Can anyone explain this to me?
Pottery Barn ($149):
Williams Sonoma ($99.95): 
Decor Steals ($51.50):
They are all the same and all have the same story. What really gets me is that Pottery Barn is owned by Williams Sonoma. Sigh. Retail confuses me.
Some additional planning and a lot of wine.
I want to start this post with a huge thank you to my brother-in-law Billy. He was an unbelievable help and worked like a maniac to help Dennis this weekend. Thank you, Bill!! Here’s a shot of what they did to my backyard:
Before:
After:
10 yards of concrete and we still have more. Some of the patio was only three inches thick. Some was 7.
*A note to all homeowners. If you have a cracked patio you cannot just pour more cement and hope for the best. Unless you are about to sell the house and it wont be your problem. In which case you are an unethical jerk.
The last week or so has involved some additional planning and a lot of wine.
I’m guessing he’ll stick to contracting.
Dennis finished the dinning room table he was making for me. Last year sometime we were looking and looking and couldn’t find one we liked that was narrow enough for the space but still wide enough to be comfortable. So Dennis goes “you know I can make one, right?”
Well no I didn’t. Cut to after the wedding crazy. We bought the supplies and Dennis threw some time at the project and viola! Our new dinner/dining room/ homework/craft table…table (baying wolf drawing curtesy of my niece):
The funny part about this story is when I was perusing the Pottery Barn catalogue (as ya do) and I found this:
For sixteen hundred dollars. Now I grant you this one has thicker legs and leaves so it is expandable but it is actually made out of cheaper wood than we used. You can bet that I’ve been all over Dennis to make another one to sell this time. Who knows, maybe he has a career in furniture building… But I’m guessing he’ll stick to contracting.
Next time I promise I won’t keep the travels a secret.
We took a secret trip to Alcatraz.
Actually, it was a family only trip to SF. Raven’s first ever. She had 3 things on her San Francisco list. 1. See the Golden Gate bridge (we drove across it twice and walked around FT. Point a bit but I couldn’t convince her to walk across it 
Check. 2. Go to Ghiradelli for ice cream and chocolate. Check. I thought 3. would be a cable car ride but it was Alcatraz. Check to that one too:
Alcatraz was really the only day I pulled out my camera. The rest of the trip was spent with old fashioned face time. It was a much needed change of pace and Raven had a great time (and loved SF) which was totally the point. Next time I promise I won’t keep the travels a secret.
I’ll never hear the end of that from Dennis.
Hello hello! Back again. And with yet another project. The backyard.
We have grand ideas. Very grand. Like outdoor theater grand. The plan is to manefest that. But first we have to remove these:
And these:
And most of all this:
Our broken, patchwork, concrete patio. When we originally looked at the house 3 years ago this whole slab was covered with pea gravel. Whenever you buy a bank owned property things are often not as they appear. My argument on having a top notch inspector comes up for me now but that’s for another time. We didn’t know what we were in for but here we are and now it must go. Fortunately, I have a very good friend who hooked us up with a dumpster.
He got us a fantastic price. At least financially. It came with this on the invoice:
I’ll never hear the end of that from Dennis.
A delicious week!
One week from today I will be gainfully unemployed again. About two years in and I can’t take it anymore. So I’m out. One of the many upsides to this is more time for blogging but more importantly I will have time to do the things to blog about. First up next week is cleaning out our spare bedroom. The room looks like a storage unit. Not good. But in-between the cleaning here’s a shot of next weeks line up.
It’s going to be a delicious week!
Anyone have a tile saw?
Incremental change. It’s how most change is achieved. It doesn’t make for wildly fascinating blog posts but it is how things happen.
I’ve gone to some lengths to cut out the lights in out kitchen photos because they’ve been naked bulbs hanging from the ceiling. We finally got the cans into the ceiling tonight.
Next step is the backsplash. The people have spoken and we agree! Herring bone white ceramic is the winner. We’re super excited on the one hand and on the other we have some math and finagling to do. The prettier the pattern the harder it is to install. Anyone have a tile saw?
Biggie was picking tile right?
I have a problem. I have not in anyway been able to commit to a backsplash. Every three days I change my mind and frankly its killing Dennis. Every time I wash dishes I see him cringe as water flecks on the drywall behind the sink. So here we are and I need your help. These are the narrowed (I swear, I narrowed) options for our back splash:
White Ceramic Subway tile. Herringbone pattern.
White Ceramic Subway Tile. Brick Pattern.
Grey Glass Subway Tile. Brick Pattern.
White Glass Subway Tile. Brick Pattern.
This is going to require some imagination so here is the counter-top shot as a refresher:
Have at it:
The truth of the matter is I know exactly which tile I would get if budget wasn’t a consideration. This one:
….or perhaps, this one:
Stainless Steel. One inch square tiles.
….more money, more problems. Biggie was picking tile right?
It’s gonna be a good time!
Our house, like our blog, has been a process of fits and starts. Perhaps this is life? Is this just me? Never mind.
We got the hood in and man is it shiny!
So we can now make bacon without setting off the smoke alarm. Not that we make a lot of bacon…grilled Kale smokes up too.
Can you grill kale? Would you want to?
Now the big question is what to do with the space under the hood, ie. the gaping hole in the paneling.
It will eventually be tiled but that requires a decision I haven’t been emotionally available to address.
In the mean time look at how awesome my real camera and new lens make my stove look!
I’m not a photographer but I thought I should try to class up the photos a bit. Without being a photographer it can be hard to make any kind of camera phone workable. Maybe it’s still hard for them. I wouldn’t know since, as stated, I’m not a photographer.
On another note, a major goal from last summer has come to fruition. Here’s a little preview:
This weekend we will be celebrating the Niners with our Superbowl spread laid out on it. Slider and wings man! It’s gonna be a good time!
It makes for a great partnership and an interesting marriage.
New year, old house, old blog. We’ve had a few changes around here but not quite the earth shattering types. The problem with the place we are now is it’s about the 90% mark. The lights are in but the covers aren’t on. The cabinets are in and full but the molding isn’t up. We have all our appliances in and working but no backsplash. See the issue? It all works as is. In fact I’ve already done some of my best cooking in here which makes it increasingly difficult to finish up the loose ends. I’ve always been a champion starter. Finisher, eh, not as much. Fortunately for me Dennis is a finisher. He really hates the state the kitchen is in. For the same reasons I get lazy he gets motivated. It makes for a great partnership and an interesting marriage.
