at long last my love arrived

Two weeks ago was the week!! It was Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one!!  My hood arrived (again, for the second time) and it was everything I had imagined and more. Until it wasn't.

I'm not even going to joke about it being cursed because it most certainly is. The first time it arrived (after 4 months) it was gouged to hell down the middle and had to be sent back. I cannot go back into more detail because that was a dark, dark place in my life. Hood #2 arrived a few weeks ago. Yes, I am about 3 weeks behind in updating you. I hope you can forgive me. My contractor goes to hang it and says it doesn't have power. NOnoNonOnononono. No. no. NO. This cannot be happening.

As it turns out, when they had drilled a support ledge in the wall to hold the base of the hood, there were wires that were hanging between sheet rock and an old layer of plaster. One of the 4 inch screws that went through the wall then nicked one of the wires. What are the freaking odds. My contractor didn't realize that is what happened until he reached to grab part of the hood and got a nice, high voltage jolt letting him know the hood was charged and ready to go.

No big deal. He only then had to knock a gigantic hole in a wall in the guest bedroom to deal with that situation. Not a big deal at all. It was only the same day we had decided to have a party at our house. Perfect. Who doesn't love sheet rock dust all over their clothes as a nice little added party favor.

Anyway, it is all water under the bridge now. And I can cook as much curry as I want and it goes right out to flavor my neighborhood.

Quick reminder of what we've been working with since August...I was going for a very industrial chic, aluminum shaft hanging from the ceiling kind of look. 

I honestly had no idea something could take this long to create without it having organs, fingernails and a social security number, but without further ado, here hangs the hood!

pretty fly DIY

I am not dead! I didn't break my typing fingers! And I did actually complete a project or two during my hiatus. This has only been on my To Do List for about 4 years now, so I would like to pat myself on the back for actually ever getting around to it. I know my neighbors never thought it would happen. I had doubts myself. So, I would like to officially apologize for my house looking like this in September.

Then in October...

And now finally, this...

Please excuse the peeling paint on the stairs. Also on my 17 mile long to do list.

In my defense, I did start this the day before I left for vacation. I also had a bit of a cob-webby brain that day, so standing on a 10 foot ladder didn't feel like the best place for me. My sweet and very productive little friend, Whitney, tricked me into thinking this was something I could knock out in an hour and it would look great. The problem is, my favorite thing in the world to do is start one project, work on it for a few minutes, and then start several others--all without finishing any of them. I am really, really good at it! Like I could co-captain an Olympic team if there were ever a need. So, in keeping true to old habits, that is what I did here. I am also not really sure why I felt the need to hand paint the numbers when I am sure there are very nice, precisely printed number stickers at Ace, but it's a little late for that now. Finding the right gold paint is honestly what took me so long, so I am happy to provide tips for any of you starving artists that want to do this after my glowing reviews. 

In a rare, outdoor update, there is also news to tell. We have been fighting a losing battle with grass in the front yard. There is this hateful tree that has been straight murdering our grass on that side of the yard for years. Case in point: this is not a split screen photo. This was actually taken at one time, in one frame. The mean, hateful tree obviously lives on the right side of the yard. 

We just recently decided to throw in the towel and live a grass free life in the front yard, which as it turns out is quite ironic. We thought, if you can't beat the dead patches, join them. I was pretty pleased with the initial progress and results. 

Que the irony. We have contacted the city about this lawsuit of a tree waiting to happen numerous times and had gotten nowhere. It looks so bad I was afraid it was going to squash me on my walk to work any day now.  Two weeks after we decided to rip up all of the grass (and paid a pretty penny for new plants), we heard from the city. They were finalllly convinced the decaying dying DEAD tree needed to go. They basically swooped in and cremated it in a matter of minutes and left us with a stump, all of its leaves, and 38 pounds of saw dust to remember it by. 

You have got to be kidding me. Well, now we are living the grass free life also sans dead tree. Our front yard almost looks like we moved into a cul de sac in Agrestic. I barely recognize it. Now we only have ourselves to blame if we can't keep these plants alive. 

Stay tuned. I might actually find the motivation to do a final before and after post on the kitchen. AH.