Fresh Look

Along with the new television stand and the two end tables we wanted to create a change in the dining room! Chuck found the mirrors and we moved the espresso shelves from the living room.

Getting the mirrors up on the wall, straight and equally a part was a challenge to say the least. After a few tries and a trip back to the hardware store we finally got them up!! It has opened our dining room up and with the now the new curtains and the main focal point :-)

The final piece of the puzzle

I asked for it and we found it :-) Chuck and I decided to go check out television stands to get an idea of how we wanted to build ours!! Well instead of getting ideas, we found the one for us!!

We bought it and it was deliverd 4 days later!!

Here it is the first night was here!
Here it is in front of our old tv stand! Notice the DVD Holder in the left hand corner!

TA DA!! The next morning we mounted the televison on the wall, took away the DVD Holder and then centered the stand more in the center of the wall. Added a few pictures and some candles!!

Just another side view. We couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Now just to paint the wires to match the wall and then we will paint the fireplace wall a darker shade. We've also looked at getting different candle holders and frames for the TV Stand. I want to add a little pizazz!! and bright colors!!

The only thing now to make this PERFECT...We need to take the coffee table out to the garage so that it doesn't clash with the espresso. Hopefully we can get that done soon, but until Chuck can put pressure on his leg it's staying put!!

I am so in love with our new and refinished living room furniture! The house is slowly but surely coming along!!

Brand New End Tables

Well not quite brand new...Awhile back we found 2 end tables on craiglist.com for $25.00 (http://abitofthisadashofthat.blogspot.com/2009/09/craiglist-steal-of-deal.html) And I finally got done sanding them (http://abitofthisadashofthat.blogspot.com/2010/01/exciting-day.html).

I was so excited to finally get them spray painted and moved into our Living Room!!

Here is the paint:

I highly recommend this paint when refinishing any furniture. It sprained on evenly with just one coat, and it dried within a few hours!!

All sanded down, wiped off and ready to be transformed!!! Honestly it looked so great to me as just bare wood but of course not good enough for the living room!!

After painting the bookcase outside the garage and getting spray paint on the front of our garage sidewalk I figured it was time to actually be smart about it. I took a couple old pillow cases and a sheet that was going to goodwill and put them under the tables!

And started spraying away :-)

At first I wasn't going to paint the inside and all around the drawers but after having leftover spray paint I thought why not do it the right way!!

Just waiting to dry now!!

AHHHHH It was so great to get the new knobs put on them. They were the perfect silver for the espresso color!

And the other one!!

Chuck was so happy to see these finished. And I was extremely proud of how well they turned out! Now it was time to find a TV Stand......

Happy Late Love Day!!

I can't believe I have not blogged since the beginning of the month!!

Let's start with Love Day!!! For the 2nd year in a row now Chuck and I went to Louie's Restaurant for a yummy breakfast! I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day as a huge day to be romantical but we decided it'd be fun to go to breakfast as our big Valentine's outing :)

Not the best picture, but this is us before we went in for breakfast!

Chuck's yummy breakfast! Bacon, eggs, and breakfast potatoes!! My breakfast: Linguica with eggs, and hash browns!! It was amazingly good and I could eat half of it!!

Afterwards we just went to Safeway and did some grocery shopping!! Hope Everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

Disgusted....

I am so disgusted by the book Lo's Diary and really should I be surpised? Lolita was hard enough to stomach but I thought why not read it from the other perspective? Great reason why...the main character is such a disturbed, disgusting child even before the evil man comes into her life.

I got as far as I could but when she tortures an innocent little hamster I slammed the book shut and threw it in my purse....I will be throwing the book away....go ahead and shame me for it but I can't see how anyone would want to read this trash....

*BIG SIGH* I am sadden to have to put down a book I spent money on and never read it but it's not like I don't have plenty more to read....

I will be reading The Hopeless Romantics Handbook next...Soon I'll have to start reserving the other books on my list from the library. I'm almost done with all the ones I own :)

Another one I'm not sure that I'll make it through is Wicked! But I'll give it go, maybe on a weekend we go camping this summer....

And a side update on Chuck...saw the Orthopedic today...he's out another 4 weeks! Poor guy! But there are definite signs of improvement...the doctor was able to move his foot in all directions without pain...but because of the special circumstances he doesn't want any weight or pressure put on it for at least another 4 weeks!!! Maybe Chuck should start a blog...I'll have to talk to him about that :)

Now I'm off to start a fire to go with this rainy evening...hopefully this headache will go away....

Brand New Bookcase!!!

Remember this post? Bookcase!

If not here are some pictures of the awesome bookshelf I got off craiglist for $10.

I finished sanding it on Saturday...here is a picture with the other end tables that I also finished up sanding!

After I finished sanding on saturday I took a quick shower and we headed off to Home Depot to pick up paint! I thought we were going to have to go with regular semi gloss paint but we decided to check out the Spray Paint! I am so happy we did...not only did we find quick drying spray paint in a satin finish...we found one that was exactly espresso...the color we want our furniture to be...it couldn't have been better...

Not only was I amazed at the deal we scored on the paint matching...it was really quick dry and only required one coat! BTW four cans of the spray paint cost us only $15!!!

After it was completely dried I moved it inside and realized I had to make a quick trip up to Beverly's to get some decorations for it.... I picked up the two candle holders, candles and the clear sand rocks inside the holders. I had the mirrors already and the picture frame is one we had up on another shelf.

