Monday, March 24, 2014

Home: Our Old (yucky) Apartment

It was like a cave in there!  We only had two windows with dark gray curtains and blinds over them.  We did this because we had an apartment that was connected to my work.  We didn't want customers or co-workers to be able to look in and see me watching TV without pants on.  So we compromised by living in a cave and using the brightest light bulbs we could buy.  Joe called them the Hollywood Premiere Lights (aka flood lights lol).  None the less it was cheap cheap cheap and we saved a lot of money to have a nice down payment for a house.

We were told we could move into the apartment in September of 2007.  We gave ourselves a month to get it ready for us to move in.  The previous tenant who I knew from work had left the place a mess.  She left an old tv with cat pee on it, an old table with cat pee on it, a desk with cat pee on it, oh and she left a lot of cat pee soaking in the walls.  Joe couldn't believe what he had gotten himself into.  If the smell didn't make him run, then the duct taped windows should have!


The living room.  How creepy is that?


It was a one bedroom apartment and the previous person who lived there used the living room as her bedroom.  She had a young son who had the privacy of the bedroom.  Everything in the room was trashed.  There was no way any donation center would take any of it.  After making many trips to the dumpster, we noted how many flies had flocked to the new dumpster items.  No one should have to live in that.  So after we got rid of everything, we started cleaning.  Everyday after work I would walk over, light some incense, then mop and clean.  Our weekends were filled with cleaning this place.  Joe was sweeping out a little storage closet one of those days and yelled to me to look at this mold or dust he had found.  I saw it and told him, "no that's not dust or mold but a dead mouse."  The poor guys face fell, "It is??!"  I found a little bag and we buried him out in the yard.

The kitchen..oh my, why?


Do you want this yellow?  You know you do.



Oh, the bedroom.  This is a reasonably sized bedroom.  Large closet.  We tossed the closet doors.  If you look closely you can see the outline in the closet where the cat litter boxes were.  The urine ate through the boxes because they were so full.  Also in this blindingly blue room, on the closet rod there are car air fresheners.  They were not put there by us.  All I could think of was the scene in Se7en.  Sloth I think it was.  Creepy and I was going to be sleeping there.  

Maybe not as bad...but pretty smelly 

This was the dining room area (before) that we later changed to a computer room.

And...the Pink Bathroom!  Pink sink, pink shower and of course...a pink potty!

We started painting and were picking fun colors - dark green, gray and red.  We were not allowed to change the bathroom or paint any cabinets.  So we were stuck with them.  We did however put alot of money into this little apartment.  Since we had to live there, we wanted to love it and we did.  We loved it till we resented it, because living next to your work and hearing them through the wall, it gets to you.  Having four dachshund running around and barking every time you breath takes its toll too.  I can still hear it, ' bar bar..... bar bar.'  I still work at the same company and I love it more than ever!  I have worked there for 9 years this March and we lived there for just over 5 years.  

After we finished the cleaning we started to paint and paint...

...and paint...


...and packed!..

Until we moved in...and ate some much deserved Gadzooks Icecream!



Bathroom on the right and bedroom on the left


We use sticky tile to cover up the yellow awfulness.  Sorry about the washing machine set up!

We eventually put laminate flooring in the kitchen and down the hall.  We had the windows redone.  A few years later we had wall to wall carpeting put in.  We had left the carpeting and laminate for the next people moving in but my boss who lived above me ended up taking most of it.  We didn't mind though.  We were happy to be moving somewhere that we could really move around in!

Since we moved over a year ago the apartment has been empty.  My managers didn't want to rent the apartment to anyone, even me.   They let us move in because they trusted us to get the apartment back in shape.  I have gone over there just to look back a little.  It no longer smells like cat, but instead a nice a subtle incense smell.  It always makes me smile.


Wednesday, February 26, 2014

It's been a while..



Sorry for the lack of posts!  The husband and I have been busy doing projects around the house and getting married!  I'm starting to make more posts now!  I will also post some pictures of our past projects!  So there won't be a full year between posts!

Life
After being together for 7 years, we were hitched March 2013 at a local courthouse!  We had a nice private ceremony with Joe's parents and my brother, and now sister-in-law.  My brother was sick, so he couldn't attend the lunch after the ceremony.  But Joe's parents suggested that we should have a party!  So we scheduled a fun little wedding reception one month after the wedding for family and friends.  We had great Italian food with cupcakes for dessert!  We received lots of generous gifts from our registry at Target, and of course cash-ola! We didn't go on a honeymoon after the wedding, but we will go somewhere this year if I can get off work!


House
We have done a ton of projects for the house including...
painting most of the house, making a dining room table from scratch, making a 12 foot desk, making a console table from an old wood palette, putting up a wood fence and a garden fence, discovering a new love for spray paint, and a few more surprises!


Yeeeessshhh!  This is the day after we moved in!  I woke up sick with a head cold on moving day!  My now Husband said I looked like one of the Mafia Wives with the puffy surgery face!  Thanks babe!

Our entry way was the first main thing we did which you saw in a previous post!
We were so proud!



Makeup
I have gotten rid of tons of makeup!  I've been into a "same ol' same ol'" routine that I've been doing every weekend and every workday.  Recently, I changed the foundation routine up some.  With such sensitive skin, it's hard for me to find a foundation/ concealer that won't break me out or give me a rash!


