Annnnd now I’m going to sell it.

As you can see here, this coffee table was doing nothing for the space. Or maybe I’m just a bad photographer. Actually, I think it was a combination of both, but mostly the coffee table.

So I finally started painting it last weekend with one of my favorite blue colors, Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue.

I actually kind of liked the way it looked without the top painted, if I was going to keep it. But I had another vision in mind. So I painted the top in CeCe Caldwell’s Vermont Slate.

And then I had this great vision that came to me by Pinterest out of nowhere to paint a white stripe down it to lighten it up. Okay okay, that was the plan all along. Actually I browsed “painted coffee tables” on Pinterest to get this idea. So it’s been done before, but not by me.

Some of you have asked me where I get my ideas and inspiration. Sometimes I just look at all my paint cans and decide which ones I want to use, and sometimes I browse Pinterest for ideas, and tweak them to my liking.

Will did not trust the stripe idea. He kept saying, “But what’s wrong with the way it is now?” And I kept saying, “Trust me. I know what I’m doing. I’ve seen this done before.” It’s not going to look like a racing stripe after all.

See?

It still doesn’t fit in with my living room. Oops. But that’s okay. The perfect person for the coffee table might just find it at The Red Apron in Liberty, Missouri this weekend. :) (Head to their Facebook page for their hours and directions!)

I’m going to finish up a couple more projects this week, so look for more before and afters!

Random Act of Happiness project numero uno complete. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, my Little, Storm, and I decided to try out our first Random Act of Happiness project (an idea stolen from one of my favorite bloggers Jennifer) last night by offering free flowers to strangers just to make them smile.

And let me tell you, spreading happiness is harder than you think. At least it is if you go about it this way.

First we bought enough flowers to make 4 simple bouquets and printed off some pretty tags that said, “You deserve flowers each and every day.”

Then we went to a local outdoor shopping center to find strangers willing to accept our flowers in exchange for a smile.

Luckily, the first girls we ran into were really nice and accepted the flowers without too many questions.

They were so friendly, we wrongly assumed we’d be out of flowers in no time and on our way. Not the case.

The next lady we ran into was extremely confused. I explained to her a couple times that we weren’t asking for anything in exchange and accepting the flowers wouldn’t lead to a lengthy sales pitch. Then she said she felt like she should at least give us a dollar, and I explained again that we wouldn’t accept any money, we were just trying to spread happiness. She ended up turning down the flowers and said she had a good life and to give them to someone who needed them more. So I suppose she had good intentions.

We approached a lady who was knitting on a bench next, and she quickly turned us down without making eye contact. So then we approached a couple ladies who looked to be headed to their cars. I figured that was best because then they wouldn’t have to carry the flowers while shopping. They rejected our offer with a tone that suggested they didn’t trust that we were offering flowers for absolutely nothing in return.

We were about to head home and enjoy the flowers ourselves when we spotted another duo that looked promising.

After they accepted the flowers, I tried to explain that Storm and I were matched through Big Brothers Big Sisters and were just doing this as a happiness project for fun. For a minute, I think she thought I was going to ask for a donation. Ha! I reassured her I wasn’t.

Anyways, they were super nice and we decided that they were a good one to end on even though we still had one bouquet left. We’d faced enough rejection for our first project.

Luckily, I ended up checking a Facebook notification on my phone and saw that one of my friends had sarcastically commented that she would take some flowers off our hands. Lucky for her, we had one batch left and delivering them to her gave us the perfect finish to our first Random Act of Happiness project. I guess we kind of cheated because she wasn’t that random…but she sure was happy!

And she was able to snap a photo of Storm and me together!

So those were our results. It was much more intimidating than I anticipated, but it was also much more rewarding. Storm and I ended our outing laughing about the rejections, feeling good about the smiles we did get to see, and discussing what projects we’d like to try in the future.

In hindsight, I think going to a shopping center made us seem more like solicitors. Unfortunately, we live in an area where everyone drives everywhere, so that was the most convenient place to run into people. Our next idea: set up a free lemonade stand in a park with a walking trail to offer a refreshing drink to the people enjoying the trails! :)

Head over to Jen’s blog to read about the 30 rah rah rah projects she’s completed in Minneapolis so far. And remember, other people can only contribute so much to your happiness. It’s up to you to say yes to free flowers!

Would you take flowers from a stranger or would you worry about ulterior motives? What do you think about our experience? Would you get back out there and try another rah rah rah project?  

