Highway to Happiness: A Moment of Calm

Wedding Recaps

Friday morning arrived with grey-tinged clouds overhead, but there was nothing we could do but hope whatever it was moved on quickly.

And speaking of getting a move on, I had a cake to frost and then some pampering to get to!

This was one of those times I thought it would be a bit of a downer to have skipped having bridesmaids. I had opened the door to having others join me for my mani/pedi appointment but everyone was either already occupied or already had their own appointments made. Turned out that the alone time was a blessing, not a curse, and that I enjoyed not feeling like I had to constantly answer questions about the wedding or anything else aside from what color I wanted on my fingers and toes, and what I wanted to drink.

I decided to keep things simple and just went for a soft pink polish. | All pictures by Pink Shutterbug Photography (but cropped by me)

I decided to keep things simple and just went for a soft pink polish. | All pictures by Pink Shutterbug Photography (but cropped by me)

I had opted for gel-polish nails for the wedding and, on the recommendation of Mrs. Bicycle, went to one of her favorite local salons: Royal Nails. They’ve got quite a nice set-up and the gel polish really does look nice once it’s finished. I’d done a trial-run two weeks before and I’m so glad I did as it had the added benefit of keeping my nails from breaking right before the wedding.

Before heading home it was time to pick up our delectable cupcakes from Lucy & Leo’s. I think ours was the only order not decorated in FSU’s Garnet & Gold and every flat surface in the shop was covered in pre-orders for folks celebrating the big FSU vs. Miami game on Saturday; I was never so happy to be getting out of town on a game weekend as I was today!

Roadie's keepsake box, finished in the nick of time!

Roadie’s keepsake box, finished in the nick of time!

And what was Roadie doing while I was enjoying a bit of peace and quiet? Finishing his project list by putting together the box for the handfasting cord!

He’d run into a couple of snags (and a lot of delays–mostly in the form of late hours at work–but also finding out that the stain+polyurethane products do not make life easier) so this project came right down to the wire. Roadie’s also a bit of a perfectionist and has said more than once he can see the flaws in it and wants to remake it, but I think it’s fabulous (but, then, I’m obviously biased, and was just thrilled it gone done in time). He also realized he didn’t own a brown belt and thought he’d need one (spoiler: he didn’t, but he has one now!), so he ran out for that last errand while I played a bit of Trunk Tetris to get as much of the decorations and supplies loaded up. Everything but the aisle decorations and dessert stands fit into my car, so mission: accomplished!

The goal was for our little convoy of two to leave no later than 2pm, putting us at the venue at 3pm–an hour should be enough to unload the supplies and settle into our room before the rehearsal at 4 o’clock, right?

roadtripwedding

The Road Trip Wedding Recaps:

If You Give a House a Roof…

The Gingerbread Diaries

It’s going to want a paint job.

Houses are Greedy Little Things, Aren't They?

Houses are Greedy Little Things, Aren’t They?

Or, it will if the current paint job is peeling and you’re going for an FHA renovation loan.

Welcome to buy-a-house limbo; but I may be getting ahead of myself.

At the last update we’d decided to pursue the renovation loan, but were planning to stay with the conventional loan for the better terms, etc. I keep saying plan like that means anything. Here’s what the process has looked like so far:

Plan A: Make an offer almost $10K below listing price, get a (potentially) great fixer-upper for an amazing price, fix it up over time at our own pace.
Plan B: Ask seller to replace the roof as it’s pretty much FUBAR as far as roofs go. (No go.)
Plan C: Reduce our offer another $10K and ask for closing costs to more accurately roll the cost of a new roof into what we originally were willing to pay for the house. (They weren’t thrilled with that idea, either.)
Plan D: Offer to raise our offer to “split” the cost of the new roof, as long as they put it on before closing. (This never got offered–they were adamant about as-is.)
Plan E: Stick with our original offer and seek a Conventional Renovation Loan with lowest-bidding roofer. (But said roofer couldn’t agree to do the job without some money up-front, and conventional doesn’t allow that.)
Plan F: Stick with our original offer and seek a Conventional Renovation Loan with a slightly higher-bidding roofer. (Only, he never got back to me after I sent him the contractor packet from the bank.)
Plan G: Switch to an FHA 203(k) Streamlined Renovation Loan to go back to the lower-bidding roofer so he can get 35% of his fee up-front.

