Ice House

While I am sitting here, getting ready to move into my newly-remodeled house, it is easy to forget that there is a downside to the mortgage crisis and the fluctuating housing market. While some of us are able to take advantage of it, there are many who are suffering because of foreclosure and repossession. Putting politics aside, this is still an issue that is affecting every American in one way or another.

Gregory Holm and Matthew Radune intend to highlight the crisis with their Ice House Detroit installation. The two artists (the former a photographer, the latter an architect), helped purchase an abandoned home in Detroit (they actually "bought" it by paying back taxes on a different home; read the article) and spent weeks covering it is water from nearby hydrants. The result is a beautiful, glittering, foreclosed home.

Holm and Radune brought a little beauty to a run down area of the Motor City, and in the process bring attention to a crisis across the country. Every home can be a palace, and someone lost theirs because of bank mismanagement and poor financial preparedness.

Just something to admire and consider this snowy morning...

Friends Forever

You know what is cheaper than a contractor or a professional painter? A case of beer, three large pizzas, and seven of your closest friends.

A HUGE shout out to Meaghan, Lilly, John, Steve, Austin, Liz, and Robby for coming over yesterday and helping me prime my walls. I would have been lost without your enthusiasm, ax-wielding skills, and height.

And yes, there is nothing more terrifying than John and Steve taking an axe to junk in my basement. Not real.

Dear Ol' Dad

I have been conspicuously absent for the blogosphere lately and I am sad and sorry for this. As most of my friends know, on December 27, 2009, my dad passed away after battling colon cancer for several years. I think understandably, I haven't felt like doing much at all--including working on my house and blogging about it.

But now it is 2010. A new year, and a new start, right? A lot of great things happened in 2009, but even better things will happen in 2010.

My dad was an active part of my house hunting experience. He didn't do a lot of the footwork, but when I found something I thought I liked, he was there with his cane, knocking on walls and inspecting furnaces. If it hadn't been for his advice, I would have bought a house for $9,000 less than I did, but with one fewer bedroom, one fewer bathroom, no basement, and no garage. Obviously a huge mistake. Dad was the sweetest man I have ever known, but he was also a shrewd businessman.

He also loved watching This Old House... one of my earliest memories is of him lamenting the fact that Bob Vila was fired (which at the time I interpreted to mean he was burned at the stake). Dad could talk to me for hours about the properties of flashing and shingles on a roof. He spent his life taking care of me, my sisters, my mom, and his many friends. I regret he was only able to see pictures of the house I bought... I think he would have been proud of me, my purchase, and the renovations I am making. He would probably yell at me for spending money, but that was a regular occurrence.

My dad never failed to tell me how proud he was of me, even when I failed. I hope he will be proud of the life I am leading now, even if it isn't as focused on business as he would have liked. Not to make this too corny, but enjoy the time you have with your love ones and learn as much as you can from your parents... I know there will be times in the near future when I will wish my dad was around to tell me what to do. I am thankful for the time I had with him and the honor of knowing him and appreciating him for his quirky humor, his smile, his smarts, his courage, and his love.

So onward and into 2010... a year of big changes for me and my family. And Dad, please don't be too mad at me for blogging about you and my house... I know you thought it was too much to put out into the public realm, but I hope you appreciate my writing and my all my hard work. I just wish you were here to scold me in person!

Christmas Party in the USA

Check out this article for some awesome party tips for the upcoming holiday season from the one and only Clinton Kelly (yes, the guy from What Not to Wear and the fashion-tip advertisements in the dressing rooms at Macy's).

My favorite? The formula for how many people your house can hold for a party (square footage of your home divided by five) and then the tricks and tips for figuring out how many people to invite. Amazing.

PS... thanks to my mom for investing in this quality piece of holiday couture pictured on the left. And yes, it says NOG. Amazing.

Spreading Holiday Cheer for a Good Cause

This may be a shameless plug, but I am OK with that. I recently was contracted to work with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta to take patients' artwork and turn it into holiday cards. Obviously, the real artists are the kids who created some of the cutest pictures ever, I just helped format them for cards. Best of all, you can upload your family photo to the site and it will be printed with the card... no printing a thousand pictures at Walgreens and sticking them in cards!

Holiday cards are an awesome way to keep in touch with friends and family (so is gchat, but that's another story). And with these cards, 15% of the profits go towards CHOA, which serves the entire Southeast with premier healthcare for children.

So check them out at www.choa.org/cards and spread some Christmas cheer twice over!

Note: make sure to access the TinyPrints/CHOA page through CHOA's website in order to guarantee your donation!

