The Palm House Journal

We made it!!

2010-12-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

After six months of some of the most challenging moments in recent memory, we FINALLY moved in to our lovely little home!

Our absence on the internet (and the Palm House Journal) was replaced by a whole lot of hard work and dedication. Long nights, early mornings, creative solutions, and a massive amount of problem-solving defined the past two weeks. We had a tremendous amount of support from our parents, as Larry came straight from work several times to do a nighttime shift. We had help from Mom, Phoebe, Melanie, and of course, the ever-dedicated Kimber in these past weeks. We even had a visit from our friend Dominique!

Pili's new best friend, Dominique

Our goals were pretty straightforward. We were hosting Andy’s parents for Christmas and the following week (in addition to watching our Adam and Eliza’s pup, Alice), and we needed at least a working shower. We couldn’t guarantee a functioning kitchen – plan B for the Christmas dinner was Chinese food – but we sure were going to try.

In order to make our deadlines, as always, there was a whole lot of prep. The IKEA cabinets had to reach some level of completion in order for the countertop installers to come in and create a template. We made it just under the wire for the last orders to be installed in time for the Christmas weekend. Yet, there was still no promise of countertops because those guys were working up until the end to get their customers countertop. In the meantime, Andy demonstrated quick-thinking yet one more time when he asked them to plan for a quartz window sill, thus reducing our chances of water intrusion quite a bit. They grumbled and mumbled about the extra request, but we had high hopes. They returned on Wednesday of this past week to install the cabinets. When Jessica (who was out running errands at the time) asked Andy over the phone how the installation was looking, he responded “wonderful”. It was the first time such an effusive word was used for any of the work in the house, and there is no better descriptor.

East wall, with new sink and dishwasher

West wall, with new range and fridge

We had to wait 24 hours for the glue to dry before bringing in the plumber. When he popped in to give us an estimate and consultation the previous day, he had mentioned that our sink was a problem. Now, if you recall, the sink was the primary problem when we were planning for accommodating the countertop height in with the windowsill. Our options at the time included finding a different sink. But we were pretty headstrong about finding a working solution because we just really liked that sink. Here, we were facing the same dilemma, except this time the reason why the sink was a problem was because it only had one hole – for the faucet. We were missing an “air hole” to drain the water from the adjacent dishwasher. Well, Andy and I were at the “whatever” stage…we just wanted a sink and were willing to let that detail slide (which is unlike us). But the plumber was insistent. So much so, that he threatened to walk from the job unless we do it right. In another ingenious display of quick-thinking, Andy stopped in on a job site right around the corner of our house where some guys were doing tile work. These were the people who were equipped to drill a hole in a porcelain sink without cracking it. Seeing as it was the day before Christmas, they were in a generous mood and offered to swing by the house to take a look. Five minutes later, we had a second hole in the sink, and we were ready to go. In one afternoon, we got a kitchen sink, a dishwasher, and a range. Life changed in that moment for the better.

Meanwhile, we were wrapping up the endless bathroom project. Our goal was to be able to shower. We let go of any illusions that we’d be able to finish painting, but we needed to caulking to cure completely before introducing water. Up until the morning that we all waited in line to take our turns at the shower, we were problem-solving. The pilot light had gone out, the shower curtain rod wasn’t fitting, the anti-scald setting was too low…but we did it! And now we are squeaky clean and ready to take on our next task.

Completed bathtub surround

Besides all that, there was a multitude of details that we wanted to attend to to make the home feel, well, homey. Kimber worked hard to get all the lighting up. Jessica didn’t make it easy on her by sourcing all manner of lamps from antique fairs to craigslist to the local reuse shops. Every light was a project. But in true Kimber form, she embraced the challenge and completed them gracefully. Mom swooped up the textiles, the curtains, and ironed and hemmed them all. Melanie dedicated her architectural skills to the IKEA cabinets, and Phoebe polished off the painting in the main house – all on a ladder. Jessica spent every moment bouncing from project to project and cleaning – taking up the cardboard off the floors, vacuuming and mopping, bringing up boxes from the basement and doing the job of actually moving in. In the end, our house looked good enough to host Margerie and Marty over Christmas.

Mom sewing curtains with help from Izayah; Kimber installing dining room light

Dining room, the morning after

Dining room with Grandma Shirley's china, Entryway with wreath and Moroccan light

On Christmas eve we joined our dear friends Jared and Joanna as they hosted their first big event in their new home. It was a warm and lovely evening. We attended midnight services at an Oakland Presbyterian church where there was one of the biggest organs we’ve seen. Yesterday, for Christmas day, we had a Dungeness crab feast. Here’s the menu:

Appetizers

Port Salut cheese

Brie

Blue cheese

Apples

Crackers

First Course

Acme sourdough bread

Acme pain levain

Spicy vegetable lentil soup

Main Course

Local Dungeness crab

Spinach artichoke soufflé

Baked potato

Green salad with pistachios, pumpkin seeds, avocado, green apple, and cranberries

Dessert

Homemade lime pie

Assorted cookies and chocolates

Coffee and tea

This morning, the day after Christmas, we will shuck the rest of the crab for crabcakes, and then head east to the Wichters for lunch. With just a few weeks until the baby arrives, we’re grateful every moment to be in our home. Seasons greetings to you all!

Kitchen progress...and more!

2010-12-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

It’s been a fun week and a half since last checking in. We’ve seen two old friends visiting from Chicago, celebrated with a baby shower, and started on the kitchen in earnest.

Our dear friend, Meaghan Burritt, graced us with her presence for about 4 days over the weekend. Her visit inspired us to take a couple days off and actually enjoy the Bay Area. We visited Point Reyes (a first for Andy), saw elephant seals (another first), visited the Pixar exhibit at the Oakland Museum of Art with Eliza in tow, and Meaghan helped out with the baby shower. She also made the best batch of Burritt dip that I’ve ever had.

A portrait of two pregnant ladies at the Oakland Museum

Pili and Alice after a romp at Crissy Field with Meaghan and Eliza

The baby shower was more than I ever could have imagined. It was perfectly small, intimate, and meaningful. We played games that weren’t lame, laughed a lot, and ate some great food. There’s nothing better than kibbutzing with close family and girlfriends.