And while, yes, there is theoretically a Plan H, I don’t even know if it’s feasible or what it would entail. That’s a lot of plans in less than a month, no?

The other up-side to going FHA (despite the PMI–Private Mortgage Insurance–and additional front-loaded interest) is that it reduced the minimum down-payment. While going conventional is always ideal, the total renovation cost on top of the planned down-payment was eating away at our buffer for that “squeak zone” we knew we’d have. It’s a short-term value, true, but we’re still looking at a mortgage that’s slightly over half our current rent for twice the house (and the ability to accrue equity). There was an unintended consequence of switching to an FHA loan, though: the FHA-level inspection!

By the way, for a Renovation Loan, the “Total Cost of Renovation” is more than just the contractor’s bid. Here’s how my loan consultant broke it down for me (fees as estimated by Wells Fargo, January 2014–just in case someone finds this list on a search, later):

  1. Contractor’s Bid
  2. 10% Contingency Fund (which gets applied to the principal if there’s anything unused at the end of the renovations)
  3. Feasibility Study ($430 Conventional, $600 FHA–though we were able to skip this because we’re doing a Streamlined Reno; i.e. under $30K)
  4. Inspection Fee (~$200, though you may need to allow for multiple inspections, costing more, depending on the scope of the renovation)
  5. Final Title Inspection (~$150)
  6. Draw Center Fee (between $350 and $750, and covers the department handling the disbursements for the renovation loan)

Acknowledging that this could have been 100% my misunderstanding, I was under the distinct impression that with a Conventional Renovation Loan, we could choose to just replace the roof and still handle the rest of the needed improvements on our own, over time–like I said, I’m no longer sure that was the case, but it was the theory we’d been operating on. Because the FHA requires homes they back to meet certain health and safety standards, things like peeling paint and others will be noted as part of the appraisal. And (the other shoe dropping on this front) anything on the appraiser’s report MUST be included in the scope of the work the contractor is providing. The seller can’t fix them, and neither can we: the contractor has to do it.

Consider that my ohshit! moment at the end of the hour-long application call. Cue my freak-out of what the appraiser might deem necessary and how much that might push up the renovation costs. If the total cost of renovations goes above $30K, we can  no longer do the streamlined reno-loan (not to mention it would be pushing up into price discomfort area, and we’d have to consider–again–walking away). Plus, streamlined or no, the total cost of the home + renovations cannot be more than 95% of the projected home appraisal (value after needed repairs). That’s a lot of ifs, buts, and maybes–hence the limbo period we’re in until the appraisal comes in and our contractor is validated/gets us an updated estimate.

After my initial freak-out, though, I started to look at the additional renovations as a good thing (provided we can swing the deal at all): the items most likely to be on the appraiser’s report are the things we’d most likely consider triage-worthy on our own, repairs and improvements we’d be trying to make immediately after putting up the down-payment and closing costs when money would likely be tight. While financing some of these things might not be ideal, they would give us more breathing room as far as major systems go. (I still don’t completely see how peeling paint is a safety issue if the paint isn’t lead-based, but whatever…)

And speaking of paint: did you know that peeling paint will prevent you from getting home owner’s insurance with many companies? And if not that, the fact that your home has an open crawl space higher than 2-feet will exclude you from others–even if the company already insures the home in its current state!

If I thought getting roofing estimates was ridiculous, the hunt for an insurance policy/agent was maddening!

