New Kitchen Unveiled

It's the moment you've all been waiting for.

Ok, it's really the moment I have been waiting for.

Our new kitchen is finally finished! Still pending the installation of a few pieces of hardware and a small paint touch up, but I felt like today was as good as any to announce the completion.

While everyone else spent the day at the beach, Keith and I had a Memorial cleaning fest. We had moved all of our pantry items and dishes to huge plastic bins for the cabinet installation so we restocked and reorganized. I learned I have way too many spices and also that we will likely be packing up them all up again, very soon, to move. Sigh. But really, it is such a relief to finally be able to see my living room floor now that it is no longer stacked high with boxes and tools. Who needs the beach when you can have a clean house?

The details: We selected a quartz countertop (LG Viatera in Silver Lake) and Sussex cabinets in coco from Cardell Cabinetry. We also decided on an undermount sink and Brainerd Satin Nickel hardware from Lowes. And I am currently falling in love with our faucet: Another Lowes special, the Peerless 1-Handle Kitchen Faucet.

Usually our counter is piled high with mail and West Elm catalogs, but I think this shiny new one is motivation enough to keep it clear.

How did you spent your Memorial Day weekend? Did you make it to the beach or to a cookout, or did you spend some time working on home renovations?

Kitchen Renovations Are Afoot

Part of this whole buying a new house project is the shaping up of our current home so we can sell or rent it for big bucks. I may be a novice at this but I do know that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses. The current state of our kitchen was not doing us any favors so it was time to tear out the ugly, broken cabinets and install something a bit more updated. We started this two weeks ago. It's been 14 long days of take out, paper plates and restaurants. I do love to eat out, but it is starting to get old. I'm so ready to cooks a real meal in our beautiful new kitchen! Here's a look its current state: 

 

1. On May 2 Keith took out our kitchen sink. I've been living sans sink for almost two full weeks. Since I refuse to wash dishes in my bathtub (gross) I've resorted to plastic plates, cups and utensils. It's not my greenest moment, but at least every day feels like a picnic!

2. Our new cabinets arrived in large cardboard boxes and are piled high in the dining room. Pepper is the only family member who will miss them. If you look close enough you can see she's doing little kitty-cat jazz hands up there.

3. Before we can tear out the old cabinets, we have to empty them. This is the worst.

4. New cabinets go in! And a new counter gets installed right on top. It's finally getting pretty around here.

5. Another view of the new cabinets and counter. Note that there's still no working kitchen sink. I think I deserve an award for "Best Attempt At Roughing It".

Has anyone braved a kitchen renovation like this? What was your experience like? 

A Year In Review: Turning 29!

Saturday was my 29th birthday. I thought I was going to feel sad to be entering the last year of my twenties, but I feel refreshingly good. In fact, I think back to my early twenties and don't wish for a day to go back there. In my early twenties I was always striving for something—the perfect job, the perfect guy, the perfect pair of jeans. While I'm still searching for a right pair of jeans (ones that won't drag on the ground or bunch up around my knees) I feel good about what I have found in my life right now. So the number "29" didn't scare me this year. I feel like so many great things have happened in just this one year and I feel like I've learned and grown from all of it.

I Settled Into Life as a Newlywed

After the wedding it seems like everyone is asking how married life is. "Exactly the same, but with more paperwork," I joked to everyone, as I stumbled through the process of changing my name, my bank account and tax information. Being a newlywed was not entirely different from being engaged, but once the planning and excitement of the wedding died down we had time to think about the rest of our lives together. We started talking about buying a house and having kids. After living in New York City, and now New Haven, moving to the suburbs is going to be a chance for me and while we drive around looking at neighborhoods I always think about my tiny walk-up apartment on the Upper East Side and how far I'll have come from that lifestyle. But being a newlywed is more than just a change of venue—it's a whole new way of living. No more selfish decisions. Everything from what I eat for dinner to how I spend my weekends affects another person now and I love planning accordingly.  

I Became a God Mom

My nephew Henry was born in June and when I talked to his mom and dad that day in the hospital via Skype they asked me to be his God Mother. I have the BEST Fairy God Mother, so I was really excited to have the honor of being the same for my Nephew. Since little Henry might not be into Cinderella the same way I was, I'll drop the "Fairy" from my title. But that doesn't mean that I won't give him everything he ever needs or wants. Not only do I get to be the aunt who spoils him, but I also get to be a part of his life in the church. I went to a Catholic school for seven years so I believe I'm well qualified for the job!
 

