Real Simple for $10!

Couldn't resist.  Had to share. 

Amazon.com has a one-year subscription to Real Simple on sale for $10.00!  Deal lasts until November 6th!

Happy Halloween!

BOO!!! 

Extreme Makeover: Garage Sale Edition Reveal #2

Earlier I revealed my first garage sale find makeover, The Bench.  Today I give you reveal #2.

The Wine Rack

  

This is what the wine rack looked like upon purchase for $8.  It had been spray painted black and was showing some signs of sadness.  Especially on the top.

So, I fixed it.  You saw a little bit of the wine rack in The Bench post.  See?

First, I took the whole thing apart.  Using the same electric sander and the same stain that I used for the bench, I sanded the whole thing down and gave it a couple of coats of the supposedly evil stain.  Man, that spray paint is a pain to sand off!  But worth it.  It turned into a lovely piece of furniture. 

And now the great debate in the B-S household, should the candle holder be spray painted white or left in it's rustic metal condition?

DFW in 2011!

Well, that was quick. 

The Boones are set for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure in Dallas/Fort Worth on November 4 - 6, 2011. 

Consider joining us!  Until November 23rd there is an early registration discount making the registration fee only $55 if you use the code CURE2011.  Our team is Bold Soles.  Leave a comment and I'll send you the password.
 
I hope you'll consider walking!  If you don't feel like walking is something you can do, you can also volunteer and register as a crew member - helping with various aspects of the 3-day experience.  If you are a nurse or a doctor, they especially need help on the medical team!  These folks work hard but they sure do look like they are having fun! 

Click here to register.  See you next year!

Blisters don't need chemo

Welp, we did it.  This past weekend Leanne and I and 2398 of our closest friends walked 60 miles in 3 days during the Atlanta Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  Here's the proof:

early Friday morning

end of day1

end of day 2

end of day 3

I will resist the urge to recount every moment of the three days, but I will give you the highlights.

Early on Friday morning S drove us up to Lake Lanier for opening ceremonies and the start of the walk.  We were some of the first walkers to arrive and we were on TV with Karyn Greer from channel 11. 

After an emotional and uplifting opening, we were off!  We walked 19.5 miles the first day and arrived at camp to discover our pink tent was already set up for us!  It pays to be friends with someone who's twitter friends with some seriously dedicated 3-day supporters.  We settled into our pink tent in what was slowly but surely becoming a pink village.

So then we showered, ate, slept in our tent, woke to a chilly morning, walked, showered, ate, slept in our tent, woke to a chilly morning, walked, celebrated, went home.  Here are some of my favorite moments:

Cheering stations!  Each day there are two cheering stations and folks come out to to cheer and say thank you and hand out lots of sugar!  If you are in a 3-day city, you should definitely check out the cheering stations during the event.

S and Buddy came out on Saturday morning.  Don't you like Buddy's pink ribbon bandanna?   And our friends Katie and Nathan joined S on Sunday morning.

Folks don't just limit themselves to cheering stations.  They also show up in parking lots, front yards, and in front of neighborhoods to cheer you on.  This dog cracked us up.

And signs like these keep you going.

These kids and their dads showed up on both Saturday and Sunday.  In the early morning they had coffee for us and later in the day they brought us little cups of water.  These kids are learning so much about giving to others.  And about the efficiency of Henry Ford's assembly line: coffee, creamer, sugar, stirrer, coffee, creamer, sugar, stirrer.

These are my doctored up toes after day 2.  Okay, my blisters weren't really my favorite part but I did love knowing that I could push past the minor pain and walk all 60 miles.  I kept seeing the sign, "blisters don't need chemo" and that sorta became my mantra when my feet wanted me to stop.  On the third day we passed a woman who was walking a little bit slowly with a bit of a limp and using a pink-striped walking stick.  We asked her if she was doing okay and she said, "yep" and then "if I can beat cancer I can beat this!"  Yep, and if you and my grandma and my great aunt can beat this disease, then I can keep walking!

The crew.  There were 350 volunteers who helped on the crew: medical, safety, pit stops, sweep vans, camp.  They kept our spirits up and were super silly.  Nothing like a pink eyelashed crew member serving up Gatorade in wine glasses in front of a bank of porta potties to make your day!

