It's About Time for a Tim Update

Remember Tim? The rather overwhelming remodeling project we have going on here at Woodhaven? The one we started in March? The one that we left the country for two months to escape?

Yeah, he’s still here. But he’s starting to pack his bags to finally leave. YAHOO!!!

Ugh. And that was with a dust barrier.

I haven’t posted much about Tim because, well, we weren’t here. And blessedly, there wasn’t much to write about.

While we were frolicking about, Randy very kindly sent us progress photos, and Mel texted a few updates. Largely, we went on the “no news is good news” theory and correctly assumed that our implicitly trusted contractors were handling any minor questions that arose.

Tim (and Randy) in late May right before
we left for the 33-day cruise.

I spent a few panicked weeks from afar after the walls were painted. The warm yellow and soothing blue that we so carefully chose suddenly looked BOLD and BRIGHT in the photos. I kept telling myself to trust the process and our decisions. To trust the extensive time I had spent with the "La Luna Amarilla" and "Vast Sky" paint chips placed in so many locations in different lighting at different times of the day.

It's crazy how different the color is even in
different parts of the room. Regardless, it's
a lot of yellow. Or, rather, La Luna Amarilla.

At times the blue is even bluer.
But this was bluer than I expected. 

The very late night we returned to Woodhaven, I tried to sneak a peek at the yellow to calm my nerves. But our back door wouldn’t open. I was too tired to sleuth (it was an over-achieving floor trim piece that has since been replaced), so I waited until the next morning to look. I sort of freaked out. The yellow and blue were indeed bolder and brighter than the little one-inch swatches had promised. I cringed.

Even more yellow. And you can see a VERY
blue wall of our breakfast nook poking around the 
corner. Also note the first 4 panels of the cabinetry
compared to the second 4 panels. We call this
foreshadowing.

I told myself again to trust the process and our decisions. And thankfully, as the swirly quartz countertops arrived and black appliances were installed and the next round of protective floor covering was pulled up, the colors – and my nerves – calmed. I now love the yellow and blue, even though we still have another week or two to go before I see all the decisions come together.

It’s been hard being home the past few weeks. Our wisdom to leave for 2 months was confirmed quickly, as we had multiple contractors flowing in and out, a driveway filled with construction trucks, so much noise and dust, and the need to deftly bounce from decision to task to conundrum. By Day 2 of Re-Entry, we were pretty fried and longing to be back on a cruise ship. Jet lag didn't help.

Countertop installers. I think the 
electrician was also there that day.

On Day 6 of Re-Entry, we got new carpeting in our master closet. We had quite a bit of surplus from the recarpeting of our dining room, so it seemed genius to replace the 22-year-old stuff in our closet “for free.” Genius until we realized we had to completely empty the closet to avoid covering all our clothes, shoes, and accessories in carpet dust. Fabulous.

Still jet-lagged and trying to quickly regroup to fly to Southern California for a family situation on Day 5 of Re-Entry, we interrupted laundry and breathing to relocate our closet to the only surfaces we have access to: our bedroom. We stayed in a hotel for two nights until we put the newly carpeted closet back together. It looks fantastic! And it is so delightfully squishy! So as the frantic Closet Relocation memories fade, I can say that the effort was totally worth it. Especially since we will not have to do it again for another 20 years. 

Not shown: the source of me finally
conceding I perhaps have a lot of shoes.

I’m profoundly relieved to say that Tim has behaved quite well throughout this adventure. The biggest surprises have come from the cabinet maker, and all since we have returned from our travels.

One wood panel was stained incorrectly and had to be removed, remade, and reinstalled. I felt sorry for the uninstaller, as that panel was never supposed to budge. 

When we were texted the photo, we hoped it was
just a cell phone lighting thing. Nope. Not only was
the stain different, the finish was different, too.
We're all mystified how it got as far as being
installed without anyone noticing.

