label/all about me

At long last, here are the rest of the photos I know you’ve all been ANXIOUSLY awaiting and EAGERLY anticipating!

A couple of moving in photos, and a series of photos displaying my house as it is today, not quite one month after moving in.

First, here are the Moving Day photos (May 23, 2006):

Boxes galore fill my living room.
I stare down in disbelief at the multitude of boxes in my kitchen waiting to be unpacked.
Here are the guys that made my life SOOOOOOOO much easier–the moving crew. Mark, the driver, is on the far right. Eddie is on the left, and Greg is in back of Eddie. They were marvelous, and made the stressful moving process MUCH more pleasant.
One of the first tasks on the agenda after moving in was to get a new refrigerator, as there was none in the house. I had been using my brother Alex’s old dorm fridge as a temporary fix. Here is “Little Tike” (the dorm fridge).
…and here’s Little Tike next to the “Big Bertha” counterpart in my kitchen. It’s a beast–26 cubic feet of chillin’ space. Love it.
And now, let’s get to the photos of the house after moving in and getting settled.

As we go through this photo tour, play along with my version of Where’s Waldo… your task is to find the items in each room that came from Katie’s apartment.

We’ll start in the Library/formal living room. This is the purple room, nicknamed “Marilyn Avenue” by my cousin Patrick because of all the Marilyn Monroe dolls and figurines displayed in it.
[Items from Katie: Couch in corner, coffee table covered by purple tablecloth]
This is the library again, but facing the opposite direction.
[Items from Katie: white lounging chair with footstool]
Here’s why Patrick called this room “Marilyn Avenue.” My collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia–or at least a part of the collection.
Leaving the library, we’re now standing in the Foyer facing toward the Family Room.

