BMJ Love

YAHOOOO!!! We have grass!!!

2009-08-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

We got the grass delivered on Friday. Tuboo and He-man dad worked hard to get it all laid down.

Doesn't it look awesome! teehee!

Through this process we've learned there are so are many different sides to this grass. Here are some pics to explain:

A conservative day time grass:

A more elegant evening grass look:

Tuboo cleaning up after a "pedi-grow spray" spa treatment:

Fun daytime grass:

Tuboo reminicing and posing like in a pic he took when he was 3ish

Jumping for joy

Happy feet

Who knew grass was so fascinating!?!

So with all that work we are about 85% done. We still have to get rid of some leftover concrete/rocks, Tuboo is also working on putting up solar lights for the walkway and making a portable fence for our doggies. I still have to finish the paint on the front porch/steps and then its all done! Celebration BBQ coming soon!!!!

reflections on our summer vacation of '09

2009-08-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

Well...it wasn't what we hoped or planned for but we had a "rock'n" good time on our vacation this year. We got a nice tan, lots of outdoor activity and worked out everyday. Isn't that what most people want? NOT!! Not, if they found out it also included digging out an endless amount of concrete for 5 days straight and then plowing through stinky top soil!!!

So last post I left you with some pics of our (Tuboo's) digging adventure. Well that continued for 5 more days. There was so much concrete and crap that we dug up more than "4 cubic yards of concrete debris".

I feel like puking just looking at that pic. It may just look like dirt but trust me, most of what is in that bin are rocks and concrete. This next picture is just a tiny sample of what we dug up. But it shows the variety in size we were dealing with. $%$#@ rocks!!! Yes I'm still bitter.

Luckily, we had my dad, aka he-man, helping us out that day. I can't believe he's 68! The way he was working the wheelbarrow was awesome.

Anyway, enough about rocks. This is what it finally ended up looking like by Thursday.

Sooooooooooo pretty! But it didn't last for long.

On Friday we got the top soil slinged in. Sure beats having it delivered and dumped in front of the house. The slinging system basically slings the dirt into your yard via a conveyor belt. It was pretty cool. Lucky Tuboo got to go right into the truck (see red arrow) with all the stinky soil to make sure the soil was getting out properly.

If it wasn't for a stupid pole and some of the bushes out front, the slinger could have sprayed the soil right into the position we wanted. But unfortunately we couldn't do it. Nonetheless it did save us about 2 days of hard labour.

So today we spent the day plowing through the dirt. We rented a big roller thingy that flattened out the soil. We are hoping for rain the next few days to help settle it all down. Then...dum dum da dum...we will be ready for GRASS!!!!!!!! Can't wait!

Can you dig it?

2009-07-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

Dig Dig Dig...its been all about digging and hot weather.

We've been experiencing record breaking hot weather this last week and poor tuboo had to spend every night digging. Too bad we couldn't use Hampton and ZuZu's digging skills to help him out with this.

Anyway, here are some pics:

Look at all those rocks and crap!

This is the left side of the yard, tuboo will be working on this side tomorrow

A rare treat for Hampton. We let him out in the front for a few minutes. It only took that long for him to want to eat and get into the rocks and dirt ~ Have some class Hampton!

A favorite spot for the bb's as they watched their daddy dig.

We did manage to get out today and we found some great deals. We got an umbrella (that even tilts) for $29! We also found the perfect wrought iron patio set we've been looking for since last year. Cute huh!

once you go black..???

2009-07-20T22:26:00.001-07:00

Ok, need your help! Tuboo and I are arguing about #2 and #3 (see pic below for number scheme). He wants to paint #3 black but I think it will end up looking to 'piano' like. i like the cream b/c it softens the look (as Debbie also noted) and also makes it all match the rest of the house. What do you think? If we paint #3 black then not sure what to paint #2. Do we paint it olive to blend in (thats what it was before).

#1. don't worry we'll paint this white with black tops to match the stair railings. don't let that distract you.
#2. as you can see currently this small strip of trim is black.
#3. as you can see currently this is cream like the steps (which we decided to paint all cream - didn't keep the white backing - are they called risers? i dunno)

Anyway painting continues the rest of the week and prob won't get done until the weekend.

p.s check out the shrub on the right side of the last pic. Tuboo spent the whole day cutting the shrubs and bushes along the side of the house and out front. 10 bags full!! the way he cuts the shrubs is like how some people pluck their eyebrows. he couldn't really see how much he was plucking whether it was too much or what. good thing i stopped him at one point! the shrubs on the side look very cute now. we now have our very own muffin top shrubs :)

paid for being diligent but not diligent

2009-07-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hello!
So the contractor who did our pavers FINALLY took away their equipment and garbage so we can start figuring out what to do with the law BUT they took our shovel by mistake! AGGGHHH!!! Anyway, its not like we don't have anything else to do.

