Weekend Happenings

Yesterday I had an event (bowling) for work downtown and Brian met up with me to partake in the fun.  Afterwards we strolled around downtown and shot a couple of pictures. 

Today, we drove to the east side and snagged a few items from garage sales.  That red tubeish-looking item is a fire extinguisher, Brian bought it for $5.  We bought a ton of old books, some vintage glasses, phone, blocks, plates(to potentially start a collection), map box, silver tray, and a milkglass vase all for about $30. 

 I nap with Charlie.. a lot...

All for now.  Hope you're having a great weekend!

A few odd things.

I think I've mentioned a few times on here that I broke our camera that we got for Christmas last year.  Well we sent the little guy off to Canon and it came back this week all fixed and (thank you Jesus) apparently the fix was free.  [If you're wondering what I did, I stuck the memory card in the wrong way, too aggressively].  So anyways, I put a few pictures we took with it prior to the break that make me very happy, below. 

After a quick discussion with a co-worker today about how I dream about work/other things and come up with my best ideas when my mind finally has a minute to rest, I came to realize that my mind never really does rest and I am thinking all the time (unless I'm sleeping, but then I'm dreaming so same thing right?..)

So, without further ado here are a few random things on my mind right now (you might think I'm really odd after all this):

• I cannot wait for summer to come so I can wear sunglasses, find a cute romper like this, etc.
• Traveling is making me really pudgy (or pudgier?).  I think I felt back fat yesterday, yeah I said it. I started getting back to my workout routine today.  I hope it sticks.
• Sometimes I feel like a bad wife because I don't coupon.  Will someone teach me how? I don't feel like it would be worth my time.  But I'm currently watching extreme couponing and I'm wowed.
• I really love my husband.  A lot.  I think he has the most incredible heart.
• I want to learn to serve others better.  It's one of those things that takes effort, and after a long week full of busyness, it's hard to dedicate that time/effort.  But, oh how fulfilling and God glorifying it is. 
• Talking on the phone is my weakness.  Weakness meaning I hate talking on the phone.  But, considering I live near almost no one I had a relationship with prior to 2.5 years ago, I really need to learn to start talking on the phone.
• What does Jesus want me to be doing right now?  Tomorrow? 
• I wonder if Charlie is running around the house right this very moment.  
• I think I use parentheses ( ) and commas , too much.
• All for now. If you're still following, see below for some pictures.

 

Have you discovered

PINTEREST?? I just recently have and I'm falling fast.  The inspiration is unending.

Ok, I'm going to take a quick trip to Paris for a cup of coffee now (or actually maybe I'll just pin a board instead)..

1 2

Workspace love.

How incredible are these workspaces? Dreaming of the organization, the pretty colors, all the fabrics..love it all.

Images via rethink design studio, lonny mag, house beautiful

Table de la Lion

I love to see things transformed.

Whether it is a work of art, a home, a team, or even a person.  There is something very inspiring and beautiful about seeing something go from utterly broken to fully transformed.  While what I'm going to write about is just a story about a piece of furniture, there is another story, a more spiritual one about how my life has been transformed.  I'll save that for another day though.

Something else I love - GOOD DEALS :) Which is why you might often find me in a thrift store, flea market or garage sale.  Last Wednesday I was at a thrift store with my buddy Chris; we weren't looking for anything specific but just went because some things were half off. 

By the way, as you may have inferred from my use of "buddy" this isn't Sam, its her husband Brian and I'm giving my first post a shot. 

As Sam alluded to in her last post I found a pretty cool little claw foot table with a lion head drawer, which i think make it look pretty tough.  Only it had a few problems: a really good lean, the paint was yellowing and chipping off and it had only three of the four claw feet remaining; this is most likely why most people walked right on by.  You can't quite grasp it in the picture below because I think I was trying to hide the lean (this was my text to Sam, trying to convince her we needed it).

For $40 I took a chance on it assuming I would somehow figure out how to jimmy-rig it, as I've become accustomed to in some of our recent projects.  Once I got it home I removed the legs and put the table on its top.  I made sure that the legs would now be level when I Gorilla-glued them back together. (see below)

Once I put it back on its legs it was (basically) level, so I took off the hardwear.  Next I gave it a quick sand, and then Sam and I were ready to paint.  I forget the color name, maybe she can comment below with it, I know its from Martha Stewart. I then returned the hardware, but only the front two claw feet since it made it a bit more symmetrical.  All in all, a very quick and easy transformation; here is the final product:

Hope you like it!

