Making It Home

Not sure how much I’ve mentioned but up until these past couple of weeks we booked…

The Venue (Lake Valhalla Club)

The Photographer (Stephen Govel… http://www.stephengovel.com/)

The makeup artist

And most recently, we also booked..

the DJ! (PJ at Unforgettable DJs)

and purchased…

MY WEDDING GOWN!  Which I can’t show pictures of but it is amazing.  We went to Angel Bridal, which I highly recommend for any bride in or around Staten Island.  An old, welcoming Italian family… where three generations are there to help you choose a dress, give advice, and basically make you feel like you’re in their family.  I loved it.  I chose the third dress I tried on.

BRIDESMAID DRESSES!  We tried to get them at Angel Bridal, and kind of wish we still did, but we ended up going to Always a Bridesmaid in Tottenville.

I went with the pewter color, a pretty gray that I hope will match Lake Valhalla Club!

Kim went to get sized a week later and they made her try on the dress.  She called me up saying that she thinks they had the wrong dress!  She tried on an ugly yellow dress  made by the same designer.  After some googling, I realized they wrote down the wrong model number.  I went back to the store to pick out the right dress and reassess my color choice.  🙂

I ended up sticking with my gut instinct with the pewter, although I considered terracotta (orange!), cranberry and lilac.

Finally, the flower girl dress was purchased!  Kim and Adam were in JCPenney and ran into some Easter dresses.  A few texts later, and Leah’s outfit is done!

The most immediate next steps are ordering save the dates, booking a make up practice date, and blocking rooms at the Hyatt in Morristown for out-of town guests.  Also… on Dave’s to-do list… grooms and groomsmen suits and the honeymoon!

Down under meaning the basement.  The last couple of months, our lowest level (which contains our gym, garage, and engine of the house) has given us a few problems!

First, one bitter cold morning, we woke up to freezing temperatures and ice cold radiators.  For some reason, the furnace was off.  And not willing to turn back on.

About 12 frostbitten hours later, PSE&G showed up.  The repairman, who was probably younger than me, worked down there for about 20 minutes and the heat came back on.  His explanation – a little dirt on the automatic igniter.

However, not a week later, same thing happened.  This time, Dave went in there himself and fixed it.  His remedy?  “I just jiggled it a little.”  Worrisome answer but we have not had a problem since!

Next, we were getting a little tired of the hard water in the house.  It was clogging up the furnace and plumbing.  It was time for a change.  Our trusty plumber Dan came over to hook up the water softener that was left by the previous owners.  However, he determined the softener was no good and needed a replacement.  We all went to Home Depot the same day and got a new softener.  Fancy!

Because water softeners work by adding salt to the water, we then had to install a water filter at our kitchen sink so we don’t consume all of that salt.

There’s Dan, our man.

And the fancy under the sink contrapment.

And our new second faucet.  Which has even less water pressure than the faucets in the rest of the house, if that is even possible!  But it’s OK, I have gotten used to the leftover shampoo in my hair.  It adds shine.

And lastly, the great flood.  One very rainy day in February, I came home from wedding dress shopping (!! more info to come in another post), and there was water in the garage.  Lots of water and filling up quickly.  Within 10 minutes, the garage was filled and the water was spilling into the basement.  In a panic, I called the plumber, who left his house and rushed over.  I also called Daddy and Mommy, who was on the road heading home, made a U-turn, and came over.  Dave and I scrambled, trying to stop the water from flowing into the basement, but beyond that, not really knowing what to do.

The water also started pouring through cracks in the wall in the room where the furnace and washer/dryer is.  Luckily, the sump pump in that room was not overflowing.  Dave put some tape on the cracks, and that held back the water enough to avoid major flooding.

In the gym room, the water was building up in the window well since the sump pump in that room was just pumping itself right back into the well.  It looked like we were sinking!

That’s when everyone showed up.  My Dad and Dave started to investigate the sump pump in the garage and why it stopped working.  The plumber fixed the pump in the gym so that the well would stop overflowing.  And then Dave hauled out the rest of the water that had accumulated there.

And then the plumber came over and determined that the sump pump in the garage got clogged of dirt and was not pumping properly.  Which caused all of the flooding.  As soon as he cleaned it out and it started working again, the garage and house was de-flooded in a matter of 20 minutes.  As quick as it came was as fast it was over.  It left a lot of dirt and water underneath the laminate floor, but we spent the next week cleaning that all out.