On to why we (or I) 'paid for being diligent but not diligent'...so the steps on the stairs had some cracks b/c of weather i suppose. some of the cracks were deep and not even primer would fill so after reading something online and some passing words from someone, the cracks were filled with polyfill. yes, polyfill. i was very diligent about making sure i filled it correctly. Unfortunately with the rain the ployfill started to rise and my beautiful paint cracked. :( long story short, i spent a long time getting that polyfil out, esp b/c i did such a job filling the cracks! my blood sweat and tears are on those stairs, literally!
Anyway, enough whining... :)

lesson for you all - don't fill outdoor stuff with polyfill!

playing with paint colors

2009-07-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

The pavers are officially complete! The paver head dude came by last night and sealed it. We debated wether to get the sealing done as we like the worn out look but common sense won out. We figure the pavers will get worn out eventually anyway but best to protect them if we can. The sealant changed the color a bit too which took a little getting used to but again its all 'new' so we'll give it some time to get scruffed up :)

We are super happy with how it all turned out but what is depressing now is the lawn. sigh...

We spent the day painting the stairs. It was damn hot outside. Anyway, we are experimenting a bit with how we might paint the stairs and railings. Take a look and let me know what you think.

We added a black trim, kept the posts white and painted the railings cream. For the stairs we painted the top cream and the backs white. The railings and posts on the porch are the original colors.

Note: the white isn't as bright as its just primer and the rest of the paint is just 1 layer of paint

This is what it looks like without the black trim (kind of)

We are so tired, this will have to do until next weekend. Work starts up on Monday and its gonna be busy! So you'll have to wait till next week to see what we decide :))

paver dude 'rocks'

2009-07-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

The paver dude showed up unexpectedly today and did some more work. The paver dude 'rocks' (heehee, get it?)!!....It delayed our 'day of painting' but we didn't mind. Here are some pics:

stairs 1/2 primed

we like the white railings but it won't match the rest of the house. we have an idea of how we can keep some of the white but not sure yet. will show some pics of our 'test' paint job in the next few days.

view from the door to the front yard:

There is Hampton keeping a close eye on things again. He's taking his security job very seriously!

At the end of the day we did manage to get a layer of paint on the sides of the stairs. Pics to follow soon. Man, are we pooped!

paver love!

2009-06-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

So I am totally in love with our pavers! Here is a sneak peak:

Paver dude will be back on Thursday to finish the job. I can't wait!

Tomorrow, the painting continues...sigh....

Almost there....

2009-06-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

The stairs and fence are finally done! Except we need to paint, ugh! I think they look really really good.

The stairs include a special place for my lawn mower (except right now we don't have any grass - haha!)

The beloved fence (with the posts primed - such a bitch to paint)! We got this done for ZuZu and Hampton. They better appreciate it!

Happy to say we now have a fully fenced in front and back for our bb's!

We had planned to start painting Saturday but the paver dudes showed up 3 days early to our surprise. We were really happy they came early. They are quick which I like even better.

They are here again today and Hampton reports they are just about finished leveling the ground. Next step, install the pavers!

half way there i think!

2009-06-13T21:59:00.001-07:00

Yay there is some progress on the house. For a while it was looking like this (very depressing):

Here is a first look at our new fence! Some pieces I still have to paint but I'll get to that later.

I love the new fence already. The new wall its standing on looks so nice and clean. yayayay! can't wait until its all done.

There was also some progress on the stairs but all not done yet. Will post pics of that later.

Today we went out to get samples of the pavers we want laid down. We are pretty much settled on what color and pattern we want. Can't wait!

Priming 200 pieces of wood - complete!

2009-05-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it took to prime the friggin wood for the fence. We are painting it ahead of time b/c it will be really difficult to paint when they are up b/c our neighbour's bushes will probably get in the way.
Priming is done but we still have 2 layers of paint to go! Its hard b/c you have to paint one side and get the trimming done, wait for it to dry then pain the other side. ugh!
I like painting but this was definitely a chore!!

Front Yard - Day 3

2009-05-16T00:31:00.001-07:00

Look at our patio now!

They spent most of today clearing out the junk from the front....

and putting together the stringers for the stairs.

Tuboo is questioning whether we should keep a shed under the stairs but I need somewhere to keep my GBB lawnmower. I'm thinking of getting it wallpapered and maybe a chandelier but not sure if that's do-able. ;)

The front yard is a complete mess. But one area remains in tact. We're surprised to find that cute pink flowers have blossomed on the side of the house.

Front Yard Renos - Day 1 & 2

2009-05-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Day 1 was mostly about demo-ing the stairs and getting the new wood delivered.

Can you guess how long it took to take down the stairs?

The contractor told us because the stairs were so rotted, it only took about 10-15 minutes to bring the whole thing down! Good thing it was taken down and not the other way around. Scary!

Hampton was very interested in watching the contractors do their work.

He was especially interested in the crane that dropped off the wood. We weren't sure if it was going to make it through the bushes.

And that was Day 1!

Today - Day 2 - the patio and walkway were jack hammered. Again, we found out the reason for the dipping was b/c it wasn't originally laid out properly. They had basically laid the cement on top of bricks and rocks. I have no idea how or why they did that. I wasn't able to get full details on the assessment but will tomorrow. I'm just glad its not water damage!

The patio:

The walkway:

BMJ Love is back! Day 0 Front Yard Renos

2009-05-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since we last posted but we are back. There have been some changes to the BMJ household which caused us to be offline for a while but we're back!

