Thursday, December 18, 2008

Santa came early for us...

Santa brought the gifts we bought on black Friday this week. Ho ho ho!







Ferris only looks dead, he's mostly depressed still.

The new chair futon for the den:

Chair position





Lounger




Single bed (AKA my brother Jon's bed when in town)



Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Marisa & Steve Economic Stimulus Plan

Who knows what Paulson is doing to turn this economy around with the $700B bailout, not much from what I can tell* (seriously..$700B?!?! no plans, no questions asked, no nothing, and so far, no results. And Detroit Inc., which employs something like 1 out of every 10 Americans, has to beg for $14B in LOANS?!? ...but I grew up in the Detroit subburbs so maybe I'm biased. And don't get me wrong, I know the US auto makers have made some really stupid decisions).

Enough about Washington, this isn't a political blog afterall. Let me tell you about the Marisa & Steve Economic Stimulus Plan....SHOP TILL YOU DROP!! All of my training and experience was attained from world-renowned shopper, Mo V...my mom. As mentioned way back when, we didn't have much "grown-up" furniture before and we ditched the crappy stuff we'd been moving around rather than move it again. So we have a house to outfit! So far benefitting from the M&S Econ Stimulous Plan have been: Fells Point Futon, Lowes, Kohls, JC Penny, Sears, Macy's, and HomeDecorators.com (which appears to be owned by Home Depot).

Steve worked from home this afternoon to wait for delivery of our bed:



And washer-dryer

Closed:


Open!:


Next week, the couch arrives!!
We've also purchased a desk, a multi-functional-futon-chair-thing (aka, a grown-up version of a flip-and-fuck), lots of paint and supplies, and 2 comforters! Pictures when we get to it!


*we may have actually benefitted from the 'bailout'...more on that later.

You've Got no Mail


During my hellacious commute home tonight (2 hours!! grrr), I found myself thinking back on the past 5 months. And I realized one thing we never mentioned on here....the mail.

Mail is always an issue with city living. Packages can't be left on the stoop for fear of theft and not much more than a large envelope can fit through the slot. The Sunday paper is a stretch. Thankfully, most will leave packages with neighbors if they find someone at home, otherwise you have to go pick them up, which is a pain in the ass. (our neighbor two doors down, who teaches kindergarten, accepts a lot of packages during the summers!! We have the best block!)

Anyway, we faced new mail issues during the renovation...there was a period of several weeks during which the new door was in but the mail slot hadn't been cut yet. Sometimes the mailperson would catch JD and leave it with him but for the most part, nada (luckily most of our bills are paid online!). Mail is definitely something we take for granted and mailpeople in the city have to be some of the hardest working people around!

And if you haven't noticed, we have yet to reveal the new front door on here. It's in and looks fab but we figured it all started with the front door, it should end with the front door as well.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Goofing off and other great finds...

In our move back in we found fun stuff like Ferris' reindeer headband







Ice skating with friends







Meat vendor at Farmers Market had a 30% off sale

Friday, December 5, 2008

Chiming in

It’s been a while since I’ve said anything on here lately so I thought I’d better chime in and give you my perspective on recent events.

First of all, when describing the “Wall of Death,” Steve failed to mention the fact that I’m afraid of heights! The staircase makes a 90 degree turn right by the wall of death so the stairs are triangular there making it difficult to fit both legs of a ladder. Plus, we didn’t know where the studs were and I didn’t want too much weight against the drywall, so I didn’t want too much pitch. As I climbed the ladder, I thought to myself “this is really stupid. This is how people break their legs or their back.” Steve must have had the same thought cause his question to me was “is your life insurance policy paid up?” The first several trips up the ladder with a brush or roller in my hand were nerve-wracking. My legs were totally shaking! But then I got more confidant and much more comfortable.

Secondly, some of you may have already guessed this, but the reason I’m the only one in any of the painting photos is because I was the only one painting much of the time!! But Steve is a hell of a taper. I hate taping. If he didn’t do it, I would just eyeball it and cut in.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Lights or Art?

Our weekend of painting did not prove to be as nearly as successful as we wanted. I had envisioned the entire house painted by Sunday evening. Instead we settled for "The Wall", the chifarobe wall, and the den. Not quite the whole house but still it was progress.

A finished view of the chifarobe wall:



The "squatters" quarters we are inhabiting with pets and laundry:



Marisa in action, notice there are no pictures of me? Someone is a camera hog:



Monday night, Steve Baker from Wholly Terra, the man responsible for our bottle lights in our kitchen, agreed to make three sconces, the master bathroom sconce, and a sculptural light piece for "The Wall". Steve does a lot with glass and metal out of his studio in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore. We knew when it came to adding our personal touch to this project, we would do it through Steve's studio, and we were excited to see what he had designed for the house. After some nerve-racking installation maneuvers on "The Wall", he had everything in place and working. Great job Steve!

Chifarobe sconces:





The third floor landing sconce:



Master bathroom sconce (it looks odd not having a mirror yet, but that is on the list of things to get asap:





And the coolest, the sculpture. This measures 4 feet + in height, and roughly 32 inches in width. Steve designed this to flow upwards from the light source and actually "pull" off the wall. Here are some pics both at night and in daylight.