Heidi Happenings

wine a little...you'll feel better

2011-07-05T20:39:00.000-05:00

Today was not a good day.

I have been on travel for work since the end of April and my last trip ended on Friday. I worked an hour on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday. Luckily, I did not work on Monday but, I didn't necessarily have a relaxing day off. You see, it's hard to relax when you're worried about the next work day.

So, I made it to work (yes, I went into the office) before 7:30 this morning and before I could even get my morning glass of water the problem emails started coming in - I'm not going to go into details because that is not necessary. It was a LONG day - I missed lunch and worked for 9 hours straight.

But, today I decided I needed to recognize how fortunate I really am. So, I decided to find something to be thankful for each day. And today....I am thankful for tampons in the bathroom at work.

Needless to say, even though I missed lunch, "dinner" was a lovely bottle of Prosecco.

Today was not a good day.

after pics...way after pics...

2011-05-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

So, I'm a tad bit delinquent on posting after pictures of the kitchen. BUT - better late than never. AND - maybe this will get me blogging again...

It's Been a While!

2010-03-28T19:44:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to report that the kitchen is complete - mostly! I am planning on having a couple more things done but they were not in the original plan so I'm not counting them as part of THE kitchen remodel. When I look at the finished product I find it hard to believe that it's MY kitchen. I absolutely LOVE EVERYTHING about it - all the tears and frustrations were worth it. But, I am still standing by the statement I've made plenty of times - next time I want to change something big, I'll just move. I promise I'll post lots of pictures soon - I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to take many.

I Have Cabinets!

2009-12-15T21:39:00.000-06:00

Today was a BIG day for the kitchen remodel! The cabinet guys arrived around 9:00 this morning and were here ALL day. It was well worth the noise and saw dust that resulted from the installation. I am in love with these cabinets:

Laundry Room Cabinets:

Refrigerator Section:

Sink Area:

Stove Area:

Wine Area:

Double Garbage Cans:

Spice Pull-Outs next to stove:

Lazy Susan Cabinet:

There are a few more things left for the cabinet people to do but it's all minor stuff. The granite guy comes tomorrow to do the template for the countertops and Noah will be here to bring in my washer and dryer! I've never been so excited to do laundry!

Hello Paint, Goodbye Window

2009-12-03T22:56:00.000-06:00

So much has happened this week! Nancy and I painted on Monday. I'm happy with the color but I still need one more coat to get it where it should be. My Daddy is coming over Saturday to do the 3rd coat and paint the laundry room. On Tuesday, Noah took out the window and put up the new sheetrock...pictures below. Wednesday, the can lights were installed and I will admit to doing a little happy dance when I turned them on! Today, the tile grout was completed. Noah is going to finish up his work tomorrow and the cabinets should be installed at the end of next week.

On a side note - if you haven't seen "The Blind Side" - GO SEE IT! What a wonderful and touching movie! Thank You Barbara for organizing our group outing!

Here are some pictures of the window removal and the completed tile:

Here's the mess:

Tile:

Time for bed - good night!

What a Week!

2009-11-25T17:45:00.000-06:00

I knew this kitchen remodel was going to be stressful but this week wore me out. I can't believe it is only Wednesday. I got home from St. Louis on Thursday night and luckily the mess in my house wasn't near as bad as what I was expecting. Don't get me wrong - there is still a lot to clean up but it could have been MUCH worse! A big thanks to Noah for using the shop-vac to get the bulk of the dust up.

The weekend was pretty uneventful in the kitchen but the VBC South Hall was busy busy busy. I want to say Congratulations to LaDonna - you did a wonderful job with the Delta Zeta Marketplace this year! I am so proud to call you my sister!

Monday was when all my worries began. Noah was here laying tile and we started looking at the cabinet plans. The cabinets that they had designed would not fit in my kitchen. If they put the original design in the bar seating would be out in the backyard. So, after a lot of crying and a lot of help from my parents we figured out a new design. Phil and Nancy from the cabinet shop came down Tuesday morning and we resolved the situation. I feel so much better than I did on Monday!

Noah is almost done with the tile and I've just given him a lot more work to do but I think it is all going to turn out great.

Amy Jupin these pictures are for you - I'll try to follow the blogging rules better in the future! :)

When I left for St. Louis my kitchen looked like this:

When I got home all the appliances were out and all of the tile was gone:

Jordan was very happy mommy was home!

Here's the start of the tile:

More tile:

Just some of the dust that was remaining - warning this is disgusting!!!

More to come very soon - Brian and I are going to his mom's for dinner now!

It's Never Easy

2009-11-23T21:00:00.000-06:00

We hit a HUGE snag today. The plans that we have been working to are not correct. I'm hoping to talk to the cabinet people tomorrow. The good news is that the tile is being put down and it looks really good. That's all I can say right now - it's been a long night.

