Sunday, October 16, 2016

Kristi's Armoire

My sister Kristi got this armoire for free. The back was damaged (they had a TV in there), it was painted white, and the paint job was cracked. It needed a little work. Because I knew we would need to take off the back and re-attach it, we loaded it into my truck and brought it to my house. I didn't want to try to load up tools and go to Kristi's house just to realize I was missing something.

The before:




We took the top board off. Kristi thought the bottom part was salvageable.


Joseph was a wonderful help and did part of the cutting.


But once the painting started he scrammed.


Before we painted, we bought calk for all the little areas where the previous paint had cracked. When I got my kitchen cabinets painted, the inside where two pieces of wood meets was all calked and I know why now.

The hinges were loose because the holes were too big, and the doors were dragging a bit. So we used toothpicks and wood glue to fill the holes.


We spray painted the hardware black, using spray paint I already had.



When we went to Lowe's to get the backboard, Kristi got the idea of using pegboard. She is planning to hang knobs or something, and then she can hang jewelry back there. Plus it was $10 for the board, cheaper than regular backing.




At this point it went back to Kristi's house, where she continued painting by herself. After a couple weeks, it was ready for the hinges to be re-drilled and attached. J was super helpful with this part, and it looks fabulous.



At first we were pretty excited that this was a $15 project for the backboard, calk, and inside catch (to keep the doors closed). My Mom had given Kristi her chalk paint. But Kristi had to buy extra paint and wax, so it drove it up to about $70. Overall, I think we both thought it was a pretty good deal.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Birthday Weekend

I took Thursday and Friday off, and I don't work weekends, so I had a glorious four day weekend for my birthday crammed full of adventures.

My sister Kristi got this armoire for free but it needed to be painted and the back piece needed to be repaired. I didn't have anything planned for Thursday so we worked on that. It's not done yet, so there may be a separate blog post, but I am always surprised at how much longer the projects take than I anticipate.



We took a break to go get some pretzels from the mall and I found this:

Friday I told J's sister Carissa I would take photos of her, so we met up that morning.


Then I had lunch plans with my family. And we didn't take a photo. But my sister Kristi decorated my present with these cool flowers and my favorite reese's peanut butter cups.


One of my gifts was a mermaid tale blanket.


Another present was a new handmade blanket from my Mom since my old one was wearing out. It is Tiny approved.


Friday night I went to dinner with my sister Shanna and her family. I actually remembered to get a photo with my sister.


My sister Danielle has a birthday four days after mine, and not only has she beat cancer, but she turned 30. Kristi found this place called Pinspiration where you make Pinterest-inspired projects and I booked a room.

Kristi brought balloons for Danielle. Her son Jett (held here by Breezy) was really excited and said, "What you got for me?"






There was a group shot but I need to figure out who took it and ask for it.

After the party, Kristi came over to work on the project some more.


Then Abby and I met up for dinner, a make-over, and...


....dancing.


It's funny because I've been out two-stepping a couple times and there are two kinds of guys there. There are guys who know how to two-step and will dance with different girls, and then there are the guys who are there to hit on girls. I have learned from experience that you can't just walk up to a guy and ask if he knows how to two-step, because you end up with the second kind who wants to buy you a drink and won't leave you alone. So to find the first kind, you must watch and see who has the two-stepping skills and then approach.

I texted my sister Breezy since we were near her house and she met up with us. I don't think we took a photo together, which I am bummed about, but we had a lot of fun. Abby was nervous at first and wasn't having any fun, but once we found some guys to dance with, she really enjoyed herself. It was Abby's first time two stepping and she was really good. And Breezy goes all the time so she knew the drill. She told us the secret is that you have to wear cowboy boots otherwise guys think you don't know what you're doing. So Abby and I need to go shoe shopping.

After Breezy left, Abby and I did get hit on. It was funny, because the guy who had cornered me was asking a bunch of questions about where I worked and lived, and I was trying to work in the fact that I had a husband but it was awkward. He asked how old I was and I told him 32. He said no I wasn't. I said yes I am. He told me to guess how old he is. I didn't have a clue, I'm bad at that game. He was 22. He then proceeded to ask what we were doing the following day. I told him we would probably be hanging out with our husbands. I went home and told J it was a nice compliment. 

J had a Wordpress Conference that he was at Friday and Saturday, which is why he's missing from the activities. Sunday he asked if I wanted to go with him. I was missing him at that point so I said sure. We ended up going out to lunch with a group of people, to include a cool girl from Austin that we had met at Spain last year during the Wordpress Conference there. After lunch and the conference, we went to my parents' house for the traditional Sunday night dinner.

It was a good birthday weekend, but I should have scheduled myself some time to just relax and do nothing.