DIY Lamp #1

Here is a DIY project I did where I rehabed a lamp that I bought off eBay. I first saw the lamp on eBay with a starting bid of $70 and a shipping price about about $70. I absolutely loved it because it had a Geisha figure on the pole part of the lamp. Anyone that knows me, knows I seriously loves me everything Japanese. Alas, it was more than I was willing to spend on a floor lamp, no matter how cool it looked. I watched it go through two (two!) bidding cycles with no bids. Then the third time the guy posted it, he had it going for $20 with $20 shipping. Fuck yeah! Surprisingly no one tried to bid against me and I got it for a whopping $40 smackers.

^ Lady on the lamp

When I finally received it, I realized why he had the shipping so high. He had barely wrapped it with any padding and crudely taped some boxes on it. It also looked like the UPS guys had a blast tossing it around the warehouse, because parts of the metal were cracked. It must have had a rough ride to have been that damaged. Lucky for me, my fiance is a metal whiz and he said could fix it. (I'll have to post pics of the half ton milling machine we have in the garage.)

The first thing I did was to take it apart and clean it. Steve took the pieces that were cracked and sandblasted them clean and then put putty in the cracks. (Man, that sounded dirty!)

^ Before sandblasting

^ After sandblasting...so clean!

^ The putty filled cracks

Next step was to paint the individual pieces. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that process, but honestly, it was pretty boring. We used Rustolium paint in spray cans. I decided to keep the original color mostly because I couldn't think of any other color to paint it and the dark brown went with our decor in the house.

Here's the top of the finished lamp with the freaking expensive glass shade we got for it. Seriously, that thing cost more than twice the price of the lamp since the only shade that would fit it is a reproduction piece. But it looks awesome. We decided not to sandblast the Geisha on the lamp because I liked the old antique look it had to it.

Interesting trivia: This is the lamp that my engagement ring was hanging on when Steve proposed. :)

Stay tuned for DIY Lamp #2, where I rehab another lamp I got off eBay.

(After writing this post, I have come to realize that I hate the way Blogger's "compose post" screen is. >:P)

People! Christmas is after Thanksgiving. Christmas Trees and lights should not see the light of day until you have been thoroughly stuffed with turkey! Perhaps I'm sensitive since I grew up in a household that didn't put up lights outside and the X-mas tree didn't go up until Christmas Eve, but c'mon!

I just had to get that off my chest. To do my part, I'm leaving up my Halloween/Fall decorations until after Thanksgiving.

I know. Purple shutters. I try to ignore them. Here's the setup at night:

Pretty huh? The logs came from a branch that was hanging precariously over our house. We decided it had to come down before the next big snow. (Steve, ever the woodsman, cut it down himself.) I was wondering how to set up the pumpkins this year because I didn't want to use hay bails this time (see picture below -- they were such a hassle to get rid of). We had all this cut up wood laying around and an idea was born!

Last years decorations

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

These are a little old, but I wanted to share these pics I took of a double rainbow. I was on my way to dinner (at a Japanese Steakhouse, YUM.) with the fiance on our 4 year anniversary.

If you can tell, there are two rainbows there. It's rare for me to catch a double rainbow so I just had to get it on film. I could actually see the full rainbow all the way across the sky. I was in my car, so I was unable to get a full shot.

Don't worry, traffic was crawling so I wasn't recklessly snapping photos. I only do that when it's not raining. I like this shot because that building in the distance is a hospital. It looks like the rainbow is going right into it. I'm not overly religious, but I'd like to think it was a symbol of a child being born or perhaps someone being called home to God.

I have taken, like, 3 poops today.

Man, I love having a blog.

Engagement

This is old news to a lot of people, but since I haven't blogged it yet and this is a new blog I thought I would post a little sumthin' sumthin' about it.

I got engaged in March to my best bud of 4 (ish) years (Leslie, you are still my bestest best bud though). On my birthday actually. Normally I would advise against proposing on someones birthday since it can impart a gimmicky vibe, but this was pretty good timing. And it's easy to remember when we got engaged!

I came home from work on Friday in a really poopy mood. I had a few people cut me off in traffic and that just fuels my already simmering road rage. My then-boyfriend, Steve was laying on the couch. At that time he was still working second shift at his job so he had Fridays off. As I plopped down the couch with a grumble he asked me if I wanted to turn on the new floor lamp. Some back story here: I bought a floor lamp off of eBay and Steve and I took it apart, painted it and bought a new glass shade for it (I'll post pics of the process later). He had finished putting it together and wanted me to turn it on. So I walked into the spare bedroom and my first reaction to him was "Hey, where is the shade?" He was leaning on the door frame and replied, "Just turn it on." I reached to turn the little knob and lo and behold something shiny is hanging from it. Before I pick it up, I say, "What's this?". I knew what it was, but it just didn't sink in. I pick it up and look back at him and ask, "Are you serious?"

Yeah, not the best words, but it really took me by surprise. He didn't get on one knee and that's exactly the way I wanted it. I'm also glad he didn't do it in a restaurant or other public place. He asked and I said yes.

Afterwards we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant and I must have been glowing, looking at my ring too much or maybe both because at the end of dinner the server brought us a piece of cheesecake with a single lit candle in it. "We think you guys just got engaged!" It was a really pleasant surprise. I then began deviously thinking of all the other free dessert opportunities I could get. Alas, no other restaurant has given in to the shiny diamond ring that I flashed everywhere saying "free cheeeeeesecake!" under my breath.

Pikachu, the ring bearer

Stay tuned to wedding plans! I'm already head first into this planning thing, and don't worry I don't think I'm a bridezilla or one of those squealy girls who get all worked up about their "big daaaaayyyy!" At least I don't think so.

Booties

At work, I typically eat lunch around 11 unless I have errands to run (errands, shopping, whatevs). Today I ran to Michaels and Goodwill in search of brown shoestrings (didn’t find any. Poopers.) and was starving by the time I got back to work. To add to my torture, I drove by a Chinese restaurant with my windows down and I could smell the yummy goodness. My stomach practically jumped out and grabbed the wheel saying, “Screw your ‘healthy lifestyle’! I’m getting me an egg roll!” I was impressed that my stomach could in fact, drive, but also made the quotation gesture in the air for "healthy lifestyle" with its various…tubes…

Enough of that stuff. As disgusting as that visual is, I’m getting hungry again.

Today I’m test-driving a pair of knee high boots. I’ve never owned a pair since my calves are like tree trunks and I’m hard to fit, but I found some at Target and DSW that have stretch to them. They look really cute with this brown and blue skirt I have but I wanted to give them a go under some pants before I wore them in front of everyone. I’ve had to pull them up a few times today and I do have some “slouchage”.

Excuse my dirty mirror.

So what do you think? Are they supposed to look like that? My fiance says yes, but I'd like a female opinion if I can get one.

PS> Word to the wise. Shave before you wear stretchy boots like this. Every time I pulled them up the fabric caught every little stub of hair I had. It was like a thousand tiny needles poking me in some sort of bizarre torture. I'll never talk Goldfinger!

First Post!!!11!1!

I'd like to welcome everyone to my new blog.

Hope you enjoy!