the floor.

We double checked, triple checked, quadruple checked to make sure we were putting the paper on correctly. I mean... it's not rocket science...

We never got to go back over the floors with the grain with the 36 grit paper. We ran out and it was Sunday... the rental place was closed. Bummer. So we did what we could with the 60 grit paper... and we got most of the roughness out. We then went to the 100 grit and made many passes with that to smooth it all out. Any imperfections left, we like to call character.

There was so much sawdust. We made sure to wear masks and eye protection.

When it was all said and done, it looked like this:

Not too shabby ;) We used the edger and manual hand sanders to finish the job, including edges and corners. With a little more focus on the bad spots, we got them out. I would have to say the rope pattern from the carpet padding was pretty far down into the wood. We got it, though... we got it good!

The stairs, however, were another monster. Those things took me a solid week to do. I tried using a mechanical sander without much luck. I did a bit more research to find out what the deal was. Oh... I needed to use stripper? Ok.. good to know.

I used painting tape to tape the stairs so to protect the paint and such. I then painted the stripper on the stairs, two stairs at a time. There was a lot of waiting when using the stripper. I just wanted to get it over with but you have to let the stuff work its magic. I then used a paint scraper to scrape off the varnish and stain on the stairs. I did this multiple times per step. It took a few days to get it all done, but remember that I was doing this part alone after work. Oh, and remember to wear a mask. Peeeee-uuuuuuu. After using the stripper, it was recommended to use an industrial cleaning solution (I used TSP) mixed with warm water to wipe up after the stripper.

Childproof cap? Alissa-proof cap. So i cut the cap off. The end.

After all the hard work:

Mom can't stand the mess... keeping us neat and organized along the way.

Next time... the pain called stain!

Ripping it up and out!

2011-03-29T21:31:00.000-04:00

Green.... Stuff?

What is that green stuff!? Is it goo left by Slimer? Is it indoor grass? Moss? MOLD? No... it is green carpet padding that has deteriorated over the years (under that fabulous orange carpet). Not only did it deteriorate, but it stuck to the floor and caused some frustration for me. In my mind, I was going to pull up the carpet and voilà! Shiny new floors in mint condition! Sadly, I was mistaken, for the most part.

By the way, did I mention that I started ripping up the carpet less than 24 hours after I moved in? Yeah, I know... I am a nut job.

Before I started this project, I looked into recycling the carpet that I was about to tear up. I hated the thought of filling the landfills with waste from my new home. I called a few places in Pittsburgh to find out some recycle details... what I discovered was that it was going to cost about $280 (about $2.85/sq yard) for me to recycle the carpet. YIKES! I just locked myself into a mortgage... I can't afford that! I couldn't wrap my head around why the system is so that it COSTS the donator money to recycle, etc... HOLD UP!!!!! I could go on a rant right here... but I will (maybe) leave that for another blog post. ;)

I decided to look into what size rolls I would have to cut for my trash collector to be willing to pick them up. I looked on the local website and what I found out was that they want no larger than 4' wide rolls and they needed to be rolled and bound with twine. I cut them in 4' strips, rolled them, bound them with twine, and sat them out on the curb the night before trash day. I awoke to find them missing from my curb, while my trash and recycling was still there. Hmmmm... the detective in me decided that someone loved the orange carpet so much that they wanted it all to themselves!

Is it crazy that I can sleep better knowing that carpet is hopefully being put to use in someones house instead of in a landfill? Wait... don't answer that question.

NIGHTMARE BEGINS!

ANYWAY... As I started to rip up the carpet in 4' wide rolls, I also started to roll up the padding underneath the carpet. That is when ^this started to happen. I originally thought it would just sweep up... no big deal. That was not the case. It was stuck to the floor. GRRR.

Above is what I was left with after the carpet in the living room was ripped up. This issue also occurred in the dining room, the stairs, and the upstairs hallway... every place the ORANGE carpet was. The spots that were the worst were the high traffic areas (e.g. path to the stairs, path to the kitchen). I used a plastic scraper to get up most of it, which made it turn into a green powder. After I put in the elbow grease, this is what most of the floor looked like:

Other parts (where the past owners dog "piddled" on the floors and it wasn't properly cleaned up) looked like this:

Bigger NIghtmare! This rope pattern was embedded all over the floor!

