Transformation Tuesday no. 2

| The Bee Life

Hello Transformation Tuesday!

We are finally moved in, and it’s a strange feeling to have this whole house to ourselves. Again, I am realizing that I have been doing a horrible job at taking up-to-date “After” photos – but I still think the ones I have say a lot!

Bathroom Makeover

I underestimated what a little paint could do and switching out the original shower curtain… oh and I didn’t realize the ceiling needed to be painted until the first coat on the walls was up to reveal the ceiling was the same color.

For now this will work for us, but we eventually want to get a larger vanity and light fixtures, maybe even new flooring. But for now this paint job has made a huge different, it makes the room look 10x bigger, not to mention we didn’t need to break the bank.

Yellow Room Makeover

This room initially to me, didn’t need to be touched. But after the plaster cracks were fixed, the walls needed to be painted. Not to mention after we had the electric updated, the base trim had to be repainted, as it was completely removed from the workers. Hence, more painting… but what a difference. The top trim also had a large gap at the top near the ceiling, either it was from the house settling or a poor job to begin with. So, instead of replacing, we caulked in the gaps and painted to refresh… wait until you see…

We have also since replaced the ceiling fans, so they are less obvious and a little newer looking. Once again, inexpensive fixes, that make a huge different –

  • Caulk – $5 each (about 1-2 tubes needed)
  • Yellow Paint – $33 gallon
  • White Trim Paint – $41 gallon
  • Ceiling Fan (not pictured) – $34
    Total Makeover Cost = $118

Can’t wait to share more transformations with you!

House Hunters – Bye Apartment

| The Bee Life

Moving this weekend ends an era at 12505 along the lake. This was B and I’s first place together and honestly… I love our space. But I didn’t love all things that came along with it… especially over time.

Things I won’t miss;

  • Slamming doors in the hallways
  • Cigarette smoke coming up from the opened windows
  • Close neighbors
  • The barking French bull dogs underneath us
  • Our parking lot
  • Cat lady leaving cat litter in the halls

Things I will miss;

  • Our massive closets
  • Being super close to work/downtown
  • Prime running location
  • Our fireplace
  • Our cozy bungalow
  • The Pontiac couple’s fights across the street

We’ve had laughs, we’ve had cries, yelling, and parties. We’ve hung pictures and decorated for the different holidays. This was our home for 2-years and now we will start all of this in our new home. I will miss our little bungalow on the lake, as I have liked to call it. It was a cozy, warm and inviting space that will always have a special place in my heart. I knew as soon as we saw this space that it was going to be ours, and I think B had the same feeling when he walked into our house, we just had to do some convincing to each other in both respects.

Traditions.

| The Bee Life

Soo… I just can’t help myself, but I am just in the Christmas mood! This year especially with the house, moving, and work… oh and the lack of snow, it’s been hard to get into the Christmas spirit.  We are almost half way through December and I have no Christmas decorations up, half of our apartment is packed up and the other half of our things are making their way to the house.

But, this past weekend, was another holiday tradition that I wouldn’t pass up this year.  Since I’ve moved to CLE, I’ve always made it a point to go home the first weekend in December to help my parents get their Christmas tree… and since I’ve been with B, the last four years we’ve kept that up.

It’s as simple as this:

When? First Weekend in December.
Where? Baughman’s Christmas Tree Farm. Every. Year.
What? Brave the Elements in Search for the Perfect Christmas Tree.
Who?  My Mom Always has the Final Say.

2011 – B’s First Tree
2011 – The Family
2013 – Mom & Dad
2012 – Success!

Then… we take pictures in front of the tree… and then we cut the tree down.  In 2011, it was actually B’s first time harvesting a real Christmas tree!  This year we had a little more fun with our pictures (well, except my parents, they sort of just stood there.)

2014 – Mom + Dad
2014 – Me + B
2014 – Nate + Kiera

Once we’ve found the tree, we grab some hot chocolate, (with a mini candy cane thrown in) and then get home to decorate the tree! It’s always a fun weekend with the family, and having those traditions that build up the anticipation for the upcoming Christmas Holiday.

Do you go to the same place every year to get your Christmas tree?

Happy Holidays!

Winterfest 2014

| The Bee Life

For the last four years it has become a tradition to attend Cleveland’s annual Winterfest and tree lighting. My parents are usually in town for Thanksgiving, so that means they’ve become part of the tradition as well.

This year, the tree lighting was moved down to the Theater District, meaning our beautiful outdoor chandelier could be included in the celebration. B works in the Hanna Building, so we were able to watch the lighting and fireworks from a warm view on the 7th floor.  It was amazing, especially being able to see how many people filled up Euclid Avenue!


After the tree lighting we headed down to 200 Public Square, at the Huntington Building for the Winter Wine & Ale Fest. Local breweries, wineries, and food samplings are available throughout the concourse. Each year we continue to get spoiled with the food samplings and also spoiled on the beverage samplings… they’re very generous!

My favorites:

Ken Stewart’s – Served Smoked Chicken & Gouda Endive Cups
Brewnuts – The Symon, The Bernie, The “Santa’s Little Helper”, The Apple-Teeny, and The Bumbler (and yes, I tried them all!)
Willoughby Brewing Co. – Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter. Enough said.
Lagerheads Brewing Co. – Winter Mischief, one of my favorite Christmas beers

Honorable mentions: My Dad’s favorite was Cleveland Whiskey, he loved the 100 proof, so we know what we are getting him for Christmas!  B also really like the up-and-coming Portside Distillery’s “Yule Shoot Your Rye Out” Christmas Ale… located down by Aloft, and behind the EY building, they should be opening mid-December, so be sure to check them out.

