This week, I flew down to St. Thomas for Pete & Jenn's wonderful wedding weekend! It's SO gorgeous here, and in every direction is yet another beautiful view. This is a stitched shot of the lookout from my hotel, the Frenchmans Reef Marriott, it was actually five different photos all blended together. I'll be posting photos from the wedding Sunday or Monday, but really, how can you go wrong in a place like this?! I just love destination weddings!
What, you say? No postings for a week? I know, I probably should have warned you, but between back to back weddings last weekend and then a redeye flight across the country to relatively little internet access, there just wasn't time!
Why, you say? Well, if you're new to this blog, you might not know about Beach Week, but it is an annual family tradition on my mother's side where each year (and this is the 29th consecutive year), that we flock to the beach usually in Garden City, SC and hang together for a week. In one house. No matter what.
**A sidenote--it's possible that this was the 30th year and we missed the big anniversary. It seems that nobody remembers the actual year of the first one. Nobody seems to remember their ages either--how convenient.**
Anyway, Beach Week is one of the few certainties in life, and this year was no exception. It always has it's ups and downs and this year was no exception.
Ups included:
--Jeff did not have to share a room with bunk beds with my brother this year now that we're married and all. He and my brother could potentially put this in the "down" category, they seemed to rather enjoy it last year
--The weather and water were awesome
--I only got a sunburn on the last day so I wasn't miserable for the whole week
--There was a new baby there this year
--The three little girls (9, 9, and 6) learned to play Mah Jongg, so we were never for lack of a 4th
Downs included:
--Steven won the scrabble tournament....again
--Nana was unhappy with the structure of the annual poker tournament and left in protest
--We lost power the last day for a little while due to nasty thunderstorms
--I didn't win as many tickets at the local arcade as I usually do. I was kinda off my game this year
But in all, a successful beach week! Plus, I do think it's quite remarkable to get 15-20 people to commit to this vacation every single year. It's inconvenient, dramatic, and at times, exhausting, but I think we'd all agree that there's no way we'd miss it barring an extreme emergency!
This year, for the first time ever, I didn't open my computer except for absolute necessities (and since there was really no internet anyway, it didn't much matter). It was kind of nice to unplug and just BE for a bit, but after the previous week of blogging every day, there were a few times I was itching to get back to it! I also didn't shoot a single picture until the last day or two, which was really nice as well. I mostly concentrated on the babies--since they are the second and third children in their respective families, I figured they needed a little more attention :)
Here's a glimpse for you (with a small trip down memory lane for comparison sake):
This is the new little cousin, Eli:
Eli's dad is my cousin Steven. Steven has won the past four years of Scrabble tournaments, and he won again this year. It is super annoying that he keeps winning--I really need to practice this year to take it down next year. Here he is winning in 2007:
And here he is winning this week. Notice he is wearing the same shorts (he only seems to own the one pair). His attitude hasn't improved much either:
This is Addison, the youngest of the three girls my cousin Kenny and his wife Lisa have. She is so cute, and as a third baby, doesn't have enough photos. She was super tired in this one, but I love it anyway:
Her normal personality is just so happy and sweet! She's such a good baby:
It was a wonderful week, and I'm so glad I took a few days to recharge and relax! I have a very busy few weeks coming up with LOTS of travel including weddings in:
-St. Thomas
-Santa Barbara
-Wyoming
-Houston
-Moscow (!!!)
-Maui
-Palm Springs
I can't wait, but it's going to be quite a whirlwind in the next few weeks! I'm loving blogging more though, and since I'll be posting so much more, feel free to leave a comment with what you want to see here--on the days where I'm at a loss for what to post, it will be nice to have some ideas to pull from!
I've been having some thoughts about parenthood lately. Maybe it's being married and I know that it's probably the next step, or maybe it's that many of my close friends have had kids this past year or two and watching them transform into parents has been a completely amazing experience, but it's definitely on my mind.
It just seems like so much responsibility!! The complete, 100% putting your own goals, desires, and impulses on hold for another person--when I think of it, I'm overwhelmed by the magnitude of its implications on my life.
So we decided to get a dog as a preliminary trial to see if we'd be cut out for kids. Strike that--Jeff totally is. To see if I would be cut out for it. Kind of like some people get a plant before they get a dog. My plants never survive, by the way.
This wasn't a decision we entered into lightly, in fact, we waited, ironically, almost nine months before we were able to bring her home, a squirmy little three month old puppy. Instantly, our lives changed (and so did our Vegas plans for that weekend). Since then, pretty much every decision we make now has another factor to it, another life we need to consider before we plan our travel, our outings, and our schedules.
Last week, if you follow my FACEBOOK or TWITTER, you might have seen that Acey was sick. Like, wouldn't pick up her head to look at me, puking and pooping, really really scary SICK. Jeff was gone all week at a workshop up north of LA, so it was on me to take care of her. I was, no joke, freaking out. I probably called the vet ten times, took her there three times, called our breeder, our friends, and someone I barely know COMPLETELY panicked.
