valentines 2013

you guys. the painters finished yesterday, and the flooring was installed today. we are soooooo close - moving day is within sight! i've been spending all this week getting the house ready and will be working outside tomorrow. turns out, nothing gives me greater pleasure than homemaking. how provincial of me. 

for valentines i surprised barry with bubbly to celebrate our first valentines as mr. and mrs. well as moving into our home. i love him more and more each day and thank my lucky stars.  he is the best thing that ever happened to me. ever. 

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 post printing, pre-flooring

 we finally had an excuse to use this picnic blanket we bought last year.

 my valentine's gift from my sweetheart - they smelled divine! **SNEAK PEEK** check out the black chalkboard paint in the kitchen. am obsessed with it.

travel diaries: cambridge revisited

during my niece's epic visit over the holidays we spent a day in cambridge (click here for more info), a beautiful university town located in cambridgeshire. it was my second time, the first being  last spring and i'm smitten. the architecture is amazing,  and the best way to experience it is by boat. a popular way to see cambridge is by punting,a flat bottomed boat navigated with a pole by a 'punter' - more than likely a current former uni student who also serves as your tour guide. i recommend pricing the punters - as there are a plethora of them - and if you can, try to go with a smaller boat with less people (they can tend to over pack the boats) and one with blankets (you'll thank me later)! the punters are usually very knowledgeable and entertaining. if you like wine - bring some of that too, it will keep you warm! in addition to the  history and architecture, there is a good selection of shopping and restaurants (though if you go on a sunday, be prepared for many of the shops to be closed, as we did). we found an italian restaurant and i had the most delicious pizza with parma ham and rocket salad, the previous time we enjoyed tapas and sangria. the christmas lights were a treat!

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 mulled wine rocks. i'm just saying.

 note their mirror arm placement. love them.

 //right// at first we heard music but couldn't decipher where it was coming from until we noticed this guy, in the trash can. of course.

we're moving....

finally!

so. after living out of suitcases like wild bohemian newlyweds (i have no idea what that means, but it sounds adventuresome  no?), barry and i are so excited to FINALLY move into our home this week (fingers crossed, fingers crossed)! when our plans to move to jakarta, indonesia in 2012 changed abruptly and unexpectantly, we were forced to switch our flight plan (another pilot reference, you'd think i was married to a pilot...oh wait). several months, a settlement visa, and 1 labrador shipped later, barry enrolled in an MBA program, and we were ready to settle down in england. only, since our house had been rented out, we've had to wait to move until the current tenants moved out. 

so now here we are.  after renting my entire adult life, i'm finally a homeowner - through no hard work of my own, but thanks to my husband (he bought the home before we met). i might not have had a part in finding the house, but i am really looking forward to making it our home and filling it with memories!

here comes the part where i show the before pictures of our house. except i'm all kinds of nervous. what if you don't like it? i started to get freaked out about what what others will think of our little nest. then i remembered - i'm not supposed to care what other people think. but i still do. so be kind. here's a sneak peak. and remember folks, it's in england where space is at a premium (a little defensive much?)!!!!!

before

 we have BIG plans for our little hacienda, starting with the outside....

good-bye smurf blue door!

see ya later dark hallway paint, and ugly lamp shade!

good riddance yucky carpet! 

 i'm so excited for the paint color planned!

 i've already spent a lot of tlc in our kitchen this week, scrubbing the tile backlash (they're white so its hard to see from the light wall color), and cleaning the cabinets, as well as the fridge. we're keeping the tile on the wall and the slate on the floor, freshening up the paint and adding a chalkboard paint wall (not seen).

view of roxy and roscoe's own backyard! they've already visited, and roxy has, in roxy tradition, rolled around in the muddy yard!  

the master bedroom. it was the first room painted and is now a lovely shade of light blue (i've forgotten its pretentious given name). note the closet or as they're called here, 'wardrobe'. where is barry going to put his clothes??? i mean really. WHERE?

i couldn't wait to take down the medicine cabinet. and don't even get me started on the carpeting. bah-bye. (not shown is the downstairs powder room - because really, why bother?)

 this is our multi- purpose room, otherwise known as the study/guest room/ future nursery/ the room the ironing board will stay set-up because i'll get too lazy.


 // stay tuned for the after pictures next week (hopefully or whenever the decorators are finished!)//

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