Now we’re entering the Den/Office, the room that sits across the Foyer hallway from the library. This is my writing/studying desk… full of BarBri books. Ugh. They pain me.
[Items from Katie: Office chair sitting at writing desk]This is the rest of that wall in the den/office: my computer desk and printer.
Now we’ve headed across the Foyer hallway and slightly toward the Family Room, to the front bathroom. This has been nicknamed the “Mexico Room” because it is decorated with the souvenirs I purchased when I visited Mexico in March of 2000.
These are the tin art pieces I bought in Mexico; they are on the wall that is to your left in the photo above.
Now we are standing at the wall between the front bathroom and my bedroom, facing the Family Room and Kitchen/Bistro.
[Items from Katie: dark wood bistro table with two chairs and two stools]
This is the Family Room again, this time facing the opposite wall where the TV sits. (Obviously.)
[Items from Katie: "tray" table in the corner beside the entertainment cabinet, lined basket in lower right cubby of coffee table]
Also, be sure to note the two paintings sitting on the floor in front of the TV. Those are my newest acquisitions for my “Gallery” from my cousin, Sam. They’re so awesome. The one on the left is called Blood Sugar Sex Magic (named after the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album, which Sam was listening to at the time the painting was created). The one on the right is called Monsters, and is a creative look at everyday creatures–fish, wolves, birds–that questions our perceptions of them from benign to monster-ish.
This is the master bedroom.
[Items from Katie: princess net above the bed, nightstand shelves to the left of bed, lamp on nightstand]
This is still the master bedroom, facing toward the bathroom.
[Items from Katie: fan at lower left, and halogen light in corner]
Master bedroom, as you’d see it when you first walked in the door.
[From Katie: TV stand]
My two-sink bathroom! I took the photo sort of facing one mirror, so that the other sink was reflected in it.
The master bedroom as seen from the bathroom doorway. Notice the hope chest at the foot of the bed–that was actually painted for me when I was six!
[Items from Katie: white bookshelf next to door, and white wheeled nightstand (next to bookshelf but not really fully visible)]
My bed again, flanked by cross-stiched guardian angels, from my Mums.
The walk-in closet that makes me oh-so-very-happy!
This is the view as you walk out of the master bedroom.
[Items from Katie: lined baskets on fireplace, red rocking chair beside fireplace]
A closer look at the shelves visible in the above photo.
Here is the kitchen as seen from the Family Room.
This is the area that my Mums and cousin Sam nicknamed “The Bistro,” because we had the two stools at the table as well, and when people were sitting there eating they said it was like being at a Bistro or coffeehouse. Cool. You can see Ernie’s kennel at the lower right of the photo.
[Items from Katie: the bistro table and seating]
My wonderfully expansive kitchen cupboards and pantry. The empty Mondoro Asti bottle on top of the cupboards straight ahead was the one that my family and I opened to toast the closing of my house–back when we had no furniture in the house, and had only paper cups with which to toast!
This is my “Family Wall.” The “cracks” you see in some of the photos are just reflections of the big windows that are directly behind me as I’m taking the photo–they’re not actually cracks.
This is the “Gallery.” This is where I am displaying some of the artwork I have collected from my brothers and cousin Sam over the years. The two new paintings from Sam discussed above will be added to the Gallery soon.
This is the back hallway, facing the door that leads to the garage. The laundry room is to the left.
This is the back hallway again, this time facing the opposite direction, toward the guest bedroom.
This is the guest room, a.k.a. The Stuffed Animal Room (for obvious reasons). This is also where Captain Furious and the Brothers (Warrick and Grissom) are housed. You can see Captain Furious’ abode at the right-hand side of the photo.
Take note of the quilt on the bed–that was completely handmade for me by my late Aunt Nora. I’m so pleased I finally have a nice place to display it.
[Item from Katie: silver cart on which Furious' cage sits]
And now we see Warrick and Grissom’s habitat, near the door. (Nate–recognize the monkey painting on the wall? It’s the one you got for me from Salvation Army!)
The guest bathroom, a.k.a. The Pink Room. Mums has petal pink towels to go with the pink shower curtain; they just aren’t done (embroidered) yet, so that’s why they’re not yet hung up.
The workout room. This is also where Dooley and Joey live. (Girls in one room, boys in the other! haha) Note the authentic autographed photo of Erin Elmore on the wall. Bonus points if you know–without Googling–who that is!
The closets are great–I can put my trampoline rebounder (fully assembled) and my exercise ball (fully inflated) in there and shut the doors easily–makes it easy to keep the room looking clean and spacious!
This is the workout room standing at the back wall and facing the front. The door is just to the left of where the photo stops.
[Items from Katie: wooden shelved TV stand, closet organizer being used as weight rack]
This is the garage, obviously, where the rapidly-declining Princess (my car) is resting. She’s nearing the end, folks. I just hope she makes it until I have a paycheck!! Just a couple more months, Princess…
Those boxes in the corner are actually full of just packing paper and styrofoam. They aren’t still waiting to be unpacked (thank god).
This is a magnetic bulletin board that my Daddio made for me when I was a very little girl. He drew the whole thing freehand, which I find incredibly impressive. I used to LOVE reading the Garfield comic books when I was young, hence the Garfield & Odie theme.
Interesting Me-Trivia: When Mums was pregnant with me and Daddio was still a pilot, one of the people for whom he was chartered to fly was Garfield creator Jim Davis. Daddio, also a Garfield fan, bought a Garfield book which Jim Davis autographed, wishing Sally (Mums) the “best of luck”–referring to her pregnancy with me!
Back inside the house, this is the long hallway that leads from the foyer area to the back hallway. You can see the Gallery on the right, and further down the hallway, you can see the Family Wall area.
And this is the Family Room again, as seen from right behind the Bistro table. That’s my bedroom door you’re seeing, and that’s Boolar The Ape sitting beside it.
A shot of the fireplace.
A shot of the foyer facing the front door.
[Item from Katie: area rug directly in front of the door]

And that’s the house, folks!

Labels: -FAVORITES-, all about me, photos

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