the heels take over...

So, now that we don't have anything to really "build" or "design". The heels are taking over and I've decided to just write about all the little treasures that I find. On the fabulous world wide web, my travels, day to day, work, why not?

My first find comes from the most recent and I might add drab Sex and the City 2 movie... But what is more exciting than the storyline or the drama are THESE RUGS! The Rug Company is a long time sustainer of all things RUG in the show and in the recent movies. I don't know about many of you, but when I was watching the movie, I didn't want to hear about Samantha'

s menopausal hormones or Charlotte's crying baby... I was paying more attention to all the loveliness that was around them! Here are two images of The Rug Company's rugs in the movie set.

therugcompany.com

therugcompany.com

And in my perusing of the internets today I also found some lovely Sex and the City 2 interior shots that I found lovely, one of which is actually Carrie's remodeled original apartment. One of the most stunning moments of the 1st movie. Still a wonder to me now.

These photos are courtesy of elledecor.com of whose magazine I subscribe to. A little treasure in my mailbox every other month. And look what else I found. Pictures of Candace Bushnell and Sarah Jessica Parker's own homes.

Candace Bushnell's Home | elledecor.com

Sarah Jessica Parker's Home | elledecor.com

Sarah Jessica Parker's Home | elledecor.com

So there you go, a little summer fun a-la Sex and the City 2. Even if the story wasn't well planned, the interiors stepped up for the show.

Handsome and Heels

So, I'm not going to apologize about not writing in a whole month, because everyone who writes blogs and doesn't blog for a long time always apologizes. But there is no need for apologies in the blog world. Blogs are for come and go writing about exciting things in your life or fun facts or interesting things to do/find. We have not had any of that in our lives over the past month, hence the cease in updates about your dear Hammers and Heels couple.

However, I would like to talk a little about the season of summer. Oh summer, how I love you so. No longer are goose bumps continually on my arms and legs, or the scarf perpetually wrapped around my neck, nor the constant worry of stepping on a cold surface or touching a cold beverage. I am free from the subconscious avoidance of anything minutely cold.

Now that we have 95 degree weather every day all day, I don't mind the heat. I can sweat with the best of them. And I am now at peace with my environment. The only thing that peeves me about summer are my car's leather seats. Holy goodness! You know what I'm talking about. Good thing I don't have the Ford Escape anymore with the black leather seats, and instead have the tan leather... I'm talking 10 times more hot when your white little legs sit down on them after that black bakes in the sun for 2 hours while you were in Nordstrom.

The summer also brings on WEDDING SEASON. Which is what David and I are about to enter into. This upcoming weekend marks my good friend Sonya Nair's wedding in Houston. A whole weekend of a beautiful hotel, pretty bridesmaids dress, culture, and driving.

The weekend after is my good friend Amy Anthony's wedding in Fort Worth. Another fun weekend full of driving (not by us! Carrie and Daniel are taking us with them!) another pretty bridesmaids dress, and lots of friends!

The weekend after that is my birthday and we are celebrating in Albuquerque with Morgan and Michael Grimm! I am so stinking excited about this weekend. A good break with my best friend in the world doing fun stuff in a fun town. (There is also a casino ;)

Then, after a good break in Albuquerque we return to Texas for my best friend Carrie Asher's wedding in Austin. A full weekend of primping, beautiful bridesmaids dress, beautiful venue, good friends and NOT driving!

Then we are free! So, "Hammers and Heels" are more like "Handsome and Heels" for the next month of suits and ties and dresses and fancy food and hotels. Then our lives are back to normal, as well as our bank accounts, our weekends, our gas consumption and diets. Then maybe we can get going on some much needed TLC to the Gardenridge Hollow house, aka my house.

no, were not done

So, you may be asking yourself, what in the world are Katie and David doing now that they aren't working on the house anymore... well, we aren't slowing down, but we are enjoying the freedom to do all kinds of new fun stuff.

The house has had several buyers already looking. The day after it went on the market, 3 realtors stopped by with clients. And there were a couple this weekend.

David is actually still working on house stuff little by little. This picture shows the progress of power washing the roof. On the left you can see the power washing difference. Essentially its a white roof. And the darker color is the residue from trees, dirt, and mold/mildew/grime. They have been working on getting the other half off and its looking great!

The landscaping at the front of the house that we planted last summer is already taking off after all the rain and sun we've been having. It'll take a little longer, but soon it will actually look like something.

David and I are also trying to plan/design the mounting of the mantel for the fireplace. That is something that we haven't been able to do yet. But, we'll have pictures as soon as we can.

Because we've been spending so much time at David's house, I've been thinking my house has been neglected. So, I made a list of "honey do's" and handed it over to David. Well, not really, but there have been some things that I have just been dying to do. One thing inparticular. The shrubs in front of my house... they are so overgrown and literally growing wild and I'm just tired of them. Its a reminder of the disarray this house was in when we bought it and I wanted to start new.

So, this is the before... Don't mind the new shrubs in their pots on the sidewalk.

And this is the after. Those shrubs in the back are very small right now, but in a couple of months I am hoping that they will look more like this... (sneak attack photo of a house a couple of streets down...)

And then this is what I did last week after I got home from work each day. I love my garden! (minus the huge man hole cover in the middle of it)

for sale - 12729 Burson Drive Manchaca, TX

The house is going on the market Tuesday. Here are some pictures of the final product, staged and ready for buyers.

the finish line

This week and weekend was all about paint, closets and yard work.


This is the BEFORE of the house... as a reminder.

AFTER.

