Yesterday, the concrete on our porch was poured so we now have steps.  Take a look:

The mud surrounding our house just got muddier, unfortunately. The sod yards are closed for the year so it is confirmed that we will not be getting grass until the spring. It seems that I will be taking our dog Sophie out on a leash for her potty breaks this year.  Have I introduced Sophie to everyone yet?  We’ll, here she is sleeping, her favorite activity during the day:

And now back to the house. When I drove by this morning the plumber was there so hopefully we’ll have running water in our new kitchen sink and bathrooms this week.

Stay tuned!

We cancelled our Macy’s couch over the weekend.  There were many factors involved in the decision, but basically I did not love it enough for it to make the cut versus what it costs. I am still pretty young and need to identify my style.  The dark gray sofa with clean lines was feeling very limiting to me from a decorating perspective, so I don’t think it is “the one” for our new house.

Now I am trying to work around the Buchanan Pottery Barn sofa (in Stone) that we already own. I would call this board “warm” and “beachy”.  We also have a leather armchair from Ethan Allen that was handed down plus a leather recliner to add more brown to the room.

table lamp/poster/curtains/coffee table/sofa/pillow/floor lamp/chair/nesting tables

I’m not positive about the direction of this room yet, but this board definitely feels more like home to me. We’ll see where we end up.

On house progress news, today I did a quick drive by to see they were pouring our sidewalk and front porch.  The granite countertops were also supposed to be installed today in the kitchen and bathrooms but I am not sure if that actually happened. Yay!  We are getting closer…

During our impromptu house tour on Tuesday, I was able to figure out how many kitchen cabinets we actually have.  The answer is 12 cabinets, which is double what we had in our last house, believe it or not.

Pardon the large box in the way of this picture. That is our dishwasher waiting to be installed:

I’d like to get some pull out organizers for the two drawers that will hold pans and baking supplies for easier access.  I’ll also probably pick up a new divider for the flatware and maybe an organizer for the spatulas. But where do I put my cutting boards?  Decisions, decisions.

Is this how you would organize your kitchen?  What am I missing?

Today my husband surprised me by coming home from work on his lunch break, so that we could take a tour of our new house.  Yay! For the first time, we actually got to see the work-in-progress.

I took a ton of measurements so we can make sure our appliances will fit and to start thinking about window treatments. Before you scroll through the following photos, you may want to check out our floor plan to get your bearings straight.

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So, what do you think- will they be finished before December 20th?  I sure hope so…

Today has been a cranky day. I am putting myself to bed early. But before I do there is an update to share on the house. We have a new estimated completion date of December 20, which is the Friday before Christmas. The baseboards have been installed and they are starting the interior paint on Wednesday. Next Monday, the kitchen countertops will be installed. From there, we have less than 2 weeks for final details and inspection. Getting a certificate of occupancy so close to Christmas might not happen. Crossing my fingers and toes… Goodnight!

After the drama on Wednesday, I was thrilled to see a crew working on our house when I drove by on Thursday morning after dropping Lucas off at daycare.  I made a quick drive-by again this morning and they have made some progress on the siding.  Here’s a sneak peek:

Here’s a view from the back of the house.  They poured the driveway earlier this week as well so that is curing right now:

It is raining this morning, so I am not expecting much work to get done today. But maybe I’ll be surprised next time I check in.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I did not want to write this post for fear of sounding negative.  Overall this whole house-building process has been pretty easy.  The small renovation we did on our old house was way more stressful.

However, we have hit a speed bump and I don’t want it to go undocumented.  My house still looks like this- exactly as it was on November 1st.

The builder’s office called today to let me know the close date will be the week of January 6th.  What?!?! We were supposed to close the week of Thanksgiving, but now we are closing 45 days after Thanksgiving? I have no idea what is going on.  After some back and forth with the rep from the builder’s office, they are now understanding this is not acceptable and are working to get us a new closing date.

The man in charge is on vacation right now, but he gets back next week so hopefully we can sit down and iron this whole thing out. I drove by today and a crew was pouring the driveway, so that is good. Still trying to determine where the breakdown has happened.  My gut feeling is that communication is getting confused between the different contractors and the builder.  I don’t know much about this but it seems like they are pretty close to finishing so I can’t imagine what would take 45 days unless I am missing something.

So, I thought I would be cooking a Thanksgiving turkey in my new house and now I’ll be lucky if I get to put up a Christmas tee. Sigh…stay tuned for more!

We draw names for Christmas on both sides of the family. On my husband’s side, the giftee is supposed to supply a list to the gifter to help give some shopping hints.  Here are some items going on my list this year. This was not planned, but apparently I am into blue! I only noticed after I created the collage:

teapot $35/cookbook $25/pillow $39/queen sheet set $35/brass planter $12/bed skirt $16/french oven $175 via homegoods or le creuset outlet/any candle from anthropologie

I posted the teapot because it is available right now, but any piece would be amazing.  I really want to start collecting the Arabia of Finland “Anemone” pattern in blue. I am on the hunt for it all- sugar bowl, creamer, a pair of tea cups, etc. Why?  First, I adore it, but also because it comes from Finland (Fun Fact: I am 25% Finnish). We can pretend it got passed down from one of my Finnish relatives and I will love it like it actually was a family heirloom.

The cookbook pictured is Pioneer Woman’s Holiday Cookbook.  I frequently make her recipes, but I usually just go to her website.  Having a cookbook would be really helpful as I am terrible at keeping electronic devices charged.  Some of my favorites recipes are her sour cream enchiladas, roasted red pepper pasta, white chili, and the list goes on and on. Every recipe I’ve tried has been amazing.

Candles from Anthropologie are my favorite.  I could get lost in that store all day just smelling candles.  Capri Blue Volcano seems to be their signature scent, but there are so many other amazing ones too.

We are moving into our new house soon. There are a few household items on the list. Fresh white sheets and a new bed skirt.  Nothing fancy, just crisp and white. IKEA has surprisingly soft sheets. Deep blues, greens, teals are some of the colors want to use as an accent in the living room.  This West Elm pillow would tie it all together and it is so pretty. And silky. And dreamy…

Speaking of dreams, having a Le Creuset french oven is a dream of mine. I am dropping a not-so-subtle hint to my husband right now. Please pause and help me mentally will him to read this post. Oh hello, you’re here, I can’t believe it worked! Yes, honey they are expensive. But, I have seen some at least 50% off at Homegoods and at the Le Creuset outlet at Birch Run. You can practically walk to Homegoods from our house. I am just trying to make this holiday season easier on YOU.

And last is the gold hanging planter from Urban Outfitters.  It is just $12 and I have big plans for these planters.  I want to use them in the kitchen and outside to store some plants, fruits, veggies, etc.  There is a larger vision going on that I might just need to show rather than explain.  I’ll work on that later this week…

So, what is on your Christmas list(s) this year?

My husband wants a TV for the basement for Christmas.  I am going to brave the Black Friday crowds to try to get him one of these great deals.  Right now, I am leaning towards the Target deal because it is such a great price.  The timing overlaps with Best Buy and I just really hate Best Buy on Black Friday.  We’ll see, he may have a different opinion because LG is a better brand than Element.  If I do not get either of those two TVs, then I’ll try for the Vizio at Sam’s Club the following morning. Wish me luck!!

Element 50″ 1080p LED HDTV $229 (reg $599), Target (8pm on Thanksgiving)

LG 55″ 1080p 120HZ LED HDTV $499 (reg $999), Best Buy (6pm on Thanksgiving, but tickets given out for doorbusters at 4pm)

Vizio 55″ LED Smart TV, Sam’s Club $548 (7am on Black Friday)