If you know Jennifer from Apartment Wife, then you’ve heard of her rah rah rah projects. If you haven’t, then let me sum it up for you. Rah stands for Random Acts of Happiness (clever, huh?), and Jennifer has been known to go out on the streets of Minneapolis and do whatever it takes to make others around her happy, especially the ones she doesn’t personally know.

Sometimes she sees their smiles, like when she starts a random hula-hoop contest on the street, and other times she just has to trust she made someone happy, like when she plays Happy Ding Dong Ditch and rings a strangers doorbell only to leave flowers and run away.

I spent a couple hours the other day reading through every. single. happiness project she’s done, and I was holy inspired to try something in Kansas City. And, I had the perfect excuse to do so. As I’ve mentioned before, I volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and spend a few hours each week with my Little, Storm.

Lately, Storm and I have run out of ideas. We’ve done alot of awesome stuff. Scuba diving lesson, zoo scavenger hunt, visited the local aquarium, gone on a hayride and had smores at a farm, got our nails done, gone ice skating, among many other activities. But lately, we’ve just been watching alot of movies and going out for alot of ice cream.

So I thought these happiness projects would be perfect! Finally, I’ll feel like I’m actually teaching her something about being a happier person and working to make others happy even if they’ve done nothing to you to deserve it, and don’t even know who you are. Since these things seem a little intimidating, I thought we’d start small and hand out flowers to people on the streets today. I mean how many people are going to refuse free flowers?

But now that we’re a few short hours away from this project, I’m starting to get really nervous about it. Like what if people are shopping and don’t want to carry flowers around the whole time? What if we can’t get anyone to appreciate our small attempt at making them smile? I’ve found myself making up excuses in my head about how it’s probably too windy to do it today.

So, of course I decided to blog about it to hold myself accountable. Wish us luck and hope that people don’t think we’re a couple of creepers. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll have a positive story to tell. :)

Would you ever do a rah rah rah project? 

I seriously make fun of myself for acting like an old lady multiple times a day. Maybe this is a problem.

Why am I tired? Oh because I’m a 95-year-old lady and I only got 7.5 hours of sleep last night. You know they require 8-9 right?

Why can’t I go out on Friday or Saturday? Because I’m a 95-year-old lady who might be painting furniture or teaching myself to sew, but most likely I’m going to bed at 9:30.

Why won’t I have more than two drinks? Because I’m a 95-year-old lady who already gets headaches multiple times a week and don’t want to self-impose another (but I promise you that between the ages of 17 and 22 I had enough hangovers to last me a lifetime).

A couple weeks ago when I was hanging out with my Little (I volunteer with BBBS), I bought her some stickers and asked what she would put them on. She said, “Everything.” So I asked if she was going to put them on her trapper keeper. She looked at me funny and said, “Is that the name of a scary movie or something? The Trapper Keeper…dun dun dunnnnn…” After I explained she says, “Um…I’m pretty sure no one knows what a trapper keeper is anymore.”

Then I had to explain to her that I am only 24 years old. That is not old. She is not hanging out with a 95-year-old lady despite my seemingly old lady hobbies and habits.

I mean really, do old ladies take snapchats of themselves at the beach to ignore the realities of life?

What really got me thinking about this is that I’m trying to find places to advertise my blog so that we can grow a leeeeeetle bigger. So I follow all these girls (I mean their blogs…not that I’m a stalker) around my age, and chose one to advertise with. When Passionfruit asked me to explain my blog, I mentioned my 95-year-old lady habits. But then I figured that maybe that wouldn’t sell my blog so well to ladies that are actually my age, so I decided to add, “I’m actually not a 95-year-old lady, so I also blog about my life!”

I’m sure that was convincing, right?

Excuse me while I go learn to quilt. Actually a couple of my friends really are learning to quilt and I really want to, too. But that is neither here nor there. What are your old lady habits? 

Sunday I had my first bridal shower. It was exciting because now it feels like this whole wedding thing is really happening. It was also nice to have a fun event, a little return on the stress of wedding planning.

I might be fooling some of you, but so far, wedding planning hasn’t really been all that fun to me. I keep thinking about how much work and money goes into one day that in my opinion, doesn’t mean much. Don’t get me wrong, the marriage means everything to me, but as we can tell by the divorce rate, a good wedding doesn’t hold up for much these days.

BUT the bridal shower was a lot fun, and it reminded me why we’re having a wedding to celebrate with the people we care about.

In case you’re having a shower soon, maybe you shouldn’t go with a dress, or at least make sure it’s a maxi. I couldn’t even bend over to pick up my gifts for fear of flashing everyone my downstairs. It was quite restricting.

