Summer To Dos and Excitement

hello people -

I am in SUCH a chipper mood today!  We’re having a birthday party for my little man tomorrow and I’m through-the-roof-excited to celebrate him, host our families, and show off some of the improvements we’ve made to the house!  I’ve honestly been working quite diligently on the darn kitchen cabinets but they are NOT done and they are not perfect.  I’d love to make them perfect – but at the same time – I could probably put in an additional 120 hours on this project and still have more to do…. BUT I think that the rest of my life should take a higher precedence than that.

Sooo, they will be what they’ll be.  I’m going to home depot today to pick up the rest of the hardware so the doors can get re-attached to the cupboards and I will DEFINITELY post a picture on Sunday of the prettiness that will be our gorgeous, new, white kitchen.  The heat has absolutely killed my productivity because you flat-out can’t paint when it’s 100 degrees outside.  SO – this morning – I got up and painted another coat while the little man was still sleeping.  (Pretty proud of my normally sleepy self for dragging me-self up to do it… especially since we were up til 12:30ish last night.)  I just had time to paint where the cabinets will touch the actual cupboards - in the hopes that this quick 4th coat would finish it up… and so that I could go ahead, break my own rules, not wait for the paint to fully cure, and hang those bad boys up tonight.  So – that’s my plan – I really need Pat’s help because it, no kidding, takes a man’s strength to screw it all in together again.  Especially since I replaced the hardware so we won’t be using the same holes.

Anyways… since some of you probably think kitchen cabinet painting is less exciting than I do – I’m going to publish some of my goals for the summer.  I was inspired to post about this after reading Grace’s post from this morning:  Summer To-Do List.  I also believe that putting your goals down on paper makes you more likely to accomplish them… and I have to admit that most of these goals are basically about enjoying my life with my wonderful family and friends… and sneaking in some more DIY and home improvement projects that are way MORE fun than painting kitchen cabinets!

So – here it goes:  (in rainbow color to be reminiscent of summers past)

Meghan’s Summer To-Do List!

1.)  Tennis!  Get in some tennis before NH with Pat’s family.  (I loveee tennis but haven’t played in sooo long.)  I’m thinking of getting a lesson or two before our vacay with them in July so that I can remember how to serve and work on my forehand.  (My backhand always comes naturally, oddly… but not so much with my forehand.)

2.)  Movie Date Night!  This is kinda self explanatory but easier said than done:  I’d like a movie date night with my honey at least once before the summer lets up. 

3.)  Little Boy! Spend every waking moment possible with my little boy.  He’s in daycare so I feel like I see him so little.  And I don’t want to miss how awesome he’s growing up to be. 

4.)  Workouts!  Resume weekly workouts with my trainer to get buff and strong.  I feel like such a weakling sometimes lately… but haven’t worked out in a month and a half so that might be wherein lies the culprit.

5.)  Kermit! Enjoy and spoil my pup liked I used to when he was an “only child.”

6.)  Run more, drink less.  (Ok, maybe just a little less)

7.)  Blog at least once a week and fix my camera so I can get some decent shots up here instead of camera phone pics!)

8.)  Make easy, healthy, quick dinners on the grill and enjoy the views from the deck of the very green backyard.  I love it out there.

Could this be any more relaxing?

9.)  Block Island!  Get out there with my 2 Patricks.  Pat said he wanted to do this a few years ago and we’ve still never made it out there. I think that even just a day trip might be in order this summer.

10.)  Bike Rides!  Many.  With my 2 Patricks (and a pup?)

11.)  NYC!  This is a must!  I really want to get down to NYC to see many of my favorite people!

12a.)  Finish Kitchen Cabinets… drawer pulls, knobs, new window treatments, and perhaps add a new (old) sideboard from the consignment shop that I can perk up with some paint.

12b.)  New Pillows for the couch… I’ve only completed one with my newish (used) handy dandy sewing machine.

12c.)  (I thought my list was getting out of control – so the home improvement projects have turned into a, b, c and d.)  Fill in / make an actual mulch bed with flowers in the area of the backyard that we call “the mulch bed” which is mostly just weeds, coreopsis, and a rose of sharon. 

Coreopsis

12d.)  Make a rope necklace like this one:  So easy and so cute!  I just can’t find the right rope quite yet.

12e.)  Reupholster a chair that I find in the aforementioned furniture consignment shop

12f.)  (F? – this list is getting out of control.  shoot)  DIY Curtains for the big room!

12g.)  Ok, last home improvement project:  This wine rack above the bar in the big room would be perfect so that little hands can’t reach wine bottles on our current wine rack!  Read about it here, on one of my newest favorite blogs. 

