Master Bathroom Remodel - 2016

We've been in our house close to 15 years and we've wanted to remodel our master bathroom from day one.  It just didn't work out that way. 

Several years ago, we redid our kitchen (and what a painful experience that was!).  Before we move on, let me remind you, I'm an accountant.  I have no imagination.  It's not required for what I do.  Numbers either add up or they don't.  I can reconcile your bank account to the penny but ask me to come up with a color scheme for your wedding, your bedroom, your...fill in the blank...and you're taking your chances.  I'm the person that walks into 31 Flavors and asks for chocolate. 

So the kitchen remodel...the guy was nice but he gave us no direction.  Instruction? yes.  Direction? no.  So we were the blind leading the blind.  We were picking things that may or may not have looked okay together.  It was painful and expensive and when it was over, the kitchen looked nice but it wasn't "Wow!".

Fast forward a few years and now we're talking bathroom remodel and I just cringed.  The pressure of picking something that you're going to have to live with for years and years?  Crushing!  Picture the cartoon where the kid's head explodes.  But it's really time.  Our master bathroom is original to the house and it SCREAMS '80's.

We found a guy.  He said he loved designing bathrooms and would be happy to help us.  Picture me doing the happy dance.  Then he says it's going to be some exorbitant price...just for labor.  And throw in the fact he's going to do it all himself so it will take months and the happy dance becomes the not so happy dance as we're back to square one.

Then our neighbor recommended this company...The Flooring Shop.  Huh?  No!  We want our bathroom done, not the floors.  But The Flooring Shop is like the "Total Wine" of contractors.  You look at the name and think all they have is wine but really, there's so much more.  These guys are the same.  They do all kinds of remodel projects.  Still, I'm leery (remember the kitchen).

Sami, the owner of the company, came out to give us a quote.  "What do you want to do?" he asks.  Fantastic.  I have no idea.  The poor man couldn't give us a quote unless he had something to base it on and I couldn't tell him what I wanted because I didn't know.  Circular error.  But then he said, "You know.  You could..."  The suggestions started flowing and the black clouds disappeared.  I could feel a happy dance coming on, but I restrained myself because I didn't want to scare this guy away.

The next weekend we went to his shop so he could help us choose colors...and you know what?  He did!  He helped us make all kinds of decisions.  Then as we're talking, he starts doodling.  Well, it looks like doodling to me...(hello? accountant!)

...And a bathroom is born.

With this little piece of paper, I'm thinking my work here is done.  Then the construction starts.

Day 1 - Sergio, the painter, comes to ask me what color the bathroom is going to be.  "Gray," I say and I show him the photo I took of our tile choice.  "No, no," he says.  "The walls.  What color are you going to paint the walls?"  Uh-oh.  I don't recall discussing walls.  So, I say, "uh...white?"  Sergio give me a look that says, nice try, sister.  "I need to know what shade of white."  The blank look on my face tells him all he needs to know...which is that I have no idea.  "Text me with the color," he says.  "And I need the number of the color."  I smile as he walks away and then I start to stress.

Luckily, I have internet...and a sister who has opinions.  So I look up the paint store and start looking at various shades of white.  Do you have any idea how many shades of white paint there are?  After a bit of back and forth with my sister, I finally decide on a shade that has a hint of gray and proudly text the paint number to Sergio.  Alrighty then.

Day 2 - the plumbers, Gerald and Ralph show up and they have questions.  Now I start to panic for real.  I'm not good at decisions.  I thought all the decisions all been made.  I stopped listening after Sami drew the picture.  If I'd known there was going to be a test...

Gerald and Ralph calmed me down and walked me through what I needed to decide. After that, they would tease me.  "You got a second?" Ralph would ask.  "I'm going to warn you, you'll need to make a decision."  These guys were like a Vaudeville team.  They were so friendly and patient with me.

Meanwhile, I'd texted Sami about a hundred times and the poor guy was probably rolling his eyes wondering why he agreed to do this project.  But, you know what?  He answered every time with great patience.

But that's when it hit me.  I was one of those clients that annoy the crap out of me!  I have clients that can't make a move without calling me wanting to have a thirty minute discussion about whether to check a box and now I've devolved into that client.  Not good.  I took a deep breath, marched back into the bathroom and answered their questions.  I felt pretty silly afterwards.

