Farmhouse Table Makeover

Farmhouse tables seem to be all the rage these days… With every flip of the catalog page, I seem to come across another rustic metal and distressed wood beauty.

Allow me to share a few examples…

Spotted at PB back in February…

PB catalog… Cute desk with $600 price tag.

Ballard Design for $350

Ballard Design desk for $399

Ballard Design console for $269

So imagine my surprise when I found THIS sitting on the curb RIGHT outside of our house during a big junk Saturday…

LOOK at that table!!  Despite being topless {teehee}, I knew I had to have it and hauled it inside.  This thing is just as heavy as it looks—100% sturdy, solid metal.  It looked a little dirty but I knew a little steel wood and a few pieces of wood were all I needed to make this baby good as new.

{Tyler was super excited when he got home.  That’s what he gets for being out of town on big junk Saturday.}

I am not smart enough to turn this into tutorial and actually explain HOW we took on this little project, but I can say we did a little math and Home Depot cut some 1x6s for us…

Tyler lovingly stained them with joy and gusto.

{He really did—if only he loved and participated in all of my little projects like this!}

 

We {Tyler} drilled holes that aligned with the holes on the table base.

And then I got a hammer and a screwdriver and beat the crap out of the table. {You can’t really tell, but I did.}

And then I tapped some useless decorative carpet tacks into the edges of the boards…

And then we had to wait…and wait..and dry.

And then we moved it downstairs to enjoy it under the window in our kitchen!

I kinda love it!

A better view of the details… Isn’t it gorg?

And then, to top it all off, I saw THIS picture on Pinterest the other day.  I mean, that’s MY table!  Except some joker had thrown it out on the street. These people need to be taken to the loony bin.

{Or not—I’ll gladly keep stealing your treasure!}

The beauty of this table, besides costing $30 to refurbish, was that I didn’t want it to look perfect.  The boards aren’t perfectly aligned, the nails aren’t even, and there’s rust in the little nooks and crannies—and that’s exactly how it should be! This has been favorite project in awhile… Big junk Saturday is coming up next weekend and guess who’s out of town again?

Thanks for stopping by—Happy Friday!

Instaweekend!

It was a pretty fantastic weekend…the perfect balance of fun and productive and lazy…warm and beautiful and cold and wet—all in three days!

After work on Friday, I drove to Old Town to pick up my bib for Sunday’s race from Pacers on King Street.  It was insanely gorgeous out so I spent a few extra minutes walking around… I love Old Town.

 

Friday night, we met our friends the Terrys at the ballpark for our first Nats game of the season.  I was afraid I was going to be cold once the sun went down, but it was the perfect, mild night to sit under the stars, drink beer, and shell peanuts.  The Nats are good this year {!!} so the game was over pretty early.  Too bad because I could have stayed out there all night…

 

Saturday, after a mini workout with Tyler and a little work in the backyard, we cleaned ourselves up and headed over to Capitol Hill for church {since my race was the next morning}.  Despite a forecast for rain all day, it was still ridiculously nice out so we stopped for froyo and walked up and down Barrack’s Row before church started.  The Saturday Nat’s game had just gotten out and the Caps were playing on TV so every restaurant and sidewalk café was spilling over with fans…

{Church was amazing—the sermon by Heather was incredible.  She is such a gifted teacher…this is a must listen. Seriously. Do it.}

Our church is on Barrack’s Row, two doors down from Matchbox—home of stupidly good pizza.  So I opted out of carb loading on pasta in lieu of pizza and salad.  I ordered this prosciutto, fig, and arugula pizza that now takes the place of the “Primetime” as my current fave.

The forecast the next morning called for 45 degree temps with heavy rain and winds, so my participation in the 10 miler was up in the air, but I was still in bed at 10:30…

{Only to lay there wide awake for at least a solid hour—I mean, when was the last time I was in bed at 10:30??}

It was barely drizzling when I woke up at 6 so I was in! 

{Running 10 miles in the rain just makes me a legit badass, right?} 

I donned my running tights, a windbreaker, and my Georgia hat, grabbed my phone & a Cliff bar and was out the door with my friend Amy at 6:30 for what would be my favorite race yet!

We easily parked at the Patton Office and immediately boarded a shuttle to the race start.  By 7 am, we were at Mt. Vernon with the other 5,000 runners.  Everything ran seamlessly, there were no corrals, and the race started exactly at 8:00.  Small races are my jam! 

This was my first attempt at taking a picture running… Don’t worry, I got better.

 

The race course was a straight shot down the GW Parkway from Mt. Vernon to Old Town.  The hills are rolling and mild, the trees are plush and green, and the Potomac runs on your right with beautiful homes and neighborhoods on your left.  Despite the cold, soggy weather, it was still really beautiful.

