Out of the Dark Ages

Well, we've finally gotten around to doing this... a sorta big announcement...

We're now accessible at www.normallyoddcouple.com (we love blogspot, don't get us wrong, but wanted to shorten our address). So, tell everyone you know! Kidding. Update your bookmarks, and any links you may have on your page to ours. If you're still trying to visit us at our old address, don't worry. You should automatically be redirected.

Nothing else has changed YET... but stay tuned for a new house tour page... coming soon!

Blogiversary!

It's so hard to believe that today is the ONE YEAR anniversary/birthday of this blog!

A HUGE THANK YOU to our readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're what keep us posting - so keep reading, and recommend us to others if you find us worthy enough.  All five of you... okay, maybe six!  :)

I am not always known for sticking to something, so this really is quite a feat! So much has happened in our lives this year, and it's been fun to "chronologize" everything on here, providing commentary on many of our firsts. Through writing and maintaining this blog, I have learned so much and grown personally, and maybe that's really the point of a blog.

We can't wait to see what the next year has in store... stay tuned!

Love,

Favorites Lately

Thing we've done/seen/eaten/enjoyed lately that have been on my mind:

• playing cards late into the night on the screened-in back porch, lit by candles
• corn on the cob
• Robin Hood with Russell Crowe
• a clean house, with clean (and more importantly put away) laundry
• Junior Mints
• quality time with friends & family
• sandals and flip-flops
• PSU Coffee Break ice cream from The Creamery (thanks Mike!)
• spring blooms and thunderstorms
• sleeping with the fan on "oscillate"
• planning for the kitchen mini-renovation

So, that's me and my random, wandering mind.  I feel like summer is here to stay! :)

Yard Sale Postlogue

We successfully (we think!) pulled off our first yard sale.  Indulge me for a few minutes with the details...

Wednesday Night - we hung up signs around the neighborhood in key locations (see this post) and began to price our items, using a color-coding system because three different families were selling their items at our yard sale.

Thursday After Work - We priced, and priced and priced some more... organizing our items into "like" piles.  You know, kids stuff, clothes, home decor, kitchen stuff, furniture.  Rob's mom brought over a van load of stuff to sell, too, so we had fun chit-chatting while pricing & organizing.

Friday Morning - Yes, people actually come to yard sales on Fridays. Rob and I woke up at 6 AM (unheard of for us, even on a normal work day!) to make sure everything was completely set up, so that we weren't still organizing when treasure-hunters were coming to browse.  By 7, we had a place for everything on the driveway and in our garage and were ready to go.  Here are a few photos:

Friday Afternoon - By about 2:30, the traffic had tapered off.  We were pretty surprised that throughout the day there was steady traffic. One person would come, look around, maybe buy something (if we were lucky!) and leave.. then another would come.  Our grand total for Day One was $66. Not a bad start.

Saturday Morning - Remember that movie Groundhog's Day?  Saturday morning felt like a scary, strange repeat of Friday morning, except that we slept in (HA!) until 6:30 AM.  We decided that we could squeeze in an extra half hour of sleep since we knew where everything was going to go on the driveway and all we had to do was quickly move things out of the garage.  More people came first thing on Saturday morning than Friday morning, and we had quite a good turnout.  And the weather both days was gorgeous, which made it all the more worthwhile.

Saturday Afternoon - Around lunchtime, Rob fired up the grill and we sold attempted to sell hot dogs, Nathan's hot dogs actually, but no one really bought them, although a few bought some water bottles and cans of soda that we had on ice.  Also, our new washer and dryer got conveniently delivered, and for no extra charge, the delivery guys offered to bring the old ones up out of the basement, so we decided to sell those, too - and we actually did!

Around 2:30 PM, dark clouds were rolling in, so we decided it was time to wrap it up. And we got everything back into the garage just as the first drops were starting to fall from the sky! Everything that we didn't sell went to Goodwill, with some of the larger items placed out by the curb for a good old Craig's List Curb Alert! We still have a few trips to make to Goodwill, but are mostly finished.

