Saturday Strolls

One of the benefits of having a dog is the amount of walking you do. Sean and I like to take Baxter (and sometimes Tucker) for early Saturday morning walks with a cup of coffee. I enjoy admiring the historic homes of our area and I intended to buy and renovate an old house when we sell the condo. We've looked at some in Marblehead, Ipswich and Essex and keep Manchester on the list. These houses all have fabulous architecture and character that you jut can' build into new homes. I pick up inspiration each week.
I did my final project in my college photography class on historic doors in Beacon Hill, Marblehead and Salem. While I thought my photos were lovely, my teacher didn't seem to be impressed. Apparently another students photos of Boston's graffiti and trash covered back alleys was more her style.

This house has been completely gutted and put back together over the last few months. They are restoring all the historic charm to it. When we passed yesterday I little boy in the driveway said we had cute dogs. I was jealous of him and his fancy house. These porches overlook Marblehead Harbor.

There are benches you can buy in some of the parks and my grandparents bought one a couple years ago to remember their parents. Now we like to make it our destination on our Saturday strolls.

They picked a spot at the end of Fort Sewall that overlooks Children's Island, where Sean and I went to summer camp and worked as counselors... and met. I work for the YMCA that owns the camp and we're starting and alumni association to support the camp.

Two dogs...one small condo

I cleaned up the deck last night to get it ready for potential grilling in the warm weather. I had a few more seeds I wanted to plant in my herb box. Things have really started to come back and it's very exciting.

Chives are the only herb that came back. I planted some more stuff so we'll see.

All my plants have to stay in one section unless we're entertaining because it's the only place that gets sun!Our dog, Baxter, has run into the screen door so many times that the screen has come out of the frame. He now takes the liberty to go through the broken screen whenever he pleases as if it's a doggy door. He has also aquired a taste for Potting Soil.

My sister's dog, Tucker, is also spending the weekend. They took up the ENTIRE bed last night.

Seed-lets!

Last night I planted some vegetable seeds that we will transplant at my parents house. I have never done this before, so I'm really hoping for the best!











I planted:

• 3 types of tomatos (I love tomatos!)


• Eggplant (melanzane as the Italians call it, or aubergine as the French call it. We found that out in Tuscany when they put something that looked like cat food in front of us and the Brits said, "Oh it must be aubergine." Huh?)


• Green beans
• Cucumber
• Peppers
• Arugala
• Mesculn Greens
• Cilantro
• Oregano
• Sage
• Basil

My parents have some blackberries growing right now. I my add strawberries to the list. Anyone have any experience with growing vegitables or fruits?

White Kitchens

So to elaborate on my obsession, here are some examples. My new subscription to House Beautiful is just feeding my addiction:

These use subway tiles as a backsplash:

I love the prep sink:
And the farmer's sink:

And dark floors with white wood and white counters. We have dark walnut floors and I love the look with the white:

The Back Splash

The next project after the deck was the back splash. My dad had some extra tiles left over from a kitchen construction job he did.

They were gorgeous Italian porcelain subway tiles. They reminded me of the bathroom in the villa we stayed at in Tuscany.

The project was pretty simple. Sean and I measured and mapped out where to place them, put the mud on the wall and balanced them all out. My dad cut the intricate ones on the tile saw. Before long we had a back splash! We waited a week and sealed it.

I love the look of all white kitchens. It's a new obsession that I don't think I would have been into if I didn't have a white kitchen now. The more I look at it, the more I love it and I don't think I'll ever go back. In my next house, my kitchen will be all white, with marble counters, and a white farmers sink.... and a Wolf stove!

The Deck

The deck was a huge project right from the start. When we decided on the unit, 106 was the only one left with a potential deck area. Problem was- because of the garage door under it, there was some equiptment that had to go in the wall to the outside.


Since the floor going out there wouldn't be flat like the rest of the units, the builder just put windows in and didn't finish off the space. We were assured we could build on it and do it ourselves, we'd just have to build a step up to the door.

After jumping through lots of hoops to get the approvals from the builder before the condo association took over, we finally got the projects approved and a builder to do it for the price we wanted to pay. Sean's high school classmate, Brian Giovannucci, did the project.

There were still a few battles, like plastic risers that weren't shipped on time, but within three weeks the whole project was complete and we were planting flowers!

Our patio furnture is the Arbor Collection from Crate and Barrel, in Gingko. We have kept it covered when we're not using it, so it will retain the wood color finish. Otherwise it will turn silver.

We went to Kane's in Danvers and picked out plants for the deck. We planted three arborvitates to block out the neighbor, two Endless Summer Blushing Bride hydrangeas (which are super hardy and grow like crazy) one pot of peonies and some herbs. The herbs didn't make it last year, because of all the rain we got, but I'm trying again this year!

We're still in winter mode:

Condo Projects

Since moving to our condo in March 2007 we've done quite a few projects! The week we passed papers was quite hectic. My grandfather passed away that Sunday and the funeral was on Thursday. After a long and sad week, it was bitter sweet to wake up in our Fenway apartment on Friday morning and know we'd be homeowners in a couple hours. My grandfather always owned, never rented, every property his family lived in or his business occupied.

We got up early and ate breakfast with the "early birds" at Taste of Thyme in Salem. Then we made a stop at Waters & Brown for paint. I had been planning the colors for over 2 months since we put an offer in. Since it was new construction, our plan was to sign papers and get painting all weekend, then move on Monday.

Pre-Paint:
Counters are "Kashmir White" granite.

All the colors are Benjamin Moore: (with a little local flavor)

• Living/Dining/Kitchen: Shaker Beige (I'm sure there were Shakers here... or is that Quakers?)


• Office: Louisburg Green (like the Square!)
  


• Bathroom: Beacon Grey (like the Hill!) The sink is White Carrara Marble and the towel rack and toilet paper holder are from the Restoration Hardware Chatham collection.
  


• Bedroom: Broken Arrow (this was a last minute pick, no real significance)
  

Then at 10am we met our realtor, Tim, and lawyer at the Essex Country Registry and signed a GAZILLION papers. But it was so exciting and worth it. Not as scary as some people say it was. When they passed over the keys, it was the best feeling! We went back to Boston to pack up some stuff and then back to Beverly (in a snowstorm) to paint all night long.

I think we lived on Domino's pizza delivery the first few nights. We were so busy painting we didn't have time to go out and eat. Lots of family came over to see the place and help us paint. They were a big help and it was fun to have everyone there.

We added some lights above the bar and a new dimmer but that was it... until the deck!