Archive for December, 2010
Project Fridge: An Update
Remember when we mentioned that we were on a grocery shopping hiatus? The idea was to make a concerted effort to eat as much as possible that we already had in the fridge and the freezer so we didn’t have to worry about keeping things cold for the 6-ish hour delay between being out of our house and getting to move into our new one (which will hopefully still happen Monday afternoon assuming the bank stays on schedule with the transfer). Here’s what the fridge looked like just two weeks ago when we started:
And here’s what the fridge looks like now that it’s truck-loading day (after two weeks of eating some pretty “creative” meals to get rid of as much as possible):
Not too bad, right? Thanks to my borderline compulsive list making idea (detailed here), we managed to get down to just one carton of ice cream and one bag of edamame in the freezer and a few condiments along with a bit of bread, cheese, a few pickles, three yogurt cups and a few sticks of butter in the fridge. And we’ll probably eat the rest of the ice cream and those pickles today (no I’m not prego- promise). Thankfully everything else will easily slip into a small cooler that we’ll stick in the cold moving van so everything should travel really easily (as opposed to needing a bunch of larger coolers or hijacking John’s sister’s fridge for the day). Plus we saved some money by avoiding the grocery store. Most of all, we’re even more excited about moving into our new house now – because it means that we can go on a huge food shopping spree and eat normal meals again! Woot woot.
I Like To Move It Move It
Do I get a point or two for a second moving post with a 90′s song reference in the title (here’s the first one)? And since it’s Friday, we figured we’d toss a video in. Oh but there are some bouncing booties on blast, just in case you’re at work or have an old-enough-to-ask-questions kiddo on the ol’ lap. You’ve been warned.
We’re about 90% packed, which is a good thing with moving day looming around the corner (we’re packing the truck on Sunday and officially moving on Monday afternoon if all goes well and our closing doesn’t get bumped to Tuesday). Cross your fingers for us!
Here’s how we’re doing on our little to do list that we shared on Wednesday:
- remove every single item from the wall and patch/paint every nail hole in the house (this was actually about 500 times easier than I expected- just remove all the nails at once, spackle everything at once, and then paint room by room. It’s a lot faster than doing those three things in each room before moving onto the next one since you’d be opening and closing the spackle and cleaning the putty knife about a million times).
- transfer all of our utilities so they start over at the new place on move-in day
- pack the entire bathroom (except for travel sized shampoo & conditioner, our toothbrushes, and the shower curtain)
- pack all of our frames, mirrors, books, ceramic animals, and 80% of the breakables (still need to do our dishware – yikes!)
- rake the yard so the new owners don’t think they’re moving into a giant leaf pile
- oversee the completion of a few random inspection items (some flue work is being done by a pro)
- get our oil measured for closing (new buyers pay for the oil that’s left in the tank, isn’t that a nice fair way to do it?)
- wave goodbye to our tan slipcovered Pottery Barn sofa in the den (someone from craigslist is supposed to be picking it up)
- pack the rest of the kitchen along with about 10% of the other rooms that still need to be done
- clean the oven and the fridge (can’t really do this until right before we go)
- vacuum/sweep before locking the door with a tear in my eye
Not bad right? Just that last 10% of packing along with some cleaning is left and we’re on to the new place with a spring in our step (ok, maybe no spring if we’re carrying heavy boxes). After a long and stressful day yesterday – all the last minute closing details and papers are keeping us on our toes! – we went for a drive over to the new house and just gazed at it through the car windows. Even Clara and Burger looked. It definitely got us back into the excited state of mind that we’re trying to live in for the next crazy few days. Ah new house, how do we love you. Let us count the ways…
And for those who love to see our house tore up from the floor up, here’s how things are looking right this moment:
Oh and since a few people have been wondering, here’s what is conveying (staying) with the sale of our house:
- all the appliances both in the kitchen and the laundry nook
- the storage pieces and cabinetry in the basement
- the built-in wardrobes on either side of our bed & the bed frame itself
- the floating shelves in the dining room
- all hardwired light fixtures and the plug in swing-arm lamps in the bedroom (except for the chandy from Clara’s room, which we replaced with a standard light)
- all of the blinds, shades, curtain rods, and curtains in the house (except for the curtains in Clara’s room- I’m just too sentimental to walk away from those)
- a folder of manuals and house info along with all the exterior & interior paint (labeled by room)
We’re actually really happy to leave those things behind (they added up to a nice quick sale and an offer above our asking price). Now for another bulleted list (I’m on a roll here). These are a few packing things we’re doing that seem to work well for an obsessive type-a gal like me:
- John came up with the genius idea to use blue painters tape to mark boxes that are breakable so we can easily identify the ones that we should be extra careful with
- He also decided to put a piece of painters tape on the cabinets in the kitchen that aren’t empty yet (so we don’t keep opening all the doors to see which ones are done and which ones still have to be packed)
- We’re using a sharpie to write what’s in nearly every box (so if we have to find Clara’s bath stuff in a snap, we know where it is).
