Playing Catch Up

So, life got busy so I am playing catch up on this whole blog thing.  I have painted rooms, traveled the world, and rearranged furniture since I last posted here.  It has honestly been a whirlwind.  Along the way, I have learned bunches:

1. If at all possible, pack in a carry-on even for two weeks of travel.  I hate waiting for luggage.
2. Don't lose your passport in the airport in another country, especially one where you don't speak the language.
3. The Neverfull bag is truly named correctly.  I have really never been able to get it completely full.
4. Don't stay anywhere near an outlet mall, especially one with high-end shops.  I am weak willed.
5. Take care of your friends as they take care of your beloved when you travel.  I have such peace of mind that my Snickers is well taken care of when I travel.
6. Set a hard deadline for when something needs to get painted.  I thrive on a deadline.
7. Realize you cannot do everything.  I am hiring out the heavy work on the front and back outdoor spaces.
8. Never fly through Philadelphia. Period.

I have had a blast over this past year.  Since August, I have traveled to:

• Dublin - Hello Vacation!
• Frankfurt
• Berlin
• Singapore
• Jakarta
• Johor Baru, Malaysia
• Perth
• Melbourne
• Sydney
• Queenstown
• Dubai

And those are just some of the international stops.  I spent an amazing week in Dublin last year with a good friend hiking all around, hanging in pubs, and generally having a great time.  I experienced Germany for the first time in November and then went right back in March.  Both times were for work but I did discover that I really need to return for some personal time.  The half day around Berlin was just not enough.

Checkpoint Charlie - Berlin!

I had the most amazing - if tiring - trip around Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  It was business again so never enough time to see and experience all that I want to see.  I mean, in the same trip, I saw the west and east coasts of Australia.  As much as I want to go back to Australia, I even more want to go back to New Zealand.  Guys, if you do not have NZ on your bucket travel list...add it. Queenstown was breathtaking as was the flying over various parts to and from.  I. Must. Go. Back.

Downtown Perth!

West Coast of Australia - Freemantle!

Downtown Melbourne

Cannot miss getting a picture of the Sydney Opera House

And who could miss the Iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge

Bondi Beach people.  Alas, it was only a drive-by

Amazing people flying into New Zealand.  

Sunrise over the mountains and lake in Queenstown.  Spectacular!

I once again went back to Dubai and have to honestly say it is not a bucket list trip to me.  It may have had something to do with the fact that it was in the mid 40's Celsius and dusty.  The locals have always been incredible though and I did get to fly Qatar airways and have to say they are my current #1.

Domestically, I went to Chicago - where it was -17 degrees for a high people - as well as Orlando in January.  Those trips were both business but polar opposites in duties, weather, and shopping possibilities.  February had me back in the home of my heart - Dallas - for another business meeting.  It was weird staying at a hotel while in Dallas, I have to say. May I went directly from Dubai to the LA area for a meeting where I preceded to get spectacularly sunburned on my legs.

This month, June, I have already been back in Orlando and Los Angeles for short trips.  These summer months are my "quiet time" travel wise (at least in my head) since I don't have any long distance trips in the plans until late August.  Left for the year, I have Amsterdam, Seoul, Osaka, and Tokyo for business and hopefully an extended trip to Spain for vacation.  God, I love my job!

On the home front, my landscape overhaul starts in August and I cannot wait!  The neighbors probably cannot wait either.  I also have started to try and make the basement space less of a junk storage and more of a fun lounge space.  I bought and had hung a new Smart TV, bought and had delivered a sleeper sofa, and finally started clearing out the chaos.  Who am I kidding...there will always be chaos down there.

There is still so much to do, paint, organize, clean, etc. that it sometimes feels completely overwhelming.  Then I sit down, have a glass of wine, and remind myself that I don't have to buy or do everything all at once.

A little R and R in SoCal at Mandalay Beach

The boat harbor in Santa Barbara for a bit of seafood for dinner.  Was fantastic!