Perhaps I was too honest (though most policies require an eyes-on inspection of the property, and omitting details will get said policy swiftly canceled), but most places I called wouldn’t quote the home while it was under renovation. Then there were the aforementioned crawlspace and roof issues, plus the lack of smoke detectors (seriously, the previous folks took them with them as we can clearly see where they used to be). Meanwhile, our loan consultant was adamant that we just choose an agent and she’d be able to get the insurer to understand the type of policy (Builder’s Risk) we’d need and get it smoothed over.

Our heads have been spinning!

Our heads have been spinning!

But how could I pick an agent when I couldn’t even get a quote to decide who was going to be able to offer us a decent rate?! The most common situation involved not being able to get insurance until the roof was replaced, but we can’t replace the roof until we buy the home, but we can’t buy the home until we get insurance on it–maddening I tell you!

Finally, I got one agent to quote me a Fire-1 policy through Foremost (a subsidiary of Farmers who seems to take the properties Farmers won’t), only it would only be good while the home was unoccupied–Foremost can’t write policies for occupied homes in the state of Georgia. (And the policy was going to cost almost $2K for that dubious privilege.) Finally, one local agent that couldn’t help us directly referred me to a former coworker who now works for Farm Bureau and can write policies through the state-sponsored insurer–aka the last resort of the property-damned.

She could at least quote us a Rehab policy that was only a quarter of Foremost’s Fire-1 option (before adding contents, at least), and explained that–at least in Georgia–you can’t have 2 policies on the same home (unlike the earlier direction to get HOI plus a Builder’s Risk rider or whatever). Either way we’d be converting the policy from rehab to full coverage, but this might be the lesser of the two faint options we had. Especially considering we have to pre-pay the first year’s coverage (even though we’ll be changing the policy one the work is done and moving in) and bring 2-3 months of the next year’s premium as cushion for the escrow account; essentially pre-paying 15 months. (And, no, that wasn’t how it used to be, this is apparently something that’s changed in the last few years.)

But, hey, at least I had my options–few though they were–and I felt a little better about naming our agent as part of the application process. As of the end of last week our application had been sent to underwriting for initial review, and we’ve received our conditional approval. The past week of waiting, even with the assurance that the loan “looks good” on paper by our consultant, has kept me from spending too much time planning for our new home. I’m wary of getting my hopes up with the appraisal findings still an unknown, and the contractor rebid on top of that.

Buying a house is a lot of hoops to jump through, we knew that. It just feels like the hoops are flaming and I’ve got lead weights tied to my feet! Still, a friend reminded me of a quote from The Last Lecture:

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!

This is us showing how badly we want this house!

Daring Bakers: Schichttorte or “Tree Cake”

Nibbles

Another month, another challenge courtesy of the Daring Bakers!

The January 2014 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Francijn of “Koken in de Brouwerij“. She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

Chocolate-Almond Schichttorte

Chocolate-Almond Schichttorte

The cake itself is a sponge cake and the technique in play is the multiple, thin layers baked one on top of the other, creating striations in the finished cake as each layer is allowed to brown. The sample recipe we were given used crumbled marzipan, but since we don’t really do a lot of nuts in our home, I substituted light brown sugar with a bit of almond extract for that line, and (of course) used my usual Low-FODMAP baking blend for the little bit of flour called for in the recipe (again, being a sponge-cake, most of the structure is coming from the whipped egg whites, not the gluten in wheat flour).

Before folding in the egg yolk mixture, it helps to temper them with a small amount of the whipped whites. This way you only have to "sacrifice" some of the loft, not all of it.

Before folding in the egg yolk mixture, it helps to temper them with a small amount of the whipped whites. This way you only have to “sacrifice” some of the loft, not all of it.

The procedure called for spreading 1/10th to 1/12th of the batter per layer so I tried to figure out what exactly that would be, measurement-wise. Since I had right around 8 cups of egg whites after beating to stiff peaks, and the butter and yolk mixture came to approximately 2 cups, I figured with the inevitable loss of air folding them together would bring, I’d still end up around the 8-cup mark, so 2/3 cup per layer should get me to the 10-12 layer mark, right?

