One of my Summer Bucket List items was to meet with a designer about redoing our home's three and a half bathrooms, plus hall linen cupboard and our laundry room. These are the very last elements needing to be updated from our 2017 purchase. The home, otherwise, has been completely updated since we've moved in.
We met with the designer this past week, and I have to say I am ecstatic. Going in, my thinking had been that the bathroom redesigns would look crisp and clean, but weren't going to necessarily be uber-exciting changes. But, I was wrong! The cabinets we landed on are gorgeous, as are the quartz countertops. The same cabinet, countertop, and, as applicable, shower tiles, will be used in all five areas, with the tile patterns varying in the shower areas to effect a bit of change. Plus, the mirrors will be different, as will the light features, towels, and accessories, so it shouldn't feel at all repetitive. Hopefully it will simply feel cohesive.
Regarding my love of design - When I was 12 years old, I talked my mom into letting me paint my bedroom dresser. She took me to the paint store, where I picked out supplies, then came home and dragged the dresser out into the backyard by myself in order to sand and paint it. My maternal grandmother had a similar passion, and every time I visited her I would look around to see what she had changed since I last visited.
It makes me happy to know that I got my decorating gene from her. (Miss you so much, Nana )
Otherwise, currently I am . . .
Enjoying Our refreshed family room fireplace. I hemmed and hawed about whitewashing our used brick fireplace, because, of course it can't be undone, but I really did want a softer, more coastal look. So I held my breath and had my painter come in to redo it this week. He did a wonderful job, and it turned out exactly the way I'd hoped, whew!
Also, the last of the six prints I ordered arrived this week and got hung over the family room sofa, so now the entire kitchen/family room area has been 'coastal-ized' and I am enjoying the results so much.
Cooking I made this Sunset magazine recipe, Chicken with Tomatoes, Green Olives, and Capers, and loved it. Sunset magazine recipes are pretty much always a home run in our house due to their reliance on fresh herbs and vegetables.
We also ate chicken salad on croissants (harbor picnic night), veggie burgers and sweet potato fries, and Laura from The Occasional Nomad's fantastic Killer Noodle Salad. (Laura . . . we loved it!!!)
Baking Not for us, but I baked the best cookies ever, this Scripps Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Cookies recipe I have been using since I cut it out of the Los Angeles Times in 1987 as a young bride. I baked them for an alternative living center we provide dinner for once a month. I always double, and then some, the chocolate chip quantity, this time mixing chocolate chips with butterscotch chips, plus chopped walnuts. So, so good.
Other variations I have made the cookies with are white chocolate chips/apricots/macadamia nuts, and chocolate chips/butterscotch chips/shredded coconut. They are always a hit, and I have given the recipe away more times than I can count.
Watching Some truly bad 1980's and early 1990's TV shows in a burst of nostalgia that took me over this week. I watched the pilots of Dallas, LA Law, and NYPD Blues, plus the truly awful 1995 James Bond film, GoldenEye, the one with Pierce Brosnan (sorry Pierce!).
You want to watch some truly cringe-worthy shows with regard to how women were treated in TV and film? Watch any one of these and be prepared to join me in loathing the way women were scripted, the way men referred to them, and the way in which they were forced to dress (or undress in the case of NYPD Blues). Yes, thankfully, we really have come a long way.
Reading Not much! I have been spending hours and hours playing guitar this week, to the detriment of my poor fingers.
Practicing Speaking of which, I located a truly wonderful guitar playing app from JustinGuitar (just $64.99 for a full year - a bargain compared to $80 per hour guitar lessons!) that includes lesson videos, practice sessions, and best of all, a Play Along feature that includes background drums, keyboard, and sing along lyrics. It is so much fun that I am finding myself playing until my fingers ache. At some point I might put up a video here of me playing, but not yet!
This is the Play Along song primarily responsible for my aching fingers . . . it only uses two chords, D and A major, and with the background music the app provides, I'm convinced I sound just like Lucy Hale in the official YouTube video below . . . not, LOL!!!
What are you up to currently? Please do share below!
You certainly do have an eye for interior design, your family room looks so fresh and inviting. Isn't it interesting to watch shows you enjoyed in the 80s and 90s and realise how much things have changed?!
I am also shocked that my 20-something self apparently watched them back in the day without being terribly bothered. I KNOW my daughters would have been bothered at same age, so I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for raising them with a better sense of self than, apparently, I was raised with.
You certainly do have an eye for interior design, your family room looks so fresh and inviting.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting to watch shows you enjoyed in the 80s and 90s and realise how much things have changed?!
I am also shocked that my 20-something self apparently watched them back in the day without being terribly bothered. I KNOW my daughters would have been bothered at same age, so I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for raising them with a better sense of self than, apparently, I was raised with.
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