Leaving the past behind...

Bless me Twitter, for I have sinned.  It's been four weeks since my last blog and I'm pretty sure I used profanity on more than one occasion--ALL of which was justifiable!  For those that haven't heard... we moved, we renovated (ing), we disagreed, we argued, we cried (okay, I cried) and we did some major damage to my Visa card, but I'm happy to report, the 1st part of our housing transformation is nearly complete.  Though I failed to take "before" pictures prior to moving in, below are a couple of recent shots of the new digs.

I must preface by saying that Country French was not my initial plan, but after setting my sights on an old Rooster Hutch that I found in the cluttered heap at Paris On Ponce, there was no turning back.  The oak floors, peppered with knots and flaws, just screamed for more character... who was I to judge?

The kitchen cabinets were nothing special; stat-white Ikea, so instead of spending $20k on a new kitchen, we opted to hire a friend to do a little faux finishing.  Once we reinstalled the painted doors, I was hesitant to put the glass back in, but my fearless comrade came up with a brilliant alternative: chicken wire... LOVE!  So now I'm getting some quotes on vintage chick wire glass to replace what we had.

The fireplace is a work-in-progress... it was maroon with bathroom (yes, bathroom!) tile on the floor and below mantel, but I grabbed some Garnet Gallery Egyptian Glass tiles from daltile to play off the colors in the room.  My new BFF, Colby, is going to do some work on the fireplace and expose the original brick.  Should look pretty cool when it's done.

Our littlest sweetheart has now been promoted to the big BIG girl bed, which meant I had to find some cool bed rails to keep her from slipping out onto the hardwood floors.  Easier said than done, but after an hour of surfing the web, my nimble fingers finally landed here: SnugTuckPillow, and I am happy to report there have been no accidents (yet)! 

Though we still have a lot of work to do, It's nice to sit back (wine in hand), take a deep breath and smile happily, knowing that we're finally home.  The past three years have felt like ten as we've struggled to keep our heads above water and try not to take in too much salt.  When we told Isla we were moving (again!), she didn't want to go... "I like this house!" she cried, "I don't want to move!"  When she came home from Grandma's after the big move, we (re)introduced her to The Happy House and her new room.  Now when I ask her if she likes her new room she says, "No I DON'T!"  But when I tell her, "Let's pack it up so we can move back to the old place," she screams, "Nooooo!  I was kidding!"

Last week, we sat out on the patio eating corn dogs and toasting our new future.  It wasn't a fancy dinner and the presentation was laughable, but it was one of the best meals of my life and I'll never forget it in all its simplistic goodness.  We said good-bye to our past that night and, if I'm not mistaken, the train we heard rumbling in the distance was taking it far, far away.