Green Egg Smoker

OMG. I wanted to get Jeremy a Green Egg for about a year. he was so against it because they are ridiculously expensive. we were house/dog sitting a friend, and he had a green egg. He said we could test it out, Jeremy cooked on it all day on Saturday and Sunday and finally agreed that he needed a green egg. I ordered it from factory builder stores in Houston, they deliver and they were cheaper than any of the other stores in town. He has made so many things, turkey breasts, sausage, brisket, chicken, pork loin...so delish. i have encouraged him to do a  blog of how he makes things, the rubs he uses, what wood he used etc. i am going to see if he wants to use my blog...alwais on...alwais on...smoking using a BGE.  yesterday he made a brisket the same way that Franklin's BBQ in Austin does. it was absolutely the most amazing brisket i have ever had. i made homemade BBQ sauce that was amazing. i will start posting pics etc soon.

happy new year, back to work!

back from the holidays and birthday vacation, I am now back to work in full swing! i learned something completely amazing, more iphones were sold in Q4 than babies were born in the world! this is an amazing statistic.  http://www.macgasm.net/2012/01/24/iphones-sold-babies-born-everyday-dead/

with this: where is marketing headed? more media buyers have started adding digital to their traditional buy as it is just like adding an additional daypart. there was an article written that iheartradio is the future of radio. http://www.sosoactive.com/iheartradio-is-the-future-of-radio/

we have seen first hand the number of listeners to streaming and mobile listener increase steadily over the last year, across all formats. Even NewsTalk has a great audience, with their older demographic, there are no worries about whether or not they were able to figure it out or have the smartphones to use it!

With another iheartradio music festival coming in 2012, the interest and demand is only going to grow more. 2.2 million fans on facebook cant be wrong!  tune in and give it a shot, the consumer is actually the main target with these, the radio stations are commercial free from 8a-11a, 2p-5p and 8p-5a.

happy holidays

we started decorating today and got most of the exterior stuff done. clear white lights line the driveway and the front of the house.

 lit wreaths are in the windows facing the front of the street. i have started on the inside with the dining table having a runner with red and white plates.

 i have large apothecary jars on the table with traditional holiday candy, the empty one is supposed to have spiced drops in it, but target did not have spiced drops.

we are thinking about having a live tree in the house for the first time, still working through what we will need to do and when with that. we will still put up our skinny artificial tree as well probably in the dining room.

i will keep you posted.
m

professional pics are done

we are officially in the house, and almost everything has its home. we still have a couple of TVs to get during black friday for the guest rooms.  Our architect Rice Residential is going to enter the home in an architectural competition, hope the house wins! we are so excited about everything. here are a few of my favorite parts.

living room has a coffered ceiling highlighted with rhinoceros paint. the fireplace surround is in the same antique chicago brick. the wood floors look amazing stained in a combination of rosewood and english chestnut. 

center island is a black satin with a new material countertop called nano glass from arizona tile. 

kitchen was done with alabaster white shaker style solid cabinets with rocas azul limestone countertops, white beveled porcelain backsplash. this is a pic of the microwave drawer (very space age feeling)

dining room

dining room with the china clay blue and high wainscoting.  view to the custom design stair way.

utility room for washer dryer and refrigerator. cabinets are china blue color.

mud room. dogs room.  this room has the light gray porcelain flooring with the china clay cabinets and the limestone countertops. i really liked this blue and thought it would be cool in the mud room. the doors in and out of utility and mud room have the antique doors that i got from historic houston and we had refurbished. i love these doors!

entry door and stairs. i love these sconces in the stairway. they are caged edison bulbs.

master bathroom with gray tile flooring that looks like natural limestone, easier to care for. the vanity was custom designed to look like an apothecary cabinet with pulls from adkins architectural.  the countertop is marble with a lot of gray. both the linen and the built in chest of drawers in the closet are all the same black satin as the island in the kitchen. we went with square sinks for something a little different.

upstairs bath is a double vanity with alabaster white cabinets, marble countertops and nickel hardware. 

back patio with the chicago brick chimney wall.

we are very excited about moving in and living here for a very long time. we love the neighborhood and our neighbors all seem so nice. we are so lucky to live here and to have such an amazing house. be sure to follow www.facebook.com/alleanzacustomhomes

landscaping is done--- the inside is almost done

the landscaping was done today and Andy from a.b. erosion did a fantastic job. i selected plants that i thought i wanted and he filled in with some suggestions and it looks amazing.  sod is almost done, he ran a little short so he is finishing up in the morning. our city inspection is tomorrow, so fingers crossed we pass all of the irrigation stuff and we can move on in this weekend.

the front garden has so many different plants in it, here are a few close ups

the tall bush in the back is sweet olive in the there is blue salvia in front of that, with some esperanza that will have yellow flowers and grow pretty large, just some annuals in front that will have to be replanted every few months with new pretty flowers.

i will try to get some pics of the interior done soon. we are so excited about this house and cannot wait to get in. we are having an open house this thursday from 5p-8p and will meet a lot of neighbors and have friends and family come over and see it before we move in.

floors and trenches so fun

today inside the floors got their first coat of poly, and oh miss molly (cheesy i know, but i couldn't resist) these floors look so amazing.  check this out,

before:

after:

and the upstairs flooring was the original flooring from the house we tore down, it looks amazing, i cant believe it is the same flooring. it is from the 1940s, and is all the same size.

we also got our lot graded today with sane, trenches dug for the frech drains and the sprinkler system installed.

very exciting dirt because it being correct will allow us to actually pour the driveaway!!!

staining occurred today.

the final sanding and staining occurred today! the poly goes on tomorrow and then we will be able to see the true color. i cannot wait to see it on these floors. the wood itself is amazing, old, reclaimed, 4-5-6-7-8" planks with the plugs in the ends. it is going to look so great and these guys really worked hard to make sure it is ready for modern day wear and tear.

check out this close up of the stripped and sanded wood

and the after

i think once the poly is on, the color will pop and the plugs will really make it amazing. i can't believe this wood is finally down and revitalized. I reserved it at the reclaimed wood guy, "Wes" in about February!

view from back door toward front door

living area

master bedroom

Inside, we have one coat of poly tomorrow, then the some small trim stuff, clean, painters come back to touch up, and repaint the coffered ceiling in the rhinoceros color which i LOVE, and another coat on the black vanities in the bath. we are really close... oh yeah, and the door knobs and handles which should arrive from schlage on october 18th, via overnight shipping for the custom order... who knew matte black knobs would be so difficult! we got measured for shower enclosures and mirrors this week, so those should be in 2 weeks.

the fence is up and we are ready for the grading of the lot, then the french drain and irrigation hopefully by Saturday. then we can work on getting the driveway poured next week, landscaping and grass.  

jeremy has the outside lights looking amazing,