Cheer.

Cat got Matt a new toy for Christmas and was so excited to give it to him, she couldn't wait another week. He's making crazy beautiful music as she does some blogging. Observe:


Also, Christmas bliss. A few truly wonderful childhood memories scattered on the mantle and in the bay window:


And the house, decked out for some holidays. Oh, golden door of wonder:

Tale of the gold/yellow door.

So, the painter finished painting the exterior of CatMatt's house last week, except for one final, crucial detail: the front door. Weeks ago, CatMatt decided on a goldish hue (Sherwin William's Gusto Gold to be exact). They love color and wanted something bright(ish) and happy (you've seen their red kitchen and orange hallways, no?) Anyways, when they arrived home after work the day of the door-painting, they were quite astounded to discover a shockingly bright yellow - schoolbus yellow, that is - door and a note from the painter saying it would take another coat or two/day or two to get it gold (The job involves covering turquoise-blue, after all). The unpleasant surprise (and fear of neighbors staging a protest) moved CatMatt to call him immediately and beg him to return as soon as he could to just paint it the trim color (white). Unfortunately, it hasn't been warm enough for exterior painting for more than 20 minute since then, and the unfinished door remains. AND ... insanely so, the once-mortifying door color is starting to grow on CatMatt. So now, they ponder when it's warm enough to resume painting, should they ask the painter to go a couple more coats with hopes of true Gusto Gold? Or should they forget their dreams of gold and paint it white? Opinions welcome.

For now, here she is...

Tree.

CatMatt did some Christmas decorating over the weekend, including putting out and decorating their very own tree.

Matt, making it pretty:


By far the cutest ornament on the tree. Matt, 1988:


A couple cats, asleep in the festive light:


Ready:

Exterior house makeover has begun. Color's chosen (Cityscape - body; White Hyacinth - trim; Gusto Gold - door). (Positive) transformation, commence.

Before


Trim finished on back


Trim finished on front


Back finished


Side finished


Front, door, and garage ... hopefully (very) soon.

Belated honeymoon.

When CatMatt got married three years ago, they had just moved across the country and started new jobs, so they had zero money and zero vacation time. They spent a (short, but lovely) rainy weekend in St. Louis after their wedding, and said they'd plan a bigger honeymoon later. Eventually, they got serious and planned a week-long escape to the Riviera Maya on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula over their third wedding anniversary. And it was fabulous. Three year wait = so worth it.

And we're done. For real this time.

Matt put his relatively new carpentry skills to work in a successful attempt to even out cabinets for the new counter top. Matt, you're a superstar.


But then, some pretty important elements below didn't quite match up. Sigh.


10 (?) trips to the hardware store later, it was hooked up, caulked, and otherwise finished. Ah.


Then ... new shower door arrived (that's right, the project that started this whole thing). Eventually, after brightening and sealing grout, the new shower door went up, which means ... (with the exception of a few minor touches, electrical plate covers, hardware, etc.), this bathroom project is - done!

Spontaneous DIY.

On Saturday afternoon, CatMatt went to the hardware store for the following: to order a new shower door and to pick out some new faucet fixtures, all for their master bath. Three hours later, they'd ripped out their counter top, sinks, and some tiles. By midnight, there were holes in the drywall. By 1:30 am, said holes were patched, and they were having a beer at The Checkerboard. Yep, they're a little nuts.

They've never been a fan of this counter top or these sinks and planned to change it up ... some day. The decision to do so was merely hastened when they discovered during aforementioned hardware store trip that the current sink size was not standard and would, therefore, require rather expensive fixtures. Within moments of this discovery, they were purchasing a new counter top with (standard) sinks.



Safety goggles on, sledgehammer out, counter top and sinks gone. No turning back now.


'Doh. Not so fast. Stupid permanently adhered soap trays. This means ...
s

... time to remove some tile. So at this point, this project got a little bigger.


Patching drywall, a.k.a. a reason to use one of Cat's favorite substances: Rock Hard Water Putty.


On Sunday, tiles were installed.


On Monday, they were grouted.


To be continued ...

Louisville.

A few photos from a very brief, yet fabulous Louisville escape over the weekend ...

An eerie, yet beautiful foggy drive to Kentucky ...


Immediately followed by a scrumptious Southern lunch (and amazing bloody mary) at one of Cat's favorite restaurants ever: Lynn's Paradise Cafe. So fun. And delicious...


CatMatt drove the Bourbon Trail and toured Maker's Mark, an absolutely beautiful distillery in Loretto, KY. One of the more impressive parts of the tour - other than the gorgeous old buildings and fall scenery - was a room filled with 8 gigantic barrels of mash, each in different stages of fermentation...


In addition to strolling down Bardstown Road, window-shopping, people-watching, and spending time hunting through used CD bins like college days of yore (we bought 5), our trip included drinks on 4th St., a night's stay in the Galt House downtown on the river, brunch at one of Cat's all-time favorite brunch stops (North End Cafe), wandering through the most amazing antique mall ever, and a visit to the Louisville Zoo, where Cat demonstrated a hippo's ability to fertilize land in its habitat. Fascinating ...

CatMatt & Tuckpointing.

Over the weekend, CatMatt tried their hands at some masonry.

Mortar between bricks was deteriorating and getting worse every season ...


Matt used his brand new angle grinder (This thing cuts through mortar effortlessly. Well, almost). Sweet.


This is a pretty dusty job. Matt, you rock!


Said dusty job continues well into the evening..


Holy crap. It worked.