I unfortunately only got pictures of the garage and driveway, after the pump started working again.  There was a lot of water at the base of the stairs because water was also flowing in the door that leads out to the driveway.  The gym and backroom also accumulated water, but only in large puddles.  We were mostly OK there.

Lessons learned –

Periodically clean out the sump pump!

Get battery back-ups on the pumps (which we have yet to).

Build a hump at the end of the driveway to prevent the water flowing down the road from flowing right into our garage.

And get a back-up pump.

Courtesy of Daddy, we are now the proud owners of a small back-up pump!  Mom and Dad came over the next week, when heavy rains were predicted, and built us a levy against the rain.  It helped us out a lot!!  We did have one minor incident where the pipe on the pump disconnected, so it started pumping right into the garage.  But no major damage resulted.

Thanks Dad!!!

It’s been a while since the last post and a lot has been going on!

First, we rearranged the office a little.  We realized we did not need all of the different bookcases in there.  They were crowding up the room – and the bookcases did not even have anything on them!  Plus, there were no drawers in the room (except for the one filing cabinet) so our junk like pens, envelopes, and tape were in plain sight.  Made for a very messy room.  So we moved the long table that was sitting in the living room into the office and moved some of the chairs around.  It looks a lot more cozier and is definitely neater.

We also bought some plants!  We spent a fun hour in Home Depot looking through their selection of plants and pots.  We ended up with two small palm-tree looking plants, one small and one big, and another red flower one for the kitchen.  Plants add a nice touch.

For Christmas, Mom and Dad got us a TV for the living room.  We debated putting it above the fireplace vs. in the corner next to the fireplace.  In the end, I decided in the corner would be a better idea.  I do not like how TVs above the fireplace are so high up.  Plus, we moved the cute little armchair into the bedroom (which I will get to in a minute).  I think we will end up buying a white corner entertainment unit for it.  For now, it is sitting on the bookshelf that we took out of the office.

Now that there is a TV in the living room, we have been spending a lot more time in there.  Right now there is only one lamp, so it is a very dark room, but eventually I would like to put in overhead lighting.  It will really brighten the room up at night!

Last but not least…. we got a new bedroom set!!  We decided that we liked the green color in there.  So the first step was getting a new bedspread.  It is called Mosaic Tile from West Elm.  An orange southwestern type – we wanted to match the armchair that we moved in there from the living room.  Next was picking a furniture.  After weeks of hunting online and in stores, we found the perfect one!  It was a medium-colored wood, with a bit of chrome detailing and a country feel.

We also got the end tables and dresser to go along with it.

Now the room is a green – orange, and looks very southwestern or country.

I love it!!!  The bed is so comfortable and the room is definitely coming together.  Probably could use some finishing touches like wall decorations, maybe a plant or two.  Thank you Mom and Dad for the beautiful bedroom set!!  My favorite pieces in the whole house now!

A couple of posts ago I wrote about some of my ideas for a master bedroom.  Dave was not in total agreement!  He likes the green walls.  And apparently, so do my Mom, Jenna and Casey.  So the green is staying for now.   We also moved the armchair that was in living room into the bedroom corner.  It is orange, so you would think it clashes with the green, but it looks nice.  We also ordered a new bedspread at West Elm in their Mosaic Tile pattern.  It won’t get here for another few days, so until then, I won’t be posting any pictures!  But the bedspread should tie the room together nicely.  Next would be a new bedroom set but we have yet to decide the style we like.  We were thinking a metal frame to avoid overwhelming the room, but then a furniture dealer let me know they may be tough to find since they are so 15 years ago.  Whhaaatt?

Another house item we are both really excited about it our new thermostat control.  It is digital one, so Dave was really excited to set all sorts of programs to turn the heat up and down during different parts of the day.  I was not as excited, but since I see such a difference in the temps around here, I love it!

We also decided on a photographer!  We went with Stephen Govel Photography (http://www.stephengovel.com/).  He is a young guy, who seems to be just really starting out in the wedding business (he has done like 12-15 of his own weddings), but his pictures are by far the best we have seen!

Finally, we just got home from the International Beer Expo in Secaucus with Casey and Nick.  It was a lot of fun!  People ranging from Jersey shore-ish, to college frats, to Jersey trash, all under the same large roof enjoying a ton of beer.  We went out to dinner at Chile’s afterwards and had a really great time

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl!!  No Jets but it should still be fun.  Our parents and Adam and Kim will be coming over!

