When shopping Goodwill/Salvation Army it truly is a hit or miss opportunity.
Awhile back I found a unique looking end table. It was the perfect size and shape
that I needed and I liked the way that the front angled out. I didn't like that it was a
mash-up of wood and laminate in 2 places. But at $5, what did I have to lose?!
In true Lauren form I let it sit in the garage for 6 months (and I wonder why John
hates when I bring new "treasures" home to work on). At the 6 month mark I got
inspired and started sanding. Not wanting to overdue myself, I waited another
month before busting out a brown primer. I took the drawer out, the hideous knob
off and primed the drawer and base separately. So far so good!!!
Until I ran out of primer, go figure. While at the store I found this little gem.
It looked like the $6 version I had read about in a magazine. However, the
Rustoleum version was $2.50!!! It fits right on your spray can like so...
It made round 2 of prime-ing much easier. Less spots a more even finish and less
pressure on my trigger finger!
Onto painting and a valuable lesson learned. DO NOT prime and then spray paint
laminate! Something nagged at me to try the drawer first Just in case something
happened and it did. The paint bubbled up and crackled. I waited a few minutes and
finally touched the paint and both the paint and primer smeared off like a sheet of
paper. After a 5 second freak out I smeared all of the paint and primer off of the
drawer and tried spray painting the drawer from scratch. It looked awful. Then I
had a genius thought, ditch the spray paint and use some good old old fashioned
paint and a paintbrush. And I just so happened to have some laying around from my
nightstand re-vamp (we'll get to that grand story later).It worked like a charm. I
managed to save the primer on the rest of the table and the white was a prettier
shade too! I did two coats of paint and then started sanding by hand little by little.
After 2 sheets of sandpaper I had had enough and got out my trusty
sander. It definitely did the trick!
see all of the pretty lines!
and here
The drawer ended up having a bit of an issue with the paint but instead of having a
"meltdown" I just went with it. It adds character. When I was done sanding
everything I got out my wax
and placed it on the top of the table, I went to grab it and realized I had left a big
grey smudge all over the top of the table. I LOVED it.
smudges
So I took my can of wax and scraped it all over the piece. It gave it that last little bit
of something I knew it needed. Then I got to waxing! Here's how it turned out with
the addition of this new knob from Hobby Lobby
ALL DONE!
It did get an unintentional line through the front drawer, but again character! It
far exceeded what I ever hoped this little table could be and I love it! I plan to put
my orchid on it in my downstairs entryway.
before
&after
go visit some friends :
"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. ”
― Coco Chanel
This sums up how I feel about this weeks pretzel salad disaster. I have always loved going
to a picnic and realizing someone has had the good sense to bring strawberry pretzel
salad. My mom never made it and despite what she now says, never used to like it. A few
months ago I had the realization that I no longer had to wait for pretzel salad to find
me, I could make my own! Off to pinterest I went, and that's where I found
it...RASPBERRY pretzel salad. The mecca of all pretzel salads. I HAD to have it.
Ingredients purchased, The Bachelorette on and I was ready to go. Step1, crush
pretzels, I did this while watching the men vie for des' attention. A magician and a suite
of Armor, really? Bringing your child? WHAT a ploy (although I do kind of like that guy)!
John wanted to know where I stood on a guy being shirtless for the entire night, would I
give him a rose? I think I'd give him a shirt. Ooops, I just flung crushed pretzels across the
living room. Maybe making this while watching the bachelorette wasn't my best idea
ever. So the Bachelorette went on and the pretzel base was made. The cream cheese,
sugar and cool whip middle was completed and pretty yummy if I do say so myself ( the
cook has to taste test, right?!?) Next the recipe told me to place it on the hot pretzel
crust. I had my doubts about this but I did as I was told. Mistake #1, always go with your
gut. Then I made the jello. The recipe told me to take my 9x13 out of the fridge and put
the boiling jello/raspberry mix onto my "now cooling" cream cheese mixture. Again I
thought," this doesn't seem like a good idea." The cream cheese bubbled up the jello
went under, over and around and I stood there staring at what was supposed to be my
blue ribbon dessert.Hoping to save it by some miracle I threw it in the fridge just in time
to see bachelor #20 beg Des to go into the fantasy suite with him for the 3rd
time...SECURITY. This all leads me to confession #1...while some of the jello set and I
had a disaster of a dessert on my hands, that did not stop me from single handedly
eating 3/4 of it myself, for breakfast and/or a midnight snack. It didn't turn out quite
right, but I worked with what I was dealt. I hope Des can do the same.
Aside from the above story, I actually do quite a bit of cooking. With that being said my
cutting board gets a lot of use. confession #2 It's with much shame that I actually
learned the proper way to "cut" an onion from a reality tv show. "well, that's not so bad"
you're thinking, assuming by reality tv I mean something like "Chopped" or "Top Chef".