Day 3 - Tile.  Miguel was our "tile guy".  He was amazing.  He did these designs for our floor and shower that were gorgeous.  Plus, he had no decisions for me to make.  (Happy dance!)

By the time Sami sent us to pick granite, I was all over it.  We'll take that granite, those sinks and the corners should look like this.  In and out of that place in thirty minutes.  What else you wanna know?

You're probably wondering...Where was John?  Right there with me.  When I wasn't sure what the answer was, we'd Facetime.

Tom, the other owner of the company, was equally as helpful and patient.  We'd text with a question and Tom was right there with a response.  At the end of the project, there were a handful of things left to be done: Hang the towel bars, install the light fixtures, etc.  Tom and Sami did that work themselves.  The two of them had us laughing as we were planning where we wanted to hang things.

Between Sami, Tom and their crew of professionals, we had a bathroom. At the end of every day, Sami or Tom would text us and tell us who to expect the next day and what was going to happen.  Then one or both of them would stop by to check out the progress and make sure everything was going according to the plan.  ALL of the guys were wonderful.

This is what it looked before.  Those clam shell sinks...good grief!  And the carpet!  Don't get me started on the wallpaper.  That was only temporary...ten years ago!

The wallpaper was removed and the walls textured.  The popcorn was removed from the ceiling and textured as well.

They knocked down that wall and we have a glass shower door.  Also, in the shower, we have a bench.  It's behind that little wall.  We have the rain shower head like in the fancy hotels.  New cabinets, faucets and overhead lights.  The mirrors are on order still.

This tub is pretty nasty and dated.  I always thought it looked dingy.  That wall mirror was pretty bad as well.

New tub, new light fixtures and that horrible carpet is gone!

 

Those swinging doors to the commode were awful!

You can't see it too well behind the bathroom door but we now have a pocket door.  That was my contribution to the design effort.

 

My "white paint with a hint of gray" turned out gray but it looks really good.

If you look back at that drawing in the beginning of the blog...this is that sketch come to life.

It's "Wow!", right?

Sami and Tom were awesome.  They and their crew showed up when they said they would (what a concept!), did a wonderful job and were all really great to work with.  The only negative of the whole experience is that now, compared to our bathroom, the rest of our house looks...like it needs to be redone.

Signet's Best - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

It started with a text that said, "I just won a trip to Mexico."  Followed by another text that read, "Oh, and you can come too."  Well, I certainly hope so!

I have to admit, Mexico? Not my favorite destination spot but when John came home that night and gave me the skinny, I was thinking this would be pretty sweet...and it was.

Signet is the company that John works for now that Zale's has merged.  They own all the major jewelry stores: Kay Jewelers, Jared's, Zale's, etc.  Most of the folks that go on this trip know that they've won it.  It's based on sales in the actual store so there are store managers, district managers, etc.  But John doesn't work in a store.  He works at the corporate office so it's a little different for him.  He was actually nominated by...someone there.  Then a group of upper level management folks had to vote.  John won.  Am I surprised?  Not at all.  He and I are both cut from the same cloth.  Though we don't necessarily want to, we both give a sh*t about our jobs.  We work hard because it goes against our grain not to.  John says that there are others in his department more deserving.  Maybe that's true but I doubt it.  My guy works his bum off to what needs to be done.

Signet's Best for 2016 - John Chaney

I think it's super cool that his company has recognized and rewarded him for his efforts.  Plus I got a free trip to Mexico.  The trip is all-inclusive.  Now, the last time we did all-inclusive to Mexico was in Cancun and it was at Jack Tar Village, which is why I made a face when he told me.  But Signet doesn't do anything half-assed.  They go all the way.

The view from our room.

We stayed at the Fiesta Grand Americana in Cabo San Lucas.  This place is like a small city.  The folks that work here are so friendly.  One young guy even gave us a Spanish lesson.  I'm sad to say that I've already forgotten it.

There were three required "events" put on by Signet and we did the requisite eye roll but they all turned out to be very cool.  The first was a "business meeting" where they recognized all the winners and had them stand up. 

There were three "waves" of this vacation so about 1200 employees plus guests came over that three week period.  Signet pretty much took over this place.  The trip was all expenses paid.  You only had to cover extra alcohol and any sundries/souvenirs.

The mariachi band at this "business meeting" was fantastic.