[Sam here: I'm giddy with excitement that Brian decided to post on my blog. I think he did a great job :-) . Now for a few comments for those that may be interested: The paint is Flagstone by Martha Stewart in the high gloss.  We were going to put a lacquer over it, but the man at Home Depot convinced us that we wouldn't need it.  I agree with him as it came out very glossy/shiny without it.  He also said the lacquer might yellow (heck to the no on yellowing paint).  Also - "tough", Brian?  hahaha, awesome.  A few more things - remember when I blogged about hats?  I'm now realizing how helpful it is to blog about something I want, because Brian came home with a hat for me from his deal hunting (I cleaned it, a lot, don't worry). We also found the marble horse head bookends at a flea market this weekend for $15. yay! Happy Easter all]

He is risen.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross for our freedom.  I can't imagine bearing the pain and agony, the betrayal, the hardships you faced for our freedom.  It is because of your death and resurrection that we are granted life eternal. 

My mom is coming over for Easter dinner tomorrow and I'm very excited/nervous to cook the meal. Luckily, she's an awesome cook and can help me when I mess up. I'm definitely one of those really unprepared people in the kitchen.  I went shopping tonight (day before Easter) when there was pretty much nothing in stock at the grocery store.. But alas, I returned home with a really big (7 lb.) ham for Brian and my mom (I stopped eating meat about a year ago, and am not sure if/when I'll return to the dark side ;).  Here's to hoping everything turns out; and if all else fails we simply enjoy the company of family! 

Happy Easter everyone - I hope you have an incredible weekend, are able to reflect on what you have been given in Him, and have time to spend with family and friends.

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Also, a sneak peek for later; tomorrow or Monday (putting a picture up holds me accountable to show the rest).. we painted this little gem a pretty gray/green over the weekend.. Can't wait to show more pictures, soon! 

Happy Thursday

Sorry I've been on a sort of hiatus lately.  I'm going home today and I'm celebrating in my head already.  Can't wait to snuggle with B and Charlie and spend time with friends.  I think this weekend we are going thrifting and to a flea market.  I cannot wait.  Hope all your weeks are rounding out beautifully. 

Happy Birthday Forest

It's my dad's birthday today :-) He's a fun man.  Works his tail off endlessly.  Always the right person you can call when you can't figure out something random like "Why are interstate highways numbered odd numbers or even numbers"? Remembers millions of things in his brain but never seems to write a thing down. His name before he was adopted was supposed to be Forest Jones, so I call him this often.  That's not his name anymore though.  Thank you Jesus for my grandmother adopting him 50some years ago. 

Love you dad, hope you have an incredible day! 

Hats

I'm itching for summer to arrive, and with it those warm sunny days.  As I "grow up" I am slowly becoming more conscious of how I treat my skin.  My days of roasting my skin for the sake of a summer glow might be coming to a close.. maybe.  This year I will at least vow to wear sunscreen.  Or, maybe along with sunscreen I should get one of these beauties? I say yes. Maybe you should too?

1, 2, 3, 6 Jcrew, 4, 5 Gap

Dream Day

I woke up around 3 this morning to drive to Pittsburgh so that I would miss traffic, get in early, but still be able to sleep in my own bed last night.  I can't decide if it was a mistake yet or not, but I know one thing - I am exhausted.  It was my decision to get up that early, I could have left later and arrived here later, but I have this whole "perception" and "run myself into the ground" thing I really need to get over.  (just being honest, ok?)

Regardless, the long day has left me dreaming up a little paradise far, far away with not a worry in the world. 

In this dream world I would have this pretty little table amidst lush green gardens outside.

I would be eating dinner with best friends.. maybe veggies hot of the grill, rosemary potato wedges, and a salad topped with mandarin oranges, and sugared almonds...

Go swimming in this imaginary pool right outside my doorstep,

and read a good book, maybe journal for a while, listening to music in this comfy nook.

What are the dream places you wish you were right about now?   

Images via lonny

Office Project: Inspiration Board

As promised, here are some photos from our inspiration board project for the office.  It was a fun project to work on with Brian and I really like the way it's turning out. 

Disclaimer: The bright red walls in the office are going to go soon(ish).  I'm thinking a gray color for the walls, or maybe a green.  Not sure, all I know is the red is a little too...boom. 

Also, you'll see that our board is not filled up yet.  We're working on it :-)

Oh and if you can't tell by now, we treat our dog like a child. 

A shot of the bookshelf we got from IKEA.
 