The motorcycle crew had the most awesomely decorated bikes and it was so fun to see them whiz by.  It is amazing how quickly community forms in this setting.  Kindness abounds.  Leanne and I were talking to a man who was walking by himself on the morning of day 3.  We asked him who he was walking for, his mom, and how his walk was going.  He responded with, "You know, I didn't train for the kindness."  It is overwhelming at times.  Did I mention cheering stations?  Walking through all those people and having everyone, young and old, telling you "thank you for walking" is enough to keep you going for the rest of the day.

The EMTs on bikes were decked out in pink bunny ears, pink bras stuffed with blown-up pink gloves, and pink striped socks.

My teal ribbons accompanied me on the walk, on my fingernails and on my Camelbak.  Women would ask me, what's the teal ribbon for?  And I got to tell them about ovarian cancer, the signs and symptoms, and about September and Teal Toes.

On the third day we were served bloody marys outside a house on Peachtree.  Thanks guy who lives in that house!

At lunch on Sunday we were greeted with this much appreciated sidewalk chalk.

And then, there was only "1 mile" left.  "1 mile" because signs on the 3-day go by "3-day miles" so they can't always be trusted to be accurate, but at least we knew we were relatively close to Turner Field!

The best part of day 3?  Taking off my shoes in the holding area.  Okay, maybe not the best part, but it's up there!

And it turns out we parked ourselves right next to this sign.

The entire crowd of walkers and crew begins to gather in the holding area as the final walkers arrive.  Everyone gets a t-shirt.  Walkers get white, crew members get gray, and survivors get pink.  It's the first time during the three days that the survivors become obvious.  Leanne and I were struck by how young so many of them were.  They looked like they were our age and several had little kids.   

Then we all walk into closing ceremonies together with our friends and family cheering us on.  We found out that the Atlanta walkers raised $6.1 million for breast cancer research.  The survivors walk in last together and the walkers offer a salute.

And a small group of survivors carry the flags of hope, love, courage, and the like to the center of the crowd before the ceremony ends.

Um, there may be a few tears.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who gave donations, offered support, wrote letters and notes to us at camp, said prayers for our feet, legs and spirits, and told us how proud you were of us.  Now it's time to prepare for 2011!  Yes, I will definitely do this again.  And you can too!  I will probably walk in Dallas next year and I would love to have you walk with me.

Extreme Makeover: Garage Sale Edition Reveal #1

One of the good parts about my Saturday Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure training walks, other than finding a cure for breast cancer, was the fun garage sales I would pass, and by "pass" I meet "stop at and shop."  A few weeks ago I lived the dream: a neighborhood-wide garage sale.  Yep, it was a good day.  But my acquisitions need some love.  Here's the first.

The Bench

Yep, that's the bench.  I got it for $8.  Probably should have talked her down to $5 but I am horrible at bargaining.  Anyway...here's what happened.

Step 1 - Get rid of the nasty wicker seat by ripping it out with needle-nose pliers.

Step 2 - Sand the finish using our helpful friends' electric sander.  Need to get us one of those.  So handy!

Step 3 - Apply new stain in Bamboo Mahogany.  I used a polyurethane/stain combo that apparently people hate.  I didn't hate it but after reading reviews I understand how stain is supposed to work and mine didn't do that - but it was okay for this project.

 

Step 4 - Make a new jute webbing seat.

 

Step 5 - Wonder why S is taking my picture.

Step 6 - Cut piece of padding to the correct shape and cover with batting.

Step 7 - Get cheap fabric.  Cover with cheap fabric.  Hate the cheap fabric.

Step 8 - Get more expensive fabric in a completely different color.  Cover with new fabric.  Love new fabric.

Step 9 - Cover up raveling edges with a ribbon to create a pretty finish along the bottom of the new cushion.  This might be the part I am most proud of.

Now, MOVE THAT BUS!

Crying, tears, joy, excitement.

 Be impressed with my ribbon and hot glue finished edge.

The end.

The next reveal: the wine rack.

Um, have you noticed?

