NYC Apartment

We are going to NYC again for Spring Break.  We had such a fabulous time last year we just had to return for another week.  We stayed up in Harlem last time and loved it.

We decided to try another neighbourhood this year.

Whether we travel in Europe or North America, we always use 'Vacation Rental By Owner' (www.vrbo.com) to find fantastic houses and apartments.  This holiday would be no different.  Joe found us a cute little apartment in NoHo owned by an artist/musician named Elizabeth.  It was funky.  It was arty.  It was New York.

Elizabeth e-mailed us this morning with bad news.  Her building was being renovated.  Her kitchen and bathroom were in the midst of being replaced.  She was told the renovation would only be one week.  And that was over three weeks ago.

Elizabeth's kitchen and bathroom as of yesterday.

Unfortunately, her apartment is currently uninhabitable.

Elizabeth graciously found us another apartment to rent in Hell's Kitchen.  It belongs to a friend of hers.  He charges more than Elizabeth does and she is kindly covering the difference in rental costs.

Joe and I were laughing about how ironic this situation is.  'Renovation' seems to be our theme this year.

Hell's Kitchen, here we come!

Finish Line Approaching

After 106 days of construction, the renovation finish line is approaching.  I can really see it this time.  Mind you, there are still a lot of items on our 'to do' list (like buy lamps and a few pieces of furniture) but the tradesmen's jobs are wrapping up.

Here's the latest from this week:

The bannisters and spindles were installed on the main floor!  They are beautiful and we love them.  Thank you, Marcel and Derrick.  

The trim for the gas insert was installed!  No more unsightly wires and knobs to stare at!  And look...we kindly bought Daisy a wee cat bed to lounge in by the fire.  She hates it.  She gave it a perfunctory sniff and stalked off, vowing never to grace its velvety lushness.

The carpet was laid in the TV room!

 The free-standing gas fireplace in the TV room is now operational!

The appliance repairman came and fixed the refrigerator!  With Joe's help.

Louie, the man who repaired 'Big Bertha', stopped by for a coffee.

My bookshelf was built by the one-and-only Nathan Webb.

 The bookshelf is being installed!

And now a photo from the 'You Know You're Losing Your Mind When' department:
I was tidying up the kitchen yesterday morning before school.  I was unloading the dishwasher.  I opened a drawer to put away a mixing bowl and was greeted by this sight: 

T.G.I.F everybody!  Enjoy your weekend.

Message From The Universe

"Hello, Nancy?  The universe here."

I love it when the universe sends me a message.

Several months ago, my friend Donna asked if I'd accompany her to Paris this coming summer.  She wanted me to show her the sights of the city I love so well.  To celebrate her 50th birthday.  In style.  Of course I said yes.  I am always excited to share my passions with others.  My dream of becoming a tour guide was coming true!

We immediately booked our plane tickets for July, made arrangements to rent an apartment on the Left Bank, and each of us went on with our busy lives.

A few weeks ago, the Sea-to-Sky Teachers Association held its annual Professional Development Day.  I had arrived early, so went to peruse a table of free books while I waited for my colleagues to come through the door.  I saw a book called 'Path Without Destination' by Satish Kumar and thought, "I think Donna would like to read this."  I picked the book up and carried it with me to the high school multi-purpose room where my teacher friends were sitting.

As I was waiting for the keynote speaker to begin, I thumbed through the book and found something wedged within its pages.  A metro pass.  For Paris.  Complete with a metro map.

"Well, whaddaya know,"  I thought to myself.  "The universe is sending me a message."

I love it when stuff like that happens.

We are going to have such a great time in Paris.

Thanks Universe.  It was great to hear from you.

Gettin' Closer

I know I sound like a broken record when I keep repeating the same statement "We're getting closer to the end of this renovation!"  But it's true.  We are getting closer.

But before we get started on the tour, here's a photo of my Valentine bouquet from Joe.  Still going strong 11 days later.

I love green and white together.

Here's what's been happening in the house of Sotham:

The free-standing gas fireplace has now been fully installed in the basement TV room.  Except it won't stay lit for some reason.  Even the gas guys can't seem to figure it out.  Oh well, back to the drawing board!  I'm sure they'll get the logistics figured out in time for spring.

Cold stove

Joe decided he'd help Nathan out by insulating the foundation where my built-in bookshelf is going to be in the TV room.  Hmmmm.  I told Joe it looked like a construction murder scene.

Joe's handiwork.  Nice job, Joe!

                                                              Drops of deliciousness.  

The good news is that Big Bertha is finally up and running!  A repairman came last Tuesday and replaced the faulty lever and removed two errant O rings from her innards that were wreaking havoc with her plumbing.

Joe has been drinking so much coffee it isn't even funny.  "Just one more" is his newest phrase.

"I'll just sneak in one more espresso before I drive to work."

Keeping the crew happy.

Drywall dust has gotten into and onto everything.  The other morning I had an hour to spare before I went to school, so I decided to clean the top shelf of the linen closet.  I had to get a footstool and reach waaaay back to pull stuff out that hadn't seen the light of day in decades.

We found a neck brace from when I slipped down a set of stairs and gave myself whiplash 15 years ago, and a plastic cone that one of our cats had to wear after a long-ago operation.  Nothing like modelling these items at 6 o'clock in the morning AND THEN TAKING A PICTURE OF OURSELVES!

Two idiots.  Plain and simple.

The hardwood is now on the stairs.  It is beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful.

Toby is the man who made all the hardwood happen.

With the upstairs pretty much finished, now all that is left to do is the basement TV room.

Construction zone.

All ready for the carpet to be laid on Wednesday.

I am looking forward to the day that tools do not grace my living room.

Joe and I needed to get out of the house today because Ray was painting our living room ceiling.  I ask you:  "Who in their right mind has the ceiling painted after the renovation is complete?"  Us, that's who.

Anyway, we decided to drive into the city this afternoon to do some furniture shopping.  We are still in need of an area rug, an end table, a table lamp and a floor lamp for the living room.  We did not find an end table we loved.  We did find an area carpet that we loved (and we did not buy) and a table lamp we loved (and did not buy).  We didn't even look for a floor lamp.

Joe fell in love with this Calvin Klein area carpet called 'Estuary Sand'.  

Only $2,600.00 for a 5'x7' rug.

I fell in love with this table lamp.

And that, my friends, is that.  I will leave you with a little ditty that I teach my class every February:

This was the view from my back deck this morning.

Oh, February is the shortest month,

But the nicest month of all,

Though fluttering snowflakes fill the air,

A promise of spring is everywhere!

Enjoy your Saturday night everybody!  And your Sunday too!

First Car

Our daughter Paige bought her first car last week.  A little blue Hyundai.  She is thrilled.  And we are thrilled for her.  Watching her drive off on Sunday morning made me think about my first car.

Paige and her new wheels.

I bought my first car for $200.00 in 1977 from my boyfriend's sister.  A cherry red 1966 Valiant.  Gawd, I loved that car.  'Val' took my friends and I everywhere.  I think I even slept across the bench seat once.  Or twice. 

My beloved first car.

I have never loved a car like I loved Val.  In fact, I've never loved a car since Val.  Man, I wish I had still had her.

What was your first car?

"'S math sin!"

"S math sin" means 'great!' and 'terrific!' in Gaelic.  And that is exactly what last night was.

A tipsy piper falls into a wine-soaked tray of scotch eggs.

Some hae meat, and canna eat, 

And some wad eat that want it; 

But we hae meat, and we can eat - 

And sae the Lord be thankit.

We were a tad tardy getting our 14th annual Burns Supper off the ground.  But who cared if we were 3 weeks late in getting our scotch and haggis on?  Certainly not us!

Our evening was filled with the usual shenanigans: toasts and graces; mirth and merriment; songs and laughter; poetry and thick brogues; tartan and yorkshire puddin'.

I will let the photos tell the story of our evening.  Fourteen years now and counting.

Scottish highland dancing to kick the night off.

The pipin' in o' the haggis.

No matter how we cook it, our haggis never fails to explode.

The wearin' o' the tartan kilt.

The toast to the lassies.

Reciting...

...'To A Mouse'...

...amid gales...

...of laughter.

The singin' o' "Scotland The Brave".

More poetry recitations to end a fun-filled evening.

I'm already looking forward to celebrating Robbie Burns' 254th birthday next year!

Home and Design

I was reading the 'Home and Design' magazine that was delivered inside the Vancouver Sun this morning.  In it was an article describing a couple of glorious make-over projects on Gambier Island and in Fort Langley.  Both renovations had been nominated for Georgie Awards.  Included alongside the article were the perfunctory before and after photos of the kitchen.

I thought, "Phfffffft.  You call those before and after photos?  I'll give you before and after photos!"

I think Marcel Lanter deserves a Georgie Award for our kitchen renovation.  Seriously.  Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear!  Not only that, he did it in 38 days.  Thirty-eight short days!!!  He started gutting our old kitchen on November 17th and on December 25th Joe cooked Christmas dinner in our fully functional new kitchen.  CRAZY, I know!

But that is how it is when Marcel is at the helm of your project.

Professional, knowledgeable, high quality workmanship, and stress-free.  (Well, almost stress-free.  I did have that mini-breakdown over dust, remember?  I think all homeowners must have issues with dust.  You can't have a reno without dust.)

I'm nominating Marcel Lanter for a Georgie Award.

I was going to wait to write a blog post with the entire collection of before and after photos, but after reading that magazine article this morning I decided to publish the photos of the kitchen today.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

After

I love our new home.  In the mornings before work I sit on the couch drinking coffee with the fire flickering in the background and I think to myself, "I can hardly wait to get back here."  

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Marcel Lanter

Markor Construction

markorconstruction@gmail.com

604.898.1765