The Cottage

Mile High City

2013-05-01T18:37:00.001-05:00

Just when I think I'm getting back in my bloggin' groove, I skip town!

Late Monday afternoon I returned from my first ever trip to the "Mile High City" where I spent five days and four nights visiting good friends Mr. & Mrs. V who moved to Denver from Rochester last summer.

Delta got me to Colorado in less than 2 hours. Napping on the plane made the trip fly by. I arrived by 10:30am on Thursday. Leaving us with plenty of time for shopping and a full day of fun!

First stop in Denver: Lunch. Then shop.

Next stop:

The beautiful home of my hosts for relaxing on the deck.
Homemade ravioli for dinner --- (a pasta machine has just been added to my wish list!)
Brenda and I both love to cook and try new recipes...
Cooking together was one of the best parts of my time there.
(I've linked two recipes from our time together at the end of this post)

Their deck has a nice view of the mountains and is quite relaxing.

My room was nicely appointed and included

a bouquet of flowers and a nice selection of magazines!

On Friday I tested my lungs in the Mile High City joining Mrs. V on a walk/run. Oh. My. Goodness. Starting out I was very confident I would be able to handle the exercise and expected to run a good 2 miles. Within minutes I was sucking air like it was my job. Let's just say that the thinner air made running ~~a challenge~~ nearly impossible!

Physical ~~torture~~ exertion over, Mrs. V and I relaxed on the deck again before heading out to another beautiful Colorado style mall with all sorts of stores we don't find in Rochester. Finishing up shopping by dinner time, we headed across the parking lot with the sun setting on the mountains and met Mr. V for some beverages and appetizers.

We finished Friday evening off at home watching Les Miserables. My second time. Their first.

Tears were shed.

Saturday morning came fast and we kicked it off with some time in the beautiful weather.

Only minutes from their home (in their neighborhood) is a reservoir.

It's eight miles around.

We biked it. (at a good clip)

Biking is either easier on the lungs than running, or I was getting used to the thin air!

Beach. Boats. Shelters. Park. Food Stand. A perfect resting spot on the reservoir.

An awesome place to enjoy a beautiful day in the sun!

As we hit the finish line at the eight mile mark, we were greeted by some prairie dogs!

Another rest on the deck and we were ready to hit the town again!
Next stop, the former Lowry Air Force Base for another local brew (and fried pickles) at the Lowry Beer Garden before heading on to dinner.

Before: After:

Dinner was at Tables. A quaint restaurant known for exceptional food, and unique and collected tables by the owner/chef.

Mrs. V "won" best dish by choosing the best meal of the evening as judged by the three of us. Her crispy 1/2 chicken with artichoke/goat cheese bread pudding and roasted shallot pan sauce was nothing short of amazing! Definitely the best chicken I've ever tasted! Unfortunately I chose the Basil Gnocchi which was probably the worst Gnocchi I've ever tasted. Win some, lose some. We all nibbled on the Tuna Tartar (Sushi) which we are pretty sure is the culprit for all of us having an upset stomach by bedtime.

Sunday morning. Church. Love their church. Great message. Great building design (which is of great interest to me now that I'm working on our church design again)

Sunday afternoon. Naps. Relaxing. Sun on the deck. Girls shopping. Make your own homemade pizza on the grill for dinner!

Brenda's brother (Jeff) and niece (Nicole) arrived late Saturday night and stayed through early Sunday morning. They were making a trip from Arizona to Rochester moving Nicole "back home" to a new job in the Cities. Two of Brenda and Steve's boys (Nolan/Tyler) joined us on Sunday. Both are students at Colorado State University.

Monday ... got out on the trail again and tried the walk/run .... still sucked air like it was my job ... but it didn't stop me from moving.

Shower - Pack - then a final meal together. Ling and Louies and Asian bar and grill was a perfect lunch spot with patio dining! We both chose Orange Peel Chicken with rice....and were not disappointed. Brenda crossed one more thing off her bucket list .... trying edamame! She liked it, maybe not as much as me, but she said she would order it again.

Sad to say good-bye later in the afternoon ...

