And then there were...

100!!!!!

YES!!! This is my 100th glorious post over here at Carrie On and I'm excited to have obtained this magical moment on the very day that Brian and I closed on our cute little house 1 year ago!! We've officially been home owners for 1 entire year. And so far, only the boiler, the bathroom sink, and the fridge have broken. Let's hope there are fewer maintenance issues in year two ;)

Closing day 2009.

Celebrating amidst the boxes.

I don't really have anything special to write about today in honor of my 100th post. Life has continued as usual for us around these parts, so that's as good a reason to write as any. Deuce had a minor encounter with the emergency vet clinic last week (he had crystals in his wee wee and had to have emergency surgery to remove them) but he is doing much better now. He's been sporting a pretty sweet cone and has actually managed to keep it on for an entire week. He's one tough cookie. However, if this whole crystal-in-the-wee-wee thing happens again, they will actually remove his manly parts and give him some sort of prosthetic. Yikes to that on SO MANY levels...

Totally drugged out and rocking the kitty catheter.

A slightly more dignified smaller cone.

So anyways, here's to 100 more posts...and hundreds more beyond that! Time to celebrate...

Heating Paranoia

I am just gonna throw this out there. I am completely terrified that our boiler will not last the winter. We got it "fixed" less than a month ago for a very hefty price and we refilled the oil tank. It has been working well since its surgery, but I am worried that it is sucking up the oil faster then we think. I was told by the heating guy that it burns a gallon of oil an hour.
Let's put that in perspective.
Our oil tank fits about 250 gallons of oil. That is 250 hours. That is just over 10 days of heat if we have the thing running constantly. Oh and a gallon of oil is about $3.50. That is just about $900 to fill the sucker up. If the winter is another 2 months (at a minimum) that is just about 60 days. SO that would mean 6 full refills of oil, or $900x6 or $5,400. And that doesn't even include the money we put into actually fixing the darn thing in the first place.
So basically, to avoid this horrible and expensive dilemma, we keep the thermostat on 64. On really cold days the system goes on and off quite a lot, but at least it isn't running constantly.

Now the scary part...

I went down to the oil tank yesterday and tapped on it, and I swear it sounded HOLLOW. Seriously I will CRY if we are already out of oil. If that is the case, we are in for a really cold winter. Oh yes, and the little gauge thingy to tell us how much oil is in the tank is totally busted. Those things happen after 90 years. And lucky for us, the company that made the tank probably went out of business 50 years ago. Wahhhh. That's me crying.

Needless to say, the system is getting TRASHED this summer.

Oh the joys of homeownership....

Brrrr....

Am I a crazy cat lady or what?!?!!?!

This thing SUCKS.

No, really, it does. This thing sucks better than any other vacuum I've ever owned. And at under $50, it really can't get better. It is extremely powerful, light weight, bag-less, and just downright awesome. Many thanks to my dear mother for recommending it to us.

Go forth and suck, people, you won't regret it!!!

Dirt Devil Featherlite.

Bedroom MAKEOVER (so close...)

Merry Christmas to our bedroom!!!! Yes, you heard that correctly - our bedroom scored big this Christmas.  I've been dying to transform the space a la the mood board I received from YHL as a gift from Brian for my birthday (in September, ahem). So far, we've managed to get the mirror, the vase, curtains (although not the ones on the mood board...shame on me!!), and...DRUM ROLL PLEASE...my favorite part of the room...the one...the only....ORANGE RUG!!!

My parents were oh so sneeky (and they read this here blog...HI MOM AND DAD!!) so they knew it was on my agenda. So they snagged it at Ikea before Christmas and it fell into my arms (and onto my floor) on Christmas morning. And let me tell you, it is SO FABULOUS. It is pretty massive and incredibly soft. It takes up half of the bedroom floor (it is about a 20x12ft room) and looks so great with our pale blue walls (White Satin by Benjamin Moore). However, now that we have it in the room and see it next to the mirror, I am kinda loving the idea of keeping the mirror black (I'll probably be stoned for going against the advice of YHL..they are so talented!!!). I've also been having a hard time finding the turquoise accents so I've (cringe) decided to opt for a darker blue pallet. I totally LOVE the turquoise, but it is a lot easier to find things in darker blue. More on that later...

The room is still not completely done but I decided I'd go ahead and share the "before" pictures now. Basically everything in the room is a hand-me-down, but we are cool with that. We may have our own delightful abode, but we are still fresh-ish outta college and OK with taking on mom and dad's old stuff. So, please prepare yourself for the schmorgesborg that is our old bedroom...

Old bed from my parents, quilt from Crate and Barrel (also from parents), nightstands from Ikea (that oh so perfectly match the new mirror), lamps from Ikea, rug from Ikea, shades came with the house, throw pillow from Pier1, Mac from www.apple.com, incredibly annoying alarm clock from Brian's childhood.

Chaise lounge from my grandparents, shelf from Ikea, tall table from my grandparents.

Dresser from my parents (I have big plans for it this weekend, so stay tuned), TV from 2003, art from Ikea.

The sad closet side of the room. Letter table from my grandparents, basket of laundry from the basement, bin from Target.

So there you have it, the woeful beginnings of our very first bedroom (together). Clearly it needed help and a serious furniture purge. At this point, we are probably about 75% done with the makeover and it is already looking a whole lot better. If you haven't seen it already, be sure to check out YHL and all of their DIY and decor glory. Hopefully by the end of the month we will be completely done with the space and you can all swoon over it. Until then, how fabulous is the new CB2 catalogue? Our new orange rug would fit in nicely I think...

Swoonfest.

Heatless Necessities.

