Lights! Camera! Action!

Our 1st day of production was a slow whirlwind. Dan and I were so excited/nervous that we didn't sleep very well. The assistants showed up around 7:30am to start the preliminary work or laying down tarps and bringing a lot of equipment in. The camera man showed up a little after 8am and started shooting the preliminary shots. He ended up being so hilarious. Between takes he would talk in funny accent voices and sing. His "Southern Russian Hillbilly" was classic.

In demo we ripped out the mirror, the lights, the vanity, the shower, toilet and the tub surround. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be and at the end it of course looked terrible. We wrapped up around 5:30pm and we were exhausted. Tomorrow is the next shoot and we are looking forward to it and only 4 days later will be the 3rd and final shoot and we will have a beautiful and stylish master bathroom.

After the destruction

Our hunky contractor, producer on the left and the designer on right

Our bare-boned shower

Director's view

Between takes Matt, the host and Dan

The "do" and outfit

Our very crowded production room, aka our bedroom. We hosted the producer's assistant, the sound guy, the contractor, the contractor's assistant, the designer, the producer, the host, and the camera guy

Dan getting mic'ed. He could clip it, I had to tape it to my chest.

Bathtastic!

Not sure how many have heard but Dan and I will be featured on an episode of DIY network's "Bathtastic". After the 1001 hour of Dan and I watching this network I turned to Dan and said "Let's be part of it" So after some researching and email sending we are "IN"!!!! They even came out and did a video audition. They wanted energetic and we gave them energetic. The producer, designer, and contractor have been out to measure and chat about the design.

Some of their work!

As far as the design we've tried to reconcile our styles. It's not easy, there are so many choices, amazing choices out there. Bonnie, the designer has been amazing through it all. Some of our requests included new sinks, countertop, flooring, faucets, tile backplash for the tub, organized storage, multiple shower heads and/or body sprays, and new and more lighting, seat for the shower etc. Can you see now the opportunity she's has to be amazing.

This what they have to work with.

The tub

Our water closet

Vanity

As you can see it is very vanilla. So far the design looks great but its pushing some comfort boundaries. For example the bronze hammered sinks. (http://www.waveplumbing.com/store/images/CIMG6828.jpg)

We will be begin shooting the episode on Oct 12thn (Demo)...Yeah in a week, 15th (Projects) and 23rd (Final shoot). Just 3 shooting days. Can't believe than in less that a month it will be all done!

First Home Project

Well its been forever and a day since I have blogged. Things are going well and we are continuing to settle in to our home. Dan has taken charge of our first home project: Taping, mudding, and painting the garage. It hasn't been easy but we are definitely getting our feet wet. You can't imagine how Lowe's has become our best friend. It's worst than going to Costco where you can't help but drop a couple of $$hundred$$ dollars every time you go there.

The garage still needs a coat of paint and we can mark it complete and off the long list of items we want to tackle.

Mi Casa es su Casa

It's been a month since we moved in to our new house and thought it be time to write a blog. So far we really like the house. We love our small back yard and we get a few visitors every now and then: duck, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. The master bathroom has 2 sinks and we don't have to share!! I've been able to cook so much more and Dan is appreciating it.

Our visitor

Dan mowing the lawn for the 1st time

Right out of the box

The move

Our home

T-wolves

Dan must be a lucky guy, he got me didn't he... ;) That aside Dan also won tickets to sit in the Executive Box at the last Timberwolves game. I had been there before during a visit to GM before my internship but it was Dan's 1st time.  It was fun and I enjoyed the game a bit more than the hockey game due to the fact I knew what was going on. The atmosphere at the hockey game in the Excel Center (St. Paul) was still better.

Dan all I have to say is keep winning those tickets... we still need to see the Twins and the Vikings

From the box

Dan enjoying the view at mid-court

T-wolves mural

Minnesota Wild

A few weeks ago Dan, through work, won some awesome tickets to a Minnesota Wild game.  It was my first official NHL game. Dan was an old pro, a month into his new job he got to sit in the General Mills Executive Box. He really had a tough time adjusting to the seats. All through the night he couldn't help but compare the seats to the box. Even though the were awesome seats there were not comfy seats, free catering, and a desert cart with 4x layer carrot cake (Dan's favorite).

Hockey is very big here and it seems all the kids play. Instead of seeing boys carrying pads for football they carry hockey sticks and huge hockey bags.

The atmosphere in the arena was crazy and extremely loud. The Xcel center is the newest arena in the state and has all the amenities one would want. We sat next to one of Dan's coworkers. We both didn't understand much and spent most of the time talking. 

Go Wild!!

They ended up loosing in the last 5 min of the game. It was a great game and I could definitely get used these kind of perks.

FATSO (FTO) Gene

At my new job I'm afforded some great and unusual opportunities. One that arrised a few weeks ago was genetic testing for the obesity gene which test your disposition to be heavier than the average population. I was naturally curious to know whether I was "doomed" or not and I debated whether I even wanted to know or not. My co-workers were also hedging on the decision. The gene is named FTO but goes by FaTsO gene. (How comforting). 

Genetic Lesson

If you know a little about genetics it is understood that your genes are comprised of half coming from dad and half from mom. Both of my parents, if they were recessive FTO carriers, could have not passed on any kind of predisposition to me or if they were dominant FTO then I didn't have a chance in heck to begin with.

Well, to make a long story short it looks like I won the lottery, I have inherited the gene from both my parents. Great!? Of course my parents deny it :) I can only guess that at the very least they are both recessive FTO carriers and I just happened to receive the FTO gene for both of them. Now what do I do with this information? Should I call up Ben and Jerry and drown my sorrows? Don't get me wrong I was bummed when I opened the envelope but what can be done, my genes are my genes and I have to do the best I can with what I was given. All in all I'm glad I found out so I can be aware of my predisposition.