13.)  Enjoy my time at the beach and in NH with both of our families – bike riding, tennis, golf, carousel visits, beach and pool time with the little man and playing with all of his little cousins – I can’t wait! 

White Sands Beach in Old Lyme, CT

14.)  Buy the new Discovery of Witches book as soon as it comes out and devour it ASAP. (July 10th is the release date)  This is my new favorite book as of late.  It’s a must-read.

Lastly, but probably most importantly:

15.)  Put in some serious productivity when I’m at work so I can get home quick to see my two Patricks and a Pup!

Patrick, screaming with delight. (Yes, he’s playing on a dehumidifier… it was under Pat’s watch.)

What are your plans for the Summer?  Do you have anything fantastic planned?  Any great DIY projects?  I’m also craving making embroidery floss bracelets like I did when I was 12… (sigh….what a relaxing memory)

Have a great weekend!  I’ll share photos of the birthday party next week!

A Wedding Weekend in Maine

hello people – I’ve taken a long hiatus.  Sorry about that.  My computer didn’t want to let me sign into the software… and I’ve been busy busy busy!  The highlight of my many activities was a long wedding weekend in Boothbay Harbor, Maine…

This is a view of the wedding set up before it started… from the Balcony of Dustin’s room… (gotta give credit!)

As you can see, the wedding location was gorgeous and the day turned out to be absolutely beautiful.  (Which was awesome since the first day and a half was about 50 degrees and FOGGY)  Sooo - yippee for 75 and sunny ON the wedding day!

Here’s two more pics:

Pat and I at the cocktail hour on the deck of the bar area…

And… another…

Me and one of the groomsmen walking down the aisle for the start of the wedding. Pat captured this shot with his phone and it gives you a good look at my bridesmaid dress.

The wedding was held at Linekin Bay Resort - (which was just plain old awesome – we are definitely planning on going back – please check out the link when you have time.)  The bride (and my childhood friend from good ole’ Camp Woodstock and high school) went there for almost 20 years with her family!

waterfront cabin… compliments of Linekin Bay Resort’s website…

While you’re there – You can stay in a lodge and have your own bedroom and private bath… or you can stay in a cabin like the one to the left (like we did!)  There was a playground right outside our cabin and a huge open field to let the pup run around in.  It would be a great place to take a family… which hopefully we’ll do again sometime down the road…

…

view of one bedroom of our cabin – compliments of Linekin Bay Resort’s website

Here’s an inside picture of the cabin that Pat and I stayed in.  It was actually a two bedroom, was very spacious and had a super cute deck on the front of it like the picture above.  (I have to note that it’s super ironic that we stayed in Cabin 17 because I’m pretty sure that’s the same cabin number that I was in when I met the Bride about 20 years ago at our camp in CT)

…One more highlight of the weekend:  a ping pong tournament.  The rec room at Linekin was set up with two tables and this was very serious business… we had a lot of really good players and there were brackets, qualifying rounds, etc.  Pat came in third and I CAN’T believe that I don’t have a picture of his trophy to put up here… it was reminiscent of a Mites soccer trophy except that it was of course a ping pong player, not a mini soccer player.  The bride and groom had them especially made up for the wedding and it is now proudly displayed on our mantel…  (I kid you not.)

We had an absolute blast all weekend… from the bachelorette/bachelor parties that kicked off the weekend, to dinner out in Boothbay Harbor, to the rehearsal dinner… breakfasts in the am… our awesome rustic cabin that we shared with our pup all week end… and of course the perfectly beautiful wedding day that had amazing food, people, drinks and dancing!

The beautiful bride and groom enjoying a sweet sunset picture after the cocktail hour…

Is anyone else in wedding mania this summer?  We have a lot of friends/family getting married this year and I just love it – all of the cheesy stuff – speeches and first dances and dances with the mom/dad.  And of course the eating, drinking, great people, and merriment.  For those of you who are privy, I’ll tell you about some of Patrick’s fancy dance moves another time!

Thanks for stopping by.  Tomorrow’s post will be about “Two Projects and a Baby!”

Accountability

The countdown is on… My little Patrick has his first birthday party on 6/23/12… which means that I have exactly 30 days to transform my kitchen before company arrives!

Here’s a before shot… (this is from the day we moved in so please excuse the mess)

These dark bad boys will be white in 30 days.