On Sunday, Joey Feinstein came to see the house and have dinner with us. We had a great evening of Burmese food followed by cardomom and bay laurel ice cream. Yum! We miss both Joey and Meaghan very much, but we were so excited to spend time with them.

Back at the ranch, we’ve been working late and making slow progress. In addition to finishing up the last vestiges of painting (touch-ups, second coats, etc.), Andy has been plugging away at the bathtub surround. However, the timing of the kitchen countertop installation has put that project on hold for another day or two with the hopes that we can install the kitchen countertop by the time Margerie and Marty come visit for Christmas. With Larry’s help, we assembled the bathroom vanity and plumbed it, so now we have running water inside the house! Additionally, we had a very special guest come by to inaugurate the installation of the refrigerator. Climate Cycle’s Executive Director, Joey Feinstein, held a ribbon cutting ceremony and was in attendance at the fridge’s first jolt to life.

Climate Cycle Executive Director, Joey Feinstein, joins Andy for a ribbon-cutting ceremony

Guess who helped plumb the sink?

Progress on the bathtub surround

As I mentioned, we’re currently dealing with the countertop deadline. We encountered an interesting hiccup in the whole kitchen installation. We knew all along that the windows in the kitchen were somewhat low, and that the countertop would likely butt up against the sill. However, it wasn’t until we had the exact measurements of the toekick, the cabinets, the plywood under the quartz countertop, and the countertop itself until we knew how close we were. As it was, we figured out that we had to modify the window trim to accommodate the countertop. But when we factored in the apron front kitchen sink (that sits on top of the countertop), we realized we were in trouble. We had two choices: a.) build a custom box (instead of the IKEA provided legs) to shave off the 5/8” needed, or b.) rebuild the window box to make it a picture window. With the help and advise of our friend and carpenter, Cassie, we decided on option b. Andy removed the sill Thursday morning, and we anticipate we’ll rebuild it once the countertop is installed. Fingers crossed, the installers will squeeze us in to their schedule right before Christmas. If not, we’ll throw some plywood down and welcome mom and Marty into our home, as it is!

Andy demonstrating the principle, "measure twice, cut once"

There are lots of requests for pictures of the belly. It seems that the belly has a celebrity all it’s own. Well, here you are! In this picture, I’m 35 weeks pregnant. Feeling good all around, but definitely textbook pregnant with all the symptoms. Thank goodness for an excellent pre-natal chiropractor and yoga!

Level?

Alice is blue.

2010-11-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

In the Palm House today, we celebrate two latest and greatest achievements...one is blue and the other a toilet!

You'll notice that to get to the point where we could install a toilet inside the house, we had to first, finish the bathroom tiled floor, and second, finish painting the wall behind the toilet. Yeah! This means that Andy was free to take on the next major bathroom challenge...tiling the bath surround...

We're doing classic craftsman bungalow style subway tile, offset like brick, and we'll add in a glass tile detail at the top (the same glass as is in the floor of the bathroom). Projected date of completion? Oh, 4 more days or so.

So what have we been doing since the last post? A whole lot of painting. While the painting party was invaluable, we couldn't imagine how long this took. Every day we plod towards the finish line. The day that we can move in. Painting the front room, the living room, blue was a huge indicator that we're really really close. Here's a pic of the first coat.

Trust me, it looks really good in real life. Though the color is dark, it's offset on three of the four walls by a large window or the opening to the room. And, the upper section and ceiling is white (as is the molding).

While we were hard at work today, Pili and Alice watched over us. Pili curled up in a little ball, and Alice decided to play with paint. If you look closely, you can see a patch of blue on her side. At one point today, I looked behind me to see little Alice looking up at me with her sweet little face, as she sat on the ground and leaned up against the freshly painted blue wall. Oh silly dog.

In other news, Dad nearly completed putting together our IKEA kitchen cabinets. Tomorrow we'll start hanging them. Appliances are right around the corner. Kitchen, here we come!

On a personal note, I'm entering my 34th week of pregnancy!

Painting Party!

2010-11-14T20:48:00.000-08:00

We are reeling from an awesome whirlwind weekend of painting and bathroom tiling. We had SO MUCH help from our friends and family and it gave us a big boost. It's amazing how much work it takes to paint a house. Prepping, priming, patching, taping, cutting, first coats, touch-ups, second coats...initially it seems pretty simple. Just dip a paint brush into paint. But these guys re-acquainted themselves with the complexities of many different types of paint (semi-gloss, eggshell, high-gloss), and with many different colors. We had to stage it just right, and choreograph the coats of primer and paint to dry in such a way, in such a time, to maximize our friends' help.

Here's a little tribute to all our helpers:

Thanks, Sarah Isabel, Jen, Shawn, Ryan, Adam, Larry, Melinda, Melanie and Dedula!

We'll still be painting for a few more days if anyone feels like popping in and picking up a paintbrush.

Drywall? Check! Floors? Check!

2010-11-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick catch-up from the past week's worth of work. We completed so much, and here's the lowdown...

The drywall guys finished up their work:

I suppose it only looks impressive if you saw the previous house pictures and notice not that there are no holes, and the walls are in shape. This was a natural step before painting. But before painting, we had to refinish the floors. Why, you ask? We wanted to finish the floors so that there was no activity to generate a tremendous amount of dust that would settle on the new paint if we had painted before. So, I hope you took a good look at what the floors did look like, because here are pics of the floors being refinished. We saved and refinished the original oak floor in the living and dining rooms, and laid new oak flooring in the kitchen and bedrooms.

You can see the difference in this picture between the old dark stain, and the gorgeous light oak underneath it. For many reasons it wasn't practical to stain and seal the newly refinished floor this light, but we really appreciated it when we saw its natural beauty revealed.

This final picture shows you the stain that we chose for the floors - it's a medium coffee brown stain. It looks amazing because it shows the natural variations in the floor.

All this work was to prepare for the painting party! Andy and Jessica spent two days priming and protecting the floors so that the friendly crews could come in and just start painting (as seen by a previous post - Andy priming). We worked for four days straight, and we estimate three more days of work. Here we go!

Drywall, floors, paint, oh my!

