jillivictorio@gmail.com /

Move-In Day 1.28.2022

It’s been a year since we broke ground and we finally moved in over the weekend. I’ll always remember 2021 as the year we spent building our home and anticipating the completion and move in day. We experienced several delays due to supply chain issues, (hello pandemic), and limited staffing that made the year seem like the longest ever.

I’m happy to have 2021 and the build process behind us and even happier to have my family and I getting settled into our new home. It’s a remarkable feeling looking around at every detail knowing how everything was built and from what started as an idea on paper.  To see your dream and design come to life is truly a rewarding experience.  Now that we are here, the unpacking and organizing begins! We have SO.MUCH.STUFF. It’s a little daunting seeing how much stuff a household can accumulate over the years. Currently, our garage and shop are full of boxes. It will take us a while to get everything unpacked and organized. For now, I am focused on unpacking and organizing the essentials.

I took a week off work to unpack and organize and I’m dedicating each day to one of these areas, and will unpack the rest later. I felt these five areas were the most important for my family and household to have access to right away and feel a bit of normalcy once again.

Here’s how I’m spending my week-long staycation:

  • Move In Day: Bedding
  • Move In Day: Bathrooms
  • Next Day: Kitchen and Kids Play Room
  • Day 1 of Vacation: Pantry (check!)
  • Day 2 of Vacation: Master Closet
  • Day 3 of Vacation: Home Office
  • Day 4 of Vacation: Kids Closets
  • Day 5 of Vacation: Goodwill run to drop off donations

We also cooked our first meal on the Ilve- bolognese. Oh how we’ve missed cooking on a gas range. The kids and I also baked cookies for an after dinner treat, and cookies are Baron’s favorite thing.

We have a long way to go to get everything unpacked and fully settled, but I am just so thankful to be in our forever home!

 

Here are a couple of kitchen photos from the day before move-in. The appliance panels were the last items to be installed, literally at the eleventh hour. Despite the major delay and previous mistake on the refrigerator panels, I’m really pleased with how they turned out!

 

 

Full home photo tour coming soon!

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

Amidst a global pandemic, I am grateful for the time spent together with my family and some of the goals we have been able to accomplish together in 2020. One of those goals was to build a house!

Are we crazy for doing this? Yes! Is this process going to give me a full head of grey hair? Probably. Is it going to be the project of a lifetime? Heck, yes!  It’s been a longtime dream of mind to find some land a build a home.  Here’s how it all began…

We have been living in our current TX home since 2017 when we moved from Seattle (Issaquah) WA.  We sold our home in WA at a great time and had only had a few weeks to find a house in TX so it was a very rushed process, but we knew exactly what we were looking for and how much we wanted to spend. I’m grateful for the home we found and knew in my heart that this was a home that we would love, add our touches, and eventually flip while getting to know the area, town, and neighborhood better while planning for a future build. We’ve really fallen in love with Granbury TX and we knew we made the right choice moving here to raise our family.

 

The Selling Process – December 2019

With patience and the right planning, I knew we’d be able to make this dream happen. We made some minor updates to our home such as replacing the exterior door and light fixtures, then we renovated our kitchen to add equity and value to the home, with the intention of some day selling.  The day after Christmas 2019, I created a FSBO listing on Zillow, wrote the marketing copy, staged our home, and took and posted the photos. I received inquiries and appointment requests immediately, but nothing serious. I felt that this fsbo listing was a great way to test the waters and see what was out there in terms of a buyer pool. We weren’t in a hurry to sell and we would only sell on our own terms (price, timeframe, and lease back). Then three months later in March of 2020, Covid hit, and real estate seemed to halt for a brief few weeks. Schools and sports also shut down, so with the extra time we had at home together during quarantine, we tackled a few home improvement and gardening projects. I was cleaning and organizing the house like crazy so naturally, our home was always clean and show-ready for potential buyers. In April, potential buyers became active again and the requests for tours continued. I made sure to have viewers practice social distancing and wear masks when touring our home, then re-cleaned and sanitized after each showing. We received multiple offers, but the blessing came in June 2020 when I got a call from a prospective buyer looking at homes for her brother-in-law looking to move to TX from CA. Her and her husband toured our home, loved it, gave the seal of approval to her brother-in-law, and the buyer made an all cash offer sight unseen. They also agreed to our lease back terms allowing us to continue living in the home while we built our house. John and I knew this was the right time and the perfect buyer we had been waiting and praying for.  We had an attorney draw up the documents and handle the transfer of the title.

