HAPPY BIRTHDAY - 7 YEARS!

Happy Birthday to my first baby.

And this is how he plans on celebrating...

Halloween Fun - Conner the Lego Man

How stinkin' cute is this guy?!  My brother-in-law is quite the craftsmen... those boys have it made when it comes to costumes, science projects and birthday cakes!

BABY ANIMALS

So we haven't done too much for Sug's room yet, which is starting to make me nervous as the clock is starting to tick. (One project at a time... right?  Kitchen first, then Sug's room next.)  We have purchased a crib, but it was on back order and won't arrive until November, so that's at least one thing....

BUT how purrrfect are these art photos I found?!  Hopefully Sug will share in my obsession with baby animal photos.  I think they will look cute above the non-existent crib.

Mighty Men (and Mom)

Did a little kitchen cleaning on Sunday. 

Remember the before?  These photos are from when we bought it and the kitchen was spotless.  After living in it, we found out the appliances were close to useless, cabinets inefficent, major leaks in the ceiling and a massive draft came in under the counters on the window side.

So we knew it would be a demo-project.

So as usual, my parents saved the day with their muscles and helped us out all Sunday.  Dad and James ninja-fied the interior as mom and I made a million trips to the dumpster.  Baby momma couldn't carry her weight as much as normal, but my mom stepped up and hauled a few extra loads in the name of her granddaughter.

Here's what we have at the moment. 

Can't wait to show you the after photos!

We're #4!

Yup, #4... OSU is ranked 4, wooohhooo.  People (James) are pretty excited about this around here and Saturdays can not come soon enough.

Last weekend we went to Austin to watch the Pokes tackle the Longhorns and came out victorious!  It was a warm game, Sug and I ended up leaving by the half.  But James managed to tough it out with a sunburn to prove it.

GO POKES!

If only he could talk

Gus has floppy ears and requires lots of ear cleaning; his only high maintenance quality.  But he HATES to have them cleaned.  I took this photo of him the other night refusing to come upstairs to the kitchen while the ear solution bottle was out.  He stayed in this crouching position for a good 30 minutes until I put the bottle up.  He's becoming quite the cantankerous old man. I can only imagine how stubborn and annoyed he will become when there is a baby interrupting his naps and safety gates impeding on his freedom.

Opossum Duty

Saturday morning as Gus and I were taking our morning stroll we spotted this creep sitting on top our neighbors patio wall.

This view is from our front door, after I screamed for James to come outside.  It was obvious that there was something wrong with him; as we had a few visitors walk past him over the course of a couple of hours and he never moved.

We have our fair share of feral cats running around, but wildlife is definitely lacking in our neighborhood. 

Project Close-Out

I officially had my first project close-out last week with my new company.  This property is on a fairly major university in upstate New York, and I am happy to hopefully never have to visit that town again.  It's cold there.

We started August 2010 and ended last week.  Our budget was minimal and it was a very piece-y project which makes it very tedious. 

Here are some before and after shots, my camera sucks really bad but hopefully you get the gist. 

BEFORE:

Exterior (duh)

Library Lounge Bar. 

Nothing horrible, but very dated and worn.

Library Lounge Bar

Library Lounge Bar

Guestroom Corridors

I want to kill the architect that thought a circular building this small was a great idea.

 Guestroom Corridor

Guestroom 

Notice the awesome headboard that makes you feel like your sleeping on a sofa sleeper.

Guestroom

AFTER:

New paint job gives a good impression that the hotel is getting snazzed up.

New Library Lounge Bar

I was able to really stretch my bones by re-upholstering a lot of seating that they already had and buying new shades for the old lamps.  It was cheap, but made a huge difference.  Of course carpet and walls are new and a few larger sofas were customized for the space.  (Can you believe they had those awesome metal side chairs in storage in their basement!?  New fabric and they were good to go!)

Library Lounge Bar

Library Lounge Bar.

 Guestroom Corridor

You can't tell but the carpet looked great, even in a round corridor. 

Guestroom Corridor

 Guestroom

We left the nightstands, desk and wallcovering but replaced most other items.  I think our small changes made a big difference. 

Guestroom

We just painted the mirror and it looked like a million bucks, for $24.

That's all folks, glad to have this one under my belt so I can move on to the next four.

Love

I noticed most of my post in the last couple of months have been about Sug.  I think I might be in love/obsesssed.

I'm ok with that.