Fascination w/ New Appliances

Our new appliances were brought in today. There was a bit of drama. I feel like there is always drama with delivery and installation people. At least for me or in my experience.

But we have our new fridge, washer and dryer. The drama aside, they are LOVELY! The fridge just completes the kitchen. LOL! There was so much packing, and plastic and blue tape and Styrofoam and more tape - only this one light blue - EVERYWHERE on the fridge. I literally was pulling stuff off, up, out for about an hour! Who knew!

The washer is really what prompted this post. It all came about because we had to drain the water tubes into the washer in order to connect the dryer. (LOOOONG story as to why we were installing the dryer. BUT! We learned a TON!) The washer has a glass lid. Which means you can watch the clothes go 'round and 'round. THIS, is what fascinated my handsome hubby for a good 10 to 15 minutes. Since we were draining the water, there were no clothes and while we were just draining the water tubes, we ended up watching the washer cycle to see how this new, energy efficient, less water, no tall center agitator washing machine worked. And, I have to admit, it was pretty cool!!

So go and watch your appliances work with nothing in them! You can totally see all the moving parts and how they work! Yes, yes, I'm a dork. It's true! I love to see how things work and fit together and why things work and how they are put together. Sigh. But its just so fascinating!

Have fun watching your washer!!!

New House!

I know I should be unpacking but I wanted to take some quick photos and get them out to you!! These are in no particular order, and I did take more pics but they didn't come through on email. They are a bit blurry as I took them on my phone - all the cameras and desk stuff are still packed!

Master closets..... As you can tell, I didn't really clean up before snapping these photos. So please pardon the un-made bed and boxes!
Opposite side of master bedroom.

The yard out one of the back windows.... it needs some work, but we'll get there!

TV over the fireplace. My parents helped me put it up. They also helped with painting, hanging curtains, moving, etc. They slept on the floor for 3 nights!

This is Matt with our cars in our new garage after we signed papers, grabbed some lunch and drove to the house to do the happy dance and eat a pinic in the empty house.

Packing Up

Packing, packing. I have to give the boys credit as they did a LOT of the packing!!!! And they will be doing more too!

I will be at the new house painting for the next few days after signing papers.......

3 days to closing!

We have 3 days until closing. We have so much left to do aside from packing! Even though I feel like that's almost all we have been doing. My stomach bug and visit with in-laws have made a bit of a Sunday& Monday hole, but we're getting there.

Here is the current list in no particular order:

• Purchase paint and supplies
• Purchase curtain rods
• Clean out the fridge & freezer since we won't have one for a week (we've already had some creative meals with this going on. Although I think we've done fairly well!)
• Do all the laundry since we won't have a washer/ dryer for a week
• Drop off dry cleaning
• Do online address forwarding with the Post Office
• Pack car with clothes, disposable plates, cups, utensils, paint & supplies, snacks, sleeping bag & pillow, box of important papers
• Walk-thru: make sure there are shower curtain rods in the bathrooms, if not, add to purchase list
• Pick up cashier's check from bank on Friday morning before closing
• Finish packing!!
• Get stamps for change of address cards
• Mail out change of address cards

While I do hate packing, I have to say its a great way to go through belongings to see if we really need them or can pass them on! I would suggest not waiting to move though, because it's a LOT easier to just pack up and move than to sort, organize, donate, sell then pack and move!

3 more days in our loft apartment. Soon to be home owners!

Tuesday Morning

Tuesday Morning is like a Home Goods and Marshalls blended together. They have all sorts of 'stuff' so even if you think you are just going in to look, you'll find something you didn't know you needed or wanted!

These pillow pictures are exhibit A. I went into the store for the first time while waiting for Thai takeout from the place next door (which we have been going to for the 2 1/2 yrs that we have lived in the area) and found these fabulous pillows for the master bedroom in the new house.

Aren't they great?! I loved the texture and different styles while all in the same color. And the embroidered pillow? Just fab! I was thrilled.

Now, the issue here is that I didn't buy them. Nope. Thought I would go home and talk to Matt about it and show him the pictures before I did anything. WRONG! I went back about 8 days later? GONE!

Also gone was the perfect set of silk curtains for the master...... I mean, they still had the silk curtains that were a steal - but not in quite the right color... so you can bet I bought those!

As I was checking out I asked what the return policy was just in case the color didn't work. 45 days with a receipt. So the moral of this story? BUY what you like WHEN you see it and if the hubby doesn't like it? Return it. If the color isn't quite right? Return it. At least that way, you won't loose it!!!

But seriously. If you have a Tuesday Morning near you? Check it out! And then, go back about every 2 weeks because they get new stuff on a regular basis and the stuff flies off the shelves for the prices they have.

I plan on going back next week before we move just to see if they get a new shipment of pillows. Or anything else the new house might need!

Do you know of any must shop places for great deals? Please share!