 

Finding The Lot…

Finding land to purchase was probably the most challenging part of the homebuilding process for us as we were very particular on the type of land in the location we wanted. Some lots were too sloped, too close to neighbors, had no privacy, some had a ravine right in the middle, some too narrow, too small, no trees, too far outside of town, located off a blind road, the list goes on.  Our land search took about a year and half. Our main requirement was trees, lots of MATURE TREES, and privacy.  After more months of looking and visiting potential lots, I found land that fit all our criteria – a treed lot on 1.5 acres, backing up to private ranch land so we would always have privacy without any homes being built behind our lot, and located on a cul-de-sac. I’ve always loved the idea of a cul-de-sac, especially with kids. I imagine the kids being able to ride their bikes and scooters up and down our street without the busyness of cars passing through, except for the residents who live on that street.  The lot had a fsbo sign posted, so out of curiosity, I got out of my car, walked the lot, and saw a vision for a home with landscaping features surrounded by trees.  I immediately contacted the owner listed on the sign and we began negotiations. The lot being located in a beautiful private community with amenities (trails, a fishing pond, and sports courts) were some of the added perks that sealed the deal for us.

Community stocked fishing pond

Choosing A Builder…

We met with several homebuilders in Granbury to get an idea of pricing, styles, floorplans, procedures etc. We first had our heart set on a particular builder as some of our friends had their homes built with and they were absolutely stunning. We liked the idea of a semi-custom build where you can choose from a portfolio of available floor plans and can customize certain areas. Many of the lots we found could not fit the floor plans we liked and needed. We ended up going the custom build route, which I never thought we would do, but I am loving the process so far. In a custom build, there are a lot of decisions to be made about everything, things you never thought about in a home.  We found an amazing custom homebuilder we really liked and we are now working with Remington Homes DFW. After our first pre-design meeting, I felt good about Remington Homes’ services and processes, along with the individuals I met, one of them was the owner. They are family-owned with a boutique feel and a hands-on approach. I learned that they have built many of their homes from floorplans on Architectural Designs, which was the same site I had been obsessively browsing to find inspiration and to pin floor plans from – it was a good match. Remington Homes also conducted several site visits for us and walked several lots with us before we made any decisions to make sure the land was buildable and could accommodate our desired floor plans.

 

Floor Plan Design & Inspiration…

We rounded up our favorite floor plans from Architectural Designs. I spent hours on this site morning, noon and night! After narrowing down my favorite floor plans, we combined some features of two different floor plans and elevation inspirations while adding in our own features for a custom plan and drawings to meet our needs.

We knew we wanted to build a modern farmhouse style home with an open floor plan with a lot of natural light.

On my wishlist for a floorplan included a kitchen sink against a window (my number one ask), a butler’s pantry, mudroom, a private guest suite, a study/home office, game room/play area for the kids, a front porch, rear patio, fireplace, outdoor kitchen, and a detached shop. A short wishlist right?

Here were some of our favorite floor plan inspirations:

Favorite 2-story plans:

Main level

 

 

 

Second level

 

Main level

 

Second Level

 

Favorite Modern Farmhouse Elevations

 

 

Breaking Ground 2021

January 2021

A couple of months after closing on our lot purchase and waiting for the necessary approvals, we started 2021 by finally breaking ground this week! I can’t tell you how exciting it is to see dirt being moved.

I will be sharing the details of our selections (flooring, tile, countertops, lighting, cabinets, etc) in the next blog post, so stay tuned!

You can also follow along our homebuilding journey on our Instagram build page dedicated to all things homebuilding and design: IG @our.farmhouse.at.the.ranch

Thanks for reading! What are your favorite features when designing or building a home?

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

It was maybe even more anticipated this time around since folks loved the first release in March so much (another silver lining during quarantine). As much as I wanted to set my alarm for a super early wake up call this time around, I didn’t because I was preoccupied with enjoying my only free weekend this month before the kids’ first games this season.  Thankfully I had previously saved a bunch of items I liked to my favorites and shopped what I could around 10:30am CST.  By then, some highly coveted items were sold out.

