Et tu Tuesday?

Meh. Apparently I am still lingering around the outskirts of Suckyville (though I do have some company...). I mean, seriously, are we DONE yet? hahahahahahaha.... NO. Ugh.

Today isn't looking much better than yesterday... though Swiss's "thing" worked out just fine and he is safe & well. Phew. My new dishwasher? Doesn't drain, and the sink still leaks. BIL needs to fix this because I simply don't have the gumption to deal with it. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER! NOT WORSE!!! The dog is now fluffy and clean... but he won't sleep past 5:30am. Which is killing me slowly. Today I am only doing 2 people's jobs, so that is better I suppose! And did I mention how humid it is here? Yesterday it was 95 with 47% humidity. I was sweating like crazy just standing outside... lucky us we get more of the same today! HOORAY UPPER MIDWEST. And by that I mean not. Decidedly.

But I won't complain any more because I know it isn't that bad. I get to go to Milwaukee this weekend for a Counting Crows concert with the coolest gal I know, Beth, for her bachelorette 'party' (the best thing is that we did the exact same thing for my bachelorette 'party'). And you must understand that by 'party' we mean, go to a great concert, drink overpriced beer, and hang out in general. MAN- WE ARE CRAZY! Right? No? Oh, well. I think we both like it better this way... no phalluses involved, no "Suck for a Buck" and NO tiaras/veils. Perfection!

Okay, I should get to work and stop avoiding it like the plague. Validations make mah brain hurt. Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!

Teh Kitchen

HOORAY! I have a semi-new kitchen! The remodel is thisclose to being done... just some finishing touches and I can put her through the wringer, so to speak. Anyway, I thought I would give you a good old fashioned, HGTV inspired before and after. This was totally like a Design on a Dime episode, only with a Brother In Law, a bunch of Mountain Dew and an abundance of fart jokes. What can I say, my BIL is one classy guy.

So, without further adieu...

BEFORE: (ugh, what a mess! Sorry!)

AFTER! (oooohhhhhh! aaaaaaahhhhhhh! *golf claps*)

New sink: $185

New faucet: $114

New countertops: $178

New dishwasher: $297

Fixins: $75

TOTAL: $849 (plus $300 labor)

Aren't y'all proud of me!?!?! And doesn't it look lovely?! Sigh... I'm a happy girl and pretty sure this will go a long, long way in helping us sell this house. YAY!

LiveBlogging: The PCS, Part 2

This is part 2 in a series... Oh, and one more thing. A good friend is also blogging about the PCS experience from his point of view, that of a Military Brat... go check it out. I promise it will be helpful if you have kids and this guy is funny, realistic, insightful and honest. Plus, he thinks I am funny, which will always help me like you more. What? ... I'm being honest! ;)

Okay, so the house. Ugh. The house. I love our house. And really, not to be selfish or whatever, but it is kinda my house. I bought it before I met Swiss and the poor guy has really only lived there in weekend-long spurts and for random weeks at a time, but it does house his stuff... man, does it ever! I slaved over the real estate web pages for 6 months to find it. I decorated it. I pay the mortgage. So really, this whole Sell-The-House! (patent pending) thing is my issue... my burden to bear. Which, considering Swiss is in the Sandbox, isn't too bad of a deal for me. But I digress...

Today I met with our real estate agent. She is the kind, patient lady who forged around 30+ houses with me when I was on the search for this one. And she found me just what I was looking for. Only this time I am counting on her to SELL just what I had been looking for. Because now? Now I'm in the market for some sweet on-Post housing circa 1953 with stained brown carpeting, plain white walls and a tiny kitchen. I'm crazy like that.

The list of things to do?
1.) Remodel kitchen. Like, yesterday.
2.) Declutter, depersonalize and edit... this will be hard. I have stuff. Lots of stuff. And I like it, I don't want to pack it up... this isn't any fun!?!?!
3.) Maintain immaculate home... will be a challenge with a shedding, overly active dog and slightly slobbish ways.
4.) Pack up the unnecessary items, get our sappy photos off the walls and get rid of the junk. See #2 for appropriate whine.
5.) Have Mom do as much of this as she can while I am at work. Oops! Did I write that down?
6.) Spruce up yard, plant things, don't kill them.
7.) Have mini-meltdown on way home from Target after meeting.
8.) Shove my face full of Chipotle for dinner to soothe self.

Yeah, so consider 7 & 8 done. I think it is just me being weary of doing, well, everything solo. This is the stuff you are supposed to do WITH your spouse. This is the crap stuff that you help one another get through. This the stuff you do together, instead of relying on your mom or whatever. But alas, not for us. Anyway, I will work on 1-6, um, like NOW. Our agent is confident that we can sell the house, but the sooner we can get it on the market the better. She is trolling for potential home buyers who are currently renters (and therefore can accommodate the fact that we can't move out until November 1). I just have to get everything in order, pack some things up, clean, organize and pray for a real estate miracle.

And away we go! So, do y'all got any seller/staging tips you want to share? Because, seriously... I NEED THEM!!!

The kitchen saga

New Countertop Samples, originally uploaded by Tucker&Swiss.

