how to install floating flooring

as part of my neverending bathroom remodel, i finally installed trafficmaster allure floating flooring; supposedly "the easiest floor ever!"  ummmm welp i'm here to say, kiiiind of.  if i'd been installing the flooring in a perfectly square room with nothing in it, yea i'm sure it would have been cake.  but a 6'x6' bathroom with a vanity, round shower, toilet, two pipe penetrations, and a hallway with a bracketed guided barn door is another story entirely. 

materials needed:

• utility knife [with new blade]
• speed square
• straight edge
• tape measure
• heavy duty pliers [i misused my lineman electrical pliers..]
• pencil
• dremel or other fine sanding tool
• tracing paper
• scissors
• tape
• unending patience and a will to finish

bathroom status: 95% done!!!!

MERRY FRIGGIN CHRISTMAS TO ME!  the bathroom floor [sans molding/trim] is done!!  nothing says christmas-eve-fun-time like my mom and me crawling around the bathroom floor cursing, flailing, and chasing my cat around with the vacuum.  my dad was wisely in another room for the duration.

feliz navidad a couple days early

welp the christmas tree has been up for... 2 weeks now.  pics are now finally as well.  i got a significantly smaller tree than the beastly one i had last year, and probably will shoot for a happy medium next year.  but damnit, it was cold and freezing rain in the christmas tree lot, and my christmas-tree-hauling-friend-with-a-truck was rather displeased at being present.

i bought some tacky tinsel garland this year, and i think it looks pretty friggin nice if i do say so.

I FINALLY SEWED SOMETHING

seriously.  its been almost a year since i managed to do anything productive with my sewing machine... and the last thing was my loveseat.  but in the glut of black friday/small business saturday/cyber monday/taco tuesday emails... i managed to get one for go to patterns, and bought the casual lady pattern for half off! 

pickle all the things?

along with all the prep for thanksgiving goodness, my parents brought a ridiculous amount of produce from their winter CSA.  what do i do with 3 pounds of carrots now?  i dont even like carrots.  well... pickle them of course!  and dump them on other people as "thoughtful" homemade christmas presents.  or something.  but what about the overabundance of other produce i already had from before thanksgiving?  well i'll pickle that shit too.  also 2.5 pounds of beets from the CSA.  it was closer to ... 2.7 pounds but i managed to lose one in the disposal while i was rinsing and didnt find it until well after i was done.  oops.  and now for your viewing pleasure:  no words.

franksgiving!

aka the best holiday of the year!

liz and the solar boys

that's the name of our future band.  and our album cover.. and the person on the right is actually one of the guys' 16 year old daughter who has about 10x more experience than i do.

birthday weekend!

this weekend i hosted a roaring 20's [on a budget] birthday party for myself.  i made the requisite pinterest board, compiling the looks and styles and drinks i liked for the theme, bought a bunch of fringe and sequin trim to .... hoard forever, and then ended up spending about $100 on ingredients, alcohol, and decorations.  i found a dress i had purchased back in long island [atleast 4+ years ago now] which hadnt ever really fit, and that id tried to consign atleast once.  it was a $300 sample sale dress which i think i paid $40 for.  but it fit the theme perfectly, and finally fit me, but i couldnt bring myself to add any extra sparkle.  subtle is better, no?

what ive been up to [part 2]

the most important part of any day is food time.  followed very closely by sleep time.

things ive cooked lately: jalapeno sour cream mac and cheese, spicy coconut curry noodle soup, [frozen] dumplings and [steamed] chicken buns, rum cakes and pumpkin whoopie pies [to be featured in a later post for my roaring 20's birthday party!], chocolate whiskey bread pudding, and butternut squash fennel chorizo chicken sausage soup

what ive been up to [part 1]

wth?  ITS NOVEMBER?  ummm welp my birthday is tomorrow and id like to say ive been busy saving the world and such.  but really, ive been waiting tables and helping with solar installs.  and sleeping a ridiculous amount.  thrilling i know. 

we also do the occasional energy audit in the back woods of maine.  turns out all the equipment fits in the mini coop rather well.

the goodwill blues

i have intentionally been avoiding thrift stores.  not cos i dont love to peruse the aisles, but since i no longer work an office job with a business-casual environs, i dont have time to wear many dresses.  i was suckered back in today whilst running errands.

peter pan collar dress: ann taylor loft
long sister-wife dress: to be cut up into a skirt for work
nautical type dress: landsend [i didn't know they still made clothes?]