Plan to return in the fall...with Mr. D.

Then we'll hit up the mountains for some hiking and exploring!

As promised, recipes from Colorado:

Carrot Salad

Easy Arugula Salad

Phase I Complete

2013-04-22T21:38:00.000-05:00

Baby Girl hosted a girls night at TheCottage Friday night. Mr. D and I agreed to leave for a few hours so the girls could have TheCottage to themselves. So.... Friday we woke up with a LOT of work to do!

1. Queen bed had to be dismantled, moved and set back up.
2. Two twins had to be set up.
3. Double bed had to be set up.
4. Dressers had to be moved, floors swept, beds made.
5. (desserts, snacks and appetizers needed to be made too!)

With a few hours to spare, we managed to get all the bedrooms put back together before overnight guests arrived. It took us ALL day to get TheCottage ship shape, (there was other work to be done too) and we were pretty tired, but we managed to clean ourselves up, run an errand, have a quiet dinner out, and go hear some musicians at a local joint. Then we sneaked in and went to bed!

Presenting bedroom #1!

and..... bedroom #2

Amazing work Mr. D!

Phase I complete ... you can give your knees a rest now!

Bride weekend!

2013-04-21T22:35:00.001-05:00

All day Friday was spent getting TheCottage cleaned, baking, cooking, putting away paint cans and tools and putting 3 bedrooms back together.
Mr. D finished up the flooring in the three upstairs bedrooms and helped me move the furniture back in so some very special ladies could use them for the night.

Baby Girl hosted a bachelorette party for her best friend, Kate, who is tying the knot in 3 weeks! The first night of the "girls only" party was held at TheCottage. Mr. D and I took off for the evening so the girls could have the house to themselves.

Thursday night (when most people were sleeping), Baby Girl and I did a little pre-party decorating and made these cheerful party flags to brighten the room up a bit and make it more party-esque!

We didn't do a lot of decorating, just some simple touches.

Four pint mason jars + white sand + candles + ribbon + chipboard letters = simple, personal decor.

Having all the above items on hand =priceless!

Flower pots from IKEA (had on hand)

and mason jars with Kate's name spelled out.

I think flags on the fireplace would have been perfect, but we ran out of time

and chose sleep over more flags.

Does anyone else ever do projects like this late at night?

Or is it just me?

Always seems my most creative times are late at night.

The paper whites I forced for Easter were still in decent shape, so we put them to work too!

For a change, I had wrapped the gifts days prior to the party.

I love it when I think ahead!

Yes, ma'am, the walls are painted! Did you notice?

Spent ~~a few~~ most days last week with a paintbrush in my hand

Still have to drill a hole for the tv to get plugged in under the cabinets instead of the wall,

but we're making some major progress in our reno. I'll show you tomorrow.

First day of sunshine in these parts in a lonnng time!

Sun streaming in the windows was short-lived, but felt SO wonderful!

Concert. Greenies. Shoes.

2013-04-14T21:50:00.000-05:00

Baby Girl scored us tickets to a Phillip Phillips concert at WSU.

As a current student (Masters program) she gets the student price on tickets

$5 tickets. Yes. Please.

Us "oldies" figured we'd watch the concert from the bleachers.

That lasted for about 5 minutes -- before we were down on the floor with the kids!

We even snagged a spot near the stage :)

After the concert, Baby Girl and her BF Kate suggested going to Market Street

for some "Greenies"

So we did.

Then we shared a blue.

Then we shared a purple!

Concert was good.

Drinks were tasty.

Time with friends was priceless.

Dave won best kicks for the night!

red socks are his trademark :)

Randoms on April first!

2013-04-01T21:54:00.001-05:00

Random stuff today.
Sure, why not. It's April Fools Day.

Got home from work today and favorite son (who was visiting) was grinning ear to ear.

I see the foil covered pan on the counter.

Me: {smiling} "you baked today?"

Him: "Yep, I made brownies!"

Me: "Impressive"

Me: {uncovering pan} .... "dang"

He had made a pan of Brown Es!

Him: {laughing} "April Fools!"

