#lovehome

Weekend in the Woods

| The Bee Life

This past weekend B and I got out of town for a quick weekend getaway to the Cabin in the Woods.  I grew up in the country, but even this place is a little bit in the middle of nowhere for me.  I couldn’t even tell you where the closest gas station or grocery store would be, nor do you pass one on the way.


It’s always nice to get away to this little retreat, it’s so quiet and peaceful – but also extremely buggy. Plus it’s super close to one of our favorite breweries – Southern Tier, so of course we headed up there for the afternoon too.  Tasty beers, great food and an awesome atmosphere – we stay for hours.  We’ve made a yearly tradition out of it, but will definitely be going back before Summer’s end.

When we are back at the cabin we usually relax, and play board games (like Sorry!) and walk around the property with Moz.  She was super fascinated with the frogs while we walked around the pond, every time they jumped in and made a splash she would get scared and then become super curious! It was so cute. We also visited a homemade ice cream shop in the nearby ‘town’ – massive portions, huge selection and so cheap!

It was a fun – quick weekend away. I love creating memories, and traditions with B, even if they’re simple.

House Hunters – Kitchen

| The Bee Life

Our kitchen is terrible.  It has a horrible layout, no counter or cabinet space not to mention it’s dated. We’ve been able to improve it some since we first saw the house, but it’s still nothing that it could be. Although when we remodel, it’s going to be a complete gut, moving walls and extending out the house. It’s not going to be cheap or quick.

We helped the layout drastically by moving the fridge to it’s current spot, it was where the green bar was, making it a tight squeeze. But as you can see it’s not very functional or pretty.  Our dream is to blow out where the exterior door is to square out the current galley part – from there the possibilities are endless – maybe even blowing out the wall between the kitchen and dining room (where the current green bar is)… I can just hear the dollar signs right now!

Here is some inspiration for the future, all white is a dream with lots of light and some accents of blues or teals.

http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2012/10/favorite-pins-friday-19/
https://www.subwaytileoutlet.com/products/Vapor-Arabesque-Glass-Tile.html#.ValzM_lcD-V

I am sure our kitchen won’t be remodeled for a few more years, but it’s definitely on the wish list as far as big ticket items. My parents just remodeled their kitchen after living in their house for 30+ years! It’s funny because the first time we looked at this house B wasn’t phased by the kitchen, he just loved this house and the first thing I pointed out was the terrible kitchen! Since then it’s become quite the opposite conversation…. maybe we will get lucky and get on a DIY kitchen makeover show.

TGIF!

House Hunters – Bathroom Retreat

| The Bee Life

Bathroom’s are always something to marvel over, they’re second best to the kitchen when it comes to a top-selling point for a house.  Well for B and I the kitchen and bathroom’s could both use a good overall.  Although I don’t see the bathroom being for awhile, as it’s a big space and functional, all the upgrades found be purely for our own reasons, not because anything is broken, which I guess isn’t necessarily a bad thing. *smiles*

We have a ‘claw foot’ tub (without the claw feet) and I love it, however I am thinking if we ever remodel our bathroom, we would ditch the claw foot and do a stand-up shower. We would gain so much more space for a vanity. But then people argue, that the resale value on the house is lower because people want bathtubs (especially families)… I feel like it’s a lose-lose regardless, just do what we want, right?

Here is the wishlist:

  • White subway tiles
  • Double vanity or an extended counter
  • Larger mirror
  • Accents of color with flooring or tile work
  • Lots of shower heads
  • Chandelier light fixture
  • Stand-up shower and claw-foot tub

Some inspiration…

http://www.houseofturquoise.com/2014/09/casabella-home-furnishings-and-interiors_5.html
http://houseandhome.com/design/photo-gallery-jillian-harriss-vintage-inspired-style?page=8
http://jensawesomeworld.tumblr.com/post/66268620778
http://www.bhg.com/bathroom/color-schemes/colors/bathroom-color-ideas/#page=3

I think our kitchen remodel will come first before the bathroom, but you never know! We might just go crazy and tackle everything at once one of these days. This bathroom certainly won’t be a DIY project… maybe parts but not all. Until then I will be looking at lots of pretty pictures building and dreaming of our future bathroom.

