Homeowner Fail #1: White doesn’t have shades!

So, everything with the house has gone great so far. Yesterday, not so much. 

The one big project I need to finish before my parents come on Friday is painting my closet. I really lucked out because the previous owners left the extra paint meaning i wouldn’t need to purchase any for the laundry room, pantry or closet. So, I thought. I told myself I HAD to finish this project yesterday, because I need to seal my shelves before moving things in, which I was hoping to be on Thursday while I was waiting for my washer and dryer to be delivered. 

While the other two rooms turned out great, or at least I think so, my closet was a disaster. First, it was late when I started. The pantry went so smoothly so I had complete confidence in myself. I get the ______ white paint out of the garage and put the first coat on. I noticed it seemed a bit “not white” but couldn’t pin point it, thinking if it says white it has to be white. WRONG. It is LIGHT GREEN. So I gave it a chance to dry. IT DRYS DARKER. I spent way too much time debating on if it was too dark or not, all while still painting the trim of all things. Not the most brilliant idea I had, I know. Now, I get to go back and repaint it white. 

Here’s a story for paint color name decision makers – WHITE DOESN’T HAVE SHADES. COLORS HAVE SHADES. WHITE AND BLACK DO NOT HAVE SHADES. DO NOT NAME A PAINT SOMETHING WITH WHITE IF IT ISN’T WHITE. LIGHT GREEN IS NOT A SHADE OF WHITE, IT IS A SHADE OF GREEN. 

Rant over. I’ll get over it one day, but not today. Or tomorrow. Or until all of my clothes and shoes are hiding the stupid white walls that are currently green. 

Yes, this pic is via snapchat. I have a ghetto phone camera.

xoxo,

jenn – who has now completed her first homeowner fail. 😦

Turning a House into a Home: Let the process begin.

So, now for a fun house post as I wait to AT&T to install U-verse an hour behind schedule…

Thursday night before signing, I did a final walk through. Oh, the things you discover when everything is out of the house. Like there’s only a quarter round on part of the front entry…and the closet, pantry and laundry room have scuffs everywhere. And the paint job upstairs is less than stellar.

After the walk through, I had a list of projects I need to accomplish before moving all of my stuff over. AKA Friday when my parents come. 

1. Paint bedroom and baseboards
2. Paint the laundry room
3. Paint the pantry
4. Paint my closet
5. Seal my kitchen cabinets
6. Clean the baseboards in the downstairs
7. Clean the refrigerator
8. Clean out and line cabinets

As you might remember me saying, I was really glad I found an updated house that didn’t require me to do any work other than aesthetics. Once I found the house, I couldn’t wait to start decorating it. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do my bedroom in – grey, white, and pink. Super girly, super me. 🙂 The rest of the house? NO IDEA. So, I just went with it and just decided to pick things as I went.

Knowing that I’d have to paint my bedroom to make it exactly what I wanted, I called in on my two best helpers – Brittney and Stephanie. My conversation with Stephanie was quite amazing – turns out, she didn’t have anything better to do than paint my house. 😉 My sister is AMAZING at free handing trim. Me, I can roll like it’s going out of style. (They see us rollin’, they hatin’. Totally just kidding. But we did sing that a couple of times). And, Stephanie, she rolls and paints baseboards like Picasso.

Lucky for me (and them really), I like the color of the common areas so I am holding off on painting those until I have more of a decoration lead on them. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have come if we had to do more than we did.

Anyways, Friday after I signed my life away the papers, I went to Bouquets and we had lunch. Then, Uncle Looch and I went to Lowe’s to get paint supplies and samples. Trip 1 of 4 for the weekend under my belt – check. I picked two colors of grey. One I thought I’d like and then a darker one. After that trip was over, Aunt Steph and I headed down to the house to put colors on the wall. Uncle Looch was headed there after he dropped Murphy off for his staycation, since they are in Cabo San Lucas right now. Jerks. 😉

I ended up picking the paint I thought I would. Guess I know myself pretty well after 24 years minus 8 days. Once I picked the color, Aunt Steph and I headed to Home Depot for trip #2 to purchase the actual paint.

