Two years and counting...

Today is our second anniversary. Yes, I've ruined Cinco de Mayo for Eric forever--and this was one "holiday" that he really enjoyed. He and several of his ne'erdowell friends would go up to New Hampshire for a celebration, dressed in madras shorts and polo shirts emblazoned with "Team Cinco," returning the next day looking 10 years older, smelling of beer and meat, and reluctant to share any stories. Ah well--this is worth it, right?

We generally don't do much for events like this. Last year, Eric bought me a chili dog. I may have brought him a coffee. This year, we'll continue the tradition. It will have to be cheap, as the contractors are at the house today working on the tuckpointing, so we can't afford much more than coffee and chili dogs anyway. I like to think that we're giving ourselves a present every day with the house... A crappy present that no one wants, but a present nonetheless.

This is my favorite wedding picture--it nearly perfectly captures the mood of that lovely night; namely, we were all crazy happy, riled up, and a little tipsy. Here's to two years, Big Sweetie, and to many more...

I feel like we were productive this weekend, but I cannot remember a single project that we started OR finished. Yet, I'm tired. We must have done something.

Seeing as I can't remember yesterday, I just asked Eric. He reminded me that he went to a historic window refinishing seminar, and is now convinced that he can fix all of our crap-ass 100 year old windows, and perhaps reduce our ridiculous heating bills in the winter. This is quite a change--last week, he was convinced that we needed to contract this project, and got an estimate for $12,000 to refinish 13 windows. Ummm, no. That was not going to happen. However, I'm still not sure I want him to do this project either, because if he screws up, that's a $800+ mistake. It's not like we can go without a window... Despite evidence surrounding us to the contrary. Our across the street neighbor's house is reaching new heights of decrepitness, what with the plywood windows, sheets hanging askew as curtains, etc. They actually live there, though apparently on only the first floor. It confuses me, but they're not social, so I've never had a chance to get acquainted and ask mildly inappropriate questions.

We also went to a Derby party, held by an old friend who lives down the road. Lovely time. I had my first Mint Julep. I enjoy mint, sugar, AND bourbon, but together, they are disgusting. I added 7-up and had a delightful 7&7 instead.

Today, we spent some time planning out the landscaping in the front and backyard. I am more concerned about the front yard, as it is the worst looking of the two. Eric is more concerned about the backyard, as it offers the most opportunity for destruction and cost per square foot. He pursues the cheap projects with little to no enthusiasm, and the expensive ones with gusto. Anyway, we've got a working plan for the backyard, and no idea what to do about the front. The front yard is tough. We're up from the road about 5 feet, and we don't have a retaining wall. So, right now our yard is being held in to a large extent by the disgusting and rotting white picket fence, which is the only white picket fence in the entire neighborhood. Anyway, I want to remove this fence and just see what happens, and Eric wants to keep it in place till we can replace it with something. We are at an impasse. Thus, no plan for the front yard. We are agreed, however, that the copious evergreen hedges in the yard will be reduced and replaced with something with flowers.

When we got home, we took the puppies for a walk, and ran into a half dozen of our wonderful neighbors. Our neighbors make the relative squalor in which we live worth it.

Non-House-Related Content

I just watched this 5 times in a row. This stuff makes me happy.

Pictures

So, I think the biggest news around here is that the bathroom, dare I say, is finished! Wahoo!!!

Here's the new foyer wall color, which is still awaiting a second coat of paint... grrrr...  Also, notice the new coatrack. This thing is at least 90 years old, and under a thick layer of grime, may be copper, or at least have a copper finish. I did some stripping and sanding up near the top, where that sheen is showing through. Pleased. 

These are the rugs that inspired the new paint color. The one on the right will look so good in the foyer! The orange one is going in the living room. 

In neighborhood news, our neighbor Mark painted his house a vibrant red. It's AMAZING! These are just his front pillars. It's changed the light in here, though, and isn't really working with the orange in the dining room. Which is fine, because the finish is wrong in there anyway. 

Finally, my aunt made copies of some old pictures. Here's my grandma and grandpa on their wedding day. I love this picture, and I love having it framed and in a prominent place, so I can see their faces every day. 

Reminding myself why I like my house...

These two pictures say a lot about why we bought this place. I got out the Liquid Gold polish and went to town, and here's the result.

 

I feel like I have been painting forever...

So, next time we decide to paint the foyer (and we will--this is color #3), we will not start at 6:00 on Sunday evening. I just finished, and I'm beat and dirty and need to go to bed. 

I will get around to the painting story.

We spent the vast majority of yesterday doing a neighborhood clean-up, which entailed picking up trash in the allies (gross!), shoveling all the debris that gathered along the gutters in the streets, planting, sweeping, etc. It was also a beautiful day, so we got a little sun--it got up to about 85 both yesterday and today. We spent both evenings in the company of our delightful neighbors, Scott, Scott, Tom, Ed, Bob and Mark. They are hilarious and kind and we feel very lucky to have them just down the street. 

Yesterday, Pixie ate my phone. She's chewed on Eric's before, but it still worked, so we held off on getting new ones. But this little snack totally destroyed mine, so we went up and got new phones. I wouldn't let Eric get a touchscreen/internet phone. He pouted a little but got over it. 

We had a giftcard for Pottery Barn that we needed to use, so we went up there to look around. Pottery Barn has nice stuff, but it's SO expensive! I just can't justify spending $20 on a candle, no matter how good it smells. Anyway, we ended up finding two rugs that were being discontinued and were therefore about 70% off, plus the giftcard, so we got about $800 worth of rugs for less than $200. Sweet. 

However, the rug we picked out for the foyer didn't match the mauve walls, which I haven't been crazy about anyway, so we picked up some nice coffee-with-milk colored paint and went to town. Hence the late-night paint fest. It looks good, and I'm pleased. The funny thing is, though, the foyer has been three different colors, and what we put up on the walls today is pretty much exactly what was up when we bought the house. Nice. 

Backyard Hijinx

So, even though we have a very small backyard that is daily, nay HOURLY, defiled by two doggies with toxic pee, we moved ahead in realizing Eric's dream of a lush green lawn. 

Step One: Rent a roto-tiller built for farmland. Destroy yard.

Step Two: Survey destruction. Pray that it doesn't rain. 

Step Three: Seed, fertilize and spread hay. Install Eric-Scarecrow. 

Step Four: Get puppies' opinion. Yogi thinks it's awesome. Pixie is not so sure. 

I also planted some flowers and mulched the flower beds in the front yard. It was a long, dirty day. It was beautiful outside, though. Perfect, really. 

But I am grateful that it's raining right now, if only because we need to get some work done inside. Today, I am hoping that Eric will finally FINISH the guest bathroom. We just need to paint the ceiling, do a little wall touch-up, and install the final touches: robe hooks, towel racks, shelves, TP roll, etc. And then, we will have a TOTALLY FINISHED ROOM! But then again, knowing us, it will take at least another month to get all this done, at which point we'll need to rip out a portion of drywall or something. While he's doing that, I'm going to dust, move the furniture around, wash/polish the floors, and maybe hang some pictures.