scarborough beach state park

somewhere on route 1 it is fall already

massacre pond - the gateway to the beach.  sounds terrifying, but its gorgeous and reminds me of new zealand

new kitchen shelves!

for awhile ive been debating the merits of open kitchen shelving.  i have a mostly white [and yellow] kitchen, and a black cat that manages to get his nasty on every single thing i own.  just over 6 months ago i removed the glass door on my liquor cabinet, essentially leaving the glassware on open shelves, and it has been a resounding success.  minimal cat hairs in my glasses, and the bathroom demo didn't even leave a layer of dust.

i lack the funding to redo the entire kitchen and the cabinets are terrible, so lo and behold, it's time for open shelves!

frank interlude

gratuitous cat in sunshine pic

bathroom status: 89% done!

progress report on the longest bathroom remodel ever - top pic aug 13, bottom pic sept 18.  all i need now are for the sink faucets to be turned 90 degrees [should point outward so you turn the water toward yourself...rather than into the spout], the sink drain to stop leaking into a tupperware in the vanity, the flooring laid, window trimmed out, and the new radiator connected.

liz's laundry

old outfit pics [first is from the end of july..] and you can see the bathroom progress and lack thereof going on behind me.

• blazer: kohl's circa high school
• panda dress: nordstrom rack
• annoyingly bright watch: zappos
• leggings: uniqlo
• sandals: crocs via amazon

some semblance of privacy, progress, and patience

unrelated frog for your viewing pleasure

up against the wall motherfuckers

citation [sorry not sorry it's wikipedia..]

so day 4 of my lovely home reno project... my buddy questioned where i wanted the shower head and plumbing located.  seeing as i had confirmed time frame [multiple times], work scope, plans i'd drawn up both on paper and drafting software [in person and via email], walked through the potential layout [over lunch], and showed him all the components i'd bought... i was pretty pissed when he said, oh i didn't know you wanted that there.  i guess were ripping out this wall too, since we need 6" for a wet wall and the existing studs are only 4". 

sometimes in school, you learn stuff and junk

liiiiike how to draw up and wire your own bathroom circuit!  even though you [i] sometimes drop out of a program halfway through since it isnt heading in the direction you hoped but it was an associates degree and you already completed two others...  but that doesn't stop me from writing run-on and incomplete sentences, no sir.

a brief respite

for a year now, ive assumed the hot water dripping in the bathtub was from the faucet not turning off fully, and spent countless minutes trying to crank it closed more.  however, after the tub was removed and the water turned off... it continued to drip out the hot side.  all over the floor.  solution? 

red solo cup.  sigh.

a wall full of secrets

and by secrets, i do mean razors. 

and no i didn't cut my finger on the razors.  more like i black-swan-ed a giant hangnail and it bled everywhere.

bathrom demo

ok so it's been a month since i managed to post "the bathroom demo is starting!" pics.  here are some more demolition pics.  cos the bathroom STILL ISNT DONE YET and it may be driving me more than a bit crazy insane batshit nutso.

turns out the tiniest crappiest vanity ever ... fell apart as we were removing it.  the sink was barely caulked to the wall and the sides fell away once we removed the sink.  the trap underneath was made of some kind of chrome coated plastic which merrily cracked into pieces.  but the fitting i added to the cold intake line held just dandy.

the bathroom from hell... is no more!

 

sooo here's a preview of what a good friend and i have spent our past week doing.  the long sought after renovation is at hand!  and ... may prove to be my undoing.  stay tuned.  i might get enough energy to post more pictures sometime in the near future.  or check my fb and instaspam.

whiskey tiiiiiiime

i can't pretend to remember all the history and processes of the new england distillery, but it was by far one of the more informative and entertaining booze tours ive ever done.  i had a 4-person groupon that was on the verge of expiring, so i dragged my sister along for the ride.  we stood in the one room garage with a group of 8 other people, as the guide [and one of 4 employees] gave the story behind the wight family, let us smell [not drink] each level of distilling product, and then poured samples of their rye whiskey, rum, and gin.

homeowner problems

aka the saga of the shit flood and getting stood up by a plumber.

im not serious about the shit flood.  it my have been that tragic in my mind.. but really it was the contents of the disposal, a load of laundry, and maybe one toilet flush that seeped out onto my basement floor.  if you were brave enough to read to here..  kudos.  i exaggerate in times of panic.  also, i used a gallon of vinegar and 3 bottles of lysol sanitizing the floor.

downtown portland

the relative calm before the... lack of a storm.  we were under a severe thunderstorm warning for about 3/4 of the day.  it rained, but the crazy held off.

black raspberry season!