I felt so helpless! I couldn't make her happy! I couldn't make her eat! She wasn't going to make it through the night!
I made Jeff come home from his workshop one of those nights--she perked up as soon as she saw him. He's reassuring like that.
She made a full recovery, and I managed to give her the pills the doctor sent home with me and get some food into her. I felt like a queen! (it was just a puppy flu, the doctor said).
Some people just have that natural instinct about how to be parents--they're built for it, and they know it. I think Jeff is one of those people. Just look at this Saturday morning at my house (how did I get this lucky??):
But you know what? I made it! I took care of her, I cleaned up puke even though I find it repulsive and the mere thought of it makes me want to heave, and I loved her back to health (well, that and the pills).
Maybe someday, when the day comes, I won't be so bad at parenthood either :)
Here's what you'll need for a project like this (reupholstering chairs and refinishing the table):
At least six cans of really good quality high gloss spray paint. Spray paint is WAY easier for a job like this, it goes on smoothly and saves you literally days of work brushing paint into every little crevasse (total cost, $25):
-I got one yard of fabric for each chair cover which was more than needed (total cost: $35)
-A staple gun for attaching the fabric
-Good quality fabric scissors for cutting the ends of the fabric once it was attached
-A power screwdriver to remove and reattach the cushions
-Drop clothes to spray paint on (the paint goes really far! also wear rubber Yugloves)
And most importantly, a friend that knows what they're doing (thanks Renee)!
Renee's parents helped us drag everything out in the garage to see what we would be dealing with:
Yup, it was as bad as I feared--even uglier in the daylight:
The spray painting itself was a little messy, therefore, no photos of the actual process. It was VERY easy though--it only took about two hours for all four chairs and the table. There's an art to spray painting--don't get too close, go slowly to avoid drips, and change paint cans when it starts to get drippy)
Once everything was painted, we started the upholstery. Basically, we had the fabric store cut the fabric into one yard pieces. You flip the cushion over and start pulling the fabric tight around the back, stapling as you go. Take VERY VERY SMALL pieces of the fabric at a time and do this, especially around the corners to avoid wrinkles.
We ended up calling for reinforcements--Renee's mom Karee came by to help us with the finishing touches. She's a pro!
And...TADA! The finished result (Of course I color corrected the "after" photos. Everyone knows that you have to color correct the after photos to make the reveal better. Thanks all you weight loss ads for teaching me that!):
It's amazing what a coat of paint and some color can do:
It took this dining room table from the sore spot in my house to something actually livable while I save for a new table! Since my total budget for this project was just about $50, I feel very good about the result. Next I'll be getting a rug, some real table decor, better lighting, and some other unique touches for the walls. I'll keep you posted on the progress!
A house project: From Fugly to Less Offensive (maybe) Tue. July 27, 2010
One of the things that I am surprised people want to know more about is my house! I'll admit--I've waited a long time to really spend some time and thought decorating and choosing things. My goal for my home is to have a space that is fun, interesting, a little quirky, bright, and yet still homey. I think I've done that better in some rooms than in others.
I've done it well in all the rooms I've shown you here on this blog.
Now it's time for something a little different.
Confession: I've been holding out on you. For those of you who have been following along, you'e seen a bunch of rooms, but one that has been conspicuously missing from any public presence whatsoever is the dining room. Why? Because it's like, really really ugly.
It is also home to a dining room table set that's so horrid it can only be called unholy. Even the suckers that troll Craigslist for cheap old furniture didn't want it. I only have it because when I moved into the house before this, I paid ridiculously small sums of money for items that they certainly didn't want to drag to their new house either. Hence, I've now dragged it home with me.
I have my eye on a new dining room set that both Jeff and I LOVE, but since we don't love the price tag, it'll have to wait until we win the lottery or a really really big poker tournament. Hey, it could happen!
For now though, internet, you may feast your eyes on this:
(Please note that I have chosen not to color-correct this photo due to the fact that the nasty yellow lighting perfectly suits my feelings about the room, a la Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Give it up English majors!).
(also note that the room has already been painted in anticipation of this project).
I. HAVE. FINALLY. HAD. ENOUGH.
I'm about to unleash some spray paint on this mofo starting tomorrow at 09:00 hours. Jeff doesn't know I'm going to do this (and since he rarely reads my blog, he may or may not know until he gets home from his conference on Friday). But if you're reading right now Jeff, I love you! Don't worry, I won't wreck anything else.
Let's be honest though, can I really make it worse?
PROJECT REVITALIZE DINING ROOM BEGINS! Stay tuned with bated breath for updates.
(by the way, that's FOUR posts in two days. can you handle THIS?!)
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