Online Weekend Reading (OWR): Travel, Stand Up, Design

I had all these links ready to go last week, and then last week happened, so they went on hold and now here we are - Happy Friday! 

This is an odd one coming from me, I know, but the Hubs and I find ourselves asking the same question whenever we hit the roads: why can't anyone drive any more?? People making bad judgement calls with a 2-ton vehicle, people posting on Facebook WHILE DRIVING, people who slow to a crawl because it's RAINING - and that's just for a start. Though this study focused specifically on newly licensed drivers, it's indicative of what we've experienced on our own roads - from drivers of all ages. Do not read this article while you are driving (but do read it)! http://fleetowner.com/blog/diagnosis-drivers-bedeviled-inexperience-lack-skills

• Favorite Takeaway: "... researchers also noted that previous studies of newly licensed teenage drivers indicate that they exit their 'learner period' with significant skill deficits, leading to a much higher risk of crashing compared with more experienced drivers. Their most common types of crashes? Left turns, rear-end events, and running off the road."

It's summer, which means it's time for many people to hit the road on a family vacation. Not us this year, sadly, but that doesn't mean we don't dream about returning to our once-home, always favorite city of Boston. If you don't vacation because you don't think you can afford it, Vanessa's post might change your mind. Bottom line: 2 days, Boston, meals out - including lobster, for just $200. While I won't be booking a hostel bunk in the foreseeable future, there are still a lot of helpful tips for saving money in Beantown: http://www.turnipseedtravel.com/blog/200-challenge-boston

• Favorite Quote: "I think it's fair to say I've never eaten so well on a $200 Challenge and I never thought that lobster and value travel could go hand in hand!"

It's no secret - I love Paris. In theory - Paris was the place where people go to find love. In reality - I didn't expect to fall in love with the city itself (nor did the Hubs), but that's exactly what happened. Now, I'm not dumb enough to think that living there would be the same as spending a week in a perfectly placed apartment on vacation, but the fact of the matter is, I certainly wouldn't mind giving it a try. If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it - and bookmark this "Must Do" list from Girls Guide to Paris: http://girlsguidetoparis.com/girls-guide-faves/must-dos-paris/

• Personal Recommendations: I can vouch for #1 and #9. We stumbled upon #1 by accident (and I left with two books and a cloth shopping bag), and #9 was sought out and worth the walk.

By now you've probably picked up that I work from home (freelance editor, social media specialist, and book launch pro), and that means I spend a lot of my day sitting at a desk. In fact, I can go for hours at a time and forget to stand up, and this has caused a number of back and neck issues for me. Last week, I pulled out a lap tray with legs and an old keyboard and hacked myself a standing desk that still works when I need to sit. This article from Mashable backs up my own experience - it's time to stand up! http://mashable.com/2015/06/02/sitting-study-office-workers/

• Key Takeaway: "... the hazards of sitting too much have been compared to those of smoking, with research suggesting people who spend most of their days seated are more likely to be fat, have heart problems, cancer and even die earlier."

Within 24 hours of buying our house (built: 1940), Peter put a hole through the kitchen/dining room wall and our life as perpetual renovators started. In the 14 years that we've owned our home we have torn apart, demolished, or completely gutted, replaced, or added on to every room in our house, including a total revamp of our "updated in the 60's" kitchen. We love all the changes, but it's our kitchen that everyone walks in and comments on, and I blame that on the wall of widows - let there be light, indeed! This light kitchen (highlighted by The Inspired Room) is worth looking at for inspiration: http://theinspiredroom.net/2015/06/08/small-space-remodeling-tip-kitchen/

• Favorite Quote: "...the interior window allows the kitchen to still feel like a separate (and quieter) space if you want it to, while removing the visual barrier of a full wall. Light is so important in a kitchen, and in a small house more light will mean feeling less closed off or claustrophobic."

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What are YOU reading (online or off)?

#HouseToHome2014: Before and After (Part 1)

Three days before Thanksgiving, the Hubs announces over breakfast, "I've made an executive decision." After I raised an eyebrow, he continued, "I'm taking tomorrow and Wednesday off so that I can get the living room and dining room done before Friday so we can go get a tree." Well now, that's an executive decision I wasn't about to argue with!

Proverbs 31 talks about a husband praising his wife at the city gates. While Carrie's Busy Nothings isn't exactly the "city gates", it's as close to a public platform as I will ever get, and I cannot sing my husband's praises high enough. He worked from morning to night, nailing trim, painting, cleaning, even assembling two new cabinets for the living/dining separation.

