What would you do?

Last Sunday we went to church, parked our car in the parking garage, walked down and BOOM, what was there on the side of the road but 4 old crusty, fantastic shutters.  I sorta freaked out slightly begging Jason to let me take them back up to the truck to claim them as my own.  We were running late though and so decided to leave them there until we came back.  I figured it was a lost cause and that some one would snag them before church let out...but nope.  They were still there.

So, now I have them.  I remember thinking before when perusing craft ideas that I really wanted old shutters for cheap wall coverings.  Now that I have them though I can't seem to decide that to do with them.  Here are a few ideas.  What do you think?

Organize mail?

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Organize kitchen stuff? 

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Headboard?  I've been wanting to make my own headboard for a while now...

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Shelves?  These colors are awful but you get the idea...

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A table?  Ok, super cool but I'd have to get creative with where to put it in our tiny place...

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 Make it part of my collage space above the couch?  Like this idea a lot although my shutters are more the "typical" shutters.  Maybe I can combine with the idea below...hang framed photos on them?

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Like this...?

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Mmmm. So many ideas....Which to choose.  I have 4 so technically I have a couple of different options unless I do the headboard.  I also have 17 other projects to finish too.  I guess I should go put the first layer of varnish on my table eh?  Have a great weekend!

The Weekend

The weekend was marvelous...friends, crafts, baking.  How much better can it get?

Saturday kicked off with a morning cup 'o joe with my beautiful friend Autumn.  Yeah, the good friend who moved about 30 minutes from me but that I manage to only see 2-3 times a year.  Hey!  We're busy people alright.  Quality over quantity is what I always say.  :)  Anyways, after our morning dose of caffeine it was off to hit some thrift shops.  THIS is what I brought home...

You may be asking, "Why do you have a bunch of random plates and vases?"  Well, let me tell you.  I've had my eye on some very lovely cake plates as of late....yet the $40 price tag (and that's on the low end) makes them not quite so desirable.  I saw somewhere that someone stuck together plates and vases/candle holders and then spray painted them to create a cake plate.  The thing is...I want to be able to actively use these cake plates...and spray paint isn't exactly permanent.  So, Autumn and I put together our heads and created some lovely combos.  They are all mix and matched and yet I love them.  So cute.  So, here's what you do... 

Take your pile of thrift shop goodies and get yourself some heavy books, epoxy, and something to measure the center of the plate (I was very technical and precise and used string. :).)  Then some how figure out the middle of the plate.  Once you do, outline the stand that you will be gluing in pencil onto the plate (you can barely BARELY see my outline).  This will make it easier as epoxy is relatively fast drying.  Once you have your circle on your plate apply the epoxy to what will be your "stand" and stick that sucker on to the underside of the plate. 

Then bust out those old musty books you never read anymore because E-readers have taken over the world, set them on top of the stand...let sit overnight.

When all is done you have cute little cake stands such as these (they are two separate stands stacked on top of each other)...

Because you now have 4 (hey, I bake a lot of cakes alright!) new cake stands that you need to find a home for, get creative in storing them...

And of course...you could always bake a cake and try it out too.  :)

And those are my cake stands...totaling in at about $2/cake stand.  Oh I love me a good thrift shop.

I Only Post on Fridays...

Apparently this is all I can muster...a once a week post that happens to land on Fri. for whatever reason. Soooooo.  Happy Friday.

Jason is currently at a birthday BBQ thingy and I wasn't invited.  Shocking huh?  No, actually, even if I WAS invited I would have declined (it's some guy from school that I haven't ever met).  I do NOTHING Friday nights.  After a 40 hr work week it's the couch...or in this case, the computer for me.  Aaaah.  The weekend.  Oh yay.

So, last weekend Jason and I celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss.  We went to this place called Philz Coffee which is apparently the best drip coffee around (can't you tell by their sign, haha).  They make each cup individually and it was packed with people in there.  Pretty good I must say though.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Please ignore how incredibly and completely TIRED I look.  Thank you.  

After coffee Jason did some homework (yup, he's back in school.  He calls me his "homework widow".  Funny...and yet a pretty good description of what happens when he's in school.)  And people supposedly do this with KIDS?  How may I ask you?...

Anyways, we went to a fancy pants restaurant that was da bomb went off in my mouth GOOD.  Oh yes, and their panna cotta was to.die.for.  Seriously, if there's food in heaven and it's better than what we've got here Lord take me home now.  I.am.ready!  (Ok, not really.)  I had the Maple Leaf Duck.  Duck is SO under rated.  Oh my goodness.  I love me some duck.  mmmm mmm.

As I said, Jason had the panna cotta and we inhaled it faster than we could take a picture of it.  ooops.  I had the chocolate bread pudding that was so recommended and it was RICH.  But good.  yum.  The panna cotta was better though and I was jealous Jason ordered it and not me.  Punk.

Washed out "flash" picture.  :)

Did I mention that we dressed up and got all pretty for this date?  Yeah, we/I did.  I wouldn't describe Jason as pretty.  Handsome yes.  Pretty no.  Anyways, I wore a necklace and painted my nails red.  I almost never do either things.  I felt so feminine.  :)

So, folks.  That was our anniversary.  Lots of fun and I wouldn't trade these last 3 years for anything.  I'm rather fond of the guy.