So here's what you need to know to replicate:
- 3 2'x3' bulletin boards
- 2.5 yards duck canvas
- 6 packages 3/8'' dritz decorative nails
- Hot glue gun
- Screws
- Staple gun
- Fabric adhesive (not necessary, but nice to have)

In order to save money (because large bulletin boards are expensive) we bought three boards and screwed them/glued them together.  Each of the three boards had a wood trim, so Brian took the trim off of all three boards that would be on the main part of the big board.  He then used that trim to brace all three boards together.  Sounds confusing, but if anyone is interested, we can give further instructions (you can also see in-progress shots here).  Then we hot glued the sucker everywhere to stabilize.

After the boards were joined, we used a fabric adhesive to keep the fabric sturdy while we stapled the fabric to the back.  After all was tight and stapled, we put the decorative nails in.  We just used my pinkie finger to measure between the nails, and because there was a frame on the board, it was easy to keep them pretty straight. 

Capybara

I can't leave you to go on your merry way to the weekend without showing you my most recent discovery.

The capybara is the largest living rodent in the world.  Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of their body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Adult capybaras may grow to 4.3 ft in length, and weigh up to 140 lb.  Capybaras are excellent swimmers and can survive completely underwater for up to five minutes, an ability they will use to evade predators.

Who would ever prey on these beautiful little mice? 

I'm so sorry.  Please don't abandon this little blog forever because of my silly joke.  Forgive me?  Happy Friday.

SHMORES

Growing up, my parents had a really fun fire pit(ish) area.  Basically just a pile of wood near the tree line that would last all night.  As it started to run out we would just take a walk in the woods to find more.  It was some of my favorite times just sitting around the fire, eating shmores (people call them smores but they have marshmallows in them, right?). Tonight is the perfect night to have a campfire, sit around it and tell stories of our weeks and eat shmores.  

While I'm not sitting around a campfire tonight, I hope one of you out there are :-)

ALSO: I'm pretty sure I will be back tomorrow to show some pictures (from my phone, camera still broke) of our office bulletin board I posted about a while back. 

I'm working with excel macros tonight.  I feel like the above, but a little less calm. 

Image via pinterest

Equestrian Chic III

Last lovelies, maybe even saving the best for last. 

Images via la dolce vita

What I have been enjoying lately

I have been struggling to make this new city feel homey over the past few weeks, looking for a local coffee shop that I can stop to on my way to work, figuring out what I'm going to have for dinner that doesn't make me gain the "travel 20" (I made that up, but seriously it could happen).  Thanks to some good advice from a friend, I did find an amazing coffee shop, but it's considerably out of the way (probably 10 blocks) and there are tons of starbucks/dunkin donuts/au bon pain's that I pass on my way.  I finally tried a Starbucks in the William Penn Hotel on my way and oh my goodness, I fell in love.  It was unlike any other 'bucks I had been in.  There are marble-top round tables, pretty hardwood floors, chandeliers, crown moldings, farmhouse style tables.  I'm making it sound magical - it's still just a coffee shop.  But, it makes me feel comfortable, gives me some inspiration to start my day, and a little caffeine to boot. 

Here's a few iPhone pics that don't do it justice, but I'll show anway.  Also, sorry for blurring out the pics of the people - though I am about 100%  sure nothing will ever connect them back to this blog, I still feel wrong putting stranger's pictures up without their consent. 

While we're on the topic of iPhone photos, I was walking around Crocker park the other day and saw that Hollister had a photo of what looked like a goldendoodle in their storefront.  I don't shop at that store (mainly because their shirts would barely fit over my finger), and it was a bit intimidating even getting this close but I had to snap a picture. 

Someday I will show you that I take pictures on a camera other than my iPhone. Hopefully soon :-)

Equestrian Chic II

As I mentioned yesterday, I have tons of equestrian photos stored on my hardrive that were just waiting to be shared.  Hope you enjoy!

There is this great shop on etsy that sells these prints for (in my opinion) a great price.  They are currently having a buy one get one sale (brian, hope you're reading this ;)

Equestrian Chic

Sometimes I wonder what I have to blog about, thinking that I haven't the slightest clue.  But, then sometimes I have this ah-ha moment where I am dreaming about all the things I love and am inspired.  I grew up riding horses around age 10 (?).  My sister, Heather, and I went down the road to our neighbor Jon's house and asked him if he would let us ride one of his horses.  I remember this day so vividly.  The first horse I rode was Dolly - she was a black and white paint pony.  She bucked me off a few days in, but that story is for another day.  Long story short, my sister and I became wildly in love with horses, my parents blessed us exponentially by building a barn to house our future horses, and allowed us to pursue our passion, from this time all through high school.  While I don't ride horses anymore (college and other things got in the way), I still love them and desperately long for the inspiration I can draw from their beauty. 

We might need to have a mini-series on here based on all of the images I have stored up of equestrian style at home.

Images via lonny mag and la dolce vita