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Buy a fixer upper, they said. It'll be fun, they said. 😂


Well... ok so some of it's fun.


But mostly, it's a lot of work. And it could take up a lot of your time. And if you're an amateur-home-improvement-DIYe like me, it's also a whole lotta time spent researching all the things for each project. And by research, I mean watching a million YouTube videos on "How To Build x, y, z," Google searching, Pinteresting... just everything I could find on the World Wide Web.


When we first moved in last year, I was hoping we could get the new flooring and full kitchen done before moving on to the big projects outside. But since we don't quite have the budget to start on the interior projects right now, we decided to put all the interior projects on pause for a minute and work on some things we had planned for outside. Especially since we haven't really touched a thing outside since we moved in. Just kept it clean and maintained. But since the existing landscape/hardscape isn't exactly our style... we thought we'd get started on its transformation.


First up on the list of DIY's: Backyard Edition - build a wood gate for our driveway. A modern horizontal wood gate to be exact. And technically it's near the front of the house, but because we're going to focus on the backyard for a bit, this modern wood gate is THE project that will launch the domino effect of projects to come.


So here we go.


Please note: I have never built a fence before in my life and not sure if building a whole gate should have been my first big DIY project EVER, but... here we are! 😂


Let's take a look at what our driveway looked like before:



Like I said before, we have not done anything to improve this area since we moved in. Just keeping it clean and not letting it get overrun by weeds. We have plans to work on the landscape soon - new rocks, maybe some turf, more green plants - but that's a few projects down the line.


1. Setting Posts for Doors/Frame

As you can see, we started from scratch. There was no existing gate to work with. Just a long open driveway. So the first thing we needed to do was add some posts to hold up the doors and framing for the side fencing. This required digging so we made sure to contact 811 beforehand so that the utility companies could come out and mark where we shouldn't dig. Once we were cleared, we started on our project. The first thing we did was attach a 2x4 post to our house on the left side of the gate. The reason for this is because our main gas line runs very close to this are and we weren't able to dig to put a post in the ground. So attaching this post to house was our only option. I measured and pre-drilled 3 holes in the wall as well as the 2x4. And then we screwed the wood to the house using lag bolts.

Then, to make sure the gate was as straight as possible, we ran a string line from this post all the way to the brick wall on the other side of the driveway. We totally eyeballed this one. Once the line was in, we drilled 2 holes (top and bottom) into the 2x4 and the brick wall, and then used masonry screws to secure the post.


Once that was done, we marked the ground where we wanted to door posts to go, using spray paint. We wanted our door opening to be about 10 feet wide. So once the ground was marked, Daniel got to digging the holes. The holes were approximately 2 feet deep and about a foot wide. We poured some gravel at the bottom before adding the concrete mix. We used Quikrete from Home Depot because it made this process a whole lot easier for us - just pour the bag in the hole and add water and that's it! No buckets or wheelbarrows needed at all.



2. Door Frame/Fence Frame

Next up, was building the frames for the doors. Since we wanted the opening to be 10 feet wide, each door measured about 5 feet wide. We cut the 2x4s down to size with a miter saw. And then we used an anti-sag gate kit I purchased from Amazon to put the frame together. The kit came with heavy duty hinges and screws that is good for doors up to 6 feet wide. So... fingers crossed 🤞 that our gate holds up. Tip: make sure to take precise measurements or your doors will not open/close properly.




I added a 2x4 to the middle of each door going vertically so that I would be able to screw the fence boards in the middle as well.


Once that was done, we measured and cut 2x4's to run horizontally from the posts on the house and brick wall, to the 4x4 posts. I pre-drilled pocket holes on each end and then secured them to the vertical posts with pocket screws. Then I added 2x4's to the frame in the spots that I would need to screw the fence boards to.




3. Installing The Wood Planks/Fence Boards

After we got all the framing up, it was time to attach the wood planks. I would have loved to use tongue and groove planks, but with the cost of lumber these days, we used regular cedar dog eared fence boards that we cut down to size. Cedar is naturally resistant to most bugs and moisture and water damage. AND it's also lighter in weight, which I'm hoping will help keep the gate from sagging.





I learned that some metal screws would cause some discoloration to happen in cedar wood over time, so to prevent any kind of that nonsense happening, we used stainless steel screws just to be safe.


I didn't want a lot of space in between planks, but still needed to leave a little space to allow for any expansion or shrinkage when the weather changes. So for that, we used business cards as spacers. I call that being resourceful 😉.


4. Sanding/Staining Fence Boards

I actually did this BEFORE doing everything else because I wanted to make sure to get the front, back and the sides stained to protect the wood so it lasts longer. I spent about 2 days sanding all the boards. And then another 2-3 days were spent staining. And because it's been such a hot summer so far here in California, I was only able to really work on it for about 3 hours in the morning and some evenings.



