Tomorrow I will take a shower

for the first time in 6 weeks.

It sounds worse than it is because in reality, we've been bathing in the bathtub since our master bathroom renovation kicked off around the middle of March. I can't tell you how excited I am to use our new shower. The only reason I'm not in there now is because I'm waiting for the tile and grout to hard cure.

Let's recap shall we....

Bathroom Before - I had actually painted part of the bathroom a very pale green and hung 2" white blinds to help make the bathroom more "liveable" while we figured out what we wanted to do and to save for the renovations. The lime green on wall next to the vanity was the previous owner's color of choice for the bathroom.

Renovations begin - we removed that half wall next to the vanity and extended the shower wall out by about 8 inches. We removed the hardwood floors which were not original to the house and served of no historical value. Under the 198o's hardwoods, we found the original hardwoods, but opted not to salvage them. You can see the plywood starting to go down to act as an additional subfloor for the travertine.

Framing out of the shower. We decided to do a corner bench to store product and to also serve as a place to sit or prop a leg up on while shaving in the shower. Projects that you don't see include the installation of 1/2" hardibacker on the shower walls, pouring of the mud shower pan, and the additional plumbing for a second shower head.

And the finished product!!! We installed 12" by 18" travertine tiles in a brick pattern along the walls with an accent tile at about eye level. Around the perimeter, we installed a bullnose travertine border. The floor is made up of 2" square tiles and the bench and shower curb use 1" tiles. We are using Delta fixtues in a bronze finish. Only one of the shower heads has been installed at this point as we are waiting for the cover to go over the diverter value that will allow us to use the second shower head. We ordered (and have sitting in the basement) the handheld shower head that will go on the other side. It has a bar that mounts to the tile which will allow you to position the shower head at a variety of heights.

Close up of the accent tile.

Shower bench and shower floor and a preview of the floor. We are using an offset pinwheel pattern which incorporates 18" square tile as well as 6" square tile. We have a frameless shower door on order so we'll be using a shower curtain for the time being.

And in other news, remember this scene from a few months ago...

Well, I spent an entire weekend back in April trimming everything back and installing about 300 square feet of weed fabric. Two yards of mulch and a flat of annuals later and things are starting to shape up!

Oh and if you need to get a hold of me and I don't seem to be answering my phone, I'm in the shower!!!

Jewelry update

Ever since getting pregnant and realizing that flipping houses would be put on hold for a few months, I've really started focusing on growing my jewelry business. Working out of my home would really be a great luxury to have once the baby comes when you look at the alternative of taking the baby to a construction site! In order to improve business, I've been focusing on two goals - continuing to update my website with new pieces and better photographs and getting my jewelry into local boutiques.

While I work to find someone to update my site, I'm excited to announce that over 30 of my pieces from the Celebrate Wedding section will be sold in a local bridal boutique! I'll have six bridal collections and four bridesmaid collections on display along with a selection of earrings. The bridal boutique is set to open late May so when it does, I'll be sure to include the information on my website under a new section for Retailers.

In addition to selling my bridal jewelry in bridal boutiques, I'm really trying to get my foot in the door with a children's boutique to sell the Celebrate Family line. There are so many additional pieces that I've made in the past 6 months that haven't even posted to my site - things like Christening necklaces, name bracelets, and family necklaces and bracelets.

Mother charm necklace with birthstones reprensenting her four children: April, March, December, and September.

Mother's name bracelet for her daughter Brooke born in July.
Family bracelet with four birthstones represented: August, February, November, and May.
Mother's pearl name bracelet for her son Scott born in August.
May mother and her three children represented: September, June (Alexandrite), and October.
Mother's double name bracelet for her daugther Emma born in February and Anna born in October.

It's very difficult trying to establish relationships with boutiques simply because they may not be looking for a line of jewelry to carry or they may feel like they already have significant jewelry representation in their store and there is no need to add to it so wish me luck!

Pet Jewelry!

Jennifer from Soulard Pet Sitters (who we use to watch Harvey when we're gone) contacted me about designing some pet jewelry for a fundraiser/silent auction that Pets in the City is having later this month. Having a larger dog, it never would have occurred to me that there was such a need for pet jewelry! This is what I came up - doggie charms that clip onto their collar and matching owner bracelets!

Because we won't know who the eventual winner of the auction will be ahead of time, I went with charms for the doggies. As another option, doggie necklaces are available and are custom made based on the size of the doggie's neck. Additionally, matching owner necklaces and earrings are available!

Isn't this a riot! I think they are so cute and can't believe I never thought of this before. Many thanks to Jennifer and Soulard Pet Sitters and Pets in the City. You can read more about the Heartland Weimaraner Rescue Fundraiser on April 26th here.

These items will be available on my website soon!

Trip to the West Coast

On Thursday, February 28th, I left headed for Seattle to visit Roger while he is away at C40 training for the military. While I was up there, we took an underground tour of the city, visited Pikes Place Market and watched the vendors throw around fish, went out to eat a few trendy establishments, and of course, went up in the space needle.

Cool shot from the top of the space needle:

As I was in Seattle, St. Louis was getting hit hard with a snow storm and I decided to stay the whole week rather than fight the crowds trying to travel on a reduced flight schedule. The following weekend, we flew down to Santa Barbara to attend the wedding of one Roger's college roommates and friends.

Roger and I at the rehearsal dinner at a restaurant called Opal off of State Street in Santa Barbara.

The ceremony and reception were held at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort - the ceremony was in the rose garden and the reception was in a tented area just off the lobbby.

Roger and his brother Troy at the reception.

Me and cousin Lynn at the reception.

Wedding details - bridesmaid bouquet and flower arrangment on the cake table.
Table decorations
Menu - we had our choice of filet or Maine lobster! Yum!
And the cake!

