Living room: from Progress to Done in 3 days

We've been slowly but surely updating our home, room by room over the past 4 years. About 2 weeks ago, NZ and I decided it was time to tackle the living room and hallway leading to our bedrooms. So, he started the messy job of scraping the popcorn ceilings off, floating drywall mud, re-wiring for energy efficient canned lighting and surround sound. This task of rewiring resulted in a half dozen holes in our walls, which he later patched in with drywall, taped, sanded and re-textured.

[7/23/11: popcorn scraped]

Then...he got called to go on a business trip to North Dakota midway through his project. Anyone that knows NZ, knows that once he starts something he works till it's done. So, this trip threw a wrench in his usual plan of attack, and add to that an impromptu, but very much deserved, trip to Las Vegas with his cousin Rafi for a Soundgarden concert, and you can understand how he found himself in a bind for time.

Meanwhile, his project sat 1/3 of the way finished.

He arrived home Thursday afternoon, to a home that was in dire need of getting finished, as we have a house guest arriving today. This meant he had a weeks worth of work to be completed in a short 72 hours. And would you believe it?

He finished.

[Main paint color: BEHR gentle rain / Accent wall: BEHR creek bend]

[7/31/11: finished]

That man of mine is really something.

Time for a tallboy of Bud, or three.

Stay tuned...the dining room you see through the passageway, and the front entry way are next..Buh-bye gold vein wallpaper & spray painted chandelier!

Have a Sweet Birthday

One of my college besties is having a Birthday this week, and since we live 5 hours from one another, I decided to make a Birthday "Sweet Treat" package for her to enjoy her special day.

Back in the day, we'd bake each other sheet cakes, slathered in store bought icing, with some archaic words squeezed on out of tube icing...cause we were classy like that.

Now-a-days, as much as I am sure both of us would welcome the same sort of cakes, made with love, I got a little more with the times, and followed a pin th

at has been popping up all over pinterest lately.

I made her, her very own cupcake in a jar.

Seriously, how cute is that?

Topped it off with a little fabric topper, and snuck in a strawberry print apron from my etsy shop, and an appliqued dish towel that was made using my silhouette cutter ( I am jumping for joy with the success of my first fabric cutout project with the silhouette..I have a love hate relationship with that machine!)

And of course, for such a sweet friend, a HUMONGOUS lollipop she will probably never eat, but I'm betting if she still has a bulletin board in her room, it's gonna make a home pinned up there for her to remember that I love her tons!

Happy Birthday Miss Jen! Wish I could be there to celebrate with a 40 of Mickey's and a night tearin' up the floor at the Grad like old times. Oh wait, I have a picture? Why yes, I do.

Circa 1999

Yes, we matched. For the record, I think this was our Halloween costume?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Ariel

A real life "Ariel"

My boss and his wife were dining at the Chart house in Malibu yesterday and snapped some pictures of this real life mermaid to share ! I'm assuming it is some sort of photo shoot, but it's not everyday you can dine and watch the mermaids play.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Rainbow, rainbow..what does she see?

This is what you get when you ask the Home Depot paint department too many paint related questions..My very own swatch book.

thank you "Mr. fed-up-with-the-lady-asking-about-grey-shades" at Home Depot, You made my day. On the other hand, my husband may have some beef with you--instead of narrowing it down from 3 choices, I am now all over the rainbow and back at square one..And here my husband thought i was making progress on the color selection.

Sincerely,

"that-lady-who-asks-too-many-questions-about-grey-shades-at-8'oclock-on-a-Sunday-morning-shift"

Zoo Day

We took a quick trip up to Santa Barbara on Sunday to go to the zoo with some of our family. I hadn't been to the SB zoo in quite a few years..but it was the same as I remember it. Beautiful grounds, and a clear sunny day, saturated with the smell of the ocean breeze. Doesn't get any better than that!

Here we go again...

Now that we have the fences all fixed and looking beautiful, NZ moved his attention indoors..which, between you and me...makes me super giddy with excitement. Don't get me wrong, I like sitting in the sun, swooning over my ol man wearing a cowboy hat and a tool belt as he slaves away on his outdoor projects, but I super-love ( yes, that's a word, and I totally just made it up) when he does indoor projects, because that makes our home reflect more of who we are.

We moved into this house 4 years ago. We decided to take our time making it our own. This means that we have lived with the carpet, wallpaper, popcorn ceilings and lighting it came with for 4 years. We've redone two rooms, updating them with fresh paint, new wide baseboards and crisp white ceilings free of all things asbestos. The rest of the house is totally livable, but it's all still waiting for our touch to free it from the 70's hell it's been living in ( if you look closely, you can see the gold-vein wallpaper that graces our entry way).

So, here we go again..NZ has been hard at work this week. First by making

our dining room into a makeshift living area while our living room gets gutted.

[ Our quaint temporary living room]

Then, by bringing in the big gun ( the hose) to the aweful popcorn covered ceiling and scraping it down to the drywall.

Next up, texturing the ceiling, wiring for new switches, surround sound and lighting. Then comes my favorite part of all---new baseboards and painting! I'm loving the two grays used below. Both from BEHR.

[Behr "Squirrel"]

[BEHR "porpoise"]

We actually have experience with "porpoise" because that's the color NZ picked for our home office. I don't have any photos of it, but I found this nursery as an example of the paint color. I find it funny that they paired orange with the gray, since we did too! I love this room color, but part of me wants to switch it up a little for the living room area. Not sure if I should opt for a lighter gray like "porpoise" or a tad bit darker ( & taupe) with the "squirrel".

Can't wait to see it all come together!

Patriotic Treats

We spent the 4th of July the same way as we have for the past 3 years. We have friends that live on a hill across the canyon from where Thousand Oaks pulls off it's annual firework show, so we all bring our chairs, enjoy some Wood ranch BBQ and cap off the night with fireworks.

This year, I made some krispie treats as inspired by a link I found on pinterest, yet again. I printed up my own little flags in patriotic colors and sayings, and simply glued them onto popsicle sticks inserted into each treat. I dipped the bottoms in chocolate (next time I would skip this step..I think the chocolate was overkill), and sprinkled red and blue sanding crystals over the tops of the treats.
Super easy, patriotic and fun.

Barrett-Jackson

It's no secret..Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a thing for cars.

I blame my pop.

So, when NZ and his friend Morgan had plans to go to Orange County and check o

ut the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction, I asked to tag along. We set out early- 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday...to get down to O.C. and beat the traffic. It was cool to walk through the buildings and see all the cars up for auction. Most were immaculate. So much attention to detail and obviously a lot of elbow grease went into the restorations.

Among my favorites?

The trucks.

We saw some other cool vehicles, and both fell in love with the idea of restoring a 300 wagon like the one below. Nick would really like to have a project car to restore someday. Among his list of cars to restore? 68 camaro, late 70's K5 Blazer ( gets my vote!), and now a 300 Wagon which I have to share his excitement over--it was pretty awesome. I'd probably choose a different paint color ( uhm, black anyone?), but overall, loved this car!

I think that Nick and Morgan had the most fun out on the test track getting to ride in the new Corvettes. Look at those smiles!

And, to end the day, the million dollar Bugatti. Seriously. The person who can afford this probably doesn't wear the same socks twice.