I really wanted a teak wood colored gate so this is the stain we got from Lowe's.



I have seen some people stain before installation and I have also seen people do it afterwards. Obviously I am no expert and I can only assume that it's a matter of preference. I can't say one method is better than the other... I'll just say YOU DO YOU!


And there you have it! A horizontal modern wood gate for our Spanish styled home.






I am very pleased with how it all turned out! Did we do a good job or what? Let me know what ya think in the comments below!


Here's a list of everything we used:


MATERIALS

2x4 Douglas fir

4x4 redwood

dog eared cedar fence boards

Quikrete


TOOLS

masonry drill bit

drill bits/screw bits

paint brush


HARDWARE

masonry screws

lag bolts

stainless steel screws


Disclosure: That Plain Jane Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon properties including Amazon.com.


This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I use and love.











Updated: Aug 18, 2020

Just when you think you’ve mastered a routine, life happens — your baby grows up and goes off to preschool. Then it’s complete chaos for at least a week or so, trying to find the groove of our new daily M-F routine.



Preschool is a pretty big deal. Like MAJOR. I get 3 hours without a 4-year-old from 11:30am - 2:30pm... what the heck do I do with myself?! Yeah I know, I still got an almost-2-year-old to look after... I haven’t forgotten about her. But having 1 kid is a hell of a lot easier to manage than 2! And 3 hours may not seem like a lot of time so I’ve had to REALLY think about what I wanted to accomplish within such a short time frame.



Is it worth skipping Evie’s nap time to roam the aisles of Target and spend money you don’t have?! Should I risk putting Evie down for a nap? And if so, is it worth waking her up (if she’s not already awake) to pick Sissy up from school? Just an FYI, she’s definitely NOT a happy camper when she’s woken up earlier than she's ready to be. And if Evie DOES take a nap, do I take advantage of this ME time and binge watch Jane The Virgin for the millionth time and just chillax?! Maybe have a glass of wine — ok maybe not the wine. But still... should I?! Or should I be a responsible adult and use this time to do laundry AND clean the whole house all while baby naps? Maybe take a quick catnap myself? Sleep is obviously a VERY crucial part of our day as you can tell. Trying to figure out when that nap should take place can be pretty difficult! And on top of that, coming to terms with not wearing pajamas all day long has been pretty depressing.

 

So now that Ella’s been in school for 3 whole weeks now, I can tell you briefly how Everly and I spent our 3 hours a day of week 1.


Day 1 : It was orientation day so not much happened because Ella was there for 1 hour but parents were required to be there as well.


Day 2: We dropped Ella off at school and went to pick up our dog Tipsy from the groomers (hubby took her first thing in the morning). When we got home I did 3 loads of laundry. Ok ok, I’m lying. I started a load that morning before Ella went to school so I wasn’t that accomplished. And in between loads I did some dishes and cooked some meals and entertained Everly who seemed kinda lost that Sissy was not here. Evie napped after we picked Sissy up.


Day 3: I watched Everly run around in circles (literally) for awhile while I folded the clothes from the previous day. Yup, I totally didn’t fold them right away because I’m just not that put together. Then Evie napped after we picked Sissy up from school. 


Day 4: It was Back To School night so Everly had no choice but to take her nap right after we dropped sister off at school. Good thing she had woken up earlier than usual because she didn’t fight me at all. And while Evie napped, mama binge watched Season 5 of Jane The Virgin. If you haven’t seen the show, you need to! It’s SO good! 


Day 5: So we decided to make that trip to Target. More like attempted. Everly had a meltdown before we even made it into the store so there’s that. Maybe we’ll try again next Friday.


Now that it's been 3 weeks of preschool, I can tell you that I am already SO OVER IT. It dawned on me on day 3 that THIS is now my life. I am now a parent of a pre-schooler. My schedule now revolves around my 4-year-old's drop-off and pick-up schedule. And this revelation was pretty shocking at first. THIS will be my life until both of my girls have graduated high school! So yeah... I'm already over it and their first long break from school cannot come soon enough. And though preschool is only 3 hours long, the process of getting them up and ready for the day, fed and out the door by a certain time 5 days a week is not fun at all. Not that I was expecting it to be a party or anything. I'm seriously already missing the days where we could lounge in our pj's all day long and eat our meals whenever we were hungry and take our naps when we wanted to... yeah we are definitely spoiled.


*sigh*


In other news, Ella is lovin' her new routine. She loves to pick out her clothes and gets super excited to go to school so she can play with her friends (she's got like 4 of them now), play on the playground, engage in all the new things she's learning. I have to say, by Day 4 of week 1, she was already telling me "bye" and running off before I'd even signed her in. My mama heart kinda broke when she didn't even look back for me. These bittersweet moments just keep on comin', don't they?


