Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! I’m ready to hit the ground running this week, with our big move quickly approaching. Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to over the past week!
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Home Projects & Updates
There’s been a lot more activity over at the new build! In addition to wrapping up most of the electrical (still waiting on the entryway light fixture to be installed), they installed plumbing fixtures and most of our appliances! Looks like they’re still waiting on the fridge, but other than that, it’s all in! The appliances are all Monogram (the builder did not give us an option, but that’s what we had in our last kitchen and really liked them).
Over in the carriage house, they have all the appliances in, as well. It’s so weird to see how close to completion these spaces are getting! As a reminder, our blue cabinets are a stock color (Aero Blue) from the manufacturer. Unfortunately I don’t know the brand of the cabinets but hope to have that once we close and I get all the warranty info. I’ll also plan to get a close color match once all the other paint is complete and the coverings are off the windows!
They also wrapped up all of our pavers around the pool and to the back entrance of the garage! It’s fun to see these areas that were previously pretty boring come together a bit more!
In possibly not-so-great news, we’ve uncovered (literally) a potential issue with our countertops on the peninsula. I was notified when we selected this honed quartzite that with the mitering process, they could retain some water for a few months, so we’re hoping that’s all this is. But, when the plumber came to install the kitchen faucet, he had to peel back some of the protective paper. I assumed he splashed water on the countertop and that’s what we were seeing. But after further investigation, these splatter marks have started showing up all over both of the slabs on the peninsula. And what’s weird is you can tell they’re below the surface – and they’re spreading. We need to go check further, but they’re thinking that since the AC got turned on, the paper may be drawing out some of the water (and that it could be internally condensating now that the house is so cool, when it had previously been so hot). We’re definitely not panicking yet, but hopefully we start to see some improvement over the coming week. All the paper has now been removed to try and let it breathe a bit more. But if any countertop experts have thoughts, I’d love to hear!
In true procrastinator fashion, rather than packing, I spent some time laying out what will go in all of our drawers and cabinets. Probably not a top priority, but it did help Kurtis to visualize things and we’ve already made a few changes/additions. I got much more joy out of this exercise than I should have. Ha! But it definitely will help us when we go to unpack everything so we’re on the same page. You can see more of my design plans for the house here and here.
I placed a few orders this past week, trying to time our move with delivery to the new house! I have been sitting on my furniture fund for over a year now (from the furniture we sold to the buyers of our house and other stuff I had listed afterwards). It was burning a hole in my pocket early on, but I knew I couldn’t order things until the house was nearing completion. It was almost like it didn’t exist at this point, but man was it nice to have that earmarked money sitting there for all the stuff we need! We also have nearly back-to-back guests a few weeks after we move through mid-November, most staying in the carriage house so I need to get that fully stocked next! Lots of planning, but we’re finally getting to the really exciting point of this process!
Top Sellers Of The Week
Following are the top sellers from last week across all of my channels. Links to each item are below the graphic.
BEST SELLERSÂ (each number is clickable):Â #5Â |Â #4Â |Â #3Â |Â #2Â |Â #1
In Case You Missed It
Following are the posts I shared over the past two weeks, in case you missed some days!
Following are the most read blog posts of last week (excluding any of the new posts already mentioned above). Many times this includes old posts that are popular on Google or Pinterest.
Around Town & For Fun
We went down to the beach Friday afternoon and realized it was our first time since the 4th of July weekend! So crazy! But between the extreme heat, volume of tourists, and focusing on packing, it hadn’t been a priority. But we’re coming up on the really beautiful time of year for locals. School starts back up, the tourists start to dwindle, and the temps become so beautiful (and the gulf stays warm through October)! We both made a commitment to coming down much more frequently once we have the move behind us!
We made a lot of trips over to the new house this past week. We absolutely love how the start of sunset looks over our street this time of year!
Our cats have never been into wet food in all of their 14/16 years of life. About a month ago, I decided to give it a try, because several of them are so much better for Bailey and her diabetes. Needless to say, all three are now obsessed. It’s literally the worst smell ever but they now all know that when Bailey gets her shot in the morning and evening, they get wet food afterwards. It’s the most well-behaved they are all day 😉
With the extreme heat and humidity this past week, we’ve limited how much we leave the back door open to the catio. They are not impressed!
Saturday morning, I met my friend Jen and her husband for breakfast. They’re in town for vacation and it was so fun catching up! If you’ve been a long-time reader of home blogs, Jen is one of the reigning queens of DIY and I’ve probably known her for 10+ years. She is such a sweetheart! One of the best parts about moving here is how many friends I’ve been able to catch up with while they’re on vacation!
Saturday night, Rachel and I went to the open house of HolSol30A. They’re one of our new tenants at our commercial building and the owner has done such an amazing job with her renovations and space! We’re excited to help bring her much-needed services to a prime location on 30A! The entrepreneur vibe was strong at the party and it was so fun seeing so many other young business owners coming out to support the launch!
We then cooked an impromptu dinner for the guys and her kids over at their new house. We kept it simple with steaks and Greek salad, but it was such a delicious meal! Man, I love garden-fresh meals in the summer months! Kurtis and I both left saying how being in their new house has us so much more excited for our upcoming move!
After church Sunday, we spent most of the afternoon packing. It’s weird this time around because we both keep saying we don’t feel like we have that much left. But the reality is, we really don’t because we purged/sold/donated so much before we moved down here! Most of what’s left is last-minute items like the dishes we still need daily, etc. After talking it over, we may move most of the boxes ourselves the day we close on the house, and then have movers come the following day for all the furniture. Since we’re moving within the same neighborhood, we figured we could minimize boxes that way and unpack them all quickly as we unload them since we really don’t have that much stuff. Then, when we bring the cats over the next day, we won’t have boxes everywhere and it will feel much more settled already. That’s the current goal at least!
