Baby’s Dreamchair

First of all, I cannot thank everyone adequately for your words of encouragement yesterday. The emails, messages, phone calls, texts, comments, tweets – everything. I’m surrounded by an incredible group of people and I am grateful for all of you. Things are going to work out just fine in my little world. I see many silver linings to my current situation and am looking forward to what lies ahead!

Okay, now for a bit of a random post… but I know a few future-momma’s read this blog and I feel compelled to share this information.

We’ve made a fairly significant change to a major piece of furniture in our house these days – baby’s highchair.

New is on the left, old is on the right. We’re downsizing.

In all honesty, I registered for this highchair because I liked the color. Give me a break, okay? Highchairs were at the end of the store, after several hours of overanalyzing bottles, diaper genies, and bedding – I was done. I thought, “Meh, I’ll research highchairs later. This one looks good, I can change it later if I want.” The problem was, I never wound up researching highchairs. (There are a lot of things to research, re: babies and highchairs weren’t even close to the top of my list). So, what made this kinda funny – we got this chair twice. Some sweet friends of ours ordered it for us online and had it delivered to our house. Then, some other friends gave it to us as a group gift at one of our showers (apparently, it didn’t get listed as “received” the first time). We returned one and kept the other in the box, unsure if we would keep it too. Until the day suddenly came (out of nowhere) and Kenton was ready for a highchair. So, against my better judgement, we put this puppy together and started using it. Almost immediately, I could tell it wasn’t a good fit.

I’ll spare you the details – but just know that where there are lots of nooks and crannies – there is not a place you want your infant learning to eat solids. Keeping the darn thing clean was next to impossible.

Cue: Ikea and the ‘disposable’ highchair.

While perusing Ikea recently, we noticed this fine specimen: the $25 highchair. (Which caused me to joke about calling it “disposable” – “Ha! It’s so cheap, if I don’t feel like cleaning it, I’ll just buy a new one! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” And then I lost my job. So, that joke’s not funny anymore…).  Anywho, the chair is $20 and the tray is $5. It’s the simplest thing in THE WORLD to keep clean. It takes up no space and we love it.

So, sorry to the fantastic people who bought us the first highchair. But let’s be honest. I don’t think I would have gone for a $25 highchair while still pregnant with my firstborn. But, it has to RECLINE. and a WASHABLE COVER, and a CUTE FABRIC, and a FOOTREST!  Blah-blah-blah. Not one of those things matters in real life. Now I know, now you know. Let’s all have some ice cream.

I know, I know, I’m a terrible mother.  I promise I fed him that before I lost my job when I had no time to research proper infant nutrition. I know better now and will still give him ice cream.

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Dream of the Month!

Kenton’s nursery is a finalist for “Project of the Month” on Project Nursery!  Can you believe it?!

Just click here to cast your vote – which you can do every 24 hours.  VERY EXCITING.  Don’t be distracted by the other ridiculously adorable competition… focus!

Also adorable…

The little man himself, (Pictured with his girlfriend.)  He’s now 20 weeks old, officially 4.5 months and has two teeth.  Yes, TWO.  Need proof?  Fine.

Apparently, photographing teeth is traumatic.  Poor kid.  However, he’ll appreciate that we have evidence of this milestone at some point. Right? Okay, maybe not… good thing Dad is around to comfort him. (Meanwhile, mom just keeps snapping pictures!  I’m not a terrible mother, I promise – I just even find the sad faces ridiculously adorable.)

Am I right?!

Okay, now GO VOTE!

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Goodream Hunting

Who doesn’t love a little Goodwill treasure?  Check out the fun finds we scored for the Dream this week:

After realizing we’re rotating the same candlesticks over and over, these purdy white vases are part of a new effort to spruce up our centerpieces.

Our inspiration? The CABINET of fun rotating centerpieces over at Young House Love. We entertain at least once a week and finding different ways to group the same candles was just getting old. So, these beauties should help liven things up – all for $0.99 each.

And this box-thing is for the beh-beh’s room.

It’s a similar style to a dresser that we’re completely overhauling and making into a baby dresser/changing table. We plan to paint this to match and fill it with all sorts of necessary diapering accessories of which we have no idea what those are yet, but we’ve heard rumors about Desitin, Butt Paste, lotions, potions, and other randoms that must be contained in one spot. Best part? It was just $2.99.

So, the grand total for our Goodream excursion?

Wait? What? Zoom in a little closer…

Yep! Less than $5.00 thanks to those “pricey” vases being half-off for some reason (don’t they know we would have gladly paid another $1.50 to support the worthy cause that is Goodwill?!). We’re not complaining though!

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Happy Dreamday!

We can hardly believe our Dream is a year old!

Okay, that’s a lie.  She’s actually 23 years old.

But, she’s a year old to us.

Today, we celebrate ONE YEAR since we signed our lives away and got the keys to our Dream.  In honor of this special day, let’s look back on what we’ve accomplished in our first year:

Whew!  Now, we’re tired.  But, no rest for the weary!  We still have A LOT to do to make the Dream truly dreamy (including a tad more work on the landscaping, eh?  Hey, give us a break, the average temperature here right now is 104!).  Here are some of our future projects… which one do you think we should tackle first?:

We definitely have our work cut out for us.  Help us decide what to do next!

