my weekend in pictures.

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{on thursday evening i attended the anthro petite launch at the downtown store & got to meet joy from oh joy! she is as lovely in person as she is on her blog. #bloggercrush}

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{i needed a few jelly bellys to get me thru my friday at work.}

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{it is finally peony season – at least at whole foods. i am waiting it out until tj’s gets them so i don’t have to spend $12 a dozen. #mightbeworthit #peonyseasonbegins}

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{saturday was a beautiful sunny day which called for a floral dress & my fun new oxfords..}

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{i finally got a new wreath for the front door.}

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{i ordered some moo cards & am so excited!}

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{sadie was great at supervising yard work on sunday afternoon.}

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{happy mother’s day to my mom! #circa1992}

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{we finally hit 1000 miles on our new car. pretty exciting!}

we had a fun weekend with some sun & some storms. it was nice to get a few projects out of the way & gear up for aaron’s big birthday bash next weekend {spolier alert: he will be thirty!} we got a chance to catch up with both of our moms today, but since neither of them are in town, we took my grandmother out for a mother’s day dinner. how was your weekend?

M

a year in review {house diys}.

it is hard to believe but we have been in our house for a year – can you believe it? while it doesn’t seem like yesterday that we were moving & packing & unpacking, it definitely doesn’t feel like its been an entire year. {where does the time go?}

i thought since so much of this blog is devoted to the work we have put into the house, it would be fun to do a review of all of our house projects over the last year. {also, this is making up for the fact that i have been horrible about keeping the house tour tab up-to-date.}

here we go! {are you ready for lots of pictures?}

{entryway} – chalkboard paint

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{living room & dining room} – paint color, curtains, west elm light

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{bathroom} – paint color, Ikea light, vanity

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{kitchen} – paint color (walls), painted cabinets, painted countertops, painted tile, kitchen island, roman curtain

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{office}

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{bedroom} – paint color, roman curtains, closet doors

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phew! it is hard to believe we did all of that in just one year. we still have lots of things on the to do list, including some bigger projects that we are saving up for! reviewing all of these projects makes me thankful that we have such a fun house to work on & enjoy. it was scary to make the decision to buy a house last year {it felt so grown-up!} but we have loved every minute of it & learned so much.

what sorts of projects have you completed in your living space? do you ever go back & review all of your hard work?

M

my weekend in pictures.

{sidenote: my weekend update is backwards this week due to my not-so-quick-to-learn the quirks of my new computer.}

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{our rhodie is finally starting to bloom – very exciting! it is strange though that it is coming in bright pink because last year it was white… anyone know why?}

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{sunday brunch with old & new friends at americana in capital hill.}

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{caught up on some glossies this weekend. yep, that is vogue from march. i am a bit behind.}

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{yep, painting again. finally finishing up the hallway that i started last weekend.}

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{one of two trips this weekend to the lowe’s paint counter. has anyone else tried to match ceiling paint without a really good ceiling sample? fellow homeowners please do us all a favor & leave a sample paint can of the ceiling paint for the next owner.}

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{paint samples to figure out what color to paint the hallway. we went with driftwood grey by martha stewart. grey, i know, surprising.}

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{on friday night we celebrated my good friend sascha’s thirtieth birthday at bastille in ballard. happy birthday sascha!}

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{you can’t come empty handed to a birthday party, right? cupcakes it is!}

this weekend flew by – did it for you too? i don’t understand how monday thru friday often drag on & on, & then saturday & sunday are gone in a blink! we were busy wrapping up a few on-going projects on the house & trying to tackle our ever-growing {out of control} yard. how was your weekend?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{my building’s cafeteria closed but there is always a food truck around. i got to enjoy a yummy meal while enjoying the sunshine!}

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{hung out in post alley at pike place market on friday to celebrate my friend miriam’s birthday.}

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{we saw an improv comedy show the pretty wonderful club. it was based on the john hughes 80’s high school movies. so fun!}

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{yes, that is a gum wall behind me. post alley is filled with gum. it is a disgusting tradition, but you pretty much have to participate if you are there.}

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{sadie & i patiently waited outside for aaron to get us lattes on saturday morning.}

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{when it is sunny outside, which it was ALL weekend!, everyone in seattle washes their car. including us.}

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{we went “car shopping” this weekend just to look & ended up buying a new car. this is the final picture of us with jez, our old jetta. bye bye jez, it was a great 9 years!}

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{bluetooth in cars is awesome!}

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{got a new coffee table book by the one & only kate spade, my fav. can’t wait to flip thru it for some inspiration!}

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{happy easter sadie! yes, that dog toy has bunny ears.}

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{good morning new jetta sportswagen! i haven’t had it long enough to give it an official name – any suggestions? we are thinking something german perhaps. what, you don’t name your cars?}