I Changed Careers

This winter I took a huge risk and left my full time job as a magazine editor for a part time position with an event planning company. The day I told my boss I was leaving was one of the scariest days of my life, and Keith literally had to convince me from wimping out. But I did it. And a few weeks later I started my new role in a brand new field. As an editor, I sat behind a desk all day. I e-mailed and talked on the phone and I spent a lot of time with my head buried in manuscripts reworking and rewriting paragraphs over and over and over. Now, I spend some days in the studio working on invoices and timelines. Other days I'm hunting through Home Goods for decor items for the next event. I have a great mix of creative work that challenges me and new office tasks that also challenge me. I love that every day is different and everyday teaches me something new. Some nights I spent long hours on my feet and get home past midnight with an achy back and neck. But I've found my work to be so fulfilling that none of that even matters.

The most rewarding thing is that I had the courage to make a change in my life when I was unhappy. When I was in my early twenties I clung to the idea that journalism was my dream job and leaving the field would make me a quitter. At 29 I'm happy with what I've accomplished as an editor and I'm proud of myself for recognizing that quitting my job didn't make me a quitter, but rather it made me an even more successful person than I was before.

 I Became a Cat Mom

Cat Mom...Crazy Cat Lady...What ever you want to call me, I have a furry little friend who wakes me up every morning wanting to snuggle be fed. Even though she has a raging ear infection that is racking up a significant bill at the Vet's office, Pepper is the best little kitten in town.

I think my 29th year will be just as action-packed and exciting! And to start it off Chris Harrison is sending a belated gift tonight. Emily's season starts and I'm dying to dig into some horrible reality TV. I had a good year, I think I deserve it!

XOXO

Homeownership is a Marathon

“Homeownership is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Those were the words that were boldly printed on a billboard on route 95. I'm not sure what this ad was for, but I am sure that it was meant, 100 percent, for me. While I don't want to put an offer on the very first house we look at, I do want it yesterday. I bought the very first wedding dress that I tried on and I don't shop online because the shipping process annoys me. This period from deciding we are going to buy a house to actually buying a house is killing me.

We've only looked at four houses so far and none of them have been right. There were things I liked in all of them (like the closet within a walk-in closet). But there are also things just not right about each. See below:

No the house isn't slanted, the black and white tile floors are just making you dizzy. 

I know we can paint the walls and put down a new floor. (Sorry to disappoint, I know you totally thought I was going to go for black and white tile in my dining room!!) After that there may even be some money left over for new cabinets and granite counter tops. We could turn this into a pretty rad kitchen—but it's too small. I was really excited to see this property and was able to look past the reckless interior design decisions the previous owner made. (Umm there was even glitter painted onto the dining room ceiling.) But I just could not picture myself living here. I want an eat-in kitchen and I'd like to be able to invite a lot of people over for a party on the occasional New Year's Eve. I didn't see us fitting here.

After each showing that's just not right I feel discouraged. I know I need to slow down. Our perfect home is out there and we'll find it because we are diligent house hunters. But I am feeling really impatient.

Any words of advice?
Please leave your comments below! 

The Pre-House Hunting Checklist

Buying a house is not something I know a lot about. Numbers make me nervous, so talking about mortgages cause little beads of sweat to appear on my palms. And I haven’t lived in Connecticut long. I can hardly find my way out of my own driveway, never mind pick out towns with the best school systems.

It goes without saying that I have absolutely no idea where to start.

I wanted to jump right in to the hunting part of this process. Keith has already spoken with a bank and we have been pre-qualified for a loan. And together we’ve done some research on what towns will be good for us. We considered their proximity to our jobs and school systems. We even took a drive last Sunday to scope out some of these towns for ourselves. One we thought we liked ended up having too much of a small-town feel for me, and we ended up discovering another that wasn’t even on our list before.

Pretty house with a wrap around porch, when will you be mine?

So why can’t we just start setting up showings and looking at houses already? 

1. My pinterest board is not done. So far for home inspiration I’ve got colored glassware from West Elm (which I don’t really need because I have a ton of glasses) and these fringe curtains that are not likely to fit in any house we end up purchasing. How can I possibly look for the house of my dreams if I haven’t created the mood board of my dreams?

2. We really should get pre-approved for a loan before we start poking our heads into houses. We went to see a few places, kind of like a test run, but if we want to make a serious offer we need to be able to back it up. We’ve been pre-qualified for a loan, which is just a nice way for the bank to say that unless we are lying about how much we make we will likely get a loan. Now we need to get pre-approved. The bank will run a credit check and do some other more official stuff and if we pass (which they already told us we would) they write a nice letter saying so.

