September – 2016 – Laureen Loves

Fall work transition

September 22, 2016

burnt orange shirtdress on laureenloves.com

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SoleSociety has some of the best fall booties, by the way. They’re really well made and I’ve had several pairs over the years that stay in good shape!

shirtdress with cardigan

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It’s officially fall! According to the calendar, that is, but most definitely not according to the 90 degree temps in Houston. I’m so in love with the rich colors of fall clothing. I love the jewel tones and darker colors, so I’m pulling out a lot of my fall basics I’ve had for years and picking up a few new ones along the way that are more timeless like this shirt dress. It’s a rust color, but looks burnt orange, so that’s always a plus, too. 🙂

I like the versatility of a shirt dress because you can really change it up with shoes and a cardigan. Cardigans are a major staple for me because my office is SO cold, and I can’t really think or function efficiently if I’m shivering all day. I work in a relatively casual work environment (an advertising/PR/marketing agency) so I tailor my workwear based on what I have going on a particular day. For client meetings, I’ll step it up a bit, but otherwise I can get away with jeans. But, I love a good shirt dress, and this makes me feel like some cool temperatures are right around the corner. We are maybe getting a cold front early next week to the mid 70s. I actually overheard my husband making small talk on the phone with the AT&T rep yesterday telling her this, and she burst out laughing. Crossing my fingers!

Happy fall, y’all!

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Home Design + Decor

Odds & Ends

September 19, 2016

A lot has been going on behind the scenes at the house to get it ready to before insulation and drywall. Over the past month, all the things you don’t really think about, but need to have in order to make your house function properly have been going on. So all the HVAC and electrical to do’s have really been the bulk of the work done lately and that’s hard to document. One step has to occur before the next step and inspections have to occur along the way. So, if all of this doesn’t happen in the right order, it can really throw things off.

For instance, the inspector came to the house to see if we were ready for dry wall, and the gas line to the fireplace wasn’t connected. So, we failed that inspection. The inspector came back the next day first thing in the morning at 8am, but the plumber didn’t come back until 8:30am. By that time, the inspection failed AGAIN and we have another day wasted. So, it’s a lot of frustration overall. I don’t know a single person who has built a house that wasn’t frustrated along the way and had delays. It’s just really frustrating when you’re in the midst of it and you look at the calendar and realize it’s nearly the fall and we thought we’d be in there by Sept. That’s definitely not happening.

We did get insulation on Saturday and drywall should happen this week. It’s been a loooooong time coming for this, and our builder tells us that typically 60-90 days after drywall is when houses get completed. We will see! I’m sharing some progress pics that we’ve taken along the way.

More decisions have to be made about interior details so we’re working on that, too. Ben met with the cabinet makers to sketch out the layout of the kitchen cabinets and closets. ( I couldn’t make this meeting.) I think we’re pretty good on the kitchen cabinets, but I’m really indecisive on my closet situation. I’m told I need to make a decision in the next two weeks how much shoe space I feel like I need. That sounds really ridiculous, I know. But, I’m really on the fence about this!

More soon,

Straightening out the wall to ensure the drywall sits flat. They cut on the inward side of the 2×4 and shove a larger shim (aka a wedge of wood) to correct the bow. I thought this was really strange, and I don’t think it’s done in every house but apparently it’s one of those little details that makes a difference.

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