Any Bachelor/Bachelorette fans get that title? I had to ask The Boy, “what is that special live show called that they do after the end of the show?” and he knew the answer, of course. Gotta love a man who digs ridiculous “reality” dating shows! So proud.

We saw, touched, photographed, lounged, chatted, ooohed, aaaahed, petted dogs, made out with dogs, met Jason Cameron, and even tasted a few delicious samples. Yes, I intentionally sandwiched Jason Cameron between making out (with dogs) and delicious (samples). But I am getting waaaay ahead of myself.

Upon arrival, we were impressed by the number of exhibitors present, and the complexity of their displays.  Several hardscaping companies put together full paver patios, outdoor kitchens, etc. I cannot imagine the time invested in setting up and breaking all of that down.

The “I was actually there” shot.

We watched this cooking demonstration, where a guy was grilling items on a sheet that goes on your grill.  It was a very thin but durable material that could withstand up to 500 degrees, and was completely non-stick. He put a little pile of shredded cheese on there, it melted into a glob, he slid it around, and picked it up with some bread. Pretty dang impressive!

Calling all doomsday preppers!! I stopped by to check out a family safe cube, for all of your zombie apocalypse needs.

It was tiny, but apparently indestructible.  The door was SO HEAVY. I think I could survive a few walker attacks in that. And possibly even lay down in it. I am sure they brought the smallest version they had, for obvious reasons.

The Boy, an amateur-but-constantly-improving woodworker, found his people:

My favorite part was the Pet Pavilion. Many of the exhibitors had their (incredibly well-behaved) dogs with them. We were really impressed by the products offered by Barking Mad Dogwear, especially when we found out that the husband and wife owners make everything themselves! We discussed with Karen the type of harness we need for The Dog, who pulls unless her leash attaches at her chest, and they said they could make it for us. We are definitely going to do that! Here is The Boy with their sweet and fashionable dog:

So true.

Not to be outdone, I then stopped by the “kissing booth” and got some wet ones laid on me.

A few more of the noteworthy booths for us included the frameless glass shower enclosures by Fox Windows & Glass (since we will need that pretty soon!)

No, The Boy! Don’t do it!

and the designer fabrics and rugs by HomeFabrics & Rugs

I couldn’t stop petting these curtains …

All of this “window shopping” was exhausting, so The Boy and I relaxed a bit. Everywhere.

Yep. That is a hot tub. Minus the water … and the hot (unless you count The Boy).

And then this happened:

I haven’t met very many celebrities, but I am not the star struck type. I will say, though, that his handler or assistant or whomever she was told us that he was late for an engagement and didn’t have time to stop for pictures, which was fine with me. However, Jason (yep, we are on a first name basis) saw The Boy with the camera, and went out of his way to introduce himself, chat briefly, and pose for a picture. He was really very nice. (ohmygosh ohmygosh I’m never washing that shoulder again). No biggie.

It was a fun little Saturday afternoon at the home and garden show. We HAVE actually been working on the bathroom too, and have a few exciting and not so exciting updates, all of which we will share this week. Until then, I have one question: What size fit to you?

Wow. I can’t believe with a title like that, you actually wanted to read this. Really, though, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. I am going to fill you in on just one of the bizarre things we say around here.

Making progress = making progresso (a pathetic attempt to make it sound like Spanish) = making soup.

Totally makes sense, right?  Well last week and over the weekend we weren’t writing blog posts, because we were very busy being laywers and making soup.  The Boy was gone for a majority of last week, and when The Boy is away, The Girl will play … in mud. But not this kind of mud (for once):

This kind:

I despise this kind of mud, but I am not allowed to complain. The Boy wanted to hire out the drywall work. I put the kibosh on spending the money when we know how to do it, we just hate it and are not particularly good at it. That is no reason not to do something, right?! (Don’t tell Keanu Reeves I said that, though. Being terrible at acting IS a reason not to do it, and I haven’t seen him in anything lately, so let’s not encourage him. And don’t get me started about his “band.”)

