My first Palm Reading

I’ve always wanted a palm reading, but not out of some deep desire to know what my future holds.  Mainly my curiosity is intrigue.  The psychics themselves intrigue me; are there really supernatural powers out there that people possess that are able to give them insight into other people lives?  Or are they just really good at reading people and their body language?  Perhaps my fascination is a product of growing up on too many episodes of “Unsolved Mysteries.”

A friend of mine joined me this weekend as I had my first palm reading experience. I timidly admitted that I never had a reading done to the medium.  As a result she offered my friend and myself a palm reading as well as a tarot card reading. 

My reading was about twenty minutes in length, which included both the tarot and the palm reading.  I didn’t flinch at any revelations.  In fact, I found most of everything she said to me to be nothing new to me, there was nothing too insightful, and no goosebumps. 

After my first tarot and palm reading I am reminded to never underestimate what happens when we sit still long enough to realize the answers are already out there and within us. We just have to be quiet and open enough to hear them.

New Jewelry Storage

I finally have finished one aspect of my new glorious closet, my jewelry storage!  I am so excited to finally have it all out and on display...well behind closed doors at least.  With having my jewelry out and on display I see it more, which means I wear it more.

I took one drawer and one shelf of the new closet and turned it into jewelry storage.  Most of the storage items in the shelf part of the storage were from thrift stores.  I found these candle sticks that I turned into bracelet holders for $.50 each.

I found this candle holder that I turned into a bracelet holder and earring storage at Hobby Lobby, and of course used a 40% off coupon for just a few bucks.  This candle holder was originally black, so I had to remove the glass to spray paint it gold.  I soaked the candle holder in hot water to be able to remove the glass from the metal since it was glued to the bottom.

I found a glass tea cup at a Thrift store to use as more earring storage as well as to put rings inside the teacup.  The mirrored jewelry box I found at Home Goods.

I used drawer pulls to hang a piece of chain to be able to have more earring storage.  I've come to the conclusion that I have too many earring, wait, no one can ever have too many earrings.  I also used different crystal drawer pulls to hang necklaces.

For more necklace storage I made a custom fit necklace holder that fit into one of the drawers.

To begin I measured the drawer to find out the width, length, and height to cut the plywood and what size board I would need to prop it with for the angle.  I then nailed the two boards together.

I then stapled black velvet around the wood and trimmed off any excess fabric that hung too low.

After stapling the fabric on I graphed out on a piece of paper where I wanted to place the hooks but putting dots across the top.  I taped the paper on the holder and began to nail into each specific dot where I had graphed.  I did this so the hooks would twist in easier as well as not snag the fabric.

I love jewelry, and I can't wait to acquire more since now I have the space and more room for it. 

Linked to: House of Rose: Inspire Me Please

This will be a day long remembered...

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...I took on the challenge to watch all six Star Wars episodes in marathon form!

In my endeavor to watch all six Star Wars episodes I was presented with a problem...watch them by episode or by release date?  In my final decision I decided to watch them by episode starting with Episode I: The Phantom Menace and ending with Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

*Spoiler Alert* The deciding factor for me to watch them by episode was to move chronologically through the life of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.  Now I will admit that where viewing this way fails is in the plot surprises in the original trilogy.  You come to learn that Darth Vader is Luke's Father, that Leia is Luke's twin sister, and that Yoda is in fact the little green toad living on Dagobah.  This viewing order does ruin those twists if you have never seen the movies before.  Therefore, I would still recommend viewing in a non-marathon order to be IV-VI then I-III.

While enjoying my Star Wars marathon I tabulated some random facts and figures...

Now after sitting on the couch for 13 hours watching Star Wars what would you do?  None other than watch Spaceballs!!!! And my new running time?

Pumping Iron

To update a previous post, my 6th anniversary has come and gone and yet I never posted the Iron I bought the Hubs.

SIXTH ANNIVERSARY - IRON

Cycling Bike and Weights

In our new house we purchased a few months back we were lucky enough to get an exercise room.  The only problem is we have no exercise equipment.  So I thought with this anniversary Trevor could pump a little iron!

I guess now is the time I need to start thinking about our 7th anniversary...Copper!

Painted Kitchen Table

I believe I was thirteen the first time I refinished a piece of furniture.  I stripped and stained my great grandmother vanity and replaced the knobs and pulls to something more my style.  It was then that I fell in love with taking something old and maybe a little beat up and bringing it back to life.  My latest project was to refinish a kitchen table that I bought to replace an old Urban Living (aka IKEA) table.

Oops...I started sanding before taking a "Before" picture

After buying our new house and having a bay window breakfast nook I decided the table I needed to replace the existing one with needed to be round.  I was on the hunt for a round pedestal table and after finding this one on Craigslist for $40 complete with chairs (which I sold for $20) I was sold!

Painting a piece a furniture that is high traffic is much like painting kitchen cabinetry; you will need a stain blocking oil based primer, a durable paint, and a final coat of protectant.

Everybody's favorite refinishing task comes first...sanding!  Make sure to use a medium grit sand paper.

