House Update

Here we are! Windows, doors, and roof that you can see, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing that you can't... It is moving along quite well! :)

Stereotypes

I can't tell if this makes me laugh out of anger or comedy. Sometimes I wish stereotypes wouldn't be proven right! That is so like a North Charleston police officer to be caught doing something wrong while the damn Mt. Pleasant officer rescues a deer. Disgusted.

#Reckless in Charleston

Being that Charleston is on the opposite side of the country from Los Angeles, it is kind of a big deal when we get to see or hear of a movie or show being filmed here. There is a new show called Reckless that has been on for a few weeks and I thought I would share my view on their take of Charleston below!

• The accent that they portray Charlestonians to have is a bit too southern. The people that I have met who were actually born and raised in the Charleston area (including my husband) don’t really have a southern accent at all! …except for a few phrases and using “y’all.”
• In one of the first scenes of one of the first episodes, a girl is using a handheld fan on herself while in the courthouse as if the AC was broke. Let me tell you, if there is one thing that places in Charleston know how to do, it is to blast you with air conditioning! She would not need that fan, but she may need a sweater!
• The police station is actually on the other side of the peninsula from where they are filming. The building that they are using as the station is actually for shops and bars and boat tours leave from there… still looks great in the show though!
• One of the lines from the most recent episodes was to “go drink some beer and count the fireflies”…  I wonder what number they would get to if they actually counted? My bet is on 0.
• The route that Cam Gigandet (Roy Rader) takes to get to downtown from his home on John’s Island by boat is kind of funny. I borrowed this map from Charleston City Paper (below) and it shows the route that he would take based on the scenery that you get from his boat ride. Seems like he got a little lost!

I really am enjoying the show though! I have been trying to see if it is because I am living here or if it is because it is actually good. I will tell you one thing... Cam Gigandet is easy on the eyes either way!

Pop Quiz?

I often have the thought… maybe I should have been a teacher? It usually comes about when summer kicks in and I see all my teacher friends on vacation for the next couple of months... but it quickly passes as I really do love what I do. Every once in a while though, I think about how I would be as a teacher, and today I had an idea about pop quizzes. I don’t ever remember taking a single pop quiz in my younger days (have only seen them in movies), but what if teachers did have them? 

Pop quizzes could be used as an incentive to take notes, and subsequently remember to bring said notes to class. If there was ever a pop quiz, the students could be allowed to use their notebooks (not their textbooks) and would thus be rewarded for taking good notes and paying attention? I don’t know about you all, but I think I would be inspired to take much better notes if that were the case!

There would have to be rules, though. Nothing could be pasted into the notebook (photocopies of the book), they would all have to be handwritten (and in your handwriting!), nothing verbatim from the book, and maybe some of it is done on your own as homework. It's just a random thought I had!

Home Building - 30% there!

Our home is about 30% done! What I am finding out now is that it really is all in the details and never truly gets “easier.” I’ve found it takes me SO much longer to figure this stuff out for my own house than it does for my clients' houses! Yes, outlets in the medicine cabinets are important to me, as well as having power in the right spot for Christmas lights, and making sure my appliances fit in their proper place, etc. It all takes time, but thankfully I have three day weekends and weeknights to accomplish all of these unexpected extras!

Truth is, it's all important to me.

In response to those wondering how one even begins to organize a design, I will share my process here. Beginning with Houzz was the best way for me, it is mobile on your phone and iPad and also on a computer. Seeing an idea (or similar) that I have that is already built is a start. If I can’t find my idea online, that is when I start sketching. I also set up a secret Pinterest board for EACH room. I am constantly adding and subtracting from these boards. I think I will make them all public one day, but I am one of those types that likes to have a finished product before I spill the beans.

And here are the reasoning and tips I can give you following the madness of designing your own home, in my opinion, and at 30% into the process.

1. Value is absolutely #1 in my book. It has to be built well enough, look cool enough, and cost the right amount for it to work for me. There are a few splurges here and there, but mostly I have compromised myself right out of the super fancy items and opted for things that make sense in our space and for our budget.
2. Detailing the crap out of the drawings ensures that you will be able to get what you want, and it will actually fit. I have a brother in law with an extra freezer in his garage because it wouldn’t fit with his cabinet layout. I am happy to say that this would be impossible for me and the meticulous way I have combed through each piece of our project. Because I can’t afford everything super high end (or to buy it twice), I want every piece to function as if it were custom made for us, even though it may be from IKEA.
3. Design continuity is also on my mind. I know what I like, and sometimes that is easier said than done. I can get fixated on wanting something exactly how I’ve pictured it, and the hunt will continue until I’ve conquered my own request. Pinterest really has helped me organize my jumbled brain and has also been the place I’ve found ideas to make things that I could not buy off the shelf.
4. Keep calm… that is what I keep telling myself. When I’ve searched over and over and thought about it and slept on it and combined all the parts from above, and when I bring said idea to husband and he disagrees, I cannot, I repeat, cannot explode. It takes hours for me to come to a decision, and one second for him to disagree. I do have to admit, that sometimes he has been right and/or I have agreed with him, but when that doesn’t happen, I get my way. There has to be some benefit to all this extra work, right? haha Just don't tell him that.
5. Sometimes you have to trust people, and move on. Other times it is worth the extra dollar to make it right. A light switch is 6" too far to the right? Breathe in, breathe out, it will be fine. The sight of your stairs brings you to tears? Rip it out. I figure we are paying about $1,000 per day in labor. That adds up (thank you for 4 day work weeks!), but it was worth it to have them rip out the start of what I considered to be a very flawed staircase. A couple sketches here, a quick mockup there, and voila, my front foyer stairs work soooo much better now... considering you can see them from EVERY angle of the main floor, it was money well spent.

And here we are...

What A Northerner has Learned from the South

In response to this post, I did want to create of list of things that a northerner has learned from the south below. I have been here almost 10 years and would never leave it!

1. "Y'all" is the best word ever. It is casual and all-encompassing and I picked it up almost immediately. It feels good to say it to my northern friends, just as it feels good to call a coke a "pop" down here. I will, however, never say "ain't" unless it is for southern emphasis.
2. You can monogram anything. Seriously, and I love it! From baby butts to car windows, you will see monograms on anything and everything in the south. The availability of customizing your name or initials on items in this day in age excites me. Because my name is a little strange, I was never able to find pre-made name items as a child.
3. Fancy dress is common in the south. Although it might not exactly be on trend, Charleston is full of seer sucker clad, boat shoe wearing, bow tie donning, hat displaying folks that get really fancy whenever possible. Be it a football game or a wedding, it is fun to dress up in the south. the first time I went out with a group of girlfriends I was the only one wearing jeans and a "cute" top. They were dressed to the nines in dresses and heels for a night out at the bars. I was a little embarrassed, but I am a fast learner and quickly stocked my closet appropriately. Since then, I have gotten a little more lax with the "dress code," but that may have more to do with age and effort than anything else.
4. Invitations and parties follow Emily Post, as she is held to the highest regard when speaking of formalities and etiquette. I never heard of her until I moved here, and I think I could have done without her, at least until my wedding...
5. If you are not named a family name, consider yourself unloved. There is a lot of talk about future baby names at this stage in my life, and most of them contain the mother's maiden name. Personally, I think my maiden name (Pahs) is too weird to be a first name, but that wouldn't stop most southern women. It is also common for a woman to take her maiden name as her middle name when she marries, and I did do that.