MOVE IN DAY...72 hours

The construction of our new home has been like running a marathon. I'm glad to say that we have .2 miles left of our 26.2 miles. The entire trip to get to 309 Malaga Avenue has taken over 2 years and I am thrilled to say that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

As most of you know, I love to run. In fact, I have run 4 half-marathons in the last 5 months. Running has been a life saver for me and has kept me sane throughout this process. Dave Gray knows that I work best with visuals, so he put this last phase of our construction into terms that I could relate to. He said, "Sue, remember...the real marathon starts in the last 6 miles". Boy was he right! (I think my brain is cramping up right now!)

Right now, at this very moment, it looks like "Extreme Home Makeover" over at our house. I keep expecting Ty Pennington to come around the corner.

Sod ready to go in

Family room pendant (love the shadows it casts on the ceiling)

Trampoline assembled and ready to be dropped into the ground

Dave's office (painted BM-Naragansett Green...really looks dark blue)

Laundry Room

Front door

Jack & Sam's shared bath

Bunkbeds in Playroon

Tub in master bath. (Long enough for 6'2" Dave Gray to straighten out his legs)

Foyer

Screened Porch (tv will be mounted over fireplace)

With just 72 hours left until we move in, you can see from these photos that we have a ways to go before Saturday morning, but the adrenaline is kicking in and we are sprinting towards the finish line.

the Plant Cam

It was the beginning of August and we were at Jack's soccer game in 100 degree weather. As we were huddled under the Homewood Soccer Club tent, we started chatting with our friend, Spencer Cooper, who owns a television production company. We were discussing our construction project, when Spencer recommended we use a "Plant Cam" 
to chart our construction progress.

 

Right then and there, Dave ordered our "Plant Cam" 

from his iPhone. When it arrived several days later, 

Dave couldn't wait to strap it to the utility pole across the street from our house so we could "let the games begin".

Our Plant Cam is set up to take a photo every 30 minutes during daylight hours. The video shows 5 months of work in 2 minutes. (The time lapse begins with the house already demolished and the lot prepped and ready for construction.)

Please click on the video below, 

to see our new home's progress up until now.

 

Hollywood Cape Cod time lapse

(click here to see it larger)

Poppy Gray (1998-2012)

8/24/98 - 1/9/12

Yesterday, we said goodbye to our 13 1/2 year old Wheaten Terrier, Poppy. For anyone that knows me, Poppy wasn't just a dog, he was our "first born".

 
I even named my graphic design business after him.

Celebrating Poppy's 13th birthday at Bruester's with the Condon kids

Poppy & baby Butterbean

 Godspeed dear friend! 

You were a joy and a delight and the best friend a girl could ever have. 
You will be greatly missed!!!!!

Delicious Lighting

Nine months ago, I went into a custom built home that took my breath away. I had left my kids in the car as I raced through the house. When I came out, the kids said, "What did you think?" and I said, "The light fixtures were absolutely delicious!!!!" My kids looked at me like I was a weirdo, but I really think that my mouth began to salivate as I coveted all of the Circa Lighting pendants & sconces. (FYI: the interior designer for this breathtaking house was the super talented, Wendy Barze.)


Earlier this week, the good Lord was smiling down on me when I stumbled across the Circa Lighting Facebook page. And what to my wandering eyes should appear...but a "Black Friday WEEK" sale at Circa Lighting. It was 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I quickly formulated a plan to drive my kids to Gadsden and then drive to Hotlanta to see what deals I could find.


Long story short, I spent 3 hours in the store with the most patient salesperson, Teri Edler. She helped me create some fabulous "lighting-scapes" for each room. I am SO glad I made that trip to the ATL!!!

Check out some of our "lighting scapes"...

BTW, the other night I went to see Twilight New Dawn. Just as Bella is about to die from her weird pregnancy, I lean over to my fellow "Twi-hard Mom," Rachel, and say, "Look at those fabulous Circa Lighting Caged Lantern pendants with paper shades above the island. Aren't they wonderful?"  
(NOTE: please refer to my previous blog post about the fact that when everyone else is crying in a sad moment in a movie, I, on the other hand, find myself noticing the set design.)

When it comes to lighting, I guess you can say that I am a huge fan of clean simple lines. The way I see it, if the accessories can make the dress, then the same can be said for the right lighting. It can make a space better than you ever imagined!

Kitchens: the hub of our home

I have been saving "the big one" to talk about until I had all of my ducks in a row and I had a clear vision on the look that I was going for. You all may remember from several blog posts back that I gave up a basement for this...so it better be worth it!

Here goes...

It all began with this picture of this kitchen ceiling...

which as you can see, 

had the "Dave Gray coffee shop" eat-in area

Something about this layout struck a cord with us and we designed our entire house around this concept.

Because I am a "visual person", I decided to mock up my cabinet layout so I could take it to meet with the cabinet builder. I could immediately tell from his reaction that he thought he was dealing with a "crazy person". 

range wall

frig wall

As the crazy person that I am, I decided to go for it and push the cabinet builder over the edge by presenting a plethora of kitchen images to confuse him even more. 

First, I started with images of kitchens with the range in between 2 windows.

Interior Designer: Betty Burgess

Tracery Interiors

 

Next, I kicked into high gear with photos of pantry walls and islands. 

Let me tell you, he was psyched!

Lee Kleinhelter

Tracery Interiors

Wendy Barze, Marjorie Johnston Interiors

But seriously, the cabinet maker, Tim at McCormick Cabinets, was the nicest guy! I appreciated his patience with me considering he had just finished a 48 hour shift at the Mountain Brook fire department. I only made the poor man sit there and listen to me ramble on for 4 hours.

SIDE NOTE:

And while I'm talking about patience, there may be an award given to our builder, Byrom Building. They both have endured my countless emails, all with multiple photos attached. Marty & Colt have the "patience of Job" and are the nicest people to work with. We couldn't have selected a better pair of guys to help us along this LONG bumpy road to finally getting this house built! And as my son, Jack Gray, would say, "THANKS A LATTE!"