February 16, 1987

On the eve of my sister Jenny's 21st birthday, I'd like to share some pictures and stories of the past 21 years.

Jenny was born on Monday, February 16, 1987. At the time of her birth, she was two weeks late and my mom was given a choice of induction dates. Given Friday the 13th and Monday the 16th, my mom went with the 16th. It was Presidents Day and I was out of school. Truth be told, I had no idea what I was in store for on that day or the years to come. In fact, I don't think anyone was prepared for the effect Jenny would have on our family :)

Born 7 1/2 years apart, I was very protective of my only sister. She was riding a bike without training wheels at four years old and could read short stories by the time she was in kindergarten. She was such a good learner and I, of course, enjoyed teaching her. Physically, we are different. She takes after my mom and her physical traits and I take after my dad. Personality wise, we are not just different, we are polar opposites :) She is very extroverted and sociable and a people person. I'm quiet, an internal thinker, and worried about hurting everyone else's feelings! Jenny could sell you the shirt off her back and have you convinced that it was the best purchase you've ever made!

Twenty one years later and Jenny is all grown up! She's a junior nursing major trying to balance school and clinicals and holding down a part time job. She was recently hired as a student nurse tech at Barnes Jewish Hospital in the Neuro ICU (did I get all that right Jenny?!). Needless to say, it's amazing to think that the same sister that I helped teach how to ride a bike is now on her way to helping save lives!

So Jenny, on the eve of your 21st birthday, I want you to know how proud I am at how far you've come. Have fun tomorrow! Be smart, be safe, and call me if you need me :)

Confession Time!

I have a confession...we have projects! I admit it - I work on houses for a living and mine goes unfinished! It's a serious case and we hope to seek treatment and find a cure in the next year :)

I'm laying it all out there for you to see! No cleaning up the room just to take a picture of it to post on here! You get to see our house and our unfinished projects just the way they are!!!

We'll start with the two projects that are highest on our priorty list right now: our master bathroom and baseboards for the second floor. When Roger purchased our home (at first it was just his house and then it became our house), it had been updated in the 1980's but had been neglected since. We have updated plumbing, electric, and central air, but we also had 1980's decor. The master bathroom is a clear indication of the previous owner's bad taste.

I've started work on this room. I just could not take the lime green paint any longer so I've painted the walls a very soft spa blue. The reason some of the walls were left green is because those walls are going to come out during demo. I've left the tub green since we'll be having that professionally reglazed. The area behind the tub will be painted when the tub is removed from the bathroom to install the new floor.














Our plans for the bathroom include tiling the floor and shower area in a nuetral travertine. It's called Chiaro and it's in a honed and filled finish.

with an accent tile at eye level in the shower

We'll also replace the single sink and vanity with a double sink and a furniture style vanity

And we have a 2 foot area next to the tub that can accomodate a linen tower

In addition, we'll replace the toilet and demo that half wall next to where the vanity is now because it just breaks up the space and there will be no need for it once we put the freestanding vanity in.

Next on the list, baseboards on the second floor! Four years ago we ripped out the baseboards in the entire house and we were quick to replace the baseboards on the first floor. They are beautiful solid wood 7 1/4" baseboards which are perfect for our house since we have high ceilings. We just need to get on the ball and do the same for our second floor!

Moving on...our home's exterior needs a lot of work. First, we would like to change the color scheme of our trim work. These older homes have a lot of opportunity to incorporate color and a lot of our neighbors go bold when picking out trim colors. We're looking for inspiration around our neighborhood. Here's our house as it looks today

Notice the red white and blue motif

And we're thinking of going with colors similar to this house

Additional work to the exterior of the house includes replacing the mailbox

the front door



And replacing the blue fabric awning with something like this




Lastly, I really need to get a handle on our landscaping issue in the front yard. It's out of control!



Staying outside, we would like to paint our shed to match our house. Whatever trim colors we choose for the house will be continued on the trim around the shed door and window as well as along the fascia.



Additionally, we are considering residing our garage with vinyl siding. At the very least, we will replace the damaged siding that is on the garage now along with all the blue trim pieces that have deteriorated. We will also replace the garage door and paint the trim on the garage to match the house.



Moving back inside, we had some storm damage to our roof several months ago that has allowed water to get into the back wall of the house. We had roofers come out to make the repair and sure enough, it leaked again in the same spot. We are working with the roofers to come out again, but until we are sure it won't leak in the future, we have this to look at every day! Since this will be the future baby room, it's very important to me to get this fixed right! Those roofers don't want to mess with me and my hormones!



Winding out the list are two "wants" instead of "needs". I would like to replace our half wall banister with iron spindles. Our steps as they look today...



And what I would like it to look like...



Next, we would like to replace all the gold door hardware with bronze hardware. We're considering the lever style door knobs. We know that they are easier for little ones to open, but we like the look of them and who knows if we'll still be living in this house by the time our child is up and walking around.



Staying on the door theme, we'd also like to replace the trim around the doors. When the carpenters were installing it, they paid no attention to the amount of nails they shot through it. In some places, we have 4 - 6 nail holes in a one foot section. They're hard to see, but in this picture alone, there are six nail holes.



We have a dilema with our doors because they are solid wood, but we don't care for the honey color. Also, our baseboards are painted white so it does look a little odd to have white floor trim with honey colored door trim and doors.



What we would like to do is install new door trim and paint it white. We're also going to see if we can restain our doors or add a "wash" to them to lighten them up. We had no idea what it would look like or if it would even look good, but we were looking at listings in the neighborhood and our neighbor had a similar look. I think we are going to give it a try.



And you've survived my confession post! I feel good for getting it out there! I hope you all won't think of me any differently! As the months go by and we're able to check some of the projects off the list, I'll give you an update.