After the table is sanded and smooth to the touch wipe done all the dust and debris to begin priming.    Zinsser offers a great stain blocking oil based primer to get the job done.  I also used the Zinsser BIN shellac based primer to get into the crevices which were unreachable with the sander and the foam roller.

The table should have two coats of primer on it with allowing each coat of primer sufficient drying time.  Most direct 24 hours of drying time.

Now into Day 3 of this project we can finally move onto painting!  For this table I wanted to make sure that I had a durable paint to withstand the traffic of a kitchen table, I went with Benjamin Moore Advance water based enamel alkyd, it will give a hard finish much like oil based paints.  I also used my trusty Corona "Excalibur, I call on your power" paint brush.

Once again two coats for paint is recommended with again 24 hours of drying time in between!  And you thought this was a weekend project! :) 

After the final coat of paint is adhered, a curing time of 3-5 days is recommended before protecting the table.  It has become a personal preference of mine when painting furniture white or a lighter color to use a wax rather than Polyurethane, for in time the wax will not yellow or age your paint color.

The wax I used for this table for SC Johnson Paste Wax, clear in color.  I applied three coats of wax to this table, giving a couple hours of drying time in between each coat.

After two weeks of refinishing this table it finally made its way into the breakfast nook and I am in love! Now all I need are chairs for my new table.

Linked to:

House of Rose: Inspire Me Please

High Heels to Hiking Shoes

So when you're relaxing in the Caribbean what is the logical thing to do...plan your next vacation obviously!!!! I traded in my high heels for a pair of hiking shoes this time around.  We packed up the hounds and took a Road Trip to the Arkansas Ozarks for a camping trip. 

With the wind in their hair and their ears flopping in the breeze we were off!  I'm not too sure how much they enjoyed the road trip aspect of the vacation. 

 

 

Our first campsite was at Tompkins Bend at Lake Ouachita.  It was a nice campground that offered lake access and hiking trails with A LOT of RVs and people!!!  I guess what should we expect for going camping over 4th of July weekend? We decided to pack up camp the remaining days of our camping trip and trek into the Ozark Mountains and camp in the woods. I was in hopes to see a black bear the whole time, but no such luck :(

The next day we drove into the Ozarks and hiked into the woods and found this wonderful spot and popped up camp.

I think that Remington and Archie loved the second campsite much better!  Archie's alter ego "Mudspot" even came out a time or two.

We hiked, we swam, we relaxed, we ate!  Camping food is one of the best parts about camping.  Who doesn't love Puppy Chow, Trail Mix, S'mores and foods cooked in foil? Here's to sharing our adventure in camping foods...

The essential "oven"

Chicken and Veggie Kabobs

"Foil Packs" Turkey Patty, Carrots, Potatoes, Onions

Potato Packs

Strawberry S'mores

 

Banana Boats

Until our next adventure...

Waking up in Paradise

As my 29th birthday was approaching I realized I had not accomplished as many things on my 30 Before Thirty list as I would have liked to by this point. I did feel a little better though knowing that the week of my birthday I would be marking a couple things off the list, one of which was a much needed vacation!  On Friday, June 7th the Hubs and I jetted off to Trinidad and Tobago!  An island in the Caribbean...that's not in  Canada! Nothing against Canada, I have just been there too many times in the past few years.

We stayed a little over a week in Tobago, which was beyond beautiful and relaxing.  Trinidad and Tobago was the perfect Caribbean islands for us; they are off the beaten path and not overwhelmed with tourism, which is how we like to travel.  No chocolate on my pillow for this girl, instead I had beetles landing on my pillow in the middle of the night! That's part of the adventure right? 

"In the morning you will wake up in paradise," at least that's what the property manager of the cottage we stayed at said the night he dropped us off after picking us up from the airport.  I think he was right!  This was our view every morning of Englishman's Bay.

We took a boat out one day and went down the west side of the Island.  We went fishing and went snorkeling in a couple of the bays along the island.  We stopped at Paradise Bay and cooked our fish on the beach.

Enjoying my new camera on the boat ride

Happy Birthday to Me!  On my Birthday we spent the day at three different beaches swimming and relaxing.  I would have to say it was pretty perfect to spend my birthday in the Caribbean! The above Jetty is at Pigeon Point.

Beach #2 of Caribbean Birthday relaxing was Mount Irvine Beach.  We weren't the only ones relaxing and sleeping on the beach :)

Beach #3 of Caribbean Birthday relaxing was Englishman's Bay.  Here we watched the sunset on a perfect Birthday!

I went in for a little dip in my Birthday Suit on my Birthday! This would be the second thing I checked off my 30 Before Thirty list! :)

While in Tobago we also hiked around in the Rain Forest on Gilpin Trail.  It was a beautiful Rain Forest with lots of birds and waterfalls.

We also hiked up a river in Bloody Bay one day.  It was a little ironic due to the fact that after the hike in Bloody Bay I came out of it Bloody.  I slipped and busted my knee open, oops!

We also made our way into Trinidad one day and walked around Port of Spain.  We found a local street market and tried out some of the local street food.  One of my favorite parts about traveling to different countries is experiencing the local cuisine and street foods.

Until our next adventure...