DIY: Curtain Week

This past week my mom was in town to help me make curtains for the living room and kitchen. We worked for most of the week and made several trips to the fabric store to get missing items or more fabric. Although, I spent a small fortune on the fabric, they fit perfectly and match the colors well. It was well worth the money and the time spent.

Me hard at work.

Valance at window above the kitchen sink

Kitchen cafe curtains next to the table

Patio doors to the deck off the kitchen

Front living room window

Upclose look at the fabric and intricate design work.

Valance on side window in living room.

SNOW in OCTOBER???

I knew the weather would be a bit different here in New England, but not so much as to have snow in October!! But yes, snow is possible even in October here in Springfield. We woke up to a very light snow flurry and our conversation went something like this:

Mike: It's snowing!

Andrea: No way!

Mike: Way

Unfreaking believable. I had to take a picture. Although difficult to photograph, I ensure you that the white specks in the picture are indeed snowflakes.

Welcome to New England!

Fall Getaway

Last weekend, I was finally able to drag Mike away from his work for a few days. I planned our first Massachusetts adventure around the fall foliage and decided on the Berkshires. West of Springfield, lies the Berkshire area including the South, Central, and North. It is well known for Stockbridge, Tanglewood (Boston symphony plays here in the summer), colonial towns, country roads, skiing, and mostly fall colors. We traveled to the Northern area to the town of Williamstown, home to Williams College. We stayed at a quaint country bed and breakfast called Steep Acres where we met a couple from German as well as Connecticut.

On Saturday we tackled the 6 mile hike up to the peak of Mt. Greylock. From the top you are supposed to be able to see all of the Berkshire Mountains as well as the Green Mountains of Vermont. Unfortunately, it was a cold, foggy, and cloudy day and we could only see 10 feet in front of us. However, it was a great hike and wonderful to be out in the wilderness for a few hours.

Mike and I on the trail

The tower at the peak, hidden by fog


To complete our trip, we drove through North Adams, ate lunch at the Hub, and experienced the famous Hairpin Turn on route 2. It was a much needed and beautiful fall getaway. The pictures below captured only a sampling of the fall colors.

DIY: Bathroom Redo

Finally it's finished! I think I started this project over a month ago, and just finished it yesterday. That isn't to say I worked on it straight for those 4-5 weeks, but it was by far the most time intensive project yet.

I've hated this bathroom from the first time we even looked at the house, but was able to push this strong distaste to the back of my head even as we signed our life away at the lawyer's office.

Here is my Why I Hate this Bathroom List:

1. the tile is pink--need I say more

2. oak stained trim that doesn't match the remainder of the house which is white

3. the skinny closet door that bangs into the regular door leaving huge dents

4. the oak vanity that doesn't go well with the pink tile

5. the cracks in the sink

6. the oversized medicine cabinent with the peeling finish

7. the light fixture that isn't centered over the sink and is too large

8. their is only 1 towel bar that holds a single towel

Phew that is a long list and covers almost every single item that makes up a bathroom. I knew I couldn't change it all, so I opted for the least expensive fixes. This unfortunately didn't include the tile. To work with what I had, I pulled outthe one color from the tile that was the least offensive--a dark mauve color, officially named Brown Tepee in the paint world. I also decided to work with the dark, nearly black, grout color to turn the eye away from the pink. To change my feelings of hatred towards the bathroom to ones of acceptance, I made the following changes:

1. pink tile---will have to wait for another day

2. oak trim=painted white

3. annoying skinny door=removed and painted the shelves mauve, filled them with pretty black baskets, and made crafty labels

4. oak vanity=painted black

5. cracked sink---will have to wait for another day

6. oversized medicine cabinent=new, black, wall hanging mirror

7. uncentered light fixture---will have to wait for another day

8. 1 towel bar=black rack with 4 hooks

To pull everything together, I decorated with a black shower curtain, black towels, black/brown baskets, black bamboo roller shade, and a chrome clock. Overall, I'm relatively happy about how the room turned out and maybe in a few years I'll be motivated to tackle the tile!

BEFORE

AFTER

Tour of 18 Yamaska

Last week I came up with the brainy idea of making a video of the house. I've had some requests for pictures but thought a video tour would provide a better, more detailed image of the house. Unfortunately, blogger couldn't handle the size of the video. Therefore, I posted it on Facebook.

I am quite pleased on how it turned out. Mom even said she was worried there wouldn't be anything left for her to do when she comes in October. But I assured her I will definitely have a list prepared.

Hope you enjoy!

DIY: Leaky Toilet

For some reason plumbing has a "hire a professional" stigma attached to it. However, being that I have some free time on my hands and a trusty internet source, I decided to give it a go.

The upstairs bathroom had a slow annoying leak coming from the tank of the toilet. After my father-in-law replaced the flapper and tightened a few bolts, it still leaked. Therefore, the remaining leaking culprit laid in the gasket between the tank in the bowl...meaning I had to take the toilet apart. After emptying the toilet of all water, and struggling for a half an hour on getting the bolts off, I was able to remove the tank. And sure enough, the once rubber gasket was a petrified encrusted mass, so disgusting that the guy at Lowe's wouldn't even touch it when I brought it in for a new one...wuss.

I replaced the gasket, bolts, and screws and returned the tank to its rightful position. I turned the water back on, filled the tank, took a few flushes, tightened some bolts, and no more leaks!! Now, if fixing a leaky washing machine was only this easy.

BEFORE



AFTER

Wilbraham Peach Festival

For our weekend excursion, we didn't go far from home. Wilbraham is a rural suburb of Springfield and hosts an annual Peach Festival with a 5 mile run. Mike and I jumped on the opportunity to try our first New England race.

We rolled out of bed at 7am and headed out for the race. We weren't really sure how many people to expect being that the registration stated that the first 200 participants would receive a t-shirt. Come to find out, this was the largest race yet for the Peach Festival topping out at 223 runners! The scale here in Springfield is just a little different than Cincinnati.

Mike and I finished dead on 45 minutes and right in the middle of the pack. It was an easy flat course although humid. After the race we were awarded a peach pancake breakfast as part of the registration fee. I was a tad disappointed to see canned peaches plopped onto my plate considering the title of the festival includes the word Peach. I was imagining fresh farmers market type festival. Boy was I mistaken. Instead, this shindig is more of a Cincinnati grown Catholic Church Festival with fried dough wagons, inflatable bouncers/slides, and a carousel and no fresh peaches for sale anywhere on the grounds.

But for $20 we had a nice race, got a long sleeve t-shirt, a peach pancake breakfast, plus someone mistook me for a senior high school student in need of taking the SAT. Since I just turned 29, that felt pretty good!