The grand total we brought in (all three families) was just $333 and some change. And we made about $200 of that, which will get put back in the "house projects fund." Plus, there's a little less clutter in the basement. What a great feeling!  And another big PLUS for us was being able to meet some of our neighbors - some who came and bought stuff, others who just browsed and chatted.  It was great being able to meet people who live around us and get to know them a little better, and we're sure we'll see lots of them out and about this summer. 

Have any great yard sale finds lately?

Let's Get Ready to YARD SALE!

Another one of the favorite American spring/summer pastimes, especially early on a Saturday morning is yard sale-ing. I, myself, don't really plan my Saturday mornings around that - my sleep is too valuable. But occasionally, I'll stop if I am driving by and see something interesting.

But helping to organize a yard sale is one of my many talents (well, maybe talents is a little too strong of a word... but you get the point).  Rob's mom is bringing a bunch of her stuff to our house, and our friend Becky is bringing stuff, too - so we can advertise as multi-family, which might help a little.  We're selling all kinds of things... books, clothing, toys and games, kitchen housewares from college, Christmas decorations, some collectibles, and even some furniture.  Right now, we have everything on tables in our garage, and will put the finishing touches on pricing the rest of stuff tonite after work so that all we have to do VERY early in the morning is pull the tables out.

Some good ole fashioned marketing - neon signs stapled to a telephone pole!

At 10 PM last night, we went on a covert mission to hang up the signs at strategic locations near our house - one near WaWa!  There wasn't much traffic then, which allowed us to take our time.  We also advertised on Craig's list for the past few days, and are hoping we might get some traffic that way too.

So if you have nothing to do, stop by - we'd love to see you.  And you might find some good deals, too! Who knows?


Look for another post about Yard Sale Day #1 tomorrow sometime, complete with more pictures, and an update of how things are going!

Random Musings

This is going to be a no-picture post, although you can see some lovely pictures of our flowers in bloom here.  Since it's the first spring in our new home, we've enjoyed being surprised by the colors and types of flowers planted by previous homeowners. Right now the poppies are in bloom, and I hope to post pictures of those soon - they're fabulous!

This weekend, we spent a bit of time powerwashing some of our backyard and soon-to-be patio furniture. It's amazing what a little bit of pressurized water can do!  While Rob was working on that, I transplanted and potted some plants and herbs (mint and basil).  We are hoping to get some more vegetables planted in a bed out back for this year, with hopes of building a raised garden a little bit later, but not in enough time for planting for this summer. We also pruned our Japanese Maple to make it a little less lopsided and expose more of the pretty trunk... and be able to more easily mow under it without killing ourselves! 

We've also been busy moving in some new furniture donated by our family with the selling of Rob's grandmother's house... and just as busy getting ready for our first yard sale, to happen this coming Friday and Saturday.  I am hoping to start pricing items tonight that we've been collecting in a corner of the basement as we moved and unpacked.  Hm... to go with the "all items on this table $1" method or individually labeling or color-coding with a sign labeling... not sure.  Suggestions?

1st Anniversary Getaway

Time sure flies when you are having fun! It's crazy to think that a year ago, we were returning from our honeymoon in St. Augustine, FL and settling into our first week of life as newlyweds.  Now, a year later, we have moved out of our apartment into the home we purchased in November 2009 - and are happily working away on projects and building our life together!

For nostalgia's sake...

So this past weekend, we celebrated our first anniversary in Alexandria, VA - a city that we know and love - for its historical feel and main street with shopping/antiques and good restaurants. We found a great deal on a four-star hotel on Priceline.com (shout-out to William Shatner!), that was in walking distance of King Street.

One of the highlights of our quick getaway was getting gussied up and going out for a really nice dinner - something we don't do very often, but were able to swing thanks to a generous gift from my grandparents.