We also discovered a section of the toe kick under the wall oven was strangely stripey. That fix is still in the works, along with some missing hardware and a few other decorative pieces. I was starting to lose faith in the cabinet folks, but Randy assured me they are very good and are making fewer mistakes than average on a kitchen remodel. Yikes!! I clearly have high expectations, which I thought were just normal expectations. Sigh.

The best guess is the stain wasn't dry when the
board was put on a rack.

In MUCH better news, there have been significant signs in the past couple of days that we are nearing the finish line. YAHOOOOOO!!!!

Melissa (BLESS HER!) started the “post-construction deep clean” today. She will be back tomorrow. And probably a third day. So. Much. Dust.

We got the green light to schedule Yury to come next week to move back all the heavy furniture he Jenga-ed into our living room back on March 26. Almost exactly 4 months of using our living room as a storage unit.

Our Amazon account has been re-awakened with deliveries arriving soon of curtains and chair pads and placemats. I will get to nest and decorate soon!

And today our bedroom door to the rest of the house was unsealed! We are free to move about the cabin!! We don’t have to traipse through the backyard to leave the house, go upstairs, do laundry, answer the front door, or get a snack out of the garage fridge! The freedom is heady!!! I can retire my extra house key and flashlight!! The exclamation points are not an exaggeration! This is a GLORIOUS DAY!

I never appreciated how awesome
this door is when it is open.

With any luck, we will have Woodhaven largely back together by the time my beloved Fair starts on August 7 (FAIR!!). I’m already having chats with my eager, goal-oriented self about the importance of balancing what my heart wants with what my body can do. Prayers needed and appreciated!

The painters are coming tomorrow to deal with all
the little blue tape markers.

Here’s the Story – Part 2

Back in February 2020, right before the world got super duper weird, Rob gave me one of the best gifts EVER. He drove me to North Hollywood to see the Brady Bunch house.

I won’t go into detail – my February 6, 2020 blog about that visit can fill you in. Suffice it to say, I am a HUGE Brady Bunch fan. HUGE. Enormous. Big Time Brady Fan Girl right here.

Back in 2020, the best a superfan could do was drive up to the house and gaze at it from across the street. There was a security guard positioned in the driveway preventing any lingering, and absolutely no approaching the front door. But that was good enough, since visiting the interior was completely incomprehensible.  

Fast-forward to September 2023. HGTV decided it had gotten all the ratings it could from totally renovating the house’s interior to match the studio sets the series had been filmed on. The network put the iconic house on the market and a fellow Brady Bunch Superfan named Tina snatched it up for a groovy $3.2 million. Reportedly Tina’s husband, the former CEO of HBO, had only one question for her: “Have you lost your mind?” Apparently he thought his Gen X wife wanted to live in the house.

Oh, to be so lucky!

So what did Tina actually want to do with the house? Well, first she got it designated as a Historical-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles. Then she decided to share it with fellow Brady Superfans.

The Bradys' house is the first property in
Los Angeles to get this protection
as a filming location outside of a studio lot.
The designation protects the outside AND
the inside. How groovy is that?!

WHAT?!?

Yes, you can buy tickets – with proceeds going to Tina’s favorite animal shelter – for a one-hour visit inside the totally furnished Brady Bunch house!! Truly! Yes, I pretty much bounced off the couch chanting, "Take my money!" when I learned this.

When I first read about this opportunity, I thought for sure it was only for fancy people. Connected people. Industry people. Not for a 58-year-old woman whose only Hollywood connection is once posing for a photo with Ted Danson and an alpaca.

Back in 2011 when we were all
much younger.

Because I have the most amazing and supportive husband EVER, today I was a passenger princess as Rob drove across the trafficky Los Angeles metro to make my dreams come true.

Yes, we spent an hour INSIDE the Brady Bunch House today! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!

I was just a few yards ahead of Rob out of 
unbridled excitement to GET INSIDE!!

When I knocked on the front door as instructed, it slowly opened to reveal a friendly woman in a blue maid’s dress welcoming us inside. We were asked to take off our shoes, wear provided socks and booties, and not touch anything or sit on the furniture. “Treat it as a museum.” We could, however, take photos with abandon and wander on our own.

