Warming up the living room
We have had a flurry of visitors and weddings over the last month or so, including my brother’s wedding, which has made it hard to find time to write any house updates. I apologize for that but now I’m back on the case and I shall make up for it with a lengthy update and many pictures.
Living room updates
When we first moved in, the living room was in a sad state - it had the sparse quality of a college dorm room and the accompanying disarray of stuff. Here’s a before picture:
Ye Ol' Front Porch
Did I mention that I love our front porch? It makes for lovely people watching. Well, we have finally finished furnishing it, so here is what it looks like now. Don’t you want to just drop by and relax in one of those inviting seats? If so, please do! Preferably when we are home…
The historic Rose Bush
and treebox makeover!
When we first saw the house, the front rose bush was untamed and quite large. My first thought may have been “That bush has to go.” You can see in the picture below that it is nearly as tall as Michael and extremely wide.
Milk warming Ceremony
First family visit!
In March, not too long after we moved in, we invited my family to the house to check it out. To spice things up a bit, I asked my mom to do a Sri Lankan milk warming ceremony. Honestly, this is not something my family normally does - I think it tends to be more of a Singhalese tradition and my family is Tamil. I had seen it just once in Sri Lanka 20 years ago at my Uncle’s house. But you know, gotta have some entertainment at a party.
Sadly, I was scurrying around the house so I didn’t take any pictures except the two below. Some people in my family may have taken pictures but never shared them (you know who you are).
So what does it consist of? Basically you boil some milk with some sugar in a clay pot in the middle of the house and if it boils over, then it is auspicious! Then you give everyone a little taste for good measure. Sugary milk, mmmm.
More after the jumpHouse Tour - Part 3
Front & back yards
Now it is time to take a look at what may be my favorite parts of the house: the front and backyards!
Front yard
Most rowhouses in DC that are centrally located have little, if any, front yard. Most of the time, the houses are built nearly up to the sidewalk. We are extremely lucky to have a little patch of land in front of the house, which puts us an appropriate distance away from the sidewalk so that we can easily people watch! It’s one of the many reasons that I have always loved the houses on this street. And you can ask Mike or my brother Angelo (and probably a few others) about my obsession with this street. For the past several years, I’ve forced them to walk down this street whenever we ventured towards the U St neighborhood so I can longingly adore the cute, little houses that have usually been out of our price range. And now by some crazy timing and luck, we own one!! I have to constantly pinch myself.