VERMILION, owned and operated by Dave Hammond and Executive Chef Anthony Chittum, was an excellent blend of innovation, fresh and seasonal foods that come from local farmers, and deliciousness.  We sat at a cozy table for two right in front of the middle window on the second floor of the restaurant - dimly lit with brick exposed walls, and had a great view overlooking King Street at night.  Rob and I shared Steak Tartare and a Pork Belly Salad for starters, Rob ordered for his entree the grilled berkshire pork loin cajun boudin croquette, spiced rapini & green garlic pomme purée and I ordered the pineland farms beef striploin with “smothered” brussels sprouts, fingerling potato confit & black truffle. The hint of truffle perfectly complemented one of the most tender pieces of beef I have ever eaten.  For dessert, we had a really hard time choosing between the ricotta pound cake with mascarpone and citrus three ways and the chocolate bar (layered dark chocolate cake) with almond brittle, fleur de sel & evoo ice cream. Yeah, vanilla ice cream drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. We chose the ricotta pound cake, and were pleasantly surprised when our waiter also brought out the chocolate bar - on the house for our anniversary!  If you're ever in Alexandria, make reservations for Vermilion. SO GOOD!

On Sunday we went to the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. because we're just cool like that. But that's for another post on another day...

The Short List

We've been doing a lot lately, and have many things to post!  Here's the short list, with more details to come.

1. Front door got painted - a major transformation!
2. Kitchen rehab step one - mission accomplished!
3. The flower beds had a million years of leaves cleaned out.  In the front at least.
4. We mowed our grass for the first time on Monday evening!
5. We bought a 70's style bookcase with great detailing that needs a little TLC and will be a fab up-cycle.
6. WE CAUGHT UP ON THE LAUNDRY (towels and sheets included)!

the Magic of Macy's

About a year ago, I was checking the Macy's website almost every day, to peek at what had been purchased off of our wedding registry.  We were so glad that we registered at Macy's, because not only did they have a wide selection of options in their home store (at least our King of Prussia Macy's did), plus the Analon cookware that we were hoping to receive (thanks Mom & Dad!), but their cash back rewards incentives were great, not to mention their amazing sales.  We got a gift card a few months after our wedding for nearly $100 - 5% cash back from all gifts purchased by our guests, and 10% back for purchases we made for the wedding such as the groomsman gifts.

And usually, I lose everything, and am surprised that after moving twice, I still had the gift card!

I just happened to check the Macy's website today to see if they were having any sales, and today was the preview sale day for one of their One Day sales tomorrow.  So after work, I made a quick stop.  And, man, I sure was glad I did.

I scored a Martha Stewart white ceramic pitcher, a set of pillow shams for the guest room that is soon to be decorated, and a cast iron griddle/panini press... ALL FOR $40 (marked down from original prices of over $150)!  The salesperson was nice enough to give me an extra 10% discount, since I shared that I had registered there - she just printed out my registry from last year and added these items so I could get a better deal.

So, if you haven't lately, and you need a gift or something new for your home... don't forget to check out Macy's.

Note: Macy's did not pay me whatsoever to mention them in this post.

Blogger Improvements

Thanks to some "home improvement" of it's own, Blogger has become even better to use for managing this blog, and has allowed us to be more creative and organized! And if you're a fellow Blogger blogger, be sure to check Blogger in Draft for all the newest, latest and greatest blog-techy stuff.

We hope you enjoy the new look and some of the new features on our blog. Take time to explore and make sure to check back as we add more content!

Connectivity Problems

Our internet has been down for the last week or so, and sadly, that has meant no blogging (I am actually doing this post at work over my lunch break!).  We may need a new modem, so as soon as Comcast sends us a new one, hopefully we'll be back up and running.

The second half of February was busy, and went by in a blur... due mostly to the snow.  It's been the snowiest winter in history on record in our north-west of Philadelphia area, which has meant for 5 snow days during the week in the second half of February, lots of shoveling, and learning about snow drifts due to our home's location next to a farm/cornfield.  We're talking 9-10' drifts.  Insane to see in person, and a picture doesn't do justice! 

