Running, Backsplash and Brick Walls

My weeks in Secaucus, with the exception of dinners in NYC, usually aren't too exciting. However, this week I had the opportunity to go to the Jets vs. Bears Monday night football game. Since Andrew has never been to a regular season football game, he drove up for the night as well.

The stadium is fairly new and really nice, so it was a great night. I even brought warm clothes so I was comfortable for the 50 degree weather! I was sad that we didn’t see Jessie James Decker cheering on Eric but it was a fun night overall!

It was a long week in Secaucus, lots of work, a funeral, and my running is really ramping up, so I got home Thursday pretty exhausted. This was our last weekend before our kitchen party so I knew we had a ton to do. We made a plan to complete the backsplash Saturday morning.

The final kitchen picture before the backsplash

We were both up early Saturday to exercise before the backsplash. I am finally at the point in marathon training where the long runs are really long, so I ran 16 miles while Andrew went on a bike ride.

View from my run

Surprisingly, I felt good during the run and was ready to get started on the backsplash by 12. We laid out the tiles to get a gauge of where we should start, and decided to lay the first tiles in the back corner of the kitchen.

We borrowed a wet saw for tile cutting from my Aunt Hallie and Uncle Larry, which was great because it saved us the money we would have spent renting one. My dad did all the wet saw cutting while we put down the floor so we had no idea what we were doing, so we crossed our fingers and hoped the tiles would cut easily.

The first cut!

We finished about ¾ of the backsplash by about 6pm and started to get tired and sloppy so we called it a day. We decided on a white grout so it will look much different when it is done, but I loved the look so far.

While we were working in our kitchen all weekend, we listened to the sounds of the houses behind us being built. I had mentioned the blighted houses that were here previously in a post awhile ago, and they are finally building them now (and they are huge!).

On Sunday we were up way too early, ready to get back to backsplashing. The cats, per usual, were a huge help in the whole process. Timmy especially wanted to know what we were doing and why and, as always, wanted to drink water out of the kitchen sink.

The remaining backsplash involved a lot of intricate cuts, especially around the sink, so it was still a solid four hours of work. We made a good team and while Andrew did the cuts, I put down the tiles and tried to figure out the next piece.

We were feeling a little stressed about all the other projects we want to have done by next weekend so we recruited Dan to help with the exposed brick wall. We STILL are not done with this project but I wanted it to be one step closer to complete, even though it needs a lot of work. We asked Dan to put the wires in the encasement and replace the old outlet box while we finished the backsplash.

The remaining hour required some good music so we blasted Erics On Fire Volume 7. The creator of this fantastic mix is a friend of Dan's from Duke and it is the best music to listen to while working on frustrating house projects and long runs. Thanks to EOF, the backsplash was finally finished around 3:30. Andrew got straight to working on homework while Dan and I rocked out, cleaned up and finished up the brick wall. 

Next weekend is the big kitchen reveal and we are so excited to be done with the kitchen. The house is really coming together and we are proud of how it is turning out!

Updated brick wall

On September 24^th we celebrated one year in the house and it has been quite a year! Now that our kitchen is complete, we will take a break from big, expensive projects and focus on saving money and travelling :)

Colored Walls and Dishwashers

I got home Thursday night feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work we have to do until our little kitchen party in two weeks, so I pulled a very consultant-y move and made a to do list with owner and priority. Since a lot of the jobs are big, poor Andrew has to own most of them.

All my backsplash samples were delivered while I was out of town so I finally made a decision! We are going to go with the American Olean Vaughn Gloss tiles from Lowe's, which are only $7/sq ft, keeping the total for the backsplash under $200.

On the right!

If we had Best Buy install the dishwasher it would have cost $200 so we decided to save the money and do it ourselves. We needed some help, so we bribed Claire and Cody with dinner on Friday night in return for help with the installation. 

It felt good to check one big thing off the to-do list so I was up early Saturday morning to keep the progress rolling. Since I decided on the backsplash, I headed to my favorite supplies store to pick out a paint color. My mom sent me recommendations so I had an idea of what I wanted before going to the store.

I have learned my lesson from too many painting disasters so I played it safe and bought samples of Lido Green and Bath Salts to bring home and test on the wall.

Lido Green on the left, Bath Salts on the right

Andrew and I both really liked Bath Salts (cool name, right?) so we headed back to the store and bought a gallon so I could start painting. While we were there, we also bought a gallon of paint stain for the outdoor patio furniture. Although I would love to buy a new patio set, our bank account needs a rest so a new coat of paint will have to work.

Before

Test!

