2nd of August

I turned 22.

Jason is always excited about my birthday and he always does AMAZING. This year he wasn't able to be here. Even though he had just been gone for 2 weeks for military duties, he had to leave again for his usual monthly drill. So Thursday we celebrated. When I got home from work he blind folded me and lead me to the gray room (a name my grandma had given it because, well...it's gray.) and he brought me presents one by one. I had to close my eyes between each present and hold out my hands for the small ones. 

He got me:*

an iPhone charger (No idea where mine went!)

The most adorable apron

Four six packs of mini San Pellegrino

a Kate Spade "Mrs." necklace

Jo Malone-Wild Bluebell perfume

an Ivanka Trump handbag
a Kate Spade tote

Bottega Louie Macarons 

(which he had shipped to me from LA in a really nice insulated bag we will most definitely be using for our next picnic)

Put a couple hundred dollars in our savings

&

Paid off a credit card that was a few hundred dollars!!!!

He did all of this with the money he earned while he was away. Now he's glad he went. He feels like it was worth the heat and boredom.

(There's another 2 rows of Macarons but we ate those pretty quick..)

I know I have to be away but you still deserve the best

-J

After opening presents we watched The Grand Budapest Hotel and had a Papa Johns pizza delivered.  It was perfect.

Of course I was sad to not have him here on my birthday but having my family and Krista near by made it much more bearable.

Friday night I spent the night at my parents'. Saturday, my actual birthday, I went school shopping for my little brother with him, one of my older brothers, and my mom. (This gave me a great opportunity to browse clearance sections.) We got a cupcake from The CupCake Store in Santee. My mom and I got pedicures. Then I met up with Krista and Trevor for dinner at BJ's! I was so happy to be able to actually spend time with them. The past two birthdays had to be crammed into a flat rate box. I could do without the presents, just having the people you love around you on your birthday is what makes it awesome. But I also didn't mind the gifts (:

My parents got me a cute maxi dress and a generous gift card to Ikea. (We're saving up for a few pieces of furniture we've had our eye of for awhile!)

Krista & Trevor bought me dinner, got me a cute cosmetics bag, makeup, nail polish, and a Kate Spade compact mirror!

The compact has "hey gorgeous" engraved on the front. HA! So adorable.

I was SO spoiled this year! I have never had a birthday involving so many luxury/designer names! 

It feels weird to be 22 but glad I got here!

*(He also got me a Coach tote bag but we decided if we are going to spend that much money on one item I have to absolutely LOVE it. It was hard to tell him but he appreciated me telling him instead of 2 months later when he would bring up that I've only used it twice and then I'd finally admit I wasn't crazy about it and we'd be SOL. The Kate Spade bag replaced it and I'm so glad I spoke up! I LOVE IT!!)

Chair Makeover

While Jase was away I had to keep myself busy to make the days go by fast. I decided to pick up the project of redoing this chair. It was my grandma's office chair. She bought it for a desk that is a awkward height and it fits perfectly so I didn't even want to bother finding another one this height. I wasn't too thrilled about the look and I knew it wasn't antique so I decided to take it on!

I wanted a soft/padded seat and darker wood so the demolition began! Got rid of the woven stuff and started sanding.

Once I got to sanding I knew I was in way over my head. The round dowels were a pain and getting the edges where the pieces met were impossible to sand. Fortunately I have a father who has redone several pieces of furniture in our home and has even built some himself.

 He had just gotten back from he and my mom's 30th wedding anniversary weekend and I was excited to show him my project. I knew he'd have lots of advice to offer. He definitely did. He told me that Liquid Sandpaper, stain stripper, and finish stripper all existed. He also filled me in on the struggles he had with his most recent project. This was all so disheartening! My dad, the genius craftsman, had made mistakes? I could only imagine how bad I'd screw this up. He also taught me so many things that I thought were simple tasks but apparently are not if you do them right. Like sanding. You use a coarse sand paper (obviously) but once you're done, you have to sand the piece again with a less coarse paper then again with even less until you're ready for 220 grit.

I used the stain stripper and some paint remover to finish off where the pieces join. The stain wasn't completely gone but my dad said as long is the finish is gone and the stain you're going to use is much darker then I'll be fine. Finally, I caught a break!

I would love to brag about how I redid this chair for under $10 but these would be my tips for success that I had used....

HOW TO REDO A CHAIR FOR UNDER $10 DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!

-Have a generous grandfather who allows you to live in his home and gives you free range at anything that is not antique, sentimental, or expensive
-Have a dad that has materials leftover from reupholstering your dining room chairs in the past 5 years
-Have same dad have experience in building & refurnishing furniture
-Be sure dad has plenty of stain, finish, sand paper, tools, etc. available for your use

Ready GO!

Needless to say I am very blessed with the family I have. When I first moved out of my parents house I moved out of state. I hated when I would run out of or need things I knew my parents had a year supply of. So frustrating! But now that I live 10 minutes away I am taking full advantage of it! Like when Jason got sick on a Sunday, I didn't want to go to the store on the Sabbath and I didn't want to pay for it no matter what day of the week. So I went to my parents and stocked up on cold medicine that they had doubles/travel sizes of. Saved at least $20 that day!

My dad and brother helped me cut out the seat, using the frame that was wrapped in wicker as the stencil. They cut it using a jigsaw and ply wood he had on hand.

UPDATE 6 MONTHS LATER...

Sooooo Jason came home from his military duties a day early (the day I was stripping the chair and my dad was cutting the seat) and surprised me at my parents. That punk.

So of course I ditched the chair to hang out with my husband! I didn't revisit the project until he went out of town again. I came back to it and not all of the finish was gone so I said screw it and spray painted it black. DONE. Never refinishing anything I can't completely take apart. Lesson learned.