Friends with Style

I'm not stylish. If i had to describe my style, i would say it's simple, classic and goes with everything. That translates to simple bootleg jeans, a colored tanktop and a black sweater. It's a combination that looks good on everyone, so that's what i wear every friday, sat and sun. At work i have slacks, two black one grey, that get paired up with solid colored knit shirts of varying arm legnths. Since Boyfriend Jon has known me...i can count the number of times i have left the house in a skirt or dress on one hand.

But i'm headed on a trip with one of my best Gal Pals who is the sharpest dresser i know. She has been dubbed my "Cute Expert" because she really has a knack for discovering cute things that i just kind of look at her and blink over. Lindsey is not super girly, but she has great style. And perhaps my next sentence won't show that she's not girly, but in the array of girly girl people in my life...she's at the bottom. She's already tanned, gotten a haircut and painted her nails for the trip. I'm sitting here with dirt under my nails from working in my mother's garden and i wouldn't be surprised if my hair smelled like sawdust from the shop.

TANGENT!
The end tables are BUILT! Done! I won't have to put in a single other screw anywhere, or use the nailgun or make any more cuts. All that's left now is to add the edging, fill the nail holes, sand, stain and put the finish on.
I estimate that if i took a solid week, i could have it done (except for the curing part).

OK, back to the regularly scheduled brain purge....

While i don't feel like it's a competition, I certainly don't want to look frumpy next to her. And because there is a dinner in which no jeans will be allowed....I had to ask her for help. Somehow this turned into a girls night in which not just Lindsey, but my other gal pal Naomi will be going through my clothing and putting together my outfits. All i have to do is make dinner and provide some wine. (which means i'm stealing it from my parents cupboard)

Part of me is just dreading this. To be dressed, analyzed, have my wardrobe scrutinized, and to wear clothes outside of my comfort zone. The other part of me is thinking "I don't have to choose outfits for the trip. They're doing 90% of the packing for me!" which i am so cool with!

Also, Lindsey alerted me to a free spray tan coupon. So i think i'll give that a shot so i don't look completely pasty white next to her. Never done a fake tan before, fingers crossed.

Either way, Lindsey is an awesome friend to hang out with. Everything is low key, no drama, and no stress. We work well together and don't get on each other's nerves very often. I'm looking forward to traveling with her. We'll see if we're still friends after.

In other news...i'm making more changes to the apartment. The dining room table is leaving. It's nice that it folds up to half its size, but i don't have a designated dining room space anymore and it's taking up part of my living room. Also, I've used it twice since i moved in. Once for a romantic dinner for Boyfriend Jon and I, and once to hold all 200 of the cursed cupcakes. The chairs for the table don't fold up and i really don't have room to store them. They alone take up half my storage closet.

Instead, i intend to get a 6 foot folding table and four folding chairs. The table will slide under my couch when not in use, and the chair will take up considerably less room in the storage closet. Also, having a six foot table will double for board games, dinner for more than just me and Jon, and even a craft table...which i really need. The DVD rack will be moved in it's place.

I'm excited for the change.

Good Planning, aka Luck

Its hard for me to believe it, but i started building my coffee table and end tables just after Valentines day (aka single awareness day)

This project has by no means been the most complicated of my projects, but yet it has taken the longest. My father is certainly feeling his age, and I've confronted my uncomfortable emotions and frustrating setbacks. He has readily admitted that he can't work like he used to and i've been too timid to work without his help.

Last night, dad agreed to get to work on my drawers, the final bit of building that needed to be accomplished. But when i showed up, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was helping one of his friends with something complicated and wouldn't be home for hours and he was very sorry but I would have to wait.

I was ticked. Nailing him down to a time and place has been difficult to say the least because he's been very busy helping my sister. I tried not to impose but, with her project also several months over-schedule....it made life harder on everyone. And now, with her project finally down to a few punch list items, i thought i finally would have time to whip through the remainder of the building steps which i need dad's extra set of hands for. Yet when it came down to it...i was alone...

In dad's shop...

With all the tools i could possibly need....

With the knowledge of how to do the drawers...

