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.

South vs. North

A Northerner’s response to the some of the

“17 Things You Learn From Growing Up In The South”

now that I’ve lived here for a decade.

OriginalPost by Chelsea Fagan

1. Southern food is truly the best. Whether it’s spicy gumbo, fried chicken and biscuits with honey, sautéed greens, or BBQ meat that falls off the bone — the south has it locked up. You grow up with that food and it is the stuff you will be craving for the rest of your life. The day I arrived back in America after a few years abroad, the first meal I had was fluffy biscuits with sausage gravy, two sunny side up eggs, and a glass of real sweet tea. It was transcendent.

I’ll give you gumbo, collards, okra, and grits… but out of all the foods I have ever eaten, these are my least favorite. Sorry Chelsea.

2. Hot asphalt and hot vinyl car seats are the stuff of summer nightmares. RIP to all the bare feet and thighs that have been lost to their merciless sizzle.

Yeah, we have the sun too… crazy how that works.

3. “Southern Belles” and “Southern Gentlemen” still exist, but the people who openly identify as such often embody neither idea.

Completely agree!

4. People really are ignorant. The same people whose parents didn’t want them to be in science class when we learned about the Big Bang are the same people who, at age 25, are flagrantly posting Facebook statuses about Obama being a Muslim or gay marriage being dangerous to society. And on the one hand, you realize that they were kind of doomed from the get-go, but on the other hand, they have a vote. (Of course, this doesn’t mean that the stereotype about all southerners being backwards conservatives is true, either. There are Democrats and Republicans, just like you have anywhere else.)

Completely agree! Ignorant people are everywhere.

7. Spankings are definitely still a thing. When I moved up to Maryland (which some people still consider the south, but that’s debatable), I realized that a lot of my friends’ parents just “negotiated” with them from age two and beyond. This is not acceptable in the south. One of my most formative memories is being popped in the mouth by my grandmother in front of the entire line at Winn-Dixie because I called her a bitch. It was a moment equivalent in education to about four full years of schooling.

My 7 year old hiney can tell you that spankings are a northern thing as well.

8. There is no limit to how many foods can be fried. And, let’s be honest, you’ve tried (and probably enjoyed) 99 percent of them.

The fair comes to northern towns too, ya know.

9. American flag clothes are very much in fashion in parts of the country. My neighbor as a child had a collection of NASCAR memorabilia in his living room, including a box of limited-edition Dale Earnhardt Bugles (the corn chips). This man’s clothes were at least 40 percent covered with American flags.

Ever heard of the Indianapolis 500?

10. There are a million Honey Boo Boos. And the famous one is far more articulate than most of them. I had several Honey Boo Boos in my neighborhood except, instead of spouting adorable sayings, they mostly just ate push pops until their whole faces were orange and threw rocks at animals.

I agree, the south has rednecks, the north just has white trash. The difference is in the dialect.

13. There were very liberal “riding your bikes in the neighborhood” rules. Everyone pretty much had free reign all summer, and people were very rarely indoors. The sound of the crickets coming out (and the moms yelling from the doorways) were the only indicators of what time it was or that the day was actually over.

Me too. Just had to be home when the streetlamps came on.

14. All sodas can be referred to as “Coke,” even though this objectively makes no sense and only makes ordering drinks a step more complicated than it needs to be.

We called it “pop.”

17. Respect for elders is the most important thing ever. Talking back to an adult in the south, or not calling someone ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ is a one-way ticket to being punished into another generation. If you don’t have respect for grown-ups, you have no home training, and life is just going to be a struggle for you. To this day, as a 25-year-old, I still call older people “Mr.” and “Ms.” out of force of habit. I’ll likely do it until I am dead, and honestly, I’m a better person for it.

My friend’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Last Name and we said “yes please” instead of “yes mam” and “no, thank you” instead of “no mam”. I do see a difference in language here, but do not insinuate that the north does not have manners.

Sailing Trip Tips

We sailed for 7 days and 7 nights with two other couples in the Caribbean on a 38’ catamaran and this is what we learned! We went to St. Martin, St. Barts, and Anguilla.

