DIY

Matt left me earlier this week to go to Houston for work.  Certain that I would fall apart without his  benevolent presence to guide me through the days, he worried his way through his meetings, anxious to get home and coddle me into a peaceful state once more.  Little did he know, I had bigger and better plans in the form of my very own DIY project.  Because now I'm domesticated, and I can buy things and make them into better things.

Saturday, before Matt left, we traipsed over to my new favorite haunt, the Village Treasure House, where we found a used nightstand for $25.  Only $25!  Do you know how much those things cost these days?  Upwards of $100, at least!  No way I'm spending that much on a little dinky cabinet to hold my mouthguard (I now have a teeth clenching problem, courtesy of India) and glass of water.  I would much rather stick my water and guard on something we already have... like the small safe Nick and Jen got us for our wedding.  (So many uses for a safe!)

Anyway, this nightstand needed a little coddling of its own, so we sanded it down (by hand, which I don't recommend), and then I lovingly and painstakingly painted it, a task which kept me busy for most of the 48 hours Matt was away.  Seriously, these things take time.  We had decided we wanted something chic and exciting, a la this little number from Crate & Barrel:

FYI, if anyone feels that I should have this exact cabinet in my home, I agree with you, and I'd gladly accept it as a gift and token of your love and affection.  It costs $900.  A steal!  

So we went to Lowe's and bought a paint and primer combo called "Enchanted Navy".  So chic.  So exciting.  I didn't have a paintbrush, so we bought one of those, too.  And sandpaper, for the sanding.  We spent about $30.  Then I had to go buy new drawer knobs for it.  $5.  New nightstand total:  $60.  Hmm.  I'm new at this DIY stuff, but I'm not sure your refurbishing supplies should exceed the cost of the actual product.  Unless it was free.  Ah, well, such is life.  

Many, many hours and four very thin coats of paint later, the deed was done.  Add in what Matt should pay me for my backbreaking labor (roughly $40/hour), and the final total came up to:  $1660.  Not quite a bargain, per se, but still better than something you might buy at, ahem, Macy's.  

Before  (But after the sanding.  I forgot to take a true before picture):

 

And After!

 

Ehhhh.  

And the finished product:  

 

I am fully aware that it looks like a face with book teeth, and I'm okay with that.  

Soooo, it isn't quite the chic and exciting finished product I was envisioning, but it isn't terrible.  Somehow the color came out much lighter and brighter and more primary-color-wheel-esque than I had anticipated.  That's okay.  I am consoling myself with the fact that after we have kids, we can stick this little guy in the kid's room and the bright and cheerful blue color will brighten his/her days forever.  Hell, I might even stencil some trains on it.  Or teddy bears.  Or creepy old-fashioned dolls with glass eyes. Eventually.  (I'm not pregnant, I promise.  I'm just thinking ahead. Waaay ahead.)  

Anyway, Matt came home and was just about as impressed as I was.  Which isn't saying much.  However, we are both pleased to have a new nightstand for our sundries.  Plus, now I have a whole can of bright, primary blue paint to do with as I please.  Stay tuned for my next DIY project:  Blue Dresser, followed by Blue Mantle, Blue Mirror, and probably Blue Faux Leather Chairs.  

Oh, also, in light of recent DIY events, Matt has elected to skip his Seoul trip in August to babysit me.  Any and all who were invited to visit are still invited, but things might be a touch more unpleasant with him around.  I joke, I joke.  

Success!

We've done it!  We finally have a sofa!  The lovely people from Crate and Barrel called on Saturday to set up a delivery appointment for Sunday, and then (and this is the really amazing part, guys), they actually showed up!  With the sofa!  Unbelievable.  I wasn't here when it happened (I was busy doing some important work at the lake), but apparently they had to take the door off to wrangle the beast in the apartment.  They left without putting the door back on, but that is beside the point.  My handy husband put it back in in a jiffy (or an hour).

 

How d'ya like them apples?  We have since rearranged and our living room doesn't look like this anymore, but I am too lazy to take a new picture.  

God bless that's a pretty looking couch.  Don't deny it.  Later, the woman who sold us the couch from Crate and Barrel called to make sure we were happy with our purchase and that it had arrived in a timely manner.  Can you believe that?  Customer service at its finest.  Take notes, Macy's.  

That is about all that is noteworthy in my life at the moment.  Our Fourth was pretty uneventful, although we did go floating on the Fox River that Sunday.  Then we "watched" fireworks at the lake on Monday (I use the term loosely because we couldn't really see many from where we were).  Oh, and we went to the Evanston parade.  I thought it would be a bigger deal seeing how everyone from the county showed up, but it wasn't.  

Still better than China's parade from 2009:  

 

Admittedly, this wasn't actually on the 4th of July, but somewhere near then.  They started marching like this at least once a day, every day, after the Urumqi riots.  Ahh, China.  How I miss you.

