The End

Well, it's official. We're settled in! We moved into our little love nest back in September and had a beautiful baby girl in December. All the furniture is in place, all the clothes and boxes have been unpacked and put away, and we are finally at peace.

It has been an amazing journey for Olga and I. Building a house in unsure times in an unsure neighborhood, coping with all the ups and downs of a first-time pregnancy, me having to leave the country for 5 weeks while my then 5-month pregnant wife had to deal with annoying contractors in the middle of the summer, both of us starting new jobs, and of course having a wonderfully amazing baby girl. whew!!! What an incredible year!

Thanks so much to all the friends and family who helped us along the way. Listening to our gripes and house-this and house-thats, giving us advice, helping us move or clean, warming our home. We couldn't have done it without your support. Thank You.

Before we close this chapter, we'd like to leave you with an amazing video put together as part of a story ran by the Maryland Daily Record. We are honored that they enjoyed our house enough to post a 4 1/2 minute video on their website!

Here it is:

the full story can be found here

Thanks for following our story, we'd love to have you over soon! Take Care!

Love,

Sean, Olga & Miabella

We've FINALLY moved in!!

We can't believe it either!!! No, the house isn't "done," but we hear a house never is! Sean has been extremely busy installing lights in everything that can be lit up, and we have the painters here, painting away.

I've been busy appointing my SPACIOUS, GORGEOUS, AMAZING kitchen. I've only cooked one meal in it so far (spaghetti and meatballs, one of Sean's favorites), but it is an utter delight to be in such an airy, spacious kitchen....FINALLY! Every day since we moved, Sean and I have had breakfast together, in the kitchen, listening to NPR on our whole house audio system. It's absolutely fantastic!

We don't really have any furniture to speak of, though we have ordered a pair of beautiful chairs, and a couple of couches for the first floor. And we went to ikea (AGAIN) tonight, and spent too much money on some silly stuff. Oh....let's not forget my favorite purchase: a KING sized bed! Like grown-ups! And even though our wardrobes (see below) have structural cardboard, this is a very grown-up sort of place...especially compared to our last apartment!

We can't post pictures right now because, well, the place is a mess of boxes, full and empty, with various tools strewn about. By next week, things should look a little better, and we'll post pictures.

Meanwhile, we look forward to many, many visitors!

First Supper

Well, sort of.  Olga brought me dinner last night while I was busy installing the under-cabinet lights in the kitchen.  I also just assembled our kitchen table so we were able to eat our first meal in our new house!  Unfortunately, I did not assemble the chairs yet so we had to stand.  I was going to, but then I figured it wasn't good to have chairs in the house while people were still trying to work... for two reasons:  A - I don't want them to get dirty/used as ladders/etc, and B - they should be working, not sitting!  

here are a few pictures of our nearly completed house:

yummy!  thanks, Babycakes!

the kitchen, 99% complete!

clean and shiny!

stairs at night

we move in this weekend!!!!!

IKEA RAGE!!!

a picture is worth 1000 words... and an alan wrench.

A few little tweaks today.

This blog is mostly for Sean's benefit, but you can enjoy it too.

Here is the second flight of stairs with the lights off:

A view from the top of the stairs toward the front of the house:

And now the exciting news of the day!

Our gates are up!!!

Allow me to take this opportunity to plug
Mike's Welding of Baltimore
yet again!

These guys are AMAZING!

If you have anything that needs welding, seriously,
call them up and tell them we sent you.

We are utterly smitten with Mike and his crew!

410-988-9365

Here they are - the fanciest pet/baby gates ever built!

The third floor:

The second floor, outside the front bedroom (view from the stairs):

Same gate, looking right at it:

Thanks to Remington for demonstrating how a child might interact with said gate:

We have also sprouted some towel bars and rings (2nd floor hall bath):

There you go, Sean!
I love you! Hurry home!

All camera phone edition....

First of all, no, we haven't moved in yet.

Yes, we are angry.

No, we haven't killed anyone yet.

Second of all, this is the all camera phone edition because I
keep leaving my CF card in the computer instead of
putting it back in the camera.

Sean is so anxious to see his stair opus complete,
I had to resort to the camera phone.

So without further ado:

A close up ( notice the clean stair!):

And now we step outside.