2010-11-08T10:51:00.001-08:00

In addition to the Lumber Liquidators fiasco, we've run into some other *ahem* professionals that have offered up less-than-professional services.

The long and short of it is that we spent last week working with a drywall guy that seemed a bit pathological. At first, Andy was convinced that his say-one-thing-do-another mode of operating was a result of a language barrier. Leave it to Andy to give the drywall guy the benefit of the doubt. So, we switched to spanish to try to eliminate any communication barriers and Jessica stepped in to mediate conversations. Nope, language wasn't the problem. It was him. Thank goodness we were able to get him out of the house before he did any damage. But we sure didn't feel good writing him a check.

With the drywall dudes out of the picture, and the drywall patched and ready for paint, we threw on some paint samples to see what would work in the house. Most looked good, but there was one that stood out above the rest. Apparently, Larry felt similarly about the color that we tried out for the bathroom when I walked into the room to find this:

And yes, the color definitely looks like poop. Needless to say, it didn't make the final cut.

We spent all day on Friday priming the walls to prepare for our painting party this upcoming weekend.

This morning, the flooring guys are in our house working like whirling dervishes. They are buffing and refinishing the original oak floor, preserving the parquet details and patching the holes (such as the place where the fireplace lived). They'll also lay the new flooring in the bedrooms and kitchen. We could've laid the floor ourselves, but at this point we're happy to delegate some tasks, especially since it'll take them a fraction of the time and they're already in the house.

We'll spend Thursday/Friday getting ready to host a painting party for any friends that want to come and help. With a successful weekend, we can start putting our house back together next week!

So you want to renovate your house?

2010-10-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

This is a victory post.

Few of you know the struggles that we've had with a little company called Lumber Liquidators. I'll make this as short and sweet as I know how. Here's the story.

August 27. Andy and Jessica walk into the local Lumber Liquidators store to check out a sale. Jessica has done a ton of floor research up until this point, so they know exactly what to look for, and exactly what is worth paying for. We find an interesting real wood oak floor of medium quality (but good enough) for a damned good price. We are assured that the shipment will arrive on September 21. Done and done.

September 20. Jessica calls to confirm shipment. It hasn't arrived yet, but they assure us it's on its way.

September 21. No call from Lumber Liquidators. Jessica calls them. They say that a truck just arrived and they'll check the inventory to see if our floor is on it. They'll call us back. No call back.

September 22. Another phone call to Lumber Liquidators. They claim their system is not functioning well and they are sure our wood will arrive that day (they have been claiming to be victim to a faulty system since our first visit in August). Little do Lumber Liquidators know that they delay of the arrival of the wood flooring means that we will have to delay a number of other items between us and move-in day, like the appliance delivery, painting, etc. Their tardiness is becoming a larger problem as we have to call all the other guys lined up and move dates back.

September 23-27. Same story. Phone calls to Lumber Liquidators. False assurances of a call-back. No wood.

September 28. One week has passed since our wood should've arrived. Andy goes in to the store to talk to them. Here's the story: "We sold 5 times as much of this flooring as we had in stock. As a result, we can't get you your flooring. Instead, you'll have to pick out some different flooring. No, we can't get you flooring equal to, or better than, the flooring that you have bought. We can get you more expensive flooring of the same or better quality, but not at that same price." So, here are the salient points, 1.) we had already paid for the flooring (like suckers), 2.) they were pulling a bait-and-switch, 3.) we had little choice but to pay more money for same/better quality wood because they delay in pulling our money out of Lumber Liquidators would've cost us another month of waiting for wood to ship in from someone else. On this day, we got a refund for our original payment (or so we thought), and paid $300 more for another oak floor - thankfully it was a better quality wood. The refund, we were told, would take 3-5 business days.

October 2. No sign of the refund in our bank account.

October 5-13. No sign of the refund. We make phone calls to Lumber Liquidators nearly daily asking for our money back. At this point, we involve our bank and complete an affidavit stating that Lumber Liquidators has promised us a full refund but we have not seen a penny.

October 15. Affidavit complete, we wait for Lumber Liquidators to respond. Nothing comes back.

October 16-25. We loop in Lumber Liquidators headquarters. They avoid/apologize/promise to make it right. They fall short every time. Every time they promise to call us back. Every time they promise to take our claim to someone who can do something about it. Finally, someone gives me the name and direct line of the woman in charge of our case. Bam. I spare her the whole story and simply say that I will give them six business days to refund us our money, and if it's not in our account by Monday, November 1, I am walking into small claims court and suing. Now, she knows as much as I do that settling in court is a much more costly route than just giving us our money.

October 26-28. Daily phone calls asking for the status and reminding her that Monday, November 1 is right around the corner and that this was not an empty threat.

October 31. I sit down to prepare the necessary paperwork to walk into an Alameda Courthouse first thing Monday morning. I see the funds were deposited yesterday.

I am at once filled with a sense of victory and rage. I want to punch Lumber Liquidators in the nose. I can't believe that this company only acts when their ass in on the line. Okay, I can believe it. But I don't like it. The threat of court was the only thing that gave us our money back. Those mother fu@*ers.

So, you want to renovate your house? These are the kinds of a-holes you'll probably have to deal with too (disclaimer: we've also had some really great people work for us). I'm spending some time online with the Better Business Bureau tomorrow morning.

Part 1 of some really exciting stuff

2010-10-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

We've been neglectful. It's been a while. Our deepest apologies. In return, we offer our delightful readers a two-parter. I'll post a bunch of "before" pics here, and then you'll see our miraculous transformation. Okay, miraculous might be an exaggeration, but we've made some big changes this week and we're excited to share them with you.

To kick off the recent growth spurt, we had to take a little break. Remember, we're not taking weekends, so a forced day-of-rest is a really good thing. This is a pick of Dyna, Pili, and Andy on the dunes at Fort Funston. Beautiful!

Okay, back to the house. Andy has labored over the bathroom for waaaaay longer than any of us thought was necessary. There were many unforeseen issues and mishaps . The floor wasn't level, the leveling compound leaked through to the basement, the backer board was much thicker than expected, blah blah blah, it took a long time. Anyhow, this is a preview to the tile on the floor with a decorative border (the same decorative tile will border the shower surround that will use white subway tile). We were waiting for the plumber to finish his dirty work before Andy could finish up, and voila! the plumber came and went...

