Ditto.

I was going to wait a few more days and ask if all his samples finally showed up and he was laying buried under them out by his mailbox or something...

He's not in New York or somewhere Sandy-esque is he?

I think he's in Boston.

Maybe his garbage disposer quit working and he is busy picking squid tentacles out of the drain basket?

[ducking]

He did comment on that soapstone thread day before yesterday, I think.

Here I am! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending out the APB. I've been distracted by work, a brief bout of sick, election news and, oh yes, the reno planning.

I have pre-reno fatigue already.

I waited two months, yes, that's months, for a cup pull sample to come in, and it doesn't seem to work anyway, so I'm back to zero there. My soapstone search ended in teh sad, so now I'm squeezing that Central New England Soapstone can pull through somehow. This week I'm supposed to send the elevations to the cabinetmaker, but I realized that months of planning and meticulously-documented commenting somehow never made it onto the plan. I hope someday the home renovation industry discovers pencils. Now this week I need to force myself to go over the entire damn thing again to mark it up for Mr. Cab Guy.

I did start the process of purchasing two light fixtures. One is from Rejuvenation, bought in a frenzy during their sale, and may not work after all. The other is made to order clear across the Atlantic, so it will take forever to deliver. However, it is super cool and not terribly expensive, plus I got to hear the phone go ring-ring, ring-ring when I called the shop. Very Britishy.

So the lighting did help keep my motivation up. A little. Sort of.

Fishies, your cabs look great. Can't wait to see them all in. We're waiting til after the holidays to test-paint yellows on our old cabs to make the final decision. The color consultant also suggested Corn Silk but I think it's too lemony for me.

I too was wondering where you were. Glad to see you're still around. You are valued. Oh, and welcome to the real world of doing a reno - decisions, angst, follow-ups, the beginnings of decision fatigue. If you need to rant at least you know where to go.

Well, if half the stuff I read about central NE is accurate, they may be your bright spot! Could't find much about the local granite places, but their Angies list reviews are great.

Hope things turn around. If you can take a couple of days off from the kitchen stuff I can attest that it really helps with the prereno fatigue. Your kitchen is going to be fantastic, and then it will all be worth it.

When's your project scheduled for?

We are supposed to start in March, depending on the weather (some new foundation will be dug). My fantasy is to flee the jurisdiction to my sister's place in FL during demo, excavation and framing, but getting that timing right will be a bear.

I think I would like to hire a renovation butler. Someone I could send off in search of cup pulls, or lock in a closet while they transfer all my old notes to my new drawings. Tails would be optional, but a firm hand with the cocktail shaker is a must.

marcolo- Glad you're Okay- kind of... Sounds like you have a lot going on there! I really hope you find just the right "everything" for your kitchen! (pulls, cab color, counters, etc!) You are such a help and I have enjoyed working on my kitchen with you! Hopefully we'll be done in a few more weeks.

Barley is working for me.. Of course I had to bring the other 20 or 50 painted poster boards upstairs that I at some point thought might be "the one". Thank God I didn't choose them! Barley is much more tame and yet still yellow. I didn't love Corn Silk when I painted a door with it but I don't remember exactly why. I think it seemed more beige than yellow... just a bit off. I think even if I went with Vellum that would have worked well. Even the Barley changes so much throughout the day but luckily all of the variations are lovely.

Marcolo: did you see the thread Circuspeanut posted about finding your kitchen? It's really beautiful and has a little arch to a banquette area. I turned the sound down so as not to be distracted by jabbering about politics, which I'm way more sick of than any kitchen planning...

Anyway... check it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: cool kitchen

OMG that is hilarious. And cool.

I won't be able to do that much tile so high up, since I will end up with very little blank wall space. Although it does give me an idea. Hmmm.

Still delaying working on my cabs, as you can see....

Ok..are you going to dish on the lights :)

The cabinet commitment is so finalish.. I dilly-dallied on that for months as well bu it was a sense of release to finally sign off on it.

Oh did someone say Dilly? That's me, the dilly dallier. Lol! 11 months from our ground breaking and still a work in process.

Marcolo, when I read you were thinking of running to Fl for groundbreaking, I gasped and thought you are much too detail oriented to trust the plan to others. But I guess demo and excavation are a good point to flee. A little break before the obsession for perfection takes over.

Good luck!

Marcolo... A renovation butler... yes!!! Where can I hire one, and will he/she bring me drinks on my imaginary veranda? My ideal butler would also call references, find my tape measure (a daily task), and remind my husband that an informed decision actually is better than a quick decision and to get off my case.....

ooh, marcolo, fabulous idea on the "renovation butler"!

Couldn't this spawn an entire new industry? "Renovation housecleaner", "renovation kitchen-packer", and most important but perhaps already covered by the butler is the "renovation bartender".

We just had a wall torn out to put in double sliding doors ala lolauren so I'm feeling the "renovation housecleaner" need!

cheers