KateOhKatie blogs

Last weekend I scouted out a few antique stores here in University City, and actually stopped by in one.  It was amazing–one of the best antique stores I’ve ever been in–and I’ll definitely be back.

But I was good, and we’re currently poor, so I only came home with three things:

For $2.00, 8 embroidered linen napkins:

And for $3.00, a wire egg basket sock basket:

For $12.00, a stoneware casserole dish:

(which is just begging to have something cheesy and gooey and fattening made in it)

Alas, it’s not signed:

And I’m not ruling out the possibility that it was mass-produced, though it doesn’t seem to have obviously been mass-produced, either.  Not that I care–I still think it’s gorgeous

Soon I will check out the shop next door, which seemed even larger and, I think, more promising…though we’ll have to wait until we have some extra income, to find out!

But you know how it goes.

At any rate, here it is…the super-deluxe tour of our new house!  Woo hoo!

For those who don’t (or didn’t bother to try to ) remember, here’s the outside:

Jeff and I have spent the past two weeks buying lots and lots of things to fill up the inside…more things than one might imagine.

And believe you me, the irony is not lost on me that just 3 weeks ago we held a massive yard sale to get rid of most of our Stuff, the majority of which we just turned around and replaced with New Stuff (albeit, much better New Stuff).

Par example, a real welcome mat!

($9.99 at Target, made of recycled tire rubber.  It also happens to be the *only one* Jeff and I could even remotely agree on.)

and as if that’s not enough, we’ve also got one *inside*!  (Whoa now, livin’ like fancy people!)

(that Cards one was a wedding gift from one of my favorite high school teachers)

You walk in the front door and immediately head up the stairs (wow, that writes like a Choose your Own Adventure story.):

doesn’t it look so warm and inviting?

Now we’re standing on the landing, looking back down toward the front door:

I’m currently in the process of looking for a really kick-ass wrought iron wall sculpture to hang on that big blank space–give Jeff something else to bonk his head on

I picked this shelf up at a garage sale for $2.00:

The pottery was done by art students at my alma mater, and I just picked up that plaster carving of a fairy at the St Louis Renaissance Festival, which we went to on Saturday (it’ll get its own entry someday soon).

Now let’s follow Jeff up the rest of the stairs, into the living room!

And here it is…

We just bought that awesome sofa–got a great deal on it at Weekends Only.  The lowboy (currently serving as a coffee table) is a family piece from my side, and the chair is from Jeff’s.

This is what I see, when I sit on the couch:

The reason the couch is in the middle of the room, is because our TV is (obviously) too small–we tried putting the couch against the back wall, but then it was like watching video on an iPhone held at arm’s length.  We also need something cool to hang above the TV–I’m thinking a quilt wall hanging.  Someday.  Oh yeah, and we need new easy chairs.  And a new coffee table.  And a new entertainment center.

Here’s the huuuuge radiator under the front window, and the side table that we just bought.

Only $34.00 at Lowe’s, and it fulfills one of Jeff’s life dreams:  to own a table and lamp in one. Fine by me…and now he can never say that I don’t let him have any input in the decor!  (also, see our nifty new digital picture frame?  A housewarming gift from my parents And speaking of ‘warm’, the radiator makes a nice resting place for my current WIP)

This is the wall opposite the picture window, and it’s home to our wall cubbi (cubbies?):

From bottom to top…

Jeff’s daschunds (a gift from my mom):

(I love their sweet little faces)

The big cubby holds a wooden rose (also from this weekend’s Ren Fest), and my fairies:

The mom of one of my students made them for me–they’re supposed to represent me and Jeff–and I love ‘em so much:

And finally, the top cubby:

The bigger vase is from the dollar store, and the smaller cup is from a garage sale (hey, *everything* can’t be special.  Make up an interesting story about them if you want–perhaps they were an archaeological find from my trip to Persia when I was a tender lad of 9.)

Now we zoom back out, and look across the way, back toward the front window.  See this clock?

This, my friends, is no ordinary clock.  Oh, no.