The last 2 winters were pretty harsh on BMJ. We had lots and lots of snow which I think impacted the rotting of our front stairs, yes rotting...which will be the focus of our posts for the next little while. This is our first renovation using contractors so it will be a different experience. Here we go!

Day 0 - This is what we're getting done:

1st priority is the stairs.
Can you see how its misaligned and rotting? Basically whoever did them before had re-built on top of the original stairs! What a waste!

2nd item: front patio and front walkway leading up to the stairs

The patio is all over the place, meaning, its not level and dipping in places its not supposed to be dipping. See for yourself.

We are going to have the front walkway re-done to match.

3rd item: fencing.
We are going to get the side fenced so that the little bb's (especially the little one) won't run off. He's already tried to escape a few times. Once we have the side fenced off, they will be able to play all they want on the grass. It will be nice to have in the summer. As you can see we had these pointless temporary pieces of wood just sitting there. It helped distract Hampton a bit but wasn't really working and plus it looks ugly.

The last item is my own little project. I'm going to be giving mini bmj a new roof. It's definitely in need of some TLC.

tulip festival at BMJ

2008-05-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

As i was making breakfast this morning i noticed a tulip festival going on in our own backyard! cute! i'm always amazed at the different flowers that have popped up in the garden each year. at least this time i know what these are!

Speaking of spring, last weekend when we had the 1 day of spring weather this year we took our annual family photo:

zuzu sneaked in a little kiss hehee!

shoe closet

2008-05-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

i didn't think i could get excited about organizing a shoe closet! A few weeks ago we found really cheap shelves we thought would be perfect to organize our shoe closet. pictures speak louder than words so for all you people out there that love organization...here you go!

BEFORE/IN PROGRESS:

IN PROGRESS:

FINALE! TA DA!

And if you're thinking "how long will that last" (the organization) I'm proud to say 'everything in its place and a place for everything' (martha stewart)...to date, it still looks the same! :)

sambiibiis are in!

2008-04-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

sambiibiis are in their new home. Still waiting for the wall(ceiling)paper, and looking around for some shelving or other storage stuff to add in the room. Its not a big room so we'll need to get creative. But they are in and it was nice to finally do some laundry! I never would have thought washer/dryers could be so fascinating! Sambiibiis are very quiet and it was fun to watch the laundry go round and round through the clear front glass. I feel very domesticated and boring writing this but sadly its true!

Anyway, here are some pics!

Here's a video of the bb's and the sambiibiis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EiKsqGD01I

getting there...

2008-03-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Tuboo and I sat down and planned out a schedule to complete the Sambiibii Room (Laundry Room). All that we had targeted for this weekend we completed. We washed the walls down, primed the walls, painted and installed the flooring and cut the baseboards to size.

Before

After

Before

After

Yup thats Quatchi-Choo again. He's eager to have it all up and running

He quite likes the new room.

We targeted this Thursday to have Sambiibii1 and Sambiibii2 into their new home. We could still get there but there are also a few unknowns. For example, we're not sure what to do with the lighting and we found out the wallpaper for the ceiling will take about 2 weeks to come in. There are some work arounds we can do so just need to do more thinking.

More to come soon...til then...

happy birthday to me!

2008-03-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

it was a great day! it was sunny all day (at least where i was today). what made it even better was coming home to find that sambiibii1 and sambiibii2 had arrived.

head to head:

Quatchi-Choo checking things out:

he approves:

zuzu saying hello:

Quatchi-Choo playing around, sb not impressed:

Quatchi-Choo and ZZ are pals:

it was a great day! happy bday everyone! :))

it all started with a lamp...

2008-03-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

and because our washer broke down.

We're getting a new washer/dryer tomorrow and spent the weekend and last 2 days cleaning out the laundry room. Sambiibii1 and Sambiibii2 are arriving tomorrow (my bday present! yay!) but we still have yet to redecorate their new home. We bought paint but we have to prep the walls first. We're also going to put in new flooring and also thinking about doing something different with the ceiling. No chandelier in this room tho! haha!

As for the lamp, we finally found a good lamp for the basement which prompted us to re-think what we are going to do with the rec room/office. So we spent the last week thinkign about and trying to clean up. I ended up painting the furniture in the room b/c it just didn't feel right. Here are some pics:

You can see the lamp in this pic - far corner:

The lamp is very happy and glowy here:

Pic of my 'new' work desk:

clear pic

hazy pic

Thats all for now! The pics were taken right after the paint was dry enough to move the furniture. Still have to put stuff back on the desk and bookcase. I'll try my best to keep the space neat and tidy! :)

p.s. here are some pics of our new friend Quatchi-choo. He's also part of my bday present. Amazingly he bares a startling resemblance to Tuboo! Don't ya think? teehee!

1 more sleep!

2007-08-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

A few months back, 5 months to be exact, I made a special announcement of a new addition to the BMJ family..

Well Aubii is finally arriving tomorrow! 1 more sleep! Aubii was originally due in July but there were a few changes. The dealer offered us a 2008, s-line, sport package for the same price and we couldn't resist. So we added 2months to the waiting period and its finally time! Yipee!

It will be so weird to drive around in a new car b/c we've had golfie for so long. Golfie will be retiring at my parents place. He is looking fwd to it very much!
Anyway, I will update again v. soon with some pics and new stories of our adventures in our new ride

Gardening is Hard Work!

