When Does This End?

My officemate got laid off today. She was our administrative assistant. Essentially, she took on all my old duties after I got promoted. While I did find her annoying on a personal level, I'm really sad for her. She really needed this job. She was still living at home (she graduated high school the same year as me) and was getting back into classes at COC.

Since business has slowed way down, I think that I will be able to manage both my old administrative duties, as well as my newer "Operations" duties, but I still feel down about her loss.

Her getting laid off followed an announcement a couple weeks ago that we all had to take temporary 10% pay-cuts. I have not been given word as to whether I will get that 10% back now that I'm gonna do the work of two people. Hopefully, I do.

We make our first house payment on February 1st!

~LOVE~

Stainless

I think I already mentioned that Fernando and I went ahead and bought a new, Frigidaire stove for our kitchen in stainless steel. We got it through his job at Pacific Sales and we're getting a nice little discount on it.

Our stove

Well, we also needed a new dishwasher, so we were thinking about getting this one Bosch dishwasher that was on sale at Fernando's work, but I balked at the handle because it didn't match the handle on the stove we just bought. So Fernando worked it out for us to get the matching Frigidaire dishwasher. Still a good price through his work.

Our dishwasher--so sleek

Notice the matching handle

So, I was content. The dishwasher and stove were stainless and they matched. All was right with the world. Well--almost. Our old refrigerator was white, but I was happy with just "making it work" until we had more money saved up. Our "old" fridge is actually only as old as our marriage (just over two years), so it works great and looks fine. Then Fernando sent me a text message yesterday telling me that he could get a great deal on the matching Frigidaire refrigerator if we bought all three pieces together. For about $2000, we're getting the fridge, the stove, and the dishwasher--all matching. The price includes extended warranties and delivery. Also, through Fernando's work, we're financing them interest free for 18 months, which means if we pay just $120 a month for the next 18 months, we'll pay them off with no interest. Also, we're getting a $200 rebate from Frigidaire, and the electric company will also give us a credit since the fridge is an EnergyStar appliance. Not bad at all. I told Fernando, "How can we say no?" and the deal was done.

The coup de grace-our new fridge

Our stove was already delivered last week and we're getting the dishwasher and refrigerator delivered on Saturday! I believe we will be handing the old fridge down to Fernando's mom, who probably couldn't afford a new fridge on her own. At least we know a person who really needs it is getting it.

With those deliveries, our kitchen will pretty much be complete. We finished lining the cabinets and unpacking all our dishes last night. Since we've upgraded to a bigger kitchen, there are actually a lot of cabinets that are empty, but I suppose that's what upgrading and home ownership is all about--finding a bigger place for all the new crap you will accumulate in life. Fun.
~LOVE~

Our Kitchen

We probably did the most work in our kitchen--we demo'd pretty much every wall and hung new drywall, we bought a new, stainless steel oven/range and a new, stainless steel dishwasher, we sanded, primed, and painted the cabinets Behr's "Olivine," as well as added all new brushed nickel and chrome hardware, we laid tile, we installed a new window, and we have plans for a new light fixture. In the distant future, we'd like to redo the counters with granite, and put up a new backsplash in either mosaic glass tile or subway tile. That's in the DISTANT future though. In true Jessica fashion, I had to create a mood board for the kitchen as well (no room will go unplanned!). Check it out:

The design scheme for this room was inspired by the olive green color I chose for the cabinets and the stainless steel we chose for the hardware on the cabinets and the appliances. I call it "Contemporary European Bistro." The modern elements are the stainless steel appliances, hardware, and accessories and the idea to do pendant lights. The European infleuneces will come in with the artwork and type of activities we will use the kitchen for. I love to entertain--I love wine, dirty martinis, sitting around and sipping coffee with friends, and I love the idea of Spanish tapas or appetizers and drinks. I want to display my wine bottles and assorted glassware. I've been collecting corks from wine bottle since I got married, and I do eventually plan to craft my own wreath out of corks. Finally, I'm pretty sure I'd like to go with a smaller, counter height table in a dark wood color. Fernando and I rarely eat at the table (we generally set out the TV trays and watch Jeopardy together for dinner), so this would be more for looks and occassionally entertaining freinds. The added height from a counter height table will allow guests to see the TV in our living room while they are seated and enjoying food and drinks. Oh, and a lazy susan in the middle of the table will make it easier for sharing all those tasty tapas!

