LGB 4 Life

More retro-bloggin here...

The last weekend in September we headed way south to spend the weekend in Seacrest Beach, Florida with Warren and Rebecca. We had so much fun... the weather was perfect, the food was great, the beaches beautiful, and last but not least both AU and UA won that weekend so everyone was happy!

Once we hit Birmingham we hopped in the car with the Smiths and to our pleasant surprise we were spoiled with movies!

Now this is the way to travel!

Rebecca's gorgeous beach house and our accommodations for the weekend

This was the view from me and Ryan's balcony on the third floor...

can you tell why we didn't want to leave!?

BIKES!

Yes, these were used during our trip, but not for very long... Ryan got bored way too fast, boo

He prefers a pina colada kind of vacation! I didn't resist :)

Warren's Booya tequila, yes that really is the name -
he loved it

Ryan made us yummy turkey sandwiches to munch on -- always a crowd favorite

And then we were ready for the beach!!

And this is Warren dressed in all my beach gear.

"I'm ready!!"

Golf cart service was wonderful... and lazy all at the same time, but we're on vacay, right?

Warren's personal lifeguard stand ;)

And this is what we stared at all day long -- LOVE me some Florida beaches

The four of us :)

I swear we got a little sun, haha

Warren and Ryan have been friends for a long, long time... from middle school to being groomsmen in each others weddings and everything in between. I know they (we) will always be friends.

That being said, you would seriously think they were brothers!! I love being around these two. There is never a dull moment. They're fighting over a hat here... this went on for a little bit

I think we know who the winner was here. What a bully.

Warren is so our Dupree! haha

The four of us ready for dinner with Powerful JD (hahah)

Rebecca and me

The next day we spent a lot of time on the balcony looking over Rosemary Beach. We ate, drank, played cards, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and had a good time catching up

Then we were off to dinner to do a little football watching

Best buds

Me and my hunny dressed in orange to cheer on our Tigers!

Love these two!

Haha, I had to post this. And this was only the beginning...

I can't remember how this came up, but basically Warren's boss at work (prior to coming to the beach) told him he looked like he had a lifeguard body. Warren was pretty creeped out so that quickly became the theme of our trip.

Naturally we insisted on a "lifeguard body" photo shoot... HILARIOUS. I'll let you be the judge if any Booya was involved here ;)

Thanks Warren and Rebecca for inviting us to your beach house! We had a blast!

Kitchen Re-do: Phase 1

Today I've got a house update, or a 'before and after' rather, for you to see --

THE KITCHEN!

Ryan and I keep saying that we're going to take a break from projects, but instead we just keep adding them. We've been loving the transformation of our first home and are so excited for what is still to come.

Since we bought the house we were planning on replacing the cabinetry in the kitchen. But last month we decided to see how they look painted and see if they're worth keeping. After all they are solid wood.

I immediately started researching colors and Ryan went to work dismantling the doors from their hinges and removing the hardware. I have been obsessed with painted gray cabinets for a while now, but Ryan wasn't completely sold. He was swaying more toward white, but ultimately we decided to just go for the gray, and I love the way they turned out!! The kitchen looks SO different. Ryan got a paint spray gun for this birthday and it really gave them a professional look, along with Ryan filling all holes and dings (from 50 years of use and abuse) with wood putty as well as sanding for countless hours. He really put a lot of work into these cabinets and it paid off big time. Since I won on the color choice I let him pick out the hardware. He chose modern stainless steel handles and the end result looks fabulous! Enough of the chatter... here are the photos...

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

Ryan began taking the doors down left...

and right!
Then we toted them down to the garage to be prepped for painting

The range hood also came down and its absence instantly updated the space - we'll replace with an under-mount vent that won't be seen

Then Ryan chalked the cracks...

...and filled holes

And after a lot of hard work the entire kitchen was patched and ready for sanding

Then in the midst of kitchen redo I took a night off to go to the very last
Brooks and Dun concert with Candice and her parents

So fun! :)

And then I came home to this!
My sweet hubby worked so hard sanding and priming all night

Touching up the cabinets the next day... see I helped too :)

Meanwhile, Ryan was filling holes, holes and

more holes.

Ryan did an amazing job on this critical step. The cabinets would not look nearly as good as they do if he did not spend so much time diligently patching cracks, dents, and holes (and then sanding, of course). It made all the difference!

And as if the kitchen wasn't enough of a disaster, the rest of the house looked like this...

We had some of painters in that same weekend to fill the million nail holes, caulk and give two coats of paint to the new trim (baseboards, crown molding, window casings and door casings) we replaced through out the whole house a few months ago. I would have to say it was pretty bad timing since we were working on the kitchen, but when we're in town we want to get as much done as possible! They did a really great job. It would have taken Ryan and me forever to do ourselves.

So this is the not so fabulous part of live-in renovations :) - what a mess!

But back to the kitchen... first coat of gray is going on!

Once the wood putty dried solid (about 24 hours) Ryan sanded the heck out of the doors

This is what the back of our garage looked like... Ryan rigged up a hanging door system in attempt to spray both sides at once
This bad boy is Ryan's new paint spray gun

And this is Ryan learning how to use it :)

Ready and armed!

It ended up being much easier to spray on the ground -- one side at a time

After the doors were sprayed we needed a break. So we went to our friends' house in Sylvan Park to watch the Auburn game! WDE

And Sarah was in town :) :)

Love you!

Here at some of the doors and drawers drying in the garage in their gray glory

Ryan mud-ed the walls in the kitchen that were damaged when the old chair rail was pulled off. A few layers were needed before we could paint.

Ryan did a great job and was quite impressed with himself ;). Once dry the walls were ready for their new coat of blue

And here it is! The final product... our new kitchen!!!

Eventually we plan to purchase a stainless steel dishwasher and fridge

But what a difference already!

Nook where we'll eventually move the refrigerator (pre-paint on the walls)

Such a clean, smooth finish thanks to Ryan!

Color options

Paint going on

Final color

So there you have it! We love the results of our new kitchen!!!

BEFORE:

pine cabinets with visible knots, exposed hinges, old brass hardware, dated range hood, and a scalloped edge above the window

AFTER:

New gray color, hidden hinges, modern stainless steel handles, and a lot of love

This end result confirms that we will keep our cabinets. We're still planning to knock out half of the wall where the fridge currently is and move the fridge into the corner nook beside the pantry. The half wall will allow us to extend the counter top and make a breakfast bar and open the kitchen up to the dining room and den. We can't wait to do some demo (still down the road though)! We've got our eye on a pretty granite counter top and we'll replace the floor with new tile too. But for now, our painted kitchen cabinet makeover is more than holding us over until we do the rest!