Mr. Johnson

This past weekend was crazy busy with my sister Nini coming into town. We kicked things off with a Jack Johnson show on Friday. The whole experience almost took a turn for the worse when we got to the gate and realized that instead of having two concert tickets, we had a ticket and a receipt. I took off the wrong stinking piece of paper! Thankfully the concert-goers behind us had an extra and gave it to us. Saved by the strangers! The show started right when we walked in, so we were quick to find our spot on the lawn...surrounded by the smell of...as Nini described...burning icing, burning trash, fruit and Spencers and drunk middle aged people grinding on each other. hum. Next up, rain. Not just a little rain, I'm talking torrential downpour...with zero umbrellas. I came prepared and splashed around in my rainboots, but Nini got stuck in some mud in her flippy floppies. Even with all of the rain, we still danced and sang along at the top of our lungs.



Jack Johnson made it rain...on dem hoes. ha. Love.

Outlet Time

This weekend I decided to get started on my outlets. My exacto knife is currently on loan, so at first I tried an old steak knife to make the hole larger. Burrt! Didn't get anywhere with it, so after a little bit of thought I decided to use my Dremel tool with the cutting attachment.


The smart thing to do is to turn the power off, especially with the potential of metal touching one of wires and getting shocked...I mean hello, you don't stick forks in the toaster. If I cut the electricity, I wouldn't be able to see since the light is connected to the same breaker, so I took my chances and worked very slow and steady.

This was the beginning of the carving. I needed to cut away all of the bead board that was covering up the "mickey mouse ears" of the outlets..basically the upper and lower portions of the outlet where you put the anchor screws. This picture shows the anchor screws on the lower portion of the outlet.


This picture shows the amount I had to carve from the upper portion to reveal the anchor screws. Looks rough, but it will be covered with the outlet switch once the switches are moved outwards.


This picture shows the desired outcome. The original anchor screws have been removed on the switch on the right and by doing so, it allowed the switch to be brought outwards and become flush with the bead boarding. The outlet on the left is the original position of the switch...far too recessed into the wall. Next step is to get longer screws to hold the switches into the new position.


This task also had to be conducted on the electrical outlet.


Next steps, get my tools back, remove old anchor screws and replace with longer screws.

Yay for not getting electrocuted!

Love.

What's New?

So what's new?

The bathroom is still under construction, although manageable. I was waiting on my parents to come down to Georgia to help me finish the mess I created, but their travel dates keep getting pushed further and further out. I've decided to try and do some little things before their arrival. The first task is to cut out a bigger hole around the outlets and bring the outlets out so they're flush against the bead board and NOT the drywall. A friend at work showed me a trick to move the "mickey mouse ears" of the outlet out instead of having to move the whole electrical box out. I'll take a lot of pictures this weekend when I start. Second task to do is put up the trim around the top of the bead board. Right now its a rigid, crooked, brown line across the whole bathroom...a bit of a mess, but it will be hidden under the trim. My friend Sean at work let me borrow his nail gun and compressor, so cross your fingers that the nails go into the trim and not my hand :)

My sister Nini comes into town on the 20th, so I may recruit her to help. Heck! She helped me start this mess, she should help me finish too!

Going to be a busy month.

Love.

So I've had a little set back...No Mam!

I say that you haven't had a conversation with me unless you know my dogs name. Originally she carried the name Sparkle, but that immediately had to change and for the past 2 years answers to Lola, Lo, Lolita, Kitten and Poodle. This night, her name was NAUGHTY!

I typically allow her to roam the house after I get home from work because I feel bad about her being cooped up in her kennel all day. A friend called and suggested we to head to Taco Mac to grab a beer and I didn't think twice. I left Lola alone and free in the condo so she could play with all of her babies, lay on the couch, watch tv, do whatever a sweet pup does when alone. She's been alone multiple times alone and the worst thing she's done was chew furniture, but I thought we were way past that. I was out having a great time thinking she was at home doing the same. Burrrrt! 11:30p rolled around and it was time to head home. I walked into the house and saw Lola sitting on the couch...pretty typical...looked around and found a startling discovery....the bathroom had two colors of paint swirled around the floor...two gallons of paint...all...over...the...floor. Not to mention paw prints all over my wood floors, rugs and couch. I immediately called my mom to ask for advice on how to get this mess up (not even thinking about the time, which was by now midnight). She calmly and sleepily said, "Amy, what do you do to clean your paint brushes?" I replied, "Rinse them." She said "Exactly." Problem solved? Not so much. I'm sure it was quite a sight to see; me on my knees, frantically scooping cup fulls of paint off the floor and dumping them back into the gallon paint containers. The lids of the paint weren't on completely because I was still painting in the room. arg! The cleaning process was an absolute mess and the floors still have small remnants of paint here and there. I got the majority of it up using a small razor blade and paw print by print they scraped off.