The boy got 5 of us with this one.

I've warned him ... never joke about chocolate. ever.

Gabby.

She loves to lay near the (very fake) fire.

Baby Girl giving Nike some love

I was on a scone kick for a couple weeks
Made up a couple recipes. Got a keeper!

One more dog photo

So, did you get fooled today?
Or did you do the foolin' ?

Wordless Wednesday

2013-03-27T20:12:00.005-05:00

last day of winter

Temporary Digs

2013-03-25T21:39:00.002-05:00

With the flooring in bedroom #2 complete, we are moving on to bedroom #3. The master bedroom.

Which means we need to move the master bedroom into the room we first finished.

Which means moving everything from bedroom #1 and bedroom #2 into bedroom #2.

Here's how the moving has gone down:

Move furniture from Room One into Room Two (adding to the furniture already in Room Two)
Install flooring down in Room One.
Move all furniture from Room One and Room Two into the newly floored Room One.
Install new flooring in Room Two.
Move all of above furniture (from Room One & Two) back to the newly floored Room Two.
Move master bedroom furniture into newly floored Room One.

Mr. D installs the flooring.

I move the furniture. Me. Myself & I.

Our temporary digs are a little tighter than the master bedroom we are used to.

But that's OK with us, it's fun to change ~~things~~ rooms up a little now and then.

Like my tulips?

They are from HomeGoods!

See the tag? Decided today that I'm keeping them.

They bring a little pretty to a torn up cottage.

Cottage Reno this week/weekend

Rip out master bedroom carpet.
Paint trim in master bedroom.
Paint master bedroom.
Install flooring in master and hallway.

If you had the cash, what would you remodel/change in your home? Or, what are you working on now?

Another room

2013-03-24T20:54:00.002-05:00

Mr. D knocked out another room this past week.

New flooring and a closet update.

A fresh (new) coat of paint on the walls.

(SW Aura White on walls)

Freshly painted trim.

(Behr trim paint -off-the-shelf in satin finish)

It feels sooooo fresh and nice in here!

Brighter and lighter.

We've been kickin' around the idea of naming the bedrooms in The Cottage

.... I know, weird.

Someday.... this room might be referred to as the "Ohio Room."

Floor one done.

2013-03-20T21:07:00.000-05:00

Back in this post we had just pulled up carpet

and Mr. D was ready to get busy installing the new flooring.

Before he jumped in laying flooring, he had a little prep work to do.

This oscillating tool is awesome for undercutting the trim.

Nothing like having the right tool for the job!

Mr. D has been learning as he goes installing the laminate flooring and

let me tell ya ... the guy is rockin' the installation like a pro!

Unlike hardwood, laminate boards actually float on top of the floating (green) underlayment.

No nails needed.

The boards click and lock together like puzzle pieces.

It's a quick and slick process!

Last boards going in...

While Mr. D installed the flooring,

his wife painted shoe moulding and closet trim.

Mrs. D finds the kitchen counters work quite nicely for painting trim!

Closets are getting a little facelift too

Check out the classy screwdriver Mr. D uses for tight spots...

wrapping up the room with the freshly painted shoe moulding...

and ... done.

We have no regrets about using laminate in the bedrooms.

It isn't as spendy as wood, and Mr. D saved us megabucks by doing the installation himself.

The look and feel of this laminate is outstanding.

I'm so itchin' to get some furniture in that room!

Cottage Reno Progress

2013-03-19T22:04:00.001-05:00

February 20th.
That's the last time I posted about the renovations happening at The Cottage ... and the ideas that were swimming around in my brain.

Today I am happy to report that...
1. Some decisions have been made!
2. Actions have been taken!
3. Rooms are being changed!

Tonight Mr. D and I signed the retainer and dropped off a retainer fee for our kitchen cabinets! We decided to go with The Kitchen Design Studio here in town. We've been working with Don Gustason, the principal designer at KDS. Don has done a great job of listening to what we want in out kitchen, respecting our budget, and designing a plan that fits us and how we live and work in the kitchen.