¡Ay, caramba!

Some better news came when we started to rip up the green carpet in the bedrooms. It was NOT the same green stuff that was through the rest of the house. It was a very thin yellow foam pad that just came up no problem.

This came as a welcomed and pleasant surprise. Anything to make life easier, right?

This is what the floors looked like upstairs:

Ok... now back to this issue(s):

I decided to use Orange Glo to mop up the green nasty that was left behind.

The instructions said to put it down in an "S" pattern..

Living Room floors (after a little elbow grease) looked like this:

Ripping up the carpet uncovered these little gems...

Master Bedroom with carpet up:

Guest Bedroom with carpet up:

(The bathroom tile... with the carpet up... sigh)

Taking the carpet off the stairs revealed some issues... the carpet we just ripped up was to the edges of the stairs. Once we ripped that up, we could tell there used to be carpet that covered only the middle of the stairs (you can see the darker lines about 5" in on each side all the way down). That would prove to definitely need sanding and more sanding.

Ripping up the tack strips was easy... just time consuming. I used a Stanley Wonder Bar that I purchased at Walmart for around $9. It was the best purchase I had made so far. I needed a hammer and the Wonder Bar... that's it. Getting up all the nails and staples was important... not just because stepping on one wouldn't feel so good, but if a sander hit one it could be a major issue.

After that was all said and done... The rope-like pattern left by the green padding (and pee spots) was what made the decision to sand the floors final. I couldn't get over the pattern and accept it as "character". It wasn't organic looking. It looked wrong. So... on to sanding it shall be!

The next post will come soon and will be all about the process of sanding. This is a major step in the process! You don't want to miss it! Until next time...

The Beginning of the House Posts!

2011-03-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

I know, I know... just what you have all been waiting for! HOUSE POSTS!

My house on Rockwood Ave!

This post is about how the house used to look and how it looked when I bought it on February 24th. It wasn't hard to see all the potential behind (or underneath) the 70's glow of orange carpet. But, I had also already taken a peak under that 70's carpet and knew what I was workin' with.

Then:

These are pictures that the seller posted when trying to sell the house...

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Sun Room

Back of the house

Back Yard

Now:

This is what the house looked like on Feb 24, 2011 when I bought it... All of the belongings removed...

The living room had this "funky-town" carpet in it... It was in the living room, dining room, and on the stairs up to the upstairs hall. It was.... [cough].... trippy?!

This the dining room... it had the pleasure of sharing the same carpet as the living room!

The kitchen (that I have big dreams for)

The sunroom, before it became my temporary bedroom and closet and catch-all...

the orange runs up the stairs!


And the peachy bathroom, with carpet!? Oh, boy! BONUS!

this beautiful pattern was found on the shelving in the bathroom

The Master Bedroom (is HUGE)! The last owner was nice enough to leave this bed frame and headboard (that I ended up selling).

A bit of a negative.... this is the master bedroom closet space. Ouch.

Guest bedroom... pink walls and green carpet... I feel like I am in a meadow full of flowers!


Another closet space issue...

Whew! Now that all of that is out of my system... The next post will show the process of ripping up the carpet... until next time!

Market Street Inn - Wooster, Ohio

2011-03-15T19:39:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened in the past few months... but all of that is to come in another post.

This post is about my new client... THE MARKET STREET INN - a very cute bed and breakfast in the heart of downtown Wooster, Ohio. I met Jayne and Allan at a progressive wine dinner that featured the inn as one of the interesting new businesses in Wooster. We had appetizers that were to die for and I ended up asking how to make the blue cheese grape balls (I also "borrowed" their idea for the crescent roll asparagus). YUMMO.

ANYWAY... we got to talking and Jayne handed me her business card. Now, here we are. I am so thankful that I went to this wine dinner and met them.

I am so excited to be working with the Market Street Inn and can't wait to find out what we will do in the future!