Thanks, hopefully we’ll get to all of these projects in year 2 of livin’ in the Dream.   But now, we’re off to eat cake and toast year #1!

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Dream Date

January 20, 2008

That’s our “dream date” — our wedding day.

Recently, we browsed through one of Mrs. Dreamer’s favorite stores – Anthropologie – and found something fun to commemorate that date:

01/20/08

These little spice jars called our name – especially when we saw they had our necessary number makeup.  But the PRICE made the purchase a no-brainer…

just $12 for the set! score!

We thought they’d be perfect on the window sill behind our dreamcet.

However, once we got them back to the Dream and pulled them out of their tissue paper – they seemed much more country-bumpkin than they did in-store.  Hmm… we are NOT knick-knack people and are now truly on the fence with these little numbers.  Sooooo…..

Can’t wait to see what you think.  BTW – We are working on that last point… trust us.  DIY landscaping, here we come (hopefully before the AZ summer hits!).

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McDreamy is at it again!

Like most foreclosed homes, ours came sans appliances.  Well, it did have “appliances” – that we’re pretty sure the bank found along the curb on bulk trash day and threw them in so the kitchen appeared “applianced.”  We were not fooled and promptly purchased new kitchen appliances.  However, there was one pesky “mini-appliance” that had to wait.  The garbage disposal.

Have you ever lived without a garbage disposal?  We don’t recommend it.  But, for the last five months, we’ve survived.  Not anymore.

Cue: McDreamy…

inspecting the first of many instruction sheets

a curious bulldog assesses the "before"

Here is where we get really vulnerable with you.  Our kitchen was a DISASTER throughout the duration of this project.  First up, the contents of our under-the-sink cabinet:

how does all this stuff fit under there anyway?!

After “prepping” the area, Mr. Dreamer went to work switching the pipes so the new garbage disposal could be under the right sink – something Mrs. Dreamer really wanted, but cannot explain why.

no pipes - just a gaping hole, but that's a good thing at this point

with a little more fanagling... amidst the mess...

the drain is switched! brilliant!

Now, we ready for it…

the holy grail of garbage disposals.

If you have to install one yourself – you might as well go for the gold.

which is exactly what McDreamy did!

and that's reason to celebrate. cheers!

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Open Dream Party

The host, hostess, and dog-host are rested.  The recycling and trash are gone.  The leftovers are put away.  The dishes are done (thanks to a great friend!).  The Open Dream Party was a success!

About 70 friends, co-workers, neighbors and family stopped by the Dream this weekend to make sure all of our “work” wasn’t just photo-shopped nonsense.  We had a great time giving personal tours (our “secret room” was quite the hit, but you’ll have to wait to hear about that on the blog), showing off what we’ve done so far, and just enjoying the company of people who love and support us.

Without further ado… some photos from the shin-dig…

mr. & mrs. dream ready to party!

The food and setup…

Our gorgeous guests…

this good lookin’ couple lives down the street… he also happens to be the pastor who married us! how lucky are we to have them as neighbors?

the cute couple responsible for most of these pictures (what hostess wants to play shutterbug all night?) thanks, c&b!

bowdoin did his share of entertaining as well

you have no idea how precious this photo is to us… our realtor and dear friend passed away (from a short and sudden battle with colon cancer) before he had a chance to see the dream… that’s his gorgeous and wonderful wife on the right… on the left, his partner that stood in for him and helped us seal our dream deal. we absolutely love these ladies and the impact they had on our lives at such a poignant time.

signing our "guest wall" -- more on that soon!

By the end of the night, two things were certain…

we had one thoroughly exhausted bulldog on our hands...

and our guests were incredibly generous!

Instead of housewarming gifts, we asked our guests to bring donations for two of our favorite charities — one that helps people and one that rescues puppies.  As you can see, our guests did not disappoint.  We are so grateful and thankful for their generosity!

In the end, it felt a lot like our wedding (a mere 20 months ago!)… we had a great time, but felt guilty not spending more time with each individual guest.  We had many half-conversations… several “Did you take so-and-so on a tour?” inquiries… and many “They were here?” moments post-party.  So, if we didn’t get to spend quality time with you, we are sorry – and we would love to have you come back!  After spending the remainder of the weekend on the couch watching golf, napping and going to other people’s homes for dinner – we probably have enough energy back to entertain you again!