Caution: Working While Tired

So, I am finally settled in DC for 5 whole weeks after what seems like whirlwind travel over the last couple of months.  What do I do with my first whole weekend in a long time at home?  Finish the kitchen cabinet doors so the kitchen can go back to some semblance of normal?  Nope.  Sleep, lots of sleep.  I progressed from bed to couch for two whole days and it was laziness bliss.  Back to reality this coming weekend because those cabinet doors are not going to paint themselves.

Meanwhile, I headed out to work yesterday knowing that there would be some type of paving or patching happening on my street while I was away at work.  I read 30% of the announcement so I was prepared...or not.  When I got home, my street and the street next to it in the community were completely closed off to traffic meaning that I had to park out on the main street.  The street is not set up for a whole bunch of cars to park on it overnight so I had to park 2 blocks away from my townhouse.  People, I bought a townhouse with a driveway and garage specifically so I would have easy parking at my home.  Unhappy, party of one right here.  It is supposed to be back open tonight when I get home and all I have to say is it better be.

You know what is fun?  Being hyped up on caffeine and sugar (coffee and M&M's the drug of choice today) while trying to persuade the powers that be that you really need like a 40% increase in your spending budget for next year.  It all makes sense in my head...but maybe not theirs.  Why am I hyped up on caffeine and sugar?  Well, because I made the sensible decision to stay up late last night and just finish the book that I started yesterday when I got home.  It all made sense until I looked at the clock at 1:00 AM and realized I needed to get up in 4 1/2 hours...drat.

My birthday was last week and it was the big 4-0.  I was actually in Los Angeles working which I have discovered is the best way to celebrate a birthday since I actually then had 4 separate birthday celebrations to compensate.  All in all a great way to kick off a new year in my life but maybe not for a co-worker who also celebrated my birthday four times...he threatened to revolt if I had one more celebration.

In five weeks I am off for vacation and I am super excited!  The one thing dragging me down is not having yet gone to a beach destination this year and I am super missing my veggie beach time.  I am thinking of trying to squeeze in a short trip for Labor day locally where I can drive and take the Snickers to the beach.  She will not be amused by the sand on her paws.

I feel bad because I have not yet posted much, if anything pertaining to the DIY part of this blog but I have been so busy on the travel end, it has been put the DIY part of my world on hold.  Good news is mom and dad gave me a big ole Lowes gift card for my birthday so there is spending and projects that will develop.  That and having at least 4 more full weekends at home means projects galore!  Painting, so much painting to do everywhere!  I am breaking out the power sprayer...

Spray on Y'all!
Shelley

The Joys of Homeownership

So, had to hang around the house and work remote today simply due to the fact that once again, I needed service on my AC unit that is from the dark ages.  Seriously, when you look at the yellow energy star rating on the front of the units door, it is practically like I am burning coal with a gas and electric flame.

This time it was only a clogged drain for the condensation off the interior unit.  Since that is piped with PVC and glued into place, not something I was going to mess with.  Not a huge deal except that it was leaking water everywhere rusting the bottom of the unit and getting water all over the floor (AKA Carpet) and causing a general mess.

Fun fact:  The AC repairman hit on me.  Not so fun was it was in my house and I find that exceptionally creepy being a single girl.  You know where I live so just no.

I am off to Los Angeles for some hotel visits and a convention for a week.  Snickers is off to her second home for a week.  Seriously, I feel like I currently have joint custody of my dog but am so thankful that I have someone who can take care of her when I am gone.  I am hoping while prowling about Los Angeles, I can eat at one or two unique venues while I am out there. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and I turn forty while there on travel.  Hmm...

Meanwhile all the cabinet doors stacked all over my living room space are mocking me.  I mean, I started this project on Memorial Day weekend!  I guess I should set my sights lower on what exactly I can get accomplished in a weekend - even a long weekend.

In other news, the theme for the client event in LA is "Prom Night" and I am so excited I could squeal!  Those who do know me (and probably those who just have read some of the things here) know that I have a TON - seriously people, a TON - of formal dresses.  I now get to bust out a doozy for Los Angeles and go to prom all over again.  I am wondering if I can order boutonniere's and corsages before I get there for me and my team member who is joining me on this adventure.

