TABLE remodel!!!

Wow three entries in one day. Calli would be proud ;)
So we have been on the search for affordable practical outdoor furniture and have not had much success. So I decided I would makeover the table we put outside. Easy enough right?.... yeah not so much haha
So this table was one given to us about two years ago. It was a used kitchen table in decent condition. Well last year said table got put outside on our patio. Doesn't seem like a horribel idea until you remember that it rains almost everyday here. It is is forever damp. So this not so bad kitchen table went from white with light pine to black/brown with a hint of dark green...... a spot of white fuzz. Yeah ew. but I was determined to make this work!
I wasn't sure just what I was going to do with it but I wanted fun and bright! so we heading to B & G aka.. a micro Home depot with only half the stuff. And they proceeded to tell me they cannot mix exterior paint, so my only option was white.  Not really my thing. So after see the Avengers ( KICK ASS MOVIE BTW) we headed into a much larger  B & Q and they guy there tells me he can mix exterior paint into ANY color I want. Woohoo! I quickly scamper around the store find color swatches. The very helpful man mixes the paint and we are ready to go.
Since it rains here all the time here , I decided I had to do this project indoors. This meant.. our dining room. It's the only room big enough. So things got covered with trash bags and furniture got removed. We brought in the table and took it apart.

 Table top.. yep the black is mold.

The rather sad chairs.All the white paint had chipped and started to grow mold underneath.       Again I say....ew.








Immediately I washed everything down with pure bleach to kill the mold. * Note to self open windows next time!* 
The next step was sanding! Luckily we have this awesome electric sander so we were cooking with gas! So I started with the table top!

Luckily the mold came off. I then moved onto the chairs..... and they were a PAIN IN THE BUTT! They were taking forever and  I was getting nowhere. Not to mention the fact that the room was becoming a huge dust cloud. Oh and did I mention I didn't have a mask for my face, only a bandana covering my nose and mouth. Bad idea. Between the mess and the dust making me feel icky, I was quickly feeling defeated. So I sent out an SOS to my SOS group :)  Luckily Calli responded!


Calli is awesome. She is definitely a go-getter and I love that about her. So she showed up and brought her sander! And we tackled the rest of the furniture! Each chair took an hour and we were covered in dust! But 5 hours later we finished sanding!

Poor Calli, covered in sawdust but STILL smiling! :)










Next Step! Prime everything with the white undercoat. Could not find KILLZ anywhere here, so went with a weather undercoat.

Now the fun part! Color!! I decided to go with some dramatic but fun shades. Turns out this paint makes a HUGE mess. does not like to come out of paintbrushes.

 For the chairs I went with orange and yellow, the table blue and the legs and table runner stencils green :)


So Now I needed a stencil for table runner. I couldn't find anythng in any of the stores here. So after searching online I was able to find  Damask pattern I really liked. Printed it on regular 8x 11 paper and then cut it out with a straight razor. Took forever! But it worked. The stencil didn't come out terribly neat but for what I had to work with I am pleased with the over all results. Especially for my first time :)

And now the end results!

Brimham Rocks

So turns out there are many fabulous cool places to see within only a few minutes drive of Harrogate. Once of these cool places is Brimham Rocks. Okay yes I know what you're thinking rocks.. yeah that sounds really exciting...... But it was pretty cool.  We decided to join the National Trust a few months ago and with that you can get free admission to all National properties, so we got in  for free ( Bonus!) 
 Brimham Rocks is a collection of crazy rock formations. Plan and simple. Some of them I found to be kind of amazing, defying gravity really. Okay so maybe I'm being a bit dorky but they were cool to look at and you get a nice little walk in while your there. And the weather... well the weather was England, 20 minutes of scattered clouds and sunshine. 10 minutes of hail, 12 minutes of light sprinkles and then the sun came out as we left haha. Anywho here are some pics :) enjoy!

 Writer's Desk. Jon feels it's cooler to stand at it rather than sit ;)

 O0o0o look at me lifting this rock... Okay humor me and pretend to be impressed.

Dancing bear :)

LAMBS!!!!!!!!!! Sorry couldn't resist haha 

Easter!