1. If you like good head support when you sleep, bring a pillow. What we were provided might as well have been several tissues stuffed in a pillowcase.
2.  If you are not part of the crew, bring a book. Sailing is super fun, but 7 days of the same seas left plenty of time for reading.
3. Do not overpack… there isn’t much room on a boat. Instead bring 2 swimming suits, 3 beach coverups, and 4 outfits. The more that these can crossover, the better. I brought two pairs of flip flops, but could have just used 1. I also brought 2 beach towels, and although I brought them back, I was prepared to leave them in St. Martin. Don’t forget two pairs of pajamas that you don’t mind your friends seeing you wear! Several sports bras were a must for me. :)
4. As a couple, we brought 2 bottles of SPF 30 lotion and 4 spray cans of SPF 30 for reapplication. Include an SPF lip balm, sunglasses, and hat, and you should be good to go. I get burned medium easily and I didn’t get but a slight sunburn on my back one day when some of the SPF must have rubbed off.
5. They accepted American dollars almost everywhere we went. We brought $500 cash and spent an additional $250 on our debit card in groceries and this was plenty. Bring small bills for tipping.
6. Consider how you are going to preserve your sailing memories. We bought and brought a GoPro camera for pictures and underwater video and I also collected sand from each place.
7. Bring your own snorkel gear! The $50 spent is well worth it for an impromptu jump in the sea. I would test it out first in a pool before you leave, my original mask leaked so I had to get another one.
8. My husband was first mate and he was prepared with UV long sleeve shirts and gloves for the ropes. He definitely needed those gloves. He also rented a fishing pole from the marina for a week to fiddle with when he wasn't working.
9. The ladies made one trip to the grocery store, while the men got acquainted with the boat. We rented a car for $60 and spent $750 on groceries from the store (total), which included everything from the provisions list below.
10. Definitely check out the boat first to see what is provided… we had a percolator to make coffee (instructions here), no microwave, charcoal grill (did not use), and propane oven/range. Bring a large tervis tumbler with lid if you tend to like larger drinks that stay cold. The cups that were provided were just so-so.

*** Sea Sickness - this is a personal choice, but I only felt queasy one time in 8-10 foot seas and a quick trip to the side of the boat and looking at the horizon helped me out. One girl wore the seasickness bands on her wrists, and another took Dramamine but was pretty tired all week. No one else had any problems. ***

Our Provisions List – for 6 people for one week. (We ate about 3 meals on shore)

• 150 bottles of water
• 3 cases of beer (try the local Carib if you get a chance, very Corona-ish)
• 6 bottles of liquor, include a local rum – like Guavaberry!
• 6 bottles of mixers (2 liters of ginger ale, orange juice, sprite, etc.)
• Coffee, creamer, and sugar/sweetener
• Small dish-soap, trash bags, ziplock containers or storage bags, sponge, spray bottle of cleaner, toilet paper, and paper towels
• Snacks: Chips, dips, cookies, trail mix
• Breakfast: fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, milk
• Lunch: cold cuts, bread, sliced cheese, peanut butter & jelly
• Dinners: we took turns cooking and all girls did the cleaning (since the men did the sailing)
• Meal 1: Spaghetti noodles, Italian sausages, jar of red sauce, frozen garlic bread, shredded mozzarella cheese
• Meal 2: Frozen burger patties, buns, ketchup, mustard, onion, tomato
• Meal 3: Chicken tenderloins, bowtie pasta, alfredo sauce, broccoli
• Meal 4: Ground beef, seasoning, taco shells, sour cream, shredded cheese, black beans, salsa
• ICE! – We bought 2-3 bags of ice daily. The boat had a cooler, but it would melt per day and we would use ice in our drinks.

Sexy Soccer Stars

Aleksandr Kerzhakov from Russia, clearly.

I'm Sailing Away!

Headed to St. Martin, Anguilla, and St. Barts today! Words cannot describe. :)

Luck of the Draw

In a couple of weeks we are headed on a sailing trip with two other couples... well, we drew the cabins last night and what luck we had! We got the berth that does not have to share a bathroom with another couple! SOOO lucky. Starboard side it is. :)