Thunderbolt

Own a vintage bike- check!  (Now I have to tackle the other half of my 30 before 30 requirement- actually riding it) Less than a week after my last post debating the merits of vintage vs. new bikes, I found this guy on Craigslist.  Isn't she pretty??

She's an early 60s Columbia Thunderbolt and needs a little bit of love to be a safe ride, but totally worth a try!  It was listed for $140 in the town next to mine- not quite as low of a price as I wanted, but close enough to check it out.  I'm perpetual haggler, so I had to negotiate: I offered him $100 and he took it without blinking- I should have started lower!  He was flabbergasted, though that I actually planned to ride it and not just display it.

Craigslist isn't a miracle (I'm still hunting for a patio bench) but it only took a few weeks of hunting to find this gem!  She needs a name, though- I'm thinking something 60s-inspired.... any ideas?

At Long Last

I've been doing a lot of talking about projects and planning projects, but I feel like I don't have a lot of results lately to show for it.  It's all in the works, I promise!  I'm taking the opportunity finally to tackle some larger projects that I've been putting off for a long time. Now that the yard is ready for the summer, and I hope to get our front porch done by the end of the week, guess what the next major project in my sights is.

Yup, the kitchen!!!!!  The project that I've been dreaming about since the day we closed on the house 2.5 years ago  (I blogged about the kitchen here, here, here, and here).  I'm so excited!  Aside from new appliances and extending the countertop for a dishwasher, I have not touched this room.  It still has a non-working fan, light fixtures that I HATE are less than ideal, and cabinets that, although they look ok, are barely functional.  I'm just in the beginning phases now, pricing and planning, but I'm ecstatic that this is finally going to happen!!

I'm about 95% set on the 2-toned kitchen of dark stain on the bottom and white on the top. Like I've said before- we like wood cabinets, but the kitchen is petite.  Petite kitchens like ours can't handle all dark wood without getting dark- hence the introduction of some lighter cabinets like this kitchen:

image via pinterest via Design Manifest

Imagine my kitchen with these cabinets (ya know, minus the tile backsplash, gigantic island, floating hood, etc).  I think it'll totally work out amazing and although Hubby's not convinced hes finally smartening up and has decided to "defer to my judgement" on the colors.

We're hoping to get started on this end of July and bang it out in a few weeks or less.  AHH, my new kitchen's going to be awesome!!! (in my humble opinion)

Do you have any projects you've been dreaming about for years?

Patio Sanctuary

My garden is happy.  When my garden's happy, I'm happy.

I'm still on the hunt for the right bench to add some needed lounging space, but mulching, planting, pruning, and trimming is all done!!

It may be a tiny yard, but it meets and exceeds our current yard needs (and it was the first thing we fell in love with when we saw the house!)

After 3 summers of moving around plants, adding and subtracting plants, and generally making the landscape work for us, I couldn't be happier!

The 'planted' pots by the fence are our herb garden.  It's directly in line with our kitchen/back door (easy access for cooking) and the pots serve to chorale the more invasive herbs, plus they look cool in my opinion.

The yard has totally become my little sanctuary.  I wish you could hear the birds chirping- it's so peaceful.

Where's your happy place?