Noticing the details

Door progress is slow but steady. It's been raining for two days straight and so I had to move the doors inside. Here they are in the workshop (basement) leaning against an I-beam.

I only got through two more sides before I ran out of stripping gel. 

I'll pick up some more tomorrow...

I could have probably stripped all three doors last weekend, but we went to the beach...

Peanut loves the beach. It's her happy place. Mine too. 

We stayed in a rental that we've stayed in several times before. But in all these years, I never noticed this!

Hello little campaign chest! Do you think your owner would notice if I pulled the ol' switcheroo with an Ikea Malm dresser? Cause I want to take you home and do this.

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Or maybe kelly green!

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Totally stealing it next time.

Have you noticed that you see so many more details in rooms and homes than before you started reading blogs? I definitely do. 

If I were...

Since I didn't do any work last night (stripping paint off of doors, etc) and since today is Friday (the day of less work and more daydreaming), I thought I would share this home I found on Houzz.

If I were rich and fabulous...

I would live here...

...or at least it would be one of my many homes since ya know, being rich and all....

eclectic exterior design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA


Oh....my...gaaaaahhh!!

eclectic porch design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA


I love this room the most....

eclectic living room design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA

Look at the ceiling! The wall color!! AAAHHH!

eclectic living room design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA

So cozy.

eclectic bedroom design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA


So lush.

eclectic landscape design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA


So dramatic.

eclectic entry design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA


The kitchen....eh. Too much stuff in there. Love the carpets and table though.

eclectic kitchen design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA


The carpet, the upholstery, and the view.

eclectic family room design by santa barbara architect Tom Meaney Architect, AIA

*sigh* 

Maybe someday :)

Happy weekend!

More is more

First of all, I'm pooped. Work is crrrraaazzzy busy right now! How am I supposed to catch up on my stories blogs when there's so much work to do at work? Sheesh! 

So this post will be a quick one.

After my first paint stripping attempt I received some very helpful comments from Ashleigh @ Made in Morningside and Dee Dee @ D Dzine. Ashleigh ended up having to use a heat gun to get the paint off of her interior doors and Dee Dee suggested slopping on A LOT of stripping gel and then covering it with plastic wrap. Since I already had a gallon of stripping gel at home, I gave Dee Dee's suggestion a try.

Earlier in the week, I used one cocoa tin (my unit of measurement) of stripping gel. This time, I used four cocoa tins. More is more! And then covered the whole mess with plastic wrap.

I waited an hour and then tried to scrape it off.

"That's what I'm talkin' about."

 

The paint peeled off SO easily. At least the first layer did. I see wood peeking through!

 

One more treatment and this door should be good to go! Err...this side of this door. So that's two stripping treatments per side, times three doors. Oh boy.

Off topic

I'm going to have to go off topic to talk about what I saw today. 

I've seen some amazing things in my life.

Here are some examples of things I have seen (aka commence brag fest)...

Bagan, Myanmar

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 Obama Inauguration

--love him or hate him, it was an awesome thing to see--

 

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Landing Beaches and Cemetery, Normandy, France

 

Omaha Beach

 my pics

And today....

The space shuttle Discovery. 

It was so exciting to stand outside in a huge group of people, all staring at the sky, waiting to see the shuttle. Even more exciting that we didn't know exactly where it would come from or when. 

Then someone yelled "There it is!" 

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And it was CLOSE. Not a little blip in the sky - skimming the tops of buildings close.

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Not only was it amazing because of the historical significance. It was amazing because it's just so unbelievable. It looks like something someone dreamed up in photoshop. 

A spaceship bolted to a jumbo jet???

Escorted by a fighter jet??????

Mind. Blown.

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Breathtaking, goosebumps, once in a lifetime. 

And sadly, never again.

Landing at Dulles airport...

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Anyone else see the shuttle?

What's the most amazing thing you have ever seen? What's the craziest place you've ever been?

Stripping!

Tee hee.

Stripping paint that is.

But before I talk about that, thank you for all the great Hobby Lobby comments! I should send them to the company.  "Reviews from very important bloggers." 

VIBs.

Sounds like HL is gigantic and cheap, worth a second chance but not a special trip, better than Michael's and AC Moore but not as good as Joann's for fabric.

Not gonna lie - I still can't wait to check it out :)

So back to the doors.

On Saturday I took one of the three exterior doors that we found in the attic and propped it up on some saw horses in the yard.

 

Then I got out the palm sander, attached a really coarse grit sand paper and buzzed over the whole thing.

And it looked the same.

The sandpaper did almost nothing....

So at my parents' suggestion, I picked up some of this.

 

According to the directions, you just paint it on, wait, and then strip it off with a plastic spatula (putty knife). First it says you have to put it in a metal container.

 

I used an old Starbucks hot cocoa tin. Looked like a giant can of lip balm.

Then I brushed it over the whole door, waited 30 minutes and tried to scrape it off.

