Can you believe it’s been almost five months since our last house tour? I grabbed the Flip cam and walked through the house to show how each room really looks on an ordinary day — no tidying first, just like our playful “no-cleaning” tour back in April. This is the genuine, lived-in version: I didn’t pick up a thing (yes, that embarrassing bra on the bedroom chair is real — pretend you didn’t notice). If you’re at work, you can watch on mute and still get a good sense of our everyday life. Or, if you’re feeling bold, try lip-reading (just kidding — I’m usually off-camera).
A few things to note before you press play:
- I filmed this before we updated the hardware on the front and sliding doors (so the brass finish is still showing). It always takes me a few days to remember to upload videos.
- I’m not great at walking, talking, and holding a camera at once — so apologies for the Blair Witch–style movement.
- Many readers think they hear Natalie Portman or Mila Kunis in my voice. I listened to the clip several times and honestly can’t hear it, but I tried.
- I don’t know why I felt compelled to point out that we have a Ruby Tuesday coupon on the desk. Somehow that seemed noteworthy in the moment.
- I should have rotated the ironing board upright while filming — I missed a chance to re-win Ironing Board Wars on camera (more about that in the linked post).
- Burger is adorable, as always. He’s happily tucked under the covers — life is good when you’re a nine-pound chihuahua.
- Sorry if I’m nearly inaudible in the second half. When the baby naps, I become a whispering, paranoid mom — which is funny because we actually do loud projects while she’s asleep, just not right outside her door.
- You’ll notice the ribbon chandelier from Clara’s closet is still in a pile in the playroom. I took it down to paint and stencil the closet and haven’t rehung it yet.
- That rushing-water sound in Clara’s room is her sound machine, which does a great job of masking DIY noise and an overly enthusiastic dog.
- I completely forgot to film the sunroom at first and had to sprint back through the house to show squished pillows and a blow-up whale pool.
- The rocker in the sunroom still feels like it might collapse on me — no big progress there since I first mentioned it back in November.
- My dramatic farewell to Clara’s stuffed animal is a little weird in hindsight. Yes, we named her Georgia because she’s from there. Don’t ask.
So what would people see if they made a shaky, nausea-inducing video of your house before you picked anything up? Any funny or embarrassing items lying around — a Care Bear night light in the bedroom, a 1990s poster in a closet? For example, John once had a Britney Spears calendar when I met him in 2004 — and yes, it featured her in outfits like red leather bodysuits and braided pigtails. Clearly a man of refined taste.
I was digging through old folders on my laptop and found a stack of amusing throwback photos, which felt right for an “any given day” post. Here’s a playful note about running into celebrities: I used to work in advertising in NYC and met a lot of famous people — most were lovely, though there was one who earned their reputation for being difficult. Trust the rumor mill on that one.
Here’s John’s passport photo at 16 beside his 24-year-old photo. Look at Johnny grow up.
And here’s John as a life-sized doll from a 2005 office project we did together. We met at an ad agency called Lowe — I was a copywriter and John was an account guy. The office loved the stunt (it was created for a deodorant client), and I’ll take John the Doll over the smarmy Ken doll from my childhood any day.
This next one is our engagement announcement photo from 2006, which we emailed to friends and family. The photo was taken shortly after John proposed at the top of a mountain — one of our top five best days, for sure.
That’s a little Friday randomness for you. Do you have odd old photos tucked away on your computer? Would you have guessed five years ago that you’d be where you are today? We certainly didn’t plan to leave advertising after loving it for years, and after six years in NYC I never imagined we’d move. Life surprises you in good ways.
Psst — want more real-life mess? Check out our first messy house tour to see how many rooms have changed since we filmed the April episode.