The door knobs are PERFECT!
It felt surreal just standing there.

Fortunately, all of this information had been provided ahead of time via email. Because once I was inside The Bradys’ house, my listening ears turned off. Instead, I heard the voices of my adopted TV family speaking a mishmash of dialogue from 117 memorized episodes. I spent the next hour walking around with an enormous smile, wide eyes, and a couple of times, tears.

OH. MY. GOSH!!!!!!!!!

I was not expecting to feel so emotional in The Bradys’ house.

I gasped at the sight of The Staircase. I smiled at the couch in Mike’s den where Jan sat and lamented, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” I stared at the groovy 1960s rectangular art at the foot of the staircase, realizing how it is instantly identifiable by any fan. It was all absolutely perfect.

I wanted to touch EVERYTHING!

There it is!! Every Brady fan knows
that paneling!

The tears came when I entered the Brady girls’ bedroom upstairs. I stood in the middle of the room, taking in the three pink bedspreads, the giraffe stuffed animal in the corner, Kitty Karry-All on Cindy’s bed. It was so familiar, so comfortable, so nostalgic. Suddenly, it struck me.

“Oh my gosh. I grew up in this bedroom.”

This was after the tears. And please ignore
the fashion booties.

And that was it. That was the emotion. The Brady House was home. My home. I grew up there. I watched multiple episodes every day after school for years. When I told my mother-in-law a few days ago that we were going to see the inside of the Brady Bunch house, she asked if there would be a tour guide. My reply? “I don’t need one!”

It was fascinating to me which rooms I felt the most drawn to. The girls’ bedroom was the strongest. The kitchen, too. And Mike and Carol’s bedroom. And the dining room table. And the couch in the living room.

I hate to cook and yet, I totally
wanted to hang out in this kitchen.

The screen behind us really got me. I have
no idea why. But wow, it was important
to me to see it.

Sadly, the best photo I have of the
dining room table. It was hard to balance
being present, being in awe, and being 
a photographer.

I wasn’t as emotionally drawn to Greg’s attic bedroom or the family room or the boys’ bedroom or the backyard. I have no idea why.

It took me about 30 minutes to take my first lap. I then sat on a step in the entryway and tried to be fully present in one of the most surreal moments of my life. It sort of worked.

I still can't believe I was there.

On my second lap, I tried to notice all the little Easter Eggs that were scattered around the house, each a reference to a well-known storyline.

The architectural drawings of Beebe Gallini’s powder puff-shaped factory. Marcia’s drawing of George Washington that was mistaken for Mrs. Denton. The box of Safe Detergent in the laundry room. The egg on the pylon at the front of Mike’s convertible. The stack of letters to “Dear Libby.” The book about Jesse James that got Bobby in trouble. The typewritten gossip column written by Peter. The silver anniversary platter. Alice’s white sneakers. Jan’s wig.

Mike's drafting table in his den!
The powder puff is on the left, the
plans on the right are HGTV's plans
for renovating the original structure.

Marcia drew George Washington.
Then Paula found it and added the unflattering
note about Mrs. Denton. Marcia was in 
BIG trouble when the teacher found it.
Luckily, Paula fessed up and all was well
within 24 minutes.

The letters each of the kids and Alice
wrote to an advice columnist.

Alice's Keds!

The recreation of the Bradys’ house was astounding. The attention to detail was incredible. I kept forgetting the series was not actually filmed in the house. It was so real, so perfect, so complete. I was even more incredulous when I was told that there was only one original item in the entire house; everything else had been tracked down through antique stores and online searches to replicate what had appeared on the show. The Love of Brady runs deep.

The red sleeping bag is the only 
original item. It was in the episode
where Marcia has a slumber party.