2007-08-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm in need of a massage, badly. i feel like i can't even sit up/stand up straight. Mostly b/c i've been sitting in front of this laptop for over 10 hours. Been working most of the day and should be in bed right now...in a few more minutes.

During my break from work I decided to do some gardening. For those of you who don't believe me, here is proof:

Don't I look tired!

Here are the fruits of my labour. Can anyone tell me what the hec these flowers are. I see a daisy....

I also decided to play ball with ZuZu for a while. Here are some pictures of her in action. She's so cute! Some people have been asking me if she is our 3rd dog. I think she needs a haircut.

SB decided to laze around the frontyard.

Well that was all the excitement for today. Hope you enjoyed the pics. Gotta get to bed. Sleepy now.

Bye! Come again soon!

we're baaacckkkk!

2007-07-31T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well..Tuboo is back! Things have been quite hectic these last few months. Career change for me and a major project for Tuboo. At least we were both busy and kept out of each others hair!

Tuboo's project is slowing down and he had some time tonight to do a few minor things we've been meaning to do. And I mean minor---things like hanging up a mirror and a display shelf we've had for months and months and haven't even had time to lift a hammer for! Here are some pics:

These are pics of our breakfast nook and the new mirror we bought.

This is a pic of our new display shelf. At first we weren't sure where to put it and then found a home for it in the dining room.

And just for our regular and dedicated readers, a special bonus pic for you of the fireworks from our window, tee hee! What a great pic huh? :P

New Look for Spring!

2007-04-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

There's a new look in the BMJ household...we started painting a room in the house, and halfway there. Just spontaneously, out of the blue, at 3:30 today I said, I'm going to paint! I got the primer and one layer of paint done...but didn't do one corner of the room at all b/c there were too many items too clean up. So next weekend will have to clear that area to prime and paint. Tuboo was shocked at how much i got done today, in basically 5 hours. No pics to show yet but can you guess which room and what color it is?? Tee hee...

I'm pooped now. Going to bed early. Later skaters!

stalker

2007-04-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

so i finally saw aubii's twin on the highway today. he was behind me and then i changed lanes so i could get a side and back view of him. I was able to follow him for about 10 min before we started going uphill and poor golfie couldn't keep up.

i can't wait till thats me! tee hee!

Special Announcement: We're expecting...

2007-04-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

In 3 months we'll be bringing home our brand new car - Aubii! Today we made it official and got ourselves a 2007 Audi Quattro. Tee hee! Aubii is dolphin grey with black leather interior and dark walnut wood trim.

We also got convenience package which includes:
- HomeLink universal garage door opener (too bad we don't have a garage!)
- Rain and light sensor with "Coming Home" (i really like this)
- Power Passenger Seat; Driver Seat and Exterior Mirror Memory (nice!)
- Monochrome trip computer including outside temperature gauge (good to know)
- Power passenger seat including 4-way power lumbar adjustment (2.0T) (good when i'm in the passenger side)
- 4-position memory for driver’s seat and outside mirrors (3.2) (love this b/c tuboo is always changing my mirrors on me)
- Bi-xenon adaptive headlights with automatic self-leveling (can't wait to try this out on the drive to whistler)
- Auto-dimming inside mirror with digital compass (yes!! i never know where i am so this will help)
- Auto-dimming outside mirrors with power folding feature (no side swiping! cool!)

Here are a few pics of Aubii configured to our specs from the audi site:

In other BMJLove news, we haven't done much more renos to the house. Tuboo tore out the carpet off the stairs but we haven't had time to do anything with them yet.

BMJ has had a few visitors over the last few months. We entertained our first family xmas dinner, had a few more get togethers and thats about it.

Here is a pic of ZuZu in her xmas outfit:

I'm guessing now that spring is here, we'll be getting back into finishing off the renos. There is another paint job in our plans (we got the paint, just need to actually do it), need to add to the fence in the front yard and I'd expect some kind of car port or something going up for Aubii.

Anyway, thats it for now. Will post again soon!

sno 'fro

2006-12-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

we had our very first snow dump at BMJ and for the occasion he decided to sport a sno 'fro.

seriously though, last week we survived the biggest snow dump we've seen in November in a looong time which included a 36 hour black out, no hot water, contaminated tap water, fixing up a minor leak (again) that almost became a big leak and taking the loser cruiser to and from work everyday. nevertheless, we survived.

Here are some more pics of us having fun with the snow...

here's our first snowman (pretty pathetic i know, tuboo thinks it looks like something else):

remember what i wrote about our garden and how there's always something new blooming...well I found these red berries growing. cute huh! cute, but i hope these aren't poisoneous!

here's a pic of sb playing in the snow. he loooves the snow. i think he also loooves eating (he looks pretty chubby in this pic, but it might just be the angle!)

here's a real pic of bmj in the snowy weather...

we've also been entertaining quite a bit the last few weeks. braemar was the hit of the parties - the social butterbear!

most of the parties were last minute decisions to have people over. people who came by were very generous in bringing gifts with them when they really really didn't have to!! zuzu was especially happy though with one particular gift. i thought she only liked t.b.'s!

after all that, i can officially say we're all pooped and just feel like sleeping in and relaxing! of course sb is the first to do exactly that.

baseboards

2006-11-21T22:45:00.000-08:00

hey people. finally a new post. tuboo and i were on a blitz the last week or so putting up the baseboards and touching up paint. here are a few before and after pics with our baseboards!!