I was infected for Halloween!  My husband was the zombie that bit me!  Ouch!
I will be putting up makeup other than Halloween makeup!



Saturday, March 2, 2013

Entry Closet to Mini Mudroom!

We were not a huge fan of all the closets and doors in the house had the same doors.  We are going to one by one shut them out!  Mmhmmm pun totally inserted there!  So the idea of having a nice little mudroom always seemed to be on my 'must haves list.'  I feel like when I get home from work it's a tornado of coats, smocks, shoes, bags flying..so I wanted to make sure they went sailing into something nice that can hide away!  Unfortunately this house did not have a mudroom but it did have a nice entry closet.  I want around looking for some nice mudroom pictures and found a few we liked and Joe and I had an Idea of what we wanted.  Here is the closet before...


It's very plain and we know we were going to take the doors off.  We didn't know if we were going to add wainscoting for a new texture, or if we would pull the shelf down.  It also had a small dip in the wall (you can see it in the picture below, we figured since we are new to the DIY world if we want to do the wainscoting we can do that a little later down the road.


Here is a little mock up design in Microsoft Paint of what I wanted it to look like.

So we got to work one Saturday.  It took us about 5 hours of work including building the bench.  Here was our To Do list.
  •  Take out Bar, Shelf’s, Boards
  • Sand and Spackle 2X
  • Paint Benjamin Moores Moonshine
  • Paint Trim and Ceiling
  • Replace Light
  • Add Coat Rack
  • Add Art
  • Shelf for coats
  • Bench
  • Pillows


Here is a bit of the process....we didn't take as many pictures as we though we would but I am sure from looking at the To Do list you know what we did.




After all the sanding an painting...here is the result!







Here a list of everything we used, bought and the price!

  • Paint is Moonshine (Already had)
  • Trim Olympus High Gloss (Already had)
  • Bench - Target $219.00 ($30 coupon)
  • Hangers - Bed Bath and Beyond $25 (20% off)
  • Shelf - (from another closet in the house)
  •  Pillows – Marshals $10, $20 ($15 off Coupon)
  •  Art- Urban Outfitters  (Already Had) 
  • Coat Hanger – Lowes (from before we bought the house)


Total $222.75

Yey!  Our first big project!  


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

We Bought A House!


My fiance seven years have bought a house after looking for a year.  We went through over 90 houses to find what we wanted but here it is.  We did find two other houses that we put offers in on but the owners did not want to negotiate on the price at all.  Third time was a charm for us.  Also we found an amazing Realtor who made things understandable.  If I had any advice for future home owners it would be the following:

TAAA-DAAAA!!!




*Find a Realtor   Do your homework on your Realtor. Try to get a Realtor that is in the area so you can drive to their office that's not to out of the way.  Make sure they set a day and time aside to drive you to the houses you want to see.  Realtor can't give you their opinion but they can tell you wants good and not great.
Our Realtor was very informative when it came to house hunting we had no questions because she already told us everything we needed to know.  Make sure when they print out paper work make sure they also print out the Sellers Dis closer to you can read it on the way to the houses.

*Get Pre-Qualified.  Most Realtor's have a mortgage company that they work with.  Since they know each other they will work as a good team to help you get your house.  With the pre qualification the broker will take you Social Security Number and check your credit score.  After they check they can give you an idea on where you can start looking.  I rec-amend not doing your max qualification

*Location!  Yes you want to find a good house but it needs to be a great neighborhood.  Make sure the schools in the are are in good shape.  Even if you don't want to have children future buyers of that house might want them!  I even use the Google Maps Street view if I don't know the neighborhood!  It helped me a lot to decide if the house of worth driving out to see!


*Money!  When buying a house (even in a buyers market) you need a down payment PLUS an additional pile of loot for the closing cost!  Closing cost include: Inspection, Radon Test, Lawyer (if your state requires it), taxes, etc.  It usually cost between 4 and 4 percent of the purchase price of the house.

*Keep an open mind when looking at houses.  Don't fret over some grape vine boarder or older appliances. The main focus is making sure the house has good bones.  I make sure the roof is good, the HVAC is newer and inspected, no structural damage, newer electrical (3 prong), and maybe better windows.

Look at this before and after picture of Sherry and Johns house


*Wants list.  Joe (my fiance) and I had a small 'wants list'  it included hardwood floors even if the carpet was covering them, a single family home and Central air.  I didn't mind the central air to much but my Realtor Jane said it would only improve the value of the house for the next buyer.  Houses with out central air are hard to sell, especially in the Summer time!

*HUNT!  Search the internet  the newspaper, drive around on Sundays and look at open houses!

*Be patent.  It's not like buying a car.  This is one the biggest investments of your life.  No need to rush!  Your house is out there just waiting to be purchased!


Here are a few more pictures of our new house!  It's in great condition and only needs a few things here and there fixed up to make it our own!







Friday, March 2, 2012

HAUL!


Naked 2
Betsy Jonson It's My PInk
Per*Fekt Luminous
Tarte 500 Point
Nars Gaiety & Angelika Blushes
Mac Lip Sticks Girl About Town, Nikki, Force of Love






(Love these Blushes!)

Even Rachel Wood wore both of the blushes to the 2012 Golden Globes
Beautiful!
She's one of the few actresses who goes beyond the neutral look! 
(even though she's not wearing any in the picture haha)






Make up of the Day!



Used a bunch of mac stuff...Meneralize Eye Shadow Play on Plums