My woodworker and my new screened door

Look! I've got a screened door!

Pretty stain and hardware. 

Chris built it from scratch....well from pieces of wood. We're currently using it all the time because we know any day now it will be too hot. 

This is the view from inside the house. 

It never fails that Grace wants inside and Porter wants outside. 

Chris knew that Porter would take any opportunity he could find to explore the outdoors, and Chris installed this nice lock to keep Porter in. 

Our animals each in deep thought about their lots in life. 

I even helped with the staining part, i.e. the easy part. 

Here's to spring and a new door!

Homeowner Victories

Before you buy a house, it seems like everyone tells you all the reasons you should own a home. "Don't throw your money away paying rent!" "The economy is bad, you'll get a great deal!""First-time homeowners get lots of perks."

While some of these are true, there are certain times that I would very much like to call the landlord and have him fix something. 

One of those times came recently when our water dispenser in the refrigerator stopped working. The refrigerator was still making ice and dispensing it, but no water. Chris pulled out the refrigerator, inspected the back side with tools in hand, tried pressing the water dispensing "cradle" a few times, and then he declared that if I wanted to pay $200, I could call a repairman. He suggested getting a new insert for our Britta pitcher. 

I let it go for a few days, and then I began my Internet research. A year ago, or maybe a little more, a repairman had been out to fix our refrigerator, and he han replaced the circuit board, thankfully at that time still under warranty. So as I was Googling and reading lots of forums and blogs, I steered away from the ones that suggested the circuit board. After much research, I decide that the water tube in the refrigerator door was frozen. I decided to turn our freezer temperature down two notches and take my trusty hair dryer to the door and along the water tube line. I found said "water tube line" thanks to the Internet. Please note that I used my hair dryer on a low settings, as not to mess with the expandable foam in the refrigerator door. I found said "expandable foam" thanks to the Internet. 

After a few hours of the reduced temperature and a few treatments with the dryer: 

I fixed it!!!!

All on my own, I fixed an appliance! When that water poured out for the first time again, I yelled and whooped and hollered like it was pouring money. Awesome, awesome homeowner victory. 

Another victory I had recently was in regards to our sofa. We have a very nice Pottery Barn three-cushion sofa--the PB Basic design. The slipcover on it had been through the wash two too many times, and Porter had claimed one of the arms as his scratching post. The slipcover was a cotton material, and once one or two threads go, the entire stitching is going to follow. Finally, Porter's scratching area was so bad that Chris and I became worried he would soon be scratching the actual sofa. 

So to the Internet I turned. Slipcovers for Pottery Barn sofas, and probably all their furniture pieces, are about half, if not more, of what the entire sofa costs. I called the outlet store here in town, but they said they "rarely if ever got slipcovers in stock." 

I reached further into the blogosphere, until I found this post. Apparently, this blogger had a worn out Pottery Barn sofa and slipcover just like ours, and she didn't want to pay the exorbitant price of a genuine Pottery Barn slipcover either. She mentions that IKEA has the same sofa...and slipcovers. 

I checked it out, and look! Same sofa and slipcover for less hundreds less!

I ordered the light brown and ta-da!

Another homeowner victory!!!!

Happy House Anniversary!

Today is the anniversary of our house! We moved in on this date in 2009. You can read the saga with us purchasing this house here, and here, and here. But the bottom line is: We got the house!

This is a photo I took when Chris and I first saw the house. I think we were talking about what an amazing chandelier we would hang there one day. 

This is me on move-in day with our key. Note: those are the denim shorts from here. 

This is a photo of me with our SOLD sign. 

The day we moved in, we had incredible friends, Sarah and Charlie, who drove from North Little Rock and Matt and Laura, who we had not met until that day. Everyone helped us move in and then went to dinner with us at Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken. Shockingly these people are still friends with us. The dirt, grim and sweat from moving did not deter them. Good peeps.

This is move-in night, and the first time Chris sat in his Man Chair in its new spot. 

Porter discovered he loves carpet. Even though this is blurry, you can see he loved his new home. 

This was our first weekend in our house. A fancy brunch on our balcony.  

I can't believe all of this was three years ago! 

Dear House, 

We love you. We have taken our time working on you (mostly because Air Conditioner has been taking all our money) and making you ours. We especially like your balcony and fenced yard. And your kitchen and your high ceilings. Thanks for three great years. 

Love, Allison, Christopher, Porter and Grace

They're Here!

After much ado, about nothing, they are here. And we are very happy. We (I) searched and searched for bedside tables, as illustrated here and here. I had an idea that I wanted mirrored pieces; however, I don't know if I ever convinced Chris.

Yesterday we went shopping for him to look at some I had found. We bought the first ones! We were so fortunate that my grandparents had given us some spending money as a housewarming present, and we ear-marked it for bedside tables.

When we decided to buy the first ones I showed him, it happened that we were driving my car...whoops! AND, the Pier 1 we went to only had one of them. The Pier 1 about 20 miles away had another one. Whoops!

So after Chris maneuvering some boxes, removing some packaging and a few grunts, we (he) managed to get two bedsides tables into to Big V.  I did help him get them up the stairs.

And here they are! The photos are not the best because the room doesn't allow me to get far enough for a straight-on shot. But you can get the feeling. 

What's nice is that although they look shiny in this next photo, they actually have an antiqued finish so they don't look that shiny.

This is Chris' side, and yes, I promise that little bitty gold lamp is TEMPORARY. Because of course, now we needs lamps! It's never ending ;)

 

This is the view from the hallway. I think another reason the mirrored finish works is because you never really see both side tables at the same time, so it's not overwhelming.

We are very happy, and I have some place to put my glass of water, phone and magazines...and now on to the lamps!!

Porter got a little jealous I wasn't taking pictures of him, and he stretched up on my leg to say hello.

Hello!

Does Countering a Counter Equal a Positive?

We've countered the sellers' counter offer, and we're again waiting. In the meantime, here are some anecdotes to pass the time.



I love the Marx Foods Blog, they are listed on the right as one of my favorites or click the image above. They blog about cooking techniques and unique foods, and they are constantly giving away amazing foods. Like AMAZING food. All you have to do it leave them a comment, and they randomly choose one. I hope I win the Kobe burgers because at my house-to-be there is a yard where Chris' grill can live and hence the need for the burgers!

In other news, I had a stranger cut my hair. No, not one of the many of the streets here, but a gay Cuban. I have never had anyone cut my hair but Patrick in Little Rock, but hey, it's time to live a little. So my Cuban owns a salon on Front St., and I pass it every day. It has a pretty chandelier, hip chairs and a nice logo. That's all I needed to know. I plopped right down, and he went to work. I discovered that not everyone cuts hair the same. I know this isn't a revelation to most of you, but I'm new here. He cut part of it dry and part wet, and he thinned it out without using the razor. I'm not a fan of the razor. Anyway, it was a delightful hour with my new Cuban, and at the end, I received a new haircut, which I like, and I paid him $35. I don't think I've paid so little for a full haircut since 1997. Thanks, Memphis!