Here’s what I’ve “accomplished” so far…

• I made two trips to Benjamin Moore, one to Ace Hardware, and 1 to Home Depot to get all of my supplies
• I’ve taken down 11 out of 18 cabinets
• I’ve removed the hardware from all of the cabinets, keeping them in plastic baggies, labeled as to which cabinet they belong to, and I’ve labeled each cabinet… coordinating the # to that on my “map” of the room so I know what goes back on where.
• I’ve washed and sanded about 5 of them
• I’ve washed about 3 more…
• and I’ve primed/painted one… but here’s where the issue came in…

I used the product to the left on the first cabinet that was washed and sanded… The man at the paint store swore up and down that it was the best product available.  However, I’ve done 4 coats on my one cabinet and it still needs more… Like, at least 2 more.  This, for me, is not a feasible option.  18 cabinets multiplied by 5+ coats = 90 coats!  For real?

 

Soooo – Zinsser to the rescue – I bought this stuff this morning – we’ve used it before and Centsational Girl recommended it for laminate surfaces as well.  I’m hoping that I can do one or two coats of the Zinsser and then one or two coats of the Cabinet Coat “Trim and Cabinet Enamel” paint pictured above.  4 coats would be much more nice than 5 or 6.

After I’m done with the cabinets, I plan to use the same gallon to paint the metal door in the “big room” that leads out to the garage.  (Quick side story – my husband thinks “great room” sounds dumb, so rather than calling our great room what it is – we termed the nickname “big room.”  Sooo – it sounds kinda like we’re uneducated and/or have the vocabulary of a toddler… but “big room” is the term coined for our 600 square foot room with cathedral ceilings that we’ve been redoing for the last year or so… more to come on that room)

Anyways… back to the point of this post – ACCOUNTABILITY!  I have 30 days to finish my cabinets!  I took this project on myself so I’m not planning to call in Patrick’s help until the reinstallation comes along… and my understanding is that I should let the cupboard doors cure for 3-4 days before I put them back up.  So – basically – if we work out a timeline based on the very last minute (which is how it goes in my household) – then I have until approximately June 17th to finish painting ALL of the surfaces.  (I also have two weddings, two bachelorette parties, a rehearsal dinner, and a 1 year old to take care of in that timeframe.)  BUT – thankfully – the little man goes to sleep early… so weekday evenings are going to be clutch.  Now that American Idol is over – I might be able to pull this off!  Sooo - one more before pic of the kitchen before I go!

Don’t you LOVE the green stained glass look?  And my circa-1975 cabinets?  I can’t wait to show you the finished product!  I’ve got a few other ideas up my sleeve that I can’t wait to implement.   Ok, one more pic from move-in day…  It helps to show that the kitchen is actually a great space… nice and big!  Just in desperate need of some updates.

reminder: It was move in day so you have to excuse the mess

Ok, 30 day countdown – 3, 2, 1 – Begin!  Wish me luck!  Thanks for stopping by to read another one of my posts.  I’ll keep you updated on my progress and I’ll show you the finished product of the “Turn Your Special Song into Art” next week – I finished it last night – so I just need to get it hung this weekend.

What about you – have you ever painted your kitchen cabinets?  Or other furniture?  Have you used Zinsser yet?

Leave me a comment below!

Thanks,
Meghan

Oil Tanking…

Ok, so, for some of you… this is old news… BUT – in the interest of logging ALL of our home projects – this is one that definitely can’t be skipped!

da da da!

As I’ve said in previous posts, we bought our house as a short sale… and with the short sale came some interesting issues.

One of which was that there was an old, unused, (correction – not-used-anymore) oil tank buried in the ground that had to be removed before the house could be closed on  – BUT – as is the case with short sales, the owners didn’t have any cashola to remove it themselves… so we had to front the cost of the removal before the house was even ours!  Here’s a picture of the start of the process… a few guys dug with shovels to expose the top of the tank.  (I literally shuttered each time they hit the ground in fear that they’d puncture the tank and spew an oily mess all over my future yard.)

Here’s the view from the back yard – the part that amuses me the most is all the trees in the forefront of the picture (they’ve since been removed)

It was a bit of a risk… but – really – the biggest risk lay in what would or wouldn’t be discovered below the tank…

On the left is the oil tank being pumped out… before any more digging can take place. To the right is a picture of when they brought out the “big guns”

We had been pre-warned – there could literally be hundreds of thousands of dollars of environmental disaster hiding in the ground below the tank… or the tank could be intact, with no leakage… and we could proceed to buy the house without a problem. (Fingers crossed!)

We called a company and brought the owner out to the house (that wasn’t yet ours) so that we could get a quote.  (All of this can get a tad awkward when you’re getting quotes on a house that’s not yours.)  Anyways – the owner of the company said he had given at least 3 other people quotes on removing this tank and they had ALL backed out!  WHAT?  Alarms went off in my head – “what do they know that we don’t?” and on and on… Anyways – my husband persevered and we set the date for the tank removal.  (and crossed our fingers… shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.)  I have a one year old, please forgive my “shoulders, knees, and toes” jokes.