The Kitchen Design Studio is new to Rochester. Really new.
So new, in fact, that we are proud to say we are their first customers in Rochester!
To say thanks and celebrate us being his first customer, Don presented us with a Victoria's gift card! This sweet, and unexpected gift will be very useful when our kitchen is torn up for a few ~~days~~ weeks(?)!
We gave Don a one spot (and then some!) -- which he plans to frame as a memento of his first sale in Rochester. Pretty cool.

The Kitchen Design Studio may be new to Rochester, but Don is a seasoned veteran in kitchen design. We feel very confident with his knowledge and the cabinets he sells. Don has won several kitchen design awards and his portfolio is impressive.

Here's a peek at our design as of today. Don will be providing us with an elevation drawing in the next week which will give us a good "feel" about how the cabinets will look.

So, here's the deicisons made as of today...

Perimeter cabinet style
Perimeter cabinet color
Cabinet construction
Island cabinet style
Island cabinet color
Island countertop
Perimeter countertop
Flooring (previously decided)

There could be some tweaks here and there after we see the elevation drawings, but I doubt it. We've hashed out this plan for awhile now. But knowing me .... well, you never know.

Now that we have picked the cabinet color, I can pick the wall color and get busy on finishing the walls! So excited and anxious to get that done!

Next Up: Bedroom flooring progress!

#SnowDay

2013-03-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

8+ inches of snow

means

working from home for me

(the commute is brutal on country roads covered in snow)

Mr. D worked from home too

he also worked out-of-the-home

Last year -- same day

March 11, 2012

the weather on this very same day

63 degrees!

it was glorious

the.best.March

Ever.

March 2012:

March 2013:

Last March I actually said things like:

"Minnesota isn't so bad"

This year

notsomuch

and that is my token snowpost for 2013,

Better than Pottery Barn?

2013-03-06T21:42:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Jo Lynn and I took a field trip.

We both had some lookin' to do at IKEA and...

I really wanted to see this new store at the Galleria in Edina.

Arhaus is a home furnishing store that is a joy to browse.

it's full of gorgeous spaces

Creativity abounds --

and astounds

each space is unique

#ILIKETHISTABLE

The price points vary like crazy

like these awesome heavy glass wall vases

only $24 -- I was very tempted

and that wall hanging -- OMG ---

the periodic table on black canvas !

River Rock tea lights

eight bucks

love rocks & stones

How cool is this coffee table?

and if had a place for this 9 bottle wine rack that could double for flowers

it probably would have come home with me.

#mighthavetofindaspot

These lily plates are very fun

however, the Dogwood and Magnolia plates are my favorites

A rake coat rack?

yes please!

a pretty ivy planter vignette

#willdothis

I didn't buy a dang thing at Arhaus (how awesome is that name?). Maybe on my next trip.
IKEA was a very successful trip for me which confirmed some kitchen remodel decisions for me.
More on that later :)

Little Cottage

2013-02-27T22:21:00.004-06:00

We have a new addition to The Cottage grounds!

Back up to a Friday evening in early February.

Mr. D and I are wandering through the 2013 Builders Home Show stopping at all the booths with kitchen cabinets, countertops, flooring & sinks scoping out potential kitchen products.

We hit up the "Once Upon A Playhouse" exhibit and Mr. D gives up a ten spot, then slips his carefully folded raffle ticket into the entry box in front of the playhouse named "Home Growin.'"

The very next Sunday afternoon Mr. D takes a call telling him that he won a playhouse.

He WON a PLAYHOUSE!

Imagine me literally jumping up and down with joy.

I seriously was jumping around the room.

embarrassing myself.

The next day our little cottage arrived

on the back of a flatbed tow truck.

{ S I G H }

So much cuteness going on

Our new little cottage was built by

Riverland Community College and Habitat Restore

I love that the materials used are all re-purposed.

DOORS, SHINGLES, ROOFING WINDOWS, FLOORING, RAILINGS, WOOD

Aren't the slate look roof and sunlight windows awesome?

front porch with railing, spindles, flower box, wood floor

and..... a pineapple door knocker!

