Southern, Classy, and [a LOT] Sassy: House

Good Monday morning, everyone! I hope everyone's weekend was at least as enjoyable or as productive as mine. I did some shopping and splurging on myself, made some headway into preparations for my friend Ashley's bachelorette night out, worked at my part-time job, and cleaned like a mad woman.

I have blogged a little before here about buying my house on March 7, 2013. When I say I bought the house that day, it means my parents, aunt and uncle, and two cousins helped pack 2 pick-up trucks and 3 cars, and the movers packed the moving truck while I signed the papers at 1pm, and everything was moved in by 6pm. It was no joke. If y'all knew me in real life, you would know the 3 Xanax I took that day were necessary but still didn't help much. My nerves were tore up. (Yes, I just said tore up. It was for emphasis.)

I fell in love with my house the minute I saw it. It's vintage, squeaky, and 1970s, which is exactly why I love it. But, it was build in 1972, which means there are still 42 years worth of dirt and grime in some spots. Now, I'm not a clean freak, but I'm not dirty, either. I clean after myself, especially my bathroom. Well, I've been trying to get the tub and shower in the guest bath since the day I moved in and usually clean it once every 2-3 weeks. I've tried Magic Erasers, Clorox bleach pens, Scrubbing Bubbles, a $40 bottle of chemicals from Home Depot that's said to work miracles, and nothing worked. Until now.

Enter the wonderful invention that is Pinterest. I found this Pin a good while back, and finally got around to trying out the homemade cleaner. Well, y'all, it works.

(baking soda not included because I forgot I wanted to take a picture and threw it away)

The recipe calls for:
1/2 cup White Vinegar
1/2 cup Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap
4 T. Baking Soda

Heat the vinegar in microwave safe bowl for 90 seconds. Allow to cool slightly and add Dawn dish soap. Mix well. Then, once a little cooler, add baking soda. (If you don't allow cooling of vinegar, the mixture will form a volcano.)

Mix well until a paste-like substance is formed. Spread over shower walls and tub with old cloth.

You can clearly see here how grimy and dirty-looking the tub and tile grout are. This is even with weekly scrubbing of tub and cleaning shower walls every 2-3 weeks.

I let the paste mixture sit for over two hours before scrubbing. I then used the same washcloth to scrub the walls first, making sure to get in all the grout, between every little blue tile. I then scrubbed the tub, itself.

You can see in this photo an in-photo comparison. The top left was left to soak in the mixture then scrubbed, while the right wasn't touched by the magic cleaner! CRAZY!

This is a great side-by-side comparison of how this really works! And while the original Pinner said the grime wiped right off without scrubbing, my tile and grout did require lots of elbow grease and a hot, steamy shower running while scrubbing. No complaints here, though. My tub and shower are FINALLY white(ish)!

If you've been looking for a magic, miracle cure for your tub and shower, please try this and come back to let me know if it works! I was genuinely SHOCKED when it worked for me and can't wait to do it again for (hopefully) even better results!

xoxo!

Yes, everyone, the day is finally here. FRIDAY! Whoop whoop! This has been one of the longest weeks in a longgg time and I thought it would never arrive. Granted, I'm working both jobs today and won't make it back home until 10pm, but who cares?!? It's FRIDAY! (which means 2 days off from my real job and 1 from my part-time)!

It's also March 7, which means I officially became a homeowner one year ago today! Little did I know 365 days ago that the next year would be filled with lots of ups and lots of wayyyy downs with my family, but we've all survived, and I've learned a ton of lessons with home-ownership.

My house may not be the ballinist house on the block, it's definitely not the newest, most-updated, or blinged out version, but I love my vintage 1970s kitchen and bathrooms, I work hard for it, I'm the only one paying the mortgage, it's all mine, and that's more than enough for me.

So, without further ado, a look back at some moments in Amy's First House history...