12 hours in the city

| The Bee Life

15.5 hours on a bus.
12 hours in the city.
19.1 miles walked.
33,768 steps.
Countless memories.

Yes. you read that correctly we did it again.

B got us tickets to New York City for my birthday back in March, and this past weekend was finally our trip! We took the megabus overnight from Rochester to the city, arriving mostly on-time at 7:30AM. First stop: Starbucks for some coffee, food and freshening up.

From there my detailed itinerary led the way for our adventures for the day. Next stop was Washington Square Park, the iconic spot from many movies but especially one of my favorites, When Harry Met Sally. To get there we were able to travel through Chelsea and Greenwich – and then finally to the arch.  It was massive! And the park was beautiful with a large fountain, it was so quiet and peaceful.

Next we ventured through SOHO – which was fabulous early in the morning, before everyone was awake.  We got to see a film crew filming TMNT – 2, but did not see anyone famous.  Is anyone famous even in that movie? We finally made our way to the 9/11 Memorial Fountains. It was breathtaking, I got a bit choked up reading some of the names and being at the memorial, it was beautiful and they are completely massive. The new building, One World Trade Center is quite the site to see as well, standing tall over the two memorials.  This was one of B’s favorite parts of the trip too.

We then walked the Hudson River Greenway down to Battery Park. Where we were able to get on the Statue Cruises ferry to visit Liberty Island and Ellis Island. This is the first time that B and I got to see the Statue of Liberty, and wow, seeing her close up is incredible, there is nothing like it. We had way to much fun taking selfie’s with her, and watching the million of tourists with their selfie sticks taking pictures with her too… so many selfie sticks.  Not to mention, the views of the city were remarkable, talk about a skyline.

We jumped back on the ferry to pop over to Ellis Island, where we did not stay too long.  It was a beautiful place, and the museum was massive – B and I don’t like crowds and the amount of people running around that place just sent us in a head spin. We got back on the Ferry and headed back to the mainland. Next stop: Wall Street and the famous bull.  Both were packed/surrounded by tourists – you literally couldn’t even get a clean photo with the bull because people where just swarming it, I wasn’t even interested after seeing that… We ventured over to the Seaport area and found a little Italian place to eat called Il Brigante Restaurant. The salad and pizza we shared were amazing.

Then my feet were killing me. So we just briefly checked out the Brooklyn Bridge – it was PACKED with people. It would’ve been so obnoxious to try and walk the whole thing, definitely an early morning activity for our next trip. We made our way back to SOHO and I found a Crocs store (not my first choice, but a last resort).  They surprisingly have super cute shoes! I got a cute pair for a steal of $20 and my feet where like brand new.  By this point in the day the rain had started to fall a little more steadily.  We Starbucks hopped and made our way over to where the megabus would be picking us up… only after getting completely soaked in the rain.

Our bus was 45-minutes late, causing us to get even more soaked standing outside waiting for it, we were a little miserable.  The 8-hour bus ride back was just as freezing sitting in wet clothes with air blowing on you. It was nice to get into my parents car around 3:30AM with warm sweatshirts, a blanket and Miss. Mozi!

Washington Square Park
9/11 Memorial Fountains: North Pool
South Pool
One World Trade Center
View from Battery Park Pier
Ellis Island
View from Ellis Island
Il Brigante Restaurant
Il Brigante Restaurant
Il Brigante Restaurant
Brooklyn Bridge Madness
Momofuku- Milkbar

Despite the cold miserable ending, B and I had a great trip… another adventure for us to look back on and remember.  I love going on adventures with B, exploring new places and seeing beautiful places.

We both agreed next time we visit NYC, we will be flying and staying in a hotel – no more megabus. Although we’ve loved the trips we have had, they’re definitely a whirlwind.

House Party

| The Bee Life

Our house was officially broken-in since we hosted our house warming party on Saturday!  I would say the party was a success overall.  The weather of course wasn’t as warm as I had hoped, in fact it was almost chilly, a cool 60-degrees, it would’ve been perfect had it been October. We had plenty of food and plenty of alcohol… we have so many leftovers, but I am not complaining about that! A lot of friends came that we hadn’t seen in awhile, that meant a lot and it was great catching up with them.