My mom and sister organized a game where they had Will answer questions about me before the shower like “Which thing of yours would Kala get rid of if she could?” (That one was easy – video games!) And every time I got one wrong, I had to put a piece of bubble gum in my mouth.

Apparently, I got a lot wrong. It didn’t help that mom got the hardest bubble gum the dollar store had to offer. Eventually I just put them in my mouth without chewing! I started missing all of them towards the end.

It’s so hard to answer on the spot. Will’s answers were right, and mine were wrong. Like what do I have way too much of? I know that the answer is cardigans (Will says I’m a cardigan lady instead of a cat lady, but he thinks I have the potential to be both), but I said dresses because I couldn’t think straight in the spot light!

By then end, I knew I was a lost cause. So when they asked, “What do you like most about Will?” I was laughing with a mouth full of bubble gum and shouted out, “HIS MONEY!” His answer was even funnier, because he said his rhino muscles. He’s small, but muscular, like a rhino. Makes sense, right? Don’t worry, no one else gets it either!

That is a much bigger piece of gum that it looks…

To all of my friends and family who came to the shower and read this, thanks so much for helping make my shower a great day! And a special shout out to my bridesmaids, Aunt Gina, Grandma Joyce and Terri for helping us set up, and to my sissy for making me look pretty by doing my hair and makeup!

No matter what we’ve got going on over the weekend, I always feel like Monday comes too soon. This morning as I pulled into the parking lot at work, I was thinking “Wasn’t it just a few hours ago that I felt sweet freedom as the workday on Friday finally came to an end?” Guess not.

I had a good weekend, despite the fact that winter does not want to let go. I’ve decided I’m not waiting on it to show itself the door, and instead I’m going to start welcoming in the sunshine.

I got up extra early this morning to make Will hang the sign up so I could take blog worthy photos, but wouldn’t ya know that it was still not light enough for an acceptable photo before I left for work at 7:15 am.

I also have a finished turquoise dresser to show off and a couple new pieces of furniture to paint. For once I’m getting an early start on next month’s furniture, which rarely happens for me.

One last thing, I need your opinion on the discussion below…
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Have you ever thought about the significance of a particular day? And how this day can be so special to someone, or so mundane, or even so scary. Or all of these things all at once?

For me, today is just a typical Friday. I’m grateful for an upcoming break from the workweek and looking forward to time to relax with my friends and family.

For my cousin, today is her birthday. A day that feels as though it was made just for her (or that’s how I feel on my birthday anyways).

This day has a greater significance for fellow blogger Annabelle, who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Today is Team Annabelle day, dedicated to showing Annabelle the love and support she’ll be getting as she begins this fight.

You may not have any clue who Annabelle is. In fact, I didn’t either until my friend Jen asked me to help spread the word. But today Annabelle has her first oncologist appointment and the blogging community is banding together to help her get through this day and the rest that are to follow.

It would mean the world to me if you would visit Annabelle’s blog and leave her some words of encouragement in a blog comment, or send her an email or even just post them to Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #TeamTCCG. Team Annabelle Day was a surprise for her today, but I know she’ll be reading and appreciating each and every word.

Annabelle, I am rooting for you and I hope today is more significant for you because of the support you receive from your friends and family than because of the news you receive at the doctor’s office.

Do you have a color you just gravitate toward? Like would fill up every bit of space in your closet with and buy every decoration in that color? Turquoise is mine. But because I know it’s an issue, I avoid it. I don’t have any turquoise furniture and just purchased a turquoise vase the other day at the prompting of my sister.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about decorating my garage in colors that inspire me and make me happy. I’ve gotten a few sideways glances from my mom and Will, but it’s a place I spend alot of my time in the warmer months. I want it to be a space I want to hang out in, not just your typical dark and dusty garage.

So I picked up some paint yesterday in the bottom color.

Then I started painting a dresser I’ve had in my garage for a while that I’ve decided isn’t worth selling. The wood isn’t real and it’s kind of beyond repair. No worries, it was free. But lucky for me, it’s still functional. The drawers work great, so I think it will be perfect for storing drop cloths and moving pads and whatever else is laying around my apartment just waiting to find a home.

Maybe I’ll even splurge to get it some new beautiful handles, seeing as the ones it has are in rough shape.

I didn’t get it all painted last night because I had an internal struggle about whether I wanted to paint or watch TV. I decided to meet myself in the middle and paint some of the dresser, then watch TV. Hopefully I’ll finish it up tonight. I have a greater chance of getting it done if I start painting before dark!