it's starting to come together!

there's been lots of progress to the upgrades to the house of wan lately!  it's been really weird to walk around and see all the changes, remembering where things were before and marveling over what it all looks like now.  it was only four months ago that we started this whole process, and the living room looked like this:

fast forward to now, and we've swapped out the floor and added a fireplace with some built-in cabinets.

the kitchen, the nook and the laundry room used to be just across from the living room.  looked like this:

after knocking down a couple of walls, that space has turned into the new guest suite!

we ordered a new couch from lovesac, and had chosen a configuration that involved six seats, nine side pieces and three storage seats that would double as ottomans.  it was interesting to watch the fedex notifications start landing in my inbox - because each piece is individually boxed and shipped with its own tracking number.  and of course, they arrived in batches on different days.  we finally received the last of the deliveries on saturday and decided to hunker down and assemble it all so that we could have a couch inside the house again.

first, we rolled out the rug that we'd received weeks ago and had been storing in the garage.  the dogs loved it and couldn't stop rolling around on it.

the hub started bringing in the boxes and unpacking the pieces, which the bean and i worked on assembling and covering.

it was quite the lengthy process, and it seemed like it took forever.  for each piece, we had to screw in the little wooden feet and then place the velvet covers on.  each seat had a base plus seat and back cushions, and the storage pieces had a base and lid plus the seat and back cushions.  the nine sides were the simplest, although the covers were super snug and it took both of us to pull them into place.  and tucked somewhere inside each piece was a box of what they dubbed the "secret ingredients" - the tools that would help to take the individual pieces and put them together into the configuration that works best for your space.

finally, we were done with all of the sides and seat pieces.

this left the three storage seats to cover and assemble.  they came out of the box all strapped together, and underneath those straps and lids the two cushions were tucked inside and held in place by two metal dowels that the bean and i called lightsabers.  and they came with their own box of "secret ingredients."

the hub had to leave at that point to run some errands for the lounge, so the bean and i were on our own to finish up.  we were so relieved when the last cushion had been covered and added to the pile we were building in the middle of the room.

after a quick break, we dragged ourselves back up to put all of the pieces together to form our L-shaped couch.  it was pretty easy to do, and once we'd finalized the placement the bean got to work placing the cushions on each piece.

we had quite the pile of boxes for the recycle bin.

finally, over three hours later...we were done.  the first to test it out was the bean, followed pretty closely by both dogs.

we'd upgraded from the standard filling to their premium "lovesac" stuff, and the couch is really soft and squishy.  except that while we were unpacking everything, we'd realized that instead of the gray we were expecting, the covers were more brown.  i checked the order confirmation e-mail and sure enough, they'd sent us what we ordered - which was a color called "graphite."  that doesn't really translate to "brown" to me, but that's what it ended up being.  plus, we realized that there was an option for deeper-set seats vs. the standard ones we'd ordered.  luckily, lovesac offers a 60-day in-home trial period.  so after a really long wait, i got through to a customer service rep and now we're waiting for them to send us shipping materials so that we can send back the covers and the pieces we need to replace.

the bean is going to be so thrilled when she finds out that we have to swap out all of those covers.  yikes.  wish me luck.

already seven in people years

on june 1st, our teddy bear turned one.  he's been such a great addition to our family from day one:

he's such a sweet dog, super chill and just snuggly enough.  not super clingy, doesn't need all of our attention all of the time and loves to just hang out.  and i can't believe how much he's grown!  seems like just yesterday when he was a tiny little baby boy.

everybody loves teddy, and we love him right back.

lest you think he's an angel all the time though, he does get himself into some trouble now and then.

he still hasn't decided whether or not he likes to swim.  he does love the rain, though.

and hanging out poolside.

he usually does his best to stop me from doing any sewing.

and he definitely knew he did something wrong when he found my knitting one day.

i don't think he likes the beanie i accidentally made for him.

it takes him forever to get settled when we're in the car for a day trip.

naps are his favorite.

happy belated birthday, teddy!  we love you!

keeping up our fitness

working out at home during this lockdown really hasn't been all that bad.  there are actually way more pros than cons to it, especially with my rather anti-social/introvert tendencies.  the barre classes via zoom have been awesome, and i was really happy to hear that the studio plans to continue them even after they reopen.

i'm liking the new space i have in the house for workouts, too.

while the bean still grumbles when i drag her out to do our cize sessions, we're usually giggling and having a great time by the end.  and it cracks me up when she flails extra dramatically, which i try to encourage because it burns more calories.  heh.

the hub decided to toss out a challenge for the month of june for the whole family - the old lady and her special friend included.  whoever gets the most steps until july 2nd (because we didn't actually start till june 2) wins a prize of their choice...which has been quite the motivation for all of us.  the bean has been working extra hard to get those steps in, and we've all been taking advantage of having a mostly empty house.  there's a great "track" if you circle the island in the kitchen and make your way over to the living room and circle the oven that's still sitting in the center of the room (because the installers don't have an opening for us until next week).  while we have room in the back yard - and the hub has figured out that a lap around our block is right around half a mile - i like to power walk inside because it's getting really hot outside and it's nice and air conditioned inside.  heh.  and i discovered virtual walks around disneyland on youtube...which made for a fun 5K one day.

yup - a whole 5K, right inside the house.  crazy.  and it's been really funny watching the bean and her daddy try to beat each other's steps at the end of the day - last night they had a whole dance party in the house and i just stood there and laughed and laughed because it was so ridiculous.

and we added something really fun to the household - an inversion table!  while we were all a little scared of it when it arrived, i think we've all become big fans of it.  the bean and i are usually tag-teaming it as we buckle in and flip ourselves upside down.  and we added the accessories pack to our order that included a vibration pillow that turns the thing into a massage...pretty fabulous.

we've got a few other pieces of exercise equipment for the little gym too...and i'm wondering if we're even going to have room for it all once we're ready to move it all in.  yikes.

gyms are finally cleared to open again at the end of this week.  i'm not really feeling like i want to be in group classes just yet, so those zoom barre classes will still be part of my routine.  orangetheory has posted that they're trying to finalize their plan that will get then approved to reopen, but i don't really want to return to those classes just yet either.  too much equipment and too much switching around and still somewhat close proximity to other people who are sweating and breathing hard and...yeah, no.  not yet.  i'm hoping they'll give us the option to extend the freeze on our account until...well.  i don't know yet.  i don't know what the answer is.

until then...home gym it is!  woohoo!