I was just ticked off enough to be in my "Well, i'll show him" mood. Defiance and rebellion as my ally, i seized a hold of the plank of maple which had been plained down to 1/2 inch and quickly measured the gap that the drawer would need to fit into. I cut boards an inch over the right measurement  and then ran them through the jointer to make the edges smooth and even. Then i ripped them to the right width and cut them to the right size since i could now be sure of a good 90 degree cut.

In two hours, i had the frame of the drawer. So i started casting about for paneling for the bottom of the drawer. I didn't want to use the one dad had pointed out because it had a laminated side that i wouldn't be able to stain it. it would have to be painted or horribly mismatched. I went out into the wood shed and looked through would that had been put in there when i was still a teenager, Most of it was un-usable for my project.

It wasn't until i started looking through the scrap bin that i came across a piece of paneling that i instantly recognized. It was the exact same material i had used as the backing for the DVD stand and the TV stand. It looked rather small, but i pulled it out to see if i could get at least one bottom for the drawers.

As I set up the frame, i began to realize, hoping against hope, that i might have just enough for both drawers. When everything was set up, i had literally 2 inches to spare width wise without ever trimming the paneling.

I cut groves for the paneling to slide into and it's perfect. The groves were not as deep as i would have preferred, but with some wood glue, they'll hold up just fine. Besides, these are going to be holding relatively light things and serve as a general junk drawer for scissors, glue, stamps, ect.

When dad finally showed up, my mood had dissolved out of sheer disbelief at the perfection of the size of the LAST piece of the same paneling i had used for the other pieces in my living room. So i showed him what i had accomplished. We both had a good laugh as he analyzed my handiwork and gave me a stiff nod...adding that he hoped i didn't make any mistakes without him there. I confidently replied that i doubted i had, but if i did, it wouldn't be anything that couldn't be fixed.

Good Planning or Pure Luck? Who cares...the drawers just need to be glued and nailed and the end tables are ready to put the finish on.

Saving Money via Ingenuity

On Friday when i dropped the wallet thief off at my sister's place (LOL stories below) my sister was watching a TV show called "Extreme Couponing" which i caught towards the end. The woman was checking out and had a $1200 bill which ended up being an extraordinary $103 after she went through a stack of coupons. Amazing right? and then i started looking at the amount of stuff she had. 4 shopping carts, one of them containing over 70 bottles of mustard. Who in this world can eat the contents of 70 bottles of mustard even if it takes their entire lifetime? It goes beyond absurd. I asked my sister what she does with the stuff, and she rewound to show me the part that showed exactly that. Showers stacked full of paper towels, pantries overflowing with cans, even the room for the water heater was filled to the brim. It was another form of hoarding and just as disturbing in my eyes.

I love saving money, and I've been doing a lot better with using coupons lately, but i would certainly balk at buying things i had no need of within the next three months. Even if they never spoil.

My most recent money saving technique had to do with the Kindle. I wanted to throw it in my purse without it getting scratched up by my keys. But i also didn't want it to weigh the kindle down and not be able to fit into my purse because the cover was so bulky. So i decided neoprene would be a good idea. But have you looked at the cost of those things???? Kindle covers themselves cost no less that $35 and Neoprene covers go up beyond $50. I tried to find a cheap one while i was walking around Staples for another purpose, but inevitably, it was more than i wanted to spend.

And then something interesting caught my eye.

It's was a leather notebook cover haphazardly placed on an endcap standee. It was red, which since its my favorite color, was probably the reason i stopped short. Upon further inspection, it was just barely too small for the kindle. I almost walked away from it not once, but twice. But something kept making me think about it. I analized the seams and looked at what was making it too small. I concluded if i cut out the flap where the notebook was supposed to slide in, and then trimmed off the business card flap (as seen in the left of the picture) to just a strip in the middle, it could work. I looked at the price. $12. Certainly worth a shot at that price.

So i took it with me to Boyfriend Jon's place and while he played Lego Indiana Jones, i got out a pair of scissors and my knife and got to work. I carefully trimmed out the flaps, which eventually will need some kind of edging. Boyfriend Jon then got out some strips of velcro that he had laying around and i cut them to size and placed them. One for the new closing strip. and two for the back of my kindle to keep it in place in the cover when i wanted to read. With the extra flaps out of the way, the Kindle fit like a glove.

