Browns and oranges

Dear always makes fun of me for being indecisive about color choices. He thinks that I test him by making him choose amongst several colors, then showing him another bunch of colors with his first choice mixed in to see if he picks the same exact one. I swear that they are all different colors but in looking at my last post, I can see why some would view me as crazy. Some of those colors look exactly the same!

So here are the colors, matched as closely as possible to web colors through colorcharts.org:

Which color do you like?

The living/dining room's slow transformation

The original wall color -- an old-ladyish dusty rose

At this point the walls were slightly roughed up with 150 grit sandpaper so there was dark pink dust everywhere -- eegh!

View of other end of room, with walls primed

First coat of paint (yes, there's really color there)

The color came out a lot lighter and more yellow than I expected. Everyone kept saying that you should find a color you like, then move up one shade lighter on the color chip thingy because it comes out darker in real life. Well phooey on them because I would have preferred something darker and if you hold the chip up against the wall, it blends in perfectly. It's just hard to gauge how it will look until the entire space is covered. And every little thing affects it, from lighting to furniture, etc. but I'm OK with it (for now). One thing the majority was right about is testing out colors in the room, at various times of day, on a white background. I didn't really have a white background to work with and the color ended up being less beige and more like cream.

Second coat, with potential accent wall left unpainted

I think it's a bit easier to see the color next to the currently white wall. Or maybe it's that the second coat of paint really did make a difference. Speaking of second coats, this color is so light that it was really difficult to see where I had already painted. Such are the perils of painting....

Choosing (or trying to) a color for the accent wall

If it's not already obvious, I have no idea what I'm doing, if this is even the right wall to accent, whether or not any of the color choices clash with the existing window treatment (b/c we're not likely changing those custom-made blinds), and whether these colors will clash with the furniture or other stuff. The idea is to put the dining table in front of this wall and I was thinking of a warm color to cozy up this side of the room and I had also read that warm colors make you feel welcome and induce you to eat more (i.e. feel more comfortable). That said, can you help me choose a color?!

The previous tenant

This past weekend, we finally discovered that there is another laundry room on our side of the building (don't get me started on our laundry woes -- I'll have to expound on them some other time). When the doorman was showing it to us, it was fascinating to see rows of doors that once were (maybe still are) apartments but are now considered illegal because they are in the basement. The doors were right next to each other, with a little mailbox next to each one, so I can't imagine there being much room inside each. Back when the rooms/apts were occupied, it must've been like tenement living, complete with the bathroom down the hall. Even more interesting was some of the gossip/history that the doorman, and later the super too, dished out.

SOME HISTORY
We bought the apartment from a recently widowed woman who had somewhat of an eccentric taste, and you could tell she was very particular about lots of things. She was also high-strung and extremely talkative and she always had nothing but praises for both the super and the doorman. However, they apparently disliked her and her husband b/c they were "crazy." Both the super and the doorman said they would be annoyed by her and were so happy when she moved out. We knew she was particular, but I didn't know that she threw a fit when there was a minor leak in the kitchen and some of her cabinets got wet -- the management company ended up giving her $20,000 to fix everything. She also gave the super her new, expensive microwave/convection oven b/c it was the wrong color.

But the doorman and super weren't the only people that were annoyed by her. The woman was in a rush to sell so that she could move elsewhere. We were surprised that once our offer was accepted we had the board interview within a few days. Normally it takes weeks, even months, but she so annoyed the management company (I think she called them everyday) that everything moved along very quickly.

HER LIES
The woman told us numerous times that her strong and healthy husband died suddenly from cancer that had already metastatized throughout his body; doctors discovered it one day when his blood tests came back suspicious but they had no clue otherwise. She didn't mention that he used to smoke packs of cigarettes in one day. They also had the vice of tipping back the bottle one too many times, as the super would find jugs and bottles of wine and liquor in the recyclables bin.

I was also under the impression that she and her husband were very much in love (she recalled stories of how they met back in high school and she broke down crying at the closing when she saw his signature) however they were also on the verge of divorce before he suddenly died. The super told us the story of how her husband once went crazy looking for her but he didn't have the keys to the apartment so he wanted the super to break down the door. Instead, the super climbed onto the fire escape and saw her inside the apartment, going about her business -- she was mad at her husband for something and had locked him out. I also found it a bit odd that as a grandmother, she never once mentioned her granddaughter. She did seem quite fond of her only daughter though. Turns out that her daughter blamed her for her father's death.