A few lessons learned here:

1. When I leave the house, put Lola in her kennel. Always.

2. Even when not completely finished with paint, put the gallons in a safe place and put the lid on!

Love.

Beadboard Up!

The next day I got to put all of my new toys to use and started cutting all of the beadboard. Luckily the weather was beautiful, so I took the project outside. The neighbors may have been mad at me for starting so early, but I was ready to get it done. I made some measurements and started cutting, using my patio table as a bench. I had to go back and forth a few times making additional measurements, but overall it was a pretty easy process and I only made 2 gouges in my table! The struggle came when I had to cut out the holes for the outlets and around the toilet. Eventually it came together.

After I got all of the pieces cut I installed them by adding "hard as nails" on wall, then sliding the board into position. The biggest struggle was attempting to make the corners match up at the same height. What do you think?

More to come. Love.

The Bathroom Saga Continues

After sanding all of the walls, it was time to paint. I figured it would look good to lighten the room and painted the walls the same color as the walls in the living room and kitchen...may help with the flow of the rooms and make the place seem a little larger, so that's what I did. I added a coat of primer first, then followed through with Lowes Valspar Paint in Homestead Resort Cream. Afterwards I taped off the ceiling lines and primed and painted it a bright fresh white. It looks a lot better than having the metallic pewter color.
It started to look pretty good, but I wanted to add a little personal flair to the bathroom and decided to go with beard boarding. I went to Lowes to get some advice and to get the sheets of bead boad (pressed board with a striped pattern) and to use the gift card I got for Christmas that's been burning a hole in my pocket since I got it. I game my dimensions to the guy at Lowes and he looked at me like I didn't have a clue. So my math's not the best, but come on and help a sister out! Finally a lady came around the corner (wish I caught her name) and she came to the rescue. I purchased 2 sheets of the bead board, had them cut down there, trim, finishing nails and a jigsaw. It made for an interesting ride home...Friday night, cruising on Peachtree Rd., convertible top down with sheets of bead board hanging out of the top. Looked something like Sanford and Son...literally people were laughing at me. Took a while unloading and getting it into the house, but was psyched to get started with the installation the next morning. Till next time. Love.

The Neverending Bathroom Project

Ok, so its been a while since the last post and I've learned many renovation lessons.

Again, whenever working with/or around electricity, make sure the breaker is OFF! Another note, pay attention to the wires! When Whitney and I removed the giant mirror, we had to remove the light fixture that went through the mirror. We did the right thing and figured out and cut the breaker that went to the light and removed the fixture without problem. When I cut the breaker back on, we heard a loud pop and saw fireworks. eeks! I didn't put caps on the ends of the wires and the live wire made contact with metal and kaboom! No injuries or fires...phew.

After the daunting mirror removal came the time to start patching those horrendous black mastic spots. I've filled holes before so I didn't expect to have any problems. I started out with joint compound and a paddle, working the compound slowly and carefully into the spots. Even, thin layers, not too much added at a time...nice and easy and giving it time to dry between layers.

After it dried, I started sanding and noticed that there were bubbles where I applied the compound. I started picking at it with my scissor blade and it was where the cardboard of the drywall was wet from the compound and allowed air into it. So now I had to cut that area down to the actual drywall removing all of the paper and cardboard and redo the whole thing. In the end I ended up drywalling almost the entire wall, and not just that one, but because of all of the textured paint on the other walls, I drywalled the entire bathroom! I think I got carpel tunnel from all of the sanding I had to do afterwards, not to mention all of the dust I inhaled. My poor sinus system. Note to self: next time use a dust mask!

Old Becomes New Again

This post is long overdue as was this project.

Ever since I've moved into my condo there have been two major things on my hit list, the bathroom and kitchen. I've been procrastinating on doing anything with them until a few weeks ago when my sister came to town. We spent some good Sunday Funday quality time wandering around IKEA then when we got back home Whitney said, "When are we going to take the mirror down?" The mirror? You mean the giant bathroom mirror that gives me flashbacks of 1987? How in the world would we get the thing off of the wall?

So Whitney and I manned up and did everything I was taught in basic hand tool safety class not to do! Screwdrivers as prybars? Check. Sunglasses as safety glasses? Check. Not having a clue on what we were doing? Double check.

We pried and pulled without getting anywhere, then out of frustration I brought out the hammer thinking if we couldn't get it off in one piece, why not multiple pieces? To prevent shattering, we put painters tape on the mirror around the edges and then ran it diagonally over the entire thing. I smacked it once with the hammer and a perfect mirror circle popped out. I put the hammer down and tried to put some weight into it once more and sure enough the entire corner came unglued. With Whitney's help and a little more wiggling we finally got the whole thing off in one piece, minus the perfect hammered circle.