Last week I helped throw a baby shower for Angela, head roadwife of UOP, for her second child.  I hope she had a good time, even though I kept winning at the "Don't Say 'Baby'" game.  

 

Angela, her gifts, and Aunt Bit's "shower umbrella".  She is 8.5 months pregnant, by the way - not that you can tell.  

Oh yes, and Monday morning we had a storm, again, and lost our power, again.  It's starting to feel a little like Dumai, Indonesia, where we had rolling blackouts daily.  Luckily, we had it back by that afternoon, unlike most of the rest of the 700,000 homes who were reportedly without on Monday.  The stop lights were out as well, which caused Matt to have to work from home on Tuesday.  Boy, did he hate that.  The lights are still out today, but he went in anyway, because he couldn't stand to be away from the office for one more minute.  

Anyway, thus ends the Saga of the Couch.  Fear not, old friends, for next week I will probably have some new drama to tell you about.  My prediction is a "Saga of the Car", or "Saga of the Ceiling Fan".  This living in America and owning stuff ain't for sissies.   

Why Don't We Do It Off The Road?

Well, I guess it's as official as it's going to get, folks:  we're coming off the road.  I'm sure most of you know this, but for those of you who don't, Matt has taken a job in Tech Services with UOP in Des Plaines, which means no more full time travel for us.  We just signed a lease on an (amazing) apartment in Evanston, and we are in the process of becoming all domesticated and crap.  

Sorry if this is a surprise to some... we've been talking about it for a while, but Matt didn't want to say anything before it was set in stone.  (A task which, as you can imagine, was a little too much for me.  I told a lot of people in Arkansas right off the bat, but I waited until we started looking for apartments to say anything to anyone else.  See, I was kind of good.)  I guess signing a lease means we're locked in.  Oh boy.  If you are sensing that the tone of this posting is neither overjoyed nor excited, then you have judged it correctly.  I commend you.  Neither of us was really ready to stop traveling, but we felt like we didn't really have a choice.  Scratch that;  we DID in fact have a choice:  come off the road, or go spend at least a year (probably more) in India on another assignment.  In Gujarat, to be exact.  Just a couple hours away from Baroda, but from what I understand, immensely worse.  The living conditions there are supposed to be pretty terrible, and more importantly, there is no big expat women's community to see me through those long, hot, lonely, depressing days in which I'm filled with bitter resentment toward UOP, Matt, Indian people, curry, rats, cows, trash, dogs, etc.  

Soooo, obviously we're not cut out for more Gujarat.  We'll let someone else handle that while we set up shop in our awesome new rehabilitated vintage apartment in the beautiful and lively community of Evanston!  I've promised a few of you some pictures, and of course I'm not one to go back on my word so...

 

Here is our new living room!  I especially love the built-in shelves around the fireplace.  And plenty of room for our friends and family to come visit us!  (This was not the case with our old Park Ridge apartment, in case you've forgotten.)

 

Dining room, with a view into the living room and sun room.  

 

Sun room.  This is bigger than it looks in this picture... there are two extra windows and more floor space. Probably big enough for me to do yoga in the mornings so people walking by can stop and watch!

 

Isn't this the cutest little bathroom you've ever seen?  (Emphasis on cute.  And little.)

 

Pretty good size kitchen with...

 

A Butler's Pantry!  How quaint and fabulous.  

Anyway, the bedroom is a normal size, but there are two big closets for all of our sundries, and we have a storage unit in the basement of the building.  Cha-ching.  See, I can get excited about this when I want to.  One more "surprise" (I've already told most people about this, too... Don't tell me secrets.  I can't be trusted) for us:  After three long years, (filled with many trials, lots of screaming and some wrestling matches that make WWE look like child's play) we are finally going on a honeymoon!  (I bet you thought I was going to say we were splitting up, didn't you?  False.  We are in a very happy and stable marriage.  I promise.)  After about two days of deliberation - mostly researching cheap tickets - we have decided to go to Spain!  We leave Monday.  It is going to be amazing.  In the words of Alberto, our Spanish co-worker from India:  "I think dis is de best."  

So that's all my news.  Don't be too jealous about the apartment - you are all more than welcome any time.  Even people I don't know who might be reading this.  Feel free to come over.  I'm not a good cook, but my husband is.  He will hook you up with a fresh meal and a... warm bath?  (Obviously I haven't entertained in a while.  I'm not sure what to offer people anymore.)  And don't fret about our amazing, fantastic, wonderfully incredible honeymoon to Espana either.  Soon and very soon I will be back in America looking for a job.  Back to reality.  Or, as Nate so lovingly put it "living in reality for the first time."  Thanks, brother.  

 

This is us.  We are about to be grown ups.  Maybe.

P.S.  This is not an April Fool's joke.  That would just be wrong.  

P.P.S.  I'm not pregnant, nor do I plan on becoming pregnant in the next 1+ years.  Stop holding your breath.