Downstairs we painted the baseboards black...

We're not finished with them yet. we still have to put on the latex caulking and then paint (not looking forward to painting).

After that we will work on the stairs, kitchen cabinets and dining room set. we'll get there!!

a short update on things

2006-11-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

things are going really well with sb. his tail is looking really good. we have an appointment with a holistic vet who will be making a house call (even better). i know sb is feeling better b/c he's being a brat again.

we haven't really done much this week at all. we're stuck in trying to decide what color to paint our kitchen cabinets. originally we wanted to do a buttercream color but just to be sure we're looking through magazines again. we have to decide in the next few days to meet our timeline. it will be nice to just get it done.

we ordered the baseboards though, yay! should be able to start working on them next weekend.

we painted the ceiling

2006-10-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

I'm bored tonight. tuboo is sleeping b/c he has to go into work after midnight for a project. i could be doing something i guess but i think i deserve a little rest. yesterday we painted ceilings in the living room, dining room, front foyer and on top of the staircase. For those of you who've been here, you know that the ceilings were yellow. For others, you may have caught a glimpse of it in previous photos (or you may not have as we purposely tried to avoid capturing it in our pics). Painting ceilings is always the hardest. It just kills your shoulders and back!! And, can leave spots in your hair and make you look like you have lots of dandruff. Anyway, we went full force and got it all done. I think we just wanted to get it all over with because it was such a chore. But, love the results! Maybe one day in the future, we'll get rid of that popcorn ceiling but until then this is the best we can do.

Here is an AFTER pic of the living room:

I don't really have a before pic but you can kinda see it in the following photo:

Thats me after we got the x-mas b tree. I know i'm silly!

I guess I haven't really posted any pics that have me or tuboo in them. Well here you go!

its like when elizabeth hurley got her eyebrow's plucked

2006-10-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

thats what tuboo says about getting the shutters for bmj. we're so happy our shutters are finally here! they were installed today and we absolutely love them! what a difference they make. see for yourself.

Elizabeth Hurley Before Pluck:

Elizabeth Hurley After Pluck

Living Room Before Shutters:

Living Room After Shutters:

Kitchen Before Shutters:

Kitchen After Shutters:

For the bedroom, I'm going to post pics from way before, I don't think I have before.

Bedroom Way Before (Previous Owners):

Bed Room In Transition (after we put in new flooring etc):

Bed Room After:

p.s. can you spot our new friend 'Braemar' in any of the pics? Hint: he's in 2 of them

Pretty in Pink!

2006-10-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
I know its been a while but we were on vacation and took a little break. We did get some painting done in the basement. Here are some before and in transition pics (we're not quite finished furnishing the room properly):

BEFORE:

IN TRANSITION:

Pretty Bold color isn't it? Me and Tuboo were a little nervous when I painted the first wall but we love it. We wanted to be a bit more creative and fun down in the basement.
The black and white pic on the right side is just temporary. We definately need some paintings/pictures to break up some of the colors. We plan to put up a better black/white pic when we find the right one.
We also want to get a mirror down there and new table and slip cover for the couch.
We also painted the window and door frames in a glossy black paint.

BEFORE:

IN TRANSITION:

I can't wait until its all done!

DBB finally comes home

2006-10-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today we picked up a new dining set, "DBB". Tuboo found DBB on craigslist for a steal of a deal. We're still in shock we got it for such a good price. We found out that its almost a kindof homecoming for DBB as the original owners are from our area. We love the lines on the table and chairs. Can't wait to sand it down and paint! We haven't decided yet if we should go black or buttercream. Black is very classic but if we do buttercream it may highlight DBB's cute features. Perhaps by the end of the week we'll have a before and after for you????

Here are some pics:

i love the detail on the table and chair legs. the chairs are very sturdy and don't creak at all. i can't wait till they are transformed!

IN OTHER NEWS:
I don't think i ever showed you how our fireplace has transformed since we moved in. Here are the before and after pics:

BEFORE

AFTER

Yesterday we made a spontaneous purchase. We were not even planning on buying anything but we found this 'buffet' (I learned the diff between buffet and hutch yesterday as well) and couldn't resist as it matches the irony look and feel of our fireplace cover.

The challenge with it though is how to fill it up. I've put some books in it right now and have to strategically think of how to position items and what items to store in there so to not make it look cluttered. Nevertheless, I love it!

PJ Room - getting there

2006-10-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

So the trip was ok but i'm sooo glad to be home. When I got back, Tuboo did not disappoint

He got started on furnishing the PJ Room. Here are some pics:

This is a pic of the drawing desk Tuboo bought me, isn't he thoughtful?:

Transformed!

2006-10-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't wait til the weekend. I ended up painting the 'PJ' room. Here are before and after pics:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

what do you think? I love it! Perhaps tuboo will have it all furnished by the time i get back!?!

green room be gone!