Neatening up the edges makes for a better presentation overall (not to mention easy snacking of the trimmings; for quality control, of course!)

Neatening up the edges makes for a better presentation overall (not to mention easy snacking of the trimmings; for quality control, of course!)

Not so much. I ended up with 6 layers (and I could stand to practice keeping them even) and instead of the 4 minutes each layer was expected to take to bake at 450 degrees F, they took 8 minutes each. At first I thought maybe they’d start cooking quicker once the first few layers were in place–after all, that insulated surface should speed things  up, right? By the end of the third layer, though, I realized we were just going to stick out the 8-minute shifts so adjusted my timer accordingly.

I was happy to find a use for my unset Champagne Jelly--it worked very well with the combination of almond and chocolate.

I was happy to find a use for my unset Champagne Jelly–it worked very well with the combination of almond and chocolate.

Once a bit cool, it was time to glaze the cake. The sample recipe called for apricot preserves, heated, sieved, and mixed with a bit of orange liqueur, but I had a better idea. In part because apricots are High-FODMAP and in part because I had 12 mini-jars of Champagne jelly sitting around that never fully set (making them Champagne sauce, instead), I popped open on of those jars and skipped the heating, sieving, and mixing and just brushed it straight on. (But just to be safe I dunked one of the trimmed sides into the sauce to make sure the two components would mesh well–they definitely did!)

Once the glaze was on, so was the waiting--good thing I'd planned for overnight for the coating to set!

Once the glaze was on, so was the waiting–good thing I’d planned for overnight for the coating to set!

The final step was to mix up a chocolate coating from melted bittersweet chocolate chips and a bit of coconut oil and pour/spread it on. And then it got to sit for a night, as the recipe assured us that it was better if given a day to rest.

The moment of truth: would the layers look right and how would it all taste?!

The moment of truth: would the layers look right and how would it all taste?

Before our gaming group arrived, I divided the small cake into 12 thin bars and set them out prettily. When it’s cut, it looks a lot like the 12-layer cakes you see at bake sales (at least here in the south) but without frosting between each this layer. The strata give it the appearance of wood grain, which is where the idea of “tree cake” comes from–the original Baumkuchen were cooked in successive layers on a spit, creating concentric rings. I don’t have one to try it on, but I wonder if a counter-top rotisserie grill would do the trick in that instance?!

The process was a little tedious by the end–being tied to the oven for over an hour got a little old after the first few layers, but I did read through a couple magazines that had been piling up, so it wasn’t a total loss of time. Some of the participants made their schichttortes using the broiler to quick-cook mini-layers in cupcake pans–I think I’d have to employ a piping bag to make that slightly more manageable, as well as adding a filling layer somewhere in the middle. Still, it was fun to try (which is the whole point) and certainly didn’t go to waste on our guests.

Perhaps the most surprising thing was the richness of the cooked cake–sponge cakes can be very dry and this one definitely doesn’t fit the bill. It was very moist, my almond extract & brown sugar substitution seemed to do the trick, and the bottom layer cooked into a sturdy crust but didn’t burn (thankfully). And even though the cake was small to start with, a twelfth was more than enough for a serving.

Highway to Happiness: Baking and Bride-Napping

Wedding Recaps

My wedding leave started 2 days before the event, on Halloween. As much as we really do love Halloween, I opted not to don a costume simply to spend the day baking goodies for the reception.

In addition to the cupcakes we ordered from Lucy & Leo’s, I decided to make brownies, lemon bars, a pound cake, and an orange cake to round out the dessert options–a little something for everyone. This may not have been everyone’s ideal way of relaxing before the big day, but the hours of methodical mixing and baking and cooling and packaging was quite soothing.

Photo by Pink Shutterbug Photography

Photo by Pink Shutterbug Photography

Mama Leadfoot called shortly after 5pm with a surprise: Dr Aunt and Brother Speedy–not expected in until the next day–drove up a day early (apparently Mama whined a bit about the lack of visiting time their original itinerary afforded) and were ready to head out for supper. Was I game?