- Thanks to lots of recommendations, we hit up our local wine store for a few more boxes (they’re free, sturdy, and some even have handles).
- We’ve packed a “vacation stash” of clothes, toiletries, baby stuff, etc that we’ll rely on for the next few days here and the first few days at the new place (so there’s no rush to dig through boxes for the essentials).
- We also packed a “good to have around” box for the new house that we’re keeping in the car (with toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, cleaning supplies, cups for water, and a few other things we’re sure we’ll appreciate having right away for our friends & family members who are helping us move – and also for ourselves once they leave).
So far so good. Eye on the prize (aka: the new house). Eye on the prize…
Some Ho-Ho-Holiday Love
It’s time again for our monthly shout out of gratitude to our sponsors for making the other 40+ posts possible and helping to keep food on the table (even if that table is covered with moving boxes at the moment). And in the spirit of the season, let’s focus on another kind of box – the gift box. Instead of just listing everyone, we’ve whipped up a little roundup of our favorite gift-worthy things. Not that we’ve been gifted any of these things ourselves (see our new no-swag policy here) but we did have some fun trolling around their sites on a virtual shopping spree of sorts. And as always, there’s something in it for you (you know we love to hook you guys up) so scroll down to the bottom for some wallet friendly discounts. Oh and stay tuned for some pretty crazy moving pics in a bit. Our house is actually starting to echo!
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- A vintage atomic tree topper found in one of Ruby Lane‘s virtual antique shops.
- An unapologetically preppy set of recipe cards plus apron from Sarah Langley.
- Dolan Geiman‘s richly layered and textured mixed media art prints.
- Totally distinct and amazingly eco-friendly coconut tiles from Design for Less.
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- Adding some sparkle with a mercury glass pendant from Shades of Light.
- The Z Gallerie color-coded gift guide, featuring some incredible icy blue gifts.
- A gift card to the The Tile Shop (for filling up on tile, tools, & free tips).
- Free downloadable holiday gift tags from the folks at WallQuotes (yay free!).
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- These deer heads from Cardboard Safari. We just bought one for someone on our list…
- A sweet wrapped canvas for your sweetheart from Red Letter Words.
- Frame The Date‘s beautiful wrapped and personally meaningful gifts.
- Customized handmade jewelry (or an ornament!) from Lisa Leonard Designs.
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- Hoot Design Co’s print that brings fun & personalization to the ABCs.
- A virtual design consultation from one of My Design Guide‘s interior designers.
- Durock‘s Tile Membrane “Project In A Box” that’ll simplify your honey’s next project.
- Pretty and eco-friendly paper and other letterpress goodies from Smock Paper.
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- A punchy patterned print or playfully personalized pillow from Freshline.
- Heart & Stone Jewelry‘s endless combination of charms and pendants.
- This uber charming winter-tastic silhouette print from Le Papier Studios.
- A book or an online class from scrapbooking expert Ali Edwards.
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- A custom photo canvas from Trendy Peas. After all, it is Christmas, baby.
- A pop or three of color with this hand crafted Mexican pillow found on Ruby Plaza.
- To get you into the spirit, here’s Burger in his holiday best (it has a trap door).
- And we can’t forget the beanette with a festive reindeer on those buns of hers.
And now for the JUICY DISCOUNTS:
- WallQuotes.com: 15% off with the code YHL15
- The Tile Shop: 10% off when you use the code YHL10
- Le Papier Studio: 15% off any purchase with the code YHL15OFF (thru Dec 20)
- Freshline: 10% off any orders with the code YHL10
- Heart & Stone Jewelry: 10% off your purchase with the code YHL10
- Sara Langley: 15% off your purchase with code YHL15
