Monday, January 31, 2011

Making Texas Memories: Austin

In December of 2008, before we were pet owners, before we had to worry about pet-friendly hotels, before we had to plan our trips based on rest-stops with the best grass, we made a trip to Austin.



We stayed right off 6th street in a hotel that only did valet parking and they insist on carrying your luggage for you. 
This was strange and stressful for us.
You have to be completely prepared to be rushed out of your car with everything you need on you and with tip in hand. We would start organizing everything several blocks from the hotel.




I will have you know, Austin is hilly. 
There were a few times I thought I was going to have to get out and push our 4 cylinder Cavalier. 




We got so many house design ideas from the capital.

These stairs. Yes!


The intricate designs. Oh yeah.


The archways. Absolutely.


The sky-light.  Take me away...


We didn't take many pictures on our trip, because our hands needed to stay warm.

Check out the fountain... That's what our fingers felt like.



Sunday, January 30, 2011

After the After

After staring at the night stand we re-did at the Altar'd workshop, we thought the glaze was maybe a little too dark.


I got some 80 grit and 220 grit sandpaper and got after it.

I started with the 80 grit on the flat surfaces to kind of get things started. Then I used the 220 grit to take off just enough so the white could show through.

A couple of hours and with no fingerprints left, here's what I had.



Monday, January 24, 2011

Inside the box

Just to let you guys know, if you need me, I'm buried underneath boxes, packing tape, and Mark-A-Lots.



The stacks continue to grow.




It's a strange feeling.
The feeling I get when I look around and see our home being packed up.

Wrapped in newspaper, boxed, taped and labeled.

It's not exactly the feeling that I'm loosing my home or leaving my home, but that I can take it with me.

I've moved before.
I moved to college, but I it wasn't for real.
I still did my laundry at Momma's.

I moved from Momma's to The Little House, but it was sort of a temporary transition instead of a move.
Most of my stuff was still packed up.

Then we moved here.
Most of our wedding presents were still in their original boxes when we unpacked them here.

Once we unpacked, everything had its place. We were settled.

Mr. Z and I had to figure out how a marriage worked.
How a household worked.
How to combine each other's junk in our junk.
How to merge two lives completely.

That's what we are packing up. Our lives.
Now, I don't want you to think I feel that our lives are our things, but our things do represent our life.

Inside the boxes are:
The books we've studied.
The bills we have paid.
The gifts we have been given.
The dishes we picked out.
The games we have played
The movies we've watched.
The pictures we have taken.
The clothes we have worn.
The memories we have made.


It's a little sad, really exciting, extremely joyful, and super scary.

Now I'm off to attempt to scrub the newspaper ink off my fingers.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Making Texas Memories: Altar'd Workshop

We participated in a workshop today with the great people from Altar'd.

Mr. Z lugged the two pieces down stairs, played tetris with them, had to back the cars out so he could open the doors without hitting another vehicle, crammed them in the cars (yes, cars as in plural), and after the third or four-hundredth time, got them fit.

These are the pieces we wanted to give a new face to.


This night-stand was his mother's when she was growing up.




This dresser was a gift from my great-grandparents to Mawmaw and Pawpaw in 1966.
How do I know this?





It also has a twin that is still in The Little House.

The dresser is very sturdy for its age, but I didn't really care for the finish.
Still, I wasn't sure if I would want to paint it or do anything with it because I was afraid of messing it up.
Then I remembered something.
Big Mawmaw (my great-grandmother) was an artist. She loved to paint and create. She painted her paint-brush handles.
And afraid of messing something up? Ha!
If she made a mistake while painting or writing, she would some how turn it into a flower or a vine or a mountain in the background or something!

So, the only thing to do was do.




We weren't sure how to get the handles off the dresser. It appeared that the handles were glued and attached with wooden pegs. So we tried to pry them off.

Once we figured out the best way to pry off the handles, we realized it was actually attached with screws and covered with wood-filler.


After that, it was smooth sailing.

Some spray primer and some Behr Pillar white.





Now it was time for the distressing.
I decided I really wanted to try something a little more... rough.

I used the hand-sander and let all restraints free.


After the distressing I put a VERY light coat of tobacco glaze.
I didn't exactly do a even coat either.



Meanwhile, Mr. Z did basically the same thing, but used a little more glaze.




The hardware we bought, didn't come with screws, so we will have to find some that will fit.



Mr. Z also won this cute little side table.



So, it's official. I will definately be doing some more of this!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Making Texas Memories: Snow and the Pioneer Woman

December of 2009 it snowed in Pasadena, TX.







It snowed in Pasadena, TX the same weekend Momma came out to visit.



It snowed in Pasadena, TX the same weekend Momma came out to visit and meet The Pioneer Woman!


I ordered the cookbook for Momma as a Christmas present, then I found out she was coming to Houston.
I got tickets a few weeks ahead of time, and boy was I glad I did!
If not, we would have been behind all these lovely ladies.




Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Making Texas Memories: Astros Game

Mr. Z's dad took us to an Astros game this past summer.


Now, there is something you may need to know.
Mr. Z and I have no clue about the rules and plays of baseball.
Any sport, actually.
So there was a huge learning curve for us.

We do, however, understand hotdogs and nachos.



And ginormous oranges.
(The game was at Minute Maid Park, hence the oranges. It only took us about 5 minutes to figure that one out.)

Ok, so here's what we learned.

This is what happens before the game.
Players huddle around and talk about the weather and clean things with a towel.



And this is where guys carry a big hose around for some pre-game limbo.
They also spray everything down in case of a wild-fire.



This is where they sing the National Anthem and no one knows where they are supposed to look.


Once the game begins, it gets really out of control.

The guy in the middle of the field pushes the limits of the in-seam in the pants while practicing yoga while standing on a mole-hill.



And the rest of the guys stand around to critique his technique.



Then, they make the yoga more challenging by hitting balls in the direction of the yoga guy.
The key is to get him off-balance.



Some guys run around in circles to make the yoga guy dizzy.





A few hours, 2 hotdogs, and a pretzel later, they are still doing the same thing.

 




And that, my friends, is all you need to know to enjoy a beautiful day with family.