Pile of Shingles

So the house is not done. Theoretically, a house is never done right? Always a little project in the works. But - I'm feeling incredibly conflicted about the fact a moving truck is showing up tomorrow with a shit ton of stuff. You'd think I would be so excited and bouncing off the walls. It's not that I'm not excited but I'm having a hard time transitioning  from "project" to "home". This place still feels like a project to me. Don't get me wrong. I still love this blessed little stress trap of a house. I think it's the idea of filling it with all my old crap that is terrifying to me. I don't plan on ever moving again but - the main takeaway is don't put your stuff in storage for 2.5 years and be excited to see it again. I know that I'll change my mind on this but I can't think of one thing from my old apartment that I'm looking forward to seeing. Today the movers called twice to confirm the appointment. The s...

This beautiful house that we've designed and built has two glass shower doors. I remember during the design phase it was something that both architects called out. "Are you okay with glass shower doors?" I might have hesitated briefly but said I was fine with it. In the long run I absolutely am, but in hindsight, it would have been good to consider alternative design options around these expensive features.... because they are expensive. That being said, in addition to being expensive they are also gorgeous. Glass shower doors are pretty simple from a customer perspective. I say that specifically because as a designer and installer they is a lot of complexity and precision that needs to be considered. But from a customer needs point of view, there are only a few things that need to be determined: starlight versus clear // clear is more expensive but doesn't have that slight green tint to it clips versus channel // clips are more expensive but channel can be a...

Hey, remember when I said we'd have an occupancy permit two weeks ago? I was a liar. This is why you shouldn't have expectations. It was an especially quiet week at the house. I feel like I really need to push to close out this last phase. I don't need everything 100% complete but I just want to be able to move things into closets. I'm not sure why I feel like that but I do. I'd also like to hang a shower curtain. There is something very lazy, and satisfying, that it took until this point for me to double up on post weeks. The thing is I just don't want to sit at my computer anymore - and it's really affecting a lot of things - more than just this weekly blog post. But, I've loved reading these posts back over time so it's worth doing these write-ups for sure. If I was to summarize things that were exciting I would say: + I can now shower in the house because of the doors + The fireplace works + I won't have brown water anymore becaus...

It really feels like a lifetime since I did a recipe post - but here we are ... and I have one. Actually I have several but here is just the one I can write up right now. This recipe also comes with me admitting something. I might like Oreos. I'm always a proponent of making cakes over buying them - always. It's like making a sundae but not putting sprinkles on the top. Why not just finish the job? That being said, we have a lot of great bakeries around us that make great cakes. I just really like to spend time in the kitchen. This cake is both incredibly fast... and slow at the same time. It takes virtually no time to prepare but you need a solid 7-8 hours for it to set. But you've got some options here: + make your own whip cream ... or use cool whip. Since this was a special occasion, I went with full fat heavy whipping cream. But, any other time I would probably go with cool whip. It's just so easy and still tastes great. + fun stuff in the layers! If you are lookin...

So if this house was a baby, we would be ready to deliver.... and since this house is my baby... that is actually close to true. According to Jim the Contractor, we should have an occupancy permit in the next week (or so). This was a pretty weird week given the big holiday smack in the middle of it. In this town nobody really works on / around the 4th of July and as a result it was a pretty weird week progress wise. Some things happened of course but mainly the progress could be categorized under "things I bought online and am waiting for UPS to deliver". The real heroes of home renovation might be UPS/FedEx/USPS. Everything comes delivered these days. So what did happen this week? Countertops were delivered on Monday ... and that is pretty much it. The painters also came back for a round of touch-ups and to paint the front door again. The door has either 6 or 8 coats on it at this point. Apparently red requires so many because it's such a deep color or something lik...

Sometimes during this project, I've reflected back on the moment where I lost it on the streets of Somerville. It's comical to me at this point that I lost it so early on in this process. Nothing had even happened yet. We hadn't discovered a rotting foundation. I hadn't seen bill after bill after bill. There wasn't an apron sink shortage. There wasn't a gap in the kitchen soffit. All that had happened was trying to get a mortgage. For example, on Friday I missed two calls from the gas company trying to install the meter. I had no idea that I had to be there for this process... because nobody told me. I managed to convince the guy to come back later in the day. Meanwhile, the guys show up to refinish the floors for the last time. In doing so, that meant the dishwasher had to be delivered to the back door... and they promptly dragged it over my infant baby lawn. Also, since the floors were refinished that meant I couldn't get to the basement... and therefor...