2006-10-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

ok. i'm really tired. it's hitting me now. all stuff we've done this weekend is getting to me. i really need a massage!!

this weekend we finished off the basement floors. the rec room was already done (finished that off before we started on the main floor) and had one of the rooms left to do. we finished that off today. then i washed the walls of the room down and painted two coats of primer.

Here are some 'before' and 'in transition' pics.

BEFORE (we tore out the carpet that was in there)

IN TRANSITION (there's tuboo, hard at work. yo can see we decided to go with lighter color floors to brighten up the basement)

green paint be gone!

well, the room still looks pretty bad but just wait and see!! i can't wait till its finished.
i'll have to wait to paint until the weekend b/c i'm off on a work trip this week. so i'll have to leave all of you in suspense as to what color we've chosen....to be continued.

UPDATE ON THE BB'S
By the way, our babies are doing great. they've transitioned really well into the new home. I wonder if they even remember where we used to live. here are some cute pics.

mirror mirror on the wall...& our very first fireball

2006-10-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of a mirror we bought for the front foyer. We added a black ledge (don't know what to call it), matches our front door.

We've been looking for an eclectic mirror to fit on top of our fireplace. At first sight we knew this mirror was perfect! Its been hard to find a mirror with the right measurements. This mirror reminds me of the one from snow white. braha hahaha! hehe. But this one is not evil.

Here is a pic of me and tuboo (you can see how well the mirror fits in too), enjoying our first fire(ball) in our new home. teehee!

Xmas is early this year!

2006-10-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a little bit of everything. From finding our "X-Mas B" christmas tree, to fixing up our dining room, to getting new lighting for the living room. Pics say it better than words so here they are!

First, introducing, our BLACK X-Mas B Christmas Tree:

Yup, the tree is black. The pot has base board moulding and the lights are simple white. I just love this tree!! Its so nice to have a little bit of xmas already. I think we're going to keep it up all year round, its so cute.

Also added to our living room is a new floor lamp. The cool thing about this lamp is its 150 w. So it brightens up the room. Exactly what we were looking for. Tuboo found the store on his bike ride home. Its the cutest little 'shop around the corner' type place.

Here is our new lamp:

Cute isn't it? For those detailed oriented people, yes, we rearranged the furniture in the living room.

Here are some before and after pics of our dining room:

Pic from the previous owners

We ended up putting up a new light fixture, again. We used to have a cute little chandelier but decided to put that in the basement and put this one up. This is the one I mentioned before about getting the free medalion. hehee.

I put that pic of the dining room up b/c it was the best one that compares to the "before" pic. But, you can kinda see the pattern on our new chandelier better in this pic:

We still have to do the baseboards and put up the wainscotting...but that'll have to be later.

House Hunting - blog from the past

2006-09-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

While you wait for a real update, thought I'd share an old write up from May (before BMJ) during our search for the perfect home! Names of the homes have been fabricated to protect identities =)

Thursday, May 11, 2006

House Hunting

The search for a house continues. Its like a drug. Its like finding the perfect mate. Its like an emotional f*ck'n roller coaster ride.

We found a house to make another offer on. This will be our almost third offer on a place. I say 'almost' because the first offer we made was on a house that already had an offer pending and we made a 'back up' offer on it just in case it fell through. Looking back our offer was a joke because it didn't even meet the asking price. Being the experienced home shoppers that we are now (ha!) we realized we should have made an offer over asking to entice the sellers to let us have the place. I really do think that the houses we have been really interested in will lead us to finding our true home. It is like finding a life partner. You have flings with some house and then get serious with others only to realize it wasn't meant to be and you just can't wait to find "the one".

The first house that really made the light bulb go off in my head that I could actually own and have a 'house' was MacGuire. I loved MacGuire. MacGuire was perfect in so many ways. I loved the look of the house, character style, blue with white trimmings. The layout was excellent. A good size and a nice big back yard for the dogs to have fun in. It also had a beautiful cherry blossom tree in the back which I imaged having a swing hang from it in the summer. Unfortunately there is a nice motel sitting right across the street. We didn't know that until we got to the open house. *sigh* Perfect but wrong location.

After the MacGuire escapade, we met Winnifred. Winnifred was totally remodeled and updated inside and out. She had a very big and beautiful yard with a little pond. You didn't need to go to the park because it was right in your own backyard!! Winnifred was the first offer we made (the one that doesn't really count) on a house. The lady who owned Winnifred is also an interior designer and upgraded the house very very nicely. I was surprised that Tuboo was ok with the location. A bit further out. He's more of a westside boy so having him like this location was very odd. But Tuboo fell in love with the interior of the house and was crushed when we didn't get it. I didn't feel so badly because I was still sad about MacGuire.

After Winnifred, we met Chester. Chester was back in the location that we've been looking in. He was also a character home, needed a paint job but was otherwise everything we wanted. A fair sized front and back yard, great layout and updated on the inside. The sellers and their agent staged it for a major bidding war. We offered $40K over asking but got outbidded by someone who offered $95K no subjects. People are crazy!! We thought Chester really was the one and we were both crushed. Surprisingly however we recovered quite quickly.

