My hope is the name "Are you f-ing kidding me?' frosted brownies" paints an accurate depiction of the most amazing chocolate buttercream-topped fudgy deliciousness one could ever imagine. And while my name for this dessert may appear to be vulgar, since "death by chocolate" and "better than (fill in the...
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The word "standalone" takes on a whole new meaning when you live in an urban row house environment. Party walls, shared walls, and common space is quite common place, so the idea of a dwelling and space that is all your own is a dream for many.Along Old Town's Prince...
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Before I jump into today's post, I want to touch on Wendy's announcement yesterday that she's becoming a real estate agent. I really can't express just how happy I am that she made this decision for herself. I've long felt real estate would ideally suit her skills and interests and...
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As some of you may (or may not) have noticed, I've been a bit absent on the blog the last six months. Not necessarily gone per say, but Alex has been holding down the blog fort so to speak. While in the past, the split of our posts has been...
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Today we're going to cover something that's very DIY in nature, but it falls well outside of the realm of "home improvement." Instead, it deals with a decidedly DIY approach to a medical issue. More specifically, one involving our beloved canine daughter, Lulu.
The homeopathic remedy I'm covering today deals with...
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As much as I love to entertain, and don't mind spending time preparing for large parties, intimate gatherings, or even the impromptu drop bys (I've overheard friends say "if you just randomly show up at Wendy and Alex's house, you still get a spread of cheese, appetizers, and wine!), I'm...
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Last week a photo of a speed square was posted on the Instagram feed of Charles & Hudson, the well known home improvement, DIY, and tool website. I saw the photo and left a comment that a good speed square is easily in my list of "Top 10 Must Have...
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Well, I'm annoyed. That pretty much sums it up. If you're on OldTownHome.com and are reading this post, there's a good chance you're annoyed too, primarily at the slower than a tortoise speed (or lack thereof) of this website. You see, we're having Internet issues. Or more specifically, Internet speed...
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They say size matters, but when it comes to rain shower heads, is there such a thing as too big? As Alex and I think ahead to the final hardware details on our master bathroom renovation, we've begun exploring the fixture, hardware, accessory, and finish options that will make the...
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Today's Around Old Town subject houses are a collection of three very similar historic homes along Old Town's Columbus Street that were built between 1885 and 1890.
Right in the center of town, I've heard these homes referred to as "Three Queens for Three Sisters." As legend has it, a wealthy...
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So here we are, nearing summer nearly eight years after I unceremoniously removed our aluminum triple track windows, seven years after I expected to have new windows built, and over a year since I declared my own personal ultimatum for building said windows, a deadline that I ultimately blew in...
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Besides doing our own projects and renovations, we love watching the work of other area undertakings unfold around us. Since moving to Old Town Alexandria in 2003, we've been observers to a progression of sorts, watching as the various storefronts, buildings, houses, and areas in and around the city have...
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What's red inside and white all over? Vanilla bean cupcakes complete with fresh raspberry filling, of course! It's no secret I love to make cupcakes. After all, it's typically the first thing I volunteer to bring to parties and gatherings. So when I offered to co-host a baby shower at...
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Today's Around Old Town subject house is actually no longer a home, though it started its life as one. This building is located at 311 Cameron Street and is situated directly across the street from Alexandria's city hall building.
Today, this building is now a collection of small stores and apartments...
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Renovating an old house can be quite a bit of fun. It's also true that it can be tedious, trying, difficult, frustrating, and downright infuriating, but most of those moments fall by the wayside when you're able to look at what you've accomplished in a finished project and take pride...
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