Welp, we’re officially in mid-May. If I were going off our original timeline, we’re five months behind schedule. If I go off our second timeline, we’re two months from move in (HA!) And if I keep my eye on the prize–a.k.a the third and current timeline, we’re six or seven months our from moving in. I can’t tell you how long it took for me to accept that new reality and some days it’s still pretty brutal, but it is what it is!

First things first, be sure to start at Part One of this series: What’s Taking So Long? For anyone who doesn’t know, we chose to work with House of Jade Interiors for the Kitchen, Family Room, Dining Room, Primary Bedroom, Entry and my office. It has been such a wonderful experience and they put up with alllll of my input and change requests and I just can’t recommend them enough-more on that later. Last week, our designers came for a three day stretch of non-stop house work and it was a WHIRLWIND. I was not prepared for the level of go go go those three days were and my pelvis still hasn’t recovered from all the walking!

They hadn’t been to Texas to see the house since September 2021 so it was pretty surreal to have them here in person. I’m typically the one answering all the questions with the builders/framers/architect/electrician and so on. The brain fry that happens with endless questions like, “do you want this a half inch over or a full inch over?” “how many layers do you want on the lime slurry?” “do you want the HVAC return to line up with the center of the window or the recessed can in this room?” Every single decision is mine to make and it was so nice to feel like I could just exhale and confirm or approve decisions rather than be responsible for making every decision was the relief I didn’t know I needed.

They rented out a space in a design showroom in the Design Center downtown Dallas for the first step of our meeting which was…drumroll please…the furniture presentation! I’ve looked forward to this day for literal years since first working with them. It’s been such a collaborative process and seeing all the plans and options felt like a dream. This took a few hours and we finished up by walking through showrooms in the design center to sit on and view some of the options. (side note: that mustard velvet has been pinned to the linen moodboard in my office since 2012 and it’s such a pinch-me moment to have it finally being implemented in my home.)

Speaking of the Design Center, you guys, THIS IS IT. It’s absolutely the most overwhelming and wonderful place in the world. Furniture and fabrics and artwork and textiles as far as the eye can see and if I didn’t currently have SPD in my third trimester that makes my pelvis feel like a weak wish-bone, this would be my ideal dream day forever. It was so, so fun and surreal to be able to walk through showroom after showroom testing every chair and sofa I could imagine. Such a treat. After two hours, O was beat and everything started running together. Me? This was my Super Bowl. Despite the act of getting up from furniture being one of the most strenuous workouts I’m currently partaking in, I would have done it all day long.

Our next stop was to the slab yard at Arizona Tile which I need to give a shoutout because they were phenomenal. We had all three babes in tow and they let us know kids under 12 aren’t allowed in the slab yard, but they do have a kids room with movies and activites and you can watch your kids from a monitor. This was a lifesaver since finding our slabs was a multi-hour event. O ended up taking the kids to the house to meet with the electrician and I stayed behind to claim our favorites with the designers.

This is one of the beauties that has our name on it. All the heart eyes.

The designers and I grabbed Sweetgreen because we were absolutely famished and dehydrated- our bad- and headed to the house to meet with the builder to go over all the things. They confirmed outlet placement, beam placement, stair tread questions, fireplace plaster taper…just all the random odds and ends that don’t come up in our weekly emails but absolutely need to be addressed. Our kids were such troopers as always and I packed a full cooler of meals and snacks, soccer balls, books, fun prebiotic sodas and a DVD to watch in the car towards the end. The way they sit through these 2, 3, sometimes 4 hour meetings with joy and patience is something I’ll never take for granted. So proud of these babies.

The next day, Z and I met the designers at the house after they taped off all the furniture to confirm sizing before purchasing. Another long meeting, another long trooper day for this sweet girl. This was the most challenging day because when plans don’t quite match up with the real-life space, things get a bit dicey. Dicey might just be the catch-phrase of our entire build, to be honest. We had to get creative with layouts to make sure everything will fit in a way that works for our family but is truly livable. I’m not interested in living in a showroom or film set and I’d rather sacrifice that Architectural Digest style moment for a space my kids feel completely cozy in and inspired by. I always speak up and push back when necessary and I’m thankful for the level of collaboration House of Jade Interiors has created with me.

This is how we all felt by the end of day three.

This week, we’re implementing all the changes the designers presented which meant we needed to push our trip to Houston for a few weeks. We’re working to settle on a mason to lay the brick and finishing up electrical and HVAC so we can have inspection come through and begin insulation and FINALLY, my beloved drywall. I will cry the day drywall goes up, you guys. Mark my words.

That’s where we’re at! I hope you’re enjoying these home updates, friends. Anyone else in the building process, leave me a comment and let me know how you’re hangin’ in there. It’s such a gift to be in this process and I remind myself of that every day. Tired but grateful.