Thankfully since Targets are open, some of the designs trickled into stores before the big launch and I did get a few beautiful pieces!

Here’s what I got and loved:

I’m a sucker for affordable decor pieces, especially from some of my favorite designers that happen to partner with Target. I snagged the wood bowl and a couple framed pieces of art to start. The bowl is transitional and can be used to function in a kitchen or sit pretty on a shelf. I also love the vintage inspired art pieces so much – best of all, the pieces are so budget friendly!

Here’s what I’m hoping to still find:

I was really hoping for the brass sconces, the metal two arm ceiling light fixture, and abstract wall art.  I feel like one can never have too much lighting and art in the home, and I have the hardest time finding ones that I really love but are also affordable. Also, the wood boxes are adorable – I love the layering look of them for a shelf space.  For you Studio McGee design fans, what do you have your heart set on?

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

  1. Traditions & Something New

Peonies (our wedding flower) on every anniversary, June 21

For our ten year anniversary, we renewed our vows in Hawaii and took professional photos. A year later on our eleventh anniversary, John and I woke up excitedly that we didn’t have to work this day as we both took the day off, and beautiful peonies (our wedding flower) greeted me on the breakfast table. I also got a text from our contractor that he was on his way to our home to start demo on our kitchen that morning – exciting times! (More to come on our new reno project). John and I exchanged the traditional wedding gifts. We usually have an idea of what we’re getting each other, but it’s still fun choosing and shopping for the gift. The traditional gift for an 11th wedding anniversary is Steel. We knew exactly what we wanted to gift each other as it is also something we’ve needed for the house and that we’d get a ton of use out of. I’ve wanted these steel Yeti wine tumblers for quite sometime to use at the pool, or while traveling/camping. Yeti makes really great high quality ones so I got John a black steel wine tumbler and he got me the pink steel wine tumbler. Cheers!

 

2. Anniversary Trip

We finally broke away from the kids for an overnight trip to San Antonio to stay at one of my bucket list hotels, the Hotel Emma.  John and I don’t get many date nights so it was nice to be out without kids for once. If we really wanted to, we could ask my dad to watch the kids and make date night a priority, but because he already watches Baron during the day, Monday to Friday, which is a huge help to us, we don’t want to take advantage of his time and we respect his time. But for  special occasions such as John’s and my wedding anniversary, we do make special arrangements in advance for childcare and we are so grateful for the extra time for John and myself.  I assume this may be a challenge with balance that many married couples with children face and understand that we could improve on this area in the following year. More on this later.

So today I want to recap our 11th wedding anniversary.

First things first- we NEED talk about this hotel. We first discovered Hotel Emma last winter on our first visit to San Antonio. We didn’t stay at the hotel, but we dined and drank around the Pearl, and toured the property and grounds. I just knew John and I would have to come back for a weekend getaway without the kids. As our 11th anniversary was approaching, we booked the last River Terrace room! It really might be the most gorgeous hotel we’ve ever had the pleasure of patronizing. You step onto the grounds and you feel as if you’ve been transported to Europe. Just look at this place-

Lobby

 

Lobby

Lobby

For starters, the attentive staff welcomes you with their signature cocktail La Babia, in their amazing library. For any fellow bibiophiles, this library needs to be on your bucket list asap.

Hotel Emma Library

The rooms are gorgeous. We opted for the River Terrace Room because this balcony!  The hotel was definitely a splurge but we don’t go out as often and we love treating ourselves on our anniversary so we went for it. Man was it the right decision. We’ve never felt to utterly spoiled at a hotel. This terrace was my favorite feature as it was our own private little sanctuary to enjoy a glass of wine, or morning coffee with a cozy fire and overlooking the river.

So in love with the bathroom design – vintage mixed with industrial and old world charm and all. the. brass. accents.

To our delight, a beautiful plate of chocolate covered strawberries that John had arranged was on our table upon arriving to our room. A surprise bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice and a handwritten note was left by the Culinary Concierge.

We headed up to the rooftop pool to check out the views before getting ready for dinner.

