Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts

Monday, July 29, 2013

All Moved In!

*I have to apologize for the impromptu hiatus these past couple of weeks.  Life hit us hard recently, between our full-time gigs, a cancelled flight home from a Wedding, last-minute packing, last-minute moving and everything in between, there just weren't enough minutes in the day.  Without further adieu, welcome to our new home!*

With the help of family and friends, we moved into our first home less than 48 hours ago and we're *almost* completely unpacked (shout-out to my mom for spending three hours with me on Friday attacking the grimy fridge).  The last few boxes contain things that need furniture that we don't yet own, or are decor items that we need to find places for in our new home.

The first room we set up was the Living Room.  I had put the feet back on the sofas about three minutes after they were lugged into our Living Room off the truck and I had to pick a place for the TV fast, because the cable guy arrived while we were still unloading the boxes.  I quickly laid out the furniture in an L-Shape, with the back of the Love Seat facing the entry way when you walk in, so that I can buy we can place a console there.


I'm not quite sure yet if the furniture will stay like this.  We're living with it for a few days, but I did ask the cable guy (I should stop calling him that, his name is Lou!) to leave me some slack on the cable in case I changed my mind.  I'm already considering moving the TV to the left a little (centered on that back wall) with "built-ins" around it or to the wall on the left and flipping the Sofa and Love Seat to the walls opposite where they are now, to allow for additional seating.


So many other things about this room will be changing.  The paint color, the pillows, the lamp, the end table, the window dressings... much, much more will be changing.  The only things that will likely stay are the sofa, love seat and coffee table.

This. Kitchen.  The first time we saw the house, I apparently had my "This-Has-Potential" Goggles on, because even though I was enamored with the sheer size of it, it was GRIMY.  It might have been the dirtiest kitchen I'd ever laid eyes on, nevermind that I'd actually have to cook and eat in it.  *shudder*


It took us about three days to get the Kitchen to an inhabitable state.  I'm not joking.  There are still food stains on the wall next to the sink that NO cleaning product is capable of removing and since they're FAUX wood panels, I can't even paint over them.  We have to wait until we're ready to tear down the walls re-do the kitchen for those stains to be gone.  BUT, the Fridge was so disgusting that I wasn't even sure we could keep it.  It took SIX magic erasers and tons of soaking in bleach and warm water, but my mom and I got it sparkling again.  I actually don't have a "before" picture, because when I said I wanted to take one, my mom said, "Why would you EVER want to remember what this Fridge currently looks like?"  I wasn't thinking like a Blogger and I agreed with her.  Of course, I regret this, because you'd never in a million years guess it was the same Fridge and I was already a huge Magic Eraser fan, but now I'm a DIE-HARD Fan.  #MagicErasersSavedMyFridge


I love the little dinette side of the kitchen, because even though we have big plans to change the layout completely down the line, in the meantime, it's nice to have so much space.  We can easily both be in the kitchen at the same time and Hubby was doing some classwork at the table on his laptop while I was finishing up dinner.  We ate there for the first time tonight and I really enjoyed it!


Here's our little pass-through from the kitchen to the Living Room.  It's kind of nice, because while people are sitting in the living room, I can still communicate with them and see the TV them.  #TheresThatFridgeAgain

This room off the kitchen is where we're currently storing most of our boxes.  I think it will eventually be a formal dining room, although I'm still toying with the idea of adding more seating on the other side of this room with a little bar area.  I'm really excited about this spot, even though I'm not quite sure what we'll do with it.


The Pepto-Pink Bathroom is looking a little better than it did when we first saw it.  I think it's the white shower curtain, as opposed to the yellowed-white curtain that was hanging before.  I originally wanted to do gray and pink until we could afford to gut the bathroom and replace the pink fixtures, but I realized I had registered for brown towels when we were getting married, so pink and brown it is!  I think I will try to replace/paint the vanity and mirror for a quick update to tide us over.  One thing we will not be able to quickly address is the faux tile wall covering.  it's yellow with flowers and HAS to go, but I'm not sure how big of a job it will be to remove it all.


I'm not sure what I will tackle first, but I'm really anxious to paint and the only rooms that are ready for paint are the living room and formal dining room right now.  Every where else has some kind of weird wall covering that needs to be removed first.  I'm going to scope out some inspiration pictures to try to get ready to overhaul one of these rooms.  I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I've picked one!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Yay or Nay: TVs in the Bedroom


Inquiring minds (at least mine) want to know: Do you have a TV in the Master Bedroom? When we were house shopping with our Realtor, he kept commenting about where we could place a TV in each Bedroom we saw. We told him so many times that we don't have a TV in our Master Bedroom and never really intend to. We like to watch TV in the Living Room as a family and when it's time for bed, it's time for bed. Our Realtor would say, "Ahhhh, Newlyweds. Just you wait." Maybe this will change when we have kids? I don't know, neither me nor my Husband grew up with TVs in our bedrooms, so it's not really natural for us. But I suppose down the line I could see a benefit to it. So, I'm dying to know - do you have a TV in your bedroom? Do you WANT a TV in your room?

Sunday, July 7, 2013

What's In Your Purse?

Melanie over at Mailbox Journey wants to know what's in everyone's purse, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get a little more personal and show you what I carry around with me every day and hook up with others for a fun Link-Up Party.  Here we go!


1.  Coach Alexandra Purse - This was a gift to myself for my job promotion at work a few years ago.  I've used it every day since then - seems to be holding up well!
2.  Coach Alexandra Wallet - I bought it with the purse :) {matchy-matchy!}
3.  Make Up Pouch - This was a little pouch that I received as part of a promotion at Sephora and it was the perfect size for my every day make up
4.  My Brown Ray Ban Wayfarer Sunglasses - I bought these on a work trip to California at a discount store and they have a huge scratch on the lens, but I love them so I wear them anyway.
5.  Pens - I can't be anywhere without a pen to jot something down.
6.  My Vera Bradley ID/Coin Purse - This is about 7 years old and I've always used it to hold my Metrocard and ID card for work.  It's also where I keep my ear buds.
7.  Sephora Mirror
8.  Revlon Lipbalm
9.  Blistex Medicated Lip Balm
10.  Sabon Hand Cream in Patchouli Lavender Vanilla - This is literally the best hand lotion I've ever used.
11.  A Thumb-Drive - I'm an IT Professional, so I need to keep a thumb drive with me at all times.
12.  Keys
13.  Nail File
14.  Tampons
15.  Checkbook - I find that while buying a home, I've had to write a lot more checks than I used to.
16.  Nail Polish Remover Pads - In case my polish is just too chippy and I need to go to a meeting or something.
17.  A retractable tape measure - You never know when you're going to find that perfect console table and will need to check measurements to see if it'll fit!
18.  Hair Tie - Because I will get hives if I don't have one on back-up/

Link Up!
Mailbox Journey