Here is a close up shot of the candle holders that I put together. Originally I was going to do flowers but I love candles!

We even still have room for more cookbooks. One of the best parts is that this bookshelf is pretty deep so none of the books come close to sticking out! It makes it less of an eye sore.

I was suprised with how well this turned out. It is better than I had expectated all the way around. I wasn't sure that all the cookbooks would fit or that I'd like the paint but I was pleased!

This bookcase is absolutely perfect. Not only did we save money all around but it was so easy!!! And I must give thanks to my Paps...if I hadn't grown up around a handy man I never would have been able to see the potential that older pieces of furniture would have with a little TLC. I can't wait to paint the end tables and get them moved back into the house!!

Side Note: dining room table fell through...still on a lookout but no rush here. Just want to make sure it's exactly what we are looking for!! Hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl!! I watched the Puppy Bowl for a bit while eating lunch! Other than that I was busy all day!

It's Finally Here!!

I was so ecstatic to get off work on Friday!! Three wonderful packages awaited my arrival home to be opened!! I couldn't open them fast enough!!

My new camera had arrived...one week later...Thanks for the great shipping Best Buy!! I got the camera, the case, the tripod and rechargeable battery! The mini tripod is so cute!

Here is a shot of the camera before I opened the box!

And here is the BEAUTIFUL camera!!

Of course I had to put it on the tripod to test it ou! How cute is that!!

I was so happy to finally get my new camera but I soon realized I should have also bought a memory card! I need to sit down and read the manual but I have not had a chance...then when I opened the Sunday ads Best Buy had their camera memory cards on sale! Could it be any better? I got a 8 GB memory card for $24.99!! I love Best Buy!

They've ARRIVED

Today in the mail I got the most wonderful surprise. After getting soaking wet because of some unexpected showers!! I opened the mail box and noticed two envelopes addressed to me that I assumed were more offers to refinance our mortgage....

I dropped all the mail on the breakfast bar, opening every other piece of mail first....

But those two envelopes held inside them the items that made me forget about being cold and wet and I felt like it was beautiful sunny 70 degree weather with a hot dog and a beer :)

You fans know what I am talking about!!!

Oh yes Tickets.com you are AMAZING with your shipping
TICKETS TO THE OAKLAND A'S that I ordered last saturday!! I was so shocked they came so soon!!

I CANNOT wait for April 17th to get here! I love baseball season and I love being able to go to the games instead of watching them on tv all the time. I don't know how people do it when they don't live close to a baseball field!! Its like the beach I couldn't live without them!!

Today was a GREAT DAY!!!

Another Craigslist Steal!!

With Chuck and I planning a bunch of projects on the house I am always on the lookout for AMAZING deals!! And as I was cruising Craigslist yesterday I found an ad for a bookshelf...exact height that we were looking...excited I sent off an email to the person asking to purchase it and pick it up this afternoon.

I was so happy and so suprised to find out that it was EXACTLY what we were looking for. Sure it needs a little TLC but I've got plenty of that to give.

This is the bookshelf and where it will sit. It will hold our cookbooks that are currently residing upstairs in the mancave closet and the few that we use on a regular basis sit on top of the cupboards!!

How much did we pay for this sturdy perfect height perfect shelves you may ask??? oh a mere $10.00!!! I know it's a great deal right? We couldn't even get the cheap bookcase that Walmart sells for $10.00.

Needless to say I cannot wait to move this little beauty out to the garage and sand it down and paint it!! I am thrilled with all the deals we have been discovering!

Currently we are awaiting an email back from a girl who is selling her dining room table...it looks like it's in amazing condition and it's got seating for 6...it will be so great if she emails us back and says we can pick it up this weekend!! We will figure out how to get it home once we are able to purchase...

Keep your fingers crossed for us!!! And stay tuned for the bookshelf remodel!!

SO....

Wow how many blog posts can I start out with the word SO?? Don't even try and count...I was just looking through my blog...taking a stroll down memory lane....and my vocabulary needs a serious upgrade....

Now I know you shouldn't point out your flaws and mistakes. These are just inexcusible...I am okay with how many times I used the word but...although I am determined to cut those out as well....

I have a new resolution this year....yes starting a little late...but better late than never...I am officially taking the word "SO" out of my blogging vocabulary and apparently I need to remove it from my texts as well.

Wish me luck, hopefully all this reading will improve my vocabulary!!

So have a great night....HAHA Just kidding!! :-)

Another Book Down

I finished my third book for this year....I read "The Next Thing on My List" by Jill Smolinski and it was cute. I really liked the main character and the story was not something I usually pick up to read. Granted it's Chick Lit but it was a little bit deeper than most. I highly recommend it as a light read or even a summer read! It's cute and some what motivating! I am actually amending my original reading list and adding another book by Jill Smolinski called Flip Flopped. :-)

Now off to the next book....I think I'll read.............

Lo's Diary...I read Lolita last year and while it was weird and disturbing it was actual a good book. I wouldn't recommend it necessarily because I think it's one of those books you have to find on your own and decide on what topics you are okay with reading. But right after I read Lolita I also watched the movie and then researched a little more about the author. Turns out a book was written afterwards that was trying to be the point of view from Lo herself...not written by the same author but thought...hey why not give it shot...

Stay tuned...