February was also my birthday month.  I love celebrating my birthday, mostly because it's something fun to get excited about in all the dreariness of winter.  This year, Rob took me out to dinner (also, my birthday was on a 6-day weekend due to snow days!), and then we went to New York and spent a long weekend in the city - saw a show (The Fantasticks) and went to some great restaurants, bakeries, and cafes... such as SEA, a really great Thai restaurant in Brooklyn's up-and-coming Williamsburg neighborhood.

My parents also moved from the house I grew up in to a townhouse/condo in late February, so we were very busy helping them pack and move (and getting some free stuff from them for our new place, like lawnmowers, rakes, and camping gear). 

We are glad March is finally here, and are looking forward to the warmer weather and blooming buds (alliteration anyone?).  And to working on some of our "warmer weather needed" projects and getting our hands dirty with some gardening and landscaping (stay tuned for our compost bin build project!).  What are your plans for this spring?

And the Award Goes To...

I just love watching The Oscars (and I am secretly counting down the days to Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin hosting this year)... and last week, I was so happy to see that a fellow blogger, Brittany @ Little Miss Scatterbrained, nominated us for a Beautiful Blogger award.

Thanks for spreading the award love to us, Brittany! We love you back!

Our Winter Wonderland

Pictures from a very snowy day.  Too bad it was a Saturday...

Snow Day Planning

It kind of sounds like an oxymoron to plan ahead for a snow day.  And I don't mean the run out to the store and buy eggs, break and milk kind of planning.  But I figure if we're going to be stuck inside Friday night and all day Saturday, I might as well put it to good use.  Here's what I've got planned... working on some of my year's to do list and working on some other projects I've been "collecting":

• Finish second linen wall board project (made first one a few weeks ago, but still have supplies sitting around for the second).
• Get to the bottom of the laundry pile.  This is on my list EVERY week it seems, but somehow, it's a bottomless shopping cart pit.
• FILE! And not the taxes (thanks to 2 accountants in the family, I won't have to use the TurboTax this year).  We have so many bills and tons of paperwork that hasn't made it out of the bill box into our filing cabinet yet.
• Felt craft art project using some materials I found recently in the $1 section at Michael's.  Pictures to follow this project, of course. 
• Get Rob to finish re-installing all of the outlets so we can cross that off of our list.  Not many to go!  

Other than these projects, we will probably build a fire and watch some movies. And maybe I will try a new PW recipe from my cookbook.  Any snow weekend plans for you?

2010 Project Plan

We have many goals for ourselves in this new year, and 2010 will be our first full year in our new house. We are excited to look forward to all the projects we plan to accomplish this year. Here are our top ten!

1. Finish replacing outlets, light switches and cable boxes.  Rob has gotten a lesson on replacing all these things from a good friend of ours who has a background in all things electric, so he got busy starting this project - but every time we think a room is finished, we find another old outlet.
2. Refinish dresser for master bedroom.  The dresser we currently have is from Rob's childhood, and his mom painted it teal many years ago to compliment the jungle theme in his bedroom.  A fresh coat of black paint and some new hardware will make this look like it was meant to go with the bed we purchased a few months ago.
3. Remove wallpaper and paint. We're still working out all of the different design elements for the kitchen, as we eventually plan to put in new flooring and countertops, so stay tuned!
4. Sand and paint kitchen cabinets, followed by installing the new hardware we recently purchased at Lowe's over Christmas break on our huge shopping trip.
5. Update the look of our front door with paint (red or black? still trying to decide) and new locks and handles... and maybe a new storm door to create a better seal and save us some major mulah on the heating/cooling bill.
6. Linen wall board(s) project, like this one from PB, to help get our organization booties in gear.
7. Refinish daybed - paint and purchase some new, more fitted bedding and tons of throw pillows.
8. Organize basement. This will include sorting stuff that we've been receiving from our parents' storage, deciding what will go toward a yard sale that we hope to have sometime this spring, and figuring out an aesthetically pleasing way to store what we do want to keep - most likely with the help of an Ikea storage system (like this GORM system) that suits our needs.
9. Build workbench to maximize storage in garage, and provide an area for organizing our ever-growing collection of tools and project parts, like this great new cordless drill we got for Christmas.
10. Landscape, landscape, landscape.  This is Rob's main goal for the year. I think he could probably care less about some of the other projects on our list.  There is one section of our yard that needs to be graded away from our foundation on more of a slope, and we're hoping that will solve the one area of our basement that leaks the least bit.  But we want to get this taken care of so that we can plan how to refinish the basement in future years.  There are also some trees that need to be cut down, branches trimmed, beds redefined, and the list goes on.  So we will be looking forward to spring in a major way this year!

We hope that you'll stay tuned for what we hope will be a productive year here at The NOC, filled with many before and afters, great home-reno project lessons learned, and creativity expressed as we continue to make our house a home!

Guilty of Neglect

My blogging has recently been placed on the back burner - so sorry to all my readers and fans! (I still like to kid myself that I actually have readers and fans).

After our harrowing settlement day gone awry, due to a federal reserve bank tech wrongly coding the wire transfer of funds from our mortgage firm to the attorney who was processing the settlement, and after a wasted work weekend because we couldn't get into the house until Monday instead of the Friday before, we finally got the keys and put the fiasco behind us.

We spent our first night in our new house on our comfy airbed on Monday, November 23rd.

On Monday, we jumped right in on our list of to-dos by taking down vents and unscrewing outlet covers, patching holes in the wall and cracks in the ceiling, caulking around the window trim to ensure a tight seal and less cold air getting in, and painting the ceiling. By the wee hours of Tuesday morning, while Rob and I were fast asleep because we had to work the next day, my mother-in-law, outfitted in her tshirt du-rag and sunglasses to protect her hair and eyes from paint splatter, had finished the last ceiling in the living room. Tuesday after work, my mom and sister and sister-in-law all came over to help tackle the painting, and by Wednesday night, we had a lot of the walls painted, with only touchups and trim remaining. And carpets to tear out. Rob and I spent Thanksgiving morning working on trim in the guest bedroom, before going to his parents to celebrate. On Friday morning, knowing we had all the loose ends to finish up, we headed out to Macy's for some Black Friday shopping (because we had a gift card that expired at the end of November) and then went to Ikea, where we got some great deals on nightstands and a shoe bench for our master bedroom (and other things like some curtain rods, shears, and accessories). By the afternoon, we were back to working on the house, me painting trim and Rob taking up the tack strip for the carpeting. We were pleasantly surprised by how nice most of the hardwood floor looked, and are glad that we can hold off on the refinishing project for a little while and get a bunch of estimates to get the best price. Dave and Lisa stopped by after their Black Friday shopping excursion, and jumped right in pulling up staples and nails and nasty foam padding that was under the carpet. By 8 PM, we had all the carpets out, most of the foam stuff up, and had painted all of the trim in all three bedrooms - with only touchups and trim in the living room and hallway to complete. Rob's siblings all came over after family bowling (which we had to skip out on, sadly) and we got EVERYTHING finished in time for the move on Saturday morning.

We're still unpacking boxes, and Rob is taking care of our little mouse (probably mice) problem in the basement - more on that in a later post. But we are so thrilled to be living in our new home, and can't wait for you all to see it in person! Or online... once we get around to taking pictures and posting them... maybe later this weekend!

Say a Little Prayer

If you're reading this, then please, please, PLEASE say a little prayer for us tomorrow (friday). It's closing time... sorry. Too many songs going through my head.

We're very excited to have the bank make out our check, take a final walk-through and head to the settlement table. Ok - and a little nervous, too.

Next time you hear from us, we will be jingling the keys to our new house (fingers crossed - knocked on wood). And that means some new pictures with some paint on the walls!

See you on the flip side!

Awkward Yard Sale

Yesterday after church, Rob and I decided we would drive by our house, since it wasn't too far out of the way and we had our friend Barry visiting and wanted to show him at least the outside of our VERY soon-to-be new place. It was a gorgeous day, after all. As we approached the house, we saw a huge rental dumpster outside, and a yard sale in the driveway. Rob decided we should stop... AWKWARD is the only way I can describe how I felt.

