Do you remember last week when I said I was excited for the potential of the upcoming weekend? Well, I went and jinxed myself with that one. The weekend was good for the most part, but I came down with some sort of a super bug sinus cold at some point on Saturday and I've been as sick as a dog all week. While I had planned to add Tuesday and Friday to my Monday off, enabling me to knock out a whole bunch of chores around the house so we could go marching into spring with the lengthy backlog of our DIY tasks knocked off of our list, that's not how this weekend really ended up going. You know what they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray." 

So I've been hobbling around our house in a zip up fleece while toting a consistently depleted box of tissues or half used roll of TP. I'll walk from one room to another, notice a little project that needs to be done, glare at it longingly trying to muster the energy to put together a plan of execution, only to find myself on the couch watching TV or in bed taking a nap, in a fog of congestion. 

Rather than fill your reading with unpleasantries of how my snoring is undoubtedly torturing Wendy and Lulu all night, I'll shift gears a little and show you something that we can officially check off of our list as "complete and finished!" 

Do you recall Wendy's Great-Great-Grandmother's (that we originally thought was Wendy's Great-Grandfather's) chair that we refinished last year? After allowing this poor chair to sit in basement after basement for 40 or more years, eight of them in our basement, we finally got a move on and did something about it. For those who were not following along before, here's a quick recap starting with a decidedly "before" photo.

We took the sad chair completely apart and sanded it back down to its bare wood.


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Comments 25

With the three day weekend came a little extra time for fun. On Saturday, with friends in tow, we headed out to Leesburg and Lucketts, Virginia to try our shopping luck. This area, roughly an hour from our house, is a veritable treasure trove of home decor and second hand items. We've found interesting and unique items for our home in the past, and this weekend was no different.

We started our day at the Old Lucketts Store, perusing their outdoor selection of goods, housed in open vendor tents. I was immediately drawn to this old, rusty and crusty stool. The patina on it is absolutely great and would make it perfectly suitable as a nice outdoor item or in a rustic decor settings. However, after a bit of clean up, and maybe a fresh coat of bright paint, it could be the perfect petite overflow seating addition for any room.

We also took a moment to stop and admire this cool, old sky light. They don't make them like they used to, that's for sure. I also thought the beautiful rounded shape of the pedestal sink with fluted base (in the background) was positively dreamy.

Just outside of the front steps we saw these old metal boxes. I don't know if it's the weather or season, but there's something about this rustic patina that was particularly appealing on this trip.


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Since we completed our wine bar area in the kitchen last year, we find ourselves using the additional storage and counter space for many items beyond simply serving wine. From a place to drop the mail after it's delivered, to a prep area for baked goods, having the additional counter space has been absolutely wonderful. But one of things about our wine bar that we've not really noticed, mostly because of how perfectly it's integrated, is how the wine refrigerator is now a part of the room rather than something in our room that we need to work around. 

Prior to our kitchen upgrades, the wine bar sat in the middle or in the corner of our sun porch. It stuck out like a sore thumb. It looked like an afterthought, or even a temporary placement until we found a better spot for it. 

Now that we integrated it into our kitchen design, a lot of our home's guests have been taking notice and asking questions, as have several blog readers that have emailed us. The primary question that we've received about our wine fridge has been a bit of a comment and question at the same time. "It looks so good there and looks built-in. What kind of wine fridge is it and how did you choose it?" We've also seen quite a few people here on the blog have been searching for "Wine Fridge", "Refrigerator for Wine", and "Wine Fridge Brand" to determine what brand and model we selected for our kitchen. I figure we should take the hint and write up a little post on our lovely wine fridge and why we chose this brand/model over all of the other options available on the market.


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We're a little late getting started due to some technical issues, but please follow along for the Old Town George Washington Birthday Parade.

3:03 PM - Sorry for the somewhat lackluster live tweeting. Was another great Old Town parade, can't wait for St Patty's day parade on 3/2.

2:42 PM - One final picture from the #AlexandriaVA Presidents Day parade.

2:42 PM - The #AlexandriaVA parade is wrapping up.

2:41 PM - #AlexandriaVA Presidents Day parade continues...

2:38 PM - We are in the south.

2:35 PM - George Washington Marching Band.

2:24 PM - Love the antique cars.

2:18 PM - Knights of Columbus.

2:17 PM -

2:13 PM - It's a beautiful day for a parade!

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2:01 PM - We hope you'll follow along while we live Tweet the George Washington Birthday Parade from #OldTownAlexandria


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If you're a regular reader of ours you know how much we enjoy working on our home and doing things ourselves. Sure, I enjoy watching baseball, going skiing, doing a little programming, watching TV, taking vacations, and lots of other masculine and awesome stuff like long walks in the park with my dog and wife...but if there's one thing I get an itch to do more frequently and intensely than anything else, it's the simple desire that can only be fulfilled by a little DIY. I realize my particular brand of entertainment and engagement may be some people's view of "personal hell," but there's something about building or making something yourself that you either get or you don't. That's all there is to it.

However, lately I feel like we've been doing far more planning and thinking than actual doing. I guess it's coming down off of the high of our unplanned kitchen renovation, or maybe it's because we're just distracted with life for a little while, but I feel like I need to really get back on the proverbial DIY saw horse.

The problem with this hobby of home DIY is that it's time consuming, tiring, and can seemingly zap the life out of you when you least expect it. Beyond the money, effort, and need for creativity, time has been our primary limitation of late, and it's been extremely frustrating. We're both working a ton at our day jobs and either have too many chores or obligations after work to get a decent amount done. Add to it that when we do have time we're just plain tired and end up watching Downton Abbey or New Girl on TV! Oh the perils of being a gainfully employed adult. Woe is me. I know, life's so hard for us, and we don't even have kids, so do we even know what busy is? 

Now that I'm done spouting off like a moron I can say that I expect my slight DIY funk to change this weekend! Yes, the long President's Day weekend is upon us and we have a few goals and plans. Among other things, I want to install our WaterCop, do some work on the storm windows (I'm only 13 months late delivering on that project), and pick up a whole bunch of lumber from the home improvement store. I know Wendy is looking forward to a trip out to Leesburg at some point this weekend where we will hopefully reap the rewards of some home decor spoils. And we have a few small projects and things to do we've been meaning to take care of for a long while.

But we can't forget the main event for this weekend. Yes, it's parade season here in Old Town, and this weekend we'll be treated to the George Washington Birthday parade. This year the city will celebrate George Washington's 281st birthday with our annual romp through the streets of Old Town. Quite honestly, nothing puts a smile on my face like colonial soldiers...


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