The next event was a dinner with a theme called "Ignite the night".  It was a buffet dinner with an open bar.  (This is where I learned about the Mango Mojito.  Oh kids!)  The event ended with a spectacular fireworks show.  John & I knew nobody here.  So we awkwardly found a table that had a few people sitting there and asked if we could join them.

The famed Mango Mojito - yummy!

We met Marilyn, who was a store manager in Tennessee.  She and her husband Chris had been married for a year and had been trying to squirrel away time for a honeymoon.  This was her first time to win this trip, which came at an opportune time.

Sara was from Kentucky.  She was also a manager and had brought her grandson, Dillon.  He worked at her store as well.  This was her ninth time winning the trip.  Dillon worked at the same store as Sara while he went to school. 

Both ladies worked at Kay Jewelers.  They were awesome.  They had some serious stories.  I've never worked retail and neither has John so it was an interesting perspective.  They told tales of working long hours with naps in their cars to get the job done during the holidays. 

We met another couple from Louisiana that had been on this trip ten times.  I looked at John and suggested that he hustle his butt.

Beautiful palm trees.

The third event was toward the end of the week.  Oh, did I mention that?  It was a week long vacation in Cabo San Lucas!  A WEEK!

For the third event, we found ourselves, once again, looking for a place to sit.  We found an empty table and made ourselves comfortable.  Shortly thereafter, a lady asked if we were saving seats (8 of them).  We said no and she brought her troops over.  We had the opportunity to meet even more folks that worked onsite.  These guys were from the Colorado/Utah area.  They were so fun!  (This is where I learned about Tequila and pineapple juice).  They actually got both John and I on the dance floor.  (I know, right?).  It was "paint the town neon" night.  I didn't have any neon clothes so we got glow in the dark glasses.

Cabo San Lucas is...kind of dry and brown (until you get to the beach), a lot like Phoenix but with a better temperature.  The first couple of days it was a little chilly but then it was only June.  The water was so blue and inviting that we couldn't resist.  We went into the ocean (Sea of Cortez?) and it was freakin' freezing!  We immediately scuttled back to the pool and hung out there for the rest of the week.

 Proof we were down on the beach...long enough to take a photo.

The Grand Fiesta Americana was like a small city.  Every room had a view of the ocean.

 As I mentioned, the hotel was like a small city.  This is a view of some of the buildings from the beach.  That last building on the right is where our room was.

Below was the route we took to get to where all the action was.  We could have called for an "uber" ride, where a guy in a golf cart would come pick us up but we needed some exercise so we hoofed it.

 

Initially, we had a very aggressive schedule.  We'd planned on taking an excursion into the city for shopping and then another day we were taking the boat for a snorkeling exercise.  After three days on the resort, we cancelled those events in favor of laying by the pool like bums.

This is how I spent most of my time.

Our routine went something like this:  Get up around ten, have breakfast.  Back to the room to nap.  Get up and go out to the pool.  Have lunch.  Go back to the room for a quick nap.  Then shower and off to dinner.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Sometimes naps took place on the balcony.  It was just that relaxing.

They gave us a selfie-stick in our gift bag.

 The resort did have a gym (thank you God!), though it wasn't very well stocked.  It was good enough for my purposes.  There was a treadmills (or 4), some other aerobic machines, some free weights and a couple of other weight machines.  We managed.  The only purpose was to offset all the food we ate.  I'm happy to report that we made at least four visits.  Not bad for being on vacation.  The gym had amazing views of the ocean.

During the day, they had two places where you could get a breakfast buffet and then three places where you could get lunch.  All the food was pretty good but the fish tacos at the Cervicheria were the absolute best.  In fact, we ate there for lunch at least three times!

 

Lunching at my favorite Cervicheria.  Sorry about the hat...

The yummy fish tacos.

 

 Hanging out at the pool.

 

The food at this place was really good.  Way better than any cruise we'd been on.  There was a Mexican place (not your average Tex-Mex), an Italian place, a steak place and a Sushi place. 

 

This would be before the Mexican dinners...

 It was a fantastic week of doing absolutely nothing!  Oh, except a massage.  We did do the massage.  It was John's first one.  I was getting my own massage so I didn't think to take a photo.  But believe me, it was awesome.

 

Sadly, when the week was up, they insisted we leave.  One last look at that magnificent view.

