Taxi!

What everyone wants to do the day after a 3 day weekend: go into the office.  Actually, I formally complain, but I really enjoyed the time there.  My boss is letting his vehicle be used in a car show, so he is currently driving one of our marketing units: a Transit Connect taxi.

This. Is. Hilarious to me.  I mean really.  Classic!

Adventures with Curtains

Tonight I started working on cushion covers for the wicker outdoor furniture cushions I purchased at Walmart last summer.  Unfortunately, they have a little too much red to match the now neon coral futon. I purchased a set of 2 curtains for $10 at ARC - really nice, thick, lined curtains in a pretty yellow gingham.

I utilized the fact that the portion that would originally wrap itself around a curtain rod were already sewn and done for me!  So I folded the curtains over the cushions, pinned, pricked a bit, and prayed a lot...

We'll see if the quasi-haphazardness works!

Sa-wing!

Mike took me to the driving range on a beautiful Sunday afternoon once he arrived home.  I have to be honest, while it's relaxing to him, it really just pisses me off to no end.  Probably a lack of practice, but man.  The little white ball can be the most frustrating thing in existence.  At least I was able to get some great shots of the Mike Man at work!

Mike has tournaments all Memorial Weekend, which means I'm going into made Netflix/organization mode.  First: my audacious collection of shoes.  While organizing the beauties on my new shoe rack from Target (by color of course) I realized that I have found some amazing foot accessories at thrift stores, not even worn!  Major brands, all leather, gloriously heeled.  Love 'dems.

Also, Kona is being SUPER clingy today.  Seriously.

Sunburst

Can anyone tell me what these are?  They greeted me outside one of my dealerships, and I'd love to find out what they are and plant some of my own!

Last week's Thrift Store Find

I've been wanting a sun chair for weeks now, but dropping $20 on one (and that's on SALE) was a hard thing for me to swallow.  Once again, ARC to the Rescue!

Does anyone in Texas remember the Venture stores??  I hadn't thought of them in years, they went out of business before Target really took hold of the Thrifty Department Store market.  We had one right down the street I vaguely remember going to.  Anyway, I found this never-been-used lounger folded neatly in the furniture section of ARC, $4.99, with the tag from Venture still hanging on it!  I figured at 25% the cost of a "new" new one, I could handle the early 90s color motif.  Rubbed it down with dish soap and sprayed it off just to be safe.

It even has a built-in headrest!  I believe I will be sunning myself this 3-day weekend...it amazes me what you can find thrift, and the things I still don't think about looking for!

Claimed

Kona likes to be touching when he's hanging out with you, even if it's just your feet...

His fav is when Mom is getting ready in the morning.  Bliss.

Shine

I'm going to warn you right now, you will probably get wet eyes watching this.  Volunteer sign-ups opened today at 3pm, and I was on it like Donkey Kong.  I registered to be an escort at this year's event.  CAN'T. WAIT.

Shine 2010 Recap from Flatirons Community Church on Vimeo.

We Are Loved by David Crowder Band

Finders Keepers

I've been stalking futon mattresses on craigslist for weeks now.  I finally snagged one for $20 from a girl with a blue mohawk, which I, frankly, thought was pretty sweet.  It was right up Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hair.  But I digress.

As it turns out, the mattress is super nice.  Thick, soft, clean cover, I seriously couldn't have bought a new one for less than $80. and it wouldn't have been nearly as comfortable  And it's going on the porch anyway.  I used the leftover paint from the front door to repaint the futon by hand, which I will never be doing again.  Four coats and much regret later, I sprayed it with a protective clear coat and I'm hoping that keeps it from getting any water/snow damage this year.  *crosses fingers*

You can't actually see the mattress as I covered it with Cloud for protection from Kona purposes.  But you can see the comf.  I've started running almost every night, and for the past two nights I've just kept running past my mental road markers, making it the entire round and sprinting the last leg just to watch Kona run.  I just Google mapped it - 2.7 miles.  Side note: super proud of myself at the moment.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted by the time I get home.  I plop down on that thing and it's a small slice of twenty dollar heaven.  Rock on.

Goings On

The weather has been unreal this week.  It rained for days, causing the culvert and green space to fill beyond recognition behind our house.  They were so full and moving so fast, I looked outside and someone was putting their kayak into it for practice.