On another note.  Every time I go out to eat in San Francisco I am so inspired.  Inspired by food. Is there any better inspiration?  I'm of the opinion that no, no there's not.  :)  Anyways, I have this big fat honkin' beautiful cookbook called The Silver Spoon.  The recipes are fantastic.  It's a Phaidon book so that gives you some idea of the quality (they are a seriously snobby publisher making their books seriously expensive).  Anyways, this book has been on my "must have" list for so long but at almost $50 it's been on the "not now" list for even longer.  Anyways, thanks to Border's poor financial decisions I scored this book for $15.  It has a slightly bent corner but really?  Who cares.

Well, I've been busy and have yet to cook a significant quantity of things from it.  I flip through it all the time and think, "OH!  Must cook that right.now."  Then I forget, move on, and there you have it.  I finally decided that such a thing must change and so I went through it and made a list, pulling some of the favorites that have been enticing me as of late.  I wrote it on a piece of paper with the page number for easy reference.  The list is now on my refrigerator and when I'm having the "I need to cook something new/interesting, I'm bored with cooking feeling" I no longer need to think..."Hmmm, what should I make?"  I'll just go to the 'frige and check it off as I make it.  Last weekend I made Italian Crepes with Vanilla Custard.  Yummy.

Alright, I'm done typing.  Time to get back to my tray of under cooked brownies that I put in the refrigerator and are now a solid but fudgey gooey mass of goodness.

Yeah, I know.  PIG.  But who wants to dirty an extra dish?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!

10...more? Fabulous Facts for a Friday

So apparently it's been since Friday since I've sat my little tuckus on this chair and posted.  Oh well.  So, here ya'll go.

1. Fact: I would say that for the most part we are "healthy" eaters.  I use this loosely because I'm not saying we don't eat sugar...we do.  We just try to eat most all things from scratch.  Basically, the least amount of processed food we can.  But lemme tell you...this last week, not so much.  I have consumed enough Cadbury Mini Eggs (yes, those delectable chocolate mini eggs with the crunchy candy coating...which I have you know are actually sort of hard to find)...anyways, I've consumed enough toooooo...  To fill something large.  Like a bathtub or something.  Anyways, chocolate has been winning me over as of late...oh, and chips too.  Mmmm.  Salt.  I love salt.

2. Fact: This weekend we are celebrating our 3 year anniversary! Woohoo!  Three years and we still like each other...usually.  :)  Anyways, I want to go to this french restaurant which has amazing yelp reviews but they have NO reservations left. ugh. booooo.  I think we will try to go early...at like 5:00pm or something and see if we can score a table.

3. Fact: We are hitting the REI used gear sale Sat. bright and early.  Yay!  If you aren't familiar with REI you can return darn near anything.  Like, it can be seriously used and dirty and gross and you can STILL return it.  Weird.  I know.  Anyways, REI takes all that used stuff and has REI Used Gear Sales.  You can go and buy it for substantially discounted prices.  Some of it's practically brand new.  The best part is that they put the reason on the tag for the return.  Like there was something that was so used and gross and it said, "Customer didn't like color".  Seriously? When did they figure this out?  2 years after the purchase?  haha.  Anyways, it's fun.  I'm looking for a backpacking backpack and some more aggressive climbing shoes maybe.  :)

4. I'm refinishing a table.  My first ever.  It's...er...a work in progress?  So, the backside of the table came out great.  Go figure.  The top though is having some issues.  I'm staining the top a dark stain and then painting the bottom of the table an off white/cream color.  Saw it in a mag and I likey liked it.  Anyways, it shall be my sewing table when I'm done. 

5. Fact: I'm getting a cold.  Don't need much elaboration on that but I'm hoping my nose postpones the whole "fill with snot thing so I can't smell/taste anything" until AFTER our exciting restaurant trip.  What torture it would be to go to a new restaurant and not be able to TASTE it.  Sounds like torture to me at least...  :)

6. Fact: I bought a Kleen Kanteen thingy a month or so a go with an REI gift card I got from my work.  I did this after using Jason's...he's had one for a couple of years now.  I was totally amazed at how different/better water tastes coming from stainless steel rather than plastic.  So, I bought one.  Mine though came with the sport top (they didn't have any screw top ones).  When I use the bottle it sings like a really annoying bird.  I thought it was just mine and then I realized that my other two friends have one and there's does the same.  Lame.  So, the moral of the story is...drink from stainless...skip the sports cap!  :)

7.  Fact: My nose is filling with snot as I type.  Literally.  So much for tasting my food this weekend.  :)

8. Fact: What is up with the weather? ---That is so not a fact statement.  Well, let's try this one.  Fact: Winter no longer exists.  At first I thought it was just California that was experiencing a fabulously mild winter...turns out it's most of the U.S.  Maybe it's a nice break from the torrential rain/snow that the U.S. received last year.  Whatever it is...I'm.a.fan.

9. Fact: I have to do self-evaluations at work this week.  Those are so awkward to do.  I mean you have to rate yourself.  It's like someone asking, "So, do you think you're awesome?"  ehhhhh.  No?  Yes?  Maybe, I don't know.  aaaaaah. It sort of stresses me out and I end up just staring blankly at the form for far longer than necessary.

10. Fact:  The day after Friday is Sat which means...THE WEEKEND!  Have a great one peeps!