On a sad note, I finally watched the last 5 episodes of Warehouse 13.  I am so depressed they cancelled the show.  I loved it and thought it was really well done so will miss it during the supper viewing season.

I know, I am a nerd.

Meanwhile, sharing my Pinterest page for the townhouse.  I have so many ideas and the very next project I am going to tackle after finally finishing the cabinet painting is painting the two spare bedrooms.  Both will be in Sherwin Williams Light French Gray.  Each room will have a city theme of two of my favorite cities:  London and Paris.  The London room will be called "The Flat" and the Paris will be called "The Pied A Terre".  So. Many. Ideas.

Here is the link:  Pinterest Townhouse Inspirations

Share, explore, view, and tell me what you think...

Namaste, Y'all!

Shelley
 

A Thankful Realization

So, I am sitting at home waiting on my Dad's flight to get here to DC (first family visit to the townhouse so I am also a bit stressed) and thought I would share some things that struck me today.  I have spent most of the week in meetings and training with our global Brand Performance Support team.  It has been good times and truly enjoyable getting to know the whole team better and better as I continue this journey in the new position.

Of course, during the early portion of the day, most of our phones popped up with an alert about Malaysian Flight 17 and the poor souls on board.  With my recent travels in China and the opportunity to get to know some of our Asia Pacific team members (as well as having a group of them with us this week), I was struck by the fact that I can focus way too much on the mundane or perceived irritants when in reality, my life is pretty fantastic.

Another thing that struck me as I rapidly approach birthday 40 (10 day countdown) is that life is fleeting and we should take advantage of every moment.  It was not my impending birthday that brought this on but the celebration of a 25th birthday right before Dad and I head down to reconnect with our family here in Virginia and celebrate the life of my Dad's uncle who has stage 4 Leukemia.

This man, who I have only gotten to spend a bit of time with (and that is a true shame) recently celebrated his 90th birthday.  This life has been filled with love and selflessness and the want to help and support others.  I am so thankful to have the opportunity to spend a bit more time with him and all the family and am kicking myself for not doing this earlier either when I first moved to DC or on any of my previous trips to the DC area for work.

Good news is I get to reconnect with everyone and build relationships anew.  It does bring back a very fond memory of going horseback riding - english for this girl who had only ever rode western - with my cousin and nearly falling off the horse with the saddle included.  Not because of bad riding mind you but because we did not get the saddle secured on tight enough (sneaky horse puffing up it's chest) and as I was riding, the saddle started slipping down one side.  I can just picture what I looked like as I started to slowly slide down one side of the horse getting more and more diagonal to the grounds.  It was a blast though!

I also enjoyed our team event last night to a local venue that offered bowling and bocce.  Who knew that our European friends were so excellent at bowling?  I got smoked by quite a few of them.  I also watched and then participated on a very competitive (and lumpy) bocce court.  Oh, and after sharing the fun that was my China travels, many of our international folks have decided I am probably not the person to travel with (I am though, trust me!)

Finally, during the training program today, one of our really fantastic team members from Austria (I am almost positive he is from there) kept making several great points. But each and every time he spoke, all I could picture in my head (I got home late last night so not enough sleep evidently) was him as a Bond Villain saying, "Not this time, Mr. Bond."  It was super funny and super distracting especially since I have heard him speak multiple times.  I am not sure what is wrong with me.

So, I guess in essence, I am really lucky in the career, job, family, and friends I have and get to reconnect with.  Oh, and I think in action adventure novels when I am especially tired and sitting through an 8 hour class...

PS, I am leaving for Los Angeles next week and there are going to be ALL KINDS of stories to tell from that trip!  Then finally maybe I can get the kitchen cabinets finished.

Talk soon, y'all!

Shelley

Monday Funday

So I woke up this morning lamenting the fact that the kitchen cabinet doors are STILL not back on the cabinets themselves.  Not that I did not get anything done with them this weekend - far from it.  It is just that I had so many other things to do that I did not get around to the actual priming and painting of the cabinets.