This past week we also found tenants for the house we’re currently living in, which is very exciting! I’ve talked about this before, but our neighborhood does not allow short-term rentals which makes it attractive for locals. The challenge with living in a community with very few hotels and almost exclusively vacation rentals for the tourists, it’s hard to find long-term rentals for people that live here. We didn’t even have to post ours to get it rented. By word of mouth alone, we had inquiries from several people and basically had it spoken for within a day. Such a different experience than our rentals in Omaha! Since we’ll still be in the neighborhood, we’ll plan to handle the property management on our own. Excited to have another Midwest transplant couple as our new tenants!
I’m planning on lots of house stalking over the next few weeks, as we quickly approach moving day. I can’t believe it’s finally almost here considering we officially started this process spring of 2022!
Recent Buys & Sales
Following are some sales from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong!
- AMAZON has a number of daily deals happening now! My cute little patio bistro set (that comes in eight colors) is currently 25% off! You can shop their site here.
- ANN TAYLOR is offering 25% off full-priced jackets and accessories. You can shop their site here.
- ANTHROPOLOGIE has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- BALLARD DESIGNS is offering up to 20% off and free shipping sitewide. You can shop their sale here.
- GAP is offering up to 50% off favorites, plus an extra 10% off regular priced styles at checkout (no code required). You’ll also get an extra 40% off sale styles at checkout. You can shop their sale here.
- HOMEGOODS has a number of new arrivals, as well as free shipping on orders $119+ with code SHIP119. They also have up to 75% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW is offering 30% off boy’s and girl’s styles with code SHOPKIDS as well as an extra 60% off sale styles with code EXTRA60. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW FACTORY is offering 40% off everything and 50% off all shirts and pants. You can shop their sale here.
- LOFT is offering 30% off full-priced styles and 50% off Lou & Grey! You can shop their sale here.
- LULULEMON has a large sale section with some major markdowns. You can shop their site here.
- MADEWELL is offering 30% off dresses, sandals, and bags with code BUILDAFIT. You can shop their site here.
- MARK & GRAHAM is hosting their Summer Warehouse Sale with items up to 50% off and free shipping with code SHIPFREE! You can shop their site here.
- MARSHALLS has a number of deals sitewide plus free shipping on orders of 89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
- MICHAELS is offering 20% off regular priced items with code DAILY23US. You can shop their site here.
- OLD NAVY is offering 50% off all pants for the family. You can also get 30% off your purchase (including clearance) at checkout (no code required). You can shop their sale here.
- POTTERY BARN is hosting their Summer Warehouse Sale with up to 50% off furniture, outdoor, rugs, and more. You can shop their sale here.
- REJUVENATION is hosting their Summer Warehouse Sale, with up to 70% off rugs, hardware and more. You can shop their site here.
- RUGS USA is offering an additional 15% off sitewide for their 25th anniversary, with code CELEBRATE. You can shop their site here.
- SERENA & LILY is offering up to 20% off upholstered furniture with code BESPOKE and up to 50% off outdoor (prices as marked). Plus they have a number of new items in their clearance items. You can shop their sale here.
- SUMMERSALT is offering 25% off sitewide with code SALE25. See all of my top picks in this post. You can shop their site here.
- TARGET has a number of home deals, including up to 30% off kitchen and dining items, up to 40% off select throw pillow and throws, 30% off small space furniture, and tons more! You can shop their site here.
- TJ MAXX is hosting a clearance event and is offering free shipping on orders $89+ with code SHIP89! You can shop their site here.
- TORY BURCH has a number of new items recently added to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- TUCKERNUCK has a lot of cute new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- WALMART still has our favorite outdoor swivel chairs on markdown, as well as the coordinating sofa and entire conversation set. You can shop their site here for other deals.
- WEST ELM is hosting their Summer Warehouse Sale for two days only, with items marked up to 60% off. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA is hosting their Summer Warehouse Sale for two days only, with items marked up to 70% off. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA HOME is hosting their Summer Warehouse Sale for two days only, with items marked up to 70% off. You can shop their site here.
I hope you all have a great week!
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Carol H. says
Ocean looks gorgeous and retail space wonderful. Long term rental, covered. Houseguests for next few months, no problem. Your organizational skills are off the chart!
Mary from Life at Bella Terra says
Sarah, first of all I love seeing the progress on your new home! How exciting! Also, I have used quartzite before and have NEVER seen water spots like that. I even googled the internet to see what would cause that. The only thing I found is that it is very porous and is usually treated with a sealant. Maybe they didn’t do that? Anyway, keep us posted on how that resolves~I’m very curious. My husband and I are thinking about downsizing and moving so it’s fun to read about your adventure.
Kris Dunlap says
You are so darling — I am a big fan!! I love hearing about all the updates and you have amazing style. Also, as a fellow cat mom (who also had 3 kitties), I will say I think wet cat food helped my cats live to almost 20 years old. It’s very hydrating and nutritious. No wonder they all love it! : )
Karen Duerr says
The quartzite has not been sealed. It should be sealed with a matte sealer for the style of finish.
And yes, cat food in cans is smelly.
Sarah says
It was actually sealed the day they installed them. Unfortunately, I think they should have let them dry further, as it seems to have trapped moisture under the surface. They’re considering taking the sealer off, drying and then reapplying but that obviously makes me a bit nervous!
Emily says
To cut the stone they use alot of water. Some stones are less dense and absorb alot more water than others. If your countertops are showing water spots in multiple places it def needed more drying time before sealing. Also. It means your countertops will need to be sealed more often because it will absorb water more easily than other quartzites. I stayed away from most and went w only the dense quartzites when i did my countertops.