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I moved to Phoenix on March 16, 2005. In the time that I've been in this new house, I've practically changed every square inch of the place. It had great bones, giant windows and a perfect view of Lookout Mountain, but everything inside was covered with builder's grade materials. If it was plastic, cheap, flimsy, or ugly it was already here.
The first project was the pool, then the kitchen, powder room, landscaping, flooring, lighting, master suite, and the office all came one-by-one over the next 4 years. The master bathroom was finished in 2010 right around my 5 year anniversary. I re-did the TV room at the beginning of summer this year, and in October (2011), I had the garage floors epoxy coated and had wall-to-wall cabinets built and hung up off the floor.
Basically with all these projects, I replaced anything cheap and ugly with quality materials. I'm still not done. The master bedroom closet, the laundry room, and the guest bathroom are all still to be done. You can see before and after pictures below in most of the categories:
The TV and sound system came first. The TV is a 60" Sharp Aquos Quattron LED-LCD. The sound system is Bose. I didn't want to look at the electronics or wires, so I put everything in the adjacent laundry room and use a radio frequency universal remote to control everything.
The couch is a modern sectional. Chairs are Barcelona Pavilion chairs and the tables are Warren Platner steel and glass table from the 60's... Next will come lighting, curtains, shelves and accessories. It may get completed later. right now there are other priorities, but stay tuned for the 'after' shots sometime in the near future.
If anyone thinks you can just replace a 12 year old shower stall (and match up any broken tiles), well, that's basically impossible, so the master bath re-do got started earlier than I expected.
Everything had to go. The plastic ("cultured marble" my ass) countertops and bathtub, the brass and glass shower, the crappy discount tile (installed over linoleum) the 1980's vanity, wall to wall mirrors, a 12 inch soffit with old can lights and the toilet were at the dump faster than you can say 'poo'.
Now my double shower stall is 9' long x 6' wide x 9' tall. Three stacked stone pilasters were built. One to house the shower controls and two to hold up giant panes of "floating" custom glass over a really contemporary reverse edged granite curb.
A custom center cabinet was built for the vanity and the remaining cabinets were completely refaced; with new doors and full extension drawers put in. A new full length countertop (also with the reverse edging), faucets (in the wall) and vessel basins were added. Sconces and mirrors were hung. A new contemporary 4" soffit on the ceiling reflects the new counter silhouette perfectly, with little halogens illuminating the quartz in the granite countertops below. Hardwood flooring compliments the new cabinet color. I even have a razor thin led tv hanging over the middle console.
It's more of a contemporary look than I usually go for (with some organic features), but clean and simple lines were my main motto. The pictures I took don't do it justice because you don't see the real color and sparkle of the room. The walls and ceiling are 2 shades of green. The textured shower walls sparkle and the granite has millions of tiny bits of quartz that look like stars in the cosmos.
The master bedroom and the 3 guestrooms are actually on opposite sides of the house. The master is North, and the guestrooms are East, South and West. I haven't done much in the guestrooms except replace the carpeting, but the West bedroom had some wall and ceiling damage because of an old roof leak. After having the leak fixed, I patched up the damaged areas, repainted, hung curtains and added some new overhead lighting. Pictures
One of the first projects I tackled was the kitchen. I hated the Formica countertops, the porcelain white tile on the floor and the shiny black appliances and sink - so I had slab granite countertops installed, and replaced the fridge, dishwasher, and cook-top with stainless steel. I replaced the sink with ivory Silegranite and the faucet with a modern gooseneck. I also replaced a dated built-in desk with two wine refrigerators and then added the finishing touches with ancient Durango stone on the floor, backsplash, and entry wall. Pictures
The Powder Room downstairs was one of the easy "just get it done" kind of projects that had to happen right away. The previous owners tried an orange and brown wall paint technique that made it look as though someone spread ca-ca all over the place. It almost made me heave to walk in. It's not done... I've done little to it since just to get the basics in. I of course re-painted and changed out the pedestal sink with a glass vessel sink and nice faucet. One day I'll change out the floor and put a little more decor inside. Picture
It normally takes twice as long to get back up as it takes to get down, but we made it back up in about the same time. We didn't stop to take so many pictures on the way up, so we made good time. I was unfortunately the weak link in the chain gang this time as I racked my knees on the way down. The impact of putting my body weight into every step down just inflamed the tissue in my knee caps. I was in quite a bit of pain for the climb out. It started getting a little scarier when I would stop and my knees would lock up.
Anyway, after eating 'Aleve' like candy, drinking plenty of vodka, and getting in the hot tub, my knees got a little better.
That's Jim standing out on the ledge in the Thumbnail above. You can click on the thumbnail to enlarge it. See the slideshow of all our pictures here (or by clicking the headline above).
 Oct 28-Nov 4
2006: I took my first gay vacation cruise. I was on the
Diamond Princess through the Mexican Riviera with 7 other
friends. After flying into Los Angeles, the ship took
us to
Puerto Vallarta,
Cabo San Lucas and
Mazatlan. It was a seven day RSVP cruise on one of the
largest ships in the Princess Cruise Lines fleet. The
ship had 4 pools, lots of restaurants and bars, a spa and many
other amenities. It offered an eat-anywhere-anytime service
which was dangerous after losing a bunch of weight, but I did very
well and kept it off.
 Well this
was just too funny to pass up and not publicize... Many thanks to
Allan Fetheroff for passing this on. It's a photo stored
away in the Arts Council in Ohio of our dear friend and matriarch
rehearsing for "West Side Story", sometime back in the late 70's.
Somehow I don't remember the Anglo Jets or the Puerto Rican Sharks
wearing "Daisy Dukes" - or is he playing the part of Maria?
That would be more fitting. I mean, just look at the
luxurious silky hair and shaved legs. Natalie Wood eat your
heart out.Click on the thumbnail or headline to see an enlarged version.
 My friend
Jerry
Popolis in New York (and PA) does hair and makeup for the movies.
He's worked on the sets of Spiderman II, Stepford Wives, Michael
Clayton, Savage Grace, Lie Down with Dogs, The Forgotten, The
Producers and many other movies that we've all seen and enjoyed.
He's worked with many of my favorites like Bette Midler, Glenn Close, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore (that's him doing her above), and he's now Robert DeNiro's personal stylist. His full list of credits are on IMDB. One day, I think we'll be seeing him on the Golden Globes or the Oscars, accepting an award for best hair and makeup. Here are some articles recently written about him. Jerry and his spouse, Alberto got married in P-town and have been refurbishing an old farmhouse in Eastern Pennsylvania. They've done a beautiful job bringing this gem back to life.
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_files/@Top,Top1,TopLeft,Middle,Middle1,Bottom,x01,x02,x03,x04,x05,Frame1!Middle1.gif) Cocktails
this section isn't to share recipes as much as it is to make sure you have the right cocktail ingredients when I stop over for a drink :)
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