TWTW - the one with the crew

Spoiler: This is another scatterbrained and rambling weekend update. 

Thursday night I did all of my chores like a good little hausfrau: put laundry away, changed sheets, emptied the dishwasher, blah blah. I headed to the shore and got down there around 8:30. When I went into the main part of the house, I just stood there in awe. We got the living room and kitchen painted last week and the entire place was a total disaster. Three hours later we had it all cleaned up. Friday morning sunrise:

The day progressed quickly from there...old couches were picked up, MFD assembled furniture, I cleaned bedrooms upstairs, new furniture was delivered, we made beds, etc. Then MFD lured me to Home Depot under the premise that we'd also be going to Target. Two plus hours later, Target was no longer an option. We did get kitchen counters ordered. 

"Come to Home Depot," he said. "I'll take you to Target after," he said. 

MFD's mom arrived and we got some stromboli and a bucket of salad. My dad and Carol arrived soon after and Carol brought some goodies from the Cake Boss. The third photo is just shit everywhere on Friday night. 

Saturday morning sunrise...also known as the one where I dropped my phone on the beach and was back at my car before I realized it. Derp.

Hi ho hi ho, it's off to work we go. Things we did Saturday include: removed, sanded, painted, rehung kitchen cabinet faces and applied new hardware; painted trim on the main floor; removed remaining powder room wallpaper and patched some holes in there; hung decor; replaced shower head; taped area rug down; assembled coffee table; moved furniture from efficiency to upstairs; hung mug racks upstairs and downstairs; and I don't know what else. Everyone busted their ass all day and it was great. I get a huge thrill when every single item is checked off of my to do list especially when the list is daunting. 

Breaks were limited but I did give them one for lunch (Wawa) and chili I made at home and brought down with me. First dinner at our new table:

Sunday morning we hung some more stuff and my Dad painted the powder room. It made me sentimental, thinking about other owners in this house's 115 year old history doing the same, a lot of which still exists in the house now (original doors, etc). I love putting our touches on this old house that was so loved and cared for - two of my favorite things the former owners left are the Ocean City switch plates and the Ocean City clock. But the first thing I ever noticed was the door, and it's still the first thing I notice when I unlock it or lock it back up for the weekend: the Cead Mile Failte plaque that means a hundred thousand welcomes. When we first saw the house and I looked at that, I felt a click. And that means it was right. 

I know, blah blah just get to the updates. Here's the kitchen in progress, original listing photo in the top corner. Wallpaper removed, walls painted (Sherwin Williams SW 6675 Afternoon), cabinets painted/hardware changed out, stools painted, granite counters and appliances ordered. Mug racks (Ikea) hung and like the dork I am I will be changing them out so the same mugs will not be there all the time. 

Living room: walls painted  (Sherwin Williams SW 6745 Lark Green), furniture replaced, art hung. I used all of my own pics taken in Ocean City in this room aside from a shot Lil took of us on the boardwalk the day before our wedding. Everything is a work in progress in this house but this room is pretty complete aside from valances (needed throughout the first floor) and painting the cabinet under the TV, which won't happen until spring. Before and after: 

Couches are Raymour & Flanigan - Cindy Crawford Cape May line. Coffee table - World Market. Side table: HomeGoods. 

Dining room: painted, replaced table & chairs. 

Blue bedroom got a queen bed, sized up from a double, and is awaiting a second side table. I finally found a use for the shells I've been collecting since I was like five. Original pics on top new pics on bottom. 

Yellow room also got a queen bed up from a double, and new bedding including a throw pillow from Pier 1 that I'm obsessed with for some reason. Original pic in the top left. 

Powder room: Wallpaper removed, hole patched, painted Sherwin Williams Wisteria (SW 6822). 

And one of my favorite touches - boat cleats lining the staircase. I'm missing one at the top and then we'll put some rope through. 

New in the efficiency apartment this weekend, sans before and afters: Console table from Wayfair, so easy to put together a chimp (and me) could do it. Shower curtain and storage from HomeGoods, mug racks from Ikea, Threshold cabinet from Target, rug from Wayfair. 

As you can see, I love color and energy in a space. Investment wise, I grumble but defer to the realtor in the family who knows what will appreciate better. Decor-wise, I don't hem and haw, I just go with my gut and buy it/hang it/shimmy it around until I get it right. We did the same thing in our house, from zero to 60 in a snap. Doers gotta do, man. And they need to have people to boss around. Thanks to infinity to our weekend crew of my Dad and Carol and MFD's mom. My mom and Lori are up next weekend! LOL

I know it's hard to see what's going on when I throw a bunch of photos at you of a house you don't know about and haven't seen in person. I'm sorry if it's not easy to see in photos, but it's definitely coming together. I feel great about the progress made this weekend. 

I got home around 2 on Sunday, did two loads of laundry, ran to Target to return shit and buy more shit, and then I did weekly food prep: egg muffins with spinach, diced green chiles, and cheese; breakfast burritos with sausage, egg, cheese, diced green chiles to freeze; pulled barbecue chicken over spinach for lunches; cucumbers, bananas, orange peppers for snacks; poop soup - just kidding, it's dog stew and it cost more than anything I made for the humans in the house; and Sunday dinner - baked chicken, steamed green beans, and fatassery in the form of Grands biscuits. 

The dogs had another tiring weekend seaside. They do enjoy the vestibule downstairs but don't like being alone while all the work is going on upstairs. 

This weekend was the last big work weekend at the shore aside from MFD's kitchen stuff but I'm out of that after choosing countertops - future weekends will be more settling in and you'll see things actually outside of the house and maybe not quite so scattered when it's played back for you on Monday.

I could end with a thought on terrorism and panic and hate, but I won't. Because that's what the terrorists would like me to do and I am a fucking American and a citizen of the world and I will not live in fear. It's a devastating feeling when your country is under siege. Some of us know it fleetingly and some of us live it daily. I don't think this is a world in which peace is a possibility - since the beginning of time we've fought each other over our gods and our resources, our land and our people - but it doesn't stop me from wishing for peace anyway.

I'd rather end with saying I hope my fabulous friend Melissa had a wonderful birthday Saturday, and wishing my brother and Aubrey a happy first anniversary, also Saturday. Right photo courtesy of Evan Leslie Images, your man for all of your wedding/engagement/family/newborn/dog/headshot/arty/want new pictures of yourself on a Sunday needs.

Peace out.

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending