Okay. The Mpls House is Ready

 So the Mpls house is looking good. Sure we've stashed a few things so they're just out sight, but for the most part this place is super clean and def the most de-cluttered its been in the last 7 years.
  Photos were taken of the house this afternoon - hopefully potential renters will be enticed. Fingers crossed that we can rent ASAP!

Things the Mpls house has going for it:
- cute, lots of character
- 3 bedrooms *technically (I say 2 bedrooms, 1 office)
- hardwood floors throughout
- updated kitchen
- 2 car garage
- close to light rail station (the 38th St. Station is exactly in the middle of the light rail line: Right in between Target Field/Down Town and the Airport/Mall of America)
- paver patio + covered patio space with countertop bar
- fenced in backyard - the yard is large enough for an 83lb dog like Finch, but small enough that mowing only takes 10-15 min.
- lots of flowering plants and bushes

come along for a photo tour of the Mpls House!

living room + original archway

guest room + bathroom 

kitchen hallway - complete with wine/wine glass wall cubby

kitchen with LOTS of creative storage...

head on up the stairs to find some built-in storage cabinets we added
+ a view of our loft-style upstairs bedroom 

1. Our Bed
2. Finch's Bed 

... and out the back door - nice and homey 

covered patio area complete with bar/countertop area that Kevin built

backyard, garage, and never fail: a friendly face to greet you at the fence

Do NOT go in there!!

Whew!! That bathroom is messed up! for real...it is completely torn apart.

our new shower will be the length of the back wall
where the toilet and little corner shower used to be

the new wall has been framed up
(you can see the line on the left where the door frame used to be)
our new vanity will go in here + a newly painted mirror
(reclaimed from my parent's home circa 1973)

Ready to prime and paint this mirror - cross you fingers that it turns out okay!

From my parent's old master bathroom, to my basement for the last few years, taken apart and ready for a new look :)

Don't worry Kevin, we'll get this thing looking better...

Stay tuned!!

Hey! Why don't we build a new kitchen AND a new bathroom...at the SAME TIME!

Great Idea!
So we've taken on a FEW projects at the new house...  In addition to the kitchen remodel, we have added a master bathroom re-do as well. I mean why not?


Master Bath BEFORE:

So there's a toilet...and a shower... and that's about it...

The sink/mirror space is separate...
but there is no door between this area and the rest of the bedroom...
kind of like a motel room... 
The mirror is already down in this pic, but I think you can tell where it was...

The Plan:
Remove the wall in between the toilet/shower space and the sink space, build a new wall to enclose a new vanity, shower, and toilet together, and most importantly: behind closed doors. We are reconfiguring the toilet placement as well as the placement/shape/size of shower to allow us to actually FIT inside.


So now we need to figure out tile for the floor and shower and the vanity, mirror, etc.


Small space = small vanity cabinet. Let's try to find one shall we?

1. Dark Wood? Not sure if this would be just a dark box in a small bathroom
2. Maple? I like this...but we're planning light/medium gray (aka "Delorean Gray") tile and
I'm not sure how they will pair
3. White? This will def go with the gray tile, but doesn't look like real wood really...

Relay for Life

I am participating in Relay For Life for the American Cancer Society for the 5th year in a row (maybe 6th?). The event is really important for raising money to help in the research to cure Cancer. It's coming up on June 24th-25th. My Relay Team, captained by event co-chair, my mom Bonnie, is made up of family and friends - Our team name: "Angels of Hope."

If you or a loved one has been touched my Cancer, please consider donating via my fundraising page. Any amount will really make a difference towards this great cause.

The event takes place at Hopkins High School as 'teams' spend the night, and take turns walking around the track ALL NIGHT. The track is lined with luminary bags that are lit as it gets dark around 9pm. Each of the bags are decorated "In Memory Of" or "In Honor Of" for individuals who are battling or who have lost their lives to Cancer. With a $10.00 donation to my site, I will decorate a luminary bag on your behalf with a name, message, you name it. I can even snap a picture of the bag and send it your way. Send me a message with details, and I will ensure that a lovely luminary bag is there, at the event, ready to glow all night showing support and instilling hope for everyone, especially your friend or family member.

 

Donate

Let there be Appliances!!

We're super pumped about today's appliance delivery!
- Fridge  = check!
- Range = check!
- Dishwasher = check!
- Microwave = check!

Kitchen Progress!!

Full steam ahead! With all the new kitchen cabinets assembled, Kevin and Ian set the cabinets in place! They added the legs to the base cabinets and followed my lovely diagram... and voila! a kitchen is started to appear!


The Plan:

The Progress:

Next step: Appliances! and tile, and backsplash and...

The Storm!

We experienced our first technical difficulty at the new house today due to the crazy storm (which produced a tornado a few miles away...)
Today we:
- cleaned the old fridge - aka "kevin's new basement beer fridge"
- assembled more kitchen cabinets (only 3 left to go!)
- wood paneling removed in downstairs living room to reveal some 'fine handy-work'...

Downstair's Family Room BEFORE:

Wood Paneling!!!

Torn Apart and In-progress!

   Cue the technical difficulty... tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap....ahh, the little pitter-patter of DRIPPING WATER!...Leaking was located in 5 different places in our new home. The roof was replaced in 2008 with what our inspector called "premium shingles" 
   Was all this leaking the result of some seriously out-of-the-ordinary storming? We will soon find out: We will have it all checked out soon + Realtor Shaun Gray is on the case (our home is "inspected and warrantied" so we will see what that means exactly...)

Moving + Demo = Sleepy

Friday = Kitchen Demo Day 1!
Yesterday = Moving most-things Day
Today = Cabinet Assembly!, pry off that old wood paneling...
  Wow - we are POOPED! Between moving pretty much all of our belongings, less the day-to-day essentials, and a complete kitchen demo - we've been BUSY! yikes! And poor Finch, had to stay home and miss the fun...


Completed:
- remove old kitchen countertops
- take out old appliances (fridge to basement laundry room, range + dishwasher directly to garage for prompt appliance recycling)
- remove old kitchen/front entry-way tile
- new cabinets delivered
- move stuff from Mpls house
- p/u furniture from Grandpa Fernando's out in Eden Prairie
- run new gas line for new gas stove - thanks to Jeff
- Begin putting new cabinets together - thanks to Roger, Ian, and Sara 


Extra special thanks to Elisa's parents, Bonnie & Joey, Jeff, Roger, Wes, Ian, & Sara for all of their help! Come on back tomorrow for Cabinet Assembly Phase 2!


Here's a peek at what the heck Kevin and the guys have been up to:


 BEFORE:

DEMO!!

now the place looks kind of gross...

more to come...

Tonight's Meal: German Pancakes

Ah man, breakfast for dinner - better known as 'brinner' - is the bee's knees. Growing up, German Pancakes was my favorite meal - and really kind of still is - I think I started calling it "The Ultimate" because we would pile on the syrup, powdered sugar and loads of fruit until it was really massive (kind of "Pannekoeken Huis style"). The pancakes raise up like little mountains in the oven - it's fun to flip the little oven light on and watch through the window :)
I think I also love German Pancakes so much because it's one of the few things that I can actually make - its nice to bring something to the table...literally...

Shall we get
started then?


German Pancakes:
You will need:
4 eggs
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 c. sifted flour
2/3 c. milk
2 tbsp soft butter
1/2 tsp salt


1. Wash your hands + Preheat oven to 400
2. Grease with butter two a 9" x 13" cake pan
3. Put eggs into blender, cover, and process on a low speed (like STIR) until golden yellow in color.
4. Turn blender speed higher (to MIX or BLEND) and remove cover: add remaining ingredients, blending until smooth.
5. Pour into prepped pans and bake for 20 min. (be sure and have a peek at them to see how they raise and bubble - not because you need to, but bc it's fun!)
6. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 10 min.
7. Cut/Slide onto your plates and dig in! Serve with butter, syrup, powdered sugar, strawberries, applesauce - any fruit = yummy.
We usually make 1 batch for me and Kevin - so: Serves 2 adults (At my parent's house, we double it up and bake two at once)


+ hey! let me know if you give German Pancakes a try!

3" x 5" Recipe Card - print + cut on dashed line - Enjoy!

McBride's Brew!

   Kevin took a poll on facebook: and the winner is good ol' Irish Stout - Brew it up! 6 weeks until it's ready!

   Here is the fancy label we've created! Going to print a bunch and have them laminated so they can be reusable too!



click on label to see it enlarged :)



Move'n On Up!

The McBrides are moving from Mpls to Minnetonka, but we have lots to do before we get there...
- Closing = Today May 16th, 2011!!
- Tear out old kitchen - ALL of it! Appliances, Cabinets, Flooring - it all must go! We're ready to get going on the NEW kitchen right away, and the goal is to document our progress for all to see!
- fix up master bathroom - looks like a motel room right now...
- move *most of our stuff - coming up this Sat. the 21st.
- get Mpls house ready to rent!...in progress...


our minneapolis house (picture from when I first moved in over 7 years ago:
old front door and old crumbly front steps!)

the new Minnetonka House

Let's begin then shall we?

Hello! We're the McBrides! And we're on the go...pretty much always.

Stats:

Kevin: Computer Networker, the cook, spontaneous

Elisa: Designer, the maker of cute things, planner/list maker

Finch: 83lb Fawn Boxer - really silly

I think it might make sense to back up a little:

Sept. 18th, 2010: Our Wedding!

Here we are on our wedding day!

We took on a lot of projects ourselves including wedding invitations that I ran through the sewing machine, arranging bouquets and boutonnieres, little shoe rosettes, bird's nest ring bearer pillow, centerpieces, table numbers just to name a few... Artists from Etsy created super cute yellow bird cake toppers, and my amazing jewelry along with a pearl and rhinestone bird hair comb. Talented friends made a lovely rosette/ribbon for our card box, and fabulous tote bags for each of our bridesmaids (and I added a fun felt hanging initial for each).

+ Let's flash back to Sept/Oct 2005 - Finch was only 8lbs when he came home!

little tiny Finch on his first day home!

family pics - out in the backyard last summer