Behr "Mocha Accent", one of the best decisions we ever made. (Note the brighter/cleaner driveway.)

Beautiful.

Nancy was doing some gardening today. Sweet Nancy had some extra... "bull-something", I forget, (sorry Nancy!) from her house, but she planted them in front of the entry. It has two side flower beds flanking the walkway, that were looking pretty pathetic. So now they have several fun whimsical yellow flowering small shrub like things. Nancy also bought some new fountain grass to replace the foutain grass that did not survive. The plants that we planted this past summer (along the completely solid rock wall at the front of the house) did not fair to well during the extremely cold winter we had. But... some are coming back and it is SO exciting to see. (at my house too ;)

Back doors.

This was a little moment that I wanted to get philosophical about for a second.

This is the kitchen. To the left is the back door. To the right is the back of the fireplace, as well as the walkway we created by knocking out a wall to open it up to the living room. The picture is being taken from the stove area. I'd like to say that prior to this remodel, when I would visit David here at this house, this area of the house was the place that was always dark and you would never have a reason to go into. Stuff was stored over here all the time. Old roommates crap left behind. Water bottle crates. Coolers. And then through the back door (sliding aluminum prior to the french doors) was this creepy enclosed patio painted that crazy blood orange. And NOW. This space is just so much more inviting, even without furniture yet. It will be such a great place to be. Eating or doing homework. Able to see into the living room at the people there. Able to walk outside and go to the grill. The possibilities are endless and I just wanted to point out one of the truly MANY new moments David has created with his vision for this house.

On to the good stuff. This past week David has been a sawing fool cutting material for the closets. He has done a great job creating these custom millwork pieces for the bedroom closets, pantry and linen closets. My task today was to paint and caulk these suckers.

Here is David painting the pantry. This is probably one of my most favorite rooms. (I know, the intricate harlequin honey onyx tile did not beat this one out.) I love it so much, because this type of element basically didn't exist for this house. Well, there was a pantry, but it used to be where we now have an open walkway to the living room and it just didn't work and contributed to the whole effect of clostrophobia in there. So it doesn't count. This pantry is off the kitchen, around the corner. Its not a dead on, pantry door that sticks out and is always open so people can see that you really do eat velveeta shells and cheese on a daily basis... And have stock twinkies and ramen noodles. And it has these beautifully crafted shelves that I designed and David built. Really I just told him the spacing and he did all the hard stuff. However...



I did partake in some extreme caulking of these shelves and others today. They will eventually be painted so don't this is the final product. Yes, on the day after my stressful anxiety ridden professional licensing two day exam, I spent my free day painstakingly caulking hundreds of linear feet of shelving. But it was the best day I've had in 4 months I'll tell you that! So, with lips a chapping', I had a blast finishing up the final details of the house.

Also, this weekend David's brother in law Josh Blake helped out and did a lot of yard work. He edged the property line, and left the wildflowers to grow around the property while cutting back a lot of grass growth. Thanks Josh!

Carpet goes in on Tuesday, house gets cleaned on Wednesday and furniture gets trailored in on Wednesday night and Thursday. This is the best part! There are MANY small little things that still have to be done. David and his Dad have a list going and it seems lengthy, but it will get done. We have good people helping us.

So, stay tuned for some impressive staging by the Marchand girls with assistance from many others ;)

teaser

Well, this will be my last post until this Sunday... I'm in the crunch zone of studying for my licensing exam that takes place this Friday and Saturday. Its been a long 4 months and I am ready to have a social life again and put all my gumption and energy into the house instead of into a book...

But here are a couple of items that have gone on this past week/weekend.


Here is David on the boom lift, trimming the trees in the backyard. It is absolutely beautiful out there and he is making it even more so.

There he is, playin' lumberjack for the day. He still had traces of "tree" on his face that night.

Here is a little treasure for all of you. This is David's niece, Sidney. She is a precious doll and I just had to add this picture in today to put a smile on everyone's faces! Plus, I gave her the outfit and bow and had to show off my sense of baby style and my photography skills.

And here is a little teaser. These are the front beams that we have painted with the new trim color... Its a HUGE improvement from that blood orange color that was on there before. But its not completely done yet and we still have so much to do, like the front door and the garage door and the accent trim around that. But, much of that, since I'm in charge of the front door and trim around it, will have to wait until after April 10. I'm far too busy with my nose in books, and chapped lips from writing feverish notes.

Until then, have a great week. And! Leave a comment if you want! Just click that little button down there at the bottom. Or, become a Follower! Its super easy and honestly I just want to be a "popular" blogger... I'm jealous of all my other friends that blog and have, like 30 followers.

slowly but surely

Little by little, the house is coming together. Painting is still going on to the trim work within the house. David is still cutting and nailing baseboards, and I'm still coming behind him with the caulk. Its a long and arduous process.

But, a shining moment for the weekend was this! The backsplash was installed. 4" x 12" travertine acts as a border at the top and bottom, and 2x2 tumbled travertine is in between. It looks very nice with the Giallo Ornamental.


David also insalled the microwave. You could almost live there now.

And the final task of the weekend was power washing. HD started power washing the stone on the house, and it looks 100x better already, but the patio and driveway were just too much for a little nozzle to handle. So, out comes the "whirlybird" as David and David like to call it.

David's friend David Evans and his dad came by Sunday morning with their state of the art steam activated pressure washer.

Look at the difference. Left is after, Right is before... Amazing.

So that's it for this week/weekend. Exterior painting will hopefully start happening this next week. Carpet is being installed the week after Easter and then we can start moving furniture in.

Hip hip hooray!