It's so fascinating to see the other side of things, another perspective, how things are never as they seem. But in this case, it's also sad. I feel sorry for this woman, who built up defense mechanisms (like denial) b/c everyone secretly (maybe not all so secretly) dislikes her. And everyone dislikes her probably b/c she is anal retentive about everything. I want to know what happened that was so bad in her marriage that they would want a divorce after growing old together (he was a lawyer, she worked from home -- was there an affair going on somewhere? Was it mutual -- she still seemed to love him?) I want to know what happened with her daughter that they would practically hate each other. And in her moving to another state, was it just grief that she was running from? Things are never as they seem. What other stories are people hiding?

Valentine's dinner redux

There are many things wrong with the above picture (why is there a spoon instead of a fork, why so much rice, hardly any presentation to the food, messy 'table') but the taste was anything but wrong. Add to the things that are wrong with the picture the fact that it is actually mostly leftovers that I heated up for myself when Dear was working late the other day, but it was still some good eating.

As I blogged about previously, Dear made me bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin and scallops for that pagan holiday and while the second iteration of it in the convection oven wasn't as good, I was able to snap a picture for remembrance's sake.

Good bye bigfatchinesewedding

I've "graduated" from engaged-and-wedding-planning to newlywed-and-living status. Gone are the days of frantic research on vendors for that one BIG day of your life, hello to the world of making your home by finding ways to beautify it, all while trying to manage your time, money, and energy amongst work and play.

It ain't easy

This homemaking stuff is hard! I don't know how people manage to work, cook, clean, eat, sleep, and still manage to have some leisure time. Because right now, I do at least 2 of those aforementioned activities on the subway (sleep, read somewhat leisurely, and sometimes eat). Thankfully, Dear is there to do most of the cooking while I labor away at the apartment. It's moving along very slowly and it's obvious that things won't be ready in time for Chinese New Year. :( I now see why people need to hire maids to help clean, or nannies to take care of their children.

SIDENOTE: I remember a while ago, not having much to do (I was screaming boredom at the humdrum-ness of my life), and then all of a sudden, I had a wedding to plan, and now an apartment to make home, and no time to relax. Where was the busy-ness back then?!

Latest memorable meals: shrimp and pasta in a lemon and butter sauce and for V-day (aka pagan holiday) bacon-wrapped pork tenderloins and scallops. The pork, as the name suggests, is very tender and wrapping the bacon (my favorite all-time food!) made it taste like a big hunk o' tender bacon. I was in bacon heaven!

Woo hoo! No shoveling!

There are many advantages and disadvantages to apartment living. A wonderful advantage is all this warmth (apartment buildings are notoriously wasteful with the heat, lest someone complains). While Dear finds it excessively warm, I'm enjoying being able to feel my fingers and toes, and not wearing 3 layers of clothes. It's also great to be able to have the windows open while we're painting so that we don't die of fumes or frostbite in this weather.

I love not having to mow the lawn, shovel snow, de-ice the sidewalk (and worry that there will be morons hoping to sue you for slippage), clean the yard, paint the fence and door, pay for water. Another advantage is being able to throw out the trash in just a few steps, while in your loungewear, and be warm, without braving the elements outside.

But it's not all hunky dory. I hate being woken up at 7:30am on Saturday mornings because the kid in the adjoining apartment loves to run relay races with his 8 (not so imaginary) friends back and forth for his morning workout. And it's hard to get used to our upstairs neighbor blaring his TV or occasionally dropping something. I had also forgotten about the ickiness of vermin that is, very often, out of your control because no matter what you do, if your neighbors aren't as diligent as you, they will find a way. Thank goodness for exterminators, but I still don't feel safe without wiping down the entire stove (including the burner grates) and countertops after cooking. What I miss most about living in a house is now having to go all the way downstairs to do laundry, and the associated fear of whether or not someone else will mess with your clothes. There is also the inconvenience of lugging everything, including the laundry detergent, quarters, fabric softener, not to mention your clothes.

Which is better -- apartment or house? Given my laziness, I'd choose apartment living. Right now, I also have no desire to have so much property to take care of.