Anyways – this was the main piece of equipment that was brought out for our OIL dig.  It amused the heck out of me that they parked it like it was just an everyday car in the driveway:

Soooo – anyways – they pumped out the tank and started digging with the mean machine… Of course – they uncovered huge rocks boulders and pushed them to the side… (We have boulders lining every edge of our yard that were moved during one project or another)…

check out the rock in that machine

pulling more big rocks out while Jack and Ben look on…

Long story shorter…

Here’s a visual take on the rest of the project:

The tank has been exposed and “Jack and Ben” are digging away at the sides to unearth the demon:

Here – the demon of an oil tank is dangling precariously… I’m praying it doesn’t bust open…

I had to give you some perspective… see below:

Now – this is interesting – below you can see the “leftovers.”  The company we hired said that this was perfectly fine… It did make me a tad nervous… but I suppose that weed killer has probably been a larger issue at this point than this small amount of oil.   And – actually – the fire company had to come and inspect it and they ok’d it!  So – I guess their authority rules!  (The neighbors really must have been wondering what was going on – what with the firetrucks and bulldozers, etc.)

see the shiny, grey part? That’s a tad bit of oil… Deemed “ok” by the town fire department.

Ok, this post is almost over… Don’t get sad…

GOING…

…GOING…

…GONE! The oil tank, bulldozer, and truck are heading out the driveway. (Note the small pond in the front yard – this has thankfully been fixed… more to come on that too)

And, THAT, my friends, is how you have an oil tank removed from your yard!  After this day was over – we knew we were ONE step closer to closing on our house!

Thanks again for stopping by to read up on My Two Pats and a Pup!

-Meghan

Your special song, hanging over the couch

Hello people -

Hopefully third time’s the charm with this bad boy!  (I lost my first two posts again… ooops)

Anyways – I want to show you some art that I created for my honey by following this amazing tutorial.

SUPPLIES:

Here’s what you need!

• The sheet music for your special song
  • downloaded from here per the aforementioned post by www.scoutandnimble.com
    • My sheet music is already partially cut up in the pic above
• tape
• scissors
• ruler
• tea bag
• white out
• mod podge
• canvas board or cardboard
• frame
• yellow book or scrap paper
• glue gun (optional)
• a copy center nearby

Soooo – first things first – the background:

• My hubs and I danced to “Then” by Brad Paisley at our wedding… Check out the lyrics here.

• Pat is pretty musical and I hope that we’ll have a piano someday…
• therefore – I thought this would be a cool project to make, hang over the sofa, and then someday transfer to a spot over our gorgeous, grand piano.  (One can hope)

I downloaded the music and cut each bar of music out… so that it could be pieced together to create a poster sized version of this song… this part actually took a fair amount of time… b/c sheet music does not line up perfectly.  For instance – the treble clef and the bass clef sometimes have either two staffs or one.  (Forgive me if my music lingo is super duper way out of date… it’s been years.)   So – here’s what it looked like after I cut it up (3 or 4 bars per page multiplied by 15 pages of sheet music = 45+ pieces of paper taped together onto the scrap paper – wowzer.)

it’s a masterpiece already… right?  Wrong!  It’s kind of a mess.  Sooooo - at this point – I used white-out to cover up the parts of music like crescendo’s and decrescendo’s that don’t match up with each other from bar to bar…

I’m not going to lie – this part took a good half hour or 45 minutes at least… It takes a long time to match up that much music.  If your special song is shorter, you’re in luck!

At this point – you can head over to your friendly copy center – (I hit up a staples in Dedham while I was skipping along to David’s Bridal to try on a bridesmaid gown for an upcoming special wedding!)

At the copy center – they’ll have a big-a$$, huge machine that will copy your mess of a creation and turn it into one beautiful sheet of music!  it took 5 or 10 tries… but the upside is that they only make you pay for the copy that you want to keep and that only costs about $4.  Nice!

So – Anyways – you bring that huge bad boy home, steep a tea bag and use the tea bag to “antique” your creation… I used at least 5 tea bags… because sometimes they break open on you and create a big mess.  Anyways – use the tea bag to spread the yellow-ish tint all over the page… it will also crinkle the paper a little – but the whole point is that you want an antique effect – so keep up the good work.  Don’t do it too perfectly or else you’ll get tea bag lines that don’t look real.

