what jen does

Life, home, and a little travel

Author: JEF

  • 22 hours on Martha’s Vineyard
    travel

    22 hours on Martha’s Vineyard

    … otherwise known as when I held my brother and his girlfriend hostage… and made them do everything I wanted to do. But actually, it was a really great day. One of these days I’ll have to actually stick around the island for more than 24 hours and relax more – but until then, I’m…

  • home + reno

    week 40

    So if this house was a baby, we would be ready to deliver…. and since this house is my baby… that is actually close to true. According to Jim the Contractor, we should have an occupancy permit in the next week (or so). This was a pretty weird week given the big holiday smack in…

  • week 39
    home + reno

    week 39

    Sometimes during this project, I’ve reflected back on the moment where I lost it on the streets of Somerville. It’s comical to me at this point that I lost it so early on in this process. Nothing had even happened yet. We hadn’t discovered a rotting foundation. I hadn’t seen bill after bill after bill.…

  • rehabing the old hardware
    home + reno

    rehabing the old hardware

    Oh the hardware.  The decision to save the hardware last Fall was rather last minute. I thought about it a few times and almost didn’t do it. There were A LOT of handles to remove. But it turns out, it is very fast work. All you need to do is just borrow your dad’s power…

  • oh the beautiful stairs
    home + reno

    oh the beautiful stairs

    One of the best parts of this project has been the revitalization of the stairs. I’ve always been intent on saving them. I love standing on the landing and looking out across the “parlor”. In some ways it feels like the soul of the house. A couple months back, I did a retrospective of the…

  • week 38
    home + reno

    week 38

    This was quite the week for the ole lady. The lawn really started to come in… and the cabinets were installed. Lots of really obvious things that people love to talk about. I have spent so much time watering this lawn that it’s like having an infant. I’m checking on it every three hours. I…

  • week 37
    home + reno

    week 37

    I’m getting confused about all the weeks at this point. I think I probably talk about them like a pregnant woman would. I’ll just start hashtaging things with the week. I was doing really well with individual weeks until this one. Life got busy and I kept having it on my list… and then I…

  • I’m a tomato farmer

    I’m a tomato farmer

    So the garden is officially in – and slowly taking root. Over the last two weekends I’ve been slowly selling off the remaining tomato baby seedlings. While I was a little disappointed in their size, people have been so thrilled when they buy them. Go figure. I’m not exactly paying my mortgage here but I’ve…

  • how many shades of gray is too many? don’t care.
    home + reno

    how many shades of gray is too many? don’t care.

    I have relentlessly controlled so many aspects of this house. I have picked out … everything. I did ask for consultive opinions on big things like the tub and the tile. But not to get all braggy, but I really have picked out everything without consultants. That is until it came to paint.  A couple…

  • week 36
    home + reno

    week 36

    I spent much of the week just waiting for two things to happen. I wanted to have the gas meter installed and I desperately wanted the landscaping done. I didn’t really achieve either of those items. I honestly feel like building a house is a lesson in patience on how to not go nuclear on…