our home improvements list is 10 years long

After lacrosse practice on Sunday, Brandon and I headed over to the IX Center for the Great Big Home and Garden Expo.  We managed to get out without buying any of the gimmicky knick-knacks that many exhibitors were selling -- although I really wanted this thing that picks up dog hair like MAGIC. What we did leave with was a list of home improvements for the house.

A hot tub, for instance. 

Some highlights for me from the expo:

The Ferris wheel. Although we didn't ride it. I was worried that Brandon would get sick on it :)

Brandon in a Toy Story hat.

The many other hats on display.

I'll let you in on a little secret, if you want to woo Brandon, play a handmade instrument for him. He's a sucker for them.

I want this chair for my backyard. There's even a beverage holder within arm's reach.

Thus, we left the expo with a bunch of new home improvement plans that are bound to take us the next ten years. But, I'd say it was a great way to celebrate my first week as a homeowner. 

You can still get to the expo if you want to, it runs from February 4-12. When you buy tickets online, you automatically get $3 off and if you enter the promo code PEACE, you'll get another $1 off admission...just for being a PL&B reader! Click here to buy tickets online.

How long is your list of home improvement projects?

Full disclosure...I was asked by the Great Big Home and Garden Show to promote the upcoming event. In exchange, I receive 2 general admission tickets

Giveaway Winner!!

I had a great post that was going to go up yesterday, but I have no idea what happened after I hit publish! It's a case of the disappearing post!!! Oh well, I'll try again later.

Now is the time to announce the winner of two tickets to the Great Home and Garden Expo!!

I didn't want to use the run-of-the-mill random.org to pick the winner, so I cut up on of my business cards, wrote everyone's name down (don't worry, the extra entries got entered more than once). Then I put the names in a box, closed my eyes, and picked!

Congratulations Heather!

I'll follow up with an email shortly and tell you how you can get your tickets. Enjoy the expo!!

If you didn't win, but still want to go to the expo, you can get $3 off your ticket by buying online and as a special treat to the PL&B readers, if you enter the promo code PEACE when you check out, you will get another $1 off the ticket price! To get a total of $4 off your expo tickets, click here.

Home Improvements + a giveaway!

A few days ago I was contacted about attending the Great Big Home & Garden Expo at the I-X Center. Can anyone guess what my immediate answer was?

Hell yes.

Home Depot dates are an actual thing in our relationship and now that Brandon and I are refinancing the mortgage together , that means I’m going to be a homeowner!!! So when you say “home and garden” to us, we both get kind of geeked out.

Last year, we had a number of home upgrades that we got to work on (p.s. all these pics were taken by Brandon):

    Fenced-in the backyard

    Paint the upstairs bedroom

    Build 2 raised bed gardens

And a few that didn’t:

Paint the anteroom to the upstairs bedroom

Build a chicken coop

And, of course, there is an ever expanding list of things to renovate in 2012 (Brandon, I know you’ll have plenty to add when you read this):

Finish insulating in the attic and the basement

New grass in the backyard

Install a more robust fence around the gardens (Buck doesn’t understand that chicken wire means KEEP OUT)

Build a chicken coop (yeah, this is definitely still on there)

Turn half of the basement into a workout room

Finish painting the anteroom to our bedroom

I’m sure you all have home renovations that you want to get to this year too! Why not start getting some ideas at the Great Big Home and Garden Expo? I have two tickets to giveaway to one lucky reader!!! The expo will be chock full of live demonstrations and exhibits for all things home and garden related…there even several culinary exhibitions/demonstrations!

PRIZE: 2 general admission tickets to the Great Big Home and Garden Expo at the I-X Center in Cleveland, February 4-12. Check the expo website for times.

TO ENTER: leave a comment telling me what home improvement you want to work on in 2012

BONUS ENTRIES: like Peace, Love &Bagels on Facebook, post your home improvement goals on the PL&B facebook page, or tweet about this giveaway (don't forget to mention me, @peacelovebagels). Leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

GIVEAWAY CLOSES: January 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm EST

NUMBER OF WINNERS: One

HOUSEKEEPING: Make sure I have your email address if you enter, you will be contacted via email on January 26 if you are the winner. Tickets will be made available in your name at will-call at the expo. 

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was asked by the Great Big Home and Garden Show to promote the upcoming event. In exchange, I receive 2 general admission tickets for myself and 2 to give away to a reader.