Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
Before we get to the good stuff – an update: we have found and signed a builder to come in and do all the structural work, including installing the french doors! more on that on Monday – their first day! And wood floor restoration people are coming on Thursday to tell us whether our kitchen boards are worth saving.
So it’s now been over two weeks living without a kitchen. So far, so good.… Read the rest
It has happened. The point of no return has been passed. No turning back. Thanks to seven of our friends who turned out on Saturday for 5 hours of smashing fun :)
I literary do not remember ever being so physically tired in my life as after Day 1 of demo. I could barely lift my hands – I don’t even know how the dudes fared since they were actually lifting and heaving heavy stuff.… Read the rest
It’s my birthday, and I couldn’t be more excited for my presents this year ( well actually I love presents all the time and of any kind for any occasion, but I digress).
First up, is this special lady:
A Pink Flapper painting by Jenny Bellin. Not sure where she will go yet, but so excited to own my first ever piece of art.
Aaaand, Sergey has promised to build me a built in shelves in the dinning room.… Read the rest
Happy, happy Maslenitsa celebration. Maslenitsa is a Russian mardi gras – a celebration of the end of winter with blini (paper-thin pancakes, similar to crepes). Its an old Russian holiday; the celebration lasts about a week, with a different custom each day, at the end (this sunday) is the big end, with a bonfire where people burn an effigy of winter in teh bonfire.
Here’s how it went for us this year:
Otto helping with prep work
Russian tea and coffee
The spread; unfortunately I forgot to get the picture of the actual pancakes
and of course the Maslenitsa doll, in all her glory and ready to end winter
Emily making the Maslenitsa doll:
Otto is done for the day!… Read the rest
A bit unexpected, but hey so is life. Otto, the orange kitty, came to live with us this weekend. For reals. He is a year old kitten that came to us via Syracuse University, hence the name.
in other happenings this weekend, we participated in the DC tweed ride. Great fun, particularly if you normally refuse to get on a bike in the city, because city bike riding scares you (ahem).… Read the rest
as with any decor projects – creating a wedding is really very much a decor project – color is key. We went with red, given our theme of Russian wedding – how the Russian theme came about you can see here.
One of my favorite bits about the planning process was creating a mood board. It was actually the first time that I created one, a skill which afterwards I applied to make my kitchen mood board.… Read the rest
Annnd we are back! thank you to all wonderful friends and family for an awesome, epic wedding celebration. our photographer posted some pics here, which were also featured here. After 8 months of incredible amount of work (and at times stress) i am looking forward to return to normal life here at VIB :)… Read the rest
my latest project is not directly for or about the vib. although, its got the same vibe
i am collecting tea cups and saucers for our wedding this summer. the color scheme for the event is red and white, and i am trying to collect tea cups in the same pallet, around 120 of these.
it also means that i get to discover new thrift and antique places in DC (and elsewhere) in addition to tried and true ruff and ready (on my last trip i got 8 cups there!)… Read the rest
happy news — sergey and jenia are engaged. (yes, we do everything backwards)
of course that means that some attention from the VIB will shift to the VIB- wedding edition. as of right now the plan is for a very late summer nuptials, which is going to require quite some time from us for the next couple of months.
we will still be doing projects on the house, just with a slowed pace.… Read the rest
My wish is for a white Christmas. Though it won’t be our first snow this year — right as we went under contract last year, D.C. was hit with an epic snow storm. We trekked over to VIB, on foot cause all transport even metro was down, to take pictures.
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