Outfit Details:  Jumpsuit: A New Day |  Sandals: Teva

We eventually pried ourselves away from the hotel and headed out to dinner and explored the Pearl District. The hotel shuttle will take you downtown but since our dinner reservation was so close to our hotel, we wanted to walk to dinner and enjoy the sights around the Pearl on this beautiful first day of summer.

Coincidentally, J-Lo was also leaving the hotel lobby at the same time as she was headed out to her concert that night. I don’t usually get starstruck, but I thought it was cool that even a-list celebs love the Hotel Emma.


For dinner we enjoyed a beautiful dinner at Cured, just a few minutes walk from the hotel.  We’ve always enjoyed going to out special restaurants in Seattle and the Eastside for our anniversary dinners, and we were looking for a comparable experience in San Antonio. We believe we found just the spot at Cured. At first glance, the building reminded me of one of John’s and my old favorite date night restaurants in Madison Park, Madison Park Conservatory (RIP) with its cozy atmosphere, reclaimed and exposed wood and brick interiors.

Cured specializes in charcuterie boards and house-cured meats. Overall food was delicious, ambiance was beautiful with warm exposed brick, ornate details and elevated updates throughout the interior in a historical atmosphere. The building used to be the Pearl’s Administration Building built in 1904 and has been lovingly restored. As you enter the building, a large charcuterie case shows off hanging meat in the dining room; it’s stocked with options like smoked vealwurst, smoked duck ham, and jalapeño sausages.

I loved everything we ordered, but favorite dish was the Beet, Avocado and Citrus Salad.  The flavors and textures just remind of the delicious farm to table foods we enjoyed in the PNW.

Aged pork belly, bresaola, smoked double barrel cheddar, pink lemonade jam

 

Avocado, Beet & Citrus Salad

 

Wagyu Beef Short Ribs

After dinner we ended the night with a gorgeous stroll at sunset along the famed San Antonio River Walk, followed by more champagne, macarons and turndown service.

River Walk

Outfit Details | Crop Knit Top: Zara similar here | Blazer: Wild Fable | Shorts: Prologue |  Sandals: Sam Edleman, similar here

 

When we returned back to our room, THESE were waiting for us. At Hotel Emma, turn down service comes with macarons. Every. Night. Winning.

Turn Down Service with Macarons!

We made ourselves right at home lounging in these amazing lightweight cotton Guyarobes by Dos Carolinas made exclusively for Hotel Emma.

 

In the morning, you can ring downstairs and hot, freshly brewed coffee magically appears in your room, or you can head down to the Library and enjoy the same freshly brewed Merit Coffee at the coffee cart with an assortment of continental breakfast pastries.

We opted to do both because the library is just so fabulous – had one cup of coffee there and brought more coffee up to our room to enjoy on our terrace.

I find that the best time for truly experiencing architecture during travel and resort amenities is very early in the morning before the crowds come down or arrive. Since becoming a mother I’ve been an early riser and just can’t sleep in. I am a morning person and love quiet mornings exploring hotel grounds without any distractions. The stunning Southerleigh is a hidden gem tucked in the Hotel Emma. Truly a treat for the senses, we got to admire all the rich architectural and design elements that went into this building and had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Pearl Farmers Market

I’m so glad we made plans to visit the Pearl Farmers Market. This has got to be one of my favorite farmers markets I’ve been and we’ve been to a lot!  The Pearl Farmers Market is held every Saturdays and set up along the beautiful outdoor space through the Pearl grounds, which is also just outside the hotel, hosting local produce, meat & cheese producers, fresh flowers, fresh baked goods, live music & cooking demos. It is also very family-friendly with a splash pad for kids in the middle of the plaza. This is the perfect spot to grab breakfast or lunch and a bistro table while the kids splash or run around the park.

Outfit Details | Dress: A New Day |  Sandals: Teva

 

Before checking out of our hotel, we had to stop by the gift shop to pick up a bottle of the most wonderful scent we experienced throughout the hotel during our stay – Milagros by Soular Therapy designed and produced this exquisite room fragrance exclusively for Hotel Emma. The spring and summer aromas of amber, sandalwood, oakmoss, and citrus greeted and followed us throughout the property and we wanted to experience the same aromas at home. I never knew ‘scent marketing’ was a thing but I’m now a believer!