Since plumbing isn't that interesting, let's just cut to the most dramatic part. This is a picture of the area in the basement where the plumbers discovered that one of the two sewer laterals was congested with gravel and chunks of concrete. Upon purchase of the house we were assured that the line was clear. We weren't, however, told that there were two sewer lateral lines, and that the second wasn't clear. Since the concrete pad was already opened up, we decided to fix it. Now we will sleep well, knowing that our sewer laterals truly are clear! clear! clear!

The following pics are to illustrate the "before". The mudders came in today and patched up all the holes! The drywall went up and they'll spray primer everywhere to get us ready for painting. You'll see in part two. But for now, here's a preview...

The walls in the dining room, ready to be patched. The white boards are the background for the new wainscoting that will match the wainscoting on the left.

You may remember the bizarre wall that held up this part of the house and contributed to a funny layout. Poof! No longer. Andy and Dan worked hard to put this header in to the entry way. Because the walls were built before standard 2x4's were in use, the studs were only 2 5/8 inches wide. Therefore, we couldn't use a standard 4 inch wide header or the entry wall would not have matched the adjoining walls. After talking to a few carpenters and our engineer we finally arrived at a remedy that required minimal demolition and was adequate for the weight that the header will carry. Little did we know, but you can actually order a board that is 3 inches wide, so we went with a 3x8 after our engineer went through some calculations.

Finally, this is a pic of the west wall of the kitchen and the backside of the new entry between the dining room and kitchen. Remember when there was a fireplace there? Yeah, that's right. Well, observe Kimber's beautiful electrical holes now because it's the last time you'll see them...

Here's a last look at our friend Dennis (left of Andy). We call the ancient and very fire-happy floor furnace "Dennis". Why? Well, look closely and you'll see that someone spray painted "Dennis" on the side of it. Who are we to argue? In this pic you can see the rest of the basement as it stood this morning - the base of the fireplace is there, there are no posts into the supporting beam, and all our stuff is in there. This, too, will change.

And, to end this post on a fun note, here's a pic of Pili wearing her new pumpkin Halloween costume. She is THE CUTEST little pumpkin ever. I die.

Homestretch?

2010-10-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

The title of this post may come back to bite us in the end. But we may be seeing the beginning of the end. Andy has spent a tremendous amount of time getting things right in that house. We often refer to the tv show, Holmes on Homes. In the show, Holmes walks into every house saying "I hope I won't have to do too much...oh no! We'll have to tear out the entire basement and start from scratch!" While things aren't that bad, Andy's definitely focused on doing things right the first time. Music to any good contractor's ears.

Here are some pics to show progress...

Dan and Andy framed the kitchen entry.

They included a small pantry next to the built-in. Access will be via a little door in the entryway between the dining room and kitchen. I hope to add a laundry shoot at the bottom. I love laundry shoots.

In the meantime, Eliza, Melanie, Sarah Isabel, Gianna, and I went to the Alameda Antiques Fair. I found the most amazing light fixture to go into the kitchen. It was such a deal!

The glass is an old, heavy, milky color, and the metal had a subtle detail. Beautiful!

In the meantime, I'm choosing paint colors. I'm using this image for inspiration. Grays, blues, and gray-purples. Things are looking great (apologies for the sideways photo - I can't fix it).

In other news, football season is starting. Dyna claims to be a Packers fan when her mom is around, but when Mel was away on vacation she revealed her true colors. Go Bears!

And, a rare showing of my baby belly. We can't wait to meet the little one (though we want her to stay in there for at least 15 more weeks!).

This week, we talk to a plumber, a drywall guy, our contractor to finish some of the main floor carpentry, our HVAC folks, and our Sears appliances will be delivered. Moving forward!

Potty talk

2010-09-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

The bathroom is gonna get it. It's time.

Andy has been plotting his attack for days. The dilemma is that the floor is a bit uneven - too uneven to ignore. He's come up with some creative ways for dealing with the problem, but seems to be succumbing to the more conventional methods.

One thing's for sure. The next owner of this house has it made. The owner(s) previous to us would've just slapped another layer of linoleum on top of the floor and call it a day. Us? Not acceptable. It'd keep us up at night. Actually, it kinda does - we end each day counting down the hours until we're scheduled to be back at the house for more work. Is there enough time for dinner, and a movie, and a good night's sleep? Will Pili's walk in the morning be abbreviated or turn into a late-morning walk? Good thing both of us are resolute. This is totally worth it.

I drove to Redwood City today to pick up a craigslist light from this really sweet old couple. It was plucked from a craftsman remodel and I think it'll go in our dining room. It's fairly large, over 20", and it would command a hefty price in a boutique vintage spot like Ohmega Salvage. And...if we change our mind I'm sure I can sell it for at least as much as I paid for it on Craigslist. Yay craigslist.

We had a lovely dinner tonight with our cousin Rachel and her boyfriend Nathaniel. I finally branched out at Cafe Gratitude and ordered something other than Yo Soy Mucho. In a menu full of self-affirmations like "I am effervescent", "I am graceful", and "I am beautiful", why in the world would they make one called "I am a whole lot"? It happens to be my favorite dish. I just cringe every time I have to say it. Anyhow, it was delish (as usual).

We No Speak Americano

2010-09-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

We understand that many of you have been experiencing some confusion as to what Andy and Jessica are doing these days. Some of you are under the impression that we are very busy people. Those people would be correct. Some of you wonder how we can be so busy if we aren't yet parents, don't yet have a (finished) home to tend to, and are living the good life in tony Walnut Creek. What would we be doing with ourselves day in and day out? In an effort to clear up any confusion, Andy and Jessica have created a video to clear up any of the confusion.

Zip Car launch, and another wall bites the dust

2010-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday of this week, we attended the launch of Zip Car's Low Car Diet. It was a blessedly quick affair, with some goodie give-away's, etc. The best? They included Andy in the Low Car Diet as well! As a token of our affection and gratitude, we decided to take goofy pictures.

