The Countdown...

We are cleared to close!! The date is set for December 29th!!! Jason and I are ecstatic. We usually want Christmas to last forever, but this year we just want to be 'done gone!

After closing on the 29th we're going to have pizza and beer/sodies at the new place to celebrate, and the next day starts the work...

The Work:
Removing the carpeting from the BATHROOM and Kitchen... I pray that there is something salvagable at least for a little while under the mold-trap carpeting, but my hopes aren't too high! From what I saw during the home inspection it appears that the bathroom flooring is hardwood (or possibly soggy wood)... either way it's a lot of work that I am **really really really** looking forward to doing!
My bathroom inspiration is the following:

The wall tiles in the bathroom are a semi-sparkly beige and the tub toilet and basins are plain white for now, but I will be painting the walls with same color shown here as well as the accent wall with the anchor. We plan to do the flooring asap so that will also have the same effect. I am quite pleased that Jason agreed to this scheme because I've picked out colors and schemes for almost every room and I always lean towards the real salmony pinks... he's a good sport!!

Our 2nd project is the kitchen, which at this point is a 1970s disaster. It's got lovely yellow walls with (fabulous) black plastic 50s tiles for a "chair rail" and white cabs with yellow doors... the black tiles are wonderful and go from the kitchen down the hall to the bedroom doors- that's staying. The kitchen colors are based on this photograph:

I plan to do the walls and cabinet fronts in the green color, with the red color only for the cabinet bases. I don't want to appear to have a Christmas Kitchen, so I may shoot for a more orange red than the one pictured-- also all of my kitchen stuff is the Lusterware red and white and my curtains are red and white gingham so that should add to the more Kitchen-y than christmasy theme!! Ohhh.. .and my chalkware fruit with faces... the little jerks, are will be lovely too... I absolutely can't wait to get them up!!

Packing, Waiting and the Worst Yankee Swap Ever...

Packing and Waiting...

The long awaited home inspection went quite well. I was happy to see that there were only 2 problems and they are easily fixable and will be paid for in part by the sellers... that was a relief as the home is being sold through a poa for a 90 year old woman (the original owner of the house). That was last Saturday. I've got most of our things packed with the remaining necessities still cluttering up the joint- easily boxed things so that is good. We hear from the financing on Friday and then from there we wait until the 29th to sign and grab hold of the keys!! It's the waiting not the packing and carrying heavy boxes that is killing me!!

The Worst Yankee Swap...

Saturday night is our 5th annual (as married folk-- it will actually be our 9th annual in terms of actual events) Christmas Party. This years theme is Christmas Island-- were we not moving I was going to do the place up Polynesian style with palm trees and hibiscuis flowers and water and sand... but we're moving so I'm just FORCING the guests to wear Hawaiian attire. I myself have a fabulous vintage Hawaiian strapless with matching bolero, so that was the basis of my theme.. haha

Every year we hold The Worst Yankee Swap usually around 9:30pm. Guests search far and wide for "the most horrible gift you could recieve at a yankee swap" and the fun ensues. Last years more notable items were castor oil, Undies from a florida tourist shop, a candy bar with razor blades in it (my contribution)... This year the swap gifts are sure to be sickening... I'm really looking forward to it!!!

I Know All There Is To Know About The Waiting Game...

I am usually good at keeping my impatience at bay (well sorta, lets not kid ourselves...), but this week long wait for our home inspection is killing me! At 9am on Saturday we're meeting the inspector, and I am wishing it were earlier-- for 2 reasons:

a) I want to get another good look around and I want to peel back a corner of the hideous beige carpeting to make sure that the hardwoods I thought I spied are really still there...

b)The Inspection itself-- duh!

I've posted (hopefully not too hastily) the realtors photos of La Casa Termini (pronouced like Ter-min-e not Ter-meeeney) because I just couldn't hold out any longer!! My lack of patience over this house is almost as bad as my usual lack of patience for Christmas coming-- and where the house is Christmas this year, it's a double whammy! Anyway, you, dear reader, get a glimpse at the 70s nightmare kitchen, stock with the plastic orange and yellow mushroom shelf over the stove (look hard and you'll see it!)... Luckily the 1970s damage is only done in easily removable/repaintable form, which is just great because even though I *think* I'm this wonderful handy-girl, I am merely playing one along with the folks on hgtv---speak of the devil, I've got a show to watch!!!

Homebuying and The Holidays...

Who in their right mind buys a home over "the Holidays"? Apparently Jason and I do...

My name is Marcella, and my husband is Jason. We're both 28 years old and are currently waiting to see if our first time every home purchase is going to be successful. We've done all the paperwork to buy a fabulous 1954 Yellow with red shutters Cape home in New Hampshire. Our home inspection is set for next Saturday and from there we'd be scheduled to close on the 29th... My fingers are crossed that everything is going to go as planned. My real estate agent (and close friend) is confident that things are great, but she's of German descent and I am of Italian descent and I think the worst until I am proven otherwise!!

By trade I am hairstylist. I specialize in 1930s thru 1970s formal styling (weddings, proms, photoshoots, etc...) and spend 99% of my time living and breathing vintage and retro. My husband works for the telephone company and plays acoustic rhythm guitar for a rockabilly combo. He too is a vintage everything fan. Our clothing, hair and home decor reflect this lo--errr... obsession!

It was important to us when seeking a house that it have elements of the past still intact or easily replaced/restored. Our initial preference was towards ranch homes, but unfortunately in New England, ranch homes in our price range were no bigger than summer cottages, so that led us to Capes (not New Englanders which somehow seem to slip into that category!) built in the early to mid 1950s. We've viewed houses in this style for about 3 weeks and came to find the one we're to be closing on by somewhat mistake... I sent my preference list of homes to view to my realtor and put the wrong house on the list... A sign maybe??? I don't know, but I am very glad to have been such an air head, because this home screams our names! Okay-- it screams 1972 at the current time, however minimal interior work will make it chant "Marcella and Jason!"

I am usually a myspace blogger, but as I've been snooping on the houseblogs.net site (literally, multiple times a day), I realized that I'm more interested in the like minded folks there than on teenagerspace. I hope to post photos of the house as soon as the dust and debris from the closing has settled! I will post photos of my current holiday set up (in our hideous brown carpeted living room) though!!!