Closet Renovation

So I'm finally home from Toronto and I'm sick :(  I've been trying to lay low all weekend but being gone for 10 days of course there's so much to do at home! One of the things on our to-do list was to put most of the finishing touches on the closet.  We still have to hang the mirror, paint and cover the steel track with the plastic track cover and (eventually) add crown molding to the top of the unit.  I've got some more fancy hangers being delivered this week and it will be nice to have everything match!

Here's the before:

I had an old jewelry box that was mostly empty, a dresser from my childhood givin gme more drawer space, and tons of wasted space above the wire racks.

enter: new closet! :

In the photo above, my favorite part of the closet is in the very lower right hand corner: a built in hamper that's tucked away!

The mirror will be hung up on the wall. the earring holder is nicely hidden when the door is open

So we ended up ordering from Easyclosets.com.  They made everything pretty simple for us -we measured (multiple times! they only give you 3/8" wiggle room), placed the order on a Thursday afternoon and it shipped out on Friday.  It arrived a week later (well, all but one box, but that was UPS's fault, not Easyclosets).  24 boxes!

Honestly, the hardest part was hanging the steel track.  That took us maybe a few hours (keep in mind, we added closet to 3 of the 4 closet walls - the closet is about 7 ft  x 8 ft).  Once we got that done, it went fairly quickly.  We would've had the whole project done in a day if all the parts had been there and we'd had paint that matched the wall to paint the steel track cover.

Overall, very happy with the value and the product we got.  In my opinion, it was more versatile than any other option we priced out (including teknik closets, the container store, ikea). 

We also bought a patio set this weekend, so our next home improvement project? Building/contracting out a patio because right now that table is going on the grass... haha.

Notes to self...

1. chocolate gu is not nearly as disgusting as I would've guessed
2. Running along the side of the road in the midwest is not as scary as in Seattle - drivers actually get out of your way
3. When seeing beauitful girls that you went to high school with in Starbucks halfway through your run, avoid eye contact and head for the door.  Said girls are still beautiful and you look like a hot mess.
4. Dress appropriately for the damn weather!

4.2 miles.  I thought since I'd be in Michigan I'd pack allll my cold weather gear.  and wear it all.  bad choice.

What I wore: 
new balance running socks
brooks running tights
nike running pants
Under Armour cold gear mock neck
under armour wicking sweatshirt
columbia lightweight water resistant jacket
Nike running gloves
cheap target loves
Nike running hat
wicking running headband
brooks ghost running shoes

What I SHOULD'VE worn:
new balance socks
brooks running tights
underarmour cold gear mock neck
cheap running gloves
wicking running headband
brooks ghost shoes

fail.

jetsetting blogger

I'm back to hecticness at work which means no running during the week. It also means my long runs are getting harder to sustain on no other exercise.

I'm in Toronto now (got up at 4am PST and went to bed at 11pm EST so no time for exericse), but i'm hopeful this week I can get a few workouts in.

The good news is that Dave is putting the finishing touches on my awesome closet renovation! We did most of the work this past weekend and I'm so thrilled with how it came out.  now to convince him that we *need* the crown molding for the top... :)

Full post of pictures, reviews, and info on the process coming Thursday next week when I'm back at home with my camera!

2 post Sunday

Well, 2nd post for me today. I didn't end up going to yoga because I had a groupon that is only good for a month and I'm traveling for work 10 days out of the month, so I decided to skip this time and pick it up after I get back in town.

Instead, Dave and I went to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. I don't want to give anything away, but it is amazing, if you think it looks even remotely good, you need to go see it.  and bring kleenex!

Then we tried our hand at making General Tsao's chicken from scratch.  It was AMAZING! but next time I think we'll grill the chicken instead because I just felt gross watching it fry in all that oil!

Riley has been sleeping all day.  I guess our run tired her out as much as it did me!

Went for a run today

6 mile run - 64 minutes, 8 seconds. raining the whole time.  Riley was a trooper and came with me the whole way.

Now, to drink my body weight in water and prepare for hot yoga this afternoon.  This could be a disaster, or really good.  I'm hoping the stretching will be fantastic for my muscles. all of the balancing exercises, well, that should be interesting.

Also -huge sad face.... I got a blister while running.  Pretty sure any future pair of Asics are out for me, because the first pair I ever ran in were Asics and they gave me a blister in the same spot :(  They were fun colors too, which is a bummer.  back to the drawing board!  At least I'm well within my 30 day return window!

Swapping a long run for painting... again

Well, the snow has finally finished (we ended up with about 16") and the rains have come in and started to melt it all.  I'm still a little apprehensive to run outside given the slush and ice, so decided to tackle a home improvement project today instead.  I will take Riley out and see how well the public trails are salted tomorrow.  My goal is a 60 minute run (hopefully about 6 miles).  Still need to break in the new shoes and see if they are going to work for me.

Anyway, Dave and I have been drooling over those fancy closet organization systems for awhile.  you know, the ones that have drawers built in and look like furniture?  We decided that would be our January house project so we have been researching and finally purchased a custom designed system from easyclosets.com.  So far, I'm impressed.  We provided the closet floorplan (measurements, etc) and told them what I use the closet for (i.e., how much tall hanging space, drawer space, shelves, etc do I need) and they custom designed something for us for free.  We purchased the system, and now we are taking advantage of their free shipping and waiting for it to arrive (ETA next Friday 1/27).  So this weekend's project was taking down the old wire shelving, filling in the holes and painting. We didn't really want to buy more paint and had JUST enough left over from painting the master bedroom and hallway so I decided to stick to that.  I added some plyometrics into the mix on the second coat so I wouldn't have to use the ladder :)

For now, all of my clothes are in my office and I am so excited to show you the before and after pictures next weekend!

On the docket this week: my first allergy shot appointment.  Hopefully this will start making me feel better around Riley, but it's going to be a long road (3-5 years of shots... yuck!)

Snow Shoveling

Snow shoveling is a great workout! Coupled with my ab workout yesterday, I'm feeling a little sore!  I worked from home again today... Snowpocalypse is suppose to arrive around 4am. Considering we already have about 9" on the ground.. .we'll see how much more we get!