Thursday, February 24, 2011

Funny Dogs and Ghost Cows

So a large part of my life these days is spent walking my two dogs. Jax recently had surgery on his knee and in order to build up his muscle mass and for his knee to properly heal he needs to be walked twice a day for 45 minutes. My dogs are hilarious and I love my daily walks with them. Walking any two dogs can be tricky but two male dogs keeps me on my toes. We pretty much have the routine down, I just have to be careful that when one lifts his leg, the other is not also sniffing the same tree..or this happens.

The other excitement in my week came in the form of a phone call from my sister in law late on Tuesday. She asked me to fill in for her as an assistant to the stylist on a Adidas photo shoot in Camarillo. The location was called the "Scary Dairy" and is an abandoned dairy that is supposedly haunted by ghost cows. While I didn't have any run ins with ghost cows, I did learn that fake snow is the stickiest substance on earth and near impossible to remove from shoes and clothing and that after the big mess that mud can rain can cause, it can also bring some beautiful things.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

A Very Productive Week

So between working and everything else I try not to let my free time get sucked up in watching TV, which some weeks is harder than others. This past week I feel like I was very productive and here is why.

#1 I gave my dog a haircut. Our sweet Gus' coat grows very quickly and he begins to look slightly mangy if we let it go too long, so I thought I would save a few bucks and try doing it myself. It took WAY longer than I thought and was very tricky, but all in all I feel it was successful. I definitely have a new appreciation for our groomer.



#2 I "refurbished" a dresser.

Our neighbors stuck this gem out on their curb and I scooped it up (with the help of a very friendly man in an excursion). We are seriously lacking in the furniture in our new place so I thought I would try my hand at fixing this one up, after all it was free.
Then I sanded the entire thing. The hand paint design on the drawers was a little stubborn, but overall the little power sander we have made this part super easy. Next I used a little wood putty on the holes and ran to home depot to buy some wooden knobs, stain and a foam brush.
Finally, I stained the whole thing. It takes a bit of patience and I ended up doing 2 coats to get the color I wanted, but I liked the antique feel of it.
All together it took me probably 4 hours (not including wait time for drying) and it cost me around $10 for the knobs, stain and foam brush. I am not a pro by any means, but not bad for my first attempt.