Yesterday, Andy started to take down a most ridiculous wall. It has presented a bit of a mystery from the start. Without seeing it, my descriptors will be meaningless, so I won't bother. Simply study the picture. If you look closely at the construction of the wall, you'll see beams and headers that don't connect, severe over-construction, and a downright goofy build. Some materials are new, some are old. We wonder what story this wall could tell. Perhaps it was a post, then a wall? Maybe a half-wall? Anyway, it was a bad idea...so, goodbye wall!

Here is the old wallpaper found under many layers.

We'll spend the next couple of days pricing out a materials list from our contractor and get a move on the structural stuff. Yeehaw!

Post Family Saves the World

2010-09-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we were introduced to when we first moved to Chicago was a design collaborative called The Post Family. A group of five guys, with a shared vision, decided to stop talking and start doing. Besides throwing great art openings and New Year's parties, they are a group of good people leaving their mark. I am proud of them for expanding their reach and I hope you enjoy this video.

2010-09-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

Goodbye chimney!

2010-09-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

Phew! The last traces of that silly chimney have all but disappeared. Andy has hit up Craigslist many-a-time and given away nearly all of the bricks and flues. Andy and Dan patched the hole in the main floor thus sealing off the basement, and they replaced the joists in the ceiling. The only thing left is patching the hole in the roof (and the drywall, mudding, painting, etc.). Here are some pics to show what they did today.

Dan and Andy putting in floorboards where the fireplace used to be.

The very spot where we had a wall and a chimney! Now you can see clearly into the kitchen. When it's complete, we'll have a wall on the left side (opposite the built-in, which is on the right).

While these guys were putting it all together, Kimber and I put together our electrical plan. Although we've been making decisions about our house for months, somehow putting together the electrical plan really brought it home - this is our house. We get to say. We get to say whether or not we want a pendant light, a can light, or track lighting. We get to say where it goes, and how bright. Our choices for all these little things are just reminders that yes, at some point, we'll actually live in this house and get to enjoy all the hard work and forethought that went into the details. I really can't wait for that to happen.

Pili and I went on a walk and, lo and behold, around the corner from our house one of our neighbors was hosting a grey water open house to demonstrate all the different ways to conserve and re-purpose water. I was pretty impressed by a washing machine and bathroom set-up that looked something like this:

Wouldn't this be amazing?

Loving Zip Car

2010-09-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

On a whim, I decided to submit an application for Zip Car's Low-Car Diet. As I alluded to in a previous post, we've been laboring over our decision to sell our car, and I have been looking into whether or not Zip Car or a similar car service could work for a growing young family.

This is essentially what I said in my application. I think they liked it, because within a couple hours, I had an email saying that we were chosen as one of 25 people to take the Low-Car Diet and live car-free for a month, with the help of a free Zip Car membership!

It's really been weighing on me. If we can't live a car-free life, with BART 4 blocks away, bicycles at our fingertips, Trader Joe's within blocks, a great weekly neighborhood farmers market, who can?!? Maybe it's unrealistic to think that our planned cities are ready for a massive walking/biking population. But we've always prided ourselves on pushing boundaries and walking the talk. So, here's our chance.

Because there is a tremendous amount of coordination involved in building our house, I won't be able to avoid cars altogether. I will ride as a passenger when Andy drives a non-Zip Car, and I'll only use Zip Car when absolutely needed.

The kick-off for the Low-Car Diet is Tuesday, September 14 at noon at AT&T Park in SF. I'm under the impression that friends and family are invited, so if you want to join in the celebration, please come (and let me know if I should look for you there)! We'll get our brand new Zip Car membership in addition to a bunch of other goodies designed to help us in our car-free journey. This is gonna be great!

Labor Day Fun and the week ahead

2010-09-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

But first...a note of celebration...

We got the permit for the structural work on the house! Yeah!

Bravo, Mr. Waggoner, for your deft skills at navigating the nightmare of the permitting department. If we could both drink, we'd toast to permits tonight.

Back to Labor Day weekend. Adam, Eliza, and Alice joined us for a loverly weekend up at the Tahoe house. Here's a brief synopsis:

1. A slow float down the frigid Truckee River in inappropriately-sized, and poorly inflated, flotation devices. Adam was forced to make the journey lying completely supine the entire route so as to not disturb the blow-up kayak, and Andy chose to wear a life jacket (note: there were multiple families on the river that day, not-a-one person - even toddlers - was wearing a life jacket). Eliza was dumped once, and got a taste of what glacial snowmelt feels like in September. Average river depth = 2 feet. Perfect.

2. Two late afternoon trips to the magnificent Donner Lake. The scene was very summer camp. We were mocked by a stranger for reading on the beach (what else were we supposed to do? and since when do adults mock adults for reading?). It was the ultimate in re-la-xation.

3. Taking the dogs on a hike past Castle Rock. They returned several shades dustier than when we started. Eliza nearly lost an eye when scrambling around under a dead tree, and Jessica wept uncontrollably at the mere mention of the word "death" in an off-hand and harmless comment by her clearly not-pregnant husband. It was a beautiful hike.

Hopefully Adam will post some pictures soon so that I can add them to the blog.

The week ahead is exciting. We anticipate a final quote from our contractor, final drawings from our talented architect (thanks, Kevin!), and welcoming the new year with family and friends. L'shana tova, everyone!

Oh, Blue.

2010-08-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Devil's Backbone, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, July 2008

Ode to Blue

Oh, Blue.

What shall we do?

You've been so good throughout the years

that selling you will bring us tears.

At what point do we pull the plug

and send you off with a final hug?

Viewer poll:

Facts:

1. Blue will fetch us about $2,00 when we sell her.

2. We put nearly $2,500 into her in the last three months.

3. She needs $720 in maintenance, insurance, new plates, etc.

4. She is a 1990 Toyota 4Runner with 180,000 miles.

Do we...

A. Keep Blue. Put in $720 to keep her running for 6 more months until something else breaks. Pro: we have a car. Con: it may break and we are concerned about baby Waggoner in an oldie (but goodie).

B. Sell Blue now. There are no major repairs, only the minor maintenance items that will total $250 (change power steering fluid, etc.).

