things that make me happy | 01

Let's talk about happy things this week in the world of OHS.



We have heat in the apartment, finally! Temperatures getting to 20° it is much needed.

Cabinets are in! THIS IS THE BEST NEWS EVER. Not fully functioning yet, but we're on our way!

Receiving Christmas cards from friends all over the country and Save the Dates! Adulting may suck sometimes but it's really not all that bad.

Watching the dogs in the snow together. They were actually playing with each other.

We went Christmas tree shopping with Liam's family this weekend and it was cold and snowy but it felt like Christmas. Except for the snowy roads we couldn't get up, everything was really fun.

I'm pretty sure I decided to scrapbook again in 2017 and that makes my heart happy. It has been a long time since I did it but I would like to go for a small less stressful system when I finally get all of my things out of storage.


Enjoy one of the last few weeks of 2016!



a bit about the seriesIn previous blog world, I would do snippets that would capture snippets of my life in photography. As time has gone by, I realize my photo taking isn't nearly as often as it used to be and when I found Kelsey, Especially's series on this, it fit my life so much better. An update on life without needing a photo to fill it all.

our first christmas

This year is our first Christmas together!
We met last year around this time when I was running a holiday gift drive for a family in need in our local community. Liam came to my office to pick up a gift tag and we started to chat. We met a few months earlier at a Happy Hour but this time was when he asked for my phone number. So this is our first official Christmas together, hooray.

It's hard to believe it has been a year, but what an exciting year it has been for us both.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to pick out our Christmas tree. It was a cold cold day but it didn't take us too long to pick it out, probably due to the cold we decided not to be too picky. This is my third real Christmas tree, my parents have always had a fake one and when I finally left for good, I decided a real tree was going to be my thing.

We named her Beatrice, or Beaty for short. She's tall, round, and full of life. She also has an antenna because I haven't found a star or topper that has caught my eye. Picking out and cutting down trees is so fun, maybe not for the person who has to lay on the ground and actually cut the tree but for me it's fun! Sorry Liam. Our decorations in the house are at a minimum considering the house is a little disorganized and not done but at least we have a tree!

16 days until Christmas!

moving along: kitchen

It has been almost a month since we last updated about how we were doing on the kitchen and it has been a steady progression. Those fixer upper shows never show you how difficult it is to plan and get over those hurdles. I understand now why people outsource and hire contractors to mud and sand drywall- it's the worst.

We decided this past weekend we would take the time to really prep and get a lot done. And guess what? We did! Liam was putting mud on the walls all last week to prep for sanding, which by the way is THE WORST. Like really the worst part about renovating is the sanding and how much dust it creates. We were smart and responsible this time, we had respirators so we wouldn't be breathing in the dust and put Fifa downstairs with his dad so she wouldn't be exposed. The masks were on point! I could breathe! Liam still needs goggles, but he's stubborn.

Thanks orbital sander for helping us out. Friday night we started around 9pm and finished around 3am, exhausted. I followed him around vacuuming with the ShopVac to try and save us from some of the dust.

Saturday, we primed the walls. Sunday we did a second coat in the morning and then painted! The ceiling and the walls! You can notice the wall has a different shade of white, we decided not to paint behind the cabinets because it was more work and more paint so we stopped where the cabinets would be. It is SO bright here! The lights bounce light off of these walls and I'm so excited for it to come together. The color we used was Distant Gray by Benjamin Moore but we color matched it with Home Depot's BEHR.

The room is so bright!
I can't wait until we can see some of the cabinetry. We still need to figure out what to do with those beams and what/how to wrap them, also what type of wood and where to get it for our shelves. I need to order the drawer pulls and a shade for the window, with all the big things happening I keep forgetting about all of the finishing touches.

Next weekend we start assembling and mounting the cabinets! I can't wait!! We almost have a kitchen guys and I can't wait to finally cook in it. No more bagels and cereal for dinner! But thanks to all of our friends who feed us and let us use their kitchens as our own :)

photo shoot

We decided this weekend was the perfect weekend to take some photos for a potential Christmas card. I have been doing cards for the last two years with Fifa and have loved the reaction I have gotten from friends. This year is a potential to add a boyfriend to the mix, risky risky! It has been a running joke with friends that you shouldn't add significant others until engagement or marriage. I guess you will have to wait and see if Liam made the cut!

If you did not receive a card the last two years (sorry, let me know about this year and we can try to squeeze you in) here they are:

 2014

2015

These were some outtakes from our photoshoot, we had a ton of fun.
We laughed, a lot. It brought him to tears. The dogs were barely cooperative, more interested in rolling in the grass or peeing on something on the trail. It's so difficult for me to choose a card when I'm on Tiny Prints but their cards are my favorite!

If anyone has thought about doing a Christmas card but felt like it was only for people with families- it's not! I think anyone can send them, it's not only for couples with children because I love getting cards from friends with or without kids. I love pets, I love friends, and I love snail mail.

warming up the kitchen

It's hard to believe we're almost there! Almost there meaning we almost have walls up in the kitchen, not having a fully functioning kitchen; don't get too excited everyone. Liam keeps reassuring me that it's going to look beautiful, I know it will but sometimes it gets hard living without a kitchen! Two and a half months with only a microwave and a toaster oven, I can't wait. Can you say cereal and pizza rolls for dinner? We will not be going out to eat for a long time when this is all completed.

We put up insulation in the floor, walls, and ceiling to keep us warm and cozy in this fluctuating Fall. Seventy degrees one day, 27 the next.

See that beam? It's for looks, no real structural need for it. If you look below, we have another one that actually is helping to hold up some of the floor joists. It was not a load bearing wall but we did it as an extra for peace of mind, so then we mirrored it on the other side. We will wrap that in some nice wood and stain it. It should look like these awesome wood beams!

We insulated by the bathroom wall here and closed off that window where it used to be apart of the bathroom. Lots and lots of insulation in order to keep that heat in during these crazy New York winters, I am hoping my second NY winter is as easy as my first. I don't think I will get that lucky again.

Now, the stairs!

It's so open! We are deciding on stair rails for the space and yes, it can lead to heating the downstairs and upstairs but it is so much more open. It looks so much better than before when it was an awkward door leading who knows where. We have made it more practical and better on the eyes!

This is what it was before:

We are in the process of putting up the drywall right now, by the end of the weekend we should have mud up! It will take time to dry so during the week the mudding and sanding process can begin! We are moving along quite nicely with a timeline of December. The next two weekends we will be in NJ for a Rutgers vs. Penn State game and Thanksgiving! YAY!