Home Improvement Incentives

I've spent the last three days prepping and painting two behemoth projects in my living room. One is a floor to ceiling dark wood built-in hutch that hasn't been touched since 1971. She's a real piece of history, but if she wants to live in my house, she needs to shape up and fit in. The second project is a brick wall that houses our fire place. The bricks are very porous and craggy, which is wonderful to look at and crazy hard to paint. The brick was in fine shape but the dark brick made my living room look like a cave. And being that I'm a light junkie, I needed to rescue my fireplace from the doldrums. Anyway... I'm very happy with all of my efforts and I've been saving a little something away in the pantry to reward myself. This morning I made a thick, hot, yummy Mocha. Is there anything better? Well... besides that other thing.

Note to self

I've been working from this list this week and let me tell you... its not easily done. It seems simple enough, right? But ooooh daddy, this is hard stuff. I usually get hung up on number one and just skip to number two. Then I realize that I can't really wrap my head around number two and I move to number three. Number three goes pretty good and I get cocky and blow through four, five and six. I get bogged down at number seven because I've made lots of mistakes - I start to bore myself and so I move to number eight. Eight is understandably difficult for me as evidenced by this meandering post so I skip to nine and ten. I'm good at nine and especially ten and this gives me the fortitude to go back to number one.

Rêver de Paris.

Dreaming of going back to Paris someday - but this time with my husband. This hypothetical trip will be a ways off, as in five or six years off. But I like to dream about things WAY in advance just to lay the groundwork, you know? Paris, Paris, Paris. I don't know much about being French, but I bet I'd be darling at it.

Services de santé

Dear Boys in Washington,
Pull your heads out and lets get this party started. We need it and we're worth it and it won't kill the poor little insurance companies to back down a bit.
Sincerely,
Mama

Let us not be disconcerted.

In the Kitchen

I've been cooking, baking, cleaning, stocking and loving my new kitchen. It will probably wear off, but having a kitchen that works and is set up well makes me want to be in it! I know what you're thinking... you want to be in the kitchen? It's weird, right? Weird, but true.

Date Nite

My husband and I have been putting aside one night each month to go on a date. We've got a great gig set up with another couple. Once a month we take their kiddo for the night and then they return the favor. So cool. The other night, we went to a great place called The Porch. Their motto is "Downhome food, Uptown cocktails." I had a dirty martini (what else) and BBQ brisket sliders. I know that this combo may not seem like a good fit, but let me tell you - it was amazing. Anyway - all this to say GO ON A DATE WITH YOUR HUSBAND. I always feel lighter in spirit, closer to my man and all around renewed by our time together. And it's not just the martinis talking.

We own it.

It's ours. We did an early morning walk-through of the house and property and then headed to the title company to sign and seal the deal. For all of the cringing and hand-ringing I've been doing this week, the final signing was really smooth. Delightful, even. Our agent, our loan guy, the title company rep, the sellers and the seller's realtor were all present, enthusiastic and engaged. We handed over our money, passed out thank you notes and drove back to our apartment on cloud nine. If I didn't feel like a full fledged adult before today, I do now. I think 31 is a good age to be a grown-up. But if I'm totally honest, we couldn't have done it without our parents. So, parents, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now get your tushies to Dallas and let's celebrate!

Tomorrow, we close.

This process has been long and a bit unsettling, but tomorrow, we close on our home. Tonight, I ask the universe for a smooth transition, a speedy closing and that everyone walks away well and happy. 24 hours and counting.

Drag

I feel like putting on a beautifully tailored Katherine Hepburn pant suit, going out to a late night wine bar and smoking a few clove cigarettes. I'm not usually one to crave a cigarette, but this past rainy week and the onset of autumn have put me in a strange mood.

Rêver grand.

We move into our new home a week from today. I'm so excited that I haven't been sleeping at night. All I do is day dream about our life in the new house. I drive by and imagine our family eating in the front window. I scour design magazines and dream about re-tooling the rooms to suit our life. I am a big ol' dreaming fool. I can't wait to move in. T-minus one week and counting.

Welcome to the world, Gavin Christopher

Can I just say that I love my work. Another beautiful baby born last week to a wonderful client and dear friend. Gavin gave us a little scare, but he was calm cool and collected when he finally arrived. How can you not love those kissable lips? Congratulations to C, J and Gavin. Its a bright new world!

fille de fonctionnement

I know you've felt this way too, which is why I'm whining about it here at La Mere de Boheme. I have a lot of shit to do. I haven't been lagging per se, but I have not been... what's the word I want to use?... I have not been proactive. "Proactive" is a good way to say that. But I have a deadline and I never miss a deadline. We close on our home in a week and we move in 10 days. I'm so thrilled to be making this move and so un-thrilled to be boxing up my life before the holidays yet again.

Bingo.

Okay. The waiting is over. The house is a go. All the crazy run-around contract-y stuff is in place and we are ready to close in just over a week. Phew. I'm still in a state of shock about the fact that we're even buying a home in the first place. But now, with this last bit of business in place, I can focus my energies on other things like packing boxes and picking out wall paper. Yay for us!

Really?

And I thought I was lazy.