Encyclopedia of Lizzie: D

It's week three [and a half..] of the Encyclopedia of Moi, and this week  we are focusing on things that begin with... 

Dunkin Donuts- specifically their coffee.  Even more specifically a caramel latte with one Splenda and extra cream.  It's not a daily necessity of mine (oh the calories...) but I do enjoy a treat every once in a while!

Dimples-  I love a guy with dimples-- specifically my adorable husband.  Unfortunately I couldn't find one. dang. picture of his dimples, so the role of JEGs will be played by Adrian Grenier for this post.  To most people it's just a dent in the cheek, but to me it's like a the perfect accessory for your face.  My favorite ones are the kind that only come out with a smile.  You never know they are there, and then BAM, they appear when something is funny.  It's like icing on the cake.

Dancing- Anyone who knows me, knows I love to dance-- and honey, I gots da rhythm.  It doesn't matter where I am- club, car, office, K-Mart- if there is music, I'm shakin' what Mommacita gave me.  Forget about whatever I'm doing  if The Percolator comes on, cause now it's time to percolate.  Oh, and that picture above-- that's from my 28th birthday.  And yes, I am dressed like Holly Golightly.  Why?  Because it's my birthday and I can.

Diners- I think it's pretty clear that I love food, especially if someone else is cooking it and cleaning the dishes.  Diners are the best because where else can you get omelets, a side of french fries and chicken croquettes at 3 am?  Also, when you are 19 years-old there isn't a whole lot to do in Bensalem, PA after midnight, so you camp at the Clubhouse Diner (pictured above) and torment a waitress for three hours.

There are plenty of other things that begin with D that I thought might mention-- my excessive us of the word 'dude', Dunder Mifflin, daisies, and my favorite Angry Lizzie word: d-bag. 

Always & Forever,
  ME

Read more...

Valentine's Day

"you must allow me to tell you how much i ardently admire and love you"

   -mr. darcy,  pride & prejudice

Since we will be moving a few short months, I have let cleaning, organizing and decorating slide.  I threw together a quick vignette for the most romantic day of the year. 

Using my DIY glitter candles leftover from Christmas and one of my all-time favorite quotes from one of the most romantic movies ever, I added in some roses the hubs surprised me with in a small mercury vase I picked up at Marshall's for two smackers.

Question of the day:  What is your favorite romantic movie?  Can we all agree that Colin Firth is the best Mr. Darcy ever?  Talk amongst yourself.

Happy Valentine's Day!
  ME

Read more...

Work Uniform

I am so ready for the spring.

I am ready to wear cute shoes again.  Cute shoes with skirts.  Anything besides what I have dubbed my "uniform" of late:

Layers.  Lots and lots of layers.

Not only am I wearing a t-shirt and sweatshirt, but I also have on two pairs of pants (yoga pants under the jeans) two pairs of socks and very warm boots.

Alright Mother Nature... bring on the warmth.

Always & Forever,
  ME

Read more...

Falconhead Cottage

Ok, I've made you wait long enough. 

You want to know which house we picked, right?  Of course you do.

First, lemme tell you about my weekend, Friday was so much...

What?  You don't give a damn about my weekend?  Well fine.  I'll just tell you about the house ;)

To start off with, I totally had a grand plan of taping and editing a little segment ala House Hunters with JEGs and I talking about which house we chose.  But I didn't.  So let's just pretend.

Suzanne Wong:  So which did they choose?  The hot mess of a duplex, the spacious rancher, the charming bungalow or the renovated twin?

JEGs and Lizzie:  We chose...

::images of the house popping up on screen:::
thump thump   thump thump   thump thump
thump thump thump thump thump thump..

(right about now you are thinking, alright Liz.  Let's get on with this)

The renovated twin!!

Say hello to Falconhead Cottage

On paper, this house was nothing we wanted- no garage, seriously lacking in closet space, and we didn't want to be attached to another building.  In fact, when we first drove through the neighborhood JEGs didn't even want to look at the house.  He said, "I don't want  a twin..." but I really loved the neighborhood so I begged him to just take a look. 

Once we walked through we both admitted to loving the place.  We just felt at home, and we really loved the fact that they had recently renovated.  Although I had originally wanted a fixer-upper, it feels good to know that all the major things are done so we can start working on smaller projects.

We looked at the house on a Saturday (the same day my car was rear-ended).  We did one more walk-through the following Thursday and decided to put in an offer at $5,000 below asking with a full sellers assist.  The next night (Friday) our agent called us back with their counter:  asking price with full sellers assist.  We agreed the house was worth it and accepted their counter.

We are technically under contract, and still have a few hurdles to get over, but if all goes well, settlement will be April 7th!

I've got a lot more I can't wait to tell everyone (including some project ideas we have and some a list of things every first-time home buyer should have), but I figured I would at least let you in on which house we picked!

