This is the extent of our Christmas decorations…2 stockings that Mark hung from our hamper. Aren’t they festive?! Just because we aren’t winning any holiday decorating awards doesn’t mean we don’t have the Christmas spirit. In fact, I think we have MORE Christmas spirit this year than ever! This season, we’re celebrating in the first home that we own TOGETHER. And even though we aren’t finished with the renovation, it’s becoming apparent that this JOURNEY…

If we sent out a Christmas card, it would look like this… Merry Christmas from Mark, Courtney and Sally (our staircase.) We love this staircase so much, we took 20 different pictures of it. It’s like our baby. On Friday, our electrician, Dominic, brought over 5 burly men, and Mark and the burly men lifted the 760 pound staircase and got it up. Mark poured concrete in the basement and put in a support post…

This blog is a judgement-free zone. Keep that in mind as I share with you the current state in which we live. Our stairs are gone. They were only temporary and my husband, Mark, took them down to finish mudding and taping all the drywall downstairs. So, how am I supposed to get upstairs?? Remember, you promised to withhold judgement. Here is my husband’s solution… Yep, that’s a ladder and that’s how I get to…

I am cooking. Correction…I am cooking AND baking. This has never happened, and I’m not even that happy about it. But when your very pregnant sister, who is one of your favorite humans, throws a Christmas party and needs you to bring food…you get in the kitchen. For starters, I turned the oven on but left a bunch of pans and plastic tops in the drawer underneath. Now, my Pyrex lid looks like this. But…

Yes, he is…a DIY genius. Excuse me for a minute, while I help Mark squeeze his BIG head through the door…his ego is swelling with this post. 🙂 I’m not good at visualizing things, but Mark has said for months that putting that old elevator door on the ceiling would be awesome. He was right. Mark did it all in one day. I went to work with a huge hole in my living room ceiling….

A public shaming can work wonders. In my last blog, I lifted the veil and revealed that the hubs and I would rather sit and watch TV than finish our downstairs. There was no hidden meaning…it was only a truth I was sharing with the universe. Mark took it as a dig, and he’s been working on the downstairs like a mad man ever since. Totally fine by me. 🙂 Several months ago, we told…

We. Are. 2. Lazy. Mofos. For real. For months now, Mark and I have been feeling SO GOOD about our DIY home renovations. I write this blog and show all of you wonderful people how we’re just killing it in the remodeling department. How far the mighty have fallen. I don’t know if we’re burned out or what, but the last 4 weekends have been mostly spent in bed binge-watching “Entourage.” (Amazing.) Mark tries to…

Mark did not marry me for my kitchen skills. In the six years we’ve known each other, I think I’ve only ever made him eggs. But they were delicious. Even though I don’t cook, I sure as heck know that a crockpot should not be filled with metal things. These are the super cool (and super old) hinges and door bell that were on the front door. Mark saw on YouTube that you put them…

Today’s Thanksgiving blog is a guest post from my husband. I am VERY THANKFUL for him and all of his handy ways. You have all seen that Mark is a master renovator…he’s not so bad with words either. Here’s Mark… This Thanksgiving, it’s not lost on me that most wives would not allow their living rooms to become storage sheds. Or a wood shop. Most women would not want to spend their weekends wearing a…

My super cool mom and dad turned 60 this year, so my sister and I and our husbands decided to throw them a BASH! I tried to get #BrennanBirthdayBash trending on Twitter but it was one of those nights that was so fun, you didn’t even look at your phone. (And almost none of my parents’ friends are on Twitter) We rented the party room at The Rochester Inn in the North Hills (highly recommend…