C. Sell Blue later. We pay $720 now to get her going, and then when she dies, we make a decision to sell her "as is".

Our guilty admission is that we are totally attached to this car. If I had my druthers, we'd keep it just because we like it so much and buy a new car. Truth of the matter, we can't afford a new car. We'd just join Zip Car or suffer quietly without Blue. Our car vision is foggy with emotion. Uggh.

In other news, Andy has gotten rid of nearly all the bricks. They have found new homes in places as predictable as a retaining wall, and as California as a Burning Man display. Yay Burners!

If you have an opinion, we'd love to hear it.

We're back!

2010-08-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

Awesome progress on the house!

We're moving forward with one lucky contractor (our first meeting is on Monday), and Andy has gotten rid of most of the bricks. How? With the magic of Craigslist, of course!

We had lot's of bricks in the basement. You can imagine - he took down the entire chimney. Andy had called the Got Junk folks who had quoted him $1,900 to haul away the pile of bricks. We were aghast at that price. So, while we were scheming other ways to get around that hunk of money, Andy brilliantly posted on Craigslist "FREE BRICKS! The bricks are red, old...and did I mention they're FREE?!?!?" Within 10 minutes, no joke, 10 MINUTES, some guy calls Andy and not only wants all the bricks, but offers to pay us $.10 per brick. Really? Did the mention of FREE BRICKS not mean anything to him? Well, being the entrepreneurial duo we are, we accepted his offer and moved forward with the deal. So, instead of paying $1,900 to get them hauled, we were payed $80 for the bricks. Awesome! Of course there is more to take to the dump...rubbble, concrete, linoleum, etc. But we are better off than we started.

I went to the Heath Ceramics factory today in Sausalito with the lovely Melanie and drooled over their showroom. Then, I crawled in the back and gawked at the overstock tile room - realizing we may just be able to afford them after all. We'll see if we can...the budget is getting tight and I am still hung up on that Barberini wallpaper.

More fun news in the personal realm...we went to get another ultrasound yesterday and found out that we're having...drumroll please...a baby girl! All those who plac

ed bets in the boy camp are out of luck (all two of you, that is). Since everyone under the sun (and I mean EVERYONE) sensed that we were going to have a girl, it makes me wonder what indicators lead everyone to be right? What is it about us that screams "these two would be great at playing with My Little Pony and picking out training bras?" Just a question.

Denver Love Fest

2010-08-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

This week, Andy and Jessica are traveling to Denver to celebrate the marriage of two of our favorite people - Shira and Trent.
We first met Trent in Atlantic City a couple of years ago at Pop Pop's funeral. Shira and Trent were vacationing in Italy when they got the sad news about Pop Pop. Of course, Shira was hopping on the first plane out of there to be with family. What wasn't expected was that Trent was right there by her side. Though they hadn't been dating for long, his true colors showed through and totally impressed the family. Whadda mensch. That first night, after they had traveled all night and day on planes to make it to Atlantic City, they were forced to bunk up with Andy and me. As we fell asleep laughing (despite the circumstances), we all hoped Trent would stick around a while. Lucky for us, he did.

We are so stoked to celebrate the start of the rest of they lives, and we love them very much.

I (Jessica) arrived in Denver on Monday to play shopkeep at Elyse's shoe boutique in Denver. It's been fun and I would definitely consider owning my own shop one day. The best part of my visit has been hanging out with my neice, Coco. I'd add a picture, but I'm not sure how excited Elyse and Eric would be about that, so out of respect for them, you'll just have to trust me when I say that she is the CUTEST little child. She's about 11 months old, and just giggles when you interact with her in nearly any way. Any little squeeze, hug, or snuggle, and that child throws a smile on her face. What a delight!

Andy and Mitch took down the rest of the chimney on Monday. Yay!!!!! Then, all our stuff got moved out of storage and into the basement on Tuesday. Big thanks to Dad, Mitch, and Andy for doing the hard work. We're still waaaaiiiittttiiiinnngggg on contractors, architecture drawings, everything. It's truly trying our patience. I am so ready to move forward. Ack.

In the meantime, we have the best distraction - a family wedding. We can't hardly wait to see everyone (and I can't wait to see MAX!!). Super fun.

Thanks for keeping up with our progress, and we'll check in again next week!

PS: I was watching the Bachelor Pad on Monday night (I know, I know...) and I noticed that one of the girls was wearing the dress that I plan to wear for Shira's wedding. Just had to share.

Stop and go. Go and stop.

2010-08-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

This was a "stop" week. For anyone who's remodeled before, you'll be familiar with the cyclical path of rushing and stopping, panicking then slowing. It's much like going to the airport. You rush rush rush, and then wait.

While we weren't engaging in any exciting demolition, Andy was hard at work preparing all the plans that the contractors, architect, and city permitting office will need to give us the green light. We finally delivered our plans to the contractors and we'll hopefully hear back from them this week on project costs. Once we have our answers there, we'll move forward. Thankfully, the permits for this work are over-the-counter, meaning Andy will be able to walk in and out of the permitting office in one day with permits in hand. The alternative was a three-week headache of plan review which would set us back. Let's hope they still think it is an over-the-counter issue when we returned with the complete application.

In the midst of the house stuff, Jessica came to a collective decision with the Climate Cycle folks to step down as Director. She is very, very sad about the outcome but it's for the best. With the California ride looking like it's going to happen in spring 2012, there is plenty of opportunity to get involved once the timing is right. In the meantime, she'll be looking for work - project work or a more permanent placement. She'll also serve as California liason to keep the groundwork that's been laid alive and active.

The Climate Cycle decision was stressful, the house work is stressful, everything is occurring as stressful...so we needed a fun day. In honor of Pili's birthday (August 8), we decided to head to the beach. Below are some awesome shots that Adam took of Pili and her BFF Alice on Saturday when we went to Maverick's beach near Half Moon Bay.

The day we bought all our appliances and attacked the chimney.

2010-07-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

The day started out fairly normal. We fought the alarm, and then remembered that Pili was waiting patiently for her morning walk. We left without breakfast and made a beeline for the Sears Outlet, hoping that the items we picked out yesterday were still there with a hold ticket on them. When we arrived, we were compelled to seek out all of our appliances. We found - get this - a dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and range. So, by eleven in the morning, we had wrapped up a major part of designing the kitchen. It's so inspiring to be able to envision the end-product, so that we can see what we're designing in to. Yay appliances!

