Patio Lighting

The previous owners left Christmas lights up around the patio. While they served a purpose of having light when we were in the hot tub, they were rather ugly (they run along the brick on the house).

We have been on the hunt for some string lights to be used along the pergola. In the beginning of the summer, we loved these lights from Ballard Designs. Lucky for us, we waited it out until the end of the season. Two weekends ago, they had all their outdoor furniture and accessories an additional 50% off at the outlet by us. We snagged two strands for $35 a piece.

I looked on Pinterest for different ways people hung them, and we ultimately decided to make a zig-zag pattern. We started planning it out to see what would work best.

We picked up some screws with hooks on the end and drilled it into the pergola. 

Greg didn't like the string lights having all the pressure from being pulled, so we picked up some wire and threaded that through. It was quite the process.. we already had the lights hanging, so we had to take all the light bulbs out, bring the cord in and start from scratch.

Here is how they look after. We re-hung them using the wire and pulling the string of lights along with it. We alternated every three beams on the pergola, which worked out pretty perfect. The lights bulbs we found here.

And at night. I love how it creates a room outside on our patio.

xo, Erin

Water Spots

A mysterious water mark appeared on the ceiling of our study over the summer. It was very small so we didn't think much of it. Greg assumed it was coming from the toilet in our master bathroom because it was a little wobbly. We bought a new wax ring and hoped this would fix it, but it didn't.

We started brainstorming what else it could be with our realtor and she mentioned something about a pipe... and it clicked. During the inspection, our inspector mentioned something about the copper pipes in our area 'pitting' and creating super tiny pin holes that slowly leak water. Greg had already replaced some of the copper pipes in the basement. That had to be it, or at least we hoped that was the root of the problem.

Greg measured off a section of the ceiling he was going to cut open to take a look.

Sorry for the blurry picture. The good camera had a dead battery

Sure enough, that was the problem. Next step was cutting a few more holes where the bends in the pipe were and getting that sucker out.  I disappeared to run a few errands and came home to this: three holes in the ceiling, the old pipe out, and the new pipe cut and ready to be soldered.

The after-- I got to help with the blow torch

The remaining problem? Drywall work to patch the ceiling. Oh boy!

xo, Erin

Rambling

Sorry I disappeared for awhile. I wanted to spend my last week of summer doing fun things with friends and spending time with Murph. We also had back to back visitors so we were busy entertaining.  We took my brother in law and his girlfriend to the Cincinnati Zoo. This is one of the best zoos I have ever been to.. every animal is actually out in their exhibit.

That bird on Greg's shoulder started biting his shirt and sunglasses seconds later

My friend Kelly came to visit for a few days so we had lots of girl time shopping and chatting. I bought a new planner for work at Lilly Pulitzer and it is amazing! Not only is it cute, it is super functional.

The last day of nannying was spent going out to lunch and playing glow in the dark mini golf. The little girl was sick with strep the last day so unfortunately it wasn't all fun and games. She was very sad she couldn't join us.

Here's Murphy.. snuggling with me on my last day of sleeping in. I'm going to miss that. Last week I was headed out the door for work and forgot something upstairs. I quickly ran back upstairs and found Murphy already getting cozy in our bed. What a little stinker!

We are finally back into the grind doing things around the house. Once the cooler weather hits, we will be doing bigger projects. Until then, we need to patch the office ceiling (details tomorrow), transplant bushes and cut two trees down, begin to update the powder room, and finally get around to hanging things in our bedroom. Oh.. and hang lights on our patio. We snagged these awesome string lights at the Ballard Designs Outlet for a steal and are excited about getting them up on the patio. 

xo, Erin

Road Trip out East

Sorry I have been M.I.A. We got back from our trip last week and have had non-stop company.. and I love it! I have another friend coming in town tonight for a couple days and I plan on enjoying my last week of summer to the fullest!

In the meantime, take a peek at some pictures from our road trip. We stopped in Baltimore, Atlantic City and other towns in New Jersey to visit family, with the real reason for our visit being my sister's bridal shower.

Inner Harbor at night..

..and in the morning

playing around with the self-timer

submarine outside the aquarium

our view from our fabulous room at The Revel

ocean for miles, even on a cloudy day

walking the boardwalk

xo, Erin