Let's take a journey back to the days when the Looch and I drove all around Nashville with our new friend slash realtor, Just Joe, searching for *that perfect home* to call our own. William Chance answered that call, and we became the proud owners of....this:
"Oh, it has GREAT potential!"
"A fixer-upper? What FUN!"
Check out the sweet green-house window coming off the kitchen. And the dead tree perilously close to the house. Oh and if you squint really hard in the first picture? Yep, that's a 1950's fridge adorned with Titans stickers and filled with Miller High Life. That Chance, he was a classy guy.
The house was immediately painted, windows replaced, roof re-shingled, lawn mowed, trees trimmed. Fast foward to this summer, herein named "The Summer Heidi Decides She Can Remodel Her Entire Backyard With Only The Help Of Her Parents and Sometimes Maybe Her Brother If He's In A Good Mood. Oh And Home Depot."
First up on the to-do list? Rip out the old, cockroach infested hot tub. Here are some before shots of the porch before we demolition derby-ed it.
(Here's when I grabbed the sledgehammer, climbed up onto that ladder, and released all my pent up rage over the fact that I live alone and Ryan Seacrest isn't here to help although even if he were he'd be too short to do this task but maybe he could stand on the steps and narrate the whole thing. But now that I say that I'd rather have Tom Hanks do that because seriously who WOULDN'T want Hanx - thats how he signs his tweets - narrating your life?)
Oh look! Our neighbors have pretty flowering trees lining their manicured driveway. Bet they're thrilled with THEIR new view.
After that we all retreated into the house and died from heat exhaustion. *Mental note: don't wait until the middle Tennessee heat index is at record highs and the janky thermometer on the porch you're renovating reads in the triple digits to start outdoor projects.
Moving along. The next project was to strip and re-paint the concrete area of the porch. Remember those earlier pictures? Of the nasty brown carpet? Turns out not only was it hideous, it was also infested with fleas. After a particularly brutal battle with those little black jumping beans, the porch was left with exposed concrete and 50-year-old adhesive slathered all over it.
Adhesion primer to the rescue! That magical concoction saved the Looch and I hours of scraping and scrubbing and ended up covering the surface beautifully.
And....MAGIC! A coat of grey porch paint, and that project was checked off the list. Notice the ground at the bottom of the steps. Keep that in your moustache and save it for later.
OK so here we are, a few weeks later. Remember the ground at the bottom of the porch steps that was overgrown with crabgrass and old pavers? This is the part in the story where I woke up on Saturday around 11am and decided I wanted to rent a tiller from Home Depot to work on the walkway. But then I remembered that I a.) don't know how to work a tiller and b.) couldn't do it if I tried. Just when I had them convinced I was ready to take a break on the projects, the phone rings and - TRICKED YA! - the parentals were swindled into another project.
Good thing Dad spent his summers on that farm in the Motherland, right??
Weed blocker was laid down...
Edging hammered in...
Pavers placed and spaced. Pea gravel spread...
And why not? Let's tackle that weird area in the corner of the house that used to have a dead tree planted there. It'll be SUPER FUN and NOT AT ALL difficult. The Looch'll break out her jingers. (If you don't get that joke, you clearly don't live at my house where the only channels we watch are Comedy Central, G4, and Spike. Oh yeah, and E!. Obviously).
Walkway: Complete. Another check mark!
This weekend is a long one - Labor Day - so we're moving to the other side of porch and re-decking where the hot tub used to be. Not naming names, but I know two people who will be THRILLED when this marathon of projects is over.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Weekend Wrap-Up...with Special Guest Star, Armageddon!
I love the weekend, but I hate to see it fly by so quickly. This one was no exception.
Friday night I checked the first of three parties I've been planning off my list. Beer at the Ballet was a hit and I had a great time participating as an event committee member. I spent part of the night "bartending" at the Yazoo station. Who knew there was such an art to being a beer wench?
Saturday I woke up bright and early for a hike at Radnor with my faves. As part of my doggy-custody responsibilty (the parentals were at the beach for Dad's 60th birthday), I decided to take Shelden for his morning walk before the hike. As I rounded the corner of our block, a tyrannosaurus disguised as a husky came trotting up to us with no owner or leash in sight. Trying to avoid an awkward meet-up I quickened my pace, only to be met with resistance from my 60 pound stubborn-as-hell pitbull. Of course the minute the two "met" snarls broke loose and I was faced with a full fledged dog fight. I tried my best to separate the two, and luckily the husky backed off fairly easily. After calling his owner like a crazy person (I'm sure they didn't appreciate the 7:45 wake up call), they arrived to retrieve their pooch and all was right in Oak Hill. Goose pranced away unscathed; I unfortunatly was covered in dog stink and mosquito bites.
The rest of the day was filled with sisty hang out time watching Transformers 2 On Demand (because, obviously) and then white-knuckling it through torrential rain to pick up Dad and the Looch at the airport. Spent the evening babysitting the sweet four - they are always such a pleasure.