Looking at the back from the deck
(notice the new trim AND the correct door!):

Looking out onto our yard full of garbage from the back deck:

More garbage!!

Our new front column and trim:

Back inside on the 3rd floor:

In other news, our pet/baby gates will be installed Friday, and the clean up has started on the second and third floors. Also, we have finally received and official PASS on our electrical inspection, so we're ready to roll!!

Our final inspection (and therefore our occupancy permit) MAY happen before Sean's return from China. I have done a lot of screaming in the last five weeks (and also a bit of crying, and then some threatening of legal action). These things together seemed to have spurred SOME actual working....but no, we're not moving in this weekend either.

We're incredibly frustrated, but we're sure that it will be worth it!

Someday.

We're just trying to stay positive at this point! Wish us luck in the true home stretch!

(s...l....o....w.....but nonetheless) Progress

Look what we have!
Fancy windowsills!

Honey Onyx to match the powder room floor
(top is the sill, bottom is the floor - with register cut out):

A nice place to sit in the front window (notice our unpainted historic trim):

Gold Vyara in our master bedroom:

Absolute Black in our master bath:

Front bedroom window (also Gold Vyara):

Third floor window (same):

And look! They swept the floor!!!
I was so shocked, I had to take photographic evidence:

But seriously, this weeks pièce de résistance....

our (just a hair shy of finished) back deck!

Only 20 more days until Sean is back from China!
Don't forget to check out his China blog,
and thank him for bringing the Olympics right to your couch!
Have a lovely week, all!

Inspection....FAILED! But still we press on.

The old adage is that a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Well, here it is: All I have to say about our electrical contractor:

Moving on...
our awesome microwave is in place,
as are the balance of our beautiful handles:

Looking in from the front door,
here's the NEARLY complete left side of the kitchen:

And the TOTALLY complete right side of the kitchen:

I tried really hard to find our napkin sketches from a long ago trip to Florida that gave rise to this design for the right side of the kitchen. I know we still have them, but, alas, I may have packed them away already.
I hope to post a side-by-side of the sketch and finished product.
You'll be awed by our vision! :)

And just to confuse you, here's the backwards view
(from the den to the front door):

Our first canine visitor (who has seen this construction mess twice before), the adorable Morrison dog, Momiji:

Here's the pregnant lady from across the street who follows Momiji around:

In another small step toward habitability, check this out:

YES! Actual GAS coming out of our ACTUAL burner! That's the crazy center dual-burner on which I cannot wait to burn many many pancakes!

More news of (near) completion:

The second floor hall bathroom now has vanity,
AND vanity mirror, not to mention re-centered lights:

And, if you will forgive my inconsistent lighting,
here is our completed tub deck in the same bathroom:

....DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

Chic's Opus - the 3rd floor shower - is DONE! Well, the tile work, anyway.

Unfortunately, the bathroom is too small for me to capture all thirteen spectacular feet of
travertine perfection that is this shower.
Seriously.
It's gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

It took Chic nearly three months to put the finishing touches on it.
It is a master work.

If anyone in the Baltimore metro needs a tile guy, and is not in a time crunch, this guy is UNBELIEVABLY talented. You just have to accept that he is an artist, does not live on a schedule, and doesn't believe that anyone else does, either. Time issues notwithstanding, we could not be more thrilled with every single thing he touched in our house.....now if I could just get him to come back and install my towel bars..............

But, without further ado:
Here is the view of the shower from outside the bathroom door:

Here is the onyx floor and travertine curb combo,
on which it is utterly tragic to mount a glass door:

And here, yet another glorified wrench:

And now, here it is.....
our moment of cool, comfortable Zen:

No. Not yet. But soon.

Here are some recent photos...

Sean is in China; I'm in our apartment; the house isn't finished; at least I have air conditioning.

Our fancy hood is installed:

Here's our 3rd floor back door out onto the roof
(from the outside...still waiting on a facade):

Master bath double vanity
(sans handles):

Sean getting artsy with bathroom fixtures:

The master bath double headed rain shower:

Our tiny laundry room
(right next door to the master bedroom, not 15 blocks away!!):

More pics tomorrow....
Thanks for tuning in to our continuing saga....

Good night, and good luck.