Fridays Letters - The Summer Edition

Dear readers, 

The last time we were together, I said my summer was going to be full of wine, lake living, and exercise. Well, exercise has certainly been on the menu! My sister and I spent a week wrestling, swearing, whining about successfully dealing with tannin stains in order to prep her cabinets for painting:

The actual paint goes on in a few weeks. It's going to be BEE - U - TEE - FULL!!

We also ran a little every day; nothing like jogging with your sister. In 95 degree heat. She's toughening me up ;)

As for the wine, we also decided to not eat or drink past 8:00 pm, in order to give our bodies a chance to have a 12-hour fast and to burn some fat. It's been almost impossible easy to not have anything but water after 8:00. So far, so good!

Dear Global Warming,

Sorry I doubted you.

Dear Crazy, Cycling Neighbors,

You have had a little while to get your cycling legs under you. I have been barely jogging, but not cycling. Maybe taking me out for a 20 mile bike ride in 96 degree heat was a bit much...unless you were trying to kill me? Good thing my sister had me running every day to acclimate me to sweating buckets exercising in this heat.

at 7.8 miles...only 12.2 to go...

Dear Goodwills in this area,

Thank you for always coming through for me. I found a bunch of little things to transform into decorative pieces with my DIY chalk paint. Thanks for also not jacking up the prices.

Dear Hydrangeas,

Wow, you have EXPLODED!! As have all the plants around my deck. Guess not pruning last year was a good thing. Hydrangeas for everyone :) 

They're usually pink, but there's an explosion of blue and purple this year. So pretty!

No, really...feel free to clip some to display in your home. I can't possibly use them all.

A window from the old cottage that we saved in the remodel, an old ironstone pitcher that makes a perfect vase - my favorite summer display.

Dear Pinterest,

I'll be looking for 'drying hydrangeas' pins soon. Of course, I'll forget what I was looking for the instant I see that transformed dresser/cool jewelry/yummy dessert recipe/funny e-card...

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!

Summertime...and the Living is Easy

Woo BABY! It's SUMMER!!

This means I'll be spending some time on a lake, maybe doing a little of this:

 and a little of this: 

Maybe spending time doing nothing but looking at these:

and these:

Definitely spending time wearing this:

Absolutely enjoying this with friends and family:

and soaking up lots and lots of this:

I have a few projects to work on too...if I have any spare time with my very full calendar...you'll be the first to see if any get done. Don't expect much from me for the next six weeks...

May your summer be just as relaxing and fun too; and don't hate me for being a very, very lucky and grateful woman!

The Mudroom Reveal

Hey guess what? This project that was so exciting to work on...in the beginning...and had become my personal stumbling block...is finished (well, finished except for some decorating tweaks).

Hallelujah and thank the powers that be. And good riddance. Let me tell you why I feel that way now.

I started with this corner, where we come in from the garage.

Nice and bright!

We needed a 'landing pad' for shoes, coats, purses, etc when we come in. Something other than the kitchen table and chairs. We needed a mudroom, but a corner will do.

The inspiration came from where else? Pinterest! This particular industrial looking shelving done with pipes caught my eye and sparked my imagination.

via

This pipe and flange look was inspired by the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.

Since the need for some kind of bench/hangar situation was needed, Ana White's site was the first place I looked for plans. Working with wood doesn't intimidate me. I found a couple of nice plans for benches/cubbies and came up with something that would work...or so I thought.

Here's where things get a little messy...

     1) Never go off plan. Especially for your first big build.

     2) Measure at least ten times, cut once. 

     3) Remember which side is up, which side is the back...before screwing it in place.

     4) Think about the finished look...before you start painting.

     5) Never go off plan.
     6) Try to screw in the piping to the same depth for a more level look. (Not easy, trust me.)

     7) And finally; never, ever go off plan. Carpenter Jill, I am not.

Without further ado, my Ace Hotel inspired mudroom bench/shelf corner:

the 2 extra pipes on the right side may be used once I get to decorating; or they may get nixed

The little boxes were from the closing of The Great Indoors around the corner from me - $2! I should've gotten a few more.

I painted the inside a gray to tie into the living room color, and did a little reverse stencil on them. They'll hold the sunglasses, keys, lip balm, hair elastics, etc that we need as we're heading out the door.

Looking back, this would have been easier if I'd spent just a skootch more time planning it instead of diving in. With adding a second shelf, making the whole thing longer, not using mdf (as per the PLAN), and other assorted roadblocks, this project has kept me from moving forward on anything else because my other plan is to do One Thing At A Time.  It's not perfect, but I do like the look of it and it'll serve it's purpose. Good enough for me. Calling this one done.

This should've taken me 2-3 days tops, but 6 weeks later, it's mostly done. There are some decorating tweaks to do on it, but honestly I just want to move on and do something else for a bit. I'll come back to this as inspiration strikes, but for now no more forcing it. Next up is getting something on those beautiful Jamaican Aqua walls!

This is part of the Bloggy Olympics that Hating Martha and a bunch of other cool bloggers have thought up. This week is decorating; be sure to check out all the tutorials and linky parties, maybe participate in a few :)

Sharing at parties on sidebar and here: Funky Junky Interiors SNS #139 and I Should Be Mopping The Floor and You're Talking Too Much