Are you installing a drive-through window?

Yes. That’s exactly what every home needs. Hold that thought.

As someone mentioned to me…”how do you even qualify for ‘Where Bloggers Live?” Don’t you, IDK, actually have to be a blogger?”

Oof…gonna need some ice for that burn.

But to the point, yes. There are more posts in my head these days than on these pages. A completely valid point.

I’ll get back to barraging your inbox with my hijinks, hopefully sooner than later (if you still follow). But that ain’t now…at least not for today. Too much “stuff” afoot, most of which you can find on Instagram. But I sure do miss it. As for the stuff:

For the last couple of weeks, our post-chimney-fire fireplace replacement has been in progress. I was pretty bummed to say goodbye to this old friend:

which provided several posts worth of my blog drivel when I created, mulled over, and eventually finished building the overmantel. I was and continue to be SO proud of that…

But now, it’s all gone, RIP, and–as I type this–here is the current state of our family room:

I wondered if, instead of proceeding with the fireplace, we should consider a drive-through window because this isn’t entirely going as planned.

Despite many months of looking at every conceivable image of “linear fireplaces with televisions” on the internet and then pinning my favorites to my Pinterest board, we still aren’t sure where it will visually end… and good luck trying to get a contractor to have a solid answer in advance, because, guess what…he’s also MULLING!!!

What we HAVE discovered is that the entire chimney-fire driven perk of switching out the fireplace was that we could rearrange our family room so we could all COMFORTABLY watch TV AND a fire (an intentional fire) at the same time (sans the charm of a thoughtful neighbor banging on the front door, saving your lives and telling you they called the firemen.

Very soon we WILL be able to watch TV and a safe fire simultaneously. HOWEVER…despite ALL my protestations, research regarding placement, and voiced concerns about NOT wanting the TV to be too far up the wall. It will absolutely be, for me, like sitting in the first row at a movie theater. And just between the five of us reading this post, I am super disappointed about that. First worldish, I know, but these are the deets I tried to address up front, when everyone was nodding in agreement knowing the TV will end up where it was always going to go in the first place.

The TV might as well be on the ceiling from my perspective, but my family thinks it’ll be okay. We’ll see. For now, I’m in charge of worrying about it.

The fireplace itself will be lovely and convenient, although I will miss the smell and crackle of the wood burning fire.

Here’s the unit sitting in our front hall. I texted that picture to our family and my daughter asked who we’re planning on cremating. Hmmm, that’s a thought.

HEY, Dustandnon-blogger….you’re off topic!

Ahem, yes.

Today’s WBL post is themed, “What’s in my suitcase.”

Easy answer: a ziplock bag containing excedrin, deodorant, shaver, toothbrush and toothpaste; as well as a cute travel nightie suffering from atrophy. Next to my suitcase is a king-size cotton blanket that goes on every trip because those hotel things are too thick (and disgusting, even by my standards).

SOOOO much happening with home remodeling these days, and Mr is up to his eyeballs in the office, that we really don’t have any travel plans, neither on the books nor the drawing board.

But I absolutely DO have a travel-related obsession: our own WBL group founder, Bettye, AKA Fashion Schlub.

I suspect most of you are aware that Bettye has begun her dream of studying the language and culture of South Korea by ditching most of her belongings and actually moving TO South Korea! Who does that!? Certainly not someone too lazy to tilt her head up to watch TV. But that’s not Bettye! SOLO, she is immersed in life halfway around the world…I would personally liken it to jumping in the ocean with sharks chasing you and your only swim stroke is a doggie paddle.

But NOT Bettye! She has been problem solving her way through each day of the 16 days since her adventure began. How do I know this? Because I have harassed her non-stop since she left. I’ve probably been worse than a helicopter parent who lets their kid go on a class trip. “Hey, just checking in.” “What’s the news?” “Have you met anyone?” “How is the food?”

I’d better be careful or I will overstep my bounds into being blocked, haha.

I will say, whether I’m a friend, a fangirl, a self-appointed parent or all of the above, the whole adventure is freaking fascinating to me and if you aren’t already following her instagram, you can link to it here.

Or…you can bounce on over to her blog to see what’s in her suitcase, out of which she is currently living in her goshiwon .

The other bloggers (who actually blog) are sharing their travel accoutrements as well…and I suspect one very clever stylist will share some excellent packing tips! Be sure to check out:

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own  
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style