I...I Love You House

It has taken me forever to finally update my blog on our new home!  I was really trying to figure out how to do side-by-side before and after photos in GIMP but that ended with a big #$%! that!

We absolutely love/adore/cherish and are just basically nutzo about our house.  It's the "I...I Love You" House (house numbers are 1143 and apparently back in the day of beepers people used 143 to say I love you).  My boyfriends and I did not use that and I can't remember what we used!

Not that it hasn't already given our fair share of problems in our one month of living here.  For instance, the pool has an algae even the pool company is having a hard time getting rid of and has dumped more than 20 gallons of chlorine in that thing.  The A/C quit working.  The ceiling leaked.  Fortunately, these things have been easy-nothing-major fixes (except for the TBD pool issue). Oh the joys of home-ownership!  We are still unpacking boxes.  Basically, the living areas, both baths, master bedroom are pretty much done.  All the boxes that we don't want to deal with are basically in piles in the office and the guest bedroom. 

What did we accomplish before moving in?  There's new paint on every surface, new baseboards and trim (also painted), lots of caulking, all the doors have been painted, new pantry, linen, coat and utility closet doors. We have new appliances and a good scrub down made the house seem brand new! Ya'll ready for lots of pictures?

Before - Exterior

Before - Exterior close up

After - Exterior painted door turquoise and spray painted the shutters black

After - exterior I love the color! I also love the cute little doormat.  Funny how those details can make a difference.

Before - Entry/living room area

Before - Entire living room area

A

After - Living room

After - new pillows - I love texture

After - entry with Marilyn artwork and vintage record holder

After - entry with new light fixture!

Before - Guest Bathroom - so many wrongs and it was filthy

After - Guest Bathroom - work in progress for sure but so much better!

New Mirror - we didn't have mirrors in either bathroom!

Before - wall on other side of dining area

After - wall o' bookshelves...we used the bookshelves we already had but took the backs off to lighten up the heavy wood color.  I may plan to install heavy duty floating shelves on this wall but this will suffice for now.

Before - Roll Tide kitchen with bad paint job and dirt EVERYWHERE. Appliances didn't work!

After - kitchen - major cleaning, painting the walls a soft aqua and new appliances

Before - master bath (part of it anyway)

After - master bath - paint, new mirror, shelving, towel ring....ta da!

That's about it for now.  We are still working on the master bedroom and I haven't taken after photos yet. 
We still have so much do.  We have big and little projects.  Here's just a few things I have up my sleeve (in no particular order):

• replace garage door
• mount tv in living room
• replace fixtures in guest bath with Oil Rubbed Bronze ones
• purchase new dining furniture, buffet table and light fixture
• finish putting up all the artwork
• reupholster tufted headboard in master
• put up artwork in master
• unclutter and de-box office
• unclutter and de-box guest room
• purchase bed and bedding for guest room
• purchase loveseat that also pulls out to bed for office
• build outdoor table and seating area
• build/buy a firepit and seating
• install reverse-osmosis water treatment system
• landscaping
• new mailbox 

See it's never-ending but oh so much fun!  It already feels like home and a place we will be for a long time.  

The Cart Before The Horse

Side note: my Chinese sign is The Horse. I love horses. Ha! Just kidding. They scare me to death but I think they are beautiful.

I realize The Roll Tide House isn't technically ours yet. Hence the post title: The Cart Before The Horse. However, I would love to share with you some 'before' photos before I overhaul that sucker! And when I say 'overhaul', I mean clean and paint it. Nothing structural or really huge. I hope those aren't famous last words and I end up 6 months into this with a blog post entitled: We've Purchased a Money Pit! Ha!


Can we say blank slate?  It has zero landscaping!  Except for the grass of course.  There is not one single bush or tree on the property! I cannot wait to tackle the exterior!  I've been researching and tagging exterior inspiration photos for some color schemes.  I've considered keeping it white and changing the shutters to glossy black and paint the door a cool Tiffany blue color to painting it green with glossy white door and glossy black shutters! I'm all over the place right now.  First thing is first!  Cleaning!  I think power washing, getting the current landscaping all nice and neat and trimmed (grass is growing over the nice pavers), spray painting the shutters, replacing the garage door and exterior lighting will do wonders initially.  A nice mini-facelift!