This is the clock which resulted in a nearly 20-minute discussion in the middle of Target–to purchase or not to purchase?  Should we get the smaller one with the pendulum? The larger one that’s just plastic?  On and on and on in circles…so I really hope y’all FREAKING LIKE IT!  BECAUSE WE’RE NOT TAKING IT BACK!!!  You’re stuck with it now, Buster!

Ahem.  Allow me a moment to compose myself.  I’ll just take ya out to the balcony:

We have our camp chairs set up there, because we’re Classy People.  Classy People who can’t afford a proper outdoor seating arrangement, TYVM.  It shall be forthcoming soon, lest the neighborhood association (there isn’t one) cite us for it.

Or, now that I think about it, maybe we’ll just swing the other way–start eating KFC and watching rasslin’ on our portable TeeVee right there on the balcony, spittin’ our chewing tobaccey over the side of the balcony, down onto the Camaro up on blocks that we’ll leave in the front yard.

Or, um, maybe we won’t.

Now because I’m all about honesty, here are the flowers I bought last week, with every honest intention of planting:

Obviously, I fail.  I think this is one of my Johnson genes at play, as these tendencies are well documented throughout my mother’s lineage–just like the affinity for baking, and the moles on our right thighs.

Back inside, here’s that empty, sad, abandoned, back half of the living room:

(see that TV stand holder?  I assembled it myself!  Be proud!  And see that TV stand that’s acting as an end table?  That’s a temporary measure!  I assure you!  And see that ugly white pole lamp thing?  I hate it!  I really do!)

We have big plans for the back half of the room–maybe a sofa table and some bookshelves?  Maybe an aquarium? Maybe getting a bigger TV and moving the sofa all the way back?  So many possibilities…I know y’all can’t wait to see which one we go with.  It’ll be like Christmas when you find out, won’t it?  I know, I can hardly wait.  Hardly.

(PS:  remember these wall hangy things?):

It’s such a nice feeling to see everything fall into place, isn’t it?

Now we move into the dining room:

where there must apparently be a carbon monoxide leak, given the comatose state of these cats:

(I took this picture 3 hours ago, and the cats are still in the exact same position.  I just went and poked them and they glared at me, though, so I know they’re OK.  Or at least, as OK as they ever are)

The table and chairs were lent to us by Jeff’s parents, as a stand in until we find the type we’re looking for:

They also lent (though hopefully for a longer period of time–I really like this piece!) us a corner cabinet thingymajig:

Right now it’s displaying a few things fro m the wedding and some of my Currier and Ives (the blue and white china), though hopefully someday I’ll have a full china cabinet for all that.

(Top row l-r:  toasting flutes, a cobalt vase, and our cake topper.  Middle row:  a Currier and Ives covered vegetable dish (very rare, very expensive, very treasured by Yours Truly) and some milk glass from my grandma.  Bottom row:  Currier and Ives creamer and sugar set, and a melty candle wax tealight thingy)

Aforementioned china cabinet will also, hopefully, serve as a more appropriate storage method for our wedding china:

Something about the “cardboard boxes in front of the radiator” aesthetic just doesn’t really appeal to me…iunno.

Next up is our super-exciting and highly unusual…bathroom!

All right, you caught me.  It’s neither super-exciting *or* unusual.

But it does have a nifty brown and blue shower curtain!

And matching towels!

And a (entirely coinciental) matching floor!  This matchy-matchy business…soooo not me, but I admit it is rather nice–in a small space like the bathroom, at least

I bought this at Bath and Body Works yesterday:

It has been five years since I had regular access to an actual bathtub, so I indulged in a bottle of “foam bath” (they’re too fancy to say ‘bubble bath’ round those parts!) in my signature scent.  I fully intend to use some later tonight!

Heading into the kitchen…

Immediately on the left is our napkins/phone charger/keys/mail/cookbooks station:

(those j, k, and h magnets came from Target’s “dollar spot” a couple years ago)

The fridge is populated by my fine art watercolors, which have moved with us into what is now our third home in as many years:

And my trusty friend “Ow” the plant, and our small collection of Aldi’s finest wines, are comfortably at home on top:

Across the room, here’s half the kitchen counter and cabinets:

complete with my small carnival glass collection on the cabinets above the stove:

The dishwasher and sink are just down the way:

and we’ve already put the dishwasher to use a time or two:

(obviously that was taken before we’d finished unpacking!)