...just couldn't resist editing some branches in --- imagine the window box with petunias!

yup, the window opens!

door window reflecting on the interior wall...

solid surface countertop

cute cabinets

hardwood floors

windows on all sides!

every few days I step in the little cottage

and find it surprisingly warm even on cold days -- solar heat baby!

The dogs always join me -- they dig the place too.

Baby Girl and I are making plans for the little cottage ....

We have options

Potting Shed / Greenhouse

Get-away with a daybed

Guesthouse

and the obvious -- a playhouse someday

First decision to make is WHERE to put it!

Again, we have some options.

You know I'll keep you posted. (pun intended)

Just for kicks, I put together a little GIF of the delivery.

So much fun waiting to happen!

Snow Blooms

2013-02-26T22:28:00.000-06:00

Best thing to come out of last Friday's

Snow dump...

Little tufts of snow on the tips of our Red Twig Dogwood.

A weekend's worth of celebrating

2013-02-24T11:43:00.000-06:00

Another year around the sun complete, and another year begun.
Celebrating began on Thursday morning. Kicking off the day with fresh-out-of-the-oven-homemade muffins made by a co-worker to enjoy during our weekly staff meeting at work, made the day just that much sweeter.

Friday morning (the actual day) I woke to 6.5 inches of snow and was very thankful that I had the day off!
A day of doing-what-I-want followed (cleaning, laundry, working out, a little crafting, skyping with a friend).

Dinner on Friday was fabulous! We hit up Chester's my favorite restaurant in town with BFFs Dave & JoLynn.

Dinner was followed with dessert at Dave & Jo Lynn's home (raspberry pie with Culver's ice cream, or hot fudge sundae or both). Music, candles, a cozy room, good conversation. Perfect.

While we were out, number one (and only) son stopped by.

He left me a note....

Saturday = more celebrating!

Mr. D and I plugged away on some of the house projects til 4pm.

Church at 5:30 (the kids and us) ... Mr. D playing drums this weekend.

Dinner at Mr. Pizza

Home for
birthday pie (click to see post)
and games.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes

the hugs, the time, the gifts,

Your friendship

Your love.

"Being in one's fifties takes stamina and endurance that even youth doesn't offer!"

---unknown

Slowly moving forward

2013-02-20T22:41:00.000-06:00

Mr. D and I are no strangers or newbies to home remodel/renovations. We have given more than a few rooms new looks in 30+ years of marriage including a two-story addition on our first home that had a family room, two bathrooms and a master bedroom. However, in all those makeovers, we've never done a kitchen ... except for changing out a countertop and sink. Oh, and knocking out a wall.

Over the last several weeks we have:

Gathered dream kitchen photos and scoured Houzz.com for kitchen ideas
Worked with a Lowe's kitchen designer and drawn up a 3D kitchen plan to get ideas on cabinets and design options.
Checked out all the kitchen and design studio booths at the Rochester Remodeler Home Show
Met with two local kitchen design studios here at TheCottage.
Visited a local kitchen design business and got schooled on kitchen cabinet construction.
Looked at countertops and got schooled on the options.

Now we are waiting for:

Both kitchen designers to get back to us with estimates and designs.
Me to make up my mind.

Decisions we have made:

Flooring. A handscraped maple engineered wood floor
Cabinet style.
Cabinet color
Island cabinets (pretty sure)
Kitchen layout (almost sure)
Island countertop (if it is affordable)
Kitchen perimeter countertop (choice is down to 2)
Style of stove fan

I put together a simple idea board this evening so you all can see the direction we are headed. Remember it is just that, an idea board.

Cabinet choice: white flat panel.

Countertop: black. (either laminate or silestone) Honed/slate finish.

Flooring: exactly what you see on the idea board.

Floating shelves: One one wall

Vent fan: stainless Kitchen sink: undermount, probably stainless. Farmhouse a close second!

While we wait to hear back on the kitchen plans/estimates, "we" (really Mr. D) have started on the flooring in the bedrooms. Bedroom #1 cleared and moved into bedroom #2.

Floors prepped and ready.

waiting for a new look

It's starting to come together ... on paper anyway!