Have you noticed that we have collected a few more countries on our flag counter???  We are up to FIVE!

Can you believe it?  This might be the most exciting part of my day.  I know, that worries me too.

So now I will channel Alanis:

Thank you Canada.  

Thank you Russia.  

Thank you Australia.  

Thank you Indonesia.  

Thank you US.

Oh, btw, I think that some of my favorite bloggers might have commented on a couple of posts.  Eek!  I love you guys (but not in a weird way)! 

Know the symptoms

Of baby fever:
When your high school best friend uses the phrase "my daughter" to describe the little one growing in her belly when writing on her blog and it makes you cry.

It's serious stuff folks.  These symptoms should not be ignored.

Also know these symptoms:

This book will change your life

Seriously, it will.

I'm friends with NPR on facebook.  We hang out.  In September they posted this story about three self-help books worth reading.  I don't really have strong feelings about fung shui, I like my systems, and the third book is really freakin' long, but the other one, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom is wonderful.  

It is written by Don Miguel Ruiz and is based on Toltec wisdom.  I'm still not sure what that means but I do know that I like it.  So here are the four agreements (from the inside of the dust jacket):


1. Be impeccable with your word.  Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.


2. Don't take anything personally.  Nothing others do is because of your.  What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.  When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.


3. Don't make assumptions.  Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.  Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama.  With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.


4. Always do your best.  Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.


He has some weird thoughts about abuse but, those thoughts aside, the rest of the book is fantastic.  And I am totally not exaggerating when I say it will change things.  


For example, on Sunday, right before the first service, I found out that some people at the church where I'm working were upset about some things but I didn't find out the whole story.  I could feel the panicky feelings of worry and paranoia setting in.  "They don't like me, what did I do, why don't they like me, why does everyone hate me?"  Then I stopped and thought, "Don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions," and I felt the feelings subside.  Then, later on, I found out it had nothing to do with me at all.  I was so glad that I didn't allow those feelings to dominate my life for a full day and keep me from being myself, which I am prone to do.  

There is today's public service announcement.  Come back next time for the story of how I found rat feces in my house this morning! 


An afterthought: In light of all the horrible, HORRIBLE news of GLBT young people taking their lives in recent weeks, it occurred to me that these kinds of messages could really help people who are struggling with, quite literally, living with themselves.  It is not your problem, it is their problem.  It is their hell (as Ruiz would put it), not yours.  This message, along with "it will get better, I promise" is so, so important.  Does it not just break your heart?

Soundtrack for Fall

My soundtrack for fall is provided by Elephant Revival.

It's highly appropriate that I first heard this group while searching for brown boots for fall on the Born website. I didn't find boots that I liked but I fell in love with this group!

Their self-titled album is a nice prelude to my Christmas and winter soundtrack, provided by the ever wonderful Sting.

If you don't know his album "If On a Winter's Night" and you like adventurous yet really old music, you should definitely become acquainted with it!

A pomander

I thought this little project was called "that orange clove ball thing that we made in girl scouts" but apparently it is called a pomander.  Much fancier.

That one's not mine.  That one comes from this post at instructables.com.  I kind of like their method better.

My method yielded this:

Actually, that's a lie.  Mine looks like this:

It hangs above the sink.  But that's way uglier than hanging on the corner of the shelf so I adjusted the truth.

Before I saw the fancy pants pomander, when I thought it was a orange clove ball thing, I remembered that in girl scouts we wrapped ours in fabric.  We used one big piece of fabric and tied it at the top but I had a long strip of fabric so mine is lovingly wrapped in string.

So, what you do is get an orange (or a clementine, I hear they work well).  If you are fancy pants you tie a ribbon around the thing first; if not, just start sticking whole cloves in the orange.  Some of the "how tos" tell you to poke holes first but I didn't have to do that.  Then either wrap it in fabric and hang or hang with the ribbon.  It smells amazing and supposedly will dry and last for a while.

I think I'll try the pretty version soon.  Maybe clementine-size pomanders for the Christmas tree?

I have some garage sale finds to fix up!  Behold...

 

Time for some projects!  Sanding, painting, upholstering, oh my!