Memorial Week(end)

Thank God for one more day off, I tell ya.  This past weekend was jam packed with house projects, family time, down time, and dog time. Still have no clue where three solid days off went, but judging by the length of this blog post, I think I have a pretty good idea...

We kicked off our weekend after celebrating Gretzky's big 0-2 birthday!  TWO!!!!  We can't believe it either.  He can officially be welcomed into doggy adulthood.  We are very excited to see what being two brings for our favorite champ.

On Friday, Shane managed to get the day off.  Lucky shit.  I am going to take the fact that he, without a doubt, deserved that day off out of the equation and be jealous of it anyway.  On Friday afternoon I had to head to the Post Bulletin to get a photo taken for the "Your Style" section.  I am actually pretty elated about this opportunity.  I know I am a fashion risk-taker, because I don't put too much thought into what I am wearing.  I really just put on what I feel like, and try to own the outfit to the best of my ability.  Fashion is just another opportunity to set yourself apart from the rest.  Tune into the Post Bulletin!

...Meanwhile back on Harvest Court, Shane decided to step into a mole hill in Essex park and sprained his ankle pretty bad.  At this point we have both become experts on putting on an Ace bandage with a cold pack.  Even with a sprain, Shane wouldn't let that hold him back, and accomplished 15,000 steps on his FitBit in one day.  Damn son!

**If you are on the fence about buying a FitBit, I'll just say how much we love ours, and you should probably just get one.  We are always graciously accepting FitBit friend requests.

As I was saying before in recent blogs, we are really focusing on the outside of our home this summer.  That, and our master bedroom downstairs.  Last fall I sold our black wire patio table.  I am sure I could have refurbished it, but the look wasn't very inviting.  Last week we snagged a great deal on patio furniture.  Turns out it was from Ikea.  The thing I love most about Ikea furniture is there is absolutely no end in sight with all of the creative bits you can come up with.  I took a special trip up there to check out some patio cushions... lucky for me they were SOLD OUT.  I wasn't going to walk away with nothing, dammit, so I picked up two of these Applaro Folding Chairs to add to our set.  With the folding chairs, the Applaro bench, two recliners, and the Gateleg folding table, we now have six places to sit on our deck.  SIX places!  I don't know about you, but I get a bit of a thrill realizing that I have places for people to sit at our house.  You know you're a grown up when...

So here is the rundown, or at least the start of, our patio furniture overhaul--

After doing a little color test, I felt that sanding and priming the bench would be best for paint application purposes.  You can see how the Minnesota weather completely destroyed the finish on this particular bench.  There was no saving the wood look.  I really wanted something bright, cheery, and welcoming, so I opted for poppy red.  I purchased this new Rustoleum color with primer built in.  For this particular bench I used three cans of spray paint, which ended up requiring an extra trip to the store.  Plan ahead if you can!

This was after about two coats of poppy red paint.  We are working on our yard too.  Don't judge us.

"That (deck) f**ker has got to go, GO.  That f**kers gots to go."

Next up was the Gateleg folding table.  Sanding and priming this beast was an all-day occasion, I swear.  Because the thing folds down into practically nothing, it was hell trying to open up all of the pieces and really get in there with the primer.  But, I did it.  One of my greater accomplishments, easily.

The two recliners (not pictured) are my next victims.  I am having a serious debate with my inner self if I should paint those black or poppy red.  I just love that red color so much!  I probably wouldn't marry it though.

The next photo of the deck will be when it is completely re-vamped!  If all goes well it should end up looking a little something like this--

Source: Better Homes and Garden

While I was painting away the day, Shane was doing a little painting of his own using this product.  Stay tuned for Shane's very first blog post debut!  So proud of him.

On Memorial Day, we were able to see both sets of parents.  Always a great time with family.  Shane helped his mom and dad scrape and paint their garage, while I hung out with my parents at my grandmas getting her garage cleaned out.  Thankfully I got to see our adorable niece at Shane's parents house.  Just look at them.  How precious are they?!

Oh, and one last thing... welcome summa summa time!