Category: things to do

Photo a day – 6

Perhaps one day I’ll have a coy pond…but sometimes I think, what would be the point.

To be honest, if they didn’t throw crap all over the place, I would really like to have a monkey for a pet…

If there were no limitations, which animal would you have for a pet?

It is also the time of year, however, when California weather is most confusing. It’s wonderfully brisk in the morning and evening, scarf and sweater weather! But, pretty warm-hot in the afternoon. Such a predicament when choosing clothing for the day. So, the solution? Jeans, flip flops, tank top, sweater and scarf. I’m sure I look ridiculous but I don’t want to bring a change of clothing to work with me everyday.Any thoughts?

eat things to do

Photo a day – 4

Coke tastes better in glass bottles.

I’m trying to be healthier lately because if I’m in good habits now, it will be easier to keep them later. And now is always a better time to start than tomorrow. I like healthy food and when I have time, I’m super healthy, but a few things get in my way sometimes.

3 words: chips, dessert, soda

I’m good at giving up chips, I’ll start eating them again but then I can give them up easily.

Dessert is my all-time enemy, I love anything sweet and I love to bake. But I am all for low-fat desserts and am willing to try new healthy recipes.

I’ve given up soda before but it’s a bit harder because soda goes well with so many foods and when you’re out to eat, it’s hard to sip your bland water when other people have a yummy drink in front of them. I really should give it up again…

besides, it tastes better out of a glass bottle.

craft things to do

Project Side Tables

So I was thinking of keeping photo a day for the weekdays and something different on the weekends…maybe a project or recipe or something like that, stuff I can share, ideas and the like.So, here’s project number 1!! This project was jared’s idea actually. We had been looking for side tables for ages, and couldn’t find anything (that we liked) for under $70-80 each!! One day we were in TJMaxx just wandering around and we found these two tables. Now, these tables were UGLY! Don’t be misled by the below photo, this picture was taken after we sanded off all the ugly orangish/brownish quasi-stain that was so cheaply applied to it. It was hard to look past the exterior, but the tables were on clearance, $10 each and he thought, “hey, couldn’t we sand these down and paint them the color we want?” (probably not his exact words, but you get the idea) so we gladly brought them home, bought some paint and got to work!

Sanding them down was comedy. All we had to do was rub a little and all the stain came off. (Like I said, cheaply applied)

Then we added the first and second coat of the first color, a rust/goldenrod mix. This is the base color.

*sidenote* If you notice the Christmas tree behind me, don’t be alarmed, we did this project back in March…oh wait, no I guess you can be alarmed, you caught us, we did not throw our tree away until about April but not because we didn’t try. Our trash guys are picky and wouldn’t take anything that wasn’t in the bin, so it wasn’t until April that we got a saw and cut it up ourselves.

So after the first color, we brought out our second color, a reddish one to match our reddish Anthropologie linen napkins (on clearance for $1.50 by the way) we use decoratively in the living room. We brushed kind of hard so that the rust/goldenrod color would peek through a bit, though you probably can’t tell completely. You can see it better in person.

The final touch was to call dear old dad and ask if he had any finish glaze so that the paint wouldn’t chip. Of course he did because he’s my dad and is handy. I’ll have to do a post later on some of his projects, which are amazing by the way.

And there you have it! Two brand new side tables that look way better than they did and match our decor.Ta Da!

places to go reminisce stateside things to do

Photo a day – 3

Name spelling: not many peoples’ fortes apparently. I’ve never thought I had that difficult or uncommon a name but honestly about 60% of the time, my name is misspelled: “danyell, dannel, danelle” etc… but probably the most common mistake is spelling it “daniel”. Now, if it were a Hispanic employee, I would have no problem with it because that’s how you pronounce “Danielle” in Spanish, but it’s usually the white people who do it. Here’s how it usually goes down, I order, they ask my name, I say “Danielle”, they write “Daniel”. I wait for my order and the person delivering it yells, “Daniel?” and I go and get it and they say, “oh, Danielle, sorry”. Pretty much happens all the time. Seriously?

Anyway, this photo is from our last day in Hawaii on our honeymoon. This is by far the worst way I’ve ever seen my name butchered. I mean, come on, is anyone even named Nantell? This isn’t logical people!!

I’m guessing I’m not the only one with this problem…how has your name been misspelled before?

eat things to do

Photo a day – 2

Tea: I love it. I usually like loose leaf tea but it’s hard to find in stores and I usually have to buy it online. So the next best thing is Good Earth (or “Good Times” as jared refers to it) My all time favorite is Sweet and Spicy. It’s especially good if you have a cold or if it’s getting cooler outside. YUM!!! I’m so glad it’s finally starting to cool off so that I can curl up and have tea without sweating 🙂

What’s your favorite kind of tea? Or drink if you’re not a tea drinker…