Whistle Stop & Re-claiming the Flag

We took a break from painting and organizing this weekend to take part in the Obama Inaugural Whistle Stop Tour. We didn't want to miss out on this opportunity so we, along with our neighbor Kelly and her family, and my cousin Philip headed downtown early and spent a very cold 5 hours waiting for Obama to arrive. It was another 2 hours after his arrival before we were warm again but every one of us agreed it was worth it!







We decided we had enough of standing around in the cold on Saturday and we really couldn't top our view or experience so we stayed home in Baltimore and watched the inaugural activities from the warmth of Kelly's house with her and her family. To celebrate the inauguration of Barak Obama, we hung American Flags on our house and Kelly's house. We've had our flag for a couple of years now but just didn't feel motivated to display it until now.

Getting there...

It really is finally feeling like home. Each week, we are making progress with our painting, furnishing, and general organization of the house. The posts have slowed down a bit, but there's plenty more to show so keep stopping by.

The new master bedroom his/her closet walk thru



Master bathroom with mirror



Guest bathroom (still needs a shower curtain)



The den



The new 2nd floor hallway leading to the den, guest bathroom, and guest bedroom



Best of all, this Saturday Marisa and I are heading to Baltimore's City Hall to see President-elect Obama give a whistle stop speech enroute to DC. What a coup if I could convince him that living in Baltimore is not only better, but more affordable. Ok, I'll get off the work soap box.

Happy New Year 2009

Marisa and I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on 2008 and ready ourselves for 2009. We were fortunate to have had a very good year in 2008, not only in our respective careers, but also our health, our community, and our families.

To celebrate, we thought today was a great time to introduce our beautiful NEW FRONT DOOR. For those of you reading who are not in Baltimore, the door has been installed since September and painted in October. We still have some work going on in the house, and we will continue to highlight those efforts here.

It all started with the door.

The Old Front Door



Our New Front Door!



Happy New Year!

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)

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.

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