Falling Off...

I really need to blog everyday.  Like ... I just need to.  I don't write as often as I'd like to and this here little blog-o-mine is such a perfect outlet.  Thus, I really need to blog everyday.

I don't have any house updates, but I'm working on it.  Jeremy and I are planning a BIG, sweeping, whirlwind (a la Hurricane ... superstorm? ... Sandy) of a home-purge this weekend.  AKA, we're planning to go through the rooms in our home that are currently filled with junk and haven't been even remotely touched since we move in (which is now almost SEVEN MONTHS AGO).  Yeesh.  On the list are the guest bedroom (which doesn't resemble a bedroom in the slightest ... as in, there is no bed, no dresser, no nighstand ... nothing.  nada.  zilch), the office (which is the LAST place I'd want to settle down on a work-from-home day) and the garage. 

OH the garage.  Talk about junk-central.  There are a bazillion bins of stuff that I brought over from my parents' house that I'd love to go through.  Some of the sentimental stuff I'll (obviously) be forced to hold onto while some of the other "space-fillers" will have.to.go.  Jeremy and I are planning to create a "Sell" bin so that when Spring time rolls herself on around, we can plan a garage sale and make some dollaz ;-).  I'm going to shoot for a post on Sunday or Monday encapsulating all we plan to tackle (featuring lots of before and after photos) so be sure to check back then.

In the meantime, leave me some inspiration to help get me into that blogging everyday thing.  I've included some "instructions" above the comments field.  Unfortunately Blogger isn't always the most intuitive thing, so follow my directions to successfully leaving a comment.  Oh...and follow me!  I'm not quite sure how she did it, but my sister is following me.  She is currently my one and only follower and SHE'S GETTING LONELY!

Thanks for reading!
Jen

Bare Grillz

OK, so this post actually has nothing to do with the baring of teeth (for all of my friends raised outside "the 'ville," grillz=teeth), but it DOES have to do with the baring of our, well, BARE home (as it was when we entered it for the first time).

Feast your eyes upon this nakedness ... and get your heads out of the gutter ;-).  Please note, Jeremy and I have been working our [clothed] butts off to make sure that every square inch of this little ditty receives some tender love (I know, I know, that was SUPER corny)!  Although it no longer looks this empty, I wanted to give you all the opportunity to see what we're working with and how we're working with it.  So without further ado, here she blows:

FIRST FLOOR

That's the front door.  I apologize for the pink glow ... must have been my rose-colored glasses ;-)

 

This is the room that you enter when you walk in the front door.  This will be Jeremy's "man cave."

Another terrible picture, but you get the jist.  This is the half bath (this house also has 2 full baths!).

The middle door there is the door we use the majority of the time to enter and leave.  It goes out to our 2 car garage!  The door to the right of it is a coat closet and the door to the left of it houses the hot water heater and a bunch of other junk electronic things that make our house work.

SECOND FLOOR

This is mighty dark, but we didn't have our overhead lights (aka ceiling fan) installed yet.  The room that I was standing in to take this picture is our living room.  The room that I'm photographing is the kitchen/dining room.

The lights are off, but there's so much light in our huge kitchen/dining room!  We love our big sliding glass door ... it shows off our sparkly cherry hardwood floors (that, honestly, usually aren't sparkly ... 1 large hairy dog will do that I guess) and our MILES (sarcasm) of corian countertops!

There's that big sliding glass door I was talking about.  It leads out to a pretty spacious deck which looks over our driveway.  That low hanging lamp there was one of the first things we tackled when we moved in.

The right side of our living room and the stairs to the third floor.

And last, but not least, a terrible picture/angle/etc. of our living room.  Although this picture does it absolutely NO justice, the living room has not 1 but 2 tall windows that let in tons of light (given we open the blinds).  Look for MUCH better pictures in my IN PROGRESS post.

THIRD FLOOR

The guest bathroom located at the top of the steps.  Not very big, but it gets the job done .... er, I guess, you can get the job done there?

The master bedroom.  Picture me doing a happy dance/cartwheels ... or maybe you don't want to picture me doing that :).  This room has two gloriously big windows that let in tons of light.  The square footage of this room is also impressive ... it fits our king bed, 2 dressers and 2 night stands and still leaves plenty of room to walk around/happy dance/do cartwheels.

That's the doorway to our master bathroom.  Love.

His and her sinks ... again, LOVE.

His and her shower heads. 

Our walk-in closet.  It's big and roomy, but those wire shelves have GOT.TO.GO!

This is the guest bedroom.  All 2 inches of it (sarcasm again, but it IS really small).  I don't have a picture of our office, also located on the third floor.  Imagine this room mirrored to the right.

The laundry room.  I have some grand dreams for this little space ... just have to convince the hubby.

The hallway.  It's tight.  And not tight as in "awesome."  The sliver of a doorway there to the right is the guest bath.  That's the master bedroom straight ahead.  To the immediate left is the laundry "room," and if you turn exactly 180 degrees, your facing the entries to the guest room and office.  See? Tight.

That's all she wrote.  But really, our house isn't enormous (1600 sq.ft give or take a few), but it's no cardboard box either.  We love it, we love making it ours, and we love that you're joining us on this crazy journey!

Thanks for reading!

Jen

Etsy Shop GRAND OPENING!

I'm still working on a post with lots of shots of our home as it was when we moved in.  In the meantime, I just wanted to inform you that I've officially opened an Etsy Shop!  After seeing so many people be successful in opening their own Etsy shops, and eventually businesses, I've decided to take the dive.

I'm beginning by creating custom, personalized, unique invitations and save-the-dates for those planning a special event.  I offer a design consultation (a separate charge) where I plan out with you (the buyer) to discuss the event and decide on a design.  From there, I'll create two to three drafts of a design which I'll then send to you to pick your preference and suggest any final changes.  From there, I'll make the final changes (if applicable) and send the file out for printing.

If you or anyone you know is planning a wedding, baby shower, birthday party, or other special event, please keep me in mind.  I'm excited to help you!  Click the image below to visit my Etsy shop!

Thanks for reading!
Jen

Blogging Round 2: Ding Ding!

It's taken me a little over a year, but I've finally built up the courage to re-start blogging. I'm hoping to be much more dedicated to this little blog than I was to the first. I'm also hoping that this will serve as a place where family and friends near and far can take part in the joys our new home has brought/is bringing/will bring us.

As most of you know, Jeremy and I bought our first house in April and we've been working hard to make it feel like "home." It's a brand new town home built to our specs, but we're leaving no square-inch unloved! Over the course of these past 6 months (wow ... has it really been 6 months already?!), Casa Vargas has started taking shape. Don't get me wrong ... there are still many, MANY things on our to-do list, but what's the fun in doing everything at once?!

I had planned to include some pictures of the home as it was when we first purchased it, but I'm facing some technical difficulties (shocker, but I guess that's the world of blogging, eh?). Stay tuned for these gloriously bare pictures as well as future posts with the updates we've made so far and the DIY adventures and challenges we face along the way!

Thanks for reading!

<3Jen