Roll Tide House front - I like the front door

The next photo is the dining area.  It's really big compared to what we are accustomed to!  Right now we have a counter-height dining set that sits four people but I plan to upgrade eventually to a normal-height dining set that sits 6 people.  Plenty of room here.  There is also plenty of room for a buffet sidetable that I have wanted forever!  That makes me very happy.  On the right side is the wall o' grasscloth.  We are typically not wallpaper fans AT ALL but I like textury grasscloth.  It wasn't installed properly and the lines do not add up but I plan to paint over it to keep the texture so hopefully you will not be able to tell that the lines are off a bit!

Dining area with sliders and view of the green pool! Ugh!

This is the lovely, teeny-tiny master bathroom.  It was hard to get a photo of the entire room so this is the cabinet with the clear vessel sink, which I just adore.  I do not necessarily like the cabinet since there is hardly any counter space but that is something that can be changed in time.  The shower (not pictured) is huge!!!  It's a double-person shower (bow chica bow wow) and has shower heads on both sides!  Did you notice the bright and lively orange-y/yellow paint?  Yeah, that's going away pronto!  I have no idea what color I want to paint it but I believe something light, airy and zen-like will be just want the Color Doctor ordered.   Did you also notice how dirty it is?  It's gross!  Oh the joys of being empty for over a year.

Master bathroom vessel sink and cabinet

This is the view of the pool from what will be the guest bedroom.  We are truly excited to have a 3rd bedroom!  When we lived in Alabama, we had our spare room (spare-ooome - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe reference anyone?) turned into an art studio so I could sew and paint and craft to my little heart's content and have the room all to myself!  Our plans are to have the bigger of the two extra bedrooms become our art and music studio and the other smaller room for our guest bedroom.

pool view from guest bedroom

Lastly, another view of the living room.  The front door is original to the house and I really like it but it will most likely need replacing soon.  The door on the coat closet is missing and the lighting fixtures including the ceiling fan need replacing.  Fun times!  I have already picked out an awesome light fixture that would definitely be a splurge-purchase-but-totally-worth-it for the entry.  I hope to find a ceiling fan soon.  I found a few at Lowe's that I liked but plan to search online as well.   Here in South Florida a ceiling fan is a must in a few of the rooms!

Well, that's all for now folks!  I'm chomping at the bit (ANOTHER horse reference?) to get in here and go crazy!  All in good time, my friends, all in good time.

Gucci Gucci

Picture this.

Me just minding my own business.  Cruisin' the internet or reading or eating or drinking.  Then my awesomely amazing husband busts out these song lyrics.  At random.  At any given moment. This is my life.




And of course, I secretly love it.

Update: Operation Humble Abode

Okay so the first house didn't go through because the owner/realtor is in la-la land and asking for $45,000 more than the true comps in the area.  Um, okay...moving on (ha - pun intended)!

The Zombie House didn't pan out either.

This is okay, my dear friends, because we found another house.  Crazy, right?  Not really, considering how many homes are on the market right now.

It's nickname at the moment is the Roll Tide House:

Roll Tide Roll!

It's everything on our list.  Three bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining area, perfect sized kitchen, huge laundry room, one-car garage and an attic.  It's concrete brick stucco which is want you want in Florida so a hurricane will not wash it away.  So we made the next step and put in an offer and guess what? They accepted!  Boo-ya! We are getting a deal - let me tell you!

It's closer to everything! It's 12 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from Target, 5 minutes from Total Wine, 3 minutes from Publix, 5 minutes to downtown Stuart, 5 minutes to the movies and the mall (the world's worst mall but a mall nonetheless).  It will cut my commute in half yet I'm close to other meeting locales when I'm out of the office.  Have you understood that it's closer, yet? LOL

We had the inspection this morning so there will be some further negotiating but I feel confident this is the one.

Here are a few pics of the inside:

Living Room

Inside Master with the cutest realtor ever.