 

Thank you, Signet for a fun-filled week of lounging around the pool!

Madrid, Spain

Our adventures in Espana continue...

We took the train from Barcelona to Madrid.  Let me just say...being in a foreign country where you don't understand the language is like watching a movie with the sound down.  You kind of understand what's going on but not really.  That was very evident today when we took the train.

If there's any language I should have learned, it was Spanish.   I really did try to communicate but after exhausting my not so extensive vocabulary, I gave up.  Next time...

Anyhoo, we found our place on the train and made it to Madrid.  I like traveling by train.  It's a lot less hassle than going to the airport.  Plus you get to see stuff...Like the Spanish countryside.

When we go on vacation, I'm the navigator...which is ironic because I get turned around coming out of my neighborhood.

Madrid is a lot different than Barcelona but the difference is hard to put my finger on.  Granted, I've only been here half a day but I feel like it's a lot busier.  Restaurants don't open until 8 pm.  The places that are open are touristy and the service is not so good.

We stopped at this place in Plaza Santa Ana for a snack and a drink.  While the Sangria was delicious, the service was like pulling teeth to get anyone to help us.

Not much happening on Day 1 in Madrid.  This is our hotel - The Westin Palace, which is very nice and in a great location.  Everything is within a reasonable walking distance.

Day 2 in Madrid - Starts with a cuppa Joe from Starbucks and then the Hop on/Hop off city tour.  There are two routes.  The first route (Ruta 2) took us by the Real Madrid Futbol stadium.

There was a flurry of activity going on and we were wondering if there was a game today.  The rest of the tour on Route 2 was rather boring...Except we did pass by the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas - the bullring.

 

I'd almost like to see a bullfight because I've never seen one (unless you count the number of times Bugs Bunny fought that bull) but would it be wrong to cheer for the bull?

We got off the bus and found a place for lunch that was surprisingly good.  It was a "combo" meal that came with an appetizer, a main and a drink.  (Beer, wine, soda, whatever you want, says our waiter).  Well, it if comes with the meal...I choose wine.  I kid you not, the waiter brought me a bottle and said, "Drink however much you want."  Was he kidding?  I love this country!

I would like to go on record and say I didn't drink the whole bottle.  Also the risotto with mushrooms was very tasty.

 

This little scene is called "Bored while waiting on the bus".  The rest of the bus tour was kind of interesting.  We drove by lots of architecturally cool buildings.  Below are random photos from the tour.

 

Catedral de la Almudena.

The city of Madrid.

Bascilica de San Francisco Grande.

Cathedral Church of St. Michael Military.

A guy on the street.

Fuente de Neptuno.

Cybele Palace (Palacio de Communications).

Some random factoids.  Did you know the Spaniards (or maybe all Europeans and I never noticed) wear their wedding bands on the right hand?  About 80% of the people here smoke even though you can't smoke inside.  If you eat at a restaurant and sit outside, you pay more than if you sit inside.  It's okay, though because the food and alcohol is really inexpensive! Spain still has a monarch...Felipe VI.  The European carryall?  Very popular here.  They all seem to wear the same kind of jacket - like it's 30 degrees or something.  It's a quilted-looking jacket that kind of reminds me of a ski jacket.  Today it was 82 degrees and the scarves and jackets were out in full force.

 

This is the jacket!  Seriously! 

Day 2 ends with some ridiculously good Argentinian food.  We found this restaurant on Yelp.  It was down this tiny little side street that you wouldn't have even looked twice at.  But it was so good!  We had Pincho de tortilla - which was like a scalloped potato pie; Bunuelos de spinaca - spinach with rocotta cheese rolled into a ball and fried; Albondegas - meatballs; and Ricotta Empanadas - these were like little flaky pies with ricotta cheese. 

Day 3 in Madrid starts once again with a cuppa java from Starbucks.  I think they are trying to see how many ways they can misspell John's name.  First it was Jonh and today it was Jhon.  Tomorrow he's going to tell them his name is Othello.

We spent the better part of the day at the Prado museum.

 

No photos inside.  I think we were there for a good four hours or so.  They had paintings by Rubens, Valasquez, El Greco and several other artists that I'd never heard of.  It was amazing.

 

After the museum, we walked around a bit and came across the Monument for the Fallen Heroes.  I think it's like the tomb of the unknown soldier.  There's an eternal flame there as well.

