Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Curtains for you.

Curtains

After Curtains

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Before Curtains

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Canister Lights

Adding canister lights in kitchen for a more streamlined look! Our central air/heat got connected and works. Yay, now I can take a shower and not be freezing when I get out!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Loose Ends

So if you check below we had a leak when we returned from our trip. And I don't know if you are keeping up but our contractors are a son and father team. We started the project with Jehovany and then he brought on his dad. But basically through most of the project we've been dealing mainly with Don Jesse ( the father). Jehovany came by the other day with Bill. Now Bill is the guy that recommended TBG Construction to us. Bill happens to be a roofing expert and knew exactly what the problem was and knew exactly why the leak happened. Jehovany is going to wrap up the remainder of what needs to get done, including fixing the leak, and is going to come by today. We will keep you updated.

Check Check Check

Load of laundry? CHECK
Grilled whole chicken with an arugula strawberry mint salad? CHECK
A good movie on the tube? CHECK

Couldn't be happier!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Washer Dryer

This is the washer and dryer home when they are not in use!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Washer Dryer

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Take A Load Off

So our power finally got turned on this past Thursday. That means we finally get to use the washer and dryer. After reading the instructions, (yes I do that) we had to do a test run on them before we put a load in. The machine itself is a tank. Tonight we are doing something I have been dreaming about for years. We are popping in a movie, eating dinner in front of the tv while we have a load going in the washing machine. I will never take anything for granted. We are very blessed. So here's to our first load. Have a good night.

Thank You

I wanted to say thank you to my mom and dad who gave us a wonderful housewarming present, AKA appliances. We absolutely love our kitchen and it is so nice to have appliances that work and that are pretty fantastic. We were living in a place where the appliances weren't ours and not only were they not ours? They never really worked. The fridge never kept the food cold and the oven had a mind of it's own. So we are in heaven. Thank you thank you. Every time we are in that kitchen we think of you, so thank you so very much.

Opposite kitchen view

I love my kitchen!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Kitchen stove view

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Kitchen Update

I just realized I had not posted in a while and our kitchen is pretty much done. I wanted to post some pics to show you how it turned out. All there is left to do in there is to seal the floors which we will do once we no longer have people working in the house, add window coverings, and touch up some paint. Oh and our contractor is switching out some of out lighting in the kitchen. Oh, Oh and we still have to put in glass on our top cabinets although between you and me, I kind of like not having the glass. Check out some of the pics in the posts below!

Kitchen Shots

Cabinets with knobs and pulls!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Taking a leak

We got a leak. We returned from our trip and had a surprise. We're
actaully happy because the old roof held up pretty well. J came over
with a roof expert and the said it might be something with the
flashing. We get our power turned on today for our washer- dryer and
ac!!!

Final Inspection

So our last inspector was harping on an air gap for our dishwasher and wouldn't sign off until we got it. After showing him tons of documentation from the manufacturer that our Miele dishwasher did not need one he still asked for it. When we showed him documentation that LA does not require an air gap for our model he responded that although we were in LA county we were not Los Angeles city. Then he asked if we wanted hepatitis and e-coli (yes he actually said that) because apparently that is what not having an air gap causes. I guess everyone with our dishwasher in Los Angeles must have hepatitis and e-coli. Watch out.

So we called our granite guy to come drill a hole. He was swamped and we didn't have time to wait. We needed this done quick so we found a local granite contractor and he came over to drill the hole. I had something up my sleeve though. I had read online that other people were frustrated at having to drill an extra hole for an air gap they didn't need and so once they passed inspection they switched the air gap for a soap dispenser. We went to the WDC to pick on up. They happened to have one in stock that was the same brand of our faucet and matched perfectly. Sweet!

So today we had the final inspection. We have had the same inspector each of the 14 inspections but today a different inspector came. The new inspector was surprised that all he had to sign off on was an air gap. He was in and out in less than 5 minutes and he left us with a signature. A signature that means we are done! We asked him why our inspector didn't show up. Turns out our old inspector had to serve jury duty. God has a sense of humor. And we aren't stuck with an ugly air gap. High Five!

I hope this shit works-You gotta be shitting me

Now this is a shitty situation. Last night while showering we noticed a leak. It seemed that it was coming from behind the wall. I called Don J, and he told me he would be at the house first thing in the morning. Every time we would flush, the water would rise up in the shower. Don J, had in installed 4 clean outs around the house that lead to the main line. Genius. We checked the clean outs and the one leading to the main sewer line was backed up to the brim. I went to home depot and rented a 40 dollar 100ft snake. I rolled up in my pimped VW and didn't realize how big and heavy this thing was. I felt like a moron trying to get this 200lb piece of machinery in a VW Jetta. A young day laborer offered me some help, and thanks to him I got it into my car. I take back whatever i said about guatemalans. THEY ROCK. On another note I need a truck, but i love the mpg of my diesel car. that's another story.

