Sofa Table

I found this sofa table on Pinterest:
http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/2015/06/diy-sofa-table-tutorial/

J and I eat in front of the TV and my little table gets filled with my yarn and supplies when I am working on a project. So I thought an extra table would be a great idea for storage space.

Also, J is getting new speakers for a surround system for Christmas and I didn't want speakers mounted on my wall. He agreed to put them on the table.

So I went to Lowe's and got the wood. I needed a big 2 x 10 x 10 and those things are unwieldy. Two different employees strode over, offering to help, confidence shattered when I politely declined. They hovered for a bit, nervous, watching this crazy woman examine and shift around these large pieces of wood. When I found one that wasn't cracked, warped, or had a weird cut, I put everything back and I didn't drop anything on a toe so it all worked out. Plus my abs were sore for days afterwards so that was interesting.

Jacob helped. And by helped I mean basically did everything for me. Which was nice.

Do you see that piece of wood that is obviously too short? That was an oops. I measured it out, J cut it, put it on the table, and he and Jacob both looked at me in confusion. I burst out laughing. Somehow I got it in my head that it needed to be 46.5 inches long instead of 86.5. I really did not feel like going and buying another piece, even though it was only $10. Jacob was very kind and offered to sand and work on the edge to make sure it matched up nicely.

J and I had to leave to baby-sit for a friend who needed a favor. When we got back after 11 that night, Jacob had finished.

And then when I woke up the next morning, he had completely finished staining it. Jacob is my new favorite. Until someone else does something nice for me.

The only potential issue I didn't think about is that my wood floors really get dusty and there is fur child hair everywhere. With the open design, I think we may be able to see the grossness behind the couch. J thinks we can just reach back there and vacuum. I may get a piece of plywood and nail it closed. We'll wait and see.

Jacob's Wedding

I am a bit late in posting this, but Jacob got married.

He is an old friend. At Meghan's wedding about two years ago we recreated a photo from high school:

Meghan, Me, Jacob, Toni, and Jill.

I love these guys.

Jacob's wedding was a lot of fun. We sat at a table with Jen and her hubby Jeff, Toni, Chris Leigh and his GF Christine. 

The DJ announced that she would pick tables to get food based on their enthusiasm. We hooted and hollered and thought we had been picked (it was a general pointing gesture, could have been anyone). After we got up to stand in line, we realized we had not, in fact, been picked. We decided a true rowdy table would just get up and get food, so we congratulated ourselves on a job well done and a dinner well deserved. 

J has a spider man shooting a web on the back of his phone. Christine glanced and it and thought the spiderman was shooting a web out of his crotch. She looked at him with a mixture of horror and judgment.

Olive Garden catered the event. Christine and I both have a love of the chocolate mints. Christine pretended to steal J's mints when he went to the bathroom. I encouraged her. Jen asked what we were going to do with them, thinking we were going to hide them. Christine and I looked at each other and said, "We were going to eat them, duh."

There were stickers on the tables. We saw a guy with a sticker on his back. Being the mature adults we all are, we took the challenge and tried to get more stickers on his back. Toni was not subtle at all (our laughter may have given her away) and he noticed and got paranoid and kept touching his back. I said the new game should be to just touch him and not even put stickers on him. But Chris became our new target instead.

J was dancing with his moon pie like it was a glow stick.

It got a bit colder as the night went on and Chris and Christine were handing out hand heaters like they were drugs.

I have an idea for an app that J needs to make me. I'm not going to go into details on the internet, but I did share it with the group and it was met with enthusiasm. So afterward, whenever anyone met the criteria, someone would shout out, "Oh! The pants just came off!"

I don't remember how or why, but someone dared Chris to twerk. He did. And that's when his name was announced over the speaker to give his best man's speech.

There was an open bar. Jeff eyed me and said, in a very judgmental way, "You got a regular coke?" I responded, quite indignant, "Why? You think I need diet? I don't need diet Jeff!"

Painting Frame

J's sister painted us a photo a few years back. I love the painting, but she didn't paint the edge of the canvas. 

It's kind of funny how certain things don't really bother me but then I just can't stand it any more. Like J's brother and his wife who are temporarily living with us. The first 50 times I came home to dishes in the sink, not so bad. But now, I'm busting out with the crazy eyes.

So I decided the best course of action would be to make a frame for my painting and also to make some passive aggressive snarky comments. I'm a woman of action. 

I think J's brother is 40% scared of me. I get some inner satisfaction from that.

I don't have a miter saw, so for a few bucks I got a miter box and a hand saw.

It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't too fun either.

Then I was trying to figure out what stain would work. It was more difficult than I thought. The grey and brown I already had didn't match. 

We decided on an ebony stain, and I wanted a rustic feel, so I dinged up the boards really well and then did a light/uneven coat.

It did not look great. So I did a second, darker coat.

I didn't get a photo, but once I was done cutting, the edges didn't fit together properly. It was really frustrating. I thought this was going to be a simple project but it was so not. So I was able to reuse the bigger boards by cutting off the pointed edges (I used the table saw and it was so satisfying) and just cut the two side boards longer.

Also I stained the boards but rubbing them with a cloth and totally rubbed right over a large splinter into my thumb. I had sanded the boards, but dinging them up brought out some splinters. This project was not my favorite.

Did I mention that when I was picking out the boards, they were on a shelf, and as I was shifting through trying to find straight boards, one jumped right off the shelf and bloodied my toe? I put that on snapchat and then my oldest nephew admonished me, and said next time he needed a warning before I posted graphic images. Es-cah-use me I thought I was capturing a moment in my dramatic life. 

The darker stain looks a lot better.

I told J the nice thing about "rustic" is that you can pretend mistakes were intentional.

In keeping with the theme of this project, shortly after this photo it fell off the wall because the wire hanger on the back became un-twirled.

I'm glad it's done. I think it looks nice. It had better freaking look nice. Also, admire my small dog. She always has to be in the middle of everything. Don't let her adorableness fool you; she thinks she's a guard dog.

And because I am certain I can do better next time (or I am just crazy) I'll be attempting this again to frame my mirror.

If those Pinterest ladies can do it, I frickity fracking can too. 

Vegas

My old best friend Keeley was planning a trip to Vegas because her Dad and step-Mom were going to have a vow renewal ceremony to celebrate their 25 year wedding anniversary. She lives in NC so she could have just flown into Vegas. But she asked if I would be interested in a Vegas trip if she flew into Phoenix. It's only a four and a half hour drive, and Keeley is a delight, so my response was heck yes.

On the drive there a ram decided to cross the road.

Keeley is expecting and she has the cutest little bump.

It was an awesome trip. Keeley is a wonderful travel buddy, very considerate. And we have both been wanting to see the Blue Man Group for years!! So not only did we get to spend time catching up, but we got to cross something off both of our bucket lists.

Danielle's Wedding

My little sister Danielle has been engaged to Andrew since last December. She beat cancer and had a rough year. They decided this month was the month.

Jett didn't stay there for long.

"Mom, I know you're getting married but I really need you to hold my cars."

Joseph is missing from the group shot because someone had to take the photo. Next time I say we should bring the tripod you listen to me J!

The following evening the reception was a fabulous dinner celebration at Macayo's.

The decorations were adorable. I didn't get any shots of those because my camera was too busy taking photos of people. But it was really a nice reception and everyone had fun.