Fuente de Apolo on Paseo de Prado.

Fuente de las cibres. (The goddess of fertility sitting a chariot pulled by two lions).

La Puerta Alcala...at least its not an Arc de triomf.

Then we went in search of refreshments and found ourselves back in Plaza de Santa Ana.  This is the Teatro de Espanol de Madrid where they have various plays.

Real Academy Espanola (Royal Spanish Academy).

 

Iglesia de San Jose.

Puerta del Sol - Appropriately named.  When you walk down there in the late afternoon, the sun is blinding!

The police were out in full force...on a Wednesday! 

 

They are well armed with some kind of assault weapons.  I think I feel safer?  And so ends Day 3 with a little culture and Chinese food.  Tomorrow the palace!

Day 4 requires a Cafe Americano for the caffeine boost and then it's off to the Palace.

On the way, we passed by a few things of interest.  Plaza Mayor built during the reign of Phillip III.  All the buildings that surround the plaza are residences.

Casa de la Villa are apartments you can rent in lieu of a hotel.  Next time!

Iglesia del Sacramento (Military Cathedral of Spain).

And finally, Palacio Real, which is the official residence of the King of Spain, Felipe VI.  He doesn't actually live here but conducts all official visits here

The palace without our big heads in the way.  The original burned down in 1734 and King Philip V had it rebuilt on the same site.  Construction was completed in 1755.  The last monarch to live here was Alfonso XIII, who died in 1931.

 

View of Madrid from the palace.

Dinking around in the guard house.

When you enter the palace and climb the stairs to the next floor, this is the ceiling.  

The fresco was painted by Giaquinto.  Not sure who that is but he did a lot of paintings in the palace.  Once you go through here, no photos inside.  Too bad because it was gorgeous.  A good place for people watching as well.

 

After the palace, we found a place off the beaten path for lunch.  Another "combo" meal.  I had paella, which was way better than what I had in Barcelona, and grilled fish.  John had chicken soup and baked chicken.  This was our most challenging lunch because the waiter didn't speak any English.  We were able to communicate well enough to order.  John asked for water and got the bottle below.

Agua con gas.  Uh-oh.  It tasted like tonic water.

After lunch, it was on to Catedral Almudena, which was built by King Alfonso XII to bury his wife, Merecedes of Orleans.  Construction began in 1878 and was completed in 1992.  It's directly across the Plaza de la Armeria.

The inside of the church is gorgeous.  It's a functioning church, as are most of the historic churches in Madrid.

We found this statue of a guy leaning on the railing.  You can't pass that up.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed the mercado San Miguel.  It was the same kind of market as they had in Barcelona but not quite as big.  We walked through and for 2 euros, John got a big bag of chicharones (fried pork rinds).

Some of the American fast food chains have invaded Spain:  McDonalds, which I think is everywhere.  Burger King, KFC and Subway.  We saw Taco Bell while we were on the tour bus.  And this last one is kind of disappointing...Steak and Shake.  Really?  Blech!

So here it is, our last day in Spain.  We got up to get our last cup of coffee.

 

The baristas mess with him, he messes with them.  Ringo?  Really?

We spent our last day at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.  This was a private collection of paintings that were sold to Spain in 1993.  We chose the busiest time to go, of course, because we love crowds of people.

This guy was a serious collector.  He had paintings by Manet, Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, you name it!  Here were some that I liked.

I don't recall the name of the painter but I liked the picture because it reminded me of John.  The guy looks like he's dying for his wife to stop talking.

 This was Camille Pissarro - a scene in Paris.

This is a Caravaggio - St. Catherine of Alexandria - Beheaded because she refused the advances of some prince.

I think this one was a Pissarro as well.  When you back away, the picture is very obvious.

Up close you can see the brush strokes and there's no definition.  I don't have a lot of art knowledge but I just thought it was cool.

For our last meal we wandered around and found a hole in the wall place and had oxtail.  That and Sangria made a hell of a good dinner.

Tomorrow we head home back to reality.  I'm ready.  After being in this country for over a week, it makes me wonder why it wasn't higher on our list of places to visit.  Madrid and Barcelona - like two sisters that were kind of the same but completely different.  Both places had lots to offer and I highly recommend a visit.

Adios, Madrid!  Muchas Gracias!