Always & Forever,
  ME

Read more...

House Hunting: Twin

 With the fourth house on our house hunting tour, JEGs and I were seeing double (get it, it's a twin??  Ba dum cheeee)

The Stats:
Built: 1927
Style: Two Story Twin
Beds/Baths: 3  1/0
Sq Ft: 1,197
Garage: No

We walked into a small, but quaint living room

Say hello to the world's most awkwardly placed fireplace

The kitchen was large and recently renovated (and very bright green)

Hmmm.. those colors look rather familiar, don't they?

Upstairs the original hardwood floors were still intact, and I adored the natural light in master bedroom.

There was a single, full bath upstairs that had been renovated as well

The second bedroom made for a spacious guest room

Kim from NewlyWoodwards-- this room made me think of you ;)

A smaller bedroom was perfect for an office

Who wants a floor plan??  You do?  Good, I have one:

Pros
We found out the current owners had completely gutted the house and renovated everything.  I'm talking besides the obvious flooring, kitchen and bathroom, all the wiring, the heating system, even the roof was under six years old. 

The neighborhood was so charming and I fell in love with it as soon as we drove through (and yes, it even had sidewalks!)

The yard was huge!

Although a fireplace wasn't on my wish list, I am starting to love the idea of having one.

I had my heart set on a fixer-upper, and even though this is renovated, there are still some things that JEGs and I can do to put our stamp on the home.

Full sized basement with Bilco doors- which is another strange thing I've always wanted.  Bilco doors, that is.  They make me feel like I have better protection in a tornado. Because Pennsylvania is riddled with twisters...

Cons
 No garage.  Whomp whomp.

It is at the very tippy top of our price range.

Negative closet space.  My clothes will probably have to go in the guest room closet.  There also isn't a linen closet or a coat closet.  Creativity will be the name of the game.

Can we all agree that is the MOST AWKWARD arrangement of a fireplace?

Only one bathroom and it's upstairs.  I'm not totally against our guest having full access to our are of showering, but I wish we could have something on the same level as the entertaining.

This pretty much concludes our house hunting/crashing.  JEGs and I have a lot to discuss, but I'm curious, what do YOU think we should pick?  The duplex, the rancher, the bungalow or this twin?  C'mon, you know that's your favorite part about House Hunters on HGTV- trying to figure out which house they choose ;)

Always & Forever,
  ME

Read more...

Encyclopedia of Lizzie: C

It's week two of Encyclopedia of Moi and this week is brought to you by the letter:

[Note]  I made the mistake of asking my husband "what is something that begins with a 'c' that is either a part of me or describes me?"   He didn't need to tell me what he was thinking, I could just tell by the look on his face.  I'll let you use your imagination...

Cheerleading- When I was just a wee youngster, people would ask me "What do you want to be when you grow up" and I would reply "A CHEERWEADER!"  I have been obsessed with cheerleading since I was about 5.  I was in 8th grade when my dream came true by making it on my middle school squad.  I never looked back.  I cheered during all 4 years of high school as well as cheered 3 of those years on an all-star team.  In  college I beelined it to the cheer practices.  My Junior year of college I was named captain of the team and my co-captain, Tara, and I began to turn our ragtag team around.   When we graduated we felt we had put so much work into the team we didn't want to just leave, so for the next four years we acted as the coaching staff for this college team.   Unfortunately I had to step down due to a new working schedule, but I didn't leave cheerleading-- I found a  local high school team to help coach.  Ok, I'm going on forever about this subject.  The long and the short of it:  I'm still obsessed with cheerleading. 

Cosmos-  my all-time favorite cocktail.  Cranberry juice, vodka (preferably Absolut Mandarin) and a little triple sec.  Mix it all together and it's like heaven on my taste buds.  Three of them, and I don't remember the rest of the night-- but I look sassy holding my pink concoction.

Camera- as in I always have mine with me.  I had a professor in college who once told the class that cameras were a waste of technology-- we don't need pictures to remind us of our memories.  That made me want to take his picture so I could remember how much of a dbag I thought he was.  I am obsessed with memories and I love to snap pictures of everything.  Plus, I like to have it ready for blogging purposes.. you never know what you might see that is blog-worthy!

Chopper-  I'm not one of those crazy, aero-enthusiasts, but  I do spend a fair amount of my time in a helicopter for my job. I will never take for granted the awesome aspect of my job, I love the sights I get to see on a daily basis.  I'm also getting really good at identifying the different kinds of helicopters!  The one pictures above is not my helicopter, but it is the kind I fly in-- an A Star.  "It's an A Star sir, not an Apache".  Gone in 60 Seconds?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Want to join in the fun?  Check out the other entries at Shannaigans!

Always & Forever,

  ME

Read more...