No, I mean "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills". I told you it was shameful. New
castmate Lydia was being shown how to make lasagna and told her mom she learned how
to chop an onion from her husband. There I am thinking," oh, so that's how it's supposed
to be done. THAT makes MUCH more sense!" Well I may chop an onion the wrong way but
at least I know how to make lasagna!!!! Or at least that's what I told myself : (
Because It's Not National BBQ Day Because It's Not National BBQ Day
"I thank God for my life and for the stars and stripes,
may freedom forever fly,
let it ring,
salute the ones who died,
the ones who give their lives so we don't have to sacrifice all the thing we love"
- Zac Brown Band
" Say your prayers and wash your hands, cause Jesus and germs are everywhere"
It's funny the things we carry with us from our childhood, the
good, the bad and the neurotic. I come from a large, Italian family
filled with their share of anxious and superstitious tendencies.
My grandma is the oldest of eleven children, six girls and five
boys. More importantly she is the most anxiety/OCD ridden
person that I have met in my entire life, bless her heart. I
grew up six blocks away from my grandparents and they were a
constant, wonderful presence in my life. They were like an extra
set of parents who loved and nagged about the threat of germs. I
didn't realize until years later that anxiety and fear over
EVERYTHING is not normal. One such little gem that has haunted
me my entire life has to do with mayo, or in Gram's house Miracle
Whip. Making a sandwich at Gram's was always an ordeal. If you
let her make it, you'd watch in complete and utter awe as she
delicately touched the knife to the mayo and then flung it onto the
bread from 5 inches away. God forbid that the knife would touch
the bread! Because you're going in for another scoop of mayo, you
would think, right? WRONG! Whether you had touched the knife
to the bread or not was moot, you needed a NEW knife for more
mayo. If anyone else was making a sandwich an interrogation
proceeded, "did you put the knife back into the mayo?" We all
knew better but the drill remained the same. No one questioned
what would happen by re-dipping the mayo knife, we had seen it
go down one to many times before by unsuspecting guests. The
mayo would reach it's untimely death to the trash can, but better
to waste money and mayo than risk our health in Gram's
view. Besides, we all knew what happened to people who ate mayo
that had been touched by bread and then dipped BACK into the
jar!!! You would most certainly get food poisoning and die. No
doubt about it.
Even today when I see John re-dip that knife I internally
cringe and pray for his good health. I didn't realize how
much this had affected us all until 3 weeks ago when we were all
together for the first time in 15 1/2 years . It was the three of us
once again. My sister(who I actually do see all of the time), my
cousin (who was like a big brother to us growing up) and myself .
Someone brought up mayo and we all screamed "don't double dip
the mayo!" I'm pretty sure my 90 year old gram told us all to
shutup. My sister confessed that when anyone at work double dips
a knife into mayo she shakes her head and knows something bad
is going to happen to them. My cousin and I agreed that you just
can't do it. I live by the rule of, "when in doubt throw it out" and have
never questioned some of my families "beliefs".
Until I got home that is, I was making E a turkey sandwich as he
requested for lunch and decided I would have the same. I took out
the mayo and stared at it. I smoothed the mayo on the bread and
counted to three, I contemplated things. I've led a good life, I
rarely do anything crazy, I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I rarely
if ever drink and so help me I was going to re-dip that knife back in
the mayo!!!! I dipped the knife in the jar, held my breathe and
put it on the bread. Time stopped. I looked behind me as if my
Gram had magically teleported to VA from Pittsburgh to yell at
me. Nothing happened. I got giddy, it was the BEST sandwich
ever. For the next two days E wanted turkey sandwiches for lunch
and for the next two days I too had a turkey sandwich with cheese,
tomato, pepper, mayo and a side of bad ass. I was living the wild
life. Maybe I'd get a tattoo of a jar of mayo on my side to remind
me to live a more carefree existence (jk of course). And then it
happened, I got instantly and violently ill out of nowhere. Now I
have been on azithromycin for 4 days and it does upset my
stomach. But how coincidental that I have been re-dipping the
knife? I know if I relay this story to Gram she'll claim it's the mayo
and beg me to throw it away. I can hear her now," Lauren, just
throw it away and buy a new one, I'll send you the money for a
new jar!" If I tell my mom or anyone else this story they will of
course blame the antibiotic, the scientific and obvious answer. But
as my cousin said as a child, "Gram is the smartest one in the
family!"
I fell in love with the blog E, Myself and I this week and her "Midweek Confessions" is my
absolute fav. part of the blog. So when she offered a LINKUP I jumped up and took it!
Time for my very own little version of "midweek confessions" dum dum dum ( that was
my drum roll folks). Saturday I came down with my 2nd sinus infection pretty much
exactly 1 month to the day of the 1st one, this time with the lovely add on of bronchitis.
At the same time John's gma was taken to the ER, 3.5 hours away down in Norfolk, VA.
So John rushed down to be with her and I stayed with E. I told him we were having our
very own Lauren and E sleepover. Confession #1, Sat.morning was raining and disgusting
out. E's tball game was supposed to be cancelled so I stayed in bed and slept instead of
going to team pictures. When I woke up I had not only missed the pictures but the game
had somehow managed to go on despite the wet field, great. Last year I missed every
game due to work, this year I'm at 95% of practices and almost every game( unless we are
out of state/town visiting family.)