We made it to the house by 1:00, and Andy started set-up for the chimney work. Our faithful and loyal friend, Dan, came over to help out. Here are a few pic of prep and our progress for the day:

Andy climbing up the chimney with rope in hand to tie-in.

Andy's task was to take the chimney down brick by brick, and drop them through the flue. As the flues were revealed, he'd lower them to Dan and the chimney would shrink.

Dan was manning the main floor. When the bricks fell through the chimney, they'd often get plugged up in the fireplace. Dan would shepherd the bricks into the basement.

Jessica hung out in the basement. In this picture, you can see how the bricks would fall through the chimney in a pile of broken brick and mortar dust. Lot's of dust. She was there to ensure that the bricks were piled up as they came off the top of the chimney and landed in the basement.

By the end of the day, the chimney shrunk into the attic, and Dan and Andy were able to cover the hole in the roof. Tomorrow, we start in on the attic! And yes, the palm tree in the background is the palm tree namesake for the house.

The rest of the chimney, below the roof, is completely unsupported. It's a big, unstable pile of bricks and mortar. A slight movement of the chimney moves the whole house. It's unbelievable that the house made it through the Loma Prieta earthquake without taking down the whole house. We'll have to be careful not to topple it so that the bricks don't go through the ceiling of the main floor, or through the floor into the basement. The good news is that the brick removal happens very quickly.

A week of firsts...

2010-07-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

We are now the proud owners of an actual...brace yourself...

DISHWASHER!!!

We also purchased a totally functional and awesome refrigerator. That's a first, too. We've never owned appliances like this. It's so exciting! We got awesome deals and feel good about our purchases.

The best news? Our amazing savings are now justifying the purchase of the even MORE exciting wallpaper (as seen in previous blog post). This is all coming together...

Barberini Bee!

2010-07-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

We found it!

For years, we've been enamored with the large damask wallpaper pattern that lines the hallway of the Art Institute in Chicago. Anyone that's used the restroom on the first floor between the modern wing and the old wing will recognize this pattern. It holds, in its secret and deceiving folds, the Barberini Bee. The wallpaper at the AI is a dark red on a gold background. It's stunning, but perhaps too much for our little home. So, we found a grey and white version that will be p.e.r.f.e.c.t.

I'll leave it up to you to discover on which wall we put it once you visit the house in person.

Okay, okay...

2010-07-29T15:39:00.001-07:00

We've had enough people badger me about the mythical magical baby "bump". Though I haven't paused long enough to get in front of the camera, the little fetus had his/her first debut about a month ago. To commemorate making it through another month of pregnancy, here's the little guy/gal at 11 weeks:

In this sonogram, (s)he is facing the camera, with his/her chin into his/her chest (so you see the top of his/her head). On the side are little arms, and his/her legs are sitting cross-legged. In this sonogram, the little one was wiggling around a TON and at one point we got to see his/her hand splayed out with all 5 fingers. Pretty breathtaking.

I just returned from another check-up where I got to hear his/her heartbeat (166 bpm). All is well according to my NP, and I'll find out the gender (hopefully) on August. 26th. For those of you just tuning in, we're due on January 18 and I am now at 15 weeks. That's all for now!

Goodbye bathtub!

2010-07-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes this blog post seems like the kid's book "Goodnight, Moon". We're ready to start saying "hello" to some of the new kids on the block. New floors, new layout, new kitchen.

One important step in the right direction was discovering the Sears Outlet. Yay! Discounts! I suspect we'll fill our kitchen with appliances that are dented, scratched, or otherwise perfectly perfect. Right? Hmmm.

In the meantime, we're back at demo stage. Mitch took out the bathroom. It didn't have a chance.

Mitchell also took out a wall. Andy inspected the hole and deemed it acceptable. Bravo, Mitch.

What's next? Well, there's talk of a chimney. Yes, I know we've been talking about this damned chimney since we started. But maybe, just maybe, someone will strap on a harness, climb on to the roof, and take the sucker down brick by brick.

Bravo, brave men.

2010-07-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

The chimney! Finally, the chimney is within reach. Brave Andy and brave Jared problem-solved the chimney issue, examined its anatomy, and then took it apart from the inside.

The plan is for Andy to remove the bricks, one by one, from the top, and then drop them through the shaft of the chimney aaaallllll the way to the bottom (in the basement). The only roadblock was that there was a flue and a wall of bricks and concrete in the way. Why, you may ask? Well, the base of the chimney on the main floor of the house consisted of said wall of bricks and concrete. In order to drop the bricks past the main floor of the house and through to the basement, the men needed to muscle their way through that "plug".

There was only one way to do it: brute force + hammer drill = success. Luckily, Jared happens to own a hammer drill.

Tools used:

hammer drill

small sledge hammer

cold chisel

shop vac (to suck dust as the hammer drill drills)

Jared Blanton

pry bar

Now we are ready to ascend to the top of the chimney and commence Project Chimney.

DJ Fresh - Gold Dust (Official Video)

2010-07-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

In lieu of a new post about the house, I think I'll dedicate this one to my new favorite video. I come across a new favorite video about once a week, and I think this one will be a long-standing feel-good video for those moments when I need to smile. I hope you enjoy it!

Goodbye bathroom!

2010-07-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Andy has spent the last several days gathering quotes and talking to permitting. Ask us any day and our mind has changed. "We're getting permits for everything." "We're getting permits for nothing." "We're only permitting the structural stuff." Today, we're on the third day of thinking that we're permitting everything. So...maybe that'll stick.

When we removed the kitchen cabinets we discovered MORE linoleum under the existing two layers and half-inch plywood. More asbestos risk. The amazing news? After getting it tested, all six layers of linoleum are asbestos free. It's a miracle!

Andy and Mitch deconstructed the bathroom yesterday.

Then they dressed up to celebrate.

The house progress has moved a bit more slowly in these first weeks. Kimber came over to start scoping out electrical and planning what we'll be doing. We visited IKEA and discovered a sink and countertop that we both like.