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Dreamcet

There she sat, perched on the sink, neck extended in a mocking stare. Weathered and leaking… her taunting presence the topic of a few nightmares… her demise the topic for a few dreams.

this story's antagonist

Those dreams began morphing into reality during a three-hour mega trip to Home Depot. You may ask how spending three hours in Home Depot was dreamy? Well, in full disclosure, it was not. In an effort to get all of the necessary supplies for our extended DIY list (and take advantage of a 10 percent off coupon) we walked through every isle of the store. That plan proved futile and since, we’ve made nearly daily trips to the DIY Mecca.

one stood out from the rest

However, during that stroll we spotted her, our dreamcet, and the DIY wheels started churning. After researching prices on our iPhones, we passed on snatching her up at first glance. A survey of online prices found that we could save $80 by ordering her online (technology rocks!). Sorry, Home Depot…while you kicked your blue-clad competitor’s butt in pricing, you couldn’t compete with your online rivals.

ready to become part of the dream

Installing a new faucet is straightforward. However, removing an old faucet, one that has been leaking, thus rusting into place, for 10 plus years is a whole other beast. A basin wrench is a must as well as a great deal of patience. And remember…when finesse fails a little brute force with pipe wrench pliers is a great problem solver. And–FYI–remember to shut off the water lines before removal.

With the old nightmare removed, it was a breeze installing our dreamcet. Just tighten the mounting bolt and appropriately connect the hot and cold water lines.

installed and ready for action

The coup de grâce was adding the coordinating soap dispenser, again, courtesy of an online retailer ($56 savings).

the finishing touch

In recap:

1. Installing a new kitchen faucet is straightforward.
2. Removal of your existing faucet can be (is likely ;)) difficult. Don’t forget your brute force.
3. Conduct research if you want to score a deal on a faucet.

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kidreamtchin

The kitchen is done.  Happy dance time!

then

now

If you don’t count the new stainless steel appliances, we did the entire thing for about $700!  (But, we did score a great deal on the appliances by buying them all at the same time at a locally-owned store and scouring the scratch-n-dent room.)

As you can see, we “inherited” some not-so-dreamy aqua-turquoise-green-blue-gray (everyone that sees them sees a different color) counter tops.  We have grand plans for much further down the road to replace them, but that was not in the budget for now.  So, we embraced the green-blue-brightness by painting the cabinets white (Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams).  We also added some warmth to the walls with  Colony Buff (also by S.W.) – at 50% color in the kitchen, full color in the family room, which you’ll have to wait and see later (but if you squint really hard, you can peek from the dining room mirror.)

another angle on the kitchen

In addition to finishing the kitchen this weekend, we also finished the family room, guest bathroom, almost finished the guest bedroom, did some stuff in the living room/dining room (not priorities right now), spiffed up the front landscaping, cleaned up the backyard and hung some paintings, photos and mirrors.

it wasn't all pain-free

It’s been a BUSY DIY weekend around the Dream.  (Bummer, though, the sewing machine pulled a diva move, spattered, sputtered, and quit on us (hoochie).  So, we’re not sure we’ll have pillows in party-time… hmm…)  Anyway, this is about all the blog-energy we have left… but, our many projects promise to produce many a future post… here are some previews:

painting cabinets (a HUGE undertaking and one we are GLAD is done)

our dream was "born" before microwaves were common household appliances... which meant some creative woodworking to get this sucker in place

knobs & pulls are tricky things... best to call in the pro's... (thankfully, we have a connection...)

new faucet. installed. works great. no plumber bill!

are they box valances or cornice boards? you'll see in a future post... but the better question... can you spot the seams?

Alrighty.  That’s enough for now.  Just one parting shot of our kitchen with a fork firmly in place (she’s done!).

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Another’s Junk? A Dream Gem.

Out on our evening walk with the pup, we spotted it.  For weeks, we’ve been scouring Craig’s List for a bench.  A simple, dark wood, upholstered bench to fill up a bleak spot between our kitchen and family room.

And there she was.

In our neighbor’s yard, not near the trash can, not near the sidewalk.  Just sitting in the yard.  She was perfect!  Dark wood legs and sides with a seat that looked simple to reupholster (we’d never done that before, but what the heck?).

So, we rang the doorbell, introduced ourselves, and asked, “So… the bench in your front yard… is that lawn furniture?  Did you forget it was there?   Any chance you’re anxious to part with it?”  The answer was great news for new homeowners on a tight budget… “Oh, that’s yours if you want it.”  SCORE!  After chatting with the neighbors a little longer, watching them love on Bowdoin (what dog lover doesn’t love a good snuggle with a bulldog?!), and inviting them to our open house the following week… we snatched up that bench, cut our walk short, and embarked on a quick and EASY DIY project.

then

now!

The transformation literally took 30 minutes.  So fast, our pictures are a bit blurry…

we took a paint pen that we already had and touched up a few worn spots...

the seat was secured with four screws and super easy to remove...

the label we spotted when we flipped her over... nice!

We had already purchased two yards of blue fabric that matched our décor at a discount home fabric store.  (It was the end of the bolt, total cost = $6. ) The intention was to use the blue fabric for pillows, but this project only needed one yard – so there’s still plenty left over.

we stapled the fabric to the seat...

pulled it taught and maneuvered around the tricky corners...

Moments later…

we popped her back into place...

screwed her back in...

and… voila! A new to us gem!

This little spot isn’t quite done.  Soon, we’ll put DIY pillows atop the bench and adorn the wall… with… here’s a hint…

yep... we still have a lot of work to do!

Total cost = $3.  (That was the cost of the fabric we used, everything else we already had or was FREE!)

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