MAKING PROGRESS...

The snow is accumulating outside my window, at the same time about an inch of plaster dust is settling inside. While, it makes wearing anything black an issue, I'm thrilled to have all the holes patched up. Definitely feel like we are making some progress...

Like pulling a string on sweater, the whole thing unraveled yesterday as soon as the guys started to tackle the living room. Water damage on the wall, turned an easy patch and repair job into a huge plaster project. (Yikes!)

The snow caused a bit of a delay, but I hope the guys will be back tomorrow to finish painting. Tonight I have to decide whether I want them to repaint the wall the current Benjamin Moore Silver Fog, or have them do a glossy, crisp white for spring. (see below for my inspiration). What do you think?

NEW CEILING

Yesterday, the construction guys were finally able to get in and start repairing the damage from the flood. By the afternoon, they had already torn out the wet plaster and replaced it with a brand new drywall ceiling. The speed at which the ceiling went up I think can be attributed to my earlier freak out after they told me I might have to live for a week with a hole in the ceiling. 

While I definitely want them to finish the repairs, the green ceiling is sort of growing on me. Might be a idea for paint in the future.

New drywall is up on the ceiling

Today, the guys are here scraping and plastering the ceiling and walls. 

I have a new found appreciation for people who remodel their homes, walking around on plastic tarps and living in construction dust for months. Definitely takes a lot of patience and coordination... 

Can't wait for the painting to be done tomorrow, so I can start to rearrange my things in the living room.

THE FLOOD...

This weekend was one for the record books. While battling the cold that everyone in NYC seems to have at the moment, I came home on Sat night to find a leak in my bathroom. Within a half an hour, the small leak turned to a huge problem when the bathroom ceiling caved in from a burst pipe. Yikes!!

I've been staying with friends for the last two nights and living at Starbucks during the day (thank god for free wifi), while waiting for my water to be restored and have the plaster removed from the tub.

My bedroom and living room are a mess too.  I had to take down all my pics and move everything into the center of the room to make sure they didn't get wet. This is one case where the before shot looks better than the after!

BEFORE

 AFTER

Living Room AFTER

While this is a huge pain, I'm trying to keep everything in perspective and look at this a an opportunity to get rid of some unused items and rearrange my furniture for a fresh take on things for the New Year. (I may even paint!)

More to come as I get things back in order...

Has something like this ever happened to you in a rental or apartment?

A SPOT OF COLOR

It's a gray, snowy day in NYC. I can't wait to curl up on the couch tonight and watch movies.

To fight the winter dreariness, here are a few of my favorite color filled images. Have a great weekend! 

(Image found via Pinterest, originally from Oncewed)

(Image found via Pinterest, originally from Apartment Therapy)

 (found via Pinterest)

(found via Pinterest)

(Found via Darling Dexter)

 Print Row Boat Press

Image found via Pinterest, originally from ffffound

How Sunny It Is

 Image courtesy of Lonny and artist Caitlin McGauley

I always love Watercolor Wednesday's over at Lonny. Artist Caitlin McGauley creates such fantastic prints each week. This week's sunshine yellow post struck a particular cord with me. After a few days in sunny Belize, I've been looking for ways to bring a little sunshine back to NYC. Good thing I picked up this gorgeous yellow lamp and fantastic yellow ice bucket before leaving. Both are coming to Octavia & Brown soon...

NEW YEAR, NEW ME...

2010 was an incredible year! I crossed quite a few things off my life to-do list and was thrilled with the growth and support for Octavia & Brown.

Sitting down to write my resolutions for 2011, I found I was wavering between generic resolutions like getting more sleep and eatting healthier to more creative ones like finally tackling reupholstering my side chairs and traveling out of the country more. One friend suggested making this task easier by grouping resolutions by category: professional, personal, hobbies, etc. Here's what I came up with...

What's on your list for 2011?

UNBELIZABLE

It's good to be back...

Last Wednesday, my friend and I made it out of the New York snow (a miracle), faced major delays in Houston, but somehow still made our puddle jumper flight over to Ambergris Caye, a small beachy island in Belize, only 25 miles long.

While supped up golf carts are the main form of transportation on the island, we preferred to travel like locals and rented bikes to pedal around.

Having just five days on the island, we jumped water immediately to snorkel and dive the beautiful natural reefs. A highlight was renting a small motor boat from Fido's (pronounced Fee-Doughs) and battling the huge waves over to a great secluded reef. I nearly capsized our boat twice crashing through the waves.

\

On the way back we stopped at the Palapa Bar, a locals only thatch roof bar out on the water, for some tasty beverages.

I made a friend...

There is a tradition at Palapa bar to sign your name somewhere in the bar. This includes and is not limited to chairs, stools, rafters, signs, etc. The higher the better...

While there were some many great moments on the island, a few of the other highlights for me included stopping by Estel's for breakfast on the beach, Ms. Evi's for some delicious fried chicken, grabbing papusas at Waraguma's, a hole-in-the-wall that serves them for $1.25 after 5pm and sitting on the dock drinking a cold Belize brewed Lighthouse Lager after a day on the water. (Can you tell my vacations are centered around eating?)

In all, Belize was unbelizable (excuse the pun) and I can't wait to go back.

What did you do for New Year's?