Kaylea Cross's Blog, page 13

Voila! French Bathroom Transformation.

Well, it took almost 7 weeks, but the master bathroom face lift is finally complete! I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I've been wanting to make some changes since soon after we moved in, as things were starting to break/peel/chip and generally just feel dated.

To make a long story short, it was actually the shower I hated since day one because of a bulkhead drop wall that trapped all the steam inside and made the paint in and around the shower peel and get all moldy. Ick. I was so sick and tired of sanding and repainting in the shower all the time! Once I got the accounting department's permission, it was go time on this bathroom operation.

Here are the before shots I took:
If you look closely in the above shot, you can see some of the paint peeling along the edge of the bulkhead "drop" wall that goes across the shower. So annoying. The old vanity and sink with peeling counters and trim. It looks much better in the picture than it did up close, believe me. You'll just have to take my word for it :)
And... *drum roll* Here are the after shots !
 Ta-da! Nice clean, modern shower, with no more bulkhead or peeling paint. Because the rest of the room is so girly, I went with plain white subway tiles and an accent of silver and black mosaic, colors reflected in the rest of the bathroom. I thought hubby would appreciate a hint of masculinity. The shower head is the neatest I've ever seen; a rain head with a center detachable spray head, so we can clean the walls easily. So very cool.
Beautiful new black granite vanity with silver flecks in it, a new undermount sink and brushed silver Victorian faucet with French writing on the knobs. I love putting together little details like that! Pretty robin's egg blue paint on the walls, a fresh coat of white on all the trim, some French decor I had all kinds of fun picking out, and then I gave the clawfoot tub a coat of semi-gloss black Tremclad to make it match everything else. I added all kinds of neat little accessories that pulled the room together: French towels, toothbrush holder, fancy towel racks and candles, etc, etc. That was my favorite part of the whole project :) And last but not least, a couple pretty silver French-style chandeliers, to make everything seem that much more luxurious.
Yeah it took awhile to get all the tradespeople lined up to do their thing, but the important part is that it all turned out well in the end. I love the room, and I had my first long soak in the tub last night. Very nice, if I do say so myself! Hubby likes it, though not as much as the kids and I do. But a happy wife means a happy home life, right? So I say it's all worth it, lol.

In writing news, I found out last week that Absolution took third place in the 2011 Laurel Wreath Awards. Another accolade for Luke and Emily! I miss them.

Now that the bathroom's done and I'm finally wrapping up edits on the last story I have contracted (gulp), I plan to get the rest of my Christmas shopping done in the next week or so, then write without any undue stress hanging over my head! How are your Christmas preparations going?

Incognito

[image error] This weekend was another whirlwind of activity at our place. An 8 am soccer game Saturday morning, then I had to leave right away to do a presentation to the Vancouver RWA chapter. I missed my eldest son's soccer game, and ironically, his first two goals ever. I was so sad!

He forgave me, and we went ahead with our dinner plans to a fancy place downtown, followed by a special Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performance featuring Loony Tunes cartoons (Bugs Bunny et al) while the orchestra played the musical score. Was a great evening.

In other news, Callie Croix has a new release today. A very hot short read, but did I mention it's hot? Oh yeah. If you're interested, you can find the details on her website. Hence the incognito post :)

Hope everyone south of the border has a wonderful Thanksgiving this week! Have some turkey for me. Yum.

Decking The Halls

[image error] I warned you last week that it was the start of the Christmas season at our house, so this post shouldn't come as a surprise. All weekend we put away the regular decorations and started pulling out the Christmas stuff. I went through both kids' rooms, purging them of old toys and clothes that were no longer in use. It felt so good! Whenever I "purge" our closets I always feel lighter. That TV show, Hoarders, is my secret addiction. Every time I watch an episode I always want to frantically clean and scrub my house.

When all was said and done, we wound up filling the back of my hubby's pickup truck with donations for goodwill. When he took them over, though, he was told they no longer take toys.

Say what?! What kind of a goodwill place doesn't take toys?

So we're still looking for a home for them. But, we did get the majority of the Christmas things up--only three trees and the outside decorations are left to go.

Our master bathroom renovation (it was only a cosmetic makeover) is moving along at a snail's pace. Seems our job is so small it's a giant pain in everyone's butt to come over here and do what needs to be done. The rest of the house is looking cozy and Christmasy though, so that makes me happy.

Happy Halloween

[image error] Are you a Halloween fan? I'm not. At all. I like the trick-or-treating part and the jack-o-lanterns, but not the scary movies/scary costumes and creepy, twisted movies that come with this particular holiday. So far my kids love it though, so I always put out some decorations and try to get into it for their sake. (I'm trying, I really am!)

Tonight we've got a costume party to attend, and hubby and I are trying to get excited about dressing up. I've decided I'm going as a Stepford wife, all dolled up in my vintage tea dress with a strand of pearls around my neck. No idea what the man is going to do about a costume, and at this point he doesn't have a clue either. My little guys are dressing up as Bobba Fett (Star Wars) and BumblePrime, a hybrid of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime from Transformers.

Everyone stay safe out there tonight! I'm really looking forward to this upcoming weekend, because it's tradition in our house to haul out all the dozens of boxes of Christmas decorations the first weekend after Halloween. I can't wait! Deck the halls, baby. That's where it's at.

Ben's a Winner!

Yesterday I received word that No Turning Back won the romantic suspense category of the 2011 Aspen Gold Awards. Ben's psyched, of course, and now his ego is bigger than ever.

Right now I'm completing line edits on Darkest Caress, a paranormal romance coming out next April from Carina Press. Once those are done I'm going to hack away at this first draft of the second Bagram book, featuring Ryan and Ace. I've got everything plotted out now, so it's just a matter of getting the words down.