The Roll Tide Kitchen

Of course, it needs some work but mostly it is all cosmetic.  We plan to have is cleaned professionally, because, it's just plain gross right now - bugs and grimey grime over being empty for a while.  The colors are pretty much neutral except for The Roll Tide Kitchen but you guys know me - that's the fun part!  Picking out colors, new stainless steel appliances, decorating....I love me a challenge!

And it has a ginormous pool!  I will not post pictures of it until it's blue again and not green.  That way you get the full effect....but pool = yah!

Operation Humble Abode

Well, it's only been about 2 weeks or so since Operation Humble Abode began. Our hopes are to find something before or right before our lease is up in November.

If all goes smoothly, it may be much sooner than November! We are going to put an offer in on THE house. I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to get too excited or jinx anything. I will say this: it completely fits every-single-bulleted point in this post.

Mr. Fitness keeps telling me to not get my hopes up even though he says it's the perfect house for us too. He knows how I am though. So, I'm trying not to think about it too much - or at least that is what I'm saying publicly. Honestly, I'm thinking it about pretty much every other minute or so.

Please send some good vibes down to South Florida when you think about it.  Purchasing a house is totally big girl, grown up stuff and this time I get to do it while educating myself and not flying blind (like when I was 21 and bought my first house) AND I get to do it with my hubs.

P.S. I bought my first house when the hubs and I were dating and he broke up with me.  I decided if I wasn't going to be with him, then I will just be single for the rest of my life and then I went and bought a house.  My friend Tracy once said, "Jamie, most people go get hammered or do some retail therapy and you go and buy a house!" Ha. Good times.

P.S.S. If this house falls through though, we can always go for the Zombie-proof house so that is a HUGE relief and great Plan B!

Hey-OOOOOO!

How it begins...I don't know who these cuties are but they should start a new show with them...

House Hunters

So imagine this: me, wearing camo head to toe, with a bow and arrow, and some big guns and some dirt on my face...really channeling a She-Rambo.

We are officially House Hunters and I'm in full hunting mode. Full on obsessed. And it's only been a week. That's how I roll.

So in the past week during our hard core search for the perfect-for-us house, we found our dream house. Wait, you want to know what the perfect-for-us house would "look like"? I'll tell you. Ideally, this is what we're after:

• 3 bedroom, 2 bath
• small property and private
• 1,000-1,400 living sq feet
• no HOA
• pool (maybe but not a deal breaker)
• Florida room/screened patio
• retro/vintage yet modern feel (I realize we can make it this way, but if it already has it-yah!)
• light and airy
• closer to work and not too far from beaches
• could also be a 2 bedroom, 2 bath if larger rooms

 We wouldn't mind a fixer-upper at all as long as it's not major reconstruction.  Okay so back to our dream house.  The baby is numero uno at the top of our list.

See how awesome this house is?  It has an indoor swimming pool!  It's open and airy. It's a little bigger than we need but in case of a Zombie Apocalypse we will definitely need more space so we don't get tired of each other.  Wait!  Zombie Apocalypse?  Yes I said it and yes I mean it and yes this house turns into a Zombie proof house.  Perfecto!!!!

See more here: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/post/4956385434/the-first-zombie-proof-house

And now my She-Rambo outfit makes even more sense! 

Best Man Awesomeness

I laughed then I cried then I laughed and watched it again.

Ugga, Ugga

That's caveperson speak in the title there.  Why? Because I am eating like a caveperson. Note: the PC version instead of saying caveman or cavewoman by the way.  It's the 21st Century.

I know I've mentioned the Paleo Diet before but I have not fully brought myself to be 100% paleo.  Mainly because I like sugar and cheese too much.  I mean if I could eat bacon, sugar, cheese and beer for the rest of my life I would be extremely happy. However, the gym is doing a 30-Day Paleo Challenge and I am game!  We can do anything for 30 days, right?  I've made small changes over time, but have succumbed to stress eating and poor planning for more than a month now.

My goals are to lose 10 lbs and hopefully have some recurring joint and muscle pains in right shoulder, lower back and right knee disappear.   I realize that may take time and potentially some physical therapy but this is what I'm starting with other than popping ibuprofen and purchasing stock in Bio-freeze.

