first house renovation injury

we had our first renovation "injury" this weekend and surprisingly - it wasn't me!

i'll spare everyone the photo (trust me, it looks gross) and just share that poor vince cut his finger while he was cutting trim for the laundry room. praise God that my mother is a nurse(!) because vince never listens to my opinion on whether or not official medical services are necessary. (although that could be because i didn't even look at the cut- bleh!) so, my mother came, bearing all the first aid supplies that we don't have (basically anything beyond band aids and neosporin) and fixed him up, right nicely.

now vince just has to figure out how to make models for school with a huge bandage on his thumb.

super cleaning sunday...

... is well under way!

it's crazy how things stack up during a busy work week and luckily vince is home this weekend to help clean up. i think our "catch-all" dining room may be usuable space when vince is done with it!

flea market finds

my mom and i had a great time antiquing this weekend! it was very windy and a little chilly, but it was some great mother-daughter time nonetheless. there were some really great finds and i had to exercise a LOT of self-restraint to keep out of the old jewelry, hats, purses, and gloves. another day....siiiiiigh.

anyhow, i did find a great solid wood, mahogany stained desk that i've converted to a vanity. i still need a mirror to get ready in the mornings, but for now our mirror rested on top will work. i love the slight curve in the design and all the drawers. traditional vanities are just not high enough for a 5'7" girl nor do they have space for all my "stuff".










i really like the old metal pulls! eventually the whole thing needs sanded down and re-stained or painted (there's some significant scratching and missing trim), but that will have to wait for a weekend with no other plans.

we also found an amazing deal on some chairs. a set of 5 for only $125. they are a beautiful wood with a great line. the current upholstering is needlepoint in excellent condition. we're likely going to find a new print, but again, this will have to wait for another weekend.

olive couldn't stand to be outside the frame, but at least you can see the line of the chair from the side. just ignore her big mug. :)

here you can see the design of the backs, and of course, a close up of the needlepoint cushions.

i love almost anything "old" and i think i'm addicted to flea markets!

why, yes....

i did purchase yardbags, a rake, and a lawn mower by myself. and assemble said lawn mower by myself. and rake the leaves, trim the shrubs, mow the yard, and rake up grass clippings by myself.

thank.you.very.much.




















and now i will be enjoying some chocolate and wine, by myself. :) hope vince is enjoying that "school required" boston trip. (it is necessary, but he did mention the sam adams brewery, so one has to wonder what ohio state's curriculum involves...)

for a comparison, here's a photo of our nice, short grass and the neighbor's longer, darker green grass.i think i did well!

reality tv

olive spends about 85% of her time watching her "tv". she loves, loves, loves to sit in the front window with her nose smooshed up against the glass and watch the world outside. she enjoys the cars driving by, the kids playing across the street, and the occasional walker on the sidewalk.
















here she just realized i was photographing her. she clearly looks annoyed.
















aaannnnddd about .5 seconds later she's over it. and back in the window. away from my prying eyes. love her.

feels like home

it's been a little over one month and we're finally starting to get settled in. things are slowly getting unpacked and the house is starting to feel like home.

clearly it didn't take long for olive to feel comfortable. i think this was week one of home ownership and she hasn't looked back on the apartment days since!

vince has school stuff all weekend so i am looking forward to some serious cleaning and unpacking this weekend, without him in the way. (sorry, vince. you just don't get why i think it's necessary to wipe down the walls and ceiling. - more to that on another day.)

my mom and i are also going to go antiquing this weekend as part of my mission to find a vanity/dressing table for our bedroom. if you have any leads - let me know. craigslist has been pretty sparse.

with that, enjoy these teasers of our dining room. while it was nicely decorated when we bought it, the style isn't ours, so the wallpaper has since been removed. this will be a long term project since the wallpaper glue will need scraped off, so don't look for updates anytime soon.