On Thursday night, after a day of visiting with family and friends, and stuffing ourselves with turkey and pie, we returned home to move the Ektorp back into our living room and selectively return art to the walls. You might recall the post I wrote in 2011 when I did an initial purge of our wall decor... I was more brutal this time around. #MinimalismHappens

Although we love the outcome of our project (which is only half done!), over the last week we've both confessed that it no longer felt like our home. As strange as that sounds, it's actually quite accurate. The living space looks nothing like it did for the last 14 years that we have lived in this house, so in many respects it's like we've moved to a new location and now have to figure out how to make it feel like home. I'm not complaining - just getting used to it.

If you follow my Facebook page (which is FAR. MORE. ACTIVE. than this blog!), you'll have seen the progress of this project along the way. But just in case there are some here who don't follow the #HouseToHome2014 saga on Facebook, here's the Before and After update, along with some specific details (which several of you have asked for)...

In April 2014, the living room and dining room looked like this...

In May 2014, it looked like a tornado had ripped through the house...

By June we had started rebuilding, optimistic that we'd be done by August (ish)...

When the house still looked like this in August, we knew we might have miscalculated...

Sheetrock was delivered in October... (and if you just read that as "Sherlock", you're not alone!)

Sheetrock was hung in October (not by us - we learned that lesson 10 years ago!)...

Then the finishing began (again, not by us... lesson learned!)...

Early November we found someone to sand & refinish the floors (Hubs had already repaired them)...

Once the floors were done, we covered them all with plastic and started painting...

Mid- November, Hubs started the time-consuming task of trimming doors and windows...

Oh, and trimming the walls too... (check out those original 9' ceilings!)

The day before Thanksgiving we started detail painting (which is when I came in)...

By Wednesday night, it looked like this, with outlets and cover plates...

On Friday morning it had furniture and power for the first time in 7 months...

And then the Christmas decorating started... 

but that's a post for another day!

BEFORE/AFTER:

Nitty Gritty Details:

Paint Color: Valspar Sea Salt Blue in semi-gloss (yes, we use semi-gloss on everything: walls, ceiling, trim)

Cabinets: Patterson Cabinet | Crate & Barrel

Couch: Ektorp | Ikea (3 years later & I still love it!)

Dining Chairs: Antique Black Dining Chairs | Target (we've acquired 10 over the years - love them!)

Light Fixture: Home Depot (11 years ago)

Dining Table: My grandparents (60+ years old)

The Evolution of a #HouseToHome

Seven months after we were married, we fell in love again. This time it was with a 1500 sq. foot, 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 1940 brick bungalow. As soon as we walked in the door, it felt like we had come home. Oh sure, it needed some tender, loving care (the kitchen made no sense at all), but we both saw the potential for what it could be, and felt like it had good "bones" to work with.

Checking out the kitchen on our first walk-through in 2001

Over the last (almost) 14 years, we've torn off, ripped out, added on, and redone the entire house, leaving very few of the original "bones" intact in the process. From 2001 - 2005 we lived in chaos as we handled a home renovation and addition, doing everything ourselves except the shingles, the gutters, and some cement board siding. We went from 1500 sq. feet to 2000, added a new section of basement, created a master bedroom and bath, and modernized important things - like the plumbing and electricity.

Hard at work on the new basement wall in 2003

In 2004 we took our first longer trip overseas, and by 2005 we were committed to full-time international travel and work, which we continued until December 2008. On occasion we would pop home to check on family and get visas for our next destination. During these down times we continued to tweak the house, doing things like adding a third bathroom (which we had already plumbed for in the basement) on a $1200 budget.

Toilet, sink, shower, and fixtures - amazing what clearance shopping can do!

In 2009 we were trying to learn how to stay in one place for more than 3 months at a time, but since the bug of change seems to have bitten us pretty hard, we expressed that through more home renovations rather than constant travel. Peter crafted beautiful built-in bookshelves and a storage bench in our library that eventually put us on the cover of a magazine. We repainted the living room... twice, and started drawing out plans for our next major project - gutting the front half of the house.

Our library was the cover story for the USAA.com magazine in 2009

In late 2012, a new idea began to brew in our brains, which we ended up sitting on for over a year before taking any action. In late 2013 we started the ball rolling on some life-changing stuff that, in May of this year, motivated us to get started on our renovation plan. For the last 6 months, we've once again been living in chaos. We removed all the plaster, added insulation, and reworked the existing floor plan to make the most of the space that we have. What looked like this in late April...

The living room in April 2014

Looked like this by the end of May...

No more walls, no more heavy lath and plaster, new ceiling joists, new wiring, happy homeowner

And as of October, it looks more like this (with sheetrock scheduled to go up at some point in the next 2 weeks)...