I’ve hung my doll-sized collection of cooking utensils on the cabinet closest to the sink:

and set up all the windowsill essentials (recipe box, garlic keeper, kitchen timer, herbs, bowl for my jewelry, candle, small plants, and cat treats):

I got these also at the “dollar spot” last week, and now it’s just a matter of getting them started–or attempting to, anyway!

(y’think the tomato one will grow miniature tomatoes? )

We even have a real proper pantry, with real proper space to hang my real proper aprons!:

And next to the pantry is my memo board, which I bought before I went to college:

(Aunt Anita?  I love the graduation card you sent!  See it up there?  It makes me smile every time I pass by )

While I was taking pictures in the kitchen, Macbeth took it upon himself to puke, so Jeff got down the paper towels to clean it up:

We avoid using paper products whenever possible (we use cloth napkins and rags when we can)–that’s why the paper towels are so ‘hidden’, but cat puke is our one big exception!

Mmm…now that we’re discussing cat puke, who wants a brownie?

peanut butter chocolate chips on top!

Just for kicks, I opened up all the cabinets to show the wedding gifts they’re filled with:

I like it so much, I may just keep them that way–it’ll remind me of home (sorry Dad! But I guarantee Mom’s laughing)

And also just for kicks, here’s the silverware I picked out–also from Target (Target has been receiving more than its fair share of our money lately):

I picked it out knowing Jeff would love it and, sure enough, as soon as I showed it to him he said “It looks elven!”  So I guess that’s a compliment from him

And these are the super duper awesome salad tongs that were a wedding gift:

Don’t ask where they came from–I don’t know.  But I love them!  Love, love, love them!

Becha you’ll never guess where I found my super cool canisters!

(Hint:  T_rg_t).  I love them because theyr’e vintage-y and remind me of fresh-baked bread, gingham aprons, and home grown tomatoes.  I have high expectations for these canisters (can you teach a canister to grow tomatoes?), they’d better not let me down!

Finishing up the tour of super awesome kitchen stuff, here’s our kitchen wall clock:

Also picked out by Jeff, and more than a little Dali-esque, no?  I <3 it

All right, I think that’s enough of THAT nonsense…if y’all would let me, I’d go on all day about other things in my kitchen that I love…my Henckel knives, my Pyrex storage set, my collection of unusual bundt pans, my ice cream cups.  So you’d better just stop me now, m’kay?

Here, let’s look at the nook instead:

It’s rather empty right now, home only to odds and ends, and these little bits of necessary evil:

Yuck.  Who wants to come clean these for me?  I know I have St. Louis area readers!  Please?  Pwease?

We’ll skip the boring linen closet (contents:  towels, sheets, and the vacuum) and head toward the bedroom:

Jeff’s mom and I painted one area a darker green (”Shakespeare”, according to the folks at Valspar), and the other two walls a lighter chartreuse color (”Reed Yellow”, they say–though any idiot can tell it’s green).

That’s the darker color above–I love how it envelopes the sleeping area–very cozy and calm.
(ps–we’re getting a bedframe and nightstands soon–just as soon as I can find the perfect ones.  For now, a mattress on the floor shall suffice)

The brighter color works well with the opposite wall’s windows, and the area that will ultimately display our quilts:

(Yeah, I’m lounging on the bed).  Also, notice all those boxes?  We’ve only got one dresser so far–more on that in a moment–so my clothes are still living in boxes until we can get another one.  Whee.

See?  My clothes.  Boxes.

And now, photos of my bra collection all over the Internet.  Shame?  I have none, apparently.

Speaking of dressers, here’s one we bought right before we left Kirksville:

I found it for $98 in a used furniture shop.  It was filthy, missing part of its hardware, scratched and in a generally shitty state.  But I thought it had good bones and loved its (approximately) Depression-era age and style, so I convinced Jeff to let me take it home, where I bought new hardware from T_rg_t (the hardware it had on it wasn’t original, so that was already a lost cause) and a finish touch-up pen.  I scrubbed it down twice with a damp cloth then gave it three coats of lemon oil, switched out the hardware and repaired every tiny scratch and dent in the surface and now–WOW.  I’m really stinkin’ proud of myself for this one, dudes.  I just wish I’d taken a before picture.

