so yeah. last wednesday i was laying on my favorite lounger float in the pool when i noticed how shabby our little backyard bar was looking. so i decided to try to "fab" it up a little bit.
here are the sad before pictures:



here are the after pictures:




I bought the barstools at Walmart (I know, I know; I hate Walmart; I promise you I go there MAYBE twice a year, if that) last summer after we moved in, but they were looking pretty yucky after sitting in the backyard for a year, untouched. So I bought some trusty spray paint, and that was that. I was actually looking for teal spray paint, but good ole Ace Hardware didn't have any, alas, so I went with this sky blue. I actually think I like this color better than I would have liked the teal, so there ya go.


The teal & white flowerpots are leftover from our wedding, where they served as eye candy down the aisle. Maybe I should plant something in them that's not dead, lol!


I think the little sprucing has given the rest of our great backyard a little more balance. =)




As you can see, our pool is well-used!


Next, I'd like to work on the big table; need a tablecloth and some lovelies to set on it. =)

Running to lunch with my cousin now!

or so says clint.

him: "why are you always starting projects when we're about to go out of town?"
me: "um, i think it's just that i'm always starting projects, because we don't go out of town very often..."

i mean what? LOL.

but yeah. i've been on a little bit of a "project" kick, mainly because i get a little manic about making the house look better and more "done" during the summer when i'm sitting around, staring at it all day, and two, i keep stumbling across these AMAZING blogs by these AMAZING people who do AMAZING things in their homes with their own two hands. inspiring, yes. a wee bit irritating at the same time, yes. mainly because i have not an inkling of creativity & vision compared to these folks.

and i am ashamed to think of how much our wedding cost compared to the lovely couple over at This Young House, who did everything themselves and on a budget. wow, is all i can say. wow. our wedding was lovely in the end, i must say, and very gayla, and i loved it to pieces. so i guess it's ok. lol.

also, if you're interested in DIY-ing, you simply MUST check out Centsational Girl, my new hero of all things home fashion. god bless these people with visionary ideas.

you know what's sad? that writing html is like playing the piano, NOT like riding a bike. meaning that since i haven't kept it up, and have left all the code writing to the machines that be at lovely blogspot and wordpress for so long now, that i can't remember much at all! just a side note.

but yeah. in addition to having to be finished packing tomorrow evening, i still have several half done projects that need to be finished. in addition to:

-picking up wendy's corrected 8x10 photos of the wedding from wolf camera
-finding some spray paint
-painting items with said spray paint
-hanging my DIY no-sew "bar-skirt" (i'll post pictures assuming it turns out ok)
-getting my nails done
-getting my allergy shots
-one last load of laundry

and more, i'm sure. we shall see. tricky. send a quick prayer/cross your fingers/shake a stick or something for bestfriendk tomorrow: she has a job interview!

in case you were wondering (ha), the american idol auditions in dallas will be taking place while yours truly is in florida. so alas, another season of that show without "the gayla." sad, but true folks; sad, but true.

lol.

seriously. so, for those of you who may not know, i'll be playing the role of "Sandy" in Grease this July. those who know me are aware already of my not really loving Grease so much, but i am sad to report that i finally read my script last night, much to my dismay.

seriously? it was really funny (except not), because i was talking to my mom on the phone earlier, complaining about how the show has the most horrible "message" of any show ever, how basically the show is one huge masogynistic mess, when i pulled out my script, saying, "who wrote this show?" lo and behold, it was written by 2 men. shocker. the whole plot of the show goes a little something like this:

sandy and danny are happy lovebirds over the summer, just the two of them. school starts, all their friends act mean and ruin their relationship. danny's friends make fun of him because sandy is a prude and doesn't "put out," and all the pink ladies make fun of sandy because she doesn't smoke, drink, or have sex. so how does this sad story get resolved? well, sandy has to CONFORM, of course! the best answer is of COURSE that the woman has to CHANGE who she is so she can 1) fit in, and 2) have a man like her. GEE, how shocking that it was written by 2 men in the middle of the women's lib movement!

ok, sorry, i get a little worked up about things sometimes. that's my musical theater rant for this week, ha!

on a happier note, i am one busy bee this summer already! today i painted my dining room all by myself, and i've already got the whole room put back together with accessories, wall hangings, and the curtains back up. i rock. NOT to mention, i made homemade cookies for the first time today! meaning, i actually mixed ingredients together to make the cookie dough instead of buying those break and bake ones from the store, LOL! and they. are. yummy. chocolate chip butter cookies, YUM!

tomorrow is a full day of studying for the ESL test i have to take monday, while also finishing up some laundry and picking up to prepare for clint's parents to come visit! tomorrow evening we've got a surprise anniversary party to attend, and saturday we're all hitting the rangers game. good times! and hopefully it won't get rained out!

ah, wonderful summer. unfortunately i don't have any exciting photos to post, but maybe next week, as i'm planning on doing some painting later this week.

yesterday i accomplished several boring errands such as getting my oil changed, and even got to visit miss kristen and baby cason, who is beautiful as ever, and has already grown!

today was a little less eventful, though i did drive across all creation to visit the dentist for a teeth cleaning. =) no cavities, of course.

tonight, however, i have been studying for Monday's ESL test; ugh. talk about way too much information. it just goes on and on without ever really saying anything of consequence. irritating, to say the least.

meeting kathy tomorrow to study, so that's good. someone has to keep me on-task, because i can't make myself do it, lol!

trying to decide what room to paint thursday...should i do the dining room, which remains a stark white since the day we moved in, a year ago yesterday? the guest bathroom, which would surely be quick & easy, it's so small? the office/junk room, because i can't stand the bright yellow, even if everyone who comes over thinks it would make a nice color for a future nursery? or just do the red accent wall in the guest bedroom? hard to say, hard to say.

has anyone ever watched chelsea lately? because it's funny with a capital F.

ok, jessie, our cat, currently has her entire head wedged inside the hole of the kleenex box. seriously? i guess it's better than dragging in another half-dead snake.

tomorrow's agenda:
-pick up photos from Wolf Camera
-buy paint for whatever room i end up deciding to paint
-tape of edges of chosen room
-lunch/studying ESL with kathy
-teach voice lesson at 3:00
-tape of edges of chosen room, because there's no way i'm getting that done before lunch, HA!

good times in the summertime!