The kitchen is now updated.

Here is the kitchen when we first moved in.
There was this little ugly bench near the fridge. Really kinda wasted space. You could maybe have a bistro table there, but you would be hitting the table with the fridge door all day.

Gary tore out the bench. Of course the kitchen tile did not extend under the bench. And the dryer vent, washer drain pipe and gas pipeline run along the wall also. We needed to put in tile which matched the current stuff, and route the dryer vent & washer drain pipe so they were close to the wall.

  

Sarah painted the kitchen a much nicer, lighter color

After that was all done, we put in some matching cabinets and a countertop, making the place a little breakfast bar sorta thing. The new colors make the place look great. One room done... maybe.

  

but how are the plants? - part 2

Plants May2006
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

Our other cacti are starting to flower now.
This little cactus has blooms about as big as itself.

Main room color

LA_Condo_Painting_April2006 001
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

So here is the color we got for the main room. The color on the paint chip was "paprika" but to me this looks more like raspberry ice cream. The paint store assured us that it will dry much darker.
- Gary + Sarah

which color for the family room walls?

We got some color samples the other day.
3 different Paprika, Balmoral Red & Khaki. color names like lipstick names.
Not when we would actually getting to paint the entire walls, but there is some paint there now.

-Gary

artwork on the walls of the office

Sarah put up a bunch of our concert posters on the walls of the second bedroom or office. We decided this room should be the colorful one in our home. The walls and posters are pretty bright.

- Gary

a quickr pickr post

New bedroom light

Yeah, I know we said we weren't going to work this weekend, but Gary decided to put in the bedroom light we bought last weekend. Notice the before & after pictures.

When Gary was taking down the old fixture, it had this weird sort of tension mount which seemed to require the glass bowl part to flex to be removed. Glass doesn't seem to like to flex too much, this was discovered when the glass bowl shattered while being removed. A lesson learned: an easy way to remove glass shards from a bedspead? A lint roller. Worked like a dream.

The new light seems to go a little better with the other fixtures in the place. And it isn't shattered into glass pebbles either.
-Gary

but how are the plants?

Plants_Feb2006 002
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

I know many have seen the move in photos, and the painting and all of the activity... but really the big question on the tip of everyone's tongue is "but how are the plants? Have THEY adjusted?" I know we have been pretty human centric in our postings, and should think more of the flora. So here, look, one of our cacti is in bloom!!
- Gary

No working this weekend!

After a couple weekends of working, we decided we wanted to actually get out and see some new things in L.A.

We got some tickets for a the play 'Boston Marriage' at the Geffen Playhouse.
http://www.geffenplayhouse.com/boston_marriage.html
The Geffen Playhouse is affiliated with UCLA in some way or another. And it is in the Westwood area. Hopefully the play is good, it opened last weekend, and it stars Rebecca Pidgeon, Alicia Silverstone, and Mary Steenburgen. Woohoo, real life movie stars!
- Gary

New light in the kitchen

While Sarah has been painting every room, Gary found a way to fit the bikes into the storage area, cleared out all the remaining boxes and packing materials and put in dimmer switches, etc. On Sunday, we picked out some new overhead lights; one for the kitchen and one for the master bedroom. The master bedroom will come later, once the painting is complete, but here is the before and after of the kitchen.

On our first visit to the condo, we wondered if the previous owners had looted a pizza parlor...since this fixture seems to be liberated from the Shakey's Pizza of Gary's younger years. The photo of the new one doesn't show the fixture too great... there is texture to the glass. Everyone is invited over to see the new paint & lights. We'll post photos of the bedroom light once we put it in.

a quickr pickr post

A work day at home

Last weekend we tried to get started on all the things we want to do with the new place. The first step for Sarah was painting the second bedroom or office. Gary decided to tear up the master closet and put in a more efficient closet system. We decided we wanted a brighter color in the second bedroom... it kinda ended up a little more yellow than we thought (even though it was one of the more mellow paint chips we had), but it has grown on us. Our clothes didn't fit into the standard closet... so we were at a decision point. We decided to not throw out clothes... and the new closet setup works well. Tearing out the old carpet in the closet was an added bonus.

a quickr pickr post

- Gary

No lack of packing materials

The unpacking paper
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

The movers were very thorough and packed everything very well. Just one problem, once you start unpacking, you have paper everywhere. This stack fell over shortly after this photo.
- Gary

The work at home office is ready

Second Bedroom or Office
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

We are now finally getting unpacked, but here is what the work at home office looked like about 2 weeks ago.
Lots of room for the computer and desk :)
- Gary

the appliances have arrived!!!

HamptonAveCondo_moveIn_Jan2006 004
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

The washer, dryer and fridge all arrived today.
Just in time to do laundry, Gary only packed one small bag, it was about time for a second lap through the clothes.

the chairs

SanJoseCondo_moveOut_Jan2006 009
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

When we moved into the condo in san jose, we had 2 chairs. Now we have a whole bunch, which take some time to wrap in blankets for a move. The dishes and kitchen stuff is stacked almost to the ceiling.

fabulous decorating

HamptonAveCondo_moveIn_Dec2005 010
Originally uploaded by Minnaert.

below is our sole seating location currently. Also notice the one of a kind window treatments.

Some Photos of recent events...

We got around to posting some photos of recent events.

Our super rainy drive down 101 on January 2nd, while California was having massive flooding.

The new empty condo once we moved in. Notice our new drapes.

Boxes and boxes of stuff!! The movers getting all of our belongings packed up and an empty condo once we left.

-Gary

the packers have arrived

The packers are here! an hour early.
I am sorta - kinda working at home while the movers pack up all of our stuff. It is not too bad to have others carefully pack all of your belongings up.
So I get to sit here and watch the packers work, then the movers will show up to all all the stuff down the to moving truck. We need to own more stuff, because all of our belongings will only fill about 1/3 of a moving truck, so the moving company needs to fill the rest of the truck before it goes on down the LA. We are supposed to get our things delivered before wednesday though. This is the way to pack.
-Gary

down & back again

We drove back down to LA so Sarah could be at work bright and early. We drive down 101 this time, previously we took I-5. The drive was fine, but we encountered some of the strongest storms that have hit California in years. At times it kinda felt like we needed pontoons on the car. I will try and post some photos later of the drive. Since the condo isn't ready, we at at a Holiday Inn Express for a couple days.

The mortgage brokers called today... we got funded today!! In Los Angeles county, it is illegal to fund & record on the same day. So we will record tomorrow, and get the keys then. So we are all moved in!! Good news.

The appliances will be delivered over the weekend. Gary will be driving back up on thursday to watch the movers load the stuff on friday.
-Gary

We're baaaack.....

All the "delays" in paperwork left us with a decision to make: either spend the long weekend in another LA area hotel at a not so affordable rate, or drive back up to San Jose, pick up a few more things and sleep in our own bed.

An easy choice for us, especially since this drive we get to do together--after 1 week, 2 hotels, and eating out every night, we're looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight.

I'd said I wanted to be in our own house on New Year's Eve--I just thought it would be our new one :-)

Signed the docs

I signed all of the loan document yesterday... Finally.

It was all pretty uneventful, although I continually find it amazing how rendundant and unnecessary most of the documentation is. I think i signed 6 different individual documents whose sole purpose was to inform me that I have a variable rate loan and the payment will change after the initial term. Many trees lost their lives for this redundancy.

I signed the docs at an escrow company in Encino... in the 'valley'. All I can say is that I am pleased we did not buy anywhere near Encino. It was near nothing, was indistinguishable from any other suburb and was really run down. Yuck.

-Gary