I got a very minor amount of taping and mudding done during the week, between working full time, deadlines, and being a single doggy mommy to the wild animal we allowed into our home (and our hearts … awwwww). So on Saturday morning, when The Boy went back into the office for yet more work (that is one hard working man!) I tackled a little more mudding.

It may not look like much, and it is only the first coat out of three (or four? ugh), but that is definitely soup.

We planned to celebrate our anniversary on Sunday, since The Boy was gone on the actual day last week. “Sunday Funday” was to involve sleeping in, going out to breakfast, and having a fun-filled work-free day. In reality, Sunday Funday turned into demo, a trip to Home Depot, more demo, and some quality time in the attic. We did go to a movie in the late afternoon and relax in the evening, which was nice. I love how we spent our anniversary “fun day” – very much our style, and I would have actually been surprised if we had not worked on the bathroom. Is that love? Perhaps.

The good news is that demo is 100% complete, the drop ceiling is GONE, and we are ready to hang the rest of the drywall so that I can mud, sand, curse, sand, sand, curse, curse, mud, sand, and finish the drywall. We went into the attic to suck out all of the insulation above the drop ceiling, and saved it in trashbags to put back in once the ceiling is done. Picture one of us on a ladder and the other holding Snuffalufagus (the huge shop vac) over their head. Yet again, I wish The Dog had opposable thumbs to capture that fabulous picture, but apparently she is never going to do anything productive around the house. We have learned to love her anyways.

Insulation is fairly cheap, so we really did not save it for monetary purposes. If you have ever torn down a ceiling (or climbed through an attic) and had fiberglass insulation all over you, you will understand that we did this for our own convenience and comfort. The fact that it saves a little money is just a fun extra benefit.

The bathroom already feels so much larger with 8 foot ceilings, as opposed to the previous 6.5 foot ceilings. It baffles me why anyone would ever choose to lower the ceiling – and in only one room of the house, no less.  But then again, I didn’t understand the bulkheads in the kitchen (that were not hiding ductwork, etc.), or the vomit-colored tile and accessories in the bathroom, so the builders of the 1970’s will remain a mystery to me. Just like Keanu Reeves’ career.

Whew, The Boy and I are so relieved to have the breaker box moved out of the way. Now we can move on to really fun things, like drywall and lighting. After doing the entire guest bathroom renovation, we vowed to never do drywall by ourselves again. I guess my memory for how horrific tasks are is very short, because I’ve decided to do the drywall. Again. What is that saying about insanity? Oh well, I’m sure it isn’t applicable.

I’d like to refresh your recollection (how’d that lawyerly term sneak in there?!) about the layout and why the breaker box move was needed. This was our old layout, with a closet and bathroom off the hallway (you can click on the pictures to enlarge):

The breaker box was formerly located in the bedroom closet shown above, exactly where we need to break on through to the other side. Here is the new layout, and the breaker box is now immediately on your left when you walk in the master closet (did I say “WALK IN”? Why yes I did!):

As soon as the breaker box was gone, I got to work tearing out the rest of the framing that had to go.

He just had to zoom out and show my crazy outfit, didn’t he?

After the framing was down, I got to work measuring, cutting, and hanging drywall.

Behind the love seat is the official drywall cutting area, apparently. Oh, and don’t mind that side table – that is a project for a friend.

Once the drywall was up, the closet was really starting to take shape. I hope these pictures make sense. If not, refer to the above layout. If it still doesn’t make sense, just stop on by and I’ll show you in person. (I’m only slightly kidding.)

From the bedroom looking in.

From the closet looking out.

Close up looking into new closet.

Close up of new breaker box.

I bought four pot lights for the closet. I’d love to have one big central light, but the access to the attic is in the middle of the ceiling in the closet, so I have to work around it. The Boy decided we needed light in there while we work, so he hooked up one of the recessed lights, which is temporarily just dangling from the attic access, but will eventually be installed correctly.

This is how a real man installs a light.

Proof that The Boy owns shirts with sleeves!

So much left to do, but I am pretty impressed by the progress we made in one weekend, mostly thanks to the efforts of our neighbor, Brad. Next up? Well, I’m not sure. But I’ll let you know when we figure it out.