Home Sweet Home

Well, I did it! I finally moved into my new house! Moving itself was pretty uneventful. My apartment was pretty small and I got rid of my most excess junk when I moved west. But it's still amazing how much stuff I accumulated in just one year. My first night in the house alone was a little scary, but when I woke up this morning to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight streaming in the windows, I was just happy. Plain happy.

Fortunately, the contractor got the bathroom sink and toilet installed in time for moving day. But I am still without a shower or kitchen. Hopefully they will get wrapped up quickly. In the meantime, I've set up my bed, couch, and tv, which is really all a girl needs. Plus, I've set up several napping corners for Puppy. Poor little guy had heart failure on moving day, and was in the animal hospital all weekend. It was very scary, but he is on the mend and back home.

I'm going to be slow to settle in and unpack. Partially because I am basically living in a construction site and there's dust everywhere. But also because I may still decide to paint, fix windows, etc., etc. Now that I've spent about 24 hours here, I have a better idea already of what I want and where. Before it was all kind of theoretical, but luckily I don't think anything we've picked remotely will result in a hot mess. So far, the bathroom is looking great! The floor tile is done, the bathroom tile needs to be grouted, and the medicine cabinet and shower fixtures need to be installed. And then it's on to the kitchen.

Not much else to report. Stay tuned for more renovation stories, likely including my co-workers ostracizing me for being unshowered and stinky. I guess it's a good excuse to get a membership at the Korean spa!

Decisions, Decisions

I've been a busy woman this past month+ since I last posted. After much document signing, I finally closed on my little California cottage in Highland Park. I can't wait to move in, but I still have a few more weeks left on my current apartment lease and we're busy working on the bathroom and kitchen upgrades. They say you should wait and live in the space for a while before you renovate, but the bathroom and kitchen were so grungy, I just wanted to tear it out. Which we did on Thursday!

I hope the bathroom will be done by the end of the month when I have to move. I figure I can live without a kitchen for a few weeks - there are lots of great restaurants and taco trucks within walking distance of the house. Walking distance. In LA!

However, the bathroom needs to get done quickly. It has been a whirlwind of decisions for such a small space. What kind of sink, what kind of tub, what kind of tile, what kind of faucet, what kind of finish, etc., etc. I've developed a whole new vocabulary related to bathroom fixtures. And while I had some idea of what I wanted it to look like, when it got down to actually picking and buying the stuff, I panicked a little. The vanity and sink alone almost made me give up. But then I reminded myself - it's just a bathroom. Yes, it's my first real home and I want it to be functional and beautiful and an oasis to relax in. But it's a bathroom. And it will be much nicer than any bathroom I've ever had regardless. Because it's mine! (and because the vanity I picked has a lovely marble countertop and we have this cute tile and I finally picked a showerhead with multiple settings and...).

I wish I could slow things down and plan a little more thoughtfully, but at a certain point, you have to stop Googling and just make a decision. Otherwise, you fall down a rabbit hole of specs and consumer reviews, and it's 2AM and you've spent 4 hours comparing drain covers. So I'm not going to obsess and I'm just going to enjoy the process of being on my own personal HGTV show, without the cameras or free designers.

Speaking of which, here is Puppy making sure the cable works in the new house watching Property Brothers. Of course the first thing I bought was a little rug for him to snuggle on! Don't worry. It won't be on the floor forever. I have my eye on a very cute mid-century modern credenza from the shop down the street. That will be an easy decision to make!