Missing People

Have you ever ha a moment, hour, day.... when all you want to do is gather everyone you love and miss into the same room and just do nothing? Or maybe something silly like munch and watch your favorite movies?

I'm having a day like that. Maybe its the grey weather, maybe its Friday or maybe its just that all my closest and dearest friends to me no longer live in the same place. Or Town. Or State! Or COUNTRY - ahhh!

More likely, it's a combo of my springtime allergies, college people graduating AND I'm packing again. I hate packing. I have moved (on avg) every year for the past 10 years. I'm tired of always moving, so its a good thing that we won't be moving anytime soon from our condo/ house!

But know that those of you that are far away - I miss you & think about you & can't wait until the next time I see you.

artee fabrics & home

While cleaning out my desk, I found some pictures I had taken of this absolutely amazing silk store in Pawtucket, RI. I was down visiting my parents for the weekend and my mother took me to this hidden gem. The store is fairly new to the area although there are a few other branches in Mass. One is in Worcester.

The store is filled with aisles upon aisles of silk organized by color. The racks are about 6 feet tall and double sided. The store is probably around 2000 sq ft with every inch filled with fabric racks. I highly reccommend visiting if you'll be in the area. Even if you don't need anything for a project! Just walking through is a wonderful eye-opening, imagination, project inspiring time!

My mother is showing a student (who is just out of the picture) how to read the tags on the bolts of fabric.

In the back of the store they have huge tables of remnants that are delish to go through. I found a few pieces that went home with me. No pictures of those, I'm sorry to say, but you'll see them as they are going to be the curtains for the first floor dining and living room. I can't wait! There are two other pieces that I couldn't leave behind: a lovely baby blue with a slight white plaid and a beautiful piece of dark cranberry! The latter I'm sure will be used for something Christmas related :-)

Back to boxes! I have no idea how 2 people can have so much stuff!!!

Packing

My theory on packing is that nothing should move that we don't use or want. However, this requires either cleaning out and organizing before you start packing OR doing it as you go. Both of them take time....... and thought. Sigh.

My original plan was to get through the entire apartment before we starting packing. It didn't really happen. I mean, its not like we have trash lying around - its just the day to day clutter that sits on my desk, chair, etc. Matt cleaned off his desk and found bills (that had been paid long ago) that were dated in the 2009, 2008 and yes - 2007. See, this is what happens when your life is so busy that you don't do either of the above and you just pack EVERYTHING without thinking. We are BOTH guilty of doing this!!!!

I haven't promised Matt and myself that it will be SO much easier to unpack at the condo when we don't open boxes and say, "well, we don't need this! Why did we pay movers to truck this up here?"

And so, with the start of boxes last night I realized just how many bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body scrub, etc that we keep under our sink. Now, part of this is because we shop at BJ's for the things we can to save $$. This does mean however, that you may end up with 4 or something that you only needed 1 of. Not a huge deal except - where do you PUT all that stuff??

List of my new practices in the Condo:
1 - no more buying shampoo until everything we have is all gone. I don't care if I have to mix bottles for a while. I don't need 4 types of shampoo.... or conditioner... or face scrub.... or body lotion!
2 - when the mail comes - sort through and recycle all the 'junk' mail before opening the rest. Also, make sure you only keep what you need, ie keep the credit card statement but recycle the envelopes and adds that come with the statement. We pay everything online now through our Bank, so no need to keep the envelopes. (This is a trick I learned from my hubby!)
3 - we really need to convert our VHS to DVD's. Its just a simple fact of space saving. What currently houses the VHS tapes (4 shelves) could easily fit on 1 to 2 shelves if they were DVD's.
4 - stop any magazine subscription we don't read. We keep them thinking we will read them one day, or we'll reference them for something. No. Not once have we done either of those things. So pull out the pages with projects and donate the rest to a local school that can use the pages for scrap booking.
5 - any too big/ too small/ worn out clothes you have? Get rid of them. Don't keep them thinking one day you'll be that size again, because even if you do? fashion will have changed. So just move on. Take them to a consignment shop, a Goodwill or Salvation Army and take the tax credit while cleaning out the closet.

OK! I'm off to finish my lists and make sure everything gets done before we move! :-)
Happy cleaning out and organizing!!

Let the Countdown Begin!

We are 12 days to closing!! I can't even believe it sometimes. It feels like yesterday we were pouring over houses and condos online....... pause for minor freakout - I'm typing this at work and a spider just crawled out of my keyboard. eeeeewwwwww!!!! so gross. But my hubby would be proud of me, I didn't scream, I just shivered like crazy and then mustered up my courage to squash it.

OK. whew! house closing! weeeeeeee!!!!!!

I will not share with you the lengthy 'battle' we had with Best Buy. The short version is that while we have our washer and dryer. Our fridge? Well, its out of stock. So gone its not even back ordered. We checked our other options and ended up with this bad boy.