Recently we looked at 2 houses. We put a bid on one of them, over asking, but not by a lot. We figured we would put in a bid and if we got it, it would be like winning the lottery. We didn't win the lottery. I figure these were like 'flings'. We had fun with them, could have been serious with one, but that one was just too high level for us! Snobby bastard! =)

I guess upon reflecting on this whole process what I really am wanting is to have a place that Tuboo and I can choose to buy together and work on decorating and making our long term home. We own our condo now (thank god for that) but he initially bought it and decorated it etc. etc. I also want a home where the dogs can run around on grass and be happy instead of playing around on our concrete patio. I want to be able to have our family and friends come over to our place for bbq's, birthdays and for christmas without feeling claustrophobic. Hope for luck!

Miss me?

2006-09-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogworld,
We took a short break but we're baaack! UPdates coming soon.

surprise!

2006-09-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

So today was a very long and busy Monday at work. It was also the only night I could get shopping done this week so Tuboo agreed he'd stay home while I ventured out into the mall - something I realize I havne't done in a looong time. Its been almost forever since I visited this one mall and its gotton so huge. There is even a mini train that goes through the mall, I guess to pick up tired customers and drive them from one end to the other. For some reason I could never flag it down. The most embarrassing part of my shopping adventure was having to pick up a mall map! I used to know this mall inside and out but it has expanded and I really didn't know where the hell I was most of the time. I felt like a tourist in an unknown town but unfortunately I was...at the local mall. I'm so glad I didn't run into anyone I knew with that map in hand. Anyway I digress from the purpose of this post. Although, I did 'surprise' BBs (thats a nick name for SB and ZZ collectively) by buying a cute basket for their toys. Cute huh? only $16!

Anyway, to the real point of tonight's blog - when I finally got home, to my surprise Tuboo had finished off the kitchen floor!!! The funny thing is, when I walked through the door I didn't even notice it (I came in through the back kitchen door). I went straight to the bedroom to take off my work clothes, noticed that Tuboo hadn't done anything with the closests (which is what I thought he was doing tonight). When I came out of the bedroom I pointed out that he hadn't worked on the bedroom, pretty cheeky of me I know. He just smirked and I knew something was up. Then I finally noticed the kitchen floors. YAY Tuboo!

Following are some pics of our kitchen renos that show how much progress/change we've made.

Here is the old kitchen & kitchen nook area (previous owner's pics):

Here is what it looked like after we put down the plastic and underlay:

Here is our kitchen nook with the floors finished:

...we added a bench, then added a chair and then a chest for a table. A perfect place for us to sit, have coffee and look out into our garden (minus the reno garbage in the future).

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here are Before and After pics of our kitchen:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I have to admit, at first I was a bit weary about having laminate in the kitchen. But now I love the floors! I know it doesn't look that great with the cabinets but just imagine, white cabinents, white tiles for the backsplash (is that what the area is called???) and stainless steel appliances! Coming soon! teehee!

Doesn't hurt to ask

2006-09-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY have the kitchen ready. God that took a long time. We had to rent the jack hammer again to get rid of the remaining grout and we had to chip away at the rest. Not something we ever want to do again!

Now that we have the kitchen prepped, we can lay the rest of the laminate in the dining room and into the kitchen.

Another bonus - Tuboo had bought a chandelier/light in the states on sale for like 80% off. When he got home we realized we didn't have the medalion (?) to hang it properly. We were at the Vancouver store location and innocently asked a sales guy (looked like a summer student) about it and he gave us the one that belonged to the display that that wasn't being used. Not sure if he was supposed to - i mean, what are they going to do when the person who buys the display model needs that piece they just gave to us? oh well. not our fault, we just asked and received. =)

Anyway, updates with pics of the dining room w/ the new light fixture to come later.

The Kitchen's a Bitch

2006-09-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tuboo got the living room floor done before the weekend. Here are a few pics:

SB says hi (he's doing better by the way)...

So we thought we were on a roll and getting lots done but that came to a big halt. Home Renos? Easy Peasy we thought, until we started on the kitchen floor.

On Friday night Tuboo started picking at the porcelain tile.

Pretty soon we figured we'd need some other tool. So we rented a jack hammer. It was loud! But got the job done (somewhat). This is what we got done in about two hours:

By the time we cleaned up etc. it was time to return the jack hammer. After we got home, we realized there was more work to be done. Although we got all the tile removed, it didn't come off smoothly. If you look closely at the pics, you can kinda see the bumpsand well, the bumps need to come off before we can do anythign else. We thought it would be easy to smooth it out using a chisel but its not. So...we'll have to rent the jack hammer again. Looks like Tuboo won't be able to get to it until Thursday night b/c of work and other appointments. Its kinda disappointing because we were getting so much done and we need have the kitchen prepared before we lay down the floor in the dining room.

Tonight Tuboo seems lost, like he doesn't know what to do with spare time. So, he's on a cleaning rampage (as I sit here typing out this blog - hope he doesn't notice me, I don't feel like cleaning anymore, I'm all sore everywhere from trying to chip away at that stupid floor!)

