The [perfect] Weekend

The [perfect] Weekend

Posted by Brit

This has been a fantastic weekend.  Yes, I'm writing this on Monday night... today is President's day and so I had the day off.  For some reason I was feeling the need to do things this weekend; I'll admit my weekends usually include a lot of lounging.  I usually get up on Saturday to eat the breakfast Brandon has prepared for me, and he usually gets up on Sunday to eat the breakfast I've prepared for him.  After breakfast on both days I tend to go back to bed for a little while at least...

My weekend began with a great surprise on Friday Night!  Tia and her pup drove down to pay me a visit and she and I got ready together and then headed out for the evening to Rock Island Live in Old Town.  The Calamity Cubes!, Tater Famine, Filthy Still, and Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy all played kick ass sets.  I was so happy to be running around with old Tia again in Wichita.

Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy

Filthy Still

Saturday I made breakfast for Tia, Brandon and I.  I napped and then did a little grocery shopping.  We had Brandon's family over for dinner.  He made carnitas, chile verde, and guac.  It was mouth-watering.  I seriously thought about that pork all day Sunday. 

Beginnings of Chile Verde

Carnitas Cooking

Seared pork

Sunday I ran some errands and got some crafting gear.  I purchased some beads and cord to make some bracelets, and began by making one last night.  I also picked up some candle making supplies.  I bought some Valentine's flowers for $2.50 at Dillons, and while I am sure the boys in my house could care less about them, I'm happy to have something to brighten the place up!

Today I made a chocolate peanut butter cream pie and then took it and lunch (leftover Carnitas) to Brandon's parents' house where he is working on remodeling their bathroom.  After lunch I headed home to work on making a candle.  I am pretty excited about the results!  The scent is Citrus Sage and it smells fresh and clean.  I bought some antique Ball canning jars at Metcalf Sisters Antiques while out and about Sunday and they worked perfectly!

Melting Wax

Poured

Finished Candle (and wine and bon appetit)

One last thing I enjoy about my weekends this time of year is the afternoon sun that enters the living room when we have all of our (read: Brandon's) plants inside.

Have a happy week!

Construction

Construction

Posted by Brit

I knew since I wasn't planning on going anywhere for Labor Day Weekend that I needed a project to keep me busy.  I decided to build a bookshelf for our living room.  After drawing some (rough) sketches to figure out what height and width I wanted Brandon helped me refine my idea.  We ended up finding an "Instructable" for some low-waste bookshelves.  There was absolutely no left over lumber or polyurethane when I was finished with the project.  I did have about a foot and a half of all thread rod left over.  After a couple of coats of poly I cut 8 pieces of the all thread rod and assembled the shelf.  I finished it last night and moved it into our living room.

1. Drill holes through wood.  2. Place rod through holes.  3. Put shelf boards on top of rods and bolt together.

The shelf is actually pretty darn stable.  It also fits perfectly in the living room.

The site I used to find the Instructable is http://www.instructables.com/.  I highly recommend it if you like DIY projects.  I also used it last year to find a template for a homemade notebook for Tia's birthday.  There are all sorts of different projects, and they include pictures and comments so you can see how the projects worked out for other people.