Meanwhile back at TheCottage...

2013-02-18T22:01:00.000-06:00

The day after we returned home from Cincy, Mr. D and I have been doin' work at TheCottage.
While we were gone the awful popcorn ceiling was removed and a new knockdown ceiling put it its place.
Such an improvement!

We opted to save some change and paint the new ceiling ourselves.

It seemed like a really good idea

until our 50+ year old necks and arms started to complain.

A few Advil later and we were good for some more DIY --

removing the carpet on the stairs

putting the microwave back up

(for now)

cutting in and covering knots with primer

covering more knots

and filling holes with wood filler

sanding

more filling

more sanding

priming the knotty pine walls

and filling more holes

and sanding some more

and filling

and sanding

and caulking

(which we will cover in another post)

We're plugging away at this HUGE project which has MANY little projects and steps.

Mr. D is using his crazy PMP (Project Manager Professional) skillz and schooling

so we can act as our own general contractor --- saving us some serious cashola!

Wrap Up

2013-02-15T18:33:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd give y'all a peek into some of the spaces in the house we didn't paint.

The upstairs apartment (2nd floor) is where the kitchen, living room/alcove, dining room, full bathroom, and master bedroom are.

At the opposite end of the hall from the kitchen is a door to a back stairway. One stairwell goes up to the third floor and the guest room, and another bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom is the door just to the left of the guestroom door...

Got that?

extra bedroom

This awesome old door goes out to the garage.
I have first dibs on it if they change it out :)

The basement stairs (above) make a turn to original oak.

The door below is on the side of the house - it enters to the stairwell.

Maybe this will give you some perspective

Work Week

2013-02-14T19:37:00.000-06:00

Friday ... last work day.
We set the goal to have the house ready for a housewarming party on Friday. Let me just say that it is nothing short of amazing how much 4 people can accomplish in a week.... and a day!

On Friday we cleaned up all the rooms, pulled out some accessories for the rooms (Cara will be tweaking more as she unpacks and sorts through boxes), grocery shopped for the party (Sam's, Trader Joe's, & Kroger) AND bought our girl a sewing machine for her birthday!
That was our morning!

Back at the house, Cara unpacked boxes, accessorized rooms, and cleaned some more. Mr. D helped with odds and ends and built the IKEA bed in the guest room. I started baking and cooking for the party.

Light the candles

set the food out

let the party begin!

Work Week

2013-02-13T21:29:00.000-06:00

Day 6: Thursday
Hang in there friends, we are almost done with this home tour!
Here's the living room...

Alcove before

Alcove after

living room before

living room after

view from dining room corner (near kitchen)

before & after

Walls: Sherwin Williams Alpaca

Curtains: HomeGoods

Plant/Planter: IKEA

Lamp: HomeGoods

Tim made the black cabinet in the alcove!
The window door goes out to the large balcony/deck on front of house.
The other alcove door is a (deep) closet.
The doorway on right is stairway (that turns to the left) to the front door.

Isn't that orange pillow awesome? We found it at HomeGoods and Cara bought with birthday gift cards from her brother and sister.

Work Week

2013-02-12T20:04:00.003-06:00

Day 5 we put a second coat on the dining room walls and painted the living room.

Dining room before moving in...

Dining room when we arrived...

Taping. I don't tape. However, taping is very necessary when painting stripes/lines.

The dining room gets a nice wide navy blue stripe at chair rail height. Mr. D and Cara did an amazing job of marking the walls for a perfect line. I painted the bathroom ... they measured. and taped. and measured and taped again.

When I finished painting the bathroom (not much to paint there) I got busy rolling on some "Naval" paint by Sherwin Williams.

Paused for lunch. Then Mr. D removes the tape..

so much awesomeness

The dining room is

Finished!

That hanging light fixture in the first two photos. Yeah ... they are looking for something awesome for there. I have a light fixture from the 1930's (my grandparent's house) that might be perfect there. Next trip?

Work Week - day 4

2013-02-11T22:32:00.001-06:00

Tuesday morning I put a pot of homemade soup in the slow cooker, had a cup of coffee, and a leftover bagel and we got busy. Again.