Rob and I were the last to leave. We found out that Tina allows a maximum of 8 people to come inside the house each day from 12:30-1:30pm. There were just two other couples walking around with us, equally mesmerized and lost in memories. We all looked about the same age, all giddy and appreciative. We were mostly quiet, with whispered, “OH, WOW!” and “Come look at this!” One woman softly laughed and asked, “Why are we so quiet?”

I smiled at her and answered, “Reverence.”

My 8-year-old and my 58-year-old
brains are both utterly flabbergasted
by this photo!!!

In love again in Sweden

Oh my gosh. I didn’t expect this. At all. I mean, I only have a modest appreciation for ABBA. And zero appreciation for herring. But Sweden, I love you!

Yesterday was our second (and tearfully, last) Swedish port on this trip. I was absolutely enchanted by the small, medieval Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland several days ago. I was very curious how the other end of the Swedish spectrum might hit me, as we spent the day in the capital city of Stockholm. Population about 1 million – about 40 times that of Visby.

Yep, I LOVED IT!

Stockholm is one of the most beautiful, sparkly, architecturally interesting cities I have ever visited. It is comprised of 14 islands (I had no idea!), so there is lots of water and boats meandering through the city. Like Visby, Stockholm is clean, organized, comfortable, and it felt very safe. And, blessedly, English is commonly spoken. Tack gode Gud!

Just like Barcelona, something new and intriguing caught my eye at nearly every turn in Stockholm. The Royal Palace, the Opera House, the Ice Bar, the open market, the island with Old Town, the sunken 17th-century warship that was unearthed in 1961 largely preserved and intact, the Viking museum. Yes, even the ABBA museum. SO much I didn’t get to explore.

Even through a bus window, Stockholm is
so beautiful! 

No idea why this street had butterfly streamers
overhead, but what a fun touch!

Flower garland arches?!? So pretty! And
apparently so common, our tour guide
didn't mention them. 

Our tour was Nobel Prize-based. We started in Stockholm’s City Hall where the annual banquet is held for the esteemed laureates. We then toured the Nobel Prize Museum nearby.

City Hall was stunning. Built in 1923 after a fire burned down the old one, Stockholm’s City Hall (Stadshus) is brick on the outside and granite, wood, marble, and mosaic inside. Many rooms had wood floors that creaked and had that slightly musty smell of old wood and tapestries. Both made me smile.

The gold top of the far dome is three crowns.
Three crowns are the symbol for Sweden, but
there's no agreement on what they stand for.

Each room in City Hall made me gasp. The simple lines blended with just enough ornate touches to be elegant. Each room, its construction, and its decoration were incredibly intentional. Because I’m built for details, I always appreciate those small decisions.

The hall where the Nobel Prize banquet is held.
It was designed to mimic a courtyard.

The marble stairs in the banquet hall
were intentionally made extra wide and
not as tall as typical stairs. The architect's
wife helped determine the precise measurements,
with thoughts of high heels and ballgowns in mind.
Such a small change but WOW, those were the
easiest stairs I have ever climbed.

City Hall is a working building - people
work here so you can only tour with a guide.
This is the Council Chamber where the
Stockholm City Council meets. The canopy
above the main chairs is to help with 
acoustics despite being a little more
fancypants than the architect had in mind.

I absolutely LOVE the color of these
columns! It is a dark midnight blue.
Assuming the columns were painted, 
I was all ready to find the color and 
figure out what room at Woodhaven
should be Stockholm City Hall Blue.
Instead, the columns are made from a
stone called diabase. It's like granite.
And unlikely to find its way to
Woodhaven. Boo!

Called The Golden Hall for obvious
reasons. This is where the Nobel people
dance after the banquet. The walls have 
over 18 million gold mosaic tiles telling
Sweden's history. It was stunning.

Even the curtains in random hallways
were beautiful!

The Nobel Prize Museum was interesting but also a little disappointing. It was pretty small (only one floor in a modest-sized old-timey building, part of which was commandeered by a cafe and museum store). There was one room that barely contained our 16 tour mates that was dedicated to Alfred Nobel’s life.