NOW THE GOOD STUFF. FISHING FOR TURDS.

For some reason people think that pipes are like going to a David Copperfield show. "Now you see it now you don't." Everything you put down there has the risk of clogging it up. We pulled out chunks of white hair, floss, roots, more hair, even old toilet paper from years ago. The best part was learning how to use the machine. It spins a cable around that has a blade at the end of it. It is dangerous. You have to really get a feel for it, and at the same time it spins off the poopoo water. So be prepared, it's some dirty ass shit. Still while doing it i had no chance of picking up breakfast and all i could think of was, damn i really want a burrito. My forearms were burning from the 100 yards but we did it 4 times. 100 yards in . 100 yards out. that is 800 yards of line. It sure as hell beats paying 400-500 dollars to rooter man. Plus i am a pro at fishing out turds. I will be taking the show on the road.

The water finally went down and the pipe was un blocked. ABRAKADABRA

Drumroll Please

We washed all of our clothes and as we folded everything, we both began to mourn what we would have to give away because there was no way we were going to fit the mound of clothes and shoes into those closets.

We put away and put away and put away until we were done. Surely there must have been a bag missing because when we were done putting away, we still had room left. But there were no bags missing so the Verdict? It all fit (insert happy dance)!

Elfa System by Container store has once again saved our lives.

I admit I was skeptical because our apartment had two full size closets that were about 6'ft each and we also had three dressers that were filled to the brim. We were spoiled. So when we bought two 4'ft closet systems, I did not think we could fit everything into those things.

Below is what our closets look like now! They still need to be organized a bit more but it sure is a whole lot better than what we had. This beats trash bags any day.

Mom, Dad, you can stop cringing now. xoxo

CLOSETS!!!!

Ok, so you all know that for the past month we have been living out of bags and I do mean that literally. Every item of clothing we own has been stored in bags, big hefty bags and our shoes have been in boxes. Remember that list we posted? Off all the things we need to get done? Well we decided that before putting in a fence, or putting up blinds or doing any of the other major things, closets were in order. Closets are the key to organizing this house. It's like a domino effect. If we don't get closets, we can't get the bags of clothes out of the office, and if we can't get the bags out of the office, we can't move the office boxes out of the dining room. Catching on?

Our options once again were IKEA and Container Store. Ikea had wardrobe frames that you add drawers and clothing rods to. Their frames have doors which is nice because you don't have everything exposed. We found one that was beautiful but we weren't sure how sturdy it was. We compared that to the Elfa system at the Container Store and chose to go with that instead. Eventually we want to have closets framed out and we want to add doors but for now we just needed somewhere to put our clothes. Because the Elfa System is attached to the wall we can build a frame around it when we are ready to do that.

When we had had closets drawn up at the container store, they told us that when we were ready to buy them to give them a call and they could pull up the drawings and have them ready for us to pick up. In the last two weeks, we have made an almost daily trip to the Container Store. Most of those trips are to price things out mind you, but when the staff knows you by name... well you know.

So I call and I am trying to disguise my voice because I recognize Ivan, (Ivan designed our linen closet) but I have to give him my name so that he can pull up the order. When I give him my name he knows exactly who I am. I felt like I had been caught looking at porn. Oh the shame! But I was so excited that we were getting closets that I got over it real fast. He got our order together for the closets that Randy designed for us and we picked them up. We started late in the evening last night and had them up and running in just a few hours. Today we do laundry to fit everything in. So far though, we are each having more than enough space for our clothing. We will let you know how it goes. Below is the finished closet system. One for me, and on the opposite wall a duplicate one for The Mister.

Shelving Brings out The Robot in Him

We have been mulling over what to do in the two nooks next to the faux fireplace. We needed to find a solution to store components, dvd's, cd's, etc. We contemplated built-in's but that would be an arm and a leg. My friend "S" had a good point. We would be dropping a lot of cash for something we can't take with us the day we move out. Good way of looking at it. On the other hand, it could add value. Built-in's are cherished in this town. People go nuts over them.

We went to IKEA. Three times. We looked at the Billy Bookcase with doors. Each of the three times we kept leaving empty handed because we weren't convinced. The Billy Bookcase had the exact measurements we were looking for. The width was off by an inch but that wasn't a big deal because the height and depth were perfect. It had glass doors and it would have been flush with the mantel giving it a finished look. So basically it would have looked like built in cabinets. But the bookcase was not going to be able to hold all of The Mister's components.

