Never Underestimate a DIY Project

It was a perfect storm--one old wicker love seat scavenged from a give-away pile, one too many posts by the queen of bargain shopping/refinishing, and one overdue promise to make-over The Princess' room-- so began my first trash-to-treasure project. I'm such an amateur that I forgot take any "before" pictures.

Several months ago I rescued a white wicker love seat from my neighbors driveway (it had a "free" sign on it). Never mind that these were the same neighbors I used to make fun of for all their random yard ornaments and lack of proper lawn maintenance. I walked behind my husband's car for a 1/2 block to make sure it didn't fall out from the corner to my house. Even after that gentle rescue, it sat in the garage for several weeks until I cleaned it up and brought it inside. I put it in College Boy's room because The Princess wanted NOTHING to do with it.
Some months later, I found Rhoda at Southern Hospitality and she inspired me with her knowledge of all things paintable and I thought, "why not?". I then moved the love seat back to the garage where it sat for another length of time whilst I searched for spray paint with the trigger sprayer lest I cramp my pointer finger using the old stand by spray paint can.

Once the trigger spray paint was located and a suitable color chosen (espresso brown), I left the Home Depot with my one can of paint--another novice move.
How was I to know that a worn white wicker love seat would soak that espresso paint up like a sponge to water? One can did not even come close to covering that little love seat. So I returned to the store and purchased 2 cans of trigger spray paint certain that this would complete my project. Wrong again. Certain that my purchase of multiple spray paint cans was raising the suspicions of the Home Depot sales team, I went to a different store and purchased 2 more cans of paint.
Five cans later and some $5 pillows from Walmart, the project came to completion and The Princess deemed the love seat suitable for her dwelling.



I will never underestimate another spray paint project again!

More evidence of my inexperience--telltale spray paint on hubby's garage floor!

And for those who really missed seeing The Princess room on the Show Us Where You Live Home Tour:

Disclaimers

• Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear


• Individual results may vary


• Use only as directed


• Enlarged to show detail


• Sent from my iPhone, not spel cheked


• That's just the way she is...

So maybe you've never seen that last one written down, but have you said it? Has it ever been said of you?

On the journey of becoming more like Christ, I strive to become less like me. I do not want my behavior, my words, or my attitude to be excused by the phrase, "that's just the way she is". It's a transforming work my Lord is doing in me and on my best days, all I can do is cooperate!




Gina

I Ate at Bishops...and I Liked It!

After dropping off The Princess at her last cheer camp of her high school career, I made a stop at the mall in the town. I find it my civic duty to stimulate the economy of the local economy whenever the opportunity presents itself. After a casual stroll through the mall, I sensed the need for some nourishment and headed to the food court to check out my choices. Finding no court to speak of but only a few unappealing fast food choices, I decided to see what the Bishops Buffet had to offer.
I was drawn in by the $6 all you can eat buffet and was undaunted by its reputation as a senior citizen hangout. Maybe I'm getting too close to that discount rate age, but I enjoyed my meal and the experience. Okay, laugh if you must but I found it all quite pleasant.

Here are some of my observations from my short lunch at Bishops:

• Sliding a tray through a meal line brought fond memories of summer church camps & college dining halls
  
• "Life is short, eat dessert first". What's not to love about a place that has dessert as one of the first choices you make!

• Real food on real plates--no paper bags, wrappers, or plastic take home containers!
• Not once did a cell phone ring.
  
• Conversation over dinner. No one appeared to be in a hurry and they were willing to sit and stay a while (and no annoyed waitstaff hoping you'd leave so they could seat another guest)
• No matter how young or old you are, there is someone willing to carry your tray!

I don't care if they card me on future visits--I'll go back again!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation...

In the absence of a longer summer vacation, we have planned a couple of shorter getaways. Not really a staycation but weekend trips taking in the sights of our region of the country.
Our first weekend getaway was at the invite of some friends from days gone by asking us to join them for the 4th of July weekend at their family cabin in Michigan. We were able to combine it with a business stop for my hubby which "bought" us another day for the holiday. His business stop took us to Holland, Michigan. It is a lovely little town that we had visited in October. I fell in love with their beautiful downtown area and was able to spend a couple of hours walking it while hubby did his work. Besides the shopping district, the city has made every effort to keep the downtown area guest friendly. In the winter, the sidewalks are thermal heated to keep the ice and snow cleared. I missed the green spaces and statues on my last visit and they were especially beautiful with the foliage this time of year.
After his business was finished, we traveled further north to an area that boasts of being on the 45th parallel--halfway between the equator and north pole. For the first part of the weekend, it felt like it was closer to the north pole than the equator. Even for someone who seriously overpacks, I didn't have enough warm clothes for the unseasonable temperatures. So much for my plans of sitting poolside and finishing the latest Kingsbury book. Our hosts were gracious and we found other ways to spend our time.


Hubby found the green golf courses a good distraction...




while I spent some time sampling all sorts of cherry products at the national cherry festival in Traverse City. Even for a salsa snob like me, the cherry salsa was worth a purchase!











It was a good trip but, as always, it is good to be home. Hope you had a memorable 4th!