the renovation : exterior paint before & after

At the beginning of the year we purchased 'the dream home' - aka the really, really, really old, as in built in 1859 old fixer-up that we really can't renovate or move into until we sell our current home.  Which could be never.

le sigh.


Anyway, it's all good really because 'the dream home' is currently a two-family which we rent out the back unit of to cover the mortgage and are now preparing to rent out the front unit to make a little extra cash.  Cash for the renovation.  Which could be never.

So that's the story, now on to the photos of the only improvement we have made to the place so far: repainting the exterior and in doing so sealing the ancient bricks to prevent further water damage to the inside walls.

I posted here about our color dilemma.     The faded pink had to go, but since the metal on the actual windows is a light blue {and the windows are fairly new} instead of trying to paint the window 'trim' we tried to work with that light blue color.

Here is the house when we purchased it.  There was a lot of discoloration from water damage and no detail work.

Hubby and I knew we wanted gray for the body, but then we struggled for months about the trim colors, and just how crazy we wanted to go.  You can see all the different combos we looked at on the corbels above the doorway.   You can also see we had the wood doorway stripped bare and sanded, which made the new paint go on really smooth and nice.

Painting in progress!  We had only one guy doing the job, so it took a while.  But we weren't in any hurry.

Here is the BEFORE: 

And the AFTER: 

Sorry these pics look a little dark - clearly I should have been patient for a 'sunny moment' - but you get the idea!

We are pretty happy with the results!

There is much more to the house than this frontal view, and we repainted the entire thing.  I will wait to show you those photos until we make some more improvements, though.

Which could be never.  ;)

g

{a first birthday}

There are some things I won't go into detail about regarding our little man's first birthday party...the coffee I forgot to put out, the rain, the huge pile of decorations that got shoved in the basement at the last minute because I ran out of time, the food that wasn't quite ready, various wardrobe malfunctions, or the fact that I completely forgot to even do my hair.
None of it mattered at the end of the day anyway.

  What  mattered most was that Cormac was surrounded by so many of the people that love him {and us} who were a part of his first year.

Here are some photos that hopefully capture the details and a little of the joy of the day...

the birthday boy socializing with guests

This year has been a wild ride.  The birth.  The sleepless nights.  The first eight weeks of 'survival mode.'  The 'firsts.'  The infectious laughter.  The crocodile tears.  The fumbling through it all,  hoping and praying that we are doing a half-way decent job.  

Something {new and beautiful} every day.  

 While we all sang 'happy birthday' to him I saw it all flash before my eyes, which then brimmed with tears.  

How did we go so quickly from this....

 ...to this?

Just the blink of an eye, friends...truly, just the blink of an eye.

g

one year ago: out of breath, ready to pop

One year ago it was my due date.

We were very {im}patiently awaiting the arrival of our little boy baby.

We were ready physically.  We were ready emotionally.  We were ready financially.

But we were not really "ready."  How can you be ready for an experience you have never had before?  The experience of parenthood is one you cannot fathom until you are actually, physically holding that new little life that you created.

Only in that moment, and then in the difficult, beautiful, sleepless, wondrous, draining, exciting days that follow the birth -- only then do you know what you are in for.
Our lives, and our very selves, are 100% different today than a year ago.

Strangely and beautifully different.

Here I am, my only video during my pregnancy, just hours before I went into labor.   I am breathless.  I am excited.  I am....exhausted.  {you can tell!}

I feel the same way today.

Excited, breathless,  and utterly exhausted.

Tomorrow we have a toddler.  Officially. 

We love you, sweet boy.

g

vintage finds: the whole kit and 'caboodle'

One of the things I did while visiting my parents in Minnesota was acquire a beautiful booty of old stuff.

Some from the local Salvation Army.

Some from the antique mall in town. {"in town" is what the country folk call the small city nearby}

Some from the storage space in the old 'grainery-turned-Dad's-man cave'   These are things he was instructed to throw away but pheeeeeeeeew thank God he didn't!  It was like a treasure hunt.

Here are a few photographs of my finds...

Completely adorable picnic basket.  .

One of my old Caboodles.  These are considered 'vintage' now.  Wow, that doesn't make me feel old or anything.  Instead of makeup I stored a mish-mash of items such as pennies flattened on railroad tracks, notes from dear friends, post cards and admission bracelets to amusement parks.  Even now I can't bear to toss them...

Some pretty frames and a tie rack.

A stool which also has butcher block-top table that I plan to repaint and use as a play table in a toddler room someday, perhaps.

Old suitcases?  Yes, please.

One was actually in perfect condition, the other not-so-much but it was my dad's work briefcase for years and years so it has purely sentimental value.  

Another thing I found in my Caboodle...a plastic photo holder holding all photos of none other than...

Joey-Joe McIntyre from the New Kids!  Wow.  Just wow.

One of my favorite finds while thrifting in town...a beautiful old copy of Wuthering Heights:

An old camera with leather case for $14...and a $3 photography book from the 1950's just for fun.

Of course there are the obligatory mason jars...who can pass up their cuteness {and cheapness} for only $1 a piece?  Surely I can find a use for three more...???

And finally, the cake stand.  I wanted a smaller one than the one I have, and this little scalloped beauty fit the bill.  For only five bills.

One HUGE thank you to my mama for a wonderful morning thrifting and antiquing with me -

and for marrying a man who doesn't throw anything away.

Love you both.

g

{today, my birthday}

Today is my 31st birthday.  
I'm pretty sure I've accidentally been telling people that I'm thirty-one for the past six months...so this is not that traumatic for me.

Some notable things from the past 365 days...

1. Had a baby.  Kind of a big deal.
2. Lost 38 pounds.  Okay, so most of it was baby-related...but still.
3. Travelled to Europe for the second time.  Hopefully not the last!
4. Stopped tanning.  Not gonna lie, kind of envious of some of the tans I saw at the pool yesterday...but having three pre-cancerous moles removed was enough to inspire me to stop fake-baking cold turkey.
5. Started using anti-aging cream.  Yep.

Aging is a funny thing.  Sometimes I feel old and a bit ornery.  Other times I feel young and vibrant.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed by how full and beautiful my life is.  Other times I get irritated at myself for not being able to laugh off the things that go wrong and just focus on the good.  Sometimes I feel like I could run a marathon.  Other times I feel creaky and exhausted.

And so it goes.  Another year of life is on the horizon...my heart is full of anticipation for what it might bring!

g

one year ago...fourth of july!

Happy fourth of July, my sweet friends!
One year ago today I was ginormously pregnant.
Only days away from my due date.
In the middle of a heat wave...kind of like today, actually.

A couple days before the 4th I snagged these pics, sitting in the car, wearing an extra large beach cover-up from Target as a dress, because that is the only thing in my closet that felt comfortable on the scorching hot day.

 My hands were not swollen at all {see my rings!} - I just have stubby fingers. :)

 My baby bump was completely dropped and oddly misshapen

 Wow.  I clearly look uncomfortable.  And sitting in the very unladylike "nine months pregnant" position.

A couple days later I was sporting...my fourth of July mumu!  Actually, I just wore this dress the other day and still love it...

One of the last photos before our family became "three"...er..."four!"

And here I am, one year later, enjoying that sweet baby that made last year's 4th of July celebration so uncomfortable beautiful: 

Hope you are making sweet memories this independence day...you never know where you'll be in a year.  Hopefully not nine months pregnant in a heat wave. 

g