To my disgust behind the mirror was not my perfect wall, but instead a mass of divots, black tacky mastic/glue and pencil marks. What was I going to do? Whitney was leaving the next day and I'd be home alone (well not exactly alone, Lola's still here, but unfortunately home improvement isn't her forte) to tackle this project all by myself. Heeeelp Home Depot! www.homedepot.com

Home Sweet Home

It was the amazing deck that I fell in love with when I bought my little city condo. I somehow went without noticing the stained carpet, poorly insulated windows and overlooked the dated kitchen and bathroom...yea the deck is that good. I've done my fair share of painting, hanging frames and shelves and little electrical and plumbing projects over the past year. Here's a little history of what's been done thus far.

I had my wood floors put in last year, hand scraped elm in "desert". Initially it was only supposed to be installed in the living room and kitchen leaving the bedroom carpet but Miss Lola had a different idea. While I was at work one day she decided she wanted to chew through a fluorescent green paint pen leaving a giant stain on the bedroom carpet. It had to go. Woody (real name, no joke) and his team showed up and installed the floor everywhere except the bathroom. It definitely spruced up the place, but also made me more aware of how cold the floors can be. I just have to keep a pair of slippers handy and maybe an extra pair of socks.
Here's Lola modeling the new floor.

Since the floor I've installed a new electronic thermostat and new pretty outside deck light. Although some people may might find the task a little daunting, it was merely a matter of connecting a few wires. Seriously, you can do it, just follow the directions and make sure you turn off the circuit breaker to whatever you're working on and double check to make sure you've turned off the correct one. If there's no electricity flowing, you can work safely. Here are the before and after shots:


I also fixed a leaky bathtub faucet, thanks youtube.com! and have had to clean all of the screens in my faucets and toilet. With those tasks the key is knowing how to turn your main water lines on and off. The screens were really easy with just disassembling the faucet, cleaning out the grit, sand and dirt, then reconnecting it again. With the bathtub faucet it was a little more complicated, but still fairly easy to do with the assistance of youtube.

Now the time has come to fix up the old, textured-walled, mirror from wall to wall bathroom. I'll post more later this week.

Love.

St Louis or Bust!

Ahh the final night of my two week escapade to the land of the arch, St. Louis, MO. Ready to be back in Hotlanta! Not my first trip to STL, but it was the first trip where I was able to create my own agenda outside of work.

When I arrived, the second I checked into my hotel I bolted down to the Gateway Arch, which is an official national historic landmark representing westward expansion. It stands at 630 ft tall and was completed back in 1965. Man, don't I sound smart! Thanks Wikipedia! As paid my $10 ticket fee and began working my way towards the entrance my palms began to sweat (not sure if it was from the anxiety and nervousness of thinking about sitting in this tiny pod and slowly and rickety making the climb to the top or if I really need to hit the gym b/c the walk to the arch was too much exercise for me...I'm thinking the former). These pods are seriously small by the way...it was difficult enough stuffing 2 tall people into the thing much less a fat American a family of 4! Makes me wonder if there's a weight restriction! The view from the top was amazing to say the least. On one side you can see all of downtown St Louis from above and on the other side the great Missip' river. Very cool experience and highly recommend to all, unless you get really claustrophobic!

View from the top looking straight down. eeks!

My next free day I was able to take a tour of Anheuser Busch, again something I've always wanted to do but never had the opportunity. This place is something serious. Between the giant kettles of brew to the fancy chandeliers and giant murals in the tank room, it definitely had some elegant German influence. The architecture details inside and out of the buildings was insane! Its just a brewery for Pete's sake!
Away I go back to the A. Love.

My First Blog

Taaada! I've finally got on the band wagon with this whole blogger thing. Hum now what to blog about. I'm going to use this to talk about special projects, different happenings in my life, my serious obsession with cupcakes and of course the sassiest member of my life, my Pooch Princess Lola.


This past weekend I had to leave my showgirl with my sister in North Carolina while I do some traveling over the next few weeks. Before I left Nini and I packed up the pups and headed to the beach. I didn't quite know how Lola would handle the sand and surf, but you can see for yourself:



Yet another reason why I need to move closer to the coast. She loved it!

Also on this awakening trip I found the most glorious thing to come in a cup...

Get ready...Wait for it...Wait for it...

CUPCAKE MILKSHAKES! Fully equipped with frosting and sprinkles! Apparently they've been out since November so why/how am I just finding this out?! I don't know but it's as delicious as it sounds...

Now off to the Great Midwest. More to report once this week is over. Love.