Wood floors repaired, bathroom walls up, insulation in place (with just a touch more to come)

Over the last 14 years, we've pretty much left no part of the original house untouched. Even the outside went from this...

Summer 2001

To this...

Summer 2009

The fact of the matter is, we love our ever-evolving house. We love that we already have ideas for what to do next and how we could improve on what we already have. But we're also grateful for it. Living among those who have far less gave us a perspective that we didn't have when we first starting this never-ending project. Like anyone, we look around and think, "oh, we really would like to have... or change... or get...", but we also realize just how much we already have. This time around, every change is done with a new perspective and a new goal of sharing our home with those God brings into our life. Home renovation is fun (for us), but I'll be honest... it's more fun with a bigger purpose. 

How will you share your home this year?

#HouseToHome2014 - A Project Update

On May 29th, I posted this picture to my Busy Nothings Facebook page...

On May 19th, we (and by "we" I mean the college kids we hired) started ripping out all of the walls in the front half of the house, removing the lath and plaster from 1940 with a plan to go back with insulation (what a novel idea!), and Sheetrock. When this picture was taken and shared on the 29th, we had come a long way from the mess of the previous week, so that smile is genuine. I figured that in a month's time, I'd be taking a similar photo with new walls behind me. It's like I've never lived through a 5 year house project before (that's a story for another day). 

This morning, almost a month later, I took this photo. Can you see the differences? I promise, there are some if you look hard enough. And I'm not talking about all the junk tools on the floor. The smile is still genuine, if a little less enthusiastic (and slightly more out of focus - I was in a hurry).

Differences include newly framed doors (we moved the hall door about 8" to the left to make room for a new door in the hallway, and we moved the bathroom door about 2' to the right), and way more blue electrical boxes and yellow wire. We haven't had whole-house air conditioning in over a month, so needless to say, both Peter and I are ready for this to be done. If I were still doing my Friday thankfulness posts, I would include our free window A/C unit that allows us to sleep at night, and the fact that our basement is a place of refuge thanks to it's cool, underground location. Oh, and the fact that I am always cold, so for 98% of the day, I'm a happy camper. In a sweater. Yes, Peter thinks I'm nuts too.

While it feels like things are going slowly (Peter even has a count-UP timer on his phone to keep track of how long the project is taking us - yep, we're INTJ nerds) I have to give a huge shout out to the Hubs for his dedication to this project. After working all day, he comes home and labors on the house until it's time to go to bed. The weekends are taken up with trips to home improvement stores and coming up with new ideas and ways to fix old problems. He has single-handedly framed up a new loft over the front bedroom (including installing a window where there wasn't one before), and figured out electrical grids and structural issues like a pro. 

Together, we make a good team. I offer the occasional hand at lifting 4 x 8 sheets of flooring 9' up to the loft (thanks to a pulley system he rigged - he's all about smarter, not harder), and stuffing wires into electrical boxes. But the majority of the time that he toils on the physical side of things, I man the online shopping world, finding ways to get products for the project for cheaper. I pin ideas to pull up for him later, and save our Amazon points to buy light fixtures and mail slots. I dream big, but watch the budget. Between the two of us, we make projects happen, and 99% of the time, we even have fun while we're doing it. 

Celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary in the midst of construction chaos.

Home projects - DIY or Call in the Professionals?

Please Pardon the Dust

I realized today that it's been a month since I last posted about our golden flatware. My, how time flies! While chatting with a new friend on Twitter, he mentioned that he'd just read my bio, and I though, "I have a bio?" Which led me back to the blog and caused a slight update to the aforementioned bio. Tastes and interests change with age and experience, so it was time for a little tweaking. 

Remember a few years back when I talked about how I'm like a mouse with a cookie? Well, it's happened again. This time, it started with wallpaper. After 13 years of blue and white stripped wallpaper in our dining room, I was sick of it. About a month ago - maybe a little longer - the hubs and I were planning to veg out on some Psych on Sunday night, but got distracted on our way downstairs by a passing comment I made while walking through the dining room. "I'm so sick of this wallpaper..." Two hours later, pieces of it were strewn around the floor and the walls were blank.

Being INTJ's, we think through and analyze all of the possibilities before making our next move. But it's also one of the reasons those who don't know us think we're flippant about these things. We're introverts, so we don't share our ideas with others while we're in the dreaming & planning phases, and the first the outside world hears of it is when they see us ripping everything apart - apparently on a random whim. What they miss is that this idea has been processed for YEARS, we just finally took action. To the outside world it looks like we once again jumped into a project haphazardly, when we actually have final plan drawing on our computer and in the filing cabinet. Trust me - we look random, but nothing could be further from the truth.