It was a really fun night, Cleveland was packed! Beside all of the Winterfest activities, the Cavs brought in a home victory and Playhouse Square had a show. It was a good night to be a Clevelander. And it was the perfect kick-off for the month of December and the official countdown to Christmas.

Happy (early) Holidays!

Wednesday Reminders – Gratitude

| The Bee Life

With the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, there is no doubt that everyone is thinking about all of the wonderful things in their life. For me it’s simple. I am thankful for the wonderful people in my life; family and friends, co-workers and furry friends. No one big thing stands out, but it’s all of the small ones.

“Sometimes, the Best Way to Make a Big Difference is Adding Up Lots of Small Ones.”  – Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

This time of the year is always fun, family comes together because of tradition, and with tradition new memories are made. For my family, the tradition is as simple as getting together, and as I’ve gotten older, traditions are starting to change. People can’t always make a weekend, too many things are going on, the weather prohibits travel, work isn’t as flexible…  I am not always a fan of change, especially when it comes to traditions and holidays, but I’m trying to look at it as an opportunities for new memories and traditions. With all the change, it reminds me to be more thankful for the time I do get to spend with my family and friends.

I think we all need to remember to be grateful, around this time of the year… but even more importantly always.

Transformation Tuesday.

| The Bee Life

It’s my inaugural Transformation Tuesday! Are you excited? I am, this means we are starting to wrap this up! But since we aren’t quite finished or moved in, here are a few of the projects we’ve completed, although small in tow, have made a huge difference.

1. Carpet Removal – Hardwood Please
This one was simple… as soon as we saw this carpet, and the gorgeous hardwoods in the rest of the house we just had to tear this up. So we did, the first weekend we got in the house.  And with Moz’s help, poof! The carpet disappeared… luckily it was in a small area of the house.


2. Wallpapered Built-In’s
My first initial instinct was to add a little more life into these beauties by painting the inside yellow so they would pop! Then I remembered I had some left-over embellished wallpaper from when we made our bar (I’ll share in a future post).  After some measuring and cutting, I soaked the pre-glued wall paper, waited 5-minutes and then placed into the built-in’s… wah-la! Instant character.  I love this patterned wallpaper because it reminds me of tin ceilings, without actually having dark tin ceilings in your house. The pattern is subtle enough that it isn’t too distracting, and it brightens the cabinets up just enough, I love it.

I can’t wait to share more before and after pictures with you! Honestly, I have to keep reminding myself to take the before AND after pictures… hopefully we can get the majority of the work finished up this week.  We have been putting in long nights after work, and full weekends for the past three weekends. It’ll be nice when it’s all over.

Happy Homeowning!

MOH Duties

| The Bee Life

Last night, I literally dreamed my entire MOH speech for my best friend’s wedding… that by the way, isn’t until 2016. We have been texting and pinterest-ing wedding ideas back and forth since she asked me to be her MOH a few weeks ago. All of this wedding talk has got me thinking of all my other MOH duties.  Being that this is my first time as an appointed MOH, I decided to google and find out what exactly is expected of me, according to social standards. Luckily, based on The Knot’s detailed MOH description, nothing was really a surprise to me… but I can’t think it includes everything… does it?

Main Duties:

  • Lead the Bridesmaid Entourage
  • Dress Shopping!
  • Attend all Pre-Wedding parties
  • Plan Bachelorette party
  • Host/Co-Host Bridal Shower

On top of all the standard MOH duties, Katie lives back home in upstate NY, so I hope the distance won’t affect too much.  I’ve already made the decision that I’ll be traveling a little bit more on the weekends, especially as things start to pick up. Not to mention I need to get there within the next month, so we can officially celebrate the engagement and the MOH duties, since she asked me over FaceTime!

To all my fellow MOH’s out there, what are some tips you’ve learned after going through your MOH duties?

Thanks in advance!

House Hunters – Office Space

| The Bee Life

After two full weekends of house work, and keeping Lowe’s in business, the anticipation of moving into our house has been building… I just want to decorate and organize!!

Again, I blame pinterest for all of my design aspirations, including our future office. I want our office space to be chic and elegant but also sporty, we have some sports memorabilia that I’d like to be able to include in the same vein. So I feel like (once again) the contrast between dark navy blues with whites and greys is a good balance – but I know I can’t use this color pallet for every room… right? Another reason I love this color pallet so much is that it’s still sophisticated without being too girly, because frankly I would love to do something like this… But I wouldn’t do that to B. *smiles*

My inspiration:
MadeByGirl: Anya Kucheryavenko, small office defined by navy wall behind shelves, darling
Pulled from “Made By Girl” Blog via pinterest – Site linked to picture.

How to make this my own:


01 / 02 / 03 / 04

In the next week or two, we should finally be moving into the house. All of the work we have been wanting to get done is nearly under wraps! Then the before and after pictures will start coming… so get ready!

Until next time…

Homeowners.

| The Bee Life

As of Thursday evening, B and I are official homeowners… we got the keys to our house! The process has been so long, that the reality of it all is hitting me in waves.  We had a 60-day close, plus we are having some work done on the house, so there has been a lot of downtime.  Fortunately we have time left on our lease until the end of December, so we can get the house in tip-top shape and move in as needed.

We got a lot of work done around the house this past weekend, before and after pictures to come in a future post. But MY biggest accomplishment of the weekend was deciding on paint colors for the dining room and the living room… now only 5-other rooms to go… oh… and the actual painting…

We also met our neighbors this weekend, both sides seem super nice.. so I’m happy about that.


#homeownerselfie