Colorado loves its outdoor sports.

I wasn't camera-ready for that instance (blame the shock of having someone boating in your backyard), but I was for this one:

Kites rule.

Guns & Horses by Ellie Goulding

They don't make them like they used to

The Fixer by Pearl Jam

G.E.

I have a thing for old signs.  Downtown Pueblo.

Blindsided by Bon Iver

Bright Light

I love this bush!

Set Fire to the Rain by Adele

Flatirons

It occurs to me today that our church is HUGE.  But awesome.

Sucker

You cannot imagine how much paint this thing has sucked up...the inspiration better be worth it.

Get Away by Yuck

What a dealership should look like

The original Lincoln-Mercury building in downtown Cheyenne, beautiful and empty.

Dustbowl by Horse Feathers

Ain't Nobody by Clare Maguire

Kanemoto Park

Mike had to travel back to Longmont to lock up a storage shed at one of the soccer fields, so we drove up 287 taking the scenic route and I kept him company.  When we arrived at the park, I saw a Japanese tori in the distance, a shocking red among all the green.

"Is that a Japanese gate?!" I asked Mike when he got back in the car.

"Yep.  There's a pagoda over there, too."

Wait, what?!

And this was today's discovery:

Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves) by The Wombats

All that goes up must come down

Please?

We Fell by S. Carey

Highway Art

Foothills Parkway

 When We Collide by Matt Cardle

This week's thrift store find

Let's face it, there was way more than this; but I'm going to stop displaying my obsessive-compulsive clothes-buying via the interwebs and focus on the Find of the Day.

Today, it was this amazing antique wooden bench.  Even the color is perf!  Exactly what I didn't know I was looking for to put in "The Egg" in the front yard, as Beth (our neighbor) refers to each ovalish landscape design in almost every front yard in our neighborhood...

Snarf's

Mike and I ordered Snarf's to-go and took it to sit on a bench overlooking Boulder Valley.  You have to click on the panorama to appreciate.

 So happay.

Steve!

I planted a tree!  I decided to go with the Cleveland Flowering Pear as I will forever be fond of what we lovingly referred to as Popcorn trees growing up.  It's about time I had one of my own.  I took this photo, uploaded it, then realized my Juniper looked just scraggly (hence wanting to remove it in the first place). So I grabbed Mike's hedgers, and went to town...

 The result?  A manicured blob of juniper.  You may not be able to tell a difference, but I totally can!  And that's all that matters!

I've decided to name the CFP Steve.  That way when I get home I can exclaim "Steeeeeeve!" as I used to do with any parts or service personnel named such.  Don't ask me why; it just amuses me.  I'm hoping being heartily greeted will help him grow.

Fushia

No the color, the flower.  I'm in love.

Is it just me or does it look like he's actually smiling?!

Whirring by Joy Formidable

The Full Monty

With new lamps, house numbers, and sun.  You can't see yet, but there's a giant hole I dug after rooting up a terrible bush on the left hand side.  It is soon to be the new home of a tree.  Unfortunately, I discovered via a sweet neighbor that the bush you can see is a Juniper, and therefore almost impossible to simply dig up.  In Googling said endeavor, I found this site, which made me laugh.  But also made me think it's not a project even I, who installed porch lamps, can tackle.  So, Juniper and tree it is!

I'm torn between a Thundercloud Flowering Plum or a Cleveland Select Flowering Pear.  Thoughts?

So This is Goodbye by William Fitzsimmons

The Devil's in the Details

And so are quite a few bucks of our budget!  I've had these house numbers since we moved in - spotted them on a random trip to Lowe's and had to have them!  But the lamps we bought after deciding what colors we were painting the house (also at Lowe's)!  We changed the light bulbs and I cleaned the cover on the back porch light (not shown), sanded down the futon (or "Cloud" as Kona calls it).  Mike hung the new numbers, and I installed the lights.

Before:

That's right, folks.  I am officially what I would refer to as a B.A.  Seriously.  Wired, hung, and all - with a tad bit of help from Mike with the two smaller ones, as the screws that came with them were too long.  Lowe's loves us.

After:

Small lights for on either side of the garage...

And a big one for the porch!