Matt is thrilled as he didn't realize that stainless steel appliances are not magnetized. Reason why they always look clean in kitchens? You can't put anything on them! I LOOOVED this idea, but the above fridge is what they call clean steel which is magnetized..... so clutter battle 403 here we come!

In any case, we have a fridge. Well, not for the first 8 days we are there, but it will be coming along with my lovely Maytag washer and dryer!

Storage Thoughts!

I LOVE being organized! I LOVE storage solutions that streamline general life 'stuff' and make my life easier! I'm constantly on the look-out for tools that will make life easier. So here are some that I have found that got my ideas flowing!

(All of these pictures are from Pottery Barn)

How cool are these cornice shelves?? Anyone who has seen my apt will tell you I pepper the walls with picture nails. And then, anytime I want to move one, I have to make sure I either patch of cover up the old hole before making a new one. What a pain. But these solve this problem!
While I currently have two smaller and flatter ones in our master bath, they hold bathroom stuff not pictures! I so want to get some of these so I can put them up once and change photos whenever I want to! All I can think of is cleaner lines on the stairs and in the guestroom where I can change them out so people are always staring at the same things!

I know a laundry hamper is fairly basic. And its not as though we don't have one. We have two. One for reg laundry and one for the dry cleaning. They take up so much space! They are white plastic too. ick. I think they will be moved to the laundry area to help with sorting and this lovely creation will find its way into our master bedroom.

Lanterns. I LOVE them. They are classic, simple, romantic, elegant - OH! I could go on forever about them. I hope that I will be able to find some to add to our back deck and yard when we entertain.

I've Been Thinking about Dining Room Storage.....

We currently have a family heirloom table and chairs mismatched with a sideboard we got from a neighbor years ago that was cleaning out her home. It's still a great piece but DEFF doesn't match what we have now or what we are aiming for in terms of style, comfort, ease of use, etc.

I'm planning on sending the sturdy sideboard to the basement hangout space (a remodel job in the planning stages to make it a real family room/ den/ hubby's office space) for now with the TV from our bedroom and my parents old green indoor/outdoor rug to help create a temporary space for hanging out and video games, etc. The sideboard can also hold all our board games as well.
I'm still toying with our current wine rack which originally came from Target some 4 yrs ago. It doesn't hold the liquor (since it was made for wine) so its stacked on top - not my favorite place for that stuff. So. I've been looking at alternatives for both the sideboard and the wine rack. Here are some options I have found that are quickly growing on me!

This creates a sort of sideboard and the cabinets would allow for some storage and also all the reg liquor. Not sure we have enough wine to fill even one of those sides though!

This arranges a few more blocks to create a more massice piece. I don't want something this big right now, but its nice to know for a later date maybe?

This is a pic of the 4 pieces you can mix and match to create your own piece.

I like this general arrangement of the wine glass storage along with the base. I would make the shelves in a single line or stacked on top of one another and not staggered like above. Hmmmmm. If we do the wine storage on the wall with the glasses ....... we could do solid cabinets on the bottom which would look more like a buffet!

We have so many wine glasses! And champagne glasses! I bought myself a large set of each on a great Crate & Barrel sale years ago but the wine glasses have slowly been broken and we've gotten smaller sets from friends, etc. I would love to be able to get them out of their boxes and out for use! I also think this makes lovely wall art too. I know, I'm a bit strange, but its useful and good storage and glasses are so pretty!

Easter Dinner

My husband and I hosted our little celebration this year. (Like a dope I forgot to take pics, but my Dad did so I'll post his when I get them). The menu was delish and everyone enjoyed the simple meal so I thought I would share what I served!

Apps and munchies:
carrots, red, orange and yellow peppers, celery, pita chips
4 types of hummus including garlic, original and red pepper along with a ranch veggie dip
cocktails:
everything was offered but what really sold were my husbands Gin & Tonics with a slice of lime! :-)
Dinner:
Miso soup
followed by......
mashed sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus and baked white fish. (I had tempeh instead of fish) The main course was served with a wonderful white wine.

The sweet potatoes I did very simply, baking them in the oven until the skin started to separate from the innards :-) then i cut them and ditched the skins, mashing the potatoes with (a smidgen of) butter, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

The white fish I baked in white wine with a bit of honey mustard and parsley. Everyone said it was tasty!

Dessert, I can tell you about but I cannot share the recipe as its my mother famous lumpy chocolate mousse. It was soooooo yummy!!

Thank you to all who came and enjoyed the afternoon! And thank you to my husband who helped me clean up and do all the dishes!!!!!

Happy April! or April Fools' Day!

White Rabbit!

It was the first thing I said this morning (gives you good luck all month) so I'm hoping that means we'll have a good move!
23 days to closing! yay! 15 days to taxes! ick!

Happy Thursday