Monday, November 19, 2007

We're going to renovate the bathroom this weekend...

...and the next weekend, and the next weekend, and the next. Why? Because it is hideous. How did it take that long? Um, everything was yellow. And ugly. And trapped in some tacky baroque decade that I'm not familiar with. Here's how the project shook out.

We took down the wallpaper, used an epoxy paint to change the yellow tile to white, painted the walls blue the trim white and changed out vanity, faucet and light fixture. While it took forever, we are thrilled with how it turned out!





















Just to remind you how hideous the room was, here are the before pictures again.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A Photo Essay Entitled "Before"

Here's a slideshow of the whole thing if you're interested:



Thanks for checking out our new pad. Come back to see how long it takes us to bring the house into the 21st century.

Go Wawh-wik!









Note: All photos taken by our amazing friend and photographer, Elizabeth Squillacote. When she gets her kick-ass photography website up and running, we'll add a link. Oh and she used a fish-eye lens for all of these pictures, so every thing looks bigger than in real life. Including us.

Monday, October 15, 2007

What do you get when you cross an overflowing POD with 5 amazing friends?

You get an almost pain-free move. We are so grateful to all of you for your energy and willingness to help. Here's a picture of the team post-move.






Monday, October 1, 2007

Walk-through & close - DONE!

We did the walk through before our close this morning. While we still LOVE the house (good thing), there is a lot more work to do than we remembered. Um, when did the downstairs bathroom get so damn' ugly? Can't wait to get in there and start tearing down the wallpaper and ugly light fixtures...

The close was uneventful and anti-climatic since we're renting back until 10/12. FUN!

Friday, September 28, 2007

Holy S@#$!


I just found out that we're moving earlier than anticipated! This being the first good (house-related) news in awhile, I'm flabbergasted. I gotta go call the POD people! :-) Have a great weekend!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

One whole year!

Today is our one-year anniversary. I cannot believe how quickly the time went or how much has happened. We both have new jobs, live in a new state, are almost homeowners, Matt has a new car and we live in my parents' basement. Life is good. Here are some pictures from the best day in the life of Team T-J.

A special thanks to the ladies of honor who keep me as sane as possible. You girls rock!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

More moving fun!

Yesterday was Matt's magic birthday. While a good time was had by all during the evening festivities (despite an early forced departure from Lucky's Lounge) the big day was clouded by a road rage incident and notification that we won't be moving into the house until mid-October. Awesome.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Feelin' Hot Hot HOT!

Moving day is never fun. Not for your amazing friends who help (thanks guys) or for the OCD wife who attempts to orchestrate it. We went through two bags of ice, endless bottle of water and one 64oz bottle of Gatorade and all we got was a packed to the roof POD. Check out the fun we had!


The Bobs & Matt finish the first shift...


Sadly, due to the heat, I lost my head and didn't take pictures of the second shift of hard-working movers - Pat & Nate. Thanks for bearing with us guys!

Finally, on Sunday night at 9, Team T-J finished filling the POD.


We're so excited that we broke out a pose reserved for VERY special occasions:


The Maverick & Goose

Then, celebratory dancing broke out:



Big finish with jazz hands -


Then we locked it up and called it a night


Finally, the next day I couldn't walk but waved good bye to 99% of our worldly possessions from one of the two remaining items in our apartment.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Moving forecast - Sofa King HOT

Weather predicted for moving our stuff into the POD day - 95 degrees and very humid. FAN-tastic!

Friday, August 24, 2007

The POD is here!

The POD arrived right on time

Love that POD-zilla technology

Here are some hilarious pictures of my cute husband celebrating the appearance of the POD


Ah, the many benefits of working from home...

Monday, August 20, 2007

The POD is coming!

Most of the apartment is pretty much packed up and the POD comes on Friday. Can't wait to get our stuff loaded and stop paying rent on a place that we're in together maybe one day a week!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Great yard sale or THE GREATEST YARD SALE?

I'll go with the greatest! After a rough start with our scary neighbor Ray wearing only daisy dukes yelling in the front yard and a freaked out pitbull barking away the early birds, the yard sale officially kicked off at 9 with a countdown from seven about to be customers. The next few hours were a blur with Chrissy, who had to leave with the dog before she could open her lemonade stand, Liz, Matt & I all running selling various items to strange people. Both Liz and Team Tarbox-Johnson made good money from the sale. Here are some things we learned:
1) Start getting ready WAY before people are supposed to show up. It takes forever to set things up and despite saying no early birds expect them. A lot of them. Sleep in people, it is Saturday morning.
2) Beware of groups of three or more that arrive in the same car. Nothing but trouble.
3) Prepare yourself for lots of verbal abuse, because when you decide to not sell shoes that were more than $100 for less than $5, you're going to piss some people off.
4) Come to terms with the fact that you are going to get ripped off at least once. (I haven't forgotten about you cordless phone lady - you still owe me $3, bi@#h!
5) It is impossible to predict what is a good yard sale item - one of the first items we sold was a very offensive (drunken purchase by my husband) Little Joe Cooke Peanut Man tee shirt.
6) Winning the most interesting almost purchase - two ladies dressed like this:

attempting to purchase two dresses cut like this:

How's that for some food for thought...

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Approved - yeah baby, YEAH!

We're officially approved for our mortgage. Woohoo!!! Time to start packing.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Doo...doo..do..do..do...Inspector Kevin...Doo..doo..do..do..do..do..doooo...

In case you missed it, I am trying to get the theme from Inspector Gadget stuck in your head, like it has been in mine since I typed the title of this post. Our home inspection was yesterday afternoon, and let me tell you, kicking it off with water in the fuse box is enough to give a first-time home buyer an eye twitch. Um, water & electricity shouldn't mix, right? Luckily, there wasn't too much else wrong with it, which is pretty sweet since the place is 57 years old. Our inspector, Kevin, was feakin' awesome - sending the report to us the same night and answering his own questions in a very Matt & Amy kind of way. Hilarious. Love that guy and looks like we're getting a pretty solid house. Nice!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

We got it!!!!!!

After a few rounds of negotiating and a few more nights of no sleep (on my part - Johnson can always sleep like a champ - jerk), Linda called Wednesday morning to tell us that we got the house - sewer hookup, stainless steel fridge and all. OH MY GOD - WE'RE ADULTS!!!!!

Monday, June 18, 2007

Making an offer...

After seeing a few more houses (one horrible, one adorable but needs lots and lots of work) and losing several nights of sleep thinking "what happens if we lose the house to someone else - we'll never find another one we like that much again...blah...blah...blah," we visited 133 again on Sunday and decided to put in an offer. Another couple had the same bright idea. I smell a bidding war...

Friday, June 8, 2007

June 8 & 9

After touring 9 houses (7 of which need TONS of work; TIP - never trust the photos you see online) in two days, we could actually "see" ourselves living in two of them. One is on the Warwick/West Warwick line (not ideal) and is only 5 years old and the other is rather close to the airport (again not ideal) but felt like home the minute we walked in. Since the second one just went on the market and is priced pretty high for the 'hood we decide to wait it out and check out a few more houses the following weekend.