We’re coming up on two months in the new house and I think we have been buried in snow since the first week.  I am starting to forget what the yard, deck and neighborhood looks like without the mountains of snow!

Although it has made for some very pretty pictures….

It’s been getting kind of annoying….

At least someone has been enjoying the snow.  I’ve seen these same deer in the same spots just lying down a few times now.  Friendly neighbors.

The next major furniture we need for the house is a bedroom set.  We currently have a queen-sized Ikea bed that has broken twice now.  Dave, the handy-man he is, has been able to fix it each time with a drill and some screws.  However, it is time to get us some adult furniture now!

I really like the color of our bedroom now – a tealish green color.  But I am not so sure it works for a bedroom.  The room is also 7-walled circle with HUGE windows.  Very pretty but it also makes it hard for me to think about redecorating.  What would work well in this room?

I also like the rug, maybe even more than hard-wood floors.

So I have started searching through Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn furniture online and have found a few ideas which I like.  However, they all require painting the room to a more neutral shade.  Here is one I am loving – it has an upholstered headboard, which I think is the style which would work best in this room.  Unfortunately, Dave is not a huge fan.

I also am loving the bedside table.  Actually, everything about this room I like.  Our current rug would even work well.  This image is from Pottery Barn.  (Every time I think of Pottery Barn, I think of the Phoebe and Rachel in the episode of Friends with the apothecary table!)

Another image I am liking is from Pottery Barn:

This bed is gorgeous – too bad it costs almost $3,000 whereas the bed in the first picture costs $1,000.  I also love this bedside table.

For the big windows, I have seen light-colored drapes used in master bedrooms on home decor websites.  Just like this, again courtesy of Pottery Barn

LOVE!!!

These are the kinds of styles I have been thinking about.  If you notice, no bold colors!  I have yet to think of or see an idea that would work with this green.

Finally, maybe we can get an expensive bed and I can dabble in the art of refinishing wood by purchasing a couple of end tables in garage sales or flea market (or even eBay, Craigslist), sanding them down, and painting them white.  New ones from Pottery Barn cost upwards of $400 each!

Now, if I can convince Dave to like this style, we’ll be all set!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we decided to move Dave’s big TV upstairs and make the room home theater of sorts.  It’s weird shaped and small, so the word “theater” is being used loosely!

As soon as we got back from vacation, Dave started on the project.  As a reminder, here is the before shot:

And here is the after!

We bought the rug in Home Goods for $100 and the entertainment center in the Raymour and Flanigan factory outlet in Bridgewater for around $400.  There is a couple of nicks in the wood, but nothing too noticeable.

We still need to take care of the wires around, but Dave is hoping to pin them under the radiator out of sight.  But for now, it’s been a great place to watch TV!  It was my home for the 2 days I was home with the flu.  Ahhh, The Office marathons, my favorite!

No real progress on the house.  However, we (and by we, I mean Dave) have set up the cable wires upstairs!  Dave and I decided that his big television will be going upstairs in the common room area.  We will get an entertainment center and an area rug, and my leather loveseat from Aunt Nancy’s apartment is already there.  Dave set up the wires (worked on it until 3am on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning) and moved the TV with the help of Adam.  Here’s a picture of what it looks like now:

The TV will go on the left.  It will be perfect as a mini movie theater and then a common room area for when our kids get a little older.

I have also started thinking about pictures we can hang and art we can use to start decorating the house more and making it feel more like ours.  So far, I printed out one of our engagement photos, framed it, and placed it on the shelving in the bedroom.

Other than that, we have just been enjoying the holidays with our families.  Christmas Eve was spent at Uncle Joe’s – and was a great time.  We had some good laughs, and it was fun being with Casey and Jenna.  We then went back to Staten Island home to open up presents.

Mommy and Daddy gave us a new TV for the living room, Emeril’s pots and pans, and a few other good things.

Casey also got me a pretty clock to go in the kitchen.  Right now it is already opened and sitting on the kitchen table ready to be hung.  Emeril’s pots are all cleaned, and the new TV is sitting and waiting in the living room.

For Christmas Day, we went to Dave’s parents for the traditional gift scavenger hunt.  It was a fun time!  I also got to spend some time with Leah, which I always look forward to!