So here goes...eating only meat, veggies, fruits and nuts for the next 30 days.  No refined sugar, processed foods, grains or alcohol.  This thing ends on May 17.  Then at approximately 12:01 am on May 18th, I will be drinking a BEER.  Ha, who am I kidding.  I'm officially an old person and go to bed at like 9:30 every night.


I am so freakin glad that Bacon. Is. A. Meat. and that there were chickens during the Paleolithic Age.

photo from here http://wordsandtoons.com/2008/11/

Here are some details on the Paleo Diet taken from Cosmopolitan Primal Girl's blog.  I liked how she summarized a few things:

Why is it called Primal?
It mimics the diet of our caveman predecessors.  Prior to the Agricultural Revolution, people did not suffer from chronic diseases that plague our society today – high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity (ever heard of a fat caveman???), type 2 diabetes etc etc etc.

There are 2 key hormones that come into play:
1) Insulin – It’s a “Master Hormone” and is released by carbohydrates.  If we get too much of it we store it as fat (triglycerides).   Insulin is a storage hormone, meaning it sticks stuff into our cells and if our insulin is high, we can’t get anything out of the cells in our body.  It is the key mediator of inflammation – which is related to the onset of many diseases.  The beauty of insulin is that we have total control over the levels based on what we’re eating. You want to aim for a low insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity.

2)  Glucagon - This is the counter hormone to Insulin and is released in response to Protein.  It releases stuff out of your cells and you need it to round out the hormones.  Glucagon is critical in improving insulin sensitivity.  Glucagon dominance allows your body to use fat for energy (YAY! Who doesn’t want that??).  

Where do I get this amazing Glucagon that you speak of?
Protein!  BUT, it’s the protein found in meat and fish. Not Nuts, Beans or Rice.  The protein in these foods does not release glucagon.  If you’re a vegetarian, you need Tofu or Tempe.  This is why it’s important to have protein with every meal.   

How can I improve Insulin Sensitivity?
Follow a Primal diet and exercise.  Simple.


Here's to the next 29 days (I'm holding up my water bottle).  Bring it!

Small Update from the Land 'O Sunshine and Blue Skies and Chairs

Yo peeps!

Here's a small, teeny tiny post: we bought a chair! Isn't that just titillating news? So, we had this cool, zebra print chair that broke about a year ago. Then Mr. Fitness attempted to fix it and that worked temporarily except I had to cover the boo-boo on the chair with a throw when people came over to visit. But the boo-boo got worse:

So I've been online window shopping for a chair. Finally, I decided to go to thrift shops to see what I could find and potentially reupholster.

On our first thrifting excursion, we found this baby. It passed the comfy test for Mr. Fitness since he will use it more for his gaming chair.  I knew it would work as far as size, shape and sturdiness and I could always have it reupholstered later when I found great fabric. However, the paprika/rust color looks great in our living room. Whodathunkit?  I love accidental decorating! All we did was spray paint the rocker base to an oil-rubbed bronze and ta-da! New chair for $60!

And it's really good that we spent only $60 considering the real online shopping damage I did yesterday on shoes (3 pairs!) and an accessory from emersonmade. But that's our secret, umkay.  Don't tell Mr. Fitness.  Heehee.

Blinky

I promise I will be writing a longer post soon full of Designer Showcase photos (where I've been for the past 25 days and counting) and inspiration photos I have found in the good 'ole blogosphere.

Here is a short film I thought you would enjoy.  It is the same boy from Where the Wild Things Are.

Blinky™ from Ruairi Robinson on Vimeo.

I swear between this and Battlestar Galactica, I don't want no stinkin robots!

Holy Moly

I feel really bad that I haven't updated my blog for days and days and days and now months!  Whoa, I'm just not a responsible blogger I guess.

Life is....crazy at the moment so probably has a lot to do with it.

Crazy or not, I'm trying to learn French on Rosetta Stone so once the day arrives that we will hop on a plane to Paris, I will be very prepared.  I'm not sure when this glorious day will be but it WILL be.

Check out this cute Live the Language video.


EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

A Lesson on Perspective...