And, just because I can, I put a picture of Turk and Carla on top:

Okay, okay, ya got me:  it’s the photo that came with the frame.  But since we have no wedding photos of our own to speak of, this one will have to suffice until I get ahold of my own.  Besides, she’s prettier than me anyway.

The last interesting bit of the bedroom is, of course, our closet.  It’s the most closet space I’ve had in a looooong time–it was even big enough to fit in Jeff’s clothes, too!

And check out the fancy light I installed all by myself:

Installing it was a bitch.  I had to cut a hole in the drywall, then send down a trained rat to find an appropriate wire.  I lured the rat back with a bit of peanut butter on a spoon, then used my mad electrician skills to join the wire to..um…another wire.  Then I returned the rat to the pet shop, and attached this light and used, um…hidden screws?  to hold it in place.  Yeah!  That’s what I did!

(reality:  insert 4 AA batteries.  Drive a nail.  Hang light on nail.  Stand back proudly and admire the soft, moonlight-esque glow of your brand new stick-up lamp)

Meanwhile, the Orange Blur came to investigate:

We’ll round out the tour with the catch-all room, the room that needs the most work (and needs a name):

right now it houses Jeff’s computer and study area:

my laptop and sewing table:

all our books (still boxed up, due to lack of bookshelves):

and my yarn closet:

and a dead mouse:

Somehow, we’re probably going to try to rearrange things, and fit in a futon for guests as well.  And we’ll also hang things on the walls.

So, what do you think? There’s still so much to be done, but I also can’t believe what we’ve accomplished in just 10 short days!  With lots of help from Jeff, of course, and from both sets of parents

I’ll keep y’all updated, of course, as we make it better and better!

Yesterday I spent the better part of the morning and most of the afternoon hitting up local garage sales–sort of a last hurrah of garage saleing here in Kirksville, before I move next weekend.

I started out with $20 in my pocket.  This is what I came home with:

2 of these:

to hang on the walls of the new place.

and this:

(size 9-12 months, and to be stored for a few years until needed–it didn’t fit Jeff ) )

this for me, which I’m going to re-dye to a color that’s more my liking:

handmade stoneware serving plate:

I think I’ll hang this in the kitchen and put some of my stoneware collection on it:

the perfect “cookies for Santa” plate:

here they are, Dad!:

two carved wooden elephant taper candle holders, just like you always wanted!
(no, I’m not kidding.  He collects elephant stuff.  And now he can cross carved wooden elephant taper candle holders off that list! )

this looks huge, but I promise it’s an XS:

and it fits!  and it’s not as faded and icky as it looks here!  I promise!

I’m going to spray paint this white , and use it to hold our cloth napkins (we don’t use paper napkins ’round here, yo.  Ever.):

assorted kids’ books:

slowly building up the collection, based largely on titles I’ve read and liked at preschool.

a desk letter organizer thingy:

an antique kid-sized toolbox, to hold my knitting notions:

this cute little and completely pointless wall hangy thing, to hang in the new kitchen:

(because it makes me happy, dammit!  That’s why!)

one can never have too much Pyrex, especially when one uses it to store leftovers because one does not like plastic:

I’ve been wanting one of these for ages, but never got around to buying it:

and finally, assorted small miscellany:

$20.

Because I am the garage sale QUEEN! HRAWRRHHH!!!!!

…would be 2-story, Craftsman style (arts and crafts) house.

…would have a detached garage out back, with a room above it for Jeff’s study.

…would be in a quiet, established, older neighborhood where none of the houses match, and where the streets are a practical grid–not just a maze of cul-de-sacs.

…would be old and sturdy and authentic and lived-in and loved.

…would have have chairs and a swing and some hanging plants on the big ol’ porch, and grass growing up between the bricks on the front walk.

…would be filled with a collection of furniture accumulated from antique stores and refinished by me, each piece picked out and adored, and the end tables won’t match each other, and the bedframes might be wrought iron.

