Hip to be square

I am terrible at checking out my friends' projects and copying them. Jen posted about her new Noro obsession that Jenna got her hooked on. I saw it and immediately thought it would be the perfect traveling/commuting project. Basically, it's the Log Cabin squares, knit with different skeins of Noro Kureyon. It's great b/c you never know what color combinations you are going to get. I started this last Friday and now have 4 squares finished.

I will say, it does help that I had a 2 hour flight on Sunday and I've been in 2 days straight of CLE on bankruptcy. It's all I can do to stay awake and follow what's going on. Especially when they are talking about chapters (i.e., chapter 13) I don't work on.

Then, I've been participating in an afghan square swap with the Friends of P folks on Ravelry. These are the last 2 squares I made for my pals.

Pals are making me squares and I'm supposed to make some for myself, so we'll see what happens and whether I actually finish (or start) that project.

House Update

In the past few weeks, I've begun to settle into my house. Marissa made me this beautiful drawing of my rowhouse to use as my new address cards. I'll eventually have it framed and hang it in my house.



I moved my stuff in and am now wondering how it's all going to fit! This is just the tip of the iceberg before the boxes were unloaded from the truck. Boy is my couch big!


I then went to IKEA and got some stuff to better utilize my kitchen cabinets, including this carousel for the corner cabinet and this pull-out shelf for the deep corner cabinet.

My friend Jason moved the wardrobes around that were left behind and attached them to the walls in my bedroom and in the office, blocking the door b/w the two rooms. This is helping to maximize space.

I then went back to IKEA and got shelves and drawers to put into the wardrobes so I could finally begin to unpack. I still have to put stuff in the other closet, but for now, here's how 1 wardrobe looks in my bedroom. (it now is filled w/ clothes)

It turns out that the wardrobe in the office is perfect for storing my craft (aka, knitting) supplies. It's not nearly as deep as the bedroom wardrobes, so not as functional for clothes. But, for knitting, it's perfect. I need to go back and get some more of the sectional shelves and maybe another drawer before it's finished. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep the books in there or if I'm going to move the bookshelf in there.

I think I've managed to unpack about 20 of the 75+ boxes I packed. I have a long way to go . . .

New additions

Tomorrow is D-day. The movers are coming and clearing out my apartment and I'm finally moving into my new house! I've been taking a few things over this past week (mainly plants and perishisbles), but 2 main things arrived today to really make it feel like it's my place.

First, my bedroom furniture arrived this morning. The delivery men set it up and I'm really excited about it. Wish I could sleep in my new bed tonight, but I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow night -- my first night in the house.


The second new addition, are the window treatments. Until now, every time I've been at the house, folks have been able to see in and see what I'm doing. Now, I've got privacy! I had cellular blinds installed in the living room. Instead of getting the basic set up, I opted to add the feature allowing you to drop the blinds down from the top. This will provide light, while also providing privacy when I want it.

Upstairs, I had basic mini-blinds installed. I didn't want to go too crazy. If I really want something different than the white mini-blinds, I can change it in the future. For now, they are just fine.

The best is that all of my windows are deep enough to allow for the blinds to be set inside the window frames as opposed to the outside like my parents had to do at their house.

I spent the rest of the day putting together storage shelves in the basement, but have to go back to IKEA b/c I forgot a couple parts that I need for the shelves. Duh.

I'm offline for the next few days until my cable/internet are installed. I'll post photos once I'm back online.

October 13th

October 13th is a big day in my family. Not only is it my birthday, but my Dad and Uncle Eddie were born that day. To top that off, my sister married my brother-in-law that day -- my 30th birthday.

My Dad and I try to celebrate together every year. This year, my sister, BIL, and nieces drove up this year to celebrate with us since it is my Dad's 65th birthday. We didn't go all out, but instead had a very nice dinner.

The birthday boy and girl

I don't know if you can see the vest my Dad is wearing, but that's the vest I made him for his birthday. Not bad.

Family picture

The sibs

It was a quick trip to North Jersey b/c I had to run back and continue to pack (that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now). I stopped off at Bed, Bath & Beyond to get new dishes (1 less thing to pack), new sheets, and other odds and ends. I then stopped at Home Depot to pick up my first set of flowers (mums) for the house. I hope they don't freeze tonight. Later, I went back to IKEA and picked up storage shelves and other stuff for the kitchen. There's still tons more to get and do, but for now, I think this will hold me off for a couple weeks!

I probably should go to bed now. I have to be up early for the handyman who is coming to hook my refrigerator up to the water line. I will have my very own ice maker for the first time. How nice.

Progress?

I swear, I feel like I'm not getting anywhere w/ my packing. Drawers and cabinets have been emptied, but my place is still not packed! I am down to my last 4 boxes from Sherry and 3 boxes from Foodies. I used up all those awesome boxes Melissa and I found on the street in front of Ye Olde Cleaners. If only I could find them again! I refuse to pay money for boxes this time around. I already went thru a jumbo-sized roll of bubble wrap and need more.

As much as I'm looking forward to seeing the family tomorrow and celebrating my birthday and my dad's birthday tomorrow, I need time!!!!!!! Thank god Monday is a holiday.

Totals so far:

45+ boxes
5 plastic drawers
5 plastic bins of various sizes
7 suitcases of varying sizes (all expanded to their maximum)

It seems like there's no end in sight!

Just a spoonful of color

A lot has happened since I last posted, including the closing on my new house last week! I'm very excited and now trying to pace myself w/ all of the things I want to do and need to get.

First thing I tackled was to find a painter and paint the rooms upstairs. The rooms were either a light yellow or a deeper goldenrod color. Yes, they were bright, but I am not a yellow person. So, that meant that I needed to paint the rooms. My painter has finished the rooms and is now tackling the trim in the entire house. The rooms look so good, that I was almost tempted to also paint the guest room, but decided that's the one room I won't be in so it's ok to keep it the light yellow.

Next, I spent many hours in Ikea and Lowes scoping things out and picking up stuff for the house. I also got the new fridge and need to hire someone to hook up the water line to the fridge so I can use the ice maker and water dispenser. The wonderful handyman who is painting my walls can mount my tv to the wall, but doesn't feel comfortable doing the water line, so I'm waiting to hear back from someone on that job.

Tonight I ran home and took some quick pictures of the paint job so far. They aren't the most accurate pictures since they are at night, but they'll have to do for now. I'll post more pictures over the weekend.

Here's my bathroom. I used Benjamin Moore's Pale Almond. It came out really well.

My bedroom has a little more color to it b/c I wanted it to coordinate w/ my duvet cover. I'm still a little nervous about how it will look w/ my new bedroom furniture and the cream leather headboard, but I think it should be ok. Worse comes to worse: I paint it again. Anyway, I like how it turned out so far. It's Benjamin Moore's Pebble Beach.


Finally, I also painted the office since I'll be in there a lot and it was more of a goldenrod than a pale yellow. I think I could have survived w/ pale yellow, but the goldenrod just did not do it for me. Then again, I don't seem to mind it in the kitchen . . . Anyway, I had no clue what color to use and settled on a dusty mauvish purple color called Frosted Toffee. It's hard to tell how it looks w/ the lighting at night. One picture looks more neutral and the other looks more pinkish, so who knows. Still, it's way better than goldenrod. I think this color would look good w/ dark wood-stained furniture. I'll think about it when I update my office furniture in the future.

Now, I just need to set up cable, get the window treatments installed, set up shelving for storage in the basement, and pack. Moving day is a week from Friday!!!!!