Hmmmm..... not the satisfying glops of sludge I was hoping for. The bottle said wait 30 minutes to 24 hours (that's not a big gap...) so I'm going to leave it over night. I'm pretty sure there are at least three coats of paint that I need to get through so....more on this tomorrow.

Anyone ever strip paint before? Any advice is appreciated!

In the meantime. What smells?

More like who smells.

Peeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaannnuuuuuuutttt.

SOMEone likes to roll in the fresh mulch that's all over the neighborhood. Enter rosemary scented Buddy Wash and a bright new pink collar.

Ahhhh. So fresh and so clean clean.

Strike one Hobby Lobby

Before I started reading blogs, I had never heard of Hobby Lobby. We don't have one close by and if I need fabric or craft supplies I go to Joann's, Michael's or AC Moore (AC Moore > Michael's imo). But of course, I think the grass is always greener and I really wanted to find a Hobby Lobby. A craft store I haven't been to?? It's probably amazing!!

As luck would have it, my parents recently moved to Winchester, VA - about an hour and twenty minutes away. And what do they have in Winchester???

HOBBY LOBBY.

I probably wouldn't make an hour and a half trip just to go to Hobby Lobby but if I'm out there to visit my parents anyway, might as well pop in!

Yesterday I drove out to have lunch with my parents, check out their new home and see what Hobby Lobby was all about. I'm such a craft store nerd I was actually chanting "HOBBY LOBBY! HOBBY LOBBY!" as we drove up to the store.

EeeeeEEEEEeeeeee!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Closed on Sundays?????????? Boooo!!!

Strike one Hobby Lobby.....strike one.

Do any of you go to Hobby Lobby? Am I getting my hopes up too much?

A thank you and some food

First - and definitely most important - I want to thank Ashleigh at Made in Morningside for passing along the Liebster Blog award to me! She passed it to me three weeks ago and I'm only posting now - rude! 

If you haven't started reading Ashleigh's blog, you're missing out! She recently made a gorgeous pillow from fabric she found at a thrift store, did a fantastic job updating her kitchen and introduced me to Food on My Dog (awesome). Ashleigh and her boyfriend Rodney live in Morningside and I LOVE connecting with bloggers overseas. 

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all."

Since I passed the Liebster along to five other bloggers in January, I thought I would pass along Ashleigh's picks to spread the blogger love. Her five picks were:

1. Kristen @ Popcorn On The Stove

2. Amanda @ A Helpmeet for Him

3. Jen @ Creating with the J's

4. Yours truly

5. Kristen @ Our Washington Life

Hope you check out Made in Morningside and these other Liebsterific blogs. I already see some bloggers I recognize commenting on Ashleigh's blog - YAY!

And now for the food... I have been super lazy house-wise this week. Which means I've been cooking up a storm! Before I had a house to renovate, I cooked like this all the time :( Someday the house will be done....someday.

Monday

Roast salmon with lemon and herbs; roast tomatoes with pesto and parmesan 

Salmon recipe; tomato recipe (both Barefoot Contessa)

Tuesday

Chicken and dumplings.

Recipe (Williams-Sonoma One Pot Meals)

Wednesday

Ono Shrimp

Secret family recipe!!! Just kidding...kinda... 

and cupcakes... brought to you by Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines. 

Topped with cupcake gems.

And finally Thursday

Kung Pao Vegetable Stir-fry

(seen here without the sauce)

Kung Pao recipe was from Ching's Everyday Easy Chinese Cookbook...which I can't find on the internet.

and MORE cupcakes!

Damn you buy 1 get 1 free box of classic yellow cake mix!

And no I didn't eat all the cupcakes the night before. I took them to work and ate them at my desk.

Sprinkled with pink sugar and filled with strawberry jam.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you Monday!

Opening up the body barrel

Back in December when I was digging around in the attic, I found a large black barrel. 

I was pretty sure at the time that it contained something horrifying and so I left it alone. But then my Aunt Linda left me this comment:

China you say? She's absolutely right. Apparently people used to move/store china in cardboard barrels like this one. Maybe they still do? Huh, learn something new every day.

So when I was back in the attic last weekend, I decided to open the barrel. First I gave it a jiggle....and heard a clinking sound. Like maybe dishes clinking together?? Then I got super excited, jammed a screw driver in the lid and pried off the top.

Really.....

An old beer can collection?

Not exactly the super valuable china I had hoped to sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

*sigh*

Oh well, let's have a look at the cans anyway.

I had three favorites starting with this one.

She's a lady....

Whoa, whoa, whoa, she's a lady.

"Olde Frothingslosh" comes with a delightful story too.

"Think Big."

There was also a bald eagle beer can from the same company.

And in third place, this can.

Just cause I think the picture is awesome.

At least opening the barrel wasn't a total bust because this was at the bottom, filled with the small airplane bottle size cans.

Pretty! And it's pretty large too!

You guys ever find anything old or weird in your house? We've been here almost a year and we're still discovering stuff!