So for a few minutes, we nonchalantly browsed around as typical yard salers would. And then we noticed that the upright freezer was for sale... too good of an offer that we couldn't pass up on. So Rob approached the sellers (daughters of the woman who owned the house and passed away) and told them we'd like to purchase the freezer and a few other things. They said, "Do you have a truck?", to which Rob shared that we were the buyers, to which their response was "Well, why didn't you say something?!" (in a nice way). My shy self was looking at an assembly of baskets far from where Rob was striking the deal, but the awkwardness in the air soon cleared and we all introduced ourselves to each other. So for $50 (in addition to all the money we're already shelling out to them to buy their house) we got an upright freezer and 1940s upright refrigerator (think Mad Men) that we will keep in the garage and use to stock up on bulk deals and frozen soup and beverages for parties, a four-drawer filing cabinet, a large sturdy basket, garden hose, lawn seed spreader, metal trash can, set of fireplace tools, and ember glass table lamp (which I think will look great with a new shade!). And the REALLY great thing was that we were able to just keep it all there.

As Rob was toting some of our bargains out to the shed, two of the women were asking me where we lived now, etc. and I shared that we had just gotten married in April and this would be our first house. One of them said, "Well, I think Mother would be very pleased", and another said "We hope that you will have a very happy life here." I know they are still grieving the loss of their mom, and I'm sure it was nice for them to be able to feel more assured that a nice young couple who will take care of the place are the ones moving in. So what started as a pretty awkward situation turned into something very positive, and not only for us.

Ode to the Phils

Now that the baseball season is officially over, we are glad we have the soon-to-be new house to keep us occupied until spring training begins. The Phillies were the second best team in baseball this year, and that's nothing to mope over. We're proud of them for making it into the World Series for the second year in a row. Good fans support their team through wins AND losses, and so we'll continue our love affair with the Phillies despite their heartbreaking loss. I'm sure they feel worse than their fans.

We both got to enjoy a National League Championship Series game shutout win, and Rob and his brother went to Game 3 of the World Series on Halloween. So we had a pretty lucky postseason getting to see our team live.

Maybe sometime in the future we'll be able to afford season tickets so we don't have to base our attendance on luck, but who knows when that will be... too many home improvement projects loom ahead, I'm afraid.

A picture from the past, in honor of our fightin Phils...

Tape, Newspapers and {Empty} Boxes

Two and a half weeks until closing on our house, and I have less than 3 boxes packed. And so far, I've only packed books. I've searched the web for "moving tips", thinking that would put me into the mood to begin the process that I am all-too-familiar with. I have been collecting boxes from work for weeks now, and we've been saving the Sunday paper (sans coupons) and got tape and some Sharpies with a $10 Target GC that we got when we got the newspaper subscription. So I've got the goods. The problem is the lack of desire to actually PUT things IN the empty boxes. I don't know what it is about starting to pack that makes me so unmotivated. I am usually ready for a big change like this, and although I can enthusiastically say that I am MORE than ready to move, I just feel overwhelmed (?) about packing.

Maybe when the Phils win the World Series, Rob will want to help.

Most likely, the day before the truck gets here, we will be tossing things in boxes randomly.

This past Saturday, we purchased 16 gallons of paint that will get us started on getting the house ready to move into before we actually move on Thanksgiving weekend. 6 gallons of s ceiling paint, 2 gallons of Dusty Gold, 2 gallons of Harvest Brown (a tan tone), 2 gallons of Tate Olive, and 2 gallons of Bradford Brown (think brown and eggplant, mixed). We tried to choose natural colors so that we could bring the view from the outside in, since we have such great natural light and wonderful views of fields out of most of our windows.

In preparation for pulling out the old, nasty carpets, we have been purchasing, collecting, and searching for area rugs... a sometimes arduous task.