What did I get done?

Well, with 17 cabinet doors, they all got a thorough sanding with a palm sander (sorry neighbors!) and de-greasing (seriously folks I don't think the previous owners ever wiped these doors down - yuck!) before a thorough vacuuming and washing down with TSP substitute to prep them for priming and painting.  This whole process took around 4 hours - well this and the careful taping of all the hinge hardware so I did not have to remove it.  It also happened to be one of those 90+ degree days in DC in the hot sun so I was whipped after this.

Did I stop doing anything for the day?  Nope.  After a well deserved shower and some lunch, I moseyed upstairs to the guest bedrooms to get one in some semblance of shape so my Dad has a place so sleep this week/weekend.  That meant moving around 3 box springs and 3 mattresses distributing into the correct rooms.  Also, that meant breaking town my desk space and moving it to the correct bedroom upstairs.  That is no easy feat people since the glass top for the desk alone weighs 70+ Lbs.  After the multi hours of sanding and then moving furniture around, my arms were mush.  I did take the time to make up the bed with all the laundered new bed-things.

I did also hang the shower curtain finally in the guest bath upstairs and put down the floor mat.  Toilet, sink, and bathtub scrubbing are for another day people.  Then it was well, deserved dinner and an early night to bed. I was tired.

Sunday, dawned bright and early since I really needed to go to the grocery store and the only sane time to go to Wegmans is between 6-7am on the weekends.  Otherwise it is like hitting the DC streets at rush-hour.  Groceries bought and put away by 8:00 AM...that is the start of a good day.  I washed the dishes and scrubbed the kitchen counters all in preparations of being able to temporarily store all the small kitchen appliances so they are not on the floor where I can continuously stub a toe.  Painful.

I reorganized the kitchen pantry and took out the garbage before lugging the vacuum up from the first floor.  Then I sorted all the junk mail into the recycle bins ready for pick up this week.  That cleared up the living room floor (don't judge) enough for me to put the dog toys back in the toy box and vacuum.  After that, I lugged the steam cleaner up from the basement floor and ran it over all the traffic areas (and maybe a spot or two where Snickers felt the need to express herself by peeing on the carpet.)  Then, I did it all over again on the third floor.  Well, all the spaces except for the master bedroom which has become the catch all for everything currently.  I need to rectify that.

The only main chore that did not get handled this weekend (other than the cabinet door painting) was mowing the front and back yard spaces.  And it is supposed to rain a lot this week.  Hopefully by Thursday evening the rain will let up and I can show Dad how my "mower" works.  He is fascinated.

I know, boring post and all and no pictures but I don't want to share the kitchen cabinets until I at least have a coat of primer on the doors.  It just does not do any justice to look at the cabinet boxes painted without the doors on...you don't get the color effect.  Busy week with work so I may not get around to posting until late this week or early next so...

TTFN, Y'all...
Shelley

So Little Time. So. Little. Time.

So, for the first time in 3 or 4 weeks I will be at home over a weekend and can continue to tackle projects around the townhouse.  My goal is to get a ton of items off the proverbial checklist this weekend with the first being the kitchen cabinet doors FINALLY painted.  There is nothing like starting a project and then having to stop midway through due to work and travel and life.  I mean, I started this whole painting project back on Memorial Weekend people!  It is now almost mid-July.

Never the less, I am busting out the Wagner paint sprayer I bought this weekend in the hopes it speeds up the process.  I mean, I want the doors to be completed fast but I also want them to look exceptional as well so it is a give and take.  Before I can spray though, I need to tape off the hinge hardware (making sure to number the doors again under the tape so putting them back is a breeze), sand off the terrible poly finish and probably some grime and dirt, and then clean them up before priming.

Good news is the Wagner sprayer I got is one that supposedly does not need you to thin the paint or primer.  And, I bought water based primer and paint so that should keep the cleanup of the machine to a minimum.  Before I can start any part of this project though, I need to purchase a few items from Lowes that will hopefully make the job a breeze.  More on that in the next post.

