I tell this story so often people probably think I've lost my marbles (well, anyone who knows me assumes that already). Before moving to the east coast our "winter prep" consisted of buying one box of Duraflame logs and that about did it for surviving a California winter. When I met Joe, however, that prep turned into a whole different routine, even in our southern California neighborhood. When Joe told me he had ordered a "cord of wood" I thought he was NUTS. Upon arriving on the east coast he informed me we would need
several cords to keep us warm, and I thought he was even crazier...then I lived through a New York winter. The preparations for us usually begin in August when Joe will pipe up and say, "we need to go grab some pallets from the Home Depot." The first few times we snagged wood pallets from the dumpster area I felt both dirty and invigorated (and like a criminal on the run) but after realized we weren't stealing them, rather we were saving them from a life in a landfill, I felt much better. If you're wondering, we use the pallets to keep the wood off of the wet ground). Once the spring rolls around I'm then faced with empty pallets blanketing our yard, SO, why not turn them into something yet again. IN FULL DISCLOSURE only one of the pictures above is my creation (try to guess). It's shocking to see what creative things people come up with. Neighbors of ours have created outdoor seating around an outdoor fireplace using pallets (sounds tacky, but actually looks incredible), I saw someone on an episode of "Tiny House Nation" use them in various ways (storage, planters, bookshelves). Yet one more example of how a little creativity goes a long, long way! So, as we prep once again for winters cold weather, I now grab a few extra pallets for cold-weather day projects!
IKEA KITCHEN UPDATE DRAMA: After several unreturned calls and emails to the company that sources out the installation of the kitchen cabinets for Ikea, I finally reached someone who was condescending and nasty. Someone from Ikea had sent him the wrong design, prompting an incredibly high estimate for installation. When I called him to see how we could correct it he told me there was absolutely nothing we could do, the error was my fault, etc. While I wanted to rip his face off through the phone, I calmly walked him through our process to date (he intimated that because we didn't opt for the Ikea associate to design the kitchen in-home at a fee of $250, we screwed the whole thing up). After giving him my credentials and mentioning that not only did I measure and design the new kitchen, so did my architect. He calmed down and told me how to forward him the actual design and promised to get back to me with a revised proposal. It's been 24 hours and I've heard nothing. SO, I'm heading to the Home Depot to look into other options. Stay tuned!