This was approaching the finish in Old Town, somewhere after the 9 mile marker.  It was really raining by this time and it was approaching 10am so you could smell the bacon coming from every brunch spot on Union Street—it was exceedingly torturous and motivating all at the same time.

I’d called Tyler from mile 7 to cue him to get his butt down to Old Town to grab a table for us at Chadwick’s.  So after finding Amy at the finish line, we walked over to the restaurant sopping wet and went straight to our table where we drank $3 mimosas and delicious, well-deserved brunch {with a side of bacon} until.… I couldn’t stay awake anymore and really needed a private bathroom.

{Side note—truly, this race was so well organized, and the course easy and beautiful, I recommend it to anyone! Especially if you’re new to longer races and are intimidated by the larger Cherry Blossom, Army, or Marine races.  Do it!  Run the Parkway Classic!}

So by 12:30, I was showered and cuddled up in bed where I dozed and watched movies for the rest of the rainy cold day!  Plus, I checked my time and I’d beat my Army 10 Miler time!  Nothing in me felt bad for my laziness…  It was kinda the perfect day.

Actually, it was the perfect weekend.  Again please!

Back to school

I wish I could tell you about my super relaxing weekend and how I slept in everyday and I’m so refreshed and ready to head back to work tomorrow…

BUT I spent all day Friday and Saturday at a continuing ed course that coincidentally was held at my grad school alma mater.

I took off of work on Friday to attend the course and was actually thrilled at the prospect of sitting down for eight hours, drinking coffee, and listening to a lecture.  I love my job but I constantly struggle to be fun and energetic with my three year old patients at 8:30 in the morning, so the idea of sitting quietly gave me a great amount of joy.

{I’ve mentioned I’m not a morning person, no?}

Not only was I getting a break from seeing patients for the day, I was oozing with nostalgia and sentimentality heading back to my old stomping grounds…

I was sure to leave early enough to allow time to stop at Booeymonger’s {“Booey’s”} to grab a cup of my favorite hazelnut coffee {I reluctantly resisted the toasted bagel, per my old usual}.  Turns out, I had the time of the course wrong and was a half hour early {which was nothing like my grad school days!}.

{I can’t tell you how many mornings of my life started with this cup of coffee, sitting in the back of the room in one of these blue chairs.}

So I headed up to the sixth floor to walk around the PT school…

It’s easy to project happy feelings on such a grueling time of life when you’re a few years removed from it.  But even then, even when it sucked, even when it was hard and you were exhausted.  Even when you couldn’t memorize one more spinal pathway or re-write that thesis sentence one more time.  Even when you hadn’t seen your friends and family in weeks and were stealing naps in the treatment labs, a part of me always enjoyed it.  I knew this time of my life was eventually going to be a great “remember when,” that I was working towards a goal that was really worth it, and that I was really proud of myself for getting through it.

And even though it’s hard to stay in touch, I will always be bonded to my class for everything we went through together.  Palpating awkward, highly personal bony landmarks in our very first lab.  Sweating it out in the hallways waiting our turn for practical exams.   Sharing a beer after semester finals with no concern for our grades, we were just so relieved to be done.  That time Kelly slipped in the cadaver juices after the wet vac started leaking?  That still makes me laugh out loud.

It was really hard and really fun and really worth it.  It’s a time of my life I’ll always remember fondly and never be able to return to.

So it was super fun to be back for the day and walk the halls… and say high to old professors…and find our class picture on the wall.

And then I had homework on Friday night and I was like, “THANK GOD I’M DONE WITH GRAD SCHOOL!!”

My first {and maybe last} vlog!

So I was tagged by the lovely Mrs April Harvey to answer eleven questions in a game called "Eleven by Eleven.". I didn't have to answer them in the form of a video but I was trying shake things up a bit.

One problem...

This vlog (video – ideo + (-b + blog) = vlog)is boring yo!  And I hate it.  And I tried to edit it down but I don’t know what the frack I’m doing so… you’re stuck with all 11:27 minutes of me.

SORRY.

For real.

.

Anyway, this is for you April.  I’m answering all eleven questions that she threw at me in a little game called Eleven by Eleven.

A few things you should know…

1} There’s nothing wrong with the video—I fast forwarded a few minutes seconds to spare you an entirely too long explanation on why I love my Livestrong iPhone app.

2.} I realize I say “ummm” and “like” wa-heeeey too much.  Don’t we all?

3.} I’d like to tell you my voice gets more animated than that but… it doesn’t.  That’s pretty much my very even, moderate way of saying everything.