Okay... so the kitchen. We all agree that dark counter tops are our favorites- so dark counters it will be. Think #11.

Sinks, stainless it is... you guys are awesome... I never even thought about all the stains on the white ones (I thought mine was just old so it stained more readily).

And here is where it gets interesting. The faucet. Y'all picked #3 (which is secretly the one I wanted y'all to pick because I loved it). I went to Lowe's yesterday to pick up said faucet. Dude. The thing is HUGE. The actual faucet is probably about a foot tall. It would look ridiculous in my kitchen... or most kitchens for that matter. Stank.

So back to the drawing board on the faucet. I will post more options later for your excellent opinions. Hopefully the ones I pick out this time will not be better suited to the home of a NBA star.

I am off to eat some Berry, Berry Kix (2nd favorite cereal) and hang with the mutt before I head out to tromp through the woods with my MIL and SIL looking for shed antlers.

Happy Sunday all!

PS- I finished my painting in art class! I posted it over at my other blog, check it out if you want to!

Round up.

Love, originally uploaded by Tucker&Swiss.

I am missing Swiss so very, very much today so just because I can I'm giving him so blog Love. This was taken on our visit to Duluth last summer and that is Lake Superior in the background. Oh, how I miss him... it creeps its way into every part of my day, even my dreams. At least we are close to another week down. Is this thing over with yet???

I am generally swamped today and don't have much mojo so I will post the kitchen choices this weekend. I'm really excited and all of your input has been tons of help! (And Hooray for keeping the dark counters!)

Here's wishing all of you a super weekend and enjoy the Spring weather!

The kitchen: part 4

Here they are folks! The faucets! Hooray! Number 'em 1-4 like yesterday and let me know what you love!

Tomorrow I will post everything together and we'll see if it looks fabulous! :)

The kitchen: part 3

Sinks. Sexy, sultry sinks. Okay. I don't know of ANY sinks that would qualify as sexy or sultry, but I am trying to make this post exciting! Ooh! Sinks!

Is it working?

Hmm. Didn't think so. Anyway, here they are. Stainless vs. white? Boring or quasi interesting? These are the four or so I have narrowed it down to...

Consider them numbered 1-4 and give me your takes. Remember, this is a 1927 home with original white and somewhat plain cabinets. The knobs are simple and a twee bit modern... I got them at Ikea.

And look on the bright side. Once we decide this... we get to pick a faucet! Woot!

The kitchen: part 2

First off, of course I want your opinions! You all are smart, witty and clever ladies who have had more than your fair share of kitchens to deal with... why wouldn't I? Thank you for all the great input yesterday- y'all rock!

Second, in regards to the market here. It is good. Better than the average because our town is home to a 'destination medical center' (talk about marketing terms, right?) so there is always an influx of new residents and employees. Plus, our house is within walking distance of said hospital and in a historic neighborhood... 2 big items that we hope will go a long way in selling this house.

Third, COUNTER TOPS!
We currently have... wait for it... parquet wood flooring tiles as our counters. Niiiiice. (I know you are all SO jealous!) My mom and I got all crafty on it when I moved in (back when I was single) and sanded it down, wood-filled the heck out of it, and painted it a faux black marble. I love the dark counter tops, they look so good with all the white and the lighter floors! But again, pretty taste specific... I can't imagine that they are everybody's cup of tea. So, with that in mind I've picked out some black options to stay with what we have, or some beigey tannishness options to lighten things up.

So, without further adeui, here are our choices... (all are laminate, we just aren't in a Corian or stone price bracket).

New Countertop Samples, originally uploaded by Tucker&Swiss.

Note- the black ones will be in another post because I am not smart enough to figure out the blogger/flickr issues I am having...

The kitchen: part 2.5

New Countertop Samples, originally uploaded by Tucker&Swiss.

Here are the black options...

I can't wait to hear what y'all think! And I promise I will post pictures of the current counters & cabinets when I get home tonight. Happy Tuesday!

The kitchen: part 1

Okay... welcome to Kitchen Makeover week here at Tucker & Swiss. It'll be like HGTV, only without the commercials and all the special effects.

Thanks to a hearty tax refund, we are updating the kitchen post haste (partly for me, partly for resale- either way Hooray!). This week I will enlist your help in making some decisions that will help with resale, which shouldn't be too hard for y'all because I know how opinionated you are! See, I know what I like... but what I like is odd, so I don't want to do anything too crazy, I want it to look uber-great when it goes up for sale next year. So that is where you ladies come in!

First things first. Here is the kitchen.

It looks kinda patriotic now that I look at it, but it was never intended to be that way. I fell in love with my red KitchenAid and all my kitchen utensils/accents are red. And there was this insanely bright blue paint that I adored. So it went in the kitchen. But I digress. We need new counter tops, a new sink, new faucet and a new dishwasher.

My first question to you, dear readers, is this: MUST I repaint? Is the blue too much?

I really, really don't want to since it is less than 2 years old and frankly, I think it looks great with the white cabinets and honey floors. But be honest, do I have to bite the bullet?

Tomorrow: Counter tops!!!!