The problem with the components? Well some would have to stick out further than the mantel. So that axed the built-in's because they would have looked funny sticking out further than the fireplace. The IKEA bookcases were also out of the question because the depth was 11 inches and we needed way more depth than that.

We looked at the space again and we realized how much we loved the blue on the wall. And then in clicked. Shelves. Stark white shelves! But since the shelves would have to be deep to hold the various components, we knew we couldn't let them be the width of the nook or they would look like incomplete built-in's. The width of the nook was 32 inches so we kept the width of the shelves at 24 inches.

We installed the shelving and The Mister organized all his components/toys. He spoke like a robot the whole time he put his stuff away. It is safe to say that I was more scared than annoyed. It looked liked he was handling premature babies the way he held all of those things. He cradled the X-Box onto the shelf talking to it and putting it down oh so gently as to not wake it. When he got to the last shelf I went over to hand him our DVD player. He started blinking rapidly which can only mean one thing. He's up to no good. He then told me he could put it in as a place holder. "Place holder for what?", I asked. "Well the DVD player doesn't have an HDMI output so if I do connect it you're going to see the cables." He knows one of my peeves is exposed cables! I asked him if there was a way around it. His answer? A PS3. It would have no cables showing because it has an HDMI output and it has a Blue Ray player. Sneaky Snake.

Love in The Closet

I've grown up and my taste has changed. I no longer want the dirty grungy messy musician. I want the nice neat guy that smells good. And in this case, the nice guy's first name is Container and last name is Store. Sorry Mister but you have to take a step aside. I have found a new lover.

The Container Store, is having a sale. And I bought into it. And I am so glad I did.

We have one tiny closet but it needed to be finished out. The Mister and I tackled this closet like full on warriors. It took a total of one week. Yes you heard right. One week on 6 square feet.

We had to finish out the closet before we could outfit it. I primed and painted the closet four separate times. Not by choice. The paint was not sticking to the drywall and was peeling so I kept having to prime and paint all over again.

It didn't help that I wanted to stencil a design in there so each time I did it I had to re-stencil. The Mister only allowed me to do one strip because if I had done the whole thing, I would have taken another week. He however made me trade my stencil paint for a can of spray paint. I kicked and screamed and he took the spray can away and did it himself. I have to admit, it turned out great! Who knew The Mister had tagger skills. I should drop him off at the LA River so he can really go at it. The Mister also decided to put some carpet down on the floor and it left us with a closet begging for shelving. And we gave it just that.

The Container Store in Pasadena helped us figure out what we needed and we ended it up with great storage. Pics from start to finish.

p.s. the pink hue is from a covering that we have on our windows. The room is not pink and neither is the closet.

p.p.s. We unpacked 8 boxes and we still have room in that closet for all the linens that need to go in there. Great investment.

Journal Entry 1- September, Drowning, and Checklists

Dear Diary,

Yes we are alive. But barely. This has been the most challenging month to date. We have had great moments and not so great moments. The great moments? Our anniversary which we almost forgot and getting the kitchen almost finished. The not so great moments? Re-doing things that were supposedly finished and having unexpected costs come to light.

This September last year we began our house hunting. Can you believe we have been at this for a year? We've been climbing our version of Mt. Everest for a whole year and counting. Buying a house in LA has been quite a journey. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets and I would never take it back. I am very proud that we own a home here. And I LOVE the home we ended up with. We have accomplished a huge feat and to those who have purchased in Los Angeles, you understand completely what I mean by that. However, we are ready to get back to life.

This month has been hard. We are still not unpacked. It's one thing to have books and knick knacks in boxes. But when you have clothes and shoes still in bags it creates chaos. It's hard to concentrate when your stuff is in disarray. We don't have closets in our bedroom and won't for a while and that is proving to be difficult. I never realized the little things I have taken for granted. Imagine all your clothes, shoes, undergarments, in plastic bags surrounded by the unpacked boxes of knick knacks and you will have a peek into our lives. Anyone feel like they are choking yet just thinking about it?

We made a checklist of things that have to get done. And they will get done in due time. We were putting so much pressure on ourselves to get everything finished that we felt like we were drowning. I still feel incredibly overwhelmed. And I have come to terms with the fact that I will continue to feel like that for a while. But we have prioritized. It's one thing at a time from now on.