Sunday I braved a trip to Armageddon to search for engagement party decorations. In the ever-increasing vocabulary of the Reich's, Armageddon is what we call the Goodwill Outlet store. Everything for sale is thrown haphazardly into giant bins and you're charged by the pound for your treasures. As much as I loathe going, it seriously is the best place in town to thrift. We arrived right as the doors were opening for business and I had the pleasure (misfortune?) of witnessing The Shoe Frenzy. Apparently there are groups of people who are paid to go there and hoard as many shoes as possible. They sell them to charities who supply them to third-world countries. It's difficult to describe the scene that unfolds when these people are collecting the shoes. They wait in a large cluster by the loading doors and as soon as the bins are rolled out they nearly dive into them, throwing as many as they can into their carts. It sounds like thunder as hundreds of shoes hit the wire baskets - madness.
We hit two more thrift stores after that, and after a total of $17 spent, ended up with this:
The plan is to collect colored glass votive holders, mason jars, and other delightful treasures and sprinkle them as centerpieces down the tables. Still a lot more collecting to do (especially for some other fun things I don't want to mention just yet...shh!) but luckily I inherited the Looch's love of "junking", so I'm confident we'll have more than enough to style the party exactly how I imagine. Yay!
Friday night I checked the first of three parties I've been planning off my list. Beer at the Ballet was a hit and I had a great time participating as an event committee member. I spent part of the night "bartending" at the Yazoo station. Who knew there was such an art to being a beer wench?
Saturday I woke up bright and early for a hike at Radnor with my faves. As part of my doggy-custody responsibilty (the parentals were at the beach for Dad's 60th birthday), I decided to take Shelden for his morning walk before the hike. As I rounded the corner of our block, a tyrannosaurus disguised as a husky came trotting up to us with no owner or leash in sight. Trying to avoid an awkward meet-up I quickened my pace, only to be met with resistance from my 60 pound stubborn-as-hell pitbull. Of course the minute the two "met" snarls broke loose and I was faced with a full fledged dog fight. I tried my best to separate the two, and luckily the husky backed off fairly easily. After calling his owner like a crazy person (I'm sure they didn't appreciate the 7:45 wake up call), they arrived to retrieve their pooch and all was right in Oak Hill. Goose pranced away unscathed; I unfortunatly was covered in dog stink and mosquito bites.
The rest of the day was filled with sisty hang out time watching Transformers 2 On Demand (because, obviously) and then white-knuckling it through torrential rain to pick up Dad and the Looch at the airport. Spent the evening babysitting the sweet four - they are always such a pleasure.
Sunday I braved a trip to Armageddon to search for engagement party decorations. In the ever-increasing vocabulary of the Reich's, Armageddon is what we call the Goodwill Outlet store. Everything for sale is thrown haphazardly into giant bins and you're charged by the pound for your treasures. As much as I loathe going, it seriously is the best place in town to thrift. We arrived right as the doors were opening for business and I had the pleasure (misfortune?) of witnessing The Shoe Frenzy. Apparently there are groups of people who are paid to go there and hoard as many shoes as possible. They sell them to charities who supply them to third-world countries. It's difficult to describe the scene that unfolds when these people are collecting the shoes. They wait in a large cluster by the loading doors and as soon as the bins are rolled out they nearly dive into them, throwing as many as they can into their carts. It sounds like thunder as hundreds of shoes hit the wire baskets - madness.
We hit two more thrift stores after that, and after a total of $17 spent, ended up with this:
The plan is to collect colored glass votive holders, mason jars, and other delightful treasures and sprinkle them as centerpieces down the tables. Still a lot more collecting to do (especially for some other fun things I don't want to mention just yet...shh!) but luckily I inherited the Looch's love of "junking", so I'm confident we'll have more than enough to style the party exactly how I imagine. Yay!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Today is a day for lists. Here are things I'm loving today...
1. shopping on piperlime (this means combing through Rachel Zoe's picks, adding them to my cart, pretending I have a million dollars, and then signing off before they ask me for my credit card)
2. "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles
3. starbucks treat receipts
4. pretty invitations for parties
5. twitter jokes
6. ship at sea paintings
1. shopping on piperlime (this means combing through Rachel Zoe's picks, adding them to my cart, pretending I have a million dollars, and then signing off before they ask me for my credit card)
2. "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles
3. starbucks treat receipts
4. pretty invitations for parties
5. twitter jokes
6. ship at sea paintings
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
August 10th Is Always A Great Day
Remind me again why it can't be my birthday everyday? This year I turned 26 with the standard strawberry shortcake celebration and it was awesome. Dinner at the house turned into presents for me (thanks again, everyone!!), which turned into laughter around the table with the people I love. After deliberating between a kitchenaid stand mixer and a "big kid camera", I opted for the camera and ooh man it was a good choice. Of course I have no idea how to really use it, but I'm taking a digital photography course that starts in a few weeks so that takes care of that problem. As for missing out on the mixer, we're all on diets anyway right???