Confession #2 I spent a large portion of Saturday reading blogs on the Ipad. Like a
ridiculous amount of time. I pretended to watch JAKE and the neverland pirates and
DocMcStuffins but really I was finding a ton of new blog addictions. I made dinner and
played and all the while, I was thinking of those blogs. I was obsessed on a Saturday.
Moving on in the week to Confession #3 I gave a time out in the middle of CVS, yes you
read me right. I threatened it, three to five times, I was ignored over and over and was
even growled at and I gave a time out right then and there...in the chip aisle. He's
smarter than I thought. I wasn't even buying chips, how we ended up in his fav. place, I'll
never know. He can't read but I heard his tiny whispers of, "nacho cheese, cheetos, fritos
and bbq." He started to move down the aisle and I made him go back to the start of the
aisle and so we went.
Monday was a rush, It was our first day without daycare. I woke up feeling muuuuuch
worse and could barely get out of bed. I scheduled a dr. apt and took a steaming hot
shower. I had 5 min. left to get ready before I had to pick E up from pre-k. I grabbed the
Ipad, a book for him and a granola bar as a snack until I could get him lunch after my dr.
apt and ran for the door. The doctors with a 4yr old lets not even talk about that! oh and
the ipad is only helpful if the games are saved on the desktop b/c they wont give you the
password for the internet btw, way to go medical practice!
Confession #4 it wasn't until 6pm that night that I realized my underwear was on inside
out. I can't even say I had on a solid color and it was any easy mix up, these were brightly
colored, pretty floral, with a bow on the front, a freakin BOW and I still managed to wear
them and not notice all day : ( way to go lauren.
confession #5 I wear yoga pants, a lot, sometimes I wonder if this means people will
actually think I worked out. Then I think, they prob wonder why I haven't lost any
weight : /
confession #6 I gave E a smore Saturday night as an extra special surprise for our Lauren
and E sleepover. We try not to give him a lot of unhealthy snacks/ sugar and It was his
first ever smore. I was soooo excited to share such a childhood love of mine with him. I've
been wanting to make him a smore for awhile now and this seemed like a great chance!
Last 4th of July I bought stuff to make them and he left too early to go to his mom's. So
when I saw the smore display at the store on Friday I was so excited. His eyes lit up as
we toasted the marshmallows and then disaster struck, kid couldn't deal and I have to
admit I was disappointed. He hates getting messy and wanted THREE paper towels to wipe
his hands as he ate...all THREE bites!!!! I'm an adult and I felt guilty for feeling
disappointed. He enjoyed his three bites and that's all that matters, I guess. I enjoyed the
remaining bites and that counts for something I suppose.
Today marks the 1st of many blissful days with my new love, let me introduce you to him;
his name is Rub N Buff!
I've read numerous blogs raving about this stuff but had yet to try it out for myself. I finally
stopped at Michaels to make my purchase. I was pleasantly surprised at the price $4.49
plus I of course had my 40% off coupon! I knew from my blog reading that this little amount
would last me a long time too.But , I was not prepared for the fact that it came in so many
colors? Antique Gold or Grecian Gold...how do I know which gold is the right gold?! I like
antiques, does that mean I'll like the look of antique gold? I guess we'll find out!
 |
| rub N buff |
As I was perusing through the $2 aisle I noticed these cute little keys!
 |
| gold key |
 |
| silver key |
How adorable are they?! I've been looking for keys everywhere to dress up a table or do a
little project with but just can't seem to find the right ones. I liked the shape of both of these
and the price, but the brassiness of the gold and the silver were a no-no. The perfect excuse
to use my new Rub N Buff! I literally skipped to the register! I just need to find 1 more key to
make a perfect 3! I guess I'll have to go to a different Michaels later this week :p .
A little goes a long way with this stuff! I used the above amount and just a smidge more for
1 entire key (and yes I did the entire project on my dining room table on a trusty paper
plate).
* TADA*
So I must admit, I didn't actually Buff like I
should have with the keys. I liked how it
looked without taking toooo much off and it
dries quick! They are definitely much cuter
than before. But then I started looking
around my house wondering what else
I could add gold too. there are endless possibilities but I was looking for a good, quick fix.
Enter the $2 cake stand from the Salvation Army that I have a love/hate relationship with.
I loved him for my valentines day table display and have either loved or hated him every
day since. I bought him with the intention of somehow painting the bottom red part a fun
color and instead left him smack dab on mah counter for the next 5 months to taunt me!
Enter the Rub N Buff and my trusty paper plate!
I flipped that bad boy over and started to rub AND actually buff this time! The 1st coat let
most of the red shine through, the 2nd coat was starting to get a little bit better and the 3rd
coat was just right! No I'm not just getting back from reading Goldilocks and the 3 bears,
but thanks for asking! ok so it's not perfect and you can totally see the lines in this picture,
but in person it looks pretty durn good if I do say so myself! Plus, who's going to be looking
that closely at my sweet lil ole' cake stand anyways!!! AND I love it! I keep staring at it and I
may even do a little display with the keys on top!