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{making sure the new bathroom hardware is level.}

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{had to paint a few touchup spots on the bathroom walls where old hardware came down. i think our latest bathroom project is nearly finished & i am hoping to be able to share it later in the week!}

we had a wonderfully sunny weekend, busy but fun. our weather was spectacular, especially for seattle in the early spring, & we were even wearing shorts to work around the house & in the yard this afternoon. we often get a burst of very early spring weather that gets everyone a little hopeful (& nervous for a very hot summer) but inevitably we will be back to normal cool spring weather. also, we accidently bought a car this weekend. i say accidently because we were really just going to look at cars on saturday. it was our first day out looking & there were a few types & models that were in the running, but next thing you know, we were buying a new jetta. we opted for the sportswagen because, you know, we could use the space for the constant lowe’s & home depot runs/sadie/future babes/etc. but the real reason why we bought the sportswagen was because of the full sunroof which is amazing! we had a great easter weekend – how was your weekend?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{on the second day of spring we got snow after not getting snow the entire winter. #crazyseattlespringweather}

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{aaron, my dad, & our friend rhett were working on a house project. it may or may not have been something in the bathroom.}

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{my mom helped with some tending to the yard including planting these beauts around our front tree!}

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{happy birthday mom!}

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{there is nothing like fresh eggs. even for $7 a dozen. chicken ownership, here we come!}

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{my mom & i went to the best of the northwest art show at pier 91. she bought the cutest mouse sculpture that i failed to get a picture of. #badblogger}

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{i finally pulled the trigger on some fabric for an upcoming diy project.}

{obviously} my mom & dad were in town this weekend. they were gracious enough to help us out with some work & projects around the house. we started with snow on friday, but saturday, sunday, & even today are beautiful sunny days {though not to be confused with warm!}. how was your weekend?

M

our house video.

if you follow me on instagram {@mishacslower} you know that a few weeks ago we were part of a video shoot about our house.

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our realtor, padraic, wanted us to be in a video to show current & future clients. we happily obliged knowing we could show off the house a bit!

i know a few of you have been anxiously waiting to see the final product & we just got the edit back this week. enjoy!

 

if you live in the seattle area & need a realtor, we highly recommend padraic!

how did you choose a realtor?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{casual friday is overrated.}

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{enjoyed a salted caramel cupcake from trophy.}

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{what, no nordstrom website? good thing they take orders via phone.}

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{thanks husband for the beautiful flowers on saturday morning!}

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{aaron spent saturday afternoon trimming the laurel hedges.}

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{thanks for the beautiful bracelet from italy mary alice!}

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{aaron & sadie took a little snooze on the couch on saturday afternoon.}

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{mmm. you know it’s almost fall when aaron starts making pumpkin pancakes.}

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{bubble gum lollipop. yep, that was my sugar quota for the week!}

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{finally had a chance to catch up on mag reading including the vogue september issue!}

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{sadie & the enormous pile of mulch we still have in our front yard. mulch anyone?}

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{my grandmother insisted on sorbet after dinner on sunday night.}

i can’t believe how fast the weekend went. i either need time to stop for a bit so i can catch up, or i need more days in the week. how was your weekend?

M

timber.

note: if you are a tree hugger or are emotionally attached to trees generally i would recommend that you skip reading this post!

next to our house a previous owner planted a cedar tree that, this many years later, had grown to be quite big & tall. so big & tall, in fact, that the tree was nearly three times the height of our house, nearly obscured our house from view from the street, & prevented the front lawn from growing very well.

we knew upon the first time seeing the house that this big tree would need at least a good trim since its middle branches were growing in & around all of the utilities lines from the street to our house & our neighbors’ house.

once we started getting quotes on trimming the tree, we realized that it would cost us as much to trim the tree as it would to take the entire thing down. while we both hate to see such a big, beautiful tree in the city go down, we were told by tree experts that it would get bigger – much bigger – so we decided it would have to come down. we also decided that the four smaller trees that were in the side yard should come down as well. they were likely put in to act as a privacy screen for the bedroom that is on that side of the house (our bedroom), but the type of tree & the way they were trimmed didn’t allow for any privacy whatsoever – hello neighbors!

some of you may think we are completely nuts or that we hate trees & are evil people, but we didn’t take this decision lightly & have been mulling over it for months. every time we have been out in the yard since it was taken down on thursday, neighbors & others that have been walking by the house have given us their two-cents about the tree & its demise. there have been mixed reviews, but we have found that people don’t hesitate to let us know their opinion. just this morning an older woman walking by with her dog saw the logs in our lawn & began to shake her head. she asked aaron whether there was something wrong with the tree, to which he replied “it was encroaching onto our house.” she told us that she knew evelyn, the previous owner, likely implying that evelyn would be disappointed in our decision to take down the tree. in truth (& what aaron relayed to this woman) was that evelyn had looked into taking the tree down while she owned this house, but thought it was too cost prohibitive. evelyn’s daughter came by the house shortly after the tree came down & congratulated us on taking it down! so, my point is, you may not agree with the decision that aaron & i made concerning this tree, but we made a decision that worked best for us & for our situation.