Roadie and I had planned to go out that night anyway, but Roadie had to work that day, then pick up his suit on the way home (I’d hoped he’d get to it sooner, just in case something didn’t fit, but that’s not how his schedule played out). When I couldn’t get him on his cell phone the jokes started: “He’s making a run for it!” and the like. Gee, thanks, loving family. But after several calls and my family showing up at my house, the decision was made to kidnap me and hope that Roadie would meet-up with us as soon as he could.

I don’t think any of us expected the restaurant to be as busy as it was, but having the waitstaff in costume was interesting (one person was dressed as Ted, which was a little odd). Our waiter was one of the guys from Anchorman (not my type of humor, so I couldn’t tell you who he was really supposed to be) and then to have them doing their dance-break per the usual–well, hey, dinner and a show, right?

(Commentary supplied mainly by me & Brother Truck–pardon my somewhat maniacal laugh at the mid-point)

Roadie showed up just as our food was being served, so pretty perfect timing there, and at some point it just hit me: Here we all were. It could have been any day, any reason, but this time it was because of Roadie and I. Soon we’d be surrounded by even more family, and then by our friends, and it was all because we met in a chat room one night, decided to meet in person, and followed the road from there wherever it took us. I got a little misty-eyed, even.

jvanderbeek_-2

jvanderbeek_-1

And then Mama started pelting the opposite side of the table with peanuts. My family isn’t known for prolonged sentimentality, so this was perfectly par for the course!

roadtripwedding

The Road Trip Wedding Recaps:

*Dishing the Dirt on the Venue
*Baking and Bride-Napping

44 Hair Care | Hairdresser Confessions

64 Arts

jvanderbeek_hairstyles

Back in the dim mists of time (or last year, before the wedding took over what was left of my life) we had gotten as far as body and hair care (Art #44 on our journey through the 64 Arts). I thought about skipping the creative prompts–after all, they were pretty new and it had been a while, why not just move on to the next art?

Because I love the creative prompts and I wish I’d been doing them from the start, that’s why! So, now I’m picking up where I left off with 3 prompts for you to do with what you will. Journal them, doodle them, pick one and take some sort of action or even just ponder them. How you use the prompts is up to you, but if you’d care to share what you did I’m always eager to hear/see!

1. Hairdresser Confession: It’s kind of cliche, but hairdressers have a reputation (a lot like bartenders) for being good listeners or even lay-therapists. I mean, what else can you do when they’ve got you by the hair for an hour (or three, if you’re getting color treatments)? Think about the deepest conversation you ever had with your hairdresser, or maybe the thing you always wished you could talk about but were too shy–did (would) talking about it help? Did it bring you any closure? And have you ever not gone back to a particular hairdresser after spilling some juicy secret about yourself?

2. Color Coefficient: One of the most fun, if short-lived, things I ever did was have vibrant red streaks put in my hair. I’d always wanted to do something wild for a change and it occurred to me that there was no good reason not to. (I may have a fairly conservative day-job, but a wild hairdo/color wouldn’t really stop me from doing it.) Now, after 3 hours for the first go and it not lasting through the weekend and a second try that lasted not quite 2 weeks, I learned that red is really hard to keep vivid and that some wild ideas are more work than I want to invest in. It was fun while it lasted, though–have you ever done anything wild with your hair? What’s stopping you?!

3. Constant Change: A quote I go back to quite often is ‘the only thing constant is change.’ In terms of hair, the one thing you can count on, even with the worst haircut ever, is that hair grows back (laser treatments and baldness notwithstanding). Todd often says that the difference between a bad haircut and a good one is 2 weeks. (Think about it…) So, while things can seem dire when the results of our actions turn out unexpectedly, the one thing we can always count on is that the situation will not stay the same. What situation in your life seemed like a bad haircut at first, but really did get better?

Here’s to a creative week, then. May you be open to the inspiration around you and, if all else fails, go play with your hair!