Painting The Town Red

We are finally getting the house painted. All the homes in the neighborhood are painted the current color we have on our house except for the one across the street. We decided to have fun and go with color on ours. We are having a tough time deciding between these colors from Dunn Edwards.

In the first picture on the far left if Turbulent Sea DE5803, the one on the right is Mica Creek DE5823 and the one on the bottom is Storm Cloud DE6362. The last two pictures are the same color, Enchanted Eve DE6313. It's hard to capture what the last color looks like but it's more like a grey with a hint of green.  Any input would be much appreciated.

Trim is Swiss Coffee and door is going to be Red Contrast.

Would love to hear thoughts and suggestions.  Please let us know what you think!

And Then There Was a Light Fixture

We have this amazing Milk Glass fixture that came with the house. We had been dying to get our hands on it. When we re-painted the kitchen, we decided to spruce it up.

When the Mister took down the fixture he realized it was in need of some desperate re-wiring. It looked like a fire hazard. So he re-wired and I cleaned up the caked on white paint. The Mister did an excellent job and I fell in love all over again. With both the Mister and the fixture. I spray painted the chain a navy blue using RustOleum spray paint. Once dry, the Mister put it all together and when that light came on, let me tell you it looked gorgeous! I wish I had a before pic of this fixture but you get the idea.

We're Baaack!

We have been absent for a long time. But it was only because we needed a break from the house. So we took a long sabbatical and actually enjoyed living in our house and not doing much else. We have been entertaining and having friends over and just enjoying life. But now we are back. Since our last update we have done a few things around the house. We painted our kitchen, hung some curtains in the office, and some other things here and there. Nothing major. We have a project coming up that we are excited about so stay tuned... In the meantime I will post some pics for you to look at.

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Curtains for you.

Curtains

After Curtains

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Before Curtains

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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!
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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!
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Washer Dryer

This is the washer and dryer home when they are not in use!
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Washer Dryer

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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!
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Kitchen stove view

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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!
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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