House Update

My computer is down so I don't have pics for this post, but I can update you on everything we've been doing since we closed on our house on Feb 4. We have not moved in and once you realize all our undertakings you will realize why. It isn't a large house by any means, it is 1400 sq ft, but for California (San Diego in particular) that is a good size starter home, especially with what our budget was. The house was in decent shape, the inspection came back good but it was really outdated. The entire house had those oh so stylish popcorn ceiling, mustard yellow paint in the bedrooms, old toilets and vanities in the bathrooms, hideous brass ceiling fans in the kitchen and master, wood paneling in the kitchen, upper and lower kitchen cabinets that are different colors, and a jungle in both the front and back yard. Jeff and I decided the first order of business would be to scrape the popcorn ceilings. Well, easier said than done. It took us two weeks to get it all off and it was not easy work, especially since our living room has 16 ft high vaulted ceilings. Once we got the popcorn off we were kind of like 'now what?' It was then decided that we needed to hire someone to come in and re-texture everything. So, we had a guy come in and do that but now the ceilings had to be painted. So for every room we had to primer and paint the ceilings. The new texture is called skip-trowel and looks really classy, but painting it is a bitch. You have to use a thick nap roller and really make sure to get in everynook and cranny. After ceilings were painted we then had to primer and paint the walls (2 coats), paint the closets and repaint the base boards and trim. Painting sounds so easy, but in reality it is very time consuming! Our smallest room took 3 days because we had to wait for coats to dry and tape and untape, etc....So a large chunk of the last 5 weeks has been dedicated to painting! Jeff's dad and step-mom have been driving from L.A. every weekend to help us out and while I knew the bathrooms were pretty ugly I figured it to be a project to be done at a future date. The in-laws wouldn't hear it and helped us gut the bathrooms and get all new toilets, pedestal sinks, faucets, medicine cabinets etc. We are in the process of having the walls re-textured so we can paint them, but our bathrooms are going to be so kick @$$ when everything is done! It's been so much fun having them help us every weekend and we are so appreciative of all the new bathroom stuff. I can't wait to post pics! My Uncle lives in San Diego during the week so after work he's been coming by to help out. This week he's been working on re-texturing the bathrooms (I don't think there is a name for the texture they used to be, but just imaging gobs of splatter paint type junk on the wall) and Jeff and I continue to press on with the painting. Jeff's mom helped us in getting this house, so as you can see there has been a lot of family involvement. I love that I can look at the house and think of all the wonderful family that helped to make this happen. Our goal is to move in Easter weekend. So far we've painted the master bedroom, the office, the guest room, the hall and half the living room. We'll be finishing up the living room paint this week, priming and painting the bathrooms over the weekend and getting all the bathroom fixtures installed next Thursday. The kitchen is pretty ugly, but that will be a work in progress once we move in. We'll be painting all the cabinets white, getting black granite counter tops and painting the room either light yellow or green (right now we're leaning towards green). I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have access to a lawnmower this weekend so that we can knock down some of the jungle. The outside will be another major project, but not one that I plan to tackle until the inside of the house is complete. Jeff and I have been going to the house every night after work for 4 or 5 hours and spend our entire weekends there. We have had plenty to keep us busy and even after we move I imaging we'll still have plenty of projects to undertake. I hope to have the house in good enough shape to have a birthday BBQ at the end of April, we shall see!

Home Sweet Home

Well...almost. Today Jeff and I scraped the popcorn ceilings out of the guest bedrooms. I did bootcamp this morning and was exhausted so I left. My Jeff is still at the house because he wants to get started on the Master Bedroom! Here is a pic of our little fixer upper.

The Last 3 Months (Quick and Dirty)

We've been busy as usual the past few months. I promise to be a better blogger and not stuff so much into one blog next time!

Went home to Santa Maria for Thanksgiving. This is Kiya modeling the latest in Air Force Couture.

Trips to Santa involve drinking at shitty bars. Some members of our party worked on their street cred this night.....

Becs had a birthday and we all celebrated with a night out in South Park.

We had our first annual blind wine tasting Christmas Party. A new tradition!

Jeff and I hosted Christmas Eve. Here are the boys modeling their traditional Christmas boxers.

New Years Eve the gang headed to Temcula Creek Inn for an awesome concert. We saw Wild Child, a Doors tribute band and they were amazing.

Some of us were overserved.

New Years Day we went wine tasting in Temecula. The penguin is named Carlos.

So that is the last 3 months in a nutshell. I imagine the next few blogs will involve the house. Went furniture and paint shopping today. So much to do....

Bailey

My heart is broken. Our sweet Bailey passed away this morning in her sleep next to Jeff. She had a rough weekend and my only solace is that her suffering is over.

Uninspired

I just haven't felt the desire to blog lately....don't know why. I've been up to lots of fun things in the last few months. The biggest thing is that Jeff and I bought a house and will be closing in the next few days. Maybe once we actually have the house and I start shopping for paint/furniture/appliances and get excited I'll start sharing the progress with you. Our house is definitely a 'before' and Jeff and I have a lot of cosmetic stuff to do before it can be considered an 'after.' I haven't allowed myself to look at any house stuff for fear of jinxing it....this was a hellish escrow process (who said homebuying was fun again?) with lots of kinks and disruptions. But the best part is that we're going to be biking distance from our besties the Colemans, we'll have a yard for Bailey to run around in and we'll be able to take some of the hosting duties for parties off the hands of the Colemans....they are lucky enough to have a beautiful, huge backyard but get stuck with every party because they have such a great yard. Can't wait until they come over and be OUR guests! My goal is to have the house all painted, furnished and looking good by my birthday at the end of April so we can celebrate my birthday proper like with a backyard BBQ. I'll post some pics of the house soon.

Mi Vida Loca

Life has been Crazy as of late....busiest time of year at work, traveling, Thanksgiving, hospital visits, Holiday parties, illness, meetings, and lots and lots of fun stuff. I just haven't had time to blog about New Orleans, Rosa's wedding, my mom's broken femur (*sigh*) or some of the fabulous activities we have to look forward to.....like the private dinner with Chef David Cohen this weekend with the gang! I haven't even unpacked or done laundry or cleaned since we got back from Santa Maria on Saturday. And when I do have a few moments in between all the other stuff, I just want to sleep. Hoping to squeeze in some Christmas decorating this weekend and then maybe I can find some time to update you all!

Just a Taste

New Orleans was amazing!

You can more photos at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162891&id=563058071&l=158117b1e5