Sunshine and Wicker on this Monday

Highlight of my Monday was snagging some free wicker furniture!!

Co-worker Tiffany was moving from her place and there was wicker porch furniture that had been left by one of her previous roommates.  I had seen it before and told her if she ever got rid of it I would take it. Well that's just what happened!!

Tiff moved out officially last Friday.  Today after work we made a rendezvous at her old place in hopes the wicker remained. Score it did!!!  Now to get it into the car.

It was obvious we were not engineers as we struggled to fit a loveseat, two chairs and a table into the car. We pulled, we pushed, we wrangled.  The best we could do was fit the couch, one chair and the table. Tiff was kind enough to take the other chair and haul it to work so it can be taken home tomorrow.  

This was how my drive home played out. 

Once home the furniture was unloaded and placed on the front porch. Ended up moving existing decor around then decided to go all out and brave the downstairs closet for pillows and throws. 

This closet seems to be the one where we toss everything. About a year or so ago I actually cleaned it out; however, once again it has become akin to the proverbial junk drawer with all sorts of odds and ends winding up in that tiny space. 

Digging through the closet amounted to me laying on my stomach over a variety of items. Mismatched shoes, cast off clothes from the boys, boxes, and a stuffed snowman softened my bones as I reached toward the back to grab a perfect pillow. I grabbed, I flung, and finally it was time to get myself up out of there, which was a lot easier said than done. 

Gripping the wall, my body moved slowly to my knees while visions of tomorrow's headline rose in my thoughts. "Middle-Aged Woman Breaks Leg in Hoarder's Closet."  Or better still "Trapped Woman Perishes After Choking On Christmas Snowman."  Yep such is my life. 

The good news is I made it out alive and continued on my redecorating.  Fluffed up the wicker, added throws, burlap, driftwood and pillows, and the task was done. Moved the previous bench, a wooden number with the carving of two horse heads (a castoff from horsey sister Eilene, which never fit into my beach theme) further down the porch. Placing a large driftwood plank on the seat, an aqua throw was carefully folded to camouflage the battling horses.  

After a final sweeping, the deed was done. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Now to figure out where to put the second chair that will be arriving tomorrow.  Please say a small prayer that nothing will be needed from closet hell which will require my return to the abyss.

On a side note, the sun was out today, which puts me in a much better mood. Despite a regular intake of Vitamin D and B12, gray rainy weather just doesn't sit well with me.  Perhaps spring is finally here. And the best part?  Son Sam stopped by and mowed my front yard with a promise to mow the back yard and weedeat tomorrow!!  Life is certainly good!!

A Meringue Kind of Weekend

Last week was so packed full of work activities that I made up for it this weekend by relaxing.

Friday night, after having two nails come off, the evening was spent clipping and picking off all my nails because why not?  Hello short stubby fingers!

Slept in Saturday then spent the morning cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, and the usual chores.  After looking at my little scruff meister Stubbs, I decided a trim and bath was in order. Mainly trimmed his face and feet then gave him a soapy scrubbing. He smells so much better but that trim job wasn't so great - he looks like a pudgy puff ball with four twigs for legs. Poor little pup.

Then of course with all that dog hair my allergies came to a head.  Took a shower then downed a benadryl to control the symptoms.  It was soon naptime.

That afternoon I made shrimp pasta salad along with some meringue cookies with lemon curd filling.  Yummy but too many for me so to off work they will go.

Yesterday I dinked around home then stopped at Goodwill to see if there were any acceptable movies. Snagged one of my favorites that I hadn't seen in a very long time - Glengarry Glen Ross, a David Mamet written film about salesmen and filled with swearing.  Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon - beyond excellent cast. It was good but not as great as my memory recalled.

And here it is Monday once again. Back to the grind, which should be busy since spring break is upon us.

Pom Pom Be Gone

There comes a time when an idea sounds so good yet turns into hideous before you know it. For example, here's a project from Pinterest.  Extra tire laying around, a few pom poms, and a four table legs. What could possibly go wrong?

Yeah, this could go wrong. What twisted mind thought this looked good?  Even in a kitschy environment, this would not flow.  Well, it could flow....right out to the dumpster!!

Big Yawn for the Weekend

Pretty lazy weekend. Friday night found me making homemade sweet and sour chicken along with deep fried shrimp.  Turned out pretty yummy.

Saturday I had a couple of items to return. First stop was the local Macys. They are going out of business so it was a crap shoot if I'd be able to return my Vancouver Macys item there. Walked in and 90% of the store was empty, save for several fixtures. There were maybe two registers open to service the few items still available for sale. Unfortunately as I suspected they were not accepting returns.

Stopped by JC Penneys for another return, then swung by Planet Fitness to pick up my new membership card. Now to just start going!

Rest of my day was committed to cleaning at home and painting rocks.

Today as I battled allergy eye I went to church then stopped at the nearest park to hide my painted rocks. Then came home to do laundry and take some allergy meds, which promptly put me to sleep.

So that has been my excitement for the weekend.

Here's a pic of my rocks that someone found - like within 30 minutes of when they were hidden!!

Eye Not

One of my favorite past times is to browse makeup ideas on Pinterest. Not only for tips and ideas but to look at all the crazy ideas out there.

Like this one, which was found with the "good" makeup ideas. Seriously  beyond messy smudge work happening.  And what the heck is going on with her eyebrow?    I look like this at end of the day!

Pink eye anyone?

And multi-color?  Always works for an understated day huh?

Shamrock Shakes and Eyeballs Galore

Before making my way to Vancouver Mall today, I decided to get my oil changed, especially since the maintenance light has been on for two weeks.

I've learned that there is nothing wrong with being nice in order to grease the wheels so to speak to get a job done faster. For this reason, and also due to the fact I can't resist performing random acts of kindness, I picked up 10 shamrock shakes for the work crew at the Toyota service department. They always do an excellent job so figured I'd toss a goody their way.  They were all excited about the shakes, so much so that I'm getting a coupon deal on my vehicle maintenance along with an additional 10% off.  Score!!

Sitting here in the waiting area, I'm browsing Glamour and Vogue, which I don't subscribe to anymore simply because I look at info on line. I found the following new trend for nails and couldn't tear my eyes away.  Weird yet intriguing!!!

Top Chef - One of My Favs!!

Top Chef is one of my guilty pleasures.  I picked up a few seasons from Goodwill and a few more from Amazon, including Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, All Stars, Masters, and Just Desserts.  I've watched all of them at least twice - they just never get old.

This week I received Washington DC from Amazon and shall soon receive Texas from Ebay.  Already on disk 3 out of 4 from DC so that Texas season better get here quick!!