Here's the results, of which i'm rather proud of. Still in the process of cleaning it up though.

As for LOL stories for Miss Molly, aka the Wallet Thief...She was pretty content to just lay in my lap while i read The Girl Who Played with Fire. But she did catch sight of a crow and just about plowed through my screen door trying to say hello.

Also, i may have accidentally have given her brain freeze, by giving her some ice cubes made out of tuna fish juice. She gobbled up three of them in the time it took Rusty to eat half of his. After that, she sat looking at me  squinting her eyes as her lower lip quivered.

But as far as Molly stories go, it was pretty calm and quiet for life around her.

The return of the Wallet Thief

Molly helping with construction

Molly the Wallet Thief will be staying with me today, and i'm sure i'll have more "adventure" stories tomorrow. We're still trying to get this silly dog acclimated to my place for when Noreen is out of town so that i can help take some of the load off my parents. She's pooped, she's peed, she's thrown up, she's tried to eat just about everything from a tea light to a roll of Tums. But this dog....i'm sure will figure out something new to drive me insane with.

For all that i gripe, Molly is a wonderful dog. It's hard not to laugh when she gets into some of her quirky moods. And then she has her Eeyore droop when she knows she's in trouble.

I'm starting The Girl that Played with Fire tonight while i'm watching Molly now that I've completely finished first book and movie in the series.

I really hate watching subtitles. But i hate dubbing even more. Especially bad dubbing. However, i don't think that American filmmakers have the monopoly on great movies. So subtitles are a necessary evil.

Comparing the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book with the movie, i stand by my old saying: Books are better than movies. There are a few rare occurrences where the filmmakers are able to capture details in ways that the author has to ramble on for several pages to accomplish. The only movies I've come across that were better than the books were the LOTR series. I just don't personally care for Tolkin's style of writing.

Warning: Minor Spoilers

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book was well thought out and had multiple characters weaving back and forth, in and out of each other's lives. The movie, immediately changed a key character by saying she was dead instead of abroad. This didn't change the complete outcome, but just how they arrive at the conclusion. And also, in the book, Mikael discovers Lisbeth after confronting the lawyer Frode. Not, Lisbeth helping Mikael out of the goodness of her heart. It seemed to break with her character for me. The other thing i liked in the book was the dynamics with her boss and her job which was alluded to, but not displayed in the movie. Her boss only showed up in the beginning and then you never saw him again. That was unfortunate, but again, it didn't really change the end game.

All in all, the film did a great job of following the story as written, but took minor liberties here and there. It was also 2hours and 20 minutes long. So for the sake of not making it a three hour movie, i can understand some of the omittance was necessary.

More furniture plans

I honestly don't think i can help it. I see a piece of furniture and immediately start thinking about ways to customize it. Perhaps its because i'm a 20 something on a limited income and can't afford the furniture that makes my mind go blank in sheer admiration of the craftsmanship and functionality.

My friend Lindsey has recently taken the time and money to replace all of the crappy furniture in her bedroom with a nice matching set. With the exception of the headboard which wasn't available. So she has a cheap ikea frame for the moment which completely clashes with the rest of the furiture.

For starters she's going with what she has deemed "Country Bumpkin" kind of feel while her bed....looks like it has a simple oriental theme to me. Either way, she was going to get rid of it. Since i was looking for a queen bed frame anyway......i started analyzing it.

It was low to the ground, (Ikea mostly has beds that are about a foot off the ground) and she had it up on bed risers from bed bath and beyond so it would be a relatively normal height.

It worked just fine. But i don't trust plastic especially when it comes to strength and stability. So i started thinking about ways to make it stronger and more stable. I figured if i did a wrap around wood frame made up of long pieces with the sides cut at 45 degree angles...i could screw into the original legs and make them longer, but still strong.

For the non-craftsmen or people who can't read my mind:
If you were looking at it from either the top or bottom, it would look like this with the middle square being the original leg:

Also, i don't like the idea of my pillows falling through the back so i'll tack some simple paneling onto the back to fix that problem.

For probably a maximum of 20$, i'll have a great customized bed set to replace the bed I've had since i was 15.

I probably should finish the coffee and end tables before moving onto this project....but it's just sooo exciting!