just pictures

i am the worst. so here are some pictures.
















ugh. they aren't even particularly GOOD pictures courtesy of the iPhone.

OH. yeah.

Remember way back when I said one of my goals was to turn "A girl, 3 homes and a blog" into "A girl, 2 homes and a blog?".

Done.

But not in a way that I ever expected.

Things have gone way past the point of extreme and back again, but all that is to say, "I'm back". In full force, chipping away at my to-do list again!

I am no longer living my life for someone else or some pie in the sky or pipedream, nope. Just going to do my thing and now my new goal is to transform into "A girl, a home and a blog" - because it is damn hard to maintain 2 homes BY YOURSELF, I don't care how badass, tool-wielding you are (which I am to a certain degree, although I would give the crown to diydiva and am so in love wi/her and Mystery Man's relationship - even the queen badass herself needs a little bit of help sometimes).

UPDATES:









COOP:
1. Plumber to fix kitchen sink and bathtub CHANGE to Bathfitter October 13th
2. Electrician to fix outlet in living room
-Move kitchen cabinets to Left Side CHANGE to add base and upper cabinet in left corner October 13th b/t 3:30-6 and flip refrigerator
-Remove tile from bathroom walls CHANGE to Bathfitter October 14th
3. Plasterer (Mom) to fix walls in all rooms (unpainted walls & ceilings)
4. Sheet vinyl for bathroom and kitchen floor CHANGE to mend tile in bathroom (OCTOBER 9th, ebay) and kitchen (need propane or dry ice) CHANGE to mend hole in floor and put down a thin vinyl (bought 7/25) that won't go too far above the surface
5. Countertop for kitchen - 6 foot and 8 foot -Strip window and door in bathroom
-cut counter for sink and for stove island &
install
6. Paint trim (satin) and hall(s)(linen) and Kitchen
-Faux glaze paint over patches
CHANGE TO HIRE PAINTERS TO PAINT ENTIRE APARTMENT 7/25 - hired for Aug. 19th, finished Aug. 22nd.
- Workers need to patch up the gigantic holes in my living room before I can sign the contract
-Paint Bathroom window and touch up radiator with rustoleum satin white
7. Replace toilet to 12 inch. model
8. Spray range, hood and fridge
9. Install hardware in kitchen
10. Add trim or shim up the cabinet to meet the new cabinet height
11. Install toe-kick under kitchen cabinets
12. Install ceiling fan in bedroom
13. Fix kitchen sink/drain

As you can see, pretty much almost done w/big projects over here at the coop, where I am now currently residing (long, boring story with a happy ending) and fixing up day by day. Let me add some items and also cross out some that I've already finished:

14. Order new Fridge (pending shipment as of 5/4/10)
15. Hang curtains in bed and living rooms
16. Cover couch w/dropcloth. Sew slipcovers.
17. Transport a ton of shizz back from the lakehouse (day to day living items, paperwork, clothes and shoes that I was storing there)
- May need to get a storage space to hold all of those things....
18. put bed together
19. change hardware on butcherblock

Before:



After:


So that is where my effort is going lately, since it is my primary residence and I need to be surrounded by comfort and love and the feelings of HOME.

Let's just scratch the condo off the list altogether, since it was never my real HOME - but let's appreciate all the work I put into it for the year and a half that I "slept on the couch" (alluding to that long, boring story):



CONDO:
- rearrange bedroom furniture for better flow
-change kitchen faucet
- fix front strip to countertop
- change toilet seat
1. get a/c duct in bedroom fixed (sort-of)
2. install ceiling fan in bedroom
- paint bathroom
- rearrange living room for better flow
-paint living room
- get laundry sorting station for hallway
-replace windows/screens/patio door CHANGE TO add weather stripping to patio door and windows to prevent bugs from getting in and air from getting out

No longer need to worry about the bedroom ceiling fan or painting the living room or replacing the windows - the condo is dead to me.



Moving on.

The lakehouse. Oh, poor sweet, misguided investment for a future that will never be....... Lakehouse, you stunning beauty you, but you are such a tragedy when it comes to: wallpaper, carpet, plumbing and electricity. Not to mention landscaping, oh the humanity. What are we gonna do with you??? My initial instinct was to dump it, cut my losses and run, but what about renting? If I can get all of my proprietary information out of there and rent it furnished (preferably, oh how i wish, to a handyman....) then I could survive until: a. the market rebounds, b. maybe I really will use it as a vacation home? who knows. I had so many ideas and so little time to accomplish them myself. Having little to no help is a burden.... I would also be remisce to achieve everything by way of subcontracting out only just to turn around and sell or rent it.