Here is some advice for anyone thinking of removing porcelain tile from your place:
1. Use a jack hammer (and remember out of courtesy to tell your neighbours there will be lots of noise)
2. There is going to be A LOT of dust. Put plastic over the doorways or whatever you need to do to keep the dust contained. Otherwise, be ready to spend the next day dusting/cleaning out your whole place!
3. Take the time to hammer out everything until smooth. Otherwise you'll be sitting there with a fork and knife for days trying to pick off the rest of that shit.
4. Make an appointment to see a masseuse. You'll be sore for a few days after!!!

Tomorrow, shutter guy is coming to do final measurements for our windows. Can't wait to get them! We won't get them for about 6 weeks though as they are custom made to your windows. We're getting our living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom windows done. Its going to be so cute!

Slow Day, Garden Pics

2006-09-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Today was quite slow on the home reno front. Tuboo went to hang at a friend's place tonight. I don't know who gave him permission to relax when we have so much to do! kidding. To his credit, before he left, he managed to get most of the living room done. I'm thinking we'll have that finished tomorrow night. Don't worry I won't post anymore pics of the flooring...until its done that is =)

Since I don't really have much to report. Thought I'd post a few pics of our garden. Lately, its been looking a bit sad because mom and dad haven't come by to give it some TLC. We did schedule for their services on Friday though. What I do love about our garden is that over the summer there seemed to be a new flower popping up every week. What I regret is chopping up bushes/grassy stuff that I thought were weeds. Ooops!

This is a little pig my mom found in the garden. She said pigs are good luck!

Does anyone know what flowers these are? I know the pink one is a daisy...

I was trying to be artistic in this last photo. Trying to blur out the purple flower and focus in on the berry like things in the background. I don't think I like the way it turned out.

All in a night's work

2006-09-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

So, we didn't get the whole living room and dining room done. Surprised? I guess I was being a bit over zealous on that expectation. teehee! But we do have 3 more days left til the end of the week.

Seriously though, we did get a lot done. Or shall I say, Tuboo got a lot done. I had to take SB to the vet so Tuboo was left to do most of the work. He managed to lay down the laminate along the diningroom & living room hallway. Good job Handy Smurf!

On another note, I ended up writing a complaint letter to a local furniture company today. Basically one of the sales clerks is a dumb b*tch and so I complained to the head office. Surprisingly, the manager called me right away and profusely apologized and also took measures to resolve the issue. Although I don't want to be, I'm pretty happy with the end result. As for shopping at the store again? I very highly doubt it. Sometimes I think I should write complaint letters for a living.

Labour Day Weekend

2006-09-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been all about replacing the flooring on our main floor. Yesterday, Sis & Bro-in-law came over to help out (thank you so much!). In return, we gave them the existing laminate that we took out. The existing laminate is actually very nice and of high quality. Tuboo and I have always just wanted dark brown floors.

Here are a few pics of our work so far.

BEDROOM:
This is a pic of our bedroom, we spent every night last week after work on this. The part that sucked was having to stop hammering/sawing at 9 for the neighbours. The part that took the longest was cutting the pieces around the closet frame, door frame and vents.

Here is our bedroom now. YAY! We finished it off on Sunday night. SB likes it too. He can't stop drooling over it (literally) . hehee!

This is a pic of our hallway looking down into the living room and front entrance.

This was our living room with the old floor (yup we got a new couch and armchair). Doesn't quite go, does it? The living room is ZZ's favorite spot. She's quite depressed right now because of what we've done. Just wait, ZZ! You'll be so happy with it when its complete.

On Saturday, when my sis and bro-in-law came over, we took off all the crown, existing laminate and lay down the underlay for the living room and dining room. The floor you see there is basically what we're living on.

Tuboo, aka Handy Smurf, also started taking out the front tile. We're planning on putting the hardwood in there as well. We're hoping to get one seamless lay from the front door to the back door in the kitchen. I'm not looking forward to when we take out the tiles in the kitchen!! Its going to be a big mess!

Our plans for this week are to get as much of the flooring done in the living room and dining room. Think we can do it??

Our BMJ Home

2006-09-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Weekend mornings are almost the only time I have to myself. That's because Tuboo (hubby's nickname) likes to sleep in and I'm up at a reasonable hour. So, I decided to use this time to start this blog and write about our trials and tribulations of home ownership!

BMJ - the title of this blog, is also the short form of what we named our house. Yes, we have a tendency to name a lot of our stuff, which you'll come to learn.

BMJ came into our lives June 2nd, 2006. Its been 3 months and we are still in love. It's a quaint little character home. Although its on a standard lot and just under 2000 sq.ft., it feels like BMJ is smallest house on the block (just look at that the monster house beside us!) but I'd say its the most charming house (a bit biased here)!

A few features:
- 2 levels, 2 bedrooms down and 1 bedroom up
- 2 full baths
- white picket fence along the front of the house
- original fireplace
- 3 tiered deck and very large garden in the back

For the last 3 months we've been working hard at renovating the place to our own style. Its been fun and very rewarding but also very very tiring. But I have to admit, even if we had the money, I wouldn't pay for someone to do the stuff that we're doing. We really do feel like this is our home and we're going to put our heart and soul into fixing it up and taking care of it. Corney, I know! Luckily all of our renos are basically cosmetic. Structurally all is good, the roof is almost 4 years old and all that other important stuff like plumbing etc. is all in good standing.