Quick Update

2009-11-18T13:34:00.001-06:00

I'm in St. Louis this week for work but the real work continues at my house. I talked to Noah last night and all the tile is up and all the appliances are out of the kitchen. He's going to start electrical tonight and this weekend or next week he will be laying the tile. I'll be painting at some point and then we'll be ready for the cabinets and granite! As it stands now I'll have my kitchen completed around December 17th!

This is what my kitchen looked like when I left:

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Demo Day

2009-11-14T10:40:00.000-06:00

My head is pounding. Noah and his workers arrived at 8:00 this morning to begin the kitchen demolition. The cabinets are gone and the tile is over half way busted up. They are taking a small break and will hopefully finish up the tile removal today. Progress so far:

And, I picked out new tile yesterday...

Let the Search Begin

2009-11-12T17:36:00.000-06:00

So, I talked to the tile guy today - he is pretty sure he won't be about to find the tile that I need to finish the kitchen. I am now accepting the fact that I will have to re-tile the kitchen and laundry room. Hopefully I'll find a beautiful tile at a reasonable price.

And, I just have to tell you all - I have the best friend a girl could ask for. Thank you Nancy, you made me laugh today when I was about to cry, I appreciate you offering to help!

Wine a little - you'll feel better!

2009-11-10T20:03:00.000-06:00

Yea! Something went right today! The delivery man was in my driveway at 4:00 to deliver the wine refrigerator. It's now in the kitchen and already has one bottle of sparkling wine in it! Jordan isn't too sure about the new appliance.

Lights Off:

Lights On:

Jordan checking it out:

No Tile...

2009-11-09T16:33:00.000-06:00

What a busy weekend! I had a great dinner with some sorority sisters on Friday night - despite the fact that I spilled an entire diet coke in my lap - it was great to see everyone and we had a good laugh at the expense of a very interesting couple! Saturday morning I went bridesmaid dress shopping with my friend Karen and her other bridesmaids, we now have a beautiful dress for her March wedding! After that it was time to hit the road to pick up the tile from Georgia Floors Direct in Montgomery. Brian and I left Huntsville around 1:00 and had a very nice drive down however, they did not have my tile. Yes, I called and the guy told me he had it, yes, I called before we left on Saturday to make sure they still had it on hold for me but, the guys working at the store could not find it. So, now I'm waiting on the owner to call me back to let me know if he can get it for me - he was supposed to call today, if I don't hear from him I'll be calling tomorrow. We did stop in Birmingham at the Cheesecake Factory on the way back for dinner - and we had a very nice drive home so the trip wasn't wasted. As Brian put it - it was very good bonding time. :)

There are a couple of pieces of good news about the kitchen...

Jordan's Dog Bowls came in and the wine refrigerator will be here tomorrow between 4-8pm!

Isn't he cute:

Decisions Decisions Decisions

2009-11-06T15:35:00.000-06:00

Today was another big day in the kitchen remodeling world! Now I have the cabinet contract and the granite contract signed. Now it's time to start making more decisions - who knew picking out a sink and a faucet could be hard? I've also got to decide on lighting, barstools, and tile for the backsplash at some point. But, when I think of all that is left to do, I have to remind myself what I've already decided on:

Cabinets: Ivory with a Chocolate Glaze
Granite: Santa Cecilia
Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Mustang

As it stands right now I will have my kitchen completed on December 17th! I'm sure dates will change but hopefully they will move up instead of out!

Lessons learned so far:

Always buy extra tile when you do your floors! Turns out my tile has been discontinued. After a minor panic attack I found a place in Montgomery that has my color and size in stock. They are holding some boxes for me and we are heading down tomorrow to pick it up.
When you don't have a kitchen you don't have a place to fill the dog bowl easily, there's no filtered water, and there's no ice. I will be going to Costco this weekend to stock up on bottled water.
Remember to leave at least a few dishes out - oops! I'll be buying some paper plates too!

The demo might start tomorrow or we might wait until next weekend - I'm waiting to hear from Noah.

A New Kitchen = Tons of Work

2009-11-05T14:27:00.000-06:00

This summer I seriously got "New House Fever" but when I started looking there was nothing that really caught my attention. So, I started thinking about what I don't like about my house. Only two things came to mind: my kitchen and my master bathroom. I decided that it would be more cost effective in the long run to leave the bathroom like it is and focus on the kitchen - now comes the fun part! The kitchen renovation starts this Saturday! I've spent all week cleaning out my cabinets and getting rid of a lot of things that I forgot I had - I figured if I haven't used it since I moved in 6 years ago I probably don't need it.

Here are some before pictures - I'll post more updates along the way.