…would have a warm, comfortable kitchen, sunny and large with a breakfast nook in the corner.

…would have wide-open windows as frequently as possible.

…would have a clothesline in the backyard, and an old picnic table, and maybe a couple chickens and a chicken coop.

…would hold books on built-in shelves in the living areas–kids’ books on the lower shelves, mine on the middle ones, and Jeff’s at the top.

…would have a dining room with a big, loooong table of dark wood–maybe with benches running along either side, and that’s where we’d eat most evenings.

…would hide nooks and crannies and practical storage in unexpected places, with no space wasted.

…wouldn’t bother with massive bathrooms or a master ’suite’ when smaller spaces work just fine.

…would have an attic just like in the movies, with enough space to store baby clothes and Christmas decorations and all that other good stuff.

…would have a girls’ room and a boys’ room and the girls might have a pillow-filled play loft for reading and playing princesses, and the boys’ room would have a super-secret ‘cave’ for playing dragons and having daytime campouts.

…would have a yard filled with old, old trees and some peony bushes and a bench at the back, and a redbud tree and some more nooks and hidden areas for playing, and a vegetable and herb garden right outside the kitchen door.

…would be the kind of place where we could live for 40 years or 50 years and never want to–never have to–move.

…would have a basement with rickety stairs going down, and shelves for holding canned fruits and vegetables, and the washer and dryer in the corner, and might be haunted.

Is that so much to ask?  Guess we’ll find out in a few years…

When I was growing up, Mom and Dad’s house–my house–was always cluttered (usually by some activity directly relating to my brother and me).

First it was the plastic toys, dozens of stuffed animals, every Lego and Duplo block imaginable.

As Ryan and I entered elementary school, then it was the invasion of Mom’s PTA stuff. Copy paper boxes full of newsletters and handouts, piles of paperwork.

When we got a bit older, the house started to seem even smaller. Clutter was everywhere.

So when I was 16, we moved. Into a house with THREE WHOLE TIMES the square footage but, somehow, even less storage space.

Next thing you knew, it was the scrapbooking storm of ‘aught two. Mom and I set up work tables. There were scraps of paisley paper (coordinating striped paper on the reverse!), little metal brads and wooden stamps everywhere.

That segued nicely into the wedding event of the century, headquartered in–you guessed it–Mom and Dad’s house. Cobalt glassware rested on every surface. Thanksgiving dinner 2006, we all ate with bolts of tulle on our laps and boxes of personalized napkins and matchbooks under our feet.

~~
Is it any wonder, then, that when Jeff and I established our own household, I have always been militantly anti-clutter? My home is my sanctuary, and though I might not be the best one at dusting or washing the windows, I was always ruthless in my mess prevention policies.

So then this? This? Is not acceptable:

at all.

Folks, meet my garage sale pile. In our small apartment, literally the *only* place for it is the middle of the living room floor.

Last week I started pulling too-short pants from the back of the closet, old shoes from under the bed, and ‘vintage’ appliances out of the kitchen drawers. Tucked away in their hidey holes among our 450 square foot home, it didn’t seem like much. But here, out in the open, it’s a lot. It’s suffocating me.

Coupled with the moving boxes, I can hardly stand to be in my own house–and that’s not a fun feeling. Last night as I stood on a box of wire hangers and surveyed the mess under my feet, I told Jeff, “The garage sale must happen this weekend.”

He gingerly stepped over a box of lava lamps and sci-fi paperbacks, just in time to catch me as I stumbled from my perch. As he opened his mouth to reply, his foot caught in the canvas strap of an old shopping bag and, tripping, he nearly impaled himself on a set of mismatched butter knives. I retrieved Othello from his nest amidst a pile of old turtlenecks, as Jeff looked for Macbeth under a stack of dollar-store picture frames. We were in agreement. This stuff has got to go.

I don’t care how hard it’s raining next week, or even if it’s a tornado–come 7:00 Saturday morning, I’ll be outside trying to sell this crap my valuable possessions to any sucker who thinks they need some barely-worn jeans and a set of metal stacking storage cubes.

Because the clutter? It does not work with my lifestyle. In fact, it stresses me the fuck out. Let the tornado take it.

Who wants to buy some mismatched Tupperware and a plywood bookcase?

Pretend that this post is an awesome 80’s montage.  A “gettin’ stuff done” montage, done to the tune of everybody’s favorite “gettin’ stuff done” montage music:  Takin’ Care of Business.

In this montage, we’re showing Jeff and my preparations for our upcoming move.

• I fill a ginormous box with my hardcover books, making Jeff strain his back as he attempts to lift it.
• Both of us tossing item after item over our shoulders, into the ever-increasing Yard Sale Pile.
• I walk by in the background lugging an armload of winter coats, as Jeff, in the foreground, serenely sits and browses the Internet.
• Jeff affectionately picks a bit of dust out of my hair, acquired at my time in the back of the closet.
• A cat in a box.
• Two cats in a box!
• Two cats in two boxes!
• Empty boxes.
• Good-natured bickering over, “do we really need to save the armchair that has been systematically decimated by tiny cat claws?”
• Jeff driving down to Columbia with boxes full of our possessions (for the purposes of this montage, he’s got sunglasses on, the windows rolled down and moonroof open, and the radio blaring–what else?–Takin’ Care of Business.
• I dig through just-packed boxes in search of my cell phone.
• Jeff walks in the front door, picking and climbing over towers of boxes, only to find me passed out among them, packing tape in one hand and a Sharpie resting on the cat’s nose.

And that, my friends, is why I’m too tired to post any pictures.

We’re back from the grand apartment hunting trip in St. Louis! We viewed about 14 places (is that a little or a lot? Depends on how you look at it…) and did come away tentatively successful.

Saturday started out in a rather discouraging way…place after place that was dirty, moldy, icky, bad part of town, ugly, dark, blah blah blah. We’d been from one end of Clayton to the other end of University City and back, and without any real success. I was cranky and tired and Jeff was tired of me being cranky and tired…we were quite the pair.

Finally, at the end of the day yesterday, the last agent we worked with said, “I have one more you might like. We just refinished it; it’s not on the market yet…”

And this is it! It’s the top floor of the home (the house is a top/bottom split duplex), and it’s amazing!

We submitted our application and deposit yesterday after looking at several other places first, just to make sure that The One really was The One. (We had a couple other close contenders, but when it really came down to it, we loved what we found )

So the place isn’t ours for sure yet; the application is still pending. But we’re pretty sure we’ll get it, one way or the other (may have to add co-signers…).

That’s the major stuff; here are the specs:

~University City neighborhood–on a quiet street with lots of other families, and grad students. Big trees
~2 bedroom, 1 bath
~JUST remodeled
~Carpet everywhere except hallway, kitchen, breakfast nook, and bathroom
~Central air and heat, but the old radiators are still there–just not hooked up (perfect for cats to sit on without burning their furry butts!)
~We have half a basement for storage, plus there are washer and dryer hook-ups
~2-car garage, to share with the apartment below
~Newly remodeled, with fresh paint, new carpet, all new bathroom (except tub), all new kitchen with new appliances, floor, etc.

Now, a plethora of photographs.

Closer look at the front (our door is on the left):

Going in the front door!

You walk in the front door, and immediately head up a flight of stairs, with a landing and a turn (that window on the side of the house in the first photo, is in the landing). Here’s the living room, looking down where the stairs go:

Picture window in the living room:

The side window…very Scandanavian, no?

The living room is at the front of the house, so that balcony from the first picture? Here’s the door that leads to it:

Balcony door on the left; coat closet is the white one straight ahead.

Here’s the balcony:

It extends to the left, beyond what you can see in the photo there. So it’s big enough for a couple lounge chairs, the grill, side table, etc.

Back inside, there are lots of beautiful glass doorknobs (this one is on the coat closet):

Standing in the living room, facing toward the back of the house, you see the dining room:

(love that archway).

The living room runs the whole front of the house; the dining room is about half as wide–closets and bedrooms and stuff fill the other half-width.

The beautiful new dining room chandelier:

I swear to you, if I’d gone to the lighting store myself, I would’ve picked out the same one.