The End.
Goosey wanted to get in on all the birthday action:
Especially some of this delicious CAKE!!:
Then we laughed about how the relatives don't know how to spell my name:
And the Looch gave out hugs:
And then two wonderful boys came over for CAKE!!:
And then I took a self-portrait and laughed about how ridiculous they always look:
Monday, August 9, 2010
Engaged!!
YAY! Sisty is engaged! She and her hubs-to-be are perfect together and I think all of Nashville and half of Texas have been waiting forever for this day to come. He popped the question last Sunday and I could barely wait to give them both hugs when they arrived back in town. Things have been full-steam-ahead since then - she and the Looch have been driving all over town scoping out venues. As soon as they get a date confirmed we'll all be able to take a step back and they can really focus on their theme. Whee!! I love this!!
Unfortunately the mean comments have already started rolling in. The barely-masked pity in our relatives' voices is insanely irritating. Sometimes it feels like they're just waiting for me to throw a fit and freak out. It would be bad enough if I could just chalk it up to their bad acting, but the thing that's most frustrating is that it just makes it so obvious that they don't know me at all. If they did, they'd know that I might honestly be happier for my sister than even my parents. I love her bigger than the world, and I feel so privileged that I'm here to share in this crazy-exciting time. The fact that they'd even think I was jealous is not only ridiculous, but also really unfair. I don't want their bad attitudes to make sisty feel like she has to hide her happiness from me. I don't want anyone to make her feel like she can't relish every second in the spotlight because of some antiquated idea of the eldest daughter having to pass milestones simply because of birth-order. She's marrying the man of her dreams. Does it really matter if I haven't found mine yet?
Of course, I'm fully expecting this to happen after we roll out of whatever fabulous venue they choose.
A girl's got to have some sort of reward for patience, right??
Unfortunately the mean comments have already started rolling in. The barely-masked pity in our relatives' voices is insanely irritating. Sometimes it feels like they're just waiting for me to throw a fit and freak out. It would be bad enough if I could just chalk it up to their bad acting, but the thing that's most frustrating is that it just makes it so obvious that they don't know me at all. If they did, they'd know that I might honestly be happier for my sister than even my parents. I love her bigger than the world, and I feel so privileged that I'm here to share in this crazy-exciting time. The fact that they'd even think I was jealous is not only ridiculous, but also really unfair. I don't want their bad attitudes to make sisty feel like she has to hide her happiness from me. I don't want anyone to make her feel like she can't relish every second in the spotlight because of some antiquated idea of the eldest daughter having to pass milestones simply because of birth-order. She's marrying the man of her dreams. Does it really matter if I haven't found mine yet?
Of course, I'm fully expecting this to happen after we roll out of whatever fabulous venue they choose.
A girl's got to have some sort of reward for patience, right??
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Imagine you're waiting for a train...
Ok so you know how sometimes, in movies, when Hollywood is trying to set a scene in The Deep South and they have a bunch of men in grey uniforms marching around with muskets hollering about defeating the Yanks? And then someone says something ridiculous with the kind of drawl you only hear at truck stops in Mississippi and everyone laughs and then goes to eat pie?
Sometimes I secretly wish that happened more often in real life.
Fast forward to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. How I'm only discovering this now is unreal, but a little sleuthing around the interwebs led me to this:
Here's an excerpt from the website:
Relax and experience travel by rail, where getting there is part of the fun! Our trips always include something special - from train robberies, music, civil war reenactments, and on-board murder mysteries to Watertown's famous mile long yard sale...
Double-you. Tee. Eff. All aboard the awesome express.
Sometimes I secretly wish that happened more often in real life.
Fast forward to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. How I'm only discovering this now is unreal, but a little sleuthing around the interwebs led me to this:
Here's an excerpt from the website:
Relax and experience travel by rail, where getting there is part of the fun! Our trips always include something special - from train robberies, music, civil war reenactments, and on-board murder mysteries to Watertown's famous mile long yard sale...
Double-you. Tee. Eff. All aboard the awesome express.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
BarreOuched
Last weekend I signed up for a group class called BarreAmped at a new gym. It's a workout centered around the ballet barre with a little pilates thrown in for fun. The description promised a challenge, and holy marshmallows they weren't lying. Within the first three minutes my legs were furiously shaking. After 25 I felt light-headed. At the end of the class I stood up and could barely balance enough to walk back to the car.
It's been three days and I'm still crazy sore. I'm signed up to go back on Thursday. Here's to hoping I can make it at least five minutes without falling over.
It's been three days and I'm still crazy sore. I'm signed up to go back on Thursday. Here's to hoping I can make it at least five minutes without falling over.
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