In order to get to my house, you turn by a Shop & Carry Convenience store. I live exactly 1 mile from the best shopping center here in Austin. I have everything I need (except HomeGoods) in there. There’s kinda a joke that the Shop & Carry is where I’ll do all of my beer runs. So, when Uncle Looch was on his way over, he stopped at the Shop & Carry to get the first beers for my house! 🙂 What kind? Dos Equis, duh. We couldn’t wait for Stephanie and Brittney so we had the first celebratory beers before they got here. Then, another when they did get here!

First beers in the new house!

Celebratory Prosecco at Winflo Friday night!

        

Saturday morning started out with me and Stephanie taking Aunt Steph and Uncle Looch to the airport. Then we went home to get Brittney to go to the lake to run. Luckily, it was too packed and so we went to Juan in a Million for breakfast tacos instead. Fair trade I think.

After breakfast, we got busy with my bedroom. Finished everything except the baseboards. Got most of the laundry room done – just had the trim to finish. Didn’t start the pantry or the closet.

We did a dang good job on my walls and baseboards! I am so in love with it!

This one still has the tape on it, but gives another angle. Love love love my room. Can’t wait to see it totally set up!

After we did that, we took a break for the fun stuff – SHOPPING!!!!

First stop. Best Buy for a tv. First problem – cute sales boy, Tyler, and we look ROUGH. He’s showing me tvs and I pick one; a Samsung 50” Smart TV. Then he asks what kind of mount I want – flat or tilted. Umm, sorry what kind of mount? For the tv? My mind went straight to the gutter and so did the giggling girls (Steph and Britt) behind me! Anyways, Steph and Britt were hoping I’d get a date, but I’m pretty sure this poor kid just wanted to get rid of us!

Second stop was for the most important appliance – my keurig! I need a sign that says “Coffee addict – please don’t talk to me before cup 2”! In between getting my tv and loading it is when I got my keurig. So when they went to load my tv, I noticed there wasn’t the mounting piece. After all of that, I forgot the freaking wall mount and have to go face this cute boy again and talk about mounting?! Oh well, gotta do whatcha gotta do. Unfortunately, he was on his break so I didn’t get to see his adorable face again. Luckily, he has my name and phone number from my purchase. Maybe one day he’ll call. 😉

We went back to the house, unloaded my tv and keurig and then started back north. On our way home, we stopped at World Market. I realllllllllllllllly want to do 2 patterned chairs in my living room, but I REFUSE to pay a fortune for them. Friday night, Aunt Steph found a super cute patterned ottoman on the World Market website so I wanted to see if they had chairs in store. Of course not, but they did have some super cute stuff.

After World Market, we detoured to Banana Republic because Brittney had a coupon and needed to use it that weekend. we had awesome customer service from another Tyler. We just decided we liked all Tylers that weekend!

On our way home, Steph googled Pier 1 and they, too, were out of my chair budget. I knew I wanted to go to HomeGoods so we made a last minute stop there. CHA CHINGGG! I hit the jackpot. Got 2 chairs, sheets, pillows for my bed, and throw pillows. WINNING.

Now, to the couch – something else I refuse to spend a lot of money on. Oh, and dinner. We wanted to watch the Texans vs. Falcons game because my best friend who plays for the Texans (Hunter #66) and another guy from high school were playing each other (Bartu #59). We decided earlier on Pluckers for dinner. Originally we were going to shop, shower, then dinner. But shopping took our shower time so we got food to go. The Rooms-to-Go is RIGHT next to Pluckers so we picked out my couch in about 20 minutes. (I knew pretty much what I wanted there.) Only requirement is that is has to be good for napping, because napping is important in my life. Then we got our food, went home, ate, and crashed while watching the Texans game. Sorry, I missed your sack, David. Still love you and am proud of you though! 🙂

After a good nights rest, Sunday we got up early and ate at Kerbey Lane. I was sad knowing that Britt and Steph had to head out kinda early in the day. We had to finish the baseboards in my room, finish the laundry room, seal the cabinets and do the pantry.

Brittney and Stephanie did my room and Brittney finished the laundry room since it was the ceiling and she is the trim queen. I started sealing cabinets and touching up the laundry room. After they finished my baseboards, it was pretty much time for them to go. We went and ate lunch then they were on their way. 😦

I definitely could not have accomplished as much as I did this weekend without them!

After they left, I went home and took a nap then went back south for a couple of hours. I found out that my watering day is Sunday (yes, we are on rationed water) and my trash day is Monday. So, I for sure had to go back and do those things. I finished sealing the cabinets, put the gloss on my laundry room shelf, pulled weeds, and watered the grass. I now know why pulling weeds is a chore. It takes way longer than you think!