You walk through the dining room to get to the small hallway that leads to the rest of the house. Next up is the bathroom (it’s all new too, remember?):

Those sconces are beautiful; the floor is slate tile (I think); porcelain pedastal sink; gorgeous oval mirror; new toilet (the bathtub–which you can’t see here–isn’t new, but it’s definitely in thoroughly adequate condition).

Inside the medicine cabinet, just ‘cuz I like to be thorough:

Back in the hallway, Jeff guards the linen closet door (left), and the basement door (right):

I took this picture, standing in the bathroom doorway. The dining room doorway and master bedroom door are to the left (out of the shot), and the second bedroom door and kitchen doorway are to my right (also out of the shot). Confusing enough?

The hallway light; another fixture I adore:

I love how in all this renovating, they kept the house’s age and aesthetic in mind–they didn’t go ultra-modern at all.

Here in the hallway is the original phone holder (the phone would rest on the platform, and its cord would feed through that decorative hole in the center down below):

Next up, the kitchen! Standing in the kitchen doorway:

Same thing, part two (you can see the stove on the right of the shot above; now it’s on the left):

Same thing, part three (you can see the edge of the sink on the right in the shot above, now it’s on the left):

Oh yeah, see that thing in the second picture? The one still wrapped in blue shipping plastic? That’s our brand new DISHWASHER!!! First time I’ve ever had one

Across from all that business, is the fridge and some more cabinets (we’ll have cabinets out the wazoo!):


To the right of the fridge is the pantry (it has a door; that picture’s jsut at a funny angle):

Off the kitchen, all the way at the back of the house, is the breakfast nook (for those of you keeping count, yes we have a dining room AND a breakfast nook! Squee!):

It’s small…just big enough for a small table and a couple chairs, and my plants (it has lots of light, when it’s not rainy outside).

Exposed brick and the sloped ceiling tell me that the nook is probably not original:

But that’s OK; I still <3 it (new hardwood floors, too!).

A thermostat serves as proof of central air and heat

The stairs down to the basement:

Moving on to the bedrooms…

first, the smaller bedroom. We’re going to use it as Jeff’s study room, with my crafting stuff in one corner, and possibly a futon or hide-a-bed for guests:

View out its window:

Smallish closet and yours truly:

Now, on to the master bedroom!

It has a bigger closet:

I also took this incredibly interesting and helpful picture:

That was supposed to show the back-set area where we’ll probably put the bed. Well, I fail.

Heading out the front door:

Bye, House! We’ll see you next month, hopefully! (trying not to get our hopes up *too* far, but like I said above…if we need to add co-signers in order to be approved, either set of parents are willing to help us out with that).

So what do y’all think? Isn’t it a step or two up from our current place?

::EDIT:: Tuesday morning. Here’s my ghetto rendition of what the new apartment’s floor plan is like, as I recall it:

Just in case you care. Which you probably don’t. Unless you’re my mom (hi Mom!).

My new home, details here.

I adore this home, and everything about it.  Its hobbit-like structure, the coziness and sense of safety it exudes, the eco-friendly aspects, the fact that it was only $6,000 to build.

And the wood stove.  I’d hang a line above it and dry my hand-knit socks and sweaters there.  I’d keep the kettle on it, too.

Our books would all fit in the nooks and crannies and alcoves, and I could store things in the rafters–wool for spinning and dyeing (note:  learn to spin and dye), provisions for the winter, surplus cats, etc.

Speaking of cats, can’t you picture Othello sitting in this windowsill?

I don’t know if I’d live there full time, but wouldn’t it be a lovely getaway/escape/guest home?  Maybe situated on the edge of the property, facing the lake? (note to self:  buy property.  Ensure it is on a lake.)

All I know is that in my hobbit-hole I would bake bread and knit and play with cats.  Pretty much what I do now, but, y’know, in a hobbit-hole.  Which makes it infinitely cooler.

Check out the link above to see more photos, and a description of the building process!

Preferably someplace which will provide me shelter from the hot Mexican sun.