We're also in the middle of renovations on our master bathroom right now, and of course it's taking longer than expected. Trades not showing up when they're supposed to, which pushes the whole project back. What can you do, right? It's going to be purty when it's done, so I'm holding on to that thought.

Relentless Takes 3rd

Rhys and Neveah took 3rd place in the ACRWA Heart of Excellence Awards! I'm thrilled because I think Relentless and Absolution are the best books of the series, and yet they're the two books that haven't sold/placed as well as the others. Go figure.

At any rate, I'm happy to have an accolade to put next to Relentless :)

Turkey Day

[image error] Up here north of the 49th parallel, it's Thanksgiving Day! We hosted a dinner for hubby's side of the family last night, and tonight my mom's twin is hosting a dinner for that side of the family. My dad is in Azerbaijan on his way to Iran, so I guess he and my step mom are excused from hosting a dinner at their place this year. One can never have too many turkeys, you know?

But first, I'm going to see Moneyball with the man and a group of friends, including one who's a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers, currently playing in this year's NLCS. How cool is that? Can't wait to hear some stories from him after the movie.

After my last post, you're probably curious what the hubbster did for me on our anniversary. Well, he had a driver pick me up and take me downtown to Spa Utopia at the Pan Pacific Hotel. There I received a 75 minute aromatherapy massage, and when I came out my man was waiting there for me (the massage was great, but best of all it forced me to take a break from edits on my paranormal romance coming out from Carina Press next year). He'd booked us a room at the hotel, and whisked me up there to change, then took me to a fancy dinner overlooking Coal Harbor and Stanley Park while the sun set. Pretty romantic, I must say, and I appreciated the effort.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my wedding anniversary. My two boys are both in Catholic school, and this morning are actually attending mass at the very church we were married at 11 years ago today. Pretty cool, no?

My hubby is a wonderful, steady guy. Rock solid with lots of family values, which are my two favorite things about him. (Besides him being a sexy beast in his catcher's gear when he used to catch for me, that is.) He's the first to admit he's not the most demonstrative or romantic guy in the world, but every now and again he blows me away with something completely thoughtful and over-the-top. Today I found a card taped to my steering wheel, telling me that the kids are taken care of this afternoon and that I have to be ready to leave at 2:45 today. Oh, and I should shave. (Thanks for the tip, honey!) I hope that means he has plans to see me in a short dress, and not that he seriously thinks he has to remind me to shave, lol.

A year ago today we were in New Orleans to celebrate our 10th anniversary (another huge surprise from hubby, and he even arranged for my crit partner, Katie Reus, to meet me there as another surprise). We spend the day touring some plantations, such as Oak Alley...
 and a Creole plantation known simply as Laura.
 Fascinating place, run by powerful women, and the original slave quarters were still intact. They even had a copy of the Code Noir, or Black Code, stating the laws about owning slaves. They also had a manifest listing all the slaves owned by the plantation owners, their names, ages, trades, and what they were worth on the market.
O_o
Seriously hard to wrap your brain around that one. Seeing it written down in stark black and white was almost mind boggling. If a slave had any white blood in him at all, he was worth way more than a pure African slave fresh off the boat. Old slaves were worth practically nothing, and the more skills you had as a laborer, the better.
While the tour was somewhat disturbing, I'm glad they didn't try to sugar coat everything and sell the Gone With the Wind image to the tourists. We headed back to the French Quarter for dinner at Irene's, a famous Italian restaurant there (the dark chocolate mousse was to die for!),
 then took a paddle boat jazz cruise down the Mississippi.
Very romantic night! Hmm, I wonder what the man has in store for me today?

Luke is a Finalist!

Just received word yesterday that Absolution is a finalist in the 2012 EPIC Awards! I'm thrilled because Luke is my favorite character, and because I truly think it's my best book. I suppose it doesn't pack quite the emotional punch if a reader hasn't read the previous four books, but I hope it still makes an impact. Not sure when the winners are announced, but it was nice to be nominated.

I have one last set of edits to do on another Callie Croix story, then I'm jumping back into Crash and Burn. It's been tricky to figure out how/where I can have Ace and Ryan spend time together to form some sort of a relationship, because of their difference in rank, and because the book is set at Bagram. But I'm up for the challenge!

Special Guest Marliss Melton & Giveaway

I'm so excited to be hosting the amazing Marliss Melton over at Writers Gone Wild today. She's giving away a signed copy of The Protector to a commenter, so if you love military romantic suspense (and I guess if you're reading my blog you must like it!), I hope you'll come by.

One of the things I admire most about Marliss is the effort she puts into her research. She really tries to get it right and portray the military men accurately, something I wish every writer would do. I've asked her all sorts of questions about her research on SEALs, and about why her publisher no longer wanted to buy her SEAL books. Once you read the interview, I bet you'll have even more respect for her.


Blurb: Eryn McClellan teaches ESL in Washington, D.C., until the day she's targeted by terrorists avenging her father's actions in Afghanistan. The FBI has stepped in, but when it looks like they are using her for bait, General McClellan enlists the aid of the only man he knows he can trust: former Navy SEAL Ike Calhoun.
Embracing solitude in his remote cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ike thought he'd left the War on Terror far behind. Now he's stuck shielding a blue-eyed beauty from ambitious federal agents and crazed jihadists. More disturbing still, the charming Eryn seems intent on shattering his self-imposed isolation. Ike does his best to resist her welcoming ways, but he can feel his restraint eroding like a mountain in a mudslide. With the FBI hot on their heels and the terrorists not far behind, Ike willingly wages a one-man war in defense of the woman whose passion and faith have given him the strength to rise above his past.