We then ran over to the nursing home with my family to see Nanny.  I took pictures of every room in the house to show her.  I will be posting a few of them at the end of this post to update on progress.  After that, we drove back to New Jersey to go to Dave’s aunt and uncle’s house.  Phew!

The day after Christmas, we did some last minute cleaning and off we went to Philadelphia to catch an Amtrak train down to New Orleans with Dave’s parents and brother Cory.  I may write another post dedicated to just the New Orleans trip, so stay tuned.  We also bought a really pretty street/locally made artwork.  I will take pictures when we place it where we would like and get a stand for it.  It will be fun filling up the house with things that make it feel like ours.

I would also like to say that despite how fun the trip was, we are on the train back now and I CAN’T WAIT TO GET HOME!

Some of the first things we are going to tackle are: get entertainment center and rug and finish the upstairs common room, set up cable and the TV in the living room, start looking for a bedroom set, find a wedding photographer and DJ, maybe hook up the water softener (since my hair has been looking awful!), and set up doggie infrastructure.  Let me explain that last point – Dave got the great idea of setting up a dog door in the door that is in the library (also commonly known as the wood room, useless room, or future playroom).  We would then put a good lock on the inside door to that room, so then when we were at work, the dog could stay in there and come and go as he pleases.  We would also fence an area right outside the door.

And lastly, start looking for a wedding dress!

Here are some of the current progress pictures:

Our gym is nearly set-up!  It is still a little messy since we are waiting for the hole in the wall to be repaired.  But it has been so great to work out in the mornings.  I have a ton of space, a good TV, and the temperature down there is perfect.  Plus, Dave is so far away that he still gets to sleep his extra hour!

We also put on new locks for all of the doors.  We were just going to change the tumblers, but the Home Depot guy convinced us that it was better to change the whole lock.  We even put on on the basement stairs door to make me feel safer!

We needed to change 5 locks – two of them for doors that were stuck/painted shut.  We got one of them done – well, Dave did.  After much struggle, he got the basement driveway door opened.  It was FULL of dirt and leaves – and a bad paint job which is hard to see from the outside.  The same color as our bedroom.  Too bad the color looks so bad on a door!

And we are about 95% unpacked already!

The rest of the week after we closed, we did not do much unpacking.  We went to Dave’s condo a few times to pick up things, but for the most part, I worked A LOT.  And Dave worked from home while Paul cleaned out the house.  Look at the garbage dumpster at the end of the week!

We really liked having Paul here for the week.  He was like our go-to live-in handyman.  Plus he was so nice – like our surrogate owner.  I think he liked taking care of us too.  I wish I got a picture of him!  But there may be other opportunities for that.  He’ll be back.  🙂

He had a plumber come in to fix the furnace and the water valve underneath the stairs.  It turns out the water valve was a worse problem than expected – and he needed to break a hole in the basement wall.  We are getting that repaired sometime next week.

Mommy and Daddy came over the first weekend and helped us unpack!  It was 7 hours of manual labor!  We emptied out all of what I had at home and all of Dave’s condo.  And then proceeded to unpack 75% of that stuff.

Mommy and Casey did a lot of cleaning and then we ordered pizza for dinner.  It was so fun that day – a lot of work too.  But it was really nice to be in the house and unpacking all of our things, especially since the house was newly clean from the cleaning woman that week.  It was just full of good moments.

Thanks so much guys for helping us out!  It was a HUGE help and I loved having them all here.  Daddy did a lot of handywork around the house and Mommy and Casey did a ton of cleaning.  Casey unpacked my whole closet for me and organized it!!  I am so happy to have them.

The next day, everyone came back to help us out more!  Plus, Dave’s family came to help too.  We then all had a steak dinner, which came out delicious although our bbq was not cooperating.

After the weekend was over, it was back to work!  I have been working lots of hours lately, with the new org structure in place, and a sales force expansion, it has just been crazy!  So we have not gotten a chance to work on the house much this week.  But we did do fun things like go to Dave’s holiday party where he got very drunk  ;)…

go food shopping at Wegman’s for meat sauce dinner…

and worked out in our new basement gym!

We still have a LOT to do!  I am looking forward to this weekend so I can get some stuff done… but most importantly, Christmas shopping!  We have two parties too this weekend – Aunt Nancy and Laird’s holiday party and Dave’s coworker’s ugly Christmas sweater party.  Plus, Mommy, Daddy, and JENNA are coming over tomorrow after work!  YAY!!  Can’t wait to see Jenna!