The gas man cometh...

Our bedroom...I won for the blue color and I love it!


This is the island. The big hole is for the induction cooktop. Anyone know what kind of cookware I need?

Backyard view with touch sink!

View of kitchen standing by the bar

The BAR! I love the red cabinets. So glad Joia talked Danny into it.

Cool stairs with banister

Ooooh Ahhhhh!

Still on for Saturday. Stay tuned for details.

I'm not really exaggerating to say that my husband put in a whole week's worth of work on the house this weekend. By the time he was done on Sunday..you could eat off the floor upstairs and there were toilets installed. The amount of work he has put in to this house (along with Papa George) can not be put into words.

What was holding us back was the gas line. Well, they were suppossed to come today, and lo and behold with a little nudge from our friends in high places at ONEOK, they showed up, dug the line and then actually came and hooked us up. So, the term "cooking with gas" now totally applies to us. We are very grateful to Curtis and Brenda for helping us out.

So, this means full steam ahead. Not that things were at a standstill today...they painters finished up, all the appilances were delivered and the alarm was installed. As I type this, Danny and Brian (the plumbing angel) are out there working hard on very important things like plumbing and faucet installation.

Tomorrow, HVAC gets hooked up, heat gets cranked up and then comes hardwoods and carpet. We are getting closer and as the girls and i discussed at dinner....only 5 more sleeps until we move in.

Holy cow, I need to start packing.

The lights work!

Hot dog! We went by house today and wow...there was color on the walls. It is hard to believe these are the same walls I thought were white earlier in the week. They have started painting accent walls, installing countertops and light fixtures. There is a big pile of gravel to make our driveway. Progress. Squeal!! And, ONG, is coming on Monday. We may make it to move in on Saturday. My project manager/husband says we will know more on Sunday. Stay tuned. Until later...some pictures....

Ever wonder what melted ice cream paint looks like? Just take a look at Sophia's room.
Sloane's super cool window seat light fixture. I picked it out. yea me!

Pendant lights in the garage. Interesting.

The bar. Yea for red cabinets. Thanks Joia.

Very cool ceiling fan on patio. It is small but mighty.

Cool light fixture in entry way. The girls were fascinated that the lights actually work. They turned them on, turned them off, turned them on, turned them off, etc. Good thing Danny wasn't there...he wouldn't have liked the light show.

Upstairs patio ceiling fan


One week...think we will make it?

So close and yet so far....

Here is the house BEFORE Danny brought in the dumpster to get rid of trash pile. We are classy allready.
This is what the house looked like last Sunday. Still lots of painting to do......

back porches....i envision lots of parties and hanging out back here.

Oh my, where has the time gone? Yes, I am the world's worst blogger. I have not posted since Sept. 23. No, Dolce Vita has not come to a standstill. Work has been progressing nicely, but a little thing called life got in the way of my beloved blog. My good friend Miller even called me today to tell me that he had not seen an update to my cult blog lately. He is not on facebook, and that has been my main way to keep folks informed, so I felt bad, so I promise to get better about updating.

So, where are we now? We are 8 days from moving in. Yes, we are very excited and yes, Danny is working like a dog to get this thing finished. As I type this and the girls are snoozing in their beds, Danny is out at at the house working hard to install the sink so they can put the countertops in tomorrow. Sinks are important you know. I can't even explain the amount of work Danny has put into this house. He swears our next house will be a condo in Pacific Grove when we retire...and I believe him.

So, where do we stand? We are waiting for them to finish painting, light fixture are going in, countertops are being installed and the hardwoods and carpet should go in next week.

Of course, ONG is dragging their feet about running the line to the house so that we can turn the heater on. The house is very well insulated -- foam insulation is the bomb -- and the house has stayed a reasonable 55 degrees. Danny even bought a thermometer to prove it when the painters started complaining about being cold. Wimps. They can paint an entire house without wearing a mask, but it gets a little cold and they want to pack it up.

We are scheduled to have ONG hooked up on Dec. 14 (about a week late if you ask Danny, but those contractors work on their own schedule). I even called ONG and turned on the charm and informed the guy that our "6 YO is worried Santa won't find her if we aren't in our new house". He promised he'd do his best b/c who wants to let down a 6 YO? He'd feel even worse if I trotted Sophia out to his office and had her turn on her pouty face, but we aren't to that level yet. Talk to me next week.

I will be going out to the house tomorrow and will take and post lots of pics. For now I'll leave you with a few...I have been told by Joia (our designer friend who will work for chips and salsa) that i can't go back to the house until all painting is finished b/c I freaked everyone out when I called Danny earlier this week and said it didn't look to me like they had painted anything. It turns out they had painted the whole house the main color and I was just not color smart enough to realize it. oops. Sorry Jorje the painter...I didn't mean to get Danny all fired up on you.

More pics to come tomorrow. I promise. My goal is many short updates over the next 10 days. Wish me luck and cross your fingers we get some heat turned on.