4.} Yes, my introverted non-talking self over-explained every single question.  I realize it now.  Apparently I don’t know how to edit myself OR the video.

Quick review of the rules…

*You must post the rules.
*Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you; then create 11 questions to ask the people you will tag.
*Tag 11 people and link to them in your post.
*Let them know you have tagged them.

Now, my eleven questions aaaaaaaare….

1} Are you a freak morning person or a night owl?

2} What’s the best road trip you’ve ever taken?

3} What was your first car?

4} What’s your favorite day of the week, and why?

5} What bad habit of other people’s is most annoying to you?

6} If someone made a movie of your life, who would play present-day you?

7} What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

8} Obama or Romney?  Just kidding—don’t answer that. Answer this:Team Gale or Team Peeta?

9} What would you consider the most important event in your life so far?

10} Do you have any phobias?

11} Would you rather…always have a popcorn kernel stuck in your throat OR have Cheeto fingers forever?

And the 10 11 bloggers I’m tagging are…

Becky {my seester} @ Everette Family Expands

Sarah @ Story of the Smiths

Cherish @ All Things Cherish

Abby @ Satisfy My Soul

Chaaron @ Sense & {Non}sensibility

AnnieLaurie @ My Living Canvas

Molly @ This Wood House

Jess @ Shine Like Stars

Julia @ In My Shoes

Shana @ A Southern Girl with a Northern Boy…

{Note: this doesn’t have to be answered in a vlog—it’s just a fun way to shake things up!}

Now GO! Answer these questions—even if you don’t have eleven new bloggers to tag.

Just in case you were wondering…

I AM still trying to convince my husband to move to New York.

{In the spirit of moving to New York, I WANT to sell everything I own.}

I have NOT run more than five miles since Christmas

{Important to note, I am running a 10 miler in two weeks}.

I survived my Lent fast from Facebook .

{But wasn’t nearly as excited to get back on as I thought I’d be.}

US Airways just introduced has direct flights from DC to Savannah, Omaha, and Bentonville, AR.

{We suspect our moms bought the airline.}

My work calendar is slammed for the next three weeks.

{And I don’t have additional comments on this.}

I actively hate my bangs on an hourly basis

{And don’t know what to do about it.}

I owe April Harvey a video blog.

{And I’m recording it tomorrow—eep!}

And I finally saw the Hunger Games this weekend!

{It was really good.}

That’s all. I have writer’s block.  Happy Tuesday!

Easy Nutter Butter ‘Nana Pudding

I don’t know where banana pudding has been all my life but in the past two months or so, I have experienced an awakening to this smooth, creamy concoction.  It’s not that I’d never eaten it before, but I would typically never pick it from the dessert menu.

But my eyes were opened to its goodness…And THEN…one day I saw a recipe for ‘nana pudding using Nutter Butters instead of Nilla Wafers.

Peanut Butter + Bananas?  Genius!

So, knowing we were hosting friends for dinner this weekend, I decided this was the time to try my new recipe.  Except I’ve found on my new journey with ‘nana puddin’, it seems that every single recipe is different…Some call for homemade pudding, some for whipped cream from scratch, milk versus condensed milk, sour cream, bananas on top, bananas on the bottom, bananas in the middle… They were all over the place and I just don’t have time for all of those shenanigans. 

So, I combined all the recipes I’ve used to make my own, using the fastest and easiest methods and the fewest number of ingredients.  If you have time to do all the homemade stuff—go for it!  I’ll just be over here taking the shortcuts…

Here’s what you need…

• Five bananas
• 1 package Nutter Butters
• {2} 8 oz containers Light or Sugar Free Cool Whip
• {1} 3.4 oz package Instant Vanilla Pudding
• 14 oz. Fat-free Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1.5 cups ice cold water

1. Mix the ice cold water and the can of condensed milk until combined.  Add the instant pudding and mix until well combined.  To speed to thickening process, let the pudding sit for 15 minutes in the fridge, followed by 15 minutes in the freezer. {Tip: Don’t forget it’s in there!}

2.  While the pudding sits, cut the bananas into thin slices and break the Nutter Butters into thirds. {The mini Nutter Butters that are small and round would also work!}

3. Once the pudding has set, fold in one tub of Cool Whip until the white streaks are fully blended.

4. Pour half of the pudding into the trifle dish.  Top with bananas and Nutter Butter pieces.  Layer the remaining half of the pudding on top.  Garnish as desired with remaining Cool Whip, bananas, and NB pieces.

Wasn’t that easy and delicious??  And you got a ton of compliments, right?  Yep. Consider yourself enlightened and all that jazz….

Now.  Who wants to help Tyler with the dishes?