The past week and a half have been a blur.  My dear friend, Sharon, has had several surgeries over the past week. After a series of small strokes, she had a massive stroke during her bypass surgery on Tuesday.  She is still in ICU and still on the ventilator.  The doctors finally gave some hope yesterday.  Her life may not be the same but she is a fighter and strong-willed lady. 

During this time, my Mr. Fitness lost his job.  They decided to let go 4 teachers.  The school will probably not make it until the end of the year they are in so much financial trouble.

Perspective:  normally, this would have put us in a tail-spin.  Not that it hasn't, but with my friend struggling for life, it just changes your thought process.  Life is so precious.  Life.  Having a life means to live.  How do you want to live?  Are you living it?  Are you happy with where you are?  You have no idea if you will have tomorrow to do things differently.

I need some Kermie.
 

Planning from The Planner (that's me)

So, anyone can decide they have a to-do list or that dreaded word "resolutions" but it is another thing altogether to actually accomplish said items.  The best way to do this is to figure out your plan to get you there. What are your action items that will help you achieve you goal?  Here are my thoughts on a few of my to-do's this year:

1. Crochet temair throw.  Plan: this throw is made up of about 45 motifs...if I can break it down and do 1-2 per week, then I can get this sucker laying on my bed or over my sofa by the end of summer.  Plus, once I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I may hunker down and do some hard core crocheting sessions to get it completed (this is how I roll so I can see this really happening).

The beach is one of my favorite places to crochet!

2 - 4. Travel overseas.  I really want to go to Paris.  However, I do not want to go knowing only my English language and saying "you're what the French call les incompetent".  Step 1.  Order French Rosetta Stone.  CHECK!  Step 2. Do it.  CHECK.  At least I am already through Unit 1!  Step 3. Save, save, save because traveling is not cheap!

5. Attaining my CrossFit goals is high on my priority list. My plan of attack is to attend 3 to 5 times a week.  Right now I can go 5 times a week but I know once my events for work begin I will do good to get in 3 times a week.  The second part of my attack is clean eating.  We are slowing incorporating paleo-type eating into our diet, which means less grains and refined sugars.  Not sure we will ever go 100% paleo but you never know what the future holds once we start seeing the benefits!

CrossFit is really agreeing with Mr. Fitness.  Hot damn!

6. As far as Jamiegurumi, my Etsy site, goes, I really really want to get this going.  Is it too much to handle right now? Maybe.  I'm going to check out a book this week at the library called Crafty Superstar. I guess that is my first step. The second step is making a decision.

I'm also working on some things around the house.  Big surprise, I know.  My main focus will be our bedroom.  Not that this goes in the bedroom, but I've been wanting to makeover this cute little footstool I bought at a thrift store when I first moved here. I think it was $6.  I finally had an epiphany tonight on what fabric I wanted to use and I already have it on hand!  Now if I can only find the darn staple gun.  Maybe, I should resolve (hate that word!) to be more organized. LOL.

I wonder what I'm gonna look like when she's finished with me?

Things to do in 2011

Okay folks!  You know how much I love resolutions! Last year I didn't like the word resolution b/c it also meant failure to me -usually.


Drum roll please!

1. Finish this. I started it last year but it's some intense crocheting people!

2. Go here.

3. Or here.

4. Or maybe here.

5. I have several goals for CrossFit.  Here they are:

Bench 145 lbs max; Squat 200 lbs max; Deadlift 300 lbs max
10 unbroken, unassisted pull-ups

Be able to do "man" push-ups

Fit into a size 8 (with consistent attendance and clean eating)

6. I've been thinking about my Etsy site.  I still would like to open the store.  It's time consuming, of course.  And there's the whole "no one will buy my stuff" part.  So, I have to really think about my goals and reasons for doing it.  So this resolution is really TBD.

7. Blog more.  I can't give myself a more quantifiable goal here. If I say blog daily, that would freak me out too much. I can't commit to doing anything daily unless it's eating, sleeping, and showering. Too much pressure!!!!!

8. And once I finish #1, I plan to start this love quilt for our bed:

Okay, I guess that's it.  Seems a bit daunting but we'll see where it goes!  What are your resolutions?  Give me your top 3!