We've had two family members go in to the hospital and then come out again. One has answers, the other doesn't. Our minds are occupied with family health and well-being. So, understandably, the house plays second fiddle.

Jessica's belly is finally making it's debut. She's entering week 15, and all is well in that department. Photos may be coming soon. Maybe.

Goodbye kitchen!

2010-07-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dan and Andy went bananas on the kitchen on Thursday night and took a sledgehammer to the cheap laminate counters. How satisfying to watch those silly cabinets come out one by one!

Dan ended up taking some home for his garage (now we know where we can visit our previous kitchen if ever nostalgia sets in). The rest are waiting, waiting, in the basement.

We found good and bad surprises under the rubble. The bonus were about 12 dole fruit cups and a hearty and functioning Stanley thermos. The worst was that what we thought were two layers of linoleum under the kitchen floor turns out to be about 6 layers. It amounts to nearly an inch of pure linoleum layers. As you may have read, we tested for asbestos in the upper two layers, but these news finds are a mystery. To leave it or to rip it out...that is the question...

We had several quotes in the past few days. A structural engineer came by and must have read "SUCKER" on our foreheads because he gave us the most outrageous and insulting quote we've heard. But to make the world better again, an HVAC guy came by who seemed totally decent and I hope it works out. Andy's dancing the tango with the permitting office and we'll see how far we get this week.

Moving forward, at last!

2010-07-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

Kudos to Andy. We'd be lost without him. Okay, to be more specific, Pili and Jessica would be lost.

We spent time in this past week crafting a construction schedule that works backwards from a September 1 end date. When we shared this plan with our experienced and talented friend, Kimber, she scoffed. "More like September 31," she replied. Well, we are optimists, and so we'll use that date as a guidepost. With this schedule, we'll be cranking along with all the work ahead of us.

This week has been a big prep week - calling contractors for bids, visiting the permitting office, visiting the Oakland Tool Lending Library, and getting mentally prepared for demo. Gratefully, Dan and Annie are stopping in tonight after work to help us tear down the c

abinets and other finishings. Yay for friends! Who's coming over next?

We broke bread in our house for the first time last night with Adam and Eliza. With two fuzzy beasts wrestling each other up and down the empty r

ooms, we made a little Burmese food picnic and ate off plastic sporks acquired from the local Chevron station. It was a sign of good things to come. Delicious food despite our circumstances!

Today we have a structural engineer stopping in for a consultation to draw up plans for the

structural changes that need to happen in the basement. And the fun begins...

Weeks One & Two

2010-07-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

We established early on that Andy would be the master director. Jessica, due to impending baby-ness and inability to understand space and time, would scout out new materials and interior design. Our renovation is loosely grouped in three stages. The initial stage will consist of ripping out and replacing the flooring in the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, and refinishing the dining room and living room. We'll tear out and re-do the kitchen and bathroom, and then take care of basic structural issues (seismic retrofits, foundation improvements, etc.) and HVAC.

Later stages will likely include refinishing the basement to ma

ke it a livable space, and the final stage would be a more major renovation of the main floor that would increase the square footage and add another bathroom. These renovations will likely not happen for many years, if at all.

We will be lucky to move in to the house by the end of the summer, and in the meantime we are staying with Jessica's very generous and accommodating parents.

With the renovation, we expect the unexpected. This was confirmed in nearly the very

first task. After ripping out the carpet in the bedrooms, and starting in on the linoleum in th

e kitchen, Andy reads about linoleum that was laid before the 70's - there is a high probability of asbestos. So...our first delay. We send samples to a lab and move on to some more prep work.

Andy makes several appointments with contractors and seismic experts to get a sense of the road ahead, and to understand what work we can handle ourselves vs. the work t

hat needs an expert's hand. The meetings go great - two contractors are smitten with the little house because they see in it what we do. The house has a great mix of original craftsman features but a lot of natural light. The location is a.ma.zing and the previous owners haven't messed things up too badly over the 100 year life of the house - renovation will be fairly straight-forward and simple. The most bizarre contractor, so far, showed up for less than 15 minutes, guided us to a website about the Hayward fault, and then left without saying good-bye, handing us a card, handing us a quote, or indicating any follow-up. We were speechless when we saw him drive away in his car. I guess he didn't really want our business after all.

Next up, a construction schedule, posts in the basement, and taking a sledgehammer to the chimney. Yeah!

Introducing the Palm House

2010-07-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

We bought a house!

This little house is a classic Craftsman Bungalow or California Bungalow, built in 1912, and located on the outskirts of the Rockridge neighborhood in Oakland, CA. Its 986 square feet is full of promise, sunlight, and potential. We named it the Palm House after the 40 foot palm tree that acts as a beacon to our home when walking through the neighborhood. We hope to chronicle our journey to making this house our home with this blog.

Jessica found the house on an internet search in late April 2010. The dutiful parents they are, Mila and Larry went the very next day to the open house and called us that evening to say, "we may have something here..." The previous owners were in bankruptcy and they wanted to sell the property quickly. That, combined with the fact that their real estate agent did a sad job of staging and showing the house, meant that we had little competition with our offer. Our offer was accepted in less than a week and we quickly moved into inspections. Andy and Jessica hopped on a last-minute plane to see the house the very first weekend, and with the combined eyeballs of family and many friends, we gave this crazy project the green light.

In the meantime, back in Chicago (where A+J were living at the time), life was tumultuous. We were moving out of our house on May 13, and in the interim Andy was tasked with finishing up grad school and graduating, and Jessica was wrapping up work. We successfully graduated and moved out of the house, and during a one week trip to Denver we signed our papers via a notary within 36 hours of getting on a plane for a 3 week vacation to Peru.

During our time in Denver, we began to suspect that Jessica may be pregnant. Three positive pregnancy tests later, we began to believe our suspicions. Peru was a stunning vacation, but we were anxious to get home and start our lives as expecting parents and new homeowners. As life would have it, things were not so simple.

After about a week back in the states, Jessica's beloved grandmother Shirley passed away after a long and beautiful 90 years on this earth. A whirlwind trip to New Jersey for the funeral, and finally, finally, we were back in the Bay.