It was nice to be able to share our home with some many people who are near and dear to us, the first of many parties, I am sure.  I will hopefully get the food/drink portions down a little better and also try and be a little less stressed pre-party. We could probably have a second party with all the beer and left overs we have!

Transformation Tuesday no. 7

| The Bee Life

A little over a month ago, I was brainstorming some ideas for our empty, yellow and brown sun room. Well we ended up going in a completely different direction, but I absolutely love it. We ended up painting the room white, and adding some base and crown molding to give it more of a finished look.  Since we got new furniture, the big debate was what to do with our old leather couch and our super comfy, yet not so cute recliner. Solution? The sun room! Not to mention I had some fun colorful pillows that just didn’t go with our new furniture – B had the brilliant idea of re-purposing in this new space.

One of my favorite parts is the curtains, we used PVC pipe and little hooks to make the curtain rod, it goes around the entire window frame, it was super inexpensive and all custom. I also love our Jackson Hole pictures topping off and making this a true retreat. I love all of the color and patterns, I realize it’s not everyone’s taste but I love to mix it up and have some fun.

Summer Party Ideas

| The Bee Life

I love parties. I especially love planning and hosting parties. Although I don’t feel I have all the means to pull off my ideal party, because when it comes to planning I’m All-Out Emily. And as much as I like to make items, and use things in clever ways – money is usually a factor. And, for me it goes down to every little detail, from the napkins to the lighting, from the invitations to the music. But money  usually doesn’t stop me.

We are planning an upcoming house warming party, I know a little late, but I wanted it to be warm! Bad joke? It is also our houses 100th birthday this year, so I am calling it our Centennial Party…because I love a good theme.

To get some inspiration I went to my favorite place and pulled some ideas that I hope to incorporate and adapt.

Hope to share some of my finishing touches and pictures from our upcoming party!

Until then,

House Hunters – Backyard Living

| The Bee Life

Memorial Day Weekend is the official ‘summer’ kick-off party weekend. Which means outdoor living spaces are becoming needed and used. With this in mind, I can’t help but think of ideas on how we can turn our backyard into a functional area for summer entertaining. I feel like the options are endless, making decisions harder to make.

Inspiration:

Wish list:

  • We don’t have a patio or a deck, so we have the option although I like the idea of having both, a deck that leads down to a patio
  • I love pergola’s and would love to try and incorporate one over our potential deck area
  • Comfy/lounge seating and dining options are needed
  • Considering outdoor speakers to compensate for our neighbors horrible country music
  • Keep enough grass space for Moz to have room to run hog wild
  • Incorporate a veggie/herb garden by using minimum space

We might end up waiting a season before any final decisions are made and see how our first summer in the house goes.  Our sun room is nearly complete and once we get some furniture for the front porch we’ll have some outdoor options to hold us over with. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Happy entertaining season!

Transformation Tuesday no. 6

| The Bee Life

Our living room is finally looking grown-up, and I absolutely love it. One afternoon of; “Let’s just go look at furniture” turned into us actually pulling the trigger and buying it. One of our challenges was finding furniture that was deep enough… B is 6’6″ and I wanted him to be able to fit and be comfortable, plus once he tried out a deep couch he was sold; that was what we needed.  Mind you 45″ deep couches aren’t that popular; nor do they come in a lot of styles. With our oblong living room I wanted pieces that could be versatile and could be rearranged. Our other sticking point was the fabric and color, we wanted something light colored and also more lineny – no microfiber in this house! So once we found our pieces, we knew they were it, hitting our size/color/fabric requirements while being the perfect mix of the style we wanted.

Before:

The listing photos
The listing photos

After:

Luckily we could keep some of our original pieces: the coffee table was a steal from an antique store, while the light blue ‘car seat’ chairs were from B’s parents.  The rug was a steal from target being $40 and it’s Moz’s favorite – every time we get a rug she just goes and lays on it. It’s the cutest thing. There will always be finishing touches, but I am loving how this has come together so far.