How to survive a heatless home.

+

+

Pumpkin Chai and a Space Heater. It really is all you need...

Now let's pray the heater man can git 'er done.

Another year, another decade.

This is officially the decade of marriage and babies. How crazy is that?! It actually sounds a lot crazier than it actually is. I am 25 at the moment. So, obviously, I will be 35 by the end of the decade. Wow. At the beginning of the last decade I was 15 and just learning to drive a car. Even bigger WOW.

In other news, we have been without heat for the past week. In even bigger news, the ancient system needs an absurd amount of work. Things installed in 1920 tend to start breaking 90 years later. We are opting to get the work done in an attempt to survive the rest of the winter. It is currently 49 degrees in our house and a brisk 29 outside. My little space heater is working overtime and GOD BLESS the heated kitchen floor. The heater dudes came last week but had to order some parts (I'm pretty sure they used their time machine to order everything from the '20s), so they aren't able to come back until tomorrow. Thankfully I work from home on Mondays so I will be around to hear all the bad heating news and write big checks. Uggg.

Oh and in the BEST NEWS of the day, I have nailed down my one big resolution for the year - to bake one new cupcake recipe a month (if not more). I got some silicone cupcake pans for Xmas and want to put them to good use. Also, I am going to make all the recipes from scratch. No boxed mix for this little lady. I am sort of really into cupcakery so this should be fun. It is also something that I can actually stick to since what could be more fun than baking and eating tasty treats?! Sure beats resolving to work out more.

Picture time!!!!!!! Enjoy...

Me want cupcakes.

Ringing in the decade.

Begging for treats. Sit, smack lips, lift paw. Never fails.

Happy Decade everyone!!

Drum roll please...

The mood board is here!!! Take a look at the fabulous and fun design that Sherry from Young House Love whipped up for me for my 25th birthday (THANKS BRI!!!)...

Thanks to some happy little circumstances that have come about recently (sorry so vague - nothing too crazy I promise), I can actually afford to make this room happen. Of course Sherry did a great job of keeping things cheap so I don't have to worry about breaking the bank. I've already ordered several of the elements for the room and am taking a trip to Ikea this weekend to pick up the rug and the mirror. I know a lot of people are scared of orange, but I think it is going to look really nice in the room. Everything is just so ME (and Brian likes it too ;). 

Updates and after pictures to come!!! This room makeover is totally inspiring me to keep going with the other rooms in our house. Watch out Domino, CB2, and ZGallerie - our house is gonna blow your mind. Brace yourselves for some happy home posts and GO CHECK OUT YOUNG HOUSE LOVE to see our mood board on the site!!!

Getting Green

It is finally starting to feel like Fall...sort of. Yesterday it was about 80 degrees outside, but thanks to a delightful little rainstorm it has finally dipped down to the mid 60s. For VA at this time of year that is pretty cool. And I get "cold" when it is 60. Bottom line - I'm wearing a long sleeved top and jeans. Anyways, thanks to this nice cool weather Bri and I decided to do something about the mess that we like to call our backyard. All this little "transformation" took was 10 bags of mulch, 2 new mums, and a lot of weeding. Please observe...

Slowly dying potted plants...

Fresh new MUMS!

What hedges??!

Thank you mulch - there they are!!

Sad little rhododendron...

Happy mulching rhododendron!!

Insane weed take over...

Dead weeds and a fresh new coat of mulch!!

Sneak Peek...

Here is a SNEAK PEEK at the amazingly awesome wonderful ridiculously great mood board that Sherry and John from Young House Love created for our master bedroom. We'll be getting started on this project very soon!

They are so flipping talented. Go check out their site NOW!!!

In the mood??

I cannot contain my excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian got me a CUSTOM MOOD BOARD from Young House Love for my birthday!!!!!!!!!!! John and Sherry just opened up three more "slots" for mood board makeovers and Bri got one of them!!!! I AM SO EXCITED, CAN YOU TELL??????????

I am flipping out with excitement because I LOVE YHL and I have been eyeing their mood boards (and basically stalking the entire site) ever since I stumbled across it last May. We bought the new house right about the time I came across the site and I wish I had even an ounce of John and Sherry's talent for home decor. 

Bri and I just so happen to live in the same town as John and Sherry (and I actually know John through work-related projects!) so I am EVEN MORE EXCITED that they will get to have a say in what becomes of our master bedroom. 

Stay tuned as this exciting project unfolds...I'm sure our bedroom will blow the rest of the house out of the water. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

Oh and to top it off, Bri got me a pair of real pearl studs too :) He must have read my mind about the "upgrade" thing. No more ear infection inducing junk for me!!!!

25 is lookin good! Happy happy day everyone!!!!

I made something GROW! And it isn't in my uterus!

Please observe the delicious bounty Bri and I grew in our little garden. I present to you ONE anaheim pepper and THREE little green tomatoes. Pretty soon we will be self-sustaining.

We used to have one giant green tomato (how do those things turn red???) but it mysteriously disappeared while we were on vacation :( 

Also, why do my eyes look a weird grey/blue color? And why do I look like I have brassy blonde streaks in my hair??

In other news, my co-worker had her baby boy on Saturday. His name is East and I can't wait to meet him :) AND my other co-worker is preggers too...the baby is due in March. Seriously is someone putting something in the water?? Pretty soon I'll be the only one without poopy diapers to worry about. I consider that a good thing. 

I have found the one...

I think I have found "the one."

Yes, please behold the Jonathan Adler woven duvet...

I love the color, I love the pattern, I love the simplicity, I love that it will go with blue and cream. Basically as soon as I saw this I knew. It really is love.