3. We need a realtor. Sure, there’s Google and Zillow and Craigslist and Facebook and a million other places we can find houses we’d like to buy. But when it comes to the actual purchase of a house a realtor will help us through the sale, making sure we get what we want and we pay a fair price. So where do we find the right realtor for us? While I searched Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, Keith picked up his cell and called the realtor he’d worked with when he bought his condo. One Realtor, check! 

4. I have to wish my brother a Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday, Phil! Sadly, he is still deployed and I doubt he will have much of a birthday celebration. Maybe a picture on the blog will make up for that?

 Phil celebrating his 21st birthday in style.

It’s a close call. Hopefully this and that copy of Catching Fire I send him will help!

Once the pre-home buying checklist has been complete we can start making appointments to view houses. Of course we still have a lot more options to narrow down, like do we want to do a full renovation or do we want a move in ready house? What are our “deal breakers”? And which town do we REALLY want to live in?

Yikes.

But I’m taking it all one step at a time. Tell me, what were some of the first things you did when you bought a house? What steps am I missing?

House Hunting: Let the Games Begin!

Good things come in pairs. Our first wedding anniversary is right around the corner. And it looks like our first home is, too.

It's not what you think. We have yet to make an offer on a property. Or even see a property that we want to make an offer on. But we have begun the house hunt. We looked at two houses Wednesday after work. Both were in need of a little TLC so it was a little hard for me to picture myself living in the spaces. However, a fixer-upper is exactly what we are looking for. Keith likes to get his hands dirty renovating houses and I like things my way. It's a perfect combination. Keith can have as much fun as he likes covered in saw dust and dry wall and I can get the 2.5 bathrooms and a walk-in closet of my dreams. 

We'd also like a house near the water with a porch we can drink wine on while watching the waves crash onto the shore. 

Is that too much to ask for?

This house hunting thing is still new, so I am very excited.

Ask me in a few months and I may be singing a different tune.

Fingers crossed. I'm a very bad singer.

I am the newest of newbies when it comes to anything real estate related. It's true that my husband has spent a lot of time learning the trade these last few years. And while I've helped out at some of the properties and tuned into more episodes of Flip This House than I can count, there is a lot that goes over my head.

Luckily, Keith gets it. He's met with the bank and we have been pre-qualified for a mortgage. He's figured out how much we can afford. And he's researched nearby towns and school systems to help us determine where we want to look. Oh yea, he's also started contacting a few real estate agents in those particular towns to set up showings. I have such a good husband.

What have I done?

I started a Pin board with inspiration for a wallpapered bathroom.

Alright. I hear ya. Bathroom design is very important, but it's time for me to get my head in the game. I want to learn all about buying a house. I want to know what to look for when we walk through houses. And I want to not be confused when the listing agent says something like, "I can sharpen my pencil for you." 

I prefer to write important contracts in pen. But if sharp pencils mean lower prices, I'll take them.

Like it or not, I'm going to take you all along with me on this journey to home ownership. If you're buying your first home than I hope my posts help. If you've already done so than I expect you to at least laugh along. Just as long as you're laughing with me and not at me!

Special Delivery: Our Wedding Images Are In!

Excitement is high! Last week I received the most wonderful piece of priority mail—a beautifully wrapped CD containing our wedding images. Since we didn’t hire a videographer, these images are even more special to us. Other than what’s stored in our mind, they are the only window we have into that special day. Loading them up on my computer and pouring through the files brought back so many memories that I had forgotten about. Like this shot of me grabbing my headpiece after our first dance. Keith had just dipped me—the finishing move we had practiced over and over again—and when he picked me back up the headband that was securely fastened into my head shifted a little and I reached to my hair to fix it back into place. We are both smiling because we know we just totally nailed that dance. I love this picture so much because it not only brought back a memory that I had sort of forgotten about, but it’s a moment that only Keith and I know about. Even though we were in front of a room full of people, none of them will have the same memory when they see this picture.

 The first dance. Photo by Cynthia Brown.

I wanted to more more of my favorite images from the day, which happened to be snapped at another of my favorite moments. Before cocktail hour, the bridal party settled down in a bridal suite where a bar and some food had been set up. There were leather armchairs and dark wood paneled walls that made you feel like you were relaxing in a very rich person’s library. Mr. Lawn Club’s Library. The guys all poured themselves bourbon and started posing in front of the fireplace for an impromptu photo session. Naturally I had to be part of the fun, too. So I jumped in did my best impression of Elizabeth Bennett. Little did I know what was going on behind me.

 In the bridal suite at the New Haven Lawn Club. Photo by Cynthia Brown.

Our wedding album is in production! And I’m getting together more images from the big day to share. It’s a wedding photo explosion and it’s all in time for our one-year anniversary.

XOXO