LAKEHOUSE:
-replace toilet seats
-fix kitchen faucets, upstairs cold handle CHANGE to hire plumber to fix upstairs bath drain/wall, install shut-off valves in shower, replace shower faucet/head and fix shower drain. Also look into leaks in basement.
-strip wallpaper (started - making major headway with the steamer)
-GET RID OF FLEAS!!!! Contract with Orkin 6x year for 1 year.
-add towel bars and hooks to master bath (satin nickel)
-stain behind picture frame marks on wall CHANGE to let them all be for 8 months CHANGE to paint all paneling white or other light beachy color
-paint kitchen counter while waiting for permanent replacement
-paint kitchen cabinetry while waiting for replacements
- replace kitchen hardware
-take down overhead cabinets and put up shelves with iron brackets (iron brackets added to range hood)
-paint wood paneling in dining area, add trim, remove from around fire place
-add brick/slate to wall behind wood-burning stove so that it continues up the stairs to the top? Remove all brick and move stove down to basement?
-remove carpet and vinyl flooring in dining room and kitchen in order to prime and paint subfloor while waiting for new hardwood
-remove carpet in bedroom and paint floor white while waiting for new hardwood
-fix plumbing in a major way
-fix electrical in a major way
-fix concrete foundation cracking and sinking
-change landscaping to low-maintenance variety
-bring basement up to code

this list could keep growing and growing and growing.... it's a neverending money pit if you want to be honest about it. The previous owners took way too many shortcuts on things that mattered and put way too much effort into things that don't. I wish I could raze the whole thing and start from scratch, or just be done with it and find one really nice place near my New Job (yes, New Job) to update on a daily basis, renting out my coop.

Because the one thing I learned in the past 2 years of wishy-washiness? That this coop just don't quit and that "anyone trying to get you to sell it is trying to dupe you". There is a reason I never put it on the market or really got serious about getting rid of it. And that reason is, things don't always work out like you thought they would, and sometimes it's for the best. It truly is.

Hope to have some pics or something soon, but who knows. I'm the worst.

oh, yeah, there are pictures

the leaks, the plants, the dining room, i forgot about installing the new digital/programmable thermostat, more plants, my sister-in-law and nieces and more flower beds....

And now... in other news

After 3 straight weekends at the Lakehouse, I've managed to accomplish a lot. None of this was really on the agenda, but it got accomplished in good spirits anyway:

- Removed 2 of the 4 hornet/wasp nests on the property (need more spray)
- Cut down 99% of the "white trash weed hill/goose throne"
- Patched and skimcoated 1/2 of the dining room wall (and discovered a leak behind the other half, ugh)
- tore down part of the chair rail to remove wallpaper in the dining room and discovered that the scale of the chair rail is much brighter, more open without that piece
- removed the dangerous metal transition piece that jabbed at people's socks between the hall and dining room
- discovered umpteen leaks in the basement (now to find a way to get the plumber to call me back)
- installed new outdoor lighting along the driveway since the low-levels seem to have conked out
- installed the blue property line markers so that when the first snow hits, everyone will be able to tell what's yard and what's driveway
- weeded 1 regular sized and 1 humongously oversized plant beds
- transplanted my grandmother's memorial tree and other plants my mom gave me

In Other News

I'm the 41,315,736 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>

I've been reading a lot about growing up and going green (in particular on Greeen Sheeep) and this one site made me really stop and think. I guess I could be one of those APLS (Afflent People Living Sustainably), I just didn't feel like I was. It is always something at the back of my mind that I am procrastinating toward, "Oh when I get myself together, I will pay more attention to my environmental impact." Ugh. I don't seem to be getting myself together any time soon. So what to do for now? Just doing the best I can. Anyway, I cannot believe how rich I truly am in the grand scheme of things....

Rich enough to be able to afford this at the very least:



Direct Link to Video

Why didn't I know about this before? I guess it's like saving money (in a savings account), it doesn't matter when you start - AS LONG AS YOU START NOW!

Things are looking up

This is my best friend's mother's apartment, which is the mirror-image and right next door to mine. She has been living without a hallway light fixture for months now, all because we got a little too excited when renovating her kitchen (the Tiffany-blue walls you can catch a glimpse of and you can see in all it's glory right here: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/february-jumpstart-2009-entries/how-to-make-over-moms-kitchen-in-one-weekend-february-jumpstart-project-2009-077319

Well, I finally decided to take matters in my own hands this morning while the painters were finishing up at my place. I used the old light fixture from my bedroom (which now has a ceiling fan!) and jerry-rigged the chandelier together using a ceiling bracket and sheer willpower....





In other news, the painters finished.

















I have new brushed satin nickel knobs and handles for the kitchen and they look divine w/the wood and new countertops. I'm still tweaking the layout of the bathroom tile, but it's coming together.

It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do for the mind and the soul.... I'm ready to sell this place for a profit and move on to bigger and better things (that purr and woof).