Checklist

1. ORGANIZE OFFICE CLOSET
   
2. ORGANIZE ALL OF THE COMPONENTS IN THE LIVING ROOM
   
3. GET CLOSETS IN OUR BEDROOM BUT ONLY AFTER WE PAY OUR TAXES IN OCTOBER.
   
4. PUT CLOTHES IN CLOSETS SO WE CAN CLEAR THE OFFICE
5. PAINT THE OFFICE
6. SET UP THE OFFICE
7. PURCHASE MISSING CROWN MOLDING THAT OUR FIRST CONTRACTOR THREW OUT.
8. GET BLINDS AND CURTAINS
   
9. FENCE (OH THOSE PESKY NEIGHBORS)
10. PUT IN A WORKING FIREPLACE
    
11. GET A PROPER BED
12. SET UP DINING ROOM
    
13. PAINT THE HOUSE EVENTUALLY...
    
14. LANDSCAPING EVENTUALLY...
15. SELL THE HOUSE... MAYBE?
    

Hell is putting knobs on cabinets. I hate it

Use the level and they look crooked.use a template and they all seem
to be at different levels.

Cabinets

No you are not having Deja-Vu. You've seen that post title before. Yes, it's another cabinet post. They are still not done. They weren't going to come in until this coming Saturday but after The Mister spoke to the owner, they came yesterday. Much more progress was made yesterday than this past weekend. Last Saturday, they were here for 5 hours and only put in 2 toe kicks and a piece of molding they had torn out by mistake. Yesterday, they finished the cabinet over the fridge, the piece under the sink, the crown molding and the toe kicks for the washer and dryer cabinets.

So today they are back again to paint what needs to be repainted and to fix things that need fixing. Hopefully they will be all done today so that we can finally unpack the kitchen!

Stove

Our stove is in! Will post pictures once we remove all the protective film on the stove fridge and the hood. Keeping the film until the cabinet guys finish painting our cabinets.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Success!

Fridge made it in thanks to The Mister and Don J! Yay!!!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Suckers Are Huge!!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Bolts

Crap! The frigging thing is bolted to a piece of plywood so they have to remove the bolts. The Mister has the fridge tilted while Don Jesse is removing the bolts.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Terrified

Our contractor and The Mister are putting in the fridge. I am terrified that its gonna get scratched. I have severe anxiety right now. I have cleaned the nook where the fridge goes 4 times. I'm turning into my mother.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Granite = Love

We are so happy with our granite! We absolutely love it. Now I understand why people go overboard with stone. Thank God we were on a budget or we would end up being "those people". And yes, you know what I am talking about. You have all been inside one of those gaudy homes that have granite where they have no business putting granite.

This has been the neatest process. From picking out the granite among thousands of slabs, to imagining them as counters and hoping we got the right one, to finally seeing them cut and in our kitchen. We couldn't be happier with everyone who made this happen.

Counters

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Shower Doors and Flooring Done!

They finished the shower doors today and they look awesome. I feel like I'm in a hotel shower!! Danny at Frameless Depot was awesome. Would definitely recommend him. Prices are amazing and work is excellent.

The hardwood floors are done and ready. They look amazing and we were so pleased with Javier's work at Paracas Hardwood Floor. We look forward to using him in the future to refinish the rest of the hardwood floors in the house.

We can put closets in the bedroom and we can shower without making a mess. Counters come in tomorrow and then drumroll please... appliances!!!

Glass Doors Going In

The guys are here and they are installing. They have put in the door and now the panel needs to be installed. It's looking gorgeous! FYI Superior Glass also goes by Frameless Depot.

Frameless Shower Door

Today they come to install our long anticipated frameless shower door. Our door is not standard size so it's not like we can pop in to a store and pick one up. We did our homework and after meeting with several people who were quoting us $2000.00 and up for a glass door we found Superior Glass Service. They are in Silver Lake and they actually fabricate all the glass for most companies that sell frameless shower doors. So when you go to other companies and they say you have to wait up to three weeks for your door, it's because Superior is cutting their glass for them. And since Superior cuts for their customers first, the other companies have to wait in line. So basically by going to them directly you are cutting out the middle man and you are paying less than a third of what everyone else is quoting. Sweet!

One guy that came in was trying to sell me the shower door at $2100.00 plus the glass coating for $300.00 bucks. Then he said I had to buy the solution that would keep the glass nice but that I could only buy it from their company and I would have to buy it every three months. As he's saying all this he was handing me the pen and telling me where to sign. I may be a lot of things but a sucker I'm not.

We called Superior and Danny came over to do the measurements. He was fast, and the turnaround time for the door? A couple of days. And he told me the coating was optional. The coating here by the way only cost $75.00. And no special solution is necessary to clean the glass, just a squeegee to wipe off water after we shower is all the maintenance we will need.

Javier at Paracas Hardwood Floor

He is doing such a good job on our floors!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile