hello big screen tv

not too much of an update, except it's time to say goodbye to my old huge tv, and hello to a much slimmer and lighter 42" flat screen from chadley.

let there be light

the other day i picked out some pendant lights from ikea. but apparently they only sell plug-in pendant lighting (see above). what?!

but it didn't matter, because my amazing boyfriend turned to me and said he would hook it all up. so i bought two simple looking pendants and then went over to the home depot for two canopy kits.

finally chad had time to come over and do a little free labor :)

and after about an hour or so of work...VOILA! my bar lights are up and shining bright!

the real thing

my chandelier arrived early, all in one piece, on the front steps. i was so excited that the next week seemed to take forever. but finally thursday came -- the day chad offered to come over and install it in my dining room.

during the week chad had picked up a converter because the chandelier is shipped from the UK. crazy right? i also bought some circular globe lights (i think the candelabra candle bulbs look creepy) and these spherical ones remind me of giant bubbles. plus, they make the light sparkle.

so after a few minor setbacks -- like the fact that appliances from overseas are opposite from ours, white is hot, instead of black -- chad successfully installed the light.

i love it! and it's even on a dimmer switch, how perfect is that! now i just need a dining room table...

aussie fest reunion

some pix from aussie fest reunion, held at my place. the festivities began with a Japan slideshow, narrated by mom. we took a break, played some games, ate some grub, and crowded into the living room for the second show of the day: the Australia slideshow, narrated by matthew.

some of the gang: rachael, ryan, kristina, matthew and adam.

the group of us 'kids' who survived the second slideshow. whew, what a long day, but it was a fun one!

demolition derby

the boys had a lot of work ahead of them. first, they finished up demo of the old closet between the living room and dining room.

then they got started on ripping out the living room coat closet and main hallway closet.

here's the plan with that: see the right edge of the closet where dad is? we're going to cut off that extra few feet and square it all off. then we'll remodel the hallway closet and one side of the bathroom (adding a closet, since there isn't one currently). this should really open up the space.

another view. this is the hallway closet that will be remodeled once we square-off the new wall.

meanwhile...i was all alone priming the bedroom walls with killz.

now back to where all the action is happening...the boys in the living room.

lookin good! right now we're deciding what to do about that last few feet of sheetrock on the brick wall. let's take it down and see what's underneath! bummer, nothing good. we'll have to re-cover it at some point...

might as well rip off the ceiling while we're at it! just kidding. but they really did tear it down, because then it will be easier to replace with sheetrock.

all done! phew, what a long day. tons of work, but totally worth it. and a totally giant pile of debris.