Mr. D worked on hooking up 2 washing machines and one dryer.
Yes, two washers. There is a set for each apartment.

While Mr. D worked diligently in the basement, us girls painted the master bedroom a soft tan color that perfectly matched her throw pillow. Cara was very excited to put her new bedding (wedding gifts) on her bed for the first time.

We didn't get around to hanging pictures in the bedroom, but this one is going up...

and this one too...

Note: I did the word embellishment in PicMonkey

the words aren't on the actual frame :)

Not pictured, but completed was a first coat on the dining room wall.

Work Week - Day 3

2013-02-10T13:44:00.000-06:00

Day 3 - Monday

We started the day with a quick birthday celebration for Cara. Tim's parents, sister and (baby) nephew arrived bright and early with breakfast. Visiting with family over coffee and cuddling with a sweet baby boy, it was tempting to linger all morning. However, with a Friday deadline looming to get the house ready for a housewarming party, we couldn't afford to burn more daylight, so we hugged good-bye and got busy on the kitchen.

Moving boxes out

clearing the floor and counters

Stirring the paint

Paint: "Mariner" by Sherwin-Williams

Mr. D did the rolling

Cara and I did the cutting in.

Lots of cutting in!

We also put a fresh coat of bright white paint on the trim and wainscoting.

The kitchen went from blah

to bright

Taking pictures at night doesn't do the color justice --

The color is light and bright ... and oh so cheerful!

Day 3 work complete.

Time to celebrate the birthday girl.

Montgomery Inn Boathouse for dinner.

Amazing appetizer

Sauteed scallops wrapped in bacon, garnished with water chestnuts, chopped egg and hot bacon dressing

Dinner

Blackened Tilapia for Mr. D

Ribs for the rest of us

nom. nom. nom.

Work week

2013-01-28T21:19:00.000-06:00

Over a week ago Mr. D and I hit the road and headed East. And South. We had work waiting for us in The Nati. Cincinnati.

We also had work to finish at The Cottage before we could spend 12 hours ~~relaxing~~ on the road. Before loading the car, we unloaded the great room. As in totally cleared it out.

All the furniture

and all the accessories.

While we were away we were having our ceiling redone.

It was pretty awful and in dire need of a makeover.

Day 1

We drive 640 miles and arrive in the great city of Cincinnati on a Friday evening.

The best part of the day: seeing our kiddos C & T and hitting the guest bedroom bed early!

The newtothem home of our kids is huge. It is 3 stories, and that doesn't include the basement/garage level!

This home is ....a home and rental property all in one.

The door on the right goes to a one bedroom apartment on the 1st level.
The door on the left takes you up a L shape stairway to a 3 bedroom, 2 (full) bath "apartment" on the 2nd & 3rd levels. That's where C & T live.
It is full of charm and awesomeness.
It has a secret back stairway that I love!
It has TONS of potential and owners that know how to bring it out.
Location. Location. Location. The neighborhood is amazing! A post in itself.

Day #2

A beautiful sunny day in Cincy. (very cold in MN)

Cara and I started the day with a trip to IKEA (someone had to do it)

The manly men hung blinds in the windows. Lots of windows in this place!

After lunch we headed outdoors to enjoy the sunshine and clean up the front yard.

We raked leaves

pruned a few plants

swept

Then we assembled an awesome IKEA workstation for the kitchen.

Yes, it did take all 4 of us.

NEXT ... clean up. eat up. sleep up.

for the dirty, hungry and tired work team!

Tradition on Sunday: Skyline Chili for dinner!

A three-way for me please.

Perfect.

Bend in the road

2013-01-05T22:51:00.000-06:00

After being off work for over a week during the holidays, heading to work last Wednesday morning was nothing short of brutal.

Until I came to the bend in the road.

I'm pretty sure I audibly gasped when I made the turn and saw this more-than-amazing sight.

These pictures are pretty, but don't come close to the real time view I experienced.

Definitely a bright spot (pun intended)

on my first day back to work.