...is unfortunately over now.  i took these pics last week, and ate a ridiculous amount of berries. 

real furniture. like an adult

look!  i have an actual bed!  instead of mattresses on the floor!  like.. im 21.  it only took me more than an entire calendar year and it doesnt exactly match anything else, but who's counting!

liz's laundry

i havent been doing well with the summer of no pants challenge... cos a) too lazy to take pics, and b) i discovered SHORTS THAT FIT!!  so "boyfriend" style pants look like a big ole bag o frump on me.  shorts however, are ridiculously comfortable, not too short, and at the gap outlet atleast, super cheap.

• top: macys
• shorts: gap outlet

frank interlude

frank likes suitcases.

frank looks sleek and sophisticated.

frank likes to sing along.

the end.

vermonter miscellania

its growing on me.  but there's no coastline...

cloudy vermont skies

my family spent july 4th weekend in vermont to see my sister play with the vermont symphony orchestra.  second annual family adventure, now, with less carbreakdowncrises! 

cider and solar

probably one of the snobbiest/artsiest pics ive taken.  and i love it.  the blue and the patina on the truck with pv tech in the background, the dark clouds rolling in, and the green green grass.  that's pretty much vermont in a nutshell, epitomized at the cold hollow cider mill in waterbury.

afuera de mi casa

if you ignore that little strip of blue in the dormer and the sad sack shutters i still have yet to remove... my house looks pretty damn cute.  and the all the green stuff around it is doing surprisingly well.  to the left of the porch, the forsythia expands every year with a vengeance, and was only about a month late this year due to crappy crap weather.  to the right is apparently named fairy queen, and has delicate looking wispy branches that flower all of a sudden.  when the wind blows, little petal tornadoes abound.  the bush furthest to the right is a type of flowering quince that only flowered after i hacked about half of it away last summer.  it filled in quite nicely but is again threatening to climb right in my kitchen windows and will be tackled shortly.

rhododendron overload

rhodeys in the kitchen

rhododendron season!

this pic was taken june 15th.  not that i'm behind on posting or anything.

dont you want to come sit in the sun and drink a beer and read a book with me?  i promise i'll move the other chair a bit further away instead of sticking my feet in your lap. 

more gratuitous blue sky day pics to come.

big ass cookies

i've never claimed reading comprehension is a strong suit of mine.  most recently my mom, sister, and i were trying to find a restaurant in augusta for lunch.  that is augusta, maine, mind you.  not augusta, georgia.  i googled "restaurants in augusta" and chose the midprice range.  what?  indian?  tapas?  burritos?  more burritos?  a sweetery?  i sent several links and some menus to the fam and the reply was "well those are all very nice looking but were not driving to augusta georgia.."

shit. 

liz's laundry

• top and earrings: nordstrom rack
• "pants": uniqlo

adventures in biddeford - peace be with you

...and also with you.  let us pray... that this is the end of my long drawn-out series on biddeford.  hark.  it is.

last but not least, the st joseph's rectory.  home to ... i have no idea how many priests or clergy from when and how.  the high school tour guides had absconded by the time we arrived.  the couple seemingly guarding the house said "isnt this a lovely old house?  we know nothing about it".

ditto.  

adventures in biddeford - brief architectural respite and no words

1000th post - liz's laundry

so.  after starting my wee blog january 15th 2009... this is my 1000th post!  holy crap you guys.  the blog has seen me through 2 states, 2 schools, 7 jobs [gak], 1 failed relationship, and a metric shitton of pictures.  thanks for sticking with me, and its nice to know that people other than my mom actually read this website.  although.. i dont think she's checked in awhile.  hope you'll be around for another 1000!

• sweater and tank: h&m
• top: sorbetto made by me!
• pants: uniqlo

adventures in biddeford - but you can't turn back time

the original mill clock tower in biddeford is nearly out of time.  [see what i did there?]  so many other puns, but the owner has until september 2nd to move the "eyesore" of the property.  according to our reluctant high school tour guides, the innards and the weather vane were stripped and sold in the 80s.  all that remains a is weathered facade of a somewhat structurally unsound room. 

adventures in biddeford - where theres a mill there's a way

according to some mad googling skills, the biddeford mill was last owned by west point stevens, which still prevails as a global textile producer and was known as west point pepperell or WPP.  vellux blankets were produced in biddeford from 1966 to 2009.  after a considerably rocky progression from hydroelectric power to mechanization, the passage of both world wars, globalization, hence the western [...] lion and the eastern dragon making a modified griffin, and a slight revival of production in 2005, the last mill building closed its doors in 2009.