It was a quick job to paint the table and chairs, so while I did that Andrew ripped out the chain linked fence. We will eventually replace the fence as well, but removing it completely makes the yard one step closer to not being so depressing.

After - better, right?

We spent Saturday night completing the trim in the kitchen to guarantee we could finish the kitchen painting on Sunday afternoon.

We were up early Sunday morning to run the Philly Rock & Roll Half marathon. This was our second year running it but the first time we had ever run a longer race together. Andrew pushed me the whole run so it was a great training run for the November Philly Marathon.

After the race.. I was feeling rough

We headed home from the race ready to finish up the kitchen (yes, we are insane). While I painted, Andrew installed our under cabinet lighting - one more big item on our to do list.

Painting in my JT shirt, obvi

It was a really productive afternoon, ending with a colorful kitchen! I was afraid of breaking away from my fifty shades of gray but I think it will be really beautiful with the backsplash (we are installing it next weekend!).

Kitchen Water and a Trip to Chi Town

After doing a ton of research on plumbers, we finally decided to go with Fran Taylor Plumbing, a recommendation from a friend. I called their number and talked to a real receptionist in a real office and the final price for all of our work was $700 (compared to the $1400 quote we received last week). The work was done on Wednesday so Andrew stayed home while the plumbers gave us water after six long weeks without it!

A sink with water - such a luxury!

We were beyond happy to finally have a functional kitchen again but I think Timmy, our baby alley cat was the happiest. When I got home Thursday night, he was so excited to show me the new sink that he spent most of the night jumping in and out of it.

Timmy only drinks running water #streetsmart

I have been doing a ton of research on backsplash so I ordered a few samples. They are finally in and I think I have settled on a white backsplash. It's a lot of white but every time I see a picture of it, I think it looks really beautiful. I especially love the white Arabesque tiles.

This kitchen made me change my mind

The biggest factor in selecting the tile for the backsplash is the price. I have to keep reminding myself that we won't be in this house forever and a cheaper tile will still be beautiful. Below are the samples I ordered. The white is from Lowe's and $7/sq ft and the blue is from Wholesaler's USA and $20/sq ft.

I have one more sample from Wayfair, the Retro Beacon Porcelain Glazed Mosaic tile, due to be delivered early this week, so I will be making my final decision by the end of the week! 

Wayfair Retro Beacon Porcelain Glazed Mosaic Tile

I was convinced I wasn't doing a white backsplash last weekend and anxious to paint the kitchen white, but I am realizing we need color on the wall (#wasteofpaint). My mom is all about the white backsplash as well, so she is helping me pick a new wall color. Our first choice pick is Benjamin Moore Leisure Green, but I will be buying samples and testing them out before painting the whole kitchen...again.

Example of Leisure Green from Pinterest

I only had one night at home before heading to Chicago Friday morning for a visit with my Aunt Susan and my friend Emily's bachelorette party. I haven't been to Chicago in about three years and my sister hasn't been in about ten years, so I convinced her to come too. 

Off to Chicago!

My aunt lives in Highland Park, about 45 minutes north of the city, so we stayed with her in her adorable house on Friday night. The last time I visited I wasn't even thinking about buying a house, so it was inspirational visiting this weekend with house decor on my mind.

Comfortable living room

Dining room

The infamous dressing room

First floor half bath

Second floor full bath

On Saturday my sister and I were up early to take the train from Highland Park downtown for brunch. We met the group at Fig and Olive, which was super cute and trendy. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well so I didn't do an awesome job at taking pictures, but I definitely recommend Fig and Olive. After brunch we headed back to Emily's apartment to get ready for the night! 

Tag team straightening the bride's hair

The bridal shower and first part of the bachelorette party was held at our friend Seema's new house, and both she and the maid of honor put so much thought and creativity into making the shower fun and personal.

Quite a spread!

Hand made signs

The beautiful bride

After opening presents we moved onto part two of the evening - a class of HJs and BJs from a local sex shop (a surprise for everyone). In order to save us all from embarrassment, I will not post any pictures, but you can only imagine what that was like!

What we saw when we walked downstairs

My toy... alcohol necessary

After a very exciting class, we headed to Giuliana and Bill Rancic's restaurant, RPM, for dinner. It was so so so good!! Our 5 course meal was served to us family style and it was exactly what we needed after drinking so much champagne.

Dinner ended late so afterwards we were escorted to Three Dots and a Dash for the final dancing/drinking portion of the evening. Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty terrible and it was 2:30am to my body so I snuck out and went home to sleep. 

The infamous "Treasure Chest"

On Sunday morning I headed to the airport for my plane back to Philadelphia. I am definitely looking forward to a weekend at home this weekend and to make my final kitchen decisions!