One Last Look @ The Lakehouse

I like it when Stuff happens

So there were a number of projects that I undertook over the past 2 years in order to become a more well-rounded person. One of these things was attempting to cook and realizing that it is important to start trying in order to gain any amount of skill in this area.

This is about the time that I discovered my design flaw - I hate to try and possibly fail. I hate not knowing what I'm doing. And so I continue to do what I know and never try, therefore never fail.

I threw this all out the window, knowing full well that I was going to have to just get over myself and do it if I ever wanted to be any good at it.

And there were flops. And failures. Mostly because I set myself up to fail by trying to stick to a "normal" recipe. What I have discovered is that I excel when time and resources are limited and I have to hook up what I like to call a "MacGuyver Recipe".

Pinterest sparked a lot of ideas (all of those recipes I pinned, but did I ever successfully use one? well, sort of) but what really has gotten me going is my December grocery shopping ban. And a realization that I can rely on my palette to tell me what I want to eat. What goes with what. And how I want to use up every last thing I have stored in my tiny apartment's galley kitchen.

Spices and fresh herbs can hide a multitude of sins. So can a killer sauce or cheese.

When you have leftovers from a restaurant, crack an egg on it the next morning for a hearty breakfast. Works. Every. Time.

I used to be insanely nervous to share my culinary adventures with anybody. I'd cower in the corner and hope I'd disappear before their tastebuds told them the truth about my cooking. But each and every time, success after success built. Inroads in my mind mapped toward a sense of confidence about my flavor profile and what I was trying to create with this mish mash of random food items.

They oohed and ahhed in awe of my lemon thyme chicken and new potatoes.

They gobbled up my sweet potato falafels, tahini sauce (with lots of lemon and parsley), homemade hummus (with fresh deep purple basil), cucumber salad.

They are STILL talking about my crab soup.

I couldn't have predicted that.

I cannot stress how much homegrown herbs have elevated my cooking: thai basil, some deep purple basil, mint, thyme, sage, rosemary, cilantro and parsley. And don't ever forget green onions. They are the foundation and the sprinkling on top of all of my savory dishes. And yes, Pinterest, they do grow w/out soil in water, directly from the cuttings you were going to throw away. They last for months and you can extend a 99 cent grocery buy for 6 months+ that way.

I make a mean pico de gallo, guacamole, and a tangy vinaigrette. The former 2 of course are heavy on the herbs and lemon, but the vinaigrette to try: braggs apple cider vinegar, olive oil, fresh parsley and green onion, pepper and lemon. Maybe some citrus salt if you have it;)

My stir-fry sauce tastes equally delicious on spaghetti: Butter, garlic, brown sugar, shoyu, green onion.

My poor-man's spaghetti sauce will bring you to your knees for about a $1 per serving: butter, onion, crushed tomatoes.

So when it came time to whip up a lasagna with barely any lasagna ingredients - I got creative and crafty:

Me: Hm, I have all these lasagna noodles for when I was going to do a Pinterest recipe for this and that lasagna but never did.... and now all this talk about lasagna has me feeling like Garfield.

Also Me: What do we have in the fridge/pantry that we can use to make this mythical lasagna?

Me Again: Hm, all we have is whole wheat lasagna, poor-man's sauce, some pumpkin puree (made with stewed onions, lemon thyme, basil, ginger and garlic), some old-ass goat cheese I'm scared to look at but really should use or throw away, random walnuts.

Inspired Me: Layer, layer, layer. Wow. This isn't half bad. In fact, this is FREAKIN FANTASTIC!!!! I should write this down and actually repeat this it's so good!! It tasted exactly like something you would get at a local organic cafe or fancy restaurant.

Of course, I didn't write it down and of COURSE I didn't take a picture. But what I'm trying to express is that you don't need a recipe to churn out good-tasting food. You just need a can-do attitude and an idea of where you're going flavor-wise. Experimenting is not only fun, but it's essential to the process. Taste-test everything. That's how I knew that ginger and thyme were the perfect addition to the pumpkin puree. That's how I knew that the walnuts (toasted, for an increasingly dramatic gourmet flavor) would set it off entirely onto a new level. I just tried it and tried it until it worked. Experience is an amazing teacher.

happy heartbeats,
GG

New Year, New New, WITH PICS!!

Remember way way back in the day when I would post my never-ending to-do list?? Check this out:

COOP:

1. Plumber to fix kitchen sink and bathtub CHANGE to Bathfitter October 13th (done)

2. Electrician to fix outlet in living room (done)

-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 (done)

-Remove tile from bathroom walls CHANGE to Bathfitter October 14th (done)

Plasterer to fix walls in all rooms (done)

4. Sheet vinyl for bathroom and kitchen floor CHANGE to vinyl tile in bathroom (OCTOBER 9th, ebay)and kitchen (need propane or dry ice)//CHANGED TO REMOVE VINYL TILES FROM KITCHEN FLOOR (DONE) AND REFINISH SUBFLOOR W/PAINT OR STAIN AND POLY...

