House update

Digging starts soon. The builder says we can expect our foundation to be in place by next Friday. After that, everything moves quickly. Strange how the longest part of the process could just be waiting to get started.

Pixels & Ice Cream

It's like the digital world's Amy Butler, only for free. Can't wait to see what I'll design next. See the freebies for yourself.

Bird's the word

Pie tip

Forget smearing your work surface and rolling pin with messy flour. Just tear off two sheets of wax paper wide enough to roll out your pie dough to the necessary size. Your dough won't get those tears that seem to just keep tearing no matter how hard you try. For the dismount (this seriously is the hardest part of making a pie: getting your crust to your pie pan. I opt to wind my dough around my rolling pin), you can either peel your disc of dough from the wax paper, fold in quarters or wind it around your rolling pin. And then just unfolding or unwinding in your pie dish. Or do what I call the pop and drop. With this method, you only peel of one side of the wax dough and then flip it over (wax paper side up) and drop it on to your pie pan, and then peel off the remaining sheet of wax paper. Which ever method you choose, move quickly and efficiently. It takes some practice and patience.

Are you smitten?

I'm pretty sure than Jonathan and I don't have what it takes to pull off these "couple" mittens aka Smittens, but they're so cute. Perhaps a good prop for a winter photo op with your true love?

They say

buying a house is as stressful as getting a divorce. If that's the case, I'm never getting a divorce. The builder has yet to break ground, but they did break ground on the spec house next to us. I thought money talked. If so, why am I in line behind no one?

I'm getting ready to bake pies tomorrow, and all I can think about is my island. This time next year, I'll be mixing and rolling out on. my. island. I get little shivers of excitement thinking of all the cooking and crafting I'm going to do there. I'm picturing the people who will sit at the other side and talk to me while cooking. Maybe with a glass of wine in hand. I heart you kitchen island. You literally are my oasis of dreams.

Learning the hard way

Moms don't let kids chew on power cords.

New Moon music

Had some time to listen to the soundtrack, but no time for a review. Lykke Li's "Possibility" really stuck with me on first play.

Free and cute

My latest issue of the Mibo newsletter included a link to make your own advent calendar. Can't go wrong with that.

Our house: Just the beginning

My sister came up with this fabulous idea of taking pictures while our house goes up and eventually creating a photo book. Here's the first set that shows our little slice of staked land. Stakes in the ground mean that property is already sold. It's not much, but it's enough to get me excited. They should start digging this week.

Random

ust because.

Channeling Candice Olson

never ever in this world thought my first home would be brand-new, or for that matter that I would want it to be brand-new. I like things with history. But apparently history in a home only means one thing: old. Old AC, old appliances, old roof. Old, old, old. Yes, most of it I figured we could pay to update. But when you're married to Mr. Dose of Reality, why buy old when you can buy new for the same price if not less? You get peace of mind and the opportunity to pick out everything yourself. And pick we did tonight. I felt like I was in a Crayola store of patterns, textures, and colors. In a dizzying number of choices. I tried my best to think about the things I'm attracted to in magazines. And then I did my best to channel Candice Olson.

Here's how my house came away:

Kitchen: It's pretty damn close to my dream kitchen. I got my white cabinets. It was an upgrade (if you're keeping track, that's upgrade number two). Just a small amount to get what I really wanted. On the walls: Sherwin-Williams Harvester. We didn't even explore granite right now so we could stay within budget. We were able to find a Formica pattern we liked called Sand Crystal. Our appliances will be white.

Dining Room and Great Room: I stuck with the Harvester color throughout just to save time and to create flow from this one larger space. I realize that I could have done variations of the same shade and still made it work, but better safe than sorry. My fireplace (upgrade number one) will have a raised hearth (no buried fireplace here! it's going to be a great focal point) with a stone-looking ceramic tile with mantel that's trimmed in beige.

Through the foyer, dining room, and great room will be Kenya oak hardwood floors. Hardwood floors. Another dream come true.

Bedrooms: Only the bedrooms and the stairs will be carpeted. We chose to stick with the standard carpet in Fossil, but upgrade the carpet pad to an 8-pound pad versus the 6-pound pad. (That's upgrade number three. Our last upgrade. Not too shabby.) The rooms will be painted in Beige, which we can change later, choosing to play it safe for now.

Bathrooms: Again, we stayed away from the upgrades. The vanities will be chestnut oak with a stone-looking vinyl on the floors. The master bathroom has a shower so we opted to go with the clear glass door. (Hello peep show.)

Exterior: By far the hardest choice was the exterior. This is permanent decision. Luckily none of the selections were too crazy. (Except for maybe the light china blue color, which one of the houses our our cul de sac has already selected.) I stuck with a gray-brown color called Tuscan Clay with trim in Colonial Ivory and gutters in Pebble Stone Clay. The stone work will be Centurian Castle. (Doesn't that sound fancy?) Our front door and garage will be white. The hardware will be Venetian Bronze.

Add in a little love. A lot of waiting for this moment and you get a dream home made for Jonathan and Jessaca. How divine.

We're (almost) homeowners

e went and looked at a couple of houses today, and ended up purchasing a home yet to be built. Come February I will be the proud owner of a brand-new home. It has my fireplace (it was an upgrade), and Jonathan gets peace of mind knowing that everything is brand-new. Now I can do some serious home decorating daydreaming.