After years of talking about gutting the front half of the house (we did the back half 10+ years ago), we were preparing to paint the plaster walls, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. We knew - it was finally time to make our big plans a reality. We purged closets and drawers, piled everything from the front half of the house into our guest bedroom and library, and hired friends to rip out all the 74 year old lath and plaster. To say it's dusty would be an understatement. 

As a reminder - this is where we started (nice, right?)

Phase 2 - Trim Removal

Phase 3 - Where we were earlier today (Dust City)

And now you know why blogging has been low on my priority list for the last month. We've been a little busy. One thing that my husband and I are both very good at is being able to visualize the end result, so while some folks walk in and freak out, we're quite excited about what it will look like when we are done. And yes, of course I'll show you the finished product... when we get there. 

Got any house projects of your own this spring?

And So It Begins {2012 Garden}

Last week I responded to the Siren call of the garden plants down at Lowe's and I came home toting a pack of nine Brussels sprout plants, three strawberry plants, two tomato plants, sweet basil and a new cilantro plant to replace the one that I managed to kill already (not a promising start to the gardening season). In my head, I know it's too early to start a garden - in East Tennessee the old wives tale is that you wait until the 1st of May or Mother's Day (depending on who you talk to) before you stick your plants in the ground - yet here we are, well over a month away from those dates, and I have a picnic table covered with ready-to-be-planted garden dwellers.

The weather has been SO nice and un-March-like, that that's what I've decided to blame for my own lack of self-control. Don't judge.

On Saturday, we realized that we needed to mow again, even though it had only been a week (we like to stretch it out to 2-3 weeks between mowing, if possible). After we put the mowers away, we took some time to look at the sad remains of our 2010 garden plot. We've been talking about ripping up the anti-weed fabric since we collected our pathetic harvest at the end of the 2010 growing season, but we just never got around to it. Last year, I tried gardening in large pots on the back deck (which worked well), so there was no reason to do anything with the old garden, except mow around it and talk about how bad it looked and how we should really do something about it.

This time, however, we did more than just talk! After moving all the (re purposed) bricks that had been outlining the rows and paths, we spent the rest of the afternoon removing all of the fabric (which was loaded with weeds) and reusing the bricks to build a little 5x5 raised garden bed for this summer. I knew I was going to need a little more room for the Brussels sprouts than the deck pots could offer, so this was our compromise. No more big garden, but still enough dirt to play with and grow something. In the photo below, you can see the mud outline of the 2009/2010 garden, as well as the new 5x5 raised bed.

And here's a closer photo of the bed - not perfect, but it will work (and it was free)

By the way, if my posts had sponsors (which, they don't), and the makers of Ibuprofen actually took notice of a little blog called "Carrie's Busy Nothings" (which, they haven't), this post would absolutely be sponsored by the makers of Ibuprofen, because that's what we've been living on ever since we tossed bricks around the yard all Saturday afternoon. But that's neither here nor there, because the makers of Ibuprofen aren't paying any attention to me. Silly people.

In other news, I am beyond excited to show you THIS ...

     

The photo on the left is what really makes me do the {happy dance} - it's our Granny Smith apple tree. The one that we planted and watch "die" in 2010 when everything was so dry. I had almost given it up for dead-dead, but when I stepped out into the backyard on Saturday, I gave a little cry of joy when I saw these (and many more) leaves (and buds) on the Granny Smith! The tree on the right is our plum tree - planted the same spring as the Granny Smith, but without the negative reaction to the dry summer. Our latest addition (not shown) is an apricot tree, which is also flourishing in the adjoining yard of the PH. As much as I love gardens, I love the idea of planting things that will come back year after year without much help from me - like our fruit trees, and these wonderful raspberry bushes that some friends let us dig up for free from their yard ...

I have more photos, but I think that's enough for today. I'm excited about the gardening potential for this summer and would welcome any comments or suggestions about those Brussels sprouts if you have ever grown them before! In the meantime, if you want to see more gardening glories, make sure you visit Tiffany's weekly Garden Life Link-Up over at No Ordinary Homestead.

AND, since it involves actually taking the time to start and finish a project that we've been talking about for the last two years, I'm also linking up to the William Morris Project that Jules hosts each Thursday at Pancakes and French Fries (another great blog and fun link up). It feels really, REALLY good not to have that garden plot hanging over our heads anymore - certainly William Morris worthy.

To Garden or Not to Garden...