I placed my masterpiece on paper towels to soak up any extra tea bag wetness…

While your tea bag’d perfection is drying, Scout and Nimble suggests that you use scraps from a yellow book or scrap paper, ripped up and modge podged to your board to give your art some extra texture.  I did this step – but the problem was that when I went to put the song on to the yellow book scraps, you could see 867-5309 and all the other numbers.  Soooo -I had to go over it again with plain white computer paper.  I now have a LOT of texture.  You could skip that step or try it out for yourself.  You really can do no wrong on this project so long as you’re flexible with your antiqued result.

Sooo - after modpodging some strips of paper all over your canvas board… You want to modpodge your song onto the board.  This takes some time to measure to make it straight, and you should probably attach it section by section…  After you’ve glued it down with the mod podge, put a couple of layers of mod podge on top in order to give it that professional, finished, shiny look.

Then, insert in frame and hang on wall!

I had NO idea how this project would turn out… BUT – my husband actually really liked it!  I told him that we were hanging it in the house somewhere (after all the time I put in) – I just wasn’t sure if it’d be in the garage, the guest room or a more prominent spot like our “big room” (aka great room.)  We  actually both really like the final result… BUT – our “big room” is a golden yellow color – so the antiquey yellow of the art didn’t really work in there.  Therefore, we plan to hang it over the couch in the living room – which is painted a nice green color.

I’m yet to put the art into the frame and attach it all with my glue gun – so I’ll have to post that tomorrow!  (I’ve been saying “tomorrow” for a few days… but a sick kiddie, american idol, and kitchen-cabinet-painting have kept me away!)

I’ll create a new post within a week to show you the final product hanging on the wall!  PROMISE!

In the meantime – to keep you satiated – here’s a sneak peak of two upcoming DIY projects that I’ll tell you about:

Here’s the start of our front walkway – I’ll give you details and a how-to on that soon

The new and much-improved bar in the big room

Happy Sunny Thursday!  Thanks for reading!

Welcome to: My Two Pats and a Pup!

Welcome to my new blog: My Two Pats and a Pup: A sneak peak into our fixer-upper in the Boston Burbs…  named for the do-it-yourself, home improvement filled life that I share with my two Patricks and our puppy.

CREATIVE OUTLET:

Back in the day, I used to be crafty:  play doh, construction paper, popsicle sticks and colored pencils were my go-to’s… then I grew up a little and - mixtapes, choir, and all sorts of jewelry-making were my creative outlets.  Then I headed off to college and became immersed in my Business classes, partying with my friends, and lacrosse (Not always in that order of prioritization)  and lost my creative edge!

That’s me on the far right… with a head of curls in the beginning of my “creative years”….

Soooo – After following one of my best friend’s blogs  and another friend’s blog , who both claimed to start whilst also looking for a creative outlet, I thought that I should try this out for myself!  Since I started reading these two blogs, I’ve picked up a few others who have been further inspiration to start a blog about home improvement!  (Centsational Girl and Migonis Home and a few others that I’ll write about later)

After much trepidation and losing my first 3 posts to the mysterious world of wordpress, I’m back.

BACKGROUND

Soooo – about two years ago, in 2010, my husband and I finally bought the short sale that we had put an offer in on 7 months earlier.  Through out the short sale process, there were a TON of ups and downs:  excitement then tears… relief then anger, disappointment then excitement again… It was a vicious, tough cycle and I’m honestly still shocked that we ended up in this house.  We put the offer in and then we waited… and waited…. and waited… and in the meantime, we looked at other houses, but never liked the “bones” of any house more than where we are now.   The only thing more excrutiating than buying this house was child labor. 

so, aptly put, I present: OUR LABOR OF LOVE

Our Labor of Love… about a year before we even put the offer in! So, this is from wayyy before we even bought it.

My Two Pats and a Pup will be a forum to share all of the many home improvement projects that we’ve completed and are still working on.   Demolition, digging, installing, renovating, leveling, furnishing, hardwooding (yes, I just made that into a verb,) and so on.  We’ve done A LOT to our little home… and, again, I’m shocked that we’ve pulled off everything that we have done so far!   Much of the credit goes to my handsome and handy husband who thinks that, in the great words of Adam Sandler, WE CAN DO IT…  (The only project that I’ve stopped him from doing was chopping down 100 foot pine trees. We hired a professional, much to his dismay)

Here’s a picture of my man fishing. He’s a looker… and a keeper, unlike the itty bitty fish on his hook.

FEEDBACK

Post your comments below!  It only takes a second and I’d be so happy to hear from you!  Let me know if there’s anything that you’d like me to write about or pictures that you’d like me to post or if you have any other ideas that I should include on here.

And THANK YOU for stopping by!  I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my babble and hear my (forthcoming) updates!