Okay so remember when I said I am absolute horrid at updating blogs, well now you've seen it for yourself haha.
Easter was wonderful. While I was back in the States I stocked up on some traditional Easter essentials i.e. Reese's Eggs, Malted Milk Eggs, Cadbury mini eggs and a peep or two. We had two of Jon's college friends, Erin and Colleen, come and stay with us so I had to make sure I had enough for everyone.... or at least that's what I told myself when I packed about 5 maybe even 7 pounds of candy haha in my suitcase haha. We also had two of our fabulous Roxy and Chris come over for easter dinner. I of course cooked way too much but we enjoyed ourselves.

Oh I forgot to mention, whenever we have visitors, I make them pose in the frame :) Now doesn't that make you just want to hop right on over? :)

States Visit!

Whoa, look out world entry number 2!

It's been a while since my last entry so this may end of being two. Since last we spoke I traveled  to the States and back, had Easter, and signed up for an adult ed. class. So exciting!

Going home is home is always a whirlwind. I like to see everyone I can and catch up on things I miss while living in the UK, i.e.

Chick Fil a

ocean/bay

hot sunshine

TARGET!

Large washing machines

Mexican food

sushi

Coralie ( And  her mom of course!)

PTP (theater)

Family!!

Friends!!

Barstow ( where I use to work :) )

Okay I think that is most of the list. Hopefully I didn't forget anything or anyone. If I did please feel free to write a letter of complaint.

I lucked out on all flights going to and from the States and had no one sitting next to me. Not that I mind complete strangers falling asleep on my shoulder but it's nice to be able to stretch out and not have to ask everyone to move just so you can go potty, only to return seconds later because all are occupied.

I got to visit with my in-laws which was very nice. Had some very yummy sushi and mexican with them :) . and discovered that I really do NOT like sea urchin haha.  

Got to see a bunch of friends, unfortunately not everyone though. I was also able to spend some time with my good friend Barbara on her birthday. We danced to some awesome 80s tunes, at a bar in DC.

I was also able to stop by the theatre  Port Tobacco Theater during their auditions for Wizard of Oz. It was so cute to see the kids sing. And I got such a warm welcome from everyone. Made me really miss theater.

I also got to spend time with my favorite almost 1year old Miss Coralie. I love this girl! She's so freakin cute! And she just make the world seem like a better place haha.  Of course it was just as nice to see her awesome Mom as well. Lenae and I have only know each other for a few years but have been through a lot together. She is my sister from another mister... and mother haha. 

While I was home I got to go home again, only this time to Massachusetts. It's been a while since I've driven the truck. I always felt like a bit of a badass chick driving a big F-250 haha. I do not like, however, when I have to fill it with diesel. So expensive! But I got to go home and visit with my Momma. So it's all good.

While there we decided to have some mother-daughter time together :) . Mom tried some watercolor painting. I think she did great but she disagrees. My mom is super talented and she doesn't always see that.  While she did that I tried my hand at customizing a tshirt (something I saw on pintrest ) but my severe lack of sewing skills pretty much killed the shirt haha.

Also go to see my fabulous cousin Erin sing in her Junior recital. I knew she could sing but I was so impressed with her talent. Such a beautiful voice! Her she is in all her glory ;)

She did such a great job! And Uncle Johnny had made lots of delicious snacks for after show. I also got to see my Grandma, as well as some other family. It was really nice :) I have a super big family. And as the years pass, it seems geographically we spread further and further away from each. So whenever I get to see this I am grateful :) 

Since I was in town the weekend before Easter mom and I decided to dye some eggs and celebrate Gram's bday :)  . We went with a new technique for dying the eggs this year. I have yet to at the, age of 27 , to not dye eggs on Easter and I am very okay with that :).  This new method was once again a Pintrest find ;). You crack the eggs before dying so that the white of the egg has a tie dyed look to it once peeled. All in all for our first time they weren't too shabby :)

Sunday we had Gram over to celebrate her bday and have lots of yummy food. Mom, Gram and I also watched the Womens Uconn game. It was so intense! Gram got so into it haha.  She even yelled at the tv haha. Even though they lost it was a great game and fun to watch with them :).

Time flew as it always does. When it came time to fly back I had to rearrange a lot of stuff to not go over my weight limit haha. So I sacrificed some bath products so that I could take home some traditional American Easter candy haha. 

Even candy that is made by the same company with the same name, still tastes different. It's crazy haha.

Once I got back to England the jet lag kicked in haha. It's always harder adjusting here. But it's all good. okay if you are still reading thanks for sticking with me ;)

Soon to come ; Easter and Brinham Rocks!