Along with painting the cabinet doors and finally getting them reinstalled, I also need to clean up the townhouse and assemble at least one spare room since my Dad is coming to town next Thursday.  I was not planning on assembling a bedroom until I could paint the walls in the spare rooms but I suspect he will want somewhere other than the floor to sleep.  It will be bare bones in there though so I can break everything down when he leaves.  Well, that and the fact that I have the mattress and box springs but not the bed or bed frame as of yet.  I have in my head what I want so until I find it, this is what you get.

I also need to scrub up the spare full bath and do things like hang the shower curtain and such.  I also suspect he will want a place to get cleaned up so these are gotta-get-done's this weekend.  Good news is that I have all the towels, bath mats, shower curtains, and such.  Bad news is that they are not where they should be.  Coming soon though, coming soon.  I also want to paint this room (sensing a theme here?) so again not too much put together in there until I can get paint on the walls. My hope is that the paint sprayer - which says you can use it indoors on the walls with proper taping and covering - will speed up this whole painting thing everywhere.  We will see...

Finally, the spaces that have collected clutter (looking at you basement room and entryway) and are just plain in need of a good scrubbing (hi there kitchen that has not been used in like 5 weeks!) have to get cleaned up as well.  And those who know me well know how I hate to clean. My fondest wish in life is to have maid service come in weekly to keep the place sparkly.  I think my life would be just about perfect if I had it...and the funds to pay for it.

So that is what I am going to be up to this weekend.  All that lovely time I spent in Dallas with friends and family was worth it but man if I only had those two weekends back in DC at the townhouse, how much further could I be along with all of this....

Paint on, Y'all!

Shelley

DALLAS! It is not just a television show.

So, Snickers and I flew home to Dallas on Saturday this weekend.  Even though I now am calling Northern Virginia home, Dallas will always be my real home. This is for a couple of reasons but most especially because my family is all based in the Big D metroplex.

We had an early morning flight and simply for Snickers sake (yeah, right), I upgraded to first class on the 3-ish hour flight.

I can see Big Tex from here!

Snickers did all right on the flight with just a little bit of fussing towards the end.  To keep her calm, I ended up holding her carrier in my lap for the last 20 or so minutes and the landing only unzipping so she could stick her head out once we were on the ground.  Funny enough, no one other than the guy sitting next to me knew there was a dog on the plane so I deem that a success.  That and I honestly think I stress more than she does on the flights - me worried about her behavior on the plane.

After being picked up at the airport by the best of friends due to the parents and all other family still being on a "family" vacation (can you call it that if the whole family is not there?), we made it to the house and started on the all important laundry.  After traveling for two weeks and having a full week of business for work, I ended up simply packing mostly dirty clothes.

Then it was a fun girls night out drinking one of my favorite local brews that you cannot get anywhere else:

Oh Revolver Blood and Honey, why can't you sell in Northern VA?

This fun filled night was topped off by a morning brunch at a great little french bistro style restaurant serving a killer buffet on Sundays with another of the bestests of people.  Seriously people, there is nothing like the variety of the food they offer...oh, and $2 mimosas!  I topped off a sunny Sunday morning with a bit of retail therapy stocking up on t-shirts for the summer.

Sunday night was dedicated solely to the wonder that is Tex-Mex.  Most of you who know me well know I have been belaboring the fact that there really is no quality Tex-Mex food in the DMV.  Seriously folks...good, simple Tex-Mex from a family restaurant is such a gift.  Which is why the first official meal with the parents was dedicated to the wonder that is our favorite family haunts, Rafa's.  I basically ate myself into a food coma.

Well, that is it so far for this week.  I have been briefed on the upcoming rib smoke-off that is evidently supposed to take place on July 4th here at the homestead.  We will also be blessed with front row seats to the annual firework show that my parents club puts on each year. Which means I will be huddled in the house cuddling my Snickers since she HATES fireworks...ah well.

Sparklers all around, y'all!

Shelley