5. Countertop for kitchen - 6 foot and 8 foot installed CHANGE TO PAINT CABINETS & ADD BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERS -Strip window and door in bathroom(done)

-cut counter for sink and for stove island & install (done)

6. Paint trim (satin) and halls (linen) and Kitchen (Linen) (done)

-Faux glaze paint over patches (done)

ADD to get painters to paint entire apartment (done)

-Paint Bathroom window and touch up radiator with rustoleum satin white (done)

7. Replace toilet to 12 inch. model (done)

8. Spray range, hood and fridge (done) Change to Replace Fridge (Done)9. Install hardware in kitchen (done)
10. Replace Bathroom Vanity Light (purchased)//finished 12/30 (done!!)

11. Replace Bathroom Vanity Mirror
12. Hang Desk area shelf from CB2 (purchased 12/11), framed collage walls
13. Hang Windows in dining area (flanking)
14. Hang circular ceiling pendant over dining area

Lakehouse - SOLD! (September 2011)

Condo - MOVED OUT! (March 2010)


I just added 10 - 14 yesterday! Because I can actually cross things off and add things now that I am dealing with one single home.

I have the luxury of taking my sweet time, or rushing straight through, any project I desire. I ripped out the old vanity lights (Miss Piggy Bulb Strip) in such a hurry that I started to second guess myself and panic about being able to use the existing lightbox (the fixture holder thing inside the walls of my 1920's apartment building, or at least that's what I'm calling it) with the newer fixture. In fact, I mentally resigned when I couldn't find the relevant anatomy that the light fixture's instructions were referring to.

I actually put the light (beautiful, beautiful schoolhouse era repro light) back in the box and thought to myself, "Welp! Guess I'll just have to hire an electrician! It will cost maybe $50, this whole experiment will then total to $200, I got $100 in Christmas gifts, so that makes it a total of $100 well spent for a professional-install... hmm..."

Then. I thought about it. Hard. Thought some more. I took a flashlight to the joint. I angled it around. There just had to be a way. I literally noodled it through my brain. There may or may not have been a lightbulb crackling over my noggin toward the end of my meditation.

Hey there, that thing, isn't that a screw? Ancient, rusted and decrepit, yes. But screwed into the old light fixture box just like in the installation illustration just the same. (btw this light is supposed to take 10 minutes to install according to the instruction pamphlet. Yes, if you are working with a normal light box, which of course we are not. This took me no less than 1 hour to install and involved numerous head scratches and steps up and down the step ladder.)

So if I just use these screw holes like they suggest in the pamphlet, rig and wrangle (and electrical tape the crap out of) these old fabric-covered copper wires and pray they don't touch each other when I shove them back into the wall (not an easy task, let me just remind myself), add some washers to the light fixture because there was a gap somewhere there shouldn't have been, patch these old fixture holes in the wall and... voila!

PS I didn't take any pictures of the process b/c I was so hyper-focused. This is where training the cat to play a photog for the papparazz would come in handy for the future, amiright?

So the light fixture is IN! And it's GORGEOUS!! And it took a lot of determination, focus, and stick-to-it-ed-ness that only I could provide for myself. I pictured the end result and kept moving toward that goal. I wanted to show off my finished product to the peeps who helped finance it (Thanks, Bob and Mickey!!) and I wanted to begin the process of making this house, my one and only, HOME.

Lessons learned: It's okay to dive into a project as long as you are motivated to get through it by any means necessary. It helps to have a ton of extra supplies lying around such as electrical tape, scissors, a hammer, tape measure, level, spackle, spackle knife, random screws, washers and bolts - just in case the things provided w/the fixture are not sufficient (although I was pleasantly surprised by everything provided with this Shades of Light fixture).


And now - for the less-than-stellar iPhone pics that I did take:

Before (um, where is that random picture I have of the hole in the wall behind the previous light fixture?! still to come...):


After (sort of, I have since spackled the area and it looks much better, still needs touch up paint though):




PPS - After reading about my long-time internet mentor/guru/girl crush's life, I've realized that I need to document all of the many thousands of things I've been doing to improve my life quality over the past 2 years - from painting (for fun!) to cooking (for fun!) to getting a cat (the love of my life) to getting WORMS (the thousand loves of my life) to getting online and dating and falling in love... all of these things AND MORE. Soon come. And also... (hopefully) ... MORE PICTURES.

love and heartbeats,
GG

I've been meaning to update!

I have pictures. I have news. I am now officially one girl with one home again!! It took a year but I managed to unload what turned out to be such a beautiful property after my vision was finally realized (when I was tackling things on my own). Unfortunately, i couldn't make the trip out there as much as I wanted, therefore it had to go... And I feel light and free now!! And my *one and only* space is transforming into what I always dreamed, so it's pretty great to get to live in a dream. I have pictures, but of course not ON me,.... of course because I'm terrible at this blogging thing. It's been a painful and emotional and financially draining process. Now, onto the good stuff!!

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....