Also, while pulling weeds, I met my neighbor! She is so nice and I’m so happy that I have a nice couple next to me! When I finished those things, I headed home and passed out!

Monday

Today, I had an appointment to have AT&T set up my U-verse as I mentioned earlier. It was just supposed to take a couple of hours. I was hoping to make it by Home Depot (again) to get a roller brush so I could do my closet while the tech was doing U-verse. Well, I was running late (anyone see a theme in my life?) and didn’t have the chance to. Oh, and he stayed until 5:15 p.m. So much for a 2 hour appointment. 

Well, no worries. I got my Keurig set up, cleaned the frige and freezer, finalized sealing my cabinets, put the second coat of gloss on my laundry room shelf, got the first and second coats of paint in my pantry, put the gloss on my pantry shelves.

Pantry shelf before paint.

Pantry shelf after paint.

So, now all I have to do before I can officially move in is clean baseboards and the big thing PAINT MY CLOSET. I have to do this tomorrow. MUST DO IT.

I have tv and internet. No tvs connected yet, but I have capability. 

Also, I finally got to show off my house to a friend. Thanks for coming by, Ilissa! 🙂

Sorry this is such a long post. I’ve been a busy, busy homeowner! Haha. Still like that I can say that! I can’t wait until I can start putting up pictures of finished products!!! 

Hope you all have a fabulous night! It’s time for me to watch Johnny Football BTHO the Redskins!

 

Go browns!

 

Xoxo,

jenn

 

 

Home Sweet Home <3: The Chase.

Well, it’s official! As of Friday, August 15 at about 11:15 a.m., I am a homeowner!! AHHHH! I am so excited for this journey! 

This post is all about the buying process. More posts to follow. 

First, I had the MOST WONDERFUL house buying experience. I can’t imagine it going any more perfectly. My realtor, Ellen Troxclair from Keller Williams, the entire team at Modern Mortgage, and First American Title, were so helpful and professional and kind. I could just go on and on about them. I highly suggest them if you are buying in the Austin area. I am forever grateful for all of their help throughout the process!

Mid/Late June, I decided that I was just about ready to buy. I contacted Ellen, who is also a coworker from my time at the Capitol, (and the best realtor ever!!) to start the process. I had NO idea what I wanted other than a house, 3 bedroom, at least 2 bath, preferably 2.5 bath. No preference on a new construction or existing house. As with a lot of places right now, the market is a seller’s market. I saw a house via my MLS search that was the first one I felt the need to go look at. Luckily, I have a very flexible job, so we set up a time for us to go look. While it wasn’t the one, I had a little more of an idea of how it would go. Found things I didn’t think would be important to me, that actually were. House buying is a weird, fun process. 

After I started “liking” a few houses on MLS, Ellen and I set up a time to go start looking. Luckily, my mom was in town so she was able to go with me. There was one house that I kinda had the feeling that it could possibly be the one. But there was just something in my gut that wouldn’t allow me to fall in love just yet. I had the feeling it was too good to be true. It was newly built, had been updated, one of the bigger houses I looked at, not at the top of the price range of the houses I had looked at. All things that are good. And the updates were ones I liked meaning I wouldn’t have to do much if any! The day we looked, we had 7 houses to see. I told Ellen that I had a feeling about that one but was holding back. It just happened to be the last one we would see that day. It was weird – there was no offer deadline on the house, no current offers. It has a stone retaining wall behind the house and I didn’t know what it backed up to. I thought it had to be something bad.

It wasn’t. It was perfect. That afternoon, I had an offer in. And 2 days later we had a deal. OMG. I JUST AGREED TO BUY A HOUSE. Then comes in all the things that happen in between. Ellen got me a 10 day option period. The whole time I wish I listened to her advice and taken a video of the house so I would remember what it looked like for sure! I never really panicked, but the financial information disclosure is horrifying! and scary. So much for privacy. In all seriousness, I had the BEST mortgage company, Modern Mortage. They are amazing and I highly suggest them! They made the process so completely easy for me. Never did I feel stressed out or pressured while trying to get everything done, but they definitely made sure I stayed on top of things! 

The weekend between signing the contract and my 10 day option period was 4th of July weekend. Thankfully, my sister and mom planned to come up to Austin to do wedding flowers that weekend and they, along with my aunt and uncle, got to help me confirm that it was perfect before the 10 days were up. 