(yes, those are photos of my TV.  But only after searching for screenshots online for THE BETTER PART OF AN HOUR.  You see what I do for a cheap laugh?  Oh yeah…and I had to hunt down batteries for the remote.  AND I had to find my camera cable.  AND I had to walk uphill to school both ways, with two broken legs, in a snowstorm, with Jeff on my back.  Neer doubt my dedication to The Blog.  NEVER!)

But anyway…the point of this post…

Oh, first I have to preface this:  Jeff and I have not decided for sure to go to Northwestern.  We have not decided for sure to move to Chicago.  St. Louis and Nashville are still in the mix.  But just like those icky slimy grapes in the fruit cocktail, we don’t really want them   Ya follow?

However, the fact that we don’t know where we’re moving has NOT stopped me from scouting out apartments and neighborhoods.

Problem is, I know next to nothing about the neighborhoods surrounding Chicago.  Jeff knows a bit more, as he’s been quite active in the discussion on some of his law school forums.  I have no law school forums   I have no law school.  But I have kittens!

Aah, I digress again.  From our preliminary discussions, and my even more preliminary research, it’s looking like Jeff and I might start our apartment search in either Streeterville (nearest the law school), Lincoln Park, Logan Square, or, um…I think there was one more.

Anyway, this goes out to all my Chicagoland readers:  what can you tell me about how these neighborhoods really are? 

Here’s our checklist-in-progress of needs:
1)Safe, non-ghetto (preferably with a lot of students like ourselves–doesn’t have to be ritzy at all, just not dangerous)
2)We’d like to be able to keep one car.  Both might be nice, but at least one.  But even that’s not a hard-and-fast, if we end up someplace close enough to the El and to shopping, work, school, etc.
Which brings me to 3) Close to the El.  I’m very gung-ho and enthusiastic about public transportation and am already comfortable with the El.  I’d much rather use it, than drive, an day.
4)Hopefully a neighborhood where rent isn’t exorbitant.  We’re willing to live farther away from campus in exchange for the possibility of a 2-bedroom or larger one-bedroom place.
5)I really like trees.  And grass.  Even if they’re stubby city trees and brown city grass.  But I’ve gotta have ‘em.  I also really dislike those big shiny high-rise apartments.  A building that’s smaller and more friendly-looking would be preferable.  And old.  I like old buildings.  Mm-hmm.
6)Cats!  The cats will move with us.  This is not up for debate.  Pet-friendly is an absolute must-have!

Jeff and I will “really” figure this out when we make our apartment-hunting trip in April, but I’m hoping some of you lovely ladies can give us a leg up.  Are there any neighborhoods/communities that sound right up our alley?  Are any of the ones I listed above pretty bad?  I’ve heard Lincoln Park can be dangerous, but that sounds more like a case of “be aware and you’ll be fine” rather than “stay the hell away from here if you want to leave with your wallet and body intact”.  Right?

I’m also starting to get really excited about that big apartment hunting trip…assuming we decide on Northwestern, that is!   I love house/apartment hunting.  I don’t think we can afford to work with a broker, so it’ll be a lot of work on our ends!

Thanks for your advice, ladies–I appreciate it, as always!

I like to express the holiday spirit by showing a gratuitous crotch-shot:

I’m glad he doesn’t have a kitty cam…lawd knows what he’d do with those shots.

Monday night I finally got the Christmas decorations up.  If it were up to me, I’d have had them up the day after Thanksgiving!

Our coffee table:

Coasters I made:

I’ve since made 4 more…math majors, how many is that all together?   Just knitted them in garter stitch with two strands of RH held together; easiest thing in the world.

Top of our TV:

That cardinal is actually a tree topper, but you can see in a minute why we’re not using it on there…

Our tree:

So big I can’t even fit it all in one picture!  Here’s part II:

That star’s about 14″, 16″ across, I think?

OK, OK…in the words of one of my students…”You was just TEASING!”

The same student gave me this ornament last year, in fact:

And I got this lovely one from Shagpop!  Thanks, Secret Ornament Exchange buddy!

Isn’t it perfect for Mrs. Blueberry who had a star-themed wedding?   I adore it!

Finally, one miserable cat in a miserable sweater:

He still hasn’t forgiven me.  Doubt he ever will.

Do you have your Christmas decorations up yet?