~LOVE~

Two More

Living Room

This is the mood board for our large living room. Since our house doesn't have a fireplace, we have a lot of room to work with. The main inspiration for this room is "Cupidon" by Bougereau. I became transfixed by his painting--isn't it gorgeous? The couch you see in the upper-lefthand corner is the couch we ordered from Overstock.com. It's tan chenille (super soft). The walls are painted a soft, sky blue color. To set off the tan couch and blue walls, I want to go with a soft green for extra chairs in the main sitting area. I'm feeling more of a tug towards a chocolate brown rug (since the tile in the living room is light). I think the darker rug will really outline the sitting area and make it more cozy. If I go with a dark rug, I want a light colored "cocktail ottoman." The couch we ordered doesn't have recliners, so we need a place to put our feet up. To tie all the soft colors together, I want modern silver lamps and lots of candles and glass candle holders. Finally, at some point in the future, I want to replace the sliding glass doors with French doors, and will cover them up with sheer curtains to allow all the natural sunlight to float through. We don't really need privacy curtains since our backyard faces a hill.

Home Office

This is the mood board for our home office, which is the first room you really seen when you enter our house. I have always loved the combination of yellow and gray, so I went with it. Since this is space that Fernando and I will share, it can't be too feminine, so I'm sticking with a fairly heavy-handed contemporary feel. I'm pretty sure I'll be buying that L-shaped desk from IKEA--it's perfect. Modern and spacious. Enough room for our computer, as well as writing desk space. I want two different chairs. A black leather one for Fernando, and a softer one for me in white or yellow. We want to do a reading nook as well--a comfy chair with an ottoman. I want one entire wall to be taken up with bookcases for that "built-in" look. The art on the walls will be sitting on "floating" shelves. I want to have one of my architect friends draw a pencil sketch of our house from the outside, so we can frame it and mount it in there. And as a bonus, it becomes a lovely family heirloom. We can always remember our first home, no matter where we may roam.

~LOVE~

Inspiration

Ah, heck--I'm bored at work. So I feel like posting my "mood boards" for the three bedrooms in our house. Since we're not ballers, we have to buy little pieces of each room at a time. To keep myself on target with my ultimate goal for each rooms' decor, I created these mood boards. And without further ado . . .

Master Bedroom

For our master bedroom, we painted the walls Behr's "Classic Taupe." Our carpet will be white, and we have bright white baseboards. In the future, I want to finish off the look of the room with classic white crown moulding. Nothing classier in my opinion. For the color scheme, I see a mix of chocolate browns, creams, golds, sage and olive greens, and light browns. Some of the elements in this board that I am "stuck on" are mounting a flat screen TV on the wall, a tall chest of drawers, a photo collage, a sleigh bed, indoor plants/flowers, and ceiling-to-floor curtains.

Guest bedroom #1: The Sunshine Room

In the smaller guest bedroom, I painted the walls Behr's "Sweet Apricot" color. The choice of hue was inspired by the inside of a conch shell. I want the entire room to convey a feeling of a sunny day on the shore of one of the Florida keys. Colors include lime green, lemon yellow, orange, coral, white, and touches of tan. For artwork, I want to frame vintage travel posters, and mount conch shells in white shadow boxes. All fabrics need to be crisp--linen and seersucker. And how awesome would it be to have a surfboard leaning casually in one of the corners?

Guest Bedroom #2: The Ocean Room

In the larger guest bedroom, we painted the walls Behr's "Winter Surf" which is a dark teal color. While the Sunshine Room is supposed to be all about the shore, the Ocean Room is all about what happens beneath the water's surface. I originally wanted to go with just black, white, and teal, but I decided to add graphic pops of red after seeing these awesome pictures of red coral and red starfishes. This room will have a distinctly modern feel to it. I imagine black laquer furniture that is softened by a stark white, goose-down comforter and tons of black, white, teal, and red pillows. For the art on the walls, I see black and white photos of the ocean, and black and white ink and paper sketches of items found underwater like sea horses, coral, sand dollars, and the lion fish. Finally, I want my grandma to make me some custom curtains out of black and white damask with a border of that red and white polka dot print.

~LOVE~

Welcome, 2009!

I never update this thing, but you should know, Fernando and I bought a house (with the help of my parents, of course). We haven't moved in yet because we're in the middle of renovations, but we should finally be living there in a few more weeks.

Vasquez Manor

~LOVE~