After the 10 days, it was just a long waiting process. I thought it was NEVER going to get here! I was/am SO happy that I didn’t build! I would be worlds most impatient person during that process! 

I closed on Friday and finally got to meet Heather from Modern Mortgage. Such a sweet person! I was a little terrified of this because everyone says it is a lot of signing. I woke up Friday morning feeling the most nervous I have felt since the option period was up. Making the offer and accepting was definitely the most stressful. Of course, there was a wreck on Mopac that caused me to be late. When I got there, I saw the stack of papers, but didn’t get overwhelmed. Started signing then learned you have to sign your WHOLE name. LIKE MIDDLE NAME INCLUDED. And initialing with my middle initial is annoying because it doesn’t flow so I have to pick up the pen after every letter. #divaprobz. Anyway, I did just fine until the last page. When they said it was the last page, my stomach sank. That is when it all became real and I couldn’t back out. I signed the last line and all was done. I was then a homeowner. 🙂 

Today, I have the fullest, most grateful heart. I wouldn’t be a homeowner if it wasn’t for my parents making sure I didn’t have student loans, my aunt and uncle who let me live rent free for 2 years, and so many more people for the encouragement along the way. 

xoxo,

jenn

MAID OF HOTNESS: Social Media Edition + a small rant.

Social media. The oh so addicting, aspect of life that everyone wants to hate but just can’t. We all try to deny that our lives don’t revolve around it, but let’s be real here. My high school class probably won’t even need a high school reunion thanks to Facebook. JUST KIDDING – I’m not doing the planning though!

Recently, social media has taken on a whole new role in weddings. Hopefully, not your marriage, but definitely in your wedding 🙂 With the rise of the #hashtag, it has become the battle of who can be the most creative. The trick is finding something that hasn’t been used before and likely won’t be used again. For example, #smithpartyof2 probably isn’t a good hashtag because I’m sure there have already been and will be more Smith’s getting married. Hashtags are used to search for posts. So, when I go and search Brittney and Blake’s wedding hashtag, I will be able to see pictures of them, their guests, and candid wedding photos. Hopefully, some will be of someone gettin’ cray on the dance floor! Luckily, Facebook caught on with Instagram and Twitter.

We, ok my Aunt Steph and I, took this to heart. WE MUST HAVE A CREATIVE HASHTAG. It cannot be boring. It took us forever to decide on even some options. We had some good leads because Brittney and Blake have the same initials “BMB”. (Lucky, lucky girl that her monogram won’t change!) From BMB, we decided on something with bomb. After much debate, we decided on #itsthebmb. Like “it’s the bomb”. Awesome, everyone likes it, not likely to be used again, not too long. Put it on the engagement party signs. Had the engagement party. Hashtagged everything. Nope, we don’t like that. It doesn’t really make sense. It says nothing about them. So, we have FINALLY decided on….(drum roll please)

#theyrethebmb
(please note the lowercase and no apostrophe are super important here) 

because, really, they are the bomb 🙂

Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! And don’t forget to #hashtag at any wedding festivities you may attend! 🙂 Her crazy, obsessive sister will greatly appreciate it. And won’t have to go onto all of your posts and do it for you hehe.

Next up, the website. I love wedding websites. I am THAT person that reads every single word. I also love websites that are fun and really give you a glimpse into the couple. They are, of course, seriously limited in layouts, but you can give some great personality through words! Anyways, we had a lot of fun drafting and editing the text because you get to reminisce on how the couple met, their engagement…all the fun things! I highly suggest you go read their wedding website! I’m not putting that on blast, but if you want to know message me and maybe I’ll give it to you! 🙂

RANT – Ladies, at no point is it appropriate for you to show up in white or ivory to a wedding function that is not yours. I cannot believe how many people I see wearing it to someone else’s engagement party, wedding shower, or even wedding! Let the bride have her day and be the center of attention. You’ll get yours one day or you may have even already had it! NO WHITE OR IVORY! Period. Unless you are kim kardashian and ask your guests to wear all white which was the stupidest thing ever. Anyone notice the tabloids are talking about her wedding to Kanye with pics of her wedding to Kris Humphries? Ok, maybe I need to get a life. 🙂

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and got the week off to a great start! 🙂

xoxo,
jenn