Today we went to Import Stone in Van Nuys to pick out our granite and marble slabs. Here's the marble we chose for the bathroom counters. It's a lot darker than the sample in the showroom, but that's the nature of natural stone. It varies. The other pieces of this were too pink with no green, so this one was better. I'm sure it'll be beautiful installed.

We couldn't get a photo of our exact slab of granite because of where it was located in the rack. But it looks exactly like this one, but with less color veining. Nice, huh?

Yay! They replaced the windows the the ones that open and are making fantastic progress on everything. I sure wish they'd build the staircase so we could go into our unit. They're working on stucco on the first building now. Cabinets are next.

View from the parking lot of the YMCA. Our unit is right above the white van/trailer.

One more comment about the ads...

I should mention that the referral buttons below the ads in the left column are for Google products that I personally use and enjoy, especially Firefox (a web broswer that I like better than Explorer) and Picasa (free image editing/organizing software). Picasa is really functional and easy to use; for the basic home editor, it does just as well as Adobe Photoshop Elements and doesn't come with a price tag. At all. And free is the new cheap, in my opinion. Firefox handles most websites as well as Explorer and I LOVE the tabs feature. It keeps your bottom status bar from filling up with all those windows that insist on tiling. I hate that. Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm actually endorsing services that I totally dig. :o)

As of this afternoon. Progress, though I'm curious why our unit still doesn't have the correct windows in the great room. The unit below us has the right ones (two outers that open). Anyway, it's getting there!

Google Ads

I've finally sold out to the lure of advertising revenue and added Google AdSense to my page. So, visitors, please click the links if you see something that remotely interests you! All the links to our favorite pages, previous posts, etc., are just further down the page (under the ad boxes). I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

D.R.Horton - America's Builder

OK, I have to say, I'm really impressed with D.R.Horton - America's Builder. I am genetically predisposed to distrusting corporate entities, assuming that they're all out to make a buck by screwing the consumer at every turn (I get that from my dad). Anyway, over the past couple of weeks, I've had a couple of interactions that make me think DR Horton is one of the good guys. As you know, we're buying a condo from them. It's still under construction and due to be finished in November.

In my weekly unofficial walk-throughs, I've noticed a couple of things that really bothered me. First, the triple windows in the great room were fixed (don't open). So, I called the sales office to complain, called the city planner to find out why it is the way it is, then emailed the corporate office to explain my unhappiness. This past week, I got an email from a VP at corporate and a call from the sales office to let me know that they analyzed the window situation and are going to replace the two outer windows with openable ones (and the middle will remain fixed). Wow!

Then I measured the laundry closet and found that there's no way under the sun that even an apartment-size stackable unit would fit in a 27" deep closet. So again, call sales office, email corporate. Lo and behold, yesterday, the sales office called to report that they'd analyzed the situation and will be moving the door frame forward three inches (to a total of 30") which should accomodate quite a few models of front-loading stackables. That's going to be a pretty major project, and I really respect them for wanting to please their homeowners.

In addition, I'm using the builder's lender, DHI Mortgage, and my loan officer, Dina, has been a real gem. Helpful, nice to work with, etc. All the crew at the sales office are delightful; Susan, Michael and Jeff are the ones I've dealt with. Then, their design center staff are all really sweet, too. The whole process has been painless.

So, there you go.

Shoes at Zappos.com

Apparently my husband knew all about Zappos.com, but either didn't tell me, or didn't sell it properly so that I would remember. Either way, I'm just learning about the coolest way to buy shoes. Shop online from a zillion options, search by color, size, price, width, etc. They ship free, and if they don't fit, return shipping is free, too! They also have handbags and other stuff, but primarily shoes. Plus, there's a 110% price guarantee, so if you find it cheaper elsewhere, they'll refund the difference plus 10%. Nice. Perfect for Jennifer, who's out in the country and it'd be a pain in the butt to haul three kids into every shoe store in town!

Upgrades ... Done!

We've finally finished all the paperwork on our upgrades and are ready to go. Our design consultant, Sharon, is on the right. She was really great to work with.

Our carpet choice ... great for hiding dog hair!

Here's the marble, which will be on both bathroom vanities. This is a weird sample, because the slab will be much bigger (this photo is of about a 8-inch square), so it'll look less busy on the counters.

Our tile, which will cover entryway, kitchen, and both bathroom floors.

This is the same style and color of our cabinets, but this sample is maple instead of beech. Close, anyway.

Here's our tile (left), cabinet and granite combo. Again, the color is a little off in the photo, but you get the idea.

Options and Upgrades!

Today we finalized our options and upgrades. This is the color (Sesame) and type of wood (Beech) we have, but the door style is a little different (Remmington). They didn't have a sample of the exact model (which I don't understand, since it's they're "standard" cabinet, but I digress). This is the granite we chose (Harvest Gold), though the flourescent lights in this photo make it look greener than it really is. Either way, it's pretty. This combination was our second choice (the first choice added about $3,000, so we had to cut back).

The cabinets will be the same in the kitchens and baths, and we chose a marble (Breccia Oniciata) for both bathroom counters. Don't remember what the tile we chose is called, but it'll be in the entry, kitchen, and both baths. That cost more than we'd hoped because construction required a cork underlay for sound-proofing. But so be it. We'll appreciate that when our upstairs neighbors are moving around (speaking of whom, I met one today at the design center; Lisa, who is somewhere above us, but not directly... nice girl).

In addition to what I already listed, we also upgraded to the stainless appliances (stove, microwave and dishwasher), added a TV outlet and pre-wiring for a flat screen TV, two "water" glass inserts in kitchen cabinet doors (either side of the stove), a dimmer switch on the chandelier above the dining table, "rain" texture glass for both showers (a little extra privacy), and upgraded carpet and pad. We'll still have to buy our fridge and washer/dryer once we move in. Now it's getting exciting!!