So yeah... we survived our first week of preschool.



Have your kids started school yet? What grades are they in? Are/Were you excited about the first day? If this is your first time (like me), how were you feeling? More importantly, what did/do y'all do with your time while they were/are in school? Tell me all the things!!!




 

Updated: Jan 27, 2020

Yup, you read that title right, folks... Daniel and I totally did a thing. We shipped the kids off to grandma's for 2 weeks and we took a mini vacation up to San Francisco. And it was AH-MAY-ZING!!!! What started off as more of a work trip for Daniel turned into a getaway for us... if you wanna call it an extended anniversary celebration, you totally can lol - since you know, we already celebrated our anniversary at Disneyland back in March.



We flew up to Frisco on Wednesday (May 29th) morning. We weren't able to check into our hotel early, so we left our luggage with the front desk and took advantage of exploring the city a little bit. We stayed at Hotel Zelos, which is in the heart of Downtown San Francisco, and there were SO many things within walking distance from us. The convention center was a 4 minute walk away (which is where we spent majority of Fri, Sat and Sun), Union Square and all things shopping was right there in our "backyard" (our hotel sat on top of Old Navy and Trader Joes), and every type of restaurant you could think of surrounded us.



Our first night there, we tried a mom + pop shop hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Tacorea which was a Mexican + Korean food infused joint. Then after that we went to a "secret" bar known on the streets as Speak Easy (AKA Bourbon & Branch) - which requires a reservation online. Once you reserve a spot, they'll send you the directions, house rules, and password to get in via email. This place is so "secret" that we almost walked right on by it. The GPS told us we were near it, but because this place doesn't have a store-front sign OR even a visible address on the building, it took a homeless guy to notice that we were lost and asked us if we were lookin' for Bourban & Branch. When we said yes, he pointed to a building with a single door. If he didn't tell us where to go/look, we may never have found it on our own lol.


"Secret Door" to Bourban & Branch

This bar sits on top of the original Speak Easy that existed back in the 1920s during the Prohibition era - when the sale and consumption of alcohol was illegal. The experience and ambiance of this place takes you back to that era. They serve drinks you won't find anywhere else and you definitely won't be able to order a cosmo or margarita here. One of their main house rules is: no cell phone usage while you're inside. If for some reason you need to make or take a phone call, they ask that you step outside to do it. So I have zero pictures of what it looks like on the inside or pictures of our overall experience. This picture right here is literally the ONLY "proof" we were even there. But I will say, the drinks I had were YUMMY and our entire experience there was a GOOD one so if you ever get the chance to go, you definitely should.


We did all the touristy things on Thursday. We bought a 1-day public transit pass to get around the city. We took the cable car all the way down to, what I thought was Fisherman's Wharf, but turned out to be the Port of San Francisco, which sits at the very beginning of ALL the piers.


Fisherman's Wharf was at the very end. Daniel had the bright idea to walk it because he said Fisherman's Wharf was just a couple of blocks away. The whole "couple blocks away" phrase became his thing our entire stay. And because he thought everything was only a couple blocks away, we did A LOT of walking that day and the entire trip. We walked past the Exploratorium all the way to Pier 39 where we had lunch and saw the sea lions.



Us at Pier 39


Then we walked all the way up to and through Ghirardelli Square to the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take us to the Golden Gate Bridge.




We probably spent an hour reading up on all the historical facts and taking pictures before deciding to make the trip back to our hotel. We took the bus back to Ghirardelli Square and walked over to the Street Car stop. Because ya can't go to San Francisco and NOT ride the street car! Yeah, we waited about an hour to get on it because there were so many of us and I think it was also a shift change for the guys that drive the Street Cars. But it was the coolest thing ever.



view from our seat in the Street Car

After we got back to our hotel, we freshened up and returned back to the Exploratorium for their After Dark event which is catered to adults (meaning they served alcoholic beverages and you could explore the exhibits while having a cocktail) and only held on Thursday nights. But because we were so tired from our long day (and also starving) we didn't stay long. We hopped back on a cable bus that took us back to our hood. And then we walked "a couple blocks" to get some pho because we were hangry! We didn't get back to our hotel till almost midnight.


The rest of the weekend was spent at the Moscone Convention Center and we hung out with a few friends who were also there for the same event. After "work" we attended after-parties and went bar-hopping. We had such a great time that we kinda didn't wanna come back to reality. But it was a vacation well-deserved. We hadn't taken a trip like this (just the 2 of us) since we had Ella almost 4 years ago so it was nice to be able to just enjoy and reconnect with each other.



Have you ever been to San Francisco? Have you been able to go on vacation (or stay-cation) with your significant other without kids? If so, where have you gone? If not, where would you like to go?


 

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