Here it is March, and I'm still undecided about whether or not I will indulge (probably not the word choice that the dear husband would use) in a small garden this year. I know that as soon as I see all the plants out for sale at Lowe's and our local gardening centers, I'm going to go weak in the knees and start putting plants in the cart. How do I know this? Because it's already happened.

On Saturday, we ventured down to Lowe's to look at stuff for the PH, and those super smart sales people had strategically placed a large display of herbs right outside the front entrance. I didn't even make it through the door before I was grabbing pots of lavender, cilantro, and flat-leaf Italian parsley. In my defence, I already had all three on my list of things I'd like to grow this year, if I was going to have a garden. Otherwise, in the words of Claire Huxtable, I was just weak, and sad.

Peter managed to put the kibosh on buying blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, and kiwi plants, even though I gave a tough sales pitch on the kiwis. In the end, his argument won out because {sigh} he was right and I am weak. I'm happy with our raspberry plants that we got (for free) two years ago, and he pointed out that if we really wanted blackberries, we could dig them up (for free) at my parent's house. We already have three fruit trees in our backyard (plus the raspberry bushes and a grape vine), and we really don't need any more to take care of - even if the thought of leisurely picking kiwis from my own plants did sound exotic.

See? Weak, and sad. Pinterest isn't making it any easier for me, but at least I've got some ideas if I ever decide to go big with a garden again. I honestly don't know what I'll do this summer - perhaps a few tomatoes, some hot peppers, or an eggplant in the deck containers, but even that is up for debate at the moment. The more spring-like it gets, however, the harder it is for me to say no. I do love picking food from my own back yard (or back deck, as the case may be) and those pots of dirt look so empty...

Are you planning a garden this year?

Linking up with Tiffany's Garden Life

Thinking Ahead {2012} :: The Garden

Once or twice a year, you'll here the following conversation occur between the hubby and me:

C: I don't know why I give in and do a garden.
P: You said that last year.
C: I know. Why didn't you stop me?
P: {snort} Yeah, right. I told you that you this would happen.
C: Well, it's just not worth it for the time and money it costs. I'd rather go to a farmers market.
P: Uh huh. {verbal pat on the head}
C: I'm not doing a garden next year. I'm so done. Remind me of that when I talk about it next year.
P: Right.

And then January rolls around, and the seed catalogues start arriving in my mailbox and this year, Pinterest ideas have joined in the fray. I see ideas like these...

  

{Source & Source}

Or this...

{Source}

...and all memory of those yearly conversations fly out the window. I must grow something. Perhaps I will grow Brussels sprouts, eggplant, or hot chili peppers - things that I've learned to eat and enjoy over the last year. I'm confident that Peter will roll his eyes and ask me why I do this to myself every year, and I'm also sure that at some point during the growing season I will look at him and ask him why I felt compelled to try a garden again, and so the cycle will continue.

However, since I know it's inevitable, I'm trying to make a plan that will keep things as simple as possible. Realistically, I know that I will never be Martha Stewart's grounds crew (because, let's be honest, Martha isn't out there pulling every weed), but since I enjoy the taste of homegrown  produce, I feel there must be a way to garden and enjoy it. The things I know for sure are:

A) I hate weeding, therefore, I don't do it

B) I forget to water unless the plants are dying before my eyes

C) I'm still using produce from the 2009 garden, so there's no reason to plant 30 tomato plants

In order to set some reasonable gardening goals for 2012, I took some time to think back about what I have enjoyed from my past gardening experiences (growing in containers), what I know I don't want to grow again (broccoli), and what I'd like to attempt new this year (sprouts and cilantro). What I came up with was a gardening wish list...

1) Look for plants that were specifically bred for container gardening (including eggplant and green beans)

2) Diversify my plants - I have plenty of containers, but I don't need to fill them all with tomatoes

3) Make a plan for the best way to use the deck as a growing space

4) Find a way to grow strawberries like the photo from Pinterest

{Source}

And that's, that. Much like the infamous pasta machine, I now know what I will and what I won't do with a garden, so it's better to keep my gardening dreams small. While others are digging around their acres of land, I'll be happily content to sit on my back deck with my containers of growing things and enjoy the view. If, however, you'd like to see some of my bigger garden dreams, feel free to check out my Pinterest Backyard Garden board...

But what about you? Are you a gardener? Do you enjoy getting your hands dirty, or are you like me - looking for minimal effort that will produce a few small victories? Do you have any January-dreams that will turn into summertime gardens? If you'd like to see what's growing around the world, Tiffany provides a weekly garden link up and shares what's growing at her German homestead - always lots of fun!