enough about the backstory & onto the pictures.

these are the before pictures of the yard with the trees:

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{the cedar & the maple that is right next to our house.}

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{yep, our little house is in there somewhere!}

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{the privacy screen in our side yard.}

these are the during pictures:

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{the tree guys brought a wood chipper on-site so our half of the block was shut down.}

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{the side yard seems so much bigger without those trees.}

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{apparently the cedar was growing a bit crooked – right around that utility line.}

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{the guy up in the basket had a small chainsaw & apparently just chucked the cut limbs down to his crew on the ground. as much as i would have liked to see the process, it is better that i wasn’t there to witness the limb-chucking.}

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{the stump grinder. i think this was everyone’s favorite part since it ground the stumps into sawdust.}

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{the resulting mulch from our downed trees. now we are searching for places to put it! also, look how big that maple is & we didn’t even realize it!}

as all of this work was just completed on thursday, & we were left with a pile of huge logs & mulch in our front yard, we aren’t to the after stage yet. this will be a work in progress, but we are hoping to have some form of completion by the end of the month. we will be sure to get some good after shots of the house (now that you can see it from the street!) & the new front yard.

we put the logs on craigslist (in the free section) & nearly all of them have been picked up. aaron spent the weekend spreading the mulch into the side yard & some of our flowerbeds, but there remains a mound of mulch in our front yard. anyone want some cedar mulch? we have more than enough to share.

do you have any big landscaping projects on your to do list?

M

my long weekend in pictures.

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{ben, sarah, sam, diane, cal, aaron & i went wine tasting in woodinville on saturday.}

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{posing with the pig at project v – a vodka distillery.}

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{we stopped at woodinville’s warehouse district where many of the vineyards in eastern washington set up tasting rooms. there were lots!}

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{190 proof vodka. i was more interested in that beautiful demi john it was in.}

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{the moon was awesome this weekend. this was taken saturday night.}

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{we have grapes growing over the fence from the neighbor’s yard.}

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{we are bird-sitting this week for ben & sarah. welcome hamachi & azul!}

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{sadie surveying while aaron & i did some yard work on sunday.}

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{another free giveaway on craigslist. we use craigslist to get rid of so much: cardboard boxes, old TVs, old furniture, etc. this is also a hint for a post later this week.}

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{a dessert smorgasbord from menchie’s at the u village.}

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{aaron is embracing the trend of fascinators.}

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{aaron installed a dual-flush handle on our toilet this weekend. i hope this helps keep our water bill low!}

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{i got some framed pictures ready to go for my desk at work: an instagram of sadie, & aaron & me at a wedding this summer.}

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{yummy chocolate from theo’s.}

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{chocolate covered fortune cookie? yes, please? also, i am taking that fortune as a sign that i need to get back into some crafting projects that are on the back-burner.}

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{yummy dinner at snappy dragon to start the week. we sat at the jiao zi bar & enjoyed lots of yummy dumplings.}

we had a lot on our plates this weekend & are thankful it was a long one! aaron’s parents were here until sunday morning & there was so much to do in the yard & around the house. i am bummed that the weekend is already over (it was so nice to sleep in & hang out with aaron & sadie), but the forecast is shaping up to give us at least another week of summer-like weather, so i can’t complain too much. how was your long weekend?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{sadie hunting for bugs in the backyard.}

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{the cranes for the 520 bridge construction at sunset.}

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{olympics.}

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{we attempted to dig out the roots to two box hedges that bit the dust after our plumbing work.}

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{success! take that root ball.}

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{it looks so strange with no hedges here.}

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{removing my gel polish manicure.}

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{playing hopscotch in the neighborhood.}

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{bbq at rhett & lindsey’s new place. killer views of lake union & the city.}

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{i like the team spirit at the u-district safeway. go huskies!}

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{i found a lucky penny on my way to greenlake sunday morning.}

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{we finally caulked in the kitchen. tip: use painter’s tape!}

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{aaron ran around all weekend propping open all the storm windows in various parts of the house to help us stay cool in the 90 degree weather we had in seattle this weekend. i realize 90 is not that hot, especially with much of the country into triple digits, but this is HOT & we don’t have A/C.}

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{more olympics. despite the heat, sadie was really into cuddling.}

how was your weekend?

M