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Friday, December 30, 2011

Casa Pena 2.0: A Few Pictures

I've received some requests for picture of our new casa so here goes.  I will put floor plans up, too.  That will make it easier to see where everything is and the transition from room to room.


Foyer


Kitchen

Kitchen

Formal Living Room

The Office

Unfinished Basement

Basement
Sitting Room (in Master Suite)
Master Bedroom
Master Bath

Backyard & Deck


Swing Set
 There you have it folks!  It's not all the rooms in the house but a lot of them. Stay tuned for all the renovation that is about to take off!

The Laundry Room Design

Wow, I love Pinterest.  It's my new great obsession (look out Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!) I even downloaded the iPhone ap so I could "pin" while on the go.  You can even follow my Pinterest boards by clicking on the icon to the right.

Now that you understand my love for Pinterest, let me show you some design inspiration I found for my new laundry room. 

Love these cabinets:





Love the clean lines of the cabinets and the marble counter top:






And my all time favorite and the inspiration behind my wall color choice is this:


LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! If only I could afford custom cabinetry and crown moulding in my laundry room...sigh.  It did make me fall in love with that color so I used a similar color, Martha Stewart's Rainwater, to paint my walls. 



It looks very blue in that picture.  In real life it is more similar to MS's Tidewater.  A much more spa blue/green color:





I still have a few more things to do in here:

  • Have a counter top made so I can fold clothes on top of the washer and dryer
I really like this silestone in alpina white.  It pulls from the platinum color of the washer and dryer.

  • Pick and Install Cabinets
  • Get hardware to make a pole in the middle of the two cabinets to hang shirts

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Our Search for the Perfect Casa

We began our search for a new house a few years ago, when the market was still inflated. We looked at houses in several districts and were discouraged at what we found in our price range. Over the years we would search, get discouraged, wait several months, then look again. We actually looked a few times in this very neighborhood and loved what we saw: beautiful homes on nice sized lots, lots of kids playing outside, a neighborhood club house with a playground and pool, all in a great school district. The only problem: prices were REALLY high. Discouraged once again, we gave up our search for a while.

This fall interest rates were at an all time historical low so we decided to get serious about house searching again. We put together a list of items that were important to us:
  • 2 Car Garage 
  • Nice Size Yard
  • Fenced in Yard
  • Located in a Neighborhood
  • Preferably on a Quiet Street
  • Good School District
  • At Least 4 Bedrooms

We got our house search mojo back and began looking. Jeff was the one that actually found this house and said that it was a short sale and told me the list price. I had no interest. I had already written off this neighborhood as being "out of our price range" and at the list price (which was at the top of our price range), to take on a short sale and finish it off to make it livable would be too much of a stretch. He eventually wore me down and I took a peak at the listing online. I was surprised to see that it was actually in pretty good shape, just needed some patching, paint, and some serious TLC. I made an appointment to see it and loved it even more. We made an offer (Jeff made the offer sight unseen - he must really trust me, huh?).


Selling Feature for Tyler







Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Coming Up for Air

Since we closed on the house a week ago tomorrow I have been working non-stop trying to get the new house move in ready.  As soon as we closed and signed a billion pieces of paper we got the keys and went to work.  I had a washer and dryer being delivered on Thursday and the laundry room needed to be cleaned, patched, and painted before then.  Since Jeff was working my mom took off work to come hang out with Tyler while I worked (with the worst cold I've had in probably 10 years) through the day and night to get the laundry room in order for the delivery date. 

Here we are at closing signing all of our documents:



Here is what I have been working on:

The Laundry Room Before:




These pictures don't even do it justice.  The amount of priming and patching and cleaning was insane!  Here is is after all the patch work and two coats of Kilz primer:

Oh, and did I mention I hadn't even picked out a paint color yet?






This was my first time using Kilz.  I am a huge fan now.  Cuts prep work in half.  And, yes, even with that it still took me 2 nights and 1 day to complete this little room.  I also owe it to my new BFF: my 2" XL cutting in paint brush.  I love this thing!  Normally I would tape off every single nook and cranny and it would take forever!  Not anymore now that I have my "cutter iner".  I love it!
Here are some pictures after the delivery of my new washer and dryer:





Still Left to do in this room:
  • Find cabinets for above the washer and dryer
  • Find a shelf for under the cabinets
  • Put wash basin back in
  • Find a rug for the garage entry
So that is what I have been working hard on.  This is the second time I have fallen asleep while writing this post so I am signing off.  Goodnight!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Sunday, December 18, 2011

12 Days of Christmas: Here Comes Santa - On His Firetruck?

As funny as it sounds this is how Santa has greeted us for years.  I grew up with Santa coming through the neighborhood on the local volunteer firetruck and was elated to find that they do the same thing here in this neighborhood.  As soon as we heard the sirens we threw on our coats and jetted outside to see Santa and all his firemen helpers.

He was so excited to see what all the noise was about!  Check out his little striped leggys:





Friday, December 16, 2011

12 Days of Christmas: A Recipe


This recipe is one I have made countless times.  It's super easy because you can make it the night before and refrigerate over night.  When you get up in the morning just pop it in the oven while the kiddos are opening presents.  It's also got all the fixings of a great breakfast: eggs, sausage, cheese, bread.  All that's missing is some pancakes and if you are thinking you need those, too then I highly recommend these.  I made them this weekend and they are divine!

Christmas Breakfast Sausage Casserole





Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground pork sausage
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups milk
  • 6 slices white bread, toasted and cut into cubes
  • 8 ounces mild Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  1. Crumble sausage into a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown; drain.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together mustard powder, salt, eggs and milk. Add the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to coat evenly. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  4. Cover, and bake 45 to 60 minutes. Uncover, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until set.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

12 Days of Christmas: Christmas Party Atire for the Family

Every year I try to create an ensemble that is cute but not to matchy-matchy.  Here is our look for this year:

Baby Boy: Gap Hat and Sweater Old Navy Jeans



And for those of you that wear heals (I typically do not, especially these days when I am chasing after a precocious 16 month old little monkey) here is a slight adaptation for you:

Baby Boy: Gap

I really do envy women who can pull off a look like that.  It's just not me, I'm much more comfortable in jeans and a sweater. Hopefully this year I will remember to get a picture!