Homecoming

It's true, I am back! The past month has been ridiculous and difficult and busy, but I am here. My work schedule has been completely different due to our holiday sale and things have been picking up with my class. Additionally, my computer crashed (that tends to throw a wrench into the act of blogging, I found) and earlier today my family said goodbye to our precious puppy, Chip. So not the greatest few weeks of life, but that is over now and I am back to Sweaty Equity and better than ever!

The house is coming along nicely. We've started construction and the whole place looks a little bit like a war zone. I have many subjects upon which to expound and I cannot wait to do so. Mostly, I wanted to let the diligent readers of Sweaty Equity (if there are any of you left) know that I am alive and well and knocking down walls! Let's get back to business, shall we?

Going Postal

When you move, make sure to fill out a change of address form.

Dude, you can even do it online.

My new mailbox is stuffed with letters and bills for the previous owner every day.

Not cool.

That's all.

Incognito

I feel like there should be some sort of flogging or something as punishment for not blogging for as long as I have not blogged. Like fifty lashes or maybe a little bit of water boarding or something. Simulated drowning might get me typing faster.

In all honesty, I have felt stalled these past few weeks. Nothing has really been going on at the house, and therefore it seems nothing much has been going on in my life. Class has lost its novelty, and work has been stressful rather than exciting. I went to South Carolina last weekend, which was fun obviously, but it was just like pressing the pause button and then having to fast forward to catch up. It was also like a montage of past errors, but that is a different story for a different time, and probably not within the blogosphere.

The good news is: I am back, and hopefully better than ever. I made a lot of progress today; despite still recovering from a weekend devoid of sleep, I managed to cut my grass, run some pertinent errands, and meet with a contractor. And the GREAT news? I think I have actually decided on a contractor! More about the actual decision process later, but it was a relatively easy gut decision and I am very relieved and ready to get started.

So here we are... I was discussing with my friend Molly today how mid-October is a much better time than New Year's to examine how far you have come in a year. This time last year, I was floundering. Now I have roots (quite literally) and I feel like I am going places. So there we are. Let's start building, shall we?

Battle of the Sexes

I am a child of the millennium, according to the women at my office at least. I prefer to communicate through electronic means, such as emails, tweets, and (duh) blogs. I am attached to my Blackberry and my MacBook Pro is my child.

Part of growing up in this generation is believing that women and men are equal. However, I am also a Southern girl, which means I expect a man to hold the door open for me as he ushers me through the glass ceiling.

But I digress. The point is, I am naive and expected to be treated as an equal by contractors... after all, I am a strong, capable, single woman who has purchased her own home and is going to be paying someone to do some construction for me. However, I was mistaken. Despite being the one making the calls, scheduling appointments, sharing ideas, and writing checks, I have been treated like a silly little girl by several potential contractors. While I understand that I may not be the most knowledgeable individual when it comes to construction, I am not an idiot. I am coming to these men with well-drafted plans and an open pocketbook, and they are treating me like a simpleton.

Now, I need to be careful not to generalize. Two of the four contractors I have met with have been very respectful and will be more likely to get the job because of that fact. However, one I met with yesterday blew me away with his condescending, misogynistic attitude. All was going OK until we started discussing his bid for the job. He actually asked me if he should call my dad or my husband about the numbers. I wish I were kidding.

I informed him that this was my home and that everything regarding construction would go through me. Whatever. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Really, I am not trying to make a generalization about contractors, but let this serve as a warning to young female home-buyers: you have to be assertive. This is your home, you are in charge, and you call the shots. Be strong. Be proud. Be a homeowner.

Before and After

My Aunt Laura and I played around with some renderings today to see what I might want to do to the house... I might be getting too excited.

Can you find all the differences?

BEFORE

AFTER

Doubt

I am not one to question a lot. I am a gut instinct kind of girl. I believe in fate and signs. I don't know if I am always right, but I tend to follow my heart rather than my head. I am an ENFP, if that helps you understand anything.

Basically, this next week is one of huge changes for me. I am dealing with a MAJOR life change. I am basically establishing myself permanently in Louisville, and while I am so excited about everything that is happening, understandably, part of me is wondering if I made the right decision.

I love Louisville. I think it is fabulous. I have grown up here and my heart is in my old Kentucky home. But I loved living in South Carolina too. It feels like two entirely different lives and I am not sure how I feel about it.

The good news is, buying this house gives me something on which to focus. I am excited to start the renovations process and see what I can do. I want to explore things like refinishing floors and common household fixes. I want to make this house great and I think I can. Like my subtitle says, I am making a house a home... and in the process hopefully making this mess into my new life. I have been treading water for so long, I think I am finally ready.

I guess this is what they call a quarter-life crisis. I think I have my life together, but I guess we will have to wait and see.