Museum is the larger pink building on the right.
It used to be the Stock Exchange.

Born and raised in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was a creative inventor who figured out how to make dynamite, among other things. There are remnants of a slightly exploded building on the Stockholm island of Södermalm as proof of his experimentation.

Alfred became very wealthy as a result of his explosive invention. Some years later when his brother died, the obituary referred to Alfred as “the merchant of death” due to dynamite’s violent possibilities. This description hit Alfred hard. It wasn’t the legacy he wanted. So, he came up with what we know now as the Nobel Prizes as a soulful and societal apology. His legacy now is to honor people each year who have "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind."

Nobel Prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature, and Economic Sciences are awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall (the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway). Then a swanky dinner banquet is held in Stockholm’s City Hall.

When we signed up for the museum tour, I was hoping to see examples of the prizes themselves. You know, some fancy gold coins on fabric ribbons – or at least replicas.

Piglet for scale. Although, I assume
the real medals are a bit smaller.

Instead, we got something that proved even more interesting. Nobel Prize winners are asked to donate something of meaning and significance to the museum for display. Due to size limits, only a fraction is on display. But the choices were fascinating.

Dresses, ties, stethoscopes, typewriters, notebooks, models of molecules, hiking boots, a bottle of Tide detergent, a jar of peanut butter. With more time, stronger air conditioning, and a less cranky back, I would have read every single artifact’s description. The stories were an unexpected peek behind invention and inspiration.

The two winners had many collaborative 
conversations in offices and cafes, but they often
ran out of time. They each lived in apartments
without laundry facilities, so they started 
coordinating their Laundry Days and spent
even more hours talking in laundromats.

Several of the ties have custom-made patterns.
The bright blue one has chemical structures 
including nitric oxide what was fundamental
to the winner's research. The yellow-cream
tie has the pattern of Viagra tablets. Yes,
that invention won a Nobel Prize...

The organic chemistry textbook eventually led
the winner to pursue chemistry research. The
peanut butter is her favorite brand and is 
a "source of energy and helps her think."

Rob and I got back on the ship with sadness, but Sweden wasn’t done with us yet.

Thanks to a time of year when the sun barely sets at the 59th parallel (Stockholm is about even with Anchorage, Alaska), we had bright sunlight illuminating our evening departure through the Swedish archipelago. Rob and I stationed ourselves in the corner of a top-deck nightclub and watched our ship wind its way through an incredibly complicated collection of treed islands. Complicated enough that there were two additional pilots onboard to help navigate.

The passage was spectacular. There were islands of all sizes dotting the blue water. Some were simply rocks. Almost all were green with whitish rocks. Some had beaches. Many had homes on them, as it is very common for Swedes to have summer homes on the water. While it sounds decadent, many of the homes do not have electricity or running water. But wow, the scenery and the privacy! (Well, except when a cruise ship floats by).

Not the greatest photos since we 
were looking through tinted windows.
But our seats were too good to risk
leaving for better photos. Hopefully
the beauty still comes through. You
can also see lots of houses dotted here
and there if you look closely.

Islands of all sizes!

We had some passes even more narrow
than this! It was really impressive.
And see? PRIME seating!

Tiny island with a house all by itself!

We watched for a couple of hours, nearly missing dinner (did I mention the sun does not set here during the summer?). As we exited to open waters, Rob and I were already discussing future itineraries to experience the passage again. It was truly one of the best sailings we have ever experienced, ranking with the St. Lawrence River in northeastern Canada and Cape Horn around the tip of South America. There are many things I love about vacationing via cruise ship. Experiences like last night, floating through the dazzling beauty of the zillions of islands in Sweden tops the list.

Jag älskar dig Sverige!
And I love Rob, too!

Next stop: Copenhagen, Denmark!

 

Take me back to Estonia!

If you had asked me a couple of months ago to find Estonia on a map, I would have danced my fingers over northeastern Europe and said, “Somewhere here, I think.” And I would have been right! But not very confident.

