30 Things Before I'm 30

The last year has gone impossibly fast. And I'm sure the year to come will go just as fast as this last one has. Do you realize that it is almost September? In 2 months I will be 24. And with time going by as quickly as it has, the next 6 years will zoom by as well. So, I have started one of those Lists. Not a Bucket List, per say. Honestly, I don't even like to say "Bucket List." I don't like the way it sounds coming out of my mouth. It is a strange combination of words, in my opinion. But anyway. I have started a list. To finish before I am 30. I think that if I cap it before....say....death...I may actually do them. And do them in a timely manner. So, here it is. The list of 30 Things Before I'm 30.

1) Take a road trip on Rt. 66

2) Go to a farmer's market/flea market

3) Spend a Christmas in New Mexico

4) Visit different places of worship: Buddhist temple, muslim mosque, jewish synagogue, etc.

5) Drink nothing but water for a whole month

6) Complete “Couch to 5K”

7) Fast once a month for a year

8) Make a time capsule

9) Do an herbal detox for two weeks

10) Take a dance class

11) Get a massage

12) Learn basic sign language

13) Read at least 3 banned books a year

14) Learn all 50 states, their capitols, and where they are on a map (I used to know this!)

15) Read 10 of Time Magazine’s top 100 books

16) Watch 10 “Independent Spirit Award” best documentaries, winners or nominees

17) Watch 10 “Independent Spirit Award” best films, winners or nominees

18) Watch 10 of IMDB’s top 250 movies

19) Acquire 10 of my childhood favorite movies

20) Hit the road and travel wherever it takes me for a weekend

21) Treat myself to a weekend at a B&B

22) Write a cookbook of my favorite recipes

23) Create and use a master grocery list

24) Have a candlelit dinner

25) Make a completed family tree

26) For every item I complete, put 100 dollars into savings

27) Put up a clothesline

28) Make my own organic cleaning supplies

29) Get a henna tattoo

30) Ride in a hot air balloon

The First Step is Admitting I Have a Problem

So, I have a confession to make. I am addicted to painting furniture. It's not incredibly serious, but I know that I need to take action over this, before it overcomes me. I don't know what it is, but if I don't like the finish of wood furniture, I am instantly thinking about what color I could be painting it. It's usually dressers and chairs, mostly. This isn't always such a problem to have painted furniture...but what if one day all I have is a house entirely made up of box of crayon-colored furniture and all I want is dark wood? I know that I am way too lazy to strip and sand off the paint in all the little crevices and get it back to bare wood. I don't have the "get up and go" enough to do that. So... I will simply try to curb my addiction to painting furniture and lust after these be.a.u.tiful pieces.

Stealin' wifi from IHOP!

Well, we are all moved in. It was a trial. It still is. Blending two homes together in a small space isn’t as easy as you’d think. And right now the house is literally a cave of boxes, appliances, and painting supplies. It is a crazy, organized mess. And by organized, I mean “I remembered to label about half the moving boxes as I packed them, so I know where about half my things are and that makes me organized, right?” However, it is getting better every day.

In just the last week alone, we:

· Painted the kitchen

· Installed kitchen tile

· Moved the kitchen appliances out of the living room and into the kitchen (what a concept!)

· Hooked up the gas lines for the stove

· Hooked up the water for the refrigerator

· Got a free dishwasher (that matches the other appliances! Eeee!)

· Got the bedroom somewhat organized

· Unpacked three boxes

Ha! Three boxes is all we have unpacked. Oh well. We’ve got other stuff going on right now – like finishing everything else. Every night I lie in bed with the ceiling fan (which Alan installed for me) above me and think about how much I love that house. The bedroom is so pretty with its freshly painted walls. It is so incredibly fantastic. We have put so much love into the home, which inspires me so much to see what we’ve done with our own two hands (sometimes 4, 6, and 8 hands helping).

Unfortunately, I packed my camera away in the haste of packing the apartment, and haven’t been able to take any photos of the progress the house has taken. I will find it soon, and post some. I know you’re dying to see.

Packin' Up!

Today is packing day. Groan. If I can actually pull myself out of my comfy bed, I have to get everything in boxes today, and call the movers in on Wednesday. That's right, we'll be moving into our home this week! Woah! What's that you ask? You mean the kitchen is done, and the house is ready to have inhabitants?? No, of course not! There's not even a sink in the bathroom right now. My lease is up this week, and the house is livable - livable as in "we will be living there, and finishing everything up in a crazy rush not to have to stoop to washing dishes in the bathtub." We are entering into what a lot of home remodelers have done time and time again, which is living around the destruction zone that was once a home. This should be an interesting and tiring next few weeks.

But, in other news, yesterday was the best work day we have had yet. My mom has been coming over on her days off to help us finish things up. Yesterday we finished getting the beadboard up on the kitchen ceiling and filled in all the seams and nail holes, primed the bedroom for painting, and refinished the bathtub (something I will post about later). It was an extremely busy day with lots of hard work and lots of noxious fumes from the tub paint. But, we will have a nice home soon. It is getting exciting.

Ingredients in the Recipe for a DIY Kitchen

Our kitchen has had many design changes over the last few months, with me running through design blogs and magazines and TONS of books from the library for inspiration. I think that I have taken everything into account for the kitchen, and here are some pictures that I have saved from various blogs that piece together bits for the kitchen. Try to imagine it all together...if you can.

Here is the wall color. The ceiling will be a white beadboard, with a raw sweet potato color on all the walls.

The flooring will be a classic white and black checkered tile.

The backsplash I have finally decided on. It will be a white subway tile with the grout gapping just like these. I was uncertain about how to do the backsplash until I saw this kitchen. I practically squealed when I saw the spacing in this tile. I am fairly obsessed with this tiniest aspect.

The kitchen countertops!!! They will be made out of recycled bowling alley lane! Are you as excited as I am???

The cabinetry will be a teal/aqua blue like these to go with the sweet potato colored walls.
Btw, this is the kitchen of one, Ms. Julia Child!!! It is now in the Smithsonian. Isn't it amazing? I would kill for the space to have a pegboard pot rack!

There will be white, open shelving like this along the wall above the sink.
A much smaller version of this lighting will be made for the pendant lamp that will hang over the kitchen table. I posted this in a previous blog, but incase you didn't see it...this is made out of old eyeglass lenses. I cannot wait to have this finished and up!

So there it is! Or atleast, pieces of it. Our kitchen will one day (hopefully soon) be finished, and a place where we can hang out and eat and eat and eat (we do that well. alittle too well). We cannot wait!

*Sidenote: This is something we are over the moon excited about, but...our kitchen will be kosher. Being vegetarians, we are so incredibly excited to have a kitchen where meat was never cooked. Since we have replaced the walls, ceilings, stove, refrigerator, etc....it will be a space where meat has never been. Again, over the moon excited!