Scent Marketing definition by Air Aroma: By using scent, brands are able to connect with consumers on a deeper emotional level, resulting in a more memorable experience. Scent can attract new customers, increase sales, heighten value perception, and expand brand recognition and customer satisfaction.

 

After a weekend of being wooed by Hotel Emma and her gorgeous architecture, attentive staff, macarons, champagne, and coffee, we were refreshed and ready to go home to see our kids and how the demo was coming along. Besides, isn’t that one of the best things about getting away? At the end, as much as we love a luxurious getaway, we’re ready to go home. And we’re reminded of how special home is and how much we love being at home with our little family.

3. Notes on 11 years of marriage

Over the years, each person learns that marriage isn’t all about spending every waking moment together, it’s more about discovering our individual dreams, talents and challenges and growing together and as one as lovers, best friends, partners, and companions. As a family.

Marriage is a time of constant learning and adjusting. It’s the time of endless self-discovery and growth. The journey continues, but every year there is something new. That, is my reality of our marriage in the 11th year.

What does your marriage look like today?

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

This year, I finally attended Seattle’s Northwest Flower and Garden Show. It ran February 17th-21st where I attended one day and learned a lot to take back home and implement in my own yard and garden spaces. It was also my first festival event with my 4-month-old baby in tow. I figured the gardening crowd wouldn’t be too wild and crazy for a baby 🙂

Baby Baron's first gardening seminar :)

 

As with most festival-type events, I like to be prepared and research my topics of interest before a show so I don’t wander aimlessly among the crowds. I was really excited to attend a couple of seminars and view the show gardens for some landscaping inspiration. We are currently in the middle of a small backyard landscaping project at home, so the timing of attending the NW Flower and Garden show was perfect. My plan was to attend Ciscoe Morris’s seminar, get some landscaping ideas incorporating hardscapes, small columnar privacy and flowering trees, and finding some special plants to bring home.

Ciscoe Morris’ seminar titled, ‘Be A Garden Thief: Steal Ideas From Other Gardens’ was informative, engaging, practical, and most importantly, attainable. Some takeaways and trends I learned from his 45 minutes that I will use for my own gardening goals:

  • Start small, near an entryway, add scents. There’s nothing more welcoming that coming home to a lovely scent outside your front door.
  • Planting fruit trees in espaliered forms – trained to grow flat, such as against a fence or wall. I went out and purchased a Honeycrisp Apple espalier tree at Squak Mt. Nursery the very next day!
  • Add camellias to attract hummingbirds
  • It is more common more than ever to create and grow your own vegetable garden. Even a small 8×16 vegetable garden can work, and can be made by using a variety of materials such as paver stones and faux stone walls, or raised beds.
  • Hummingbirds love tomato cages.

After Ciscoe’s seminar, I went back to the skybridge to admire the patio landscaping displays which really wowed in all the natural light. I wish the entire flower and garden show were displayed in natural light. The show gardens in the convention area felt a bit strange to navigate and view in the dark with the staged lighting.

Back to the skybridge, I loved the form and function of this landscaping to create an intimate and zen-like patio.

skybridge patio

Another favorite skybridge display by Third Spring. I’m obsessed with the turquoise hanging planters from Pot Inc. Love everything about this little patio set up: the use of a pergola, the hanging string lights, the planters in various forms and sizes, and the added textiles to soften up the space.

unnamed

 

My favorite indoor garden display was ‘From Sea To Shining Sea – Coupeville, WA.

The garden was inspired by the charming coastal town of Coupville on Whidbey Island created by Fancy Plants Gardens, designed by James Sprague CPH.

The take-home idea for my own garden: Enticing paver walkway, new sod, and hardy low maintenance plantings. How fun would it be to host a bocce ball bash in the backyard? unnamed-1

 

Lastly, you can’t leave a flower and garden show without picking up some sort of planting for your yard/garden. I passed by a Dutch vendor in the marketplace selling “Japanese Wonderflowers.” The vendor pitched me and sold me at 50 flowers to one bulb that last from May – September. One bulb costs $5.00, or $20 for 5 bulbs. Not bad for the hope of 250 bulbs come spring. More to come on these said “Japanese Wonderflowers”.

unnamed

It was a day well spent and I’m am glad I prepared before we made the trip. The trick is to know what you are looking for, find it strategically, and pace yourself.

Happy Gardening!

Jilli