The city of Tallinn, Estonia
Isn't it beautiful?

Rob and I went on different tours today. He wanted to see how close he could get to Russia (about 65 miles, by visiting a town called Rakvere which he hysterically described as a cross between a Renaissance Faire and the Alamo). I didn’t need that much time on a bus nor the castle climbing, so I went on an easy city tour of the port town of Tallinn. We both had a great time, and we agreed Estonia is way more interesting than Finland. Totally worth a return visit someday!

Plastic horse, flags, people in costume.
A cannon was fired, too. Total Ren Faire!

Rob got close enough to St. Petersburg
to see a mileage sign. That's about 200 miles.

Estonia is a fascinating country. It is small (about the size of Maryland) and is one of the least populous nations in the European Union (population of about 1.4 million). It is super safe and sounds extraordinarily livable, except for the average annual temperature of 41 degrees Fahrenheit (my tour guide said the national sport of Estonia is complaining about the weather. She was a hoot!). Until its independence in 1991, Estonia was under foreign rule of some sort for over 700 years (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland…). It was under Russian occupation from 1918 until 1991. That wasn’t that long ago.

Estonia has an intriguing mixture of architecture, with old and new blending well, reflecting its history and semi-recent growth and stability. Culturally, Estonians speak their own language – which is very similar to Finnish – but about 25% of its population is Russian. Estonians tend to be straightforward but a bit wary and reserved (according to my lively tour guide), but once they trust you, you have a friend for life.

Old Tallinn in the foreground, new
Tallinn in the background.

Just a random building that I thought
was uniquely pretty.

Tallinn is also very modern.

It was a bit shocking to hear my Millennial tour guide speak so matter-of-factly about the KGB and being under surveillance and having relatives who were shipped to Siberia with no known history afterwards. We breezily drove by Soviet Block-built houses and office buildings and bugged hotels. We learned about Russian concerns during the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics that Estonians – where archery and sailing competitions were held – would get a glimpse of the other side of the Iron Curtain. The “Easy Day in Tallinn” bus tour unexpectedly made life under Communism real and not just conceptual.

Soviet-Era apartments. They were coveted when
they were built since they had electric heat.
They are not coveted now.

This hotel's nickname is "Ashtrays
with Ears." The KGB had the whole place
bugged, relying heavily on ashtrays.
If you mentioned while in your
room you were thirsty, a drink would
arrive. The 23rd floor didn't exist on the
elevator -- it was the KGB floor.

Local Tallinn residents do not like this
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It was built
in the late 1800s to exert Russia's power.
I think it pains the locals that it is such a
popular tourist destination. 

This is a memorial dedicated to the Estonians
who died as a result of Communist rule. There
are 22,000 names engraved on the walls.

One (only?) benefit of Estonia being controlled by Russia for so long is that Tallinn – its capital and biggest port – is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. Because Russia didn’t bomb it during either World War. I didn’t get to see much of the old city – a key reason I want to return – but the protective stone wall is in great shape which tracks with my tour guide’s claim of preservation.

The walls around Tallinn were constructed in 
the 13th Century.

I loved how green and leafy Tallinn is. Trees are everywhere. Apparently about 70% of Estonia is forest. Accordingly, wood is its biggest export.

LOTS of trees throughout Tallinn and its suburbs.

My tour guide explained that the trees support a culture of seeking to be in nature, to wander in the forest, to look for the quiet. It sounds like a great place to live if you’re an introvert! She also said that despite the large number of churches in Tallinn, the country of Estonia is not very traditionally religious. Instead, about 70% of Estonians believe trees have souls.

Lots of trees to hug and love.

Rob and I were in different parts of Estonia today and we came away with the same feeling: Estonia is vibrant with energy and oomph and a history that shaped them but doesn’t define them. I had no idea I wanted to go to Estonia. And now I want to go back.

Sadly, no photo of Rob in Estonia.

 

Next stop: Stockholm, Sweden!