Office Chair Redo

If you were not aware we purchased our new home recently and it is a Mid Century Modern home (MCM). Some of you might be thinking... what is that? I have to be honest with you..I wasn't really sure either. I watch HGTV like a mad woman. I read design blogs, magazines and follow many designers. I was semi-familiar with MCM design but I always thought it was something super kitschy and super retro. I am still learning, but Wikipedia describes it as so:

"Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior, product and graphic design that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965. "

Most of the furniture I would say is more 50s-70s. The furniture I am really drawn to is from the 60s. A few pieces you may have seen that are popular MCM pieces are:

 

Since our home is MCM architecturally we had to fill it with MCM pieces. Especially in the main living room. My coastal Pottery Barn inspired pieces would just clash. So...that meant I had to sell everything and start new! That was both exciting and overwhelming. I am a more traditional girl, but because I love design this was really a fun new experience. There is a whole world of crazy MCM people out there. Scott and I have joined in on it! I enjoy MCM because I get to go thrifting, to flea markets and garage sales. It is a great adventure trying to score some great MCM pieces. It also has allowed Scott and I to share in something we both love! 

I have been stalking Craigslist for MCM furniture. MCM has become so popular that many pieces are just outrageously expensive! My best bet was to find pieces that someone didn't know what it was. If you follow me on Facebook you will know that I scored a Lane coffee table for 50.00! The same one was one Craigslist for 395.00(that person knew what they had).

I saw this on CL and thought it would add much needed warmth and color in my living room. It was also not outrageously priced. I then saw the same seller had an office chair. We met up and entered her house. Oh my goodness...her house was amazing! She had beautiful pieces all over her home. We talked for awhile and had so much in common.She has an awesome MCM blog if you want to check it out http://midcenturyobsession.com/.  I ended up not buying the office chair I saw on CL...but lucky me she had another one that was perfect! It even matches the art.

 The leather on top was in great condition but the seat needed to be recovered. That was kind of exciting because I would love to get really good at reupholstering. This is a great start. I went to Joann's and purchased this fabric:

I love this fabric. It had that same mustard/gold that was on the top leather piece. I have to say I have never purchased upholstery fabric from Joann's before and I was so excited. I have always browsed the aisles and dreamed of the day I could purchase some. They have such a beautiful selection. I LOVE fabric! I unscrewed the seat from the chair and then ripped off the old fabric. The foam was disintegrated from being so old. I added new batting and foam. Being that I have never attempted reupholstering I went to my trusty YouTube for a tutorial(which I can't find the one I watched..but there are tons on there).

The rest of the steps are pretty easy. Take up one side...pull taught and start stapling..beginning in the middle..leaving the corners unstapled. Then once you have the sides all stapled up you can begin to bring up the corners and staple those. Then repeat the same steps when you add your fabric. I am a visual learner so here are some pics:

It is not perfect..but not too bad for my first attempt. I can't wait to redo my vanity chair in my master bath! If you have been wanting to try your hand at reupholstering I highly recommend starting with a chair seat first.

Summer Lovin'

Since I changed the name of my blog...I decided to also do a new series called "Summer Lovin' ". I believe I may have done something like this in the past..but I want to make it a more regular post. Similar to my "Girl Talk" posts...I will talk about what I am loving each month or if I can keep up each week! If you watch YouTube videos they do their monthly favorites and it is so much fun to watch. So, enough talkin' let me show you some pictures!!!!

 

Ok, this cute business is something I picked up from HomeGoods last night. I have not been to HomeGoods in forever. I was reunited with the beautifulness that is HomeGoods and I apologized for my long absence. It will never happen again. You should have seen my cart!!! (Baby, I hope you are not reading this...if you are just close this out right now!!!) Seriously, my cart was so full I couldn't see anything in front of me. But, this is actually how I normally shop. I gather all the goods and then I edit. I prioritize by needs and wants. So, I actually only ended up with a few things. This notebook was one of them. It was only 5.99..so being that I am also cheap..it made the cut. I am starting a new book and will be reading it along with some other girls, so I wanted a journal to write down notes in. Which brings me to my next favorite thing this month.

Have you read this yet? Wife after God, by Jennifer Smith. It just came out a few months ago...I believe. I actually have not started to read it yet as our study has not started. But, I read the intro and a few things online and I am going to love it. I was praying about ways I could encourage The Hubs more and just really how to be an awesome wife. I mean don't get me wrong...I am pretty awesome already...right husband??...oh wait I banished you from my page...come back and sing my praises:). Anyways, if you want to join us in the study let me know! We are just doing it all online so it is perfect for me. 

Yes, those are Sharpies and yes I love them!!! I write with them all the time. I can not use a normal pen! Weird I know but they are just great. I think it is because of their size and thickness. Yeah this is a little awkward now so I will just end with Yay for Sharpies!!!!

I am so excited about this candle. I had been eying these MELT  candles at Target for awhile now...solely for the design. But, again being the cheapskate that I am, I just stared lovingly at them and never bought one....until I smelt this pillar o'goodness. It is in the scent White Peach Mango. Yeah...unbelievable. Peach is my all time favorite sent. I seriously probably looked like a crazy woman standing in the candle aisle. I had this candle all up in my face. I wanted to eat it...yummmm. They have other scents...but those do not matter. They also had bigger pillars and diffusers. They did not have a diffuser in this scent at my Target... but I am hoping to find it at another location. I believe this was 9.99. I am going back for more...for sure!

Since I could not eat my candle...I am happy the folks at Bigelow made this deliciousness in a cup. Have you tried it??????? My mom and sister made lunch for me for my bday. I was minding my own business...when all of the sudden I took a sip of the tea my mom brought,. Ohhh LAWD! There should have been a sign or warning stating that I was about to drink the most fabulous cup of iced tea that I have ever tasted in my life. My sister and I both agreed it was so good. We actually finished off the whole jug my mom brought and we were not ashamed!  My mom actually got the Lipton version of the Green Tea with Peach. I went to my Target and Vons but they did not carry it. Vons did carry this brand and it is very similar. I also served this at my friends bday and she almost drank the whole pitcher...it was her bday that was ok...plus I had more:). 

What have you been enjoying this month? Or this summer?

A year without you

On August 6th of 2012 I lost my Father in law. The whole day was just weird. This whole year has been weird. That is the only word I can use to describe how I have felt. It is weird going to my in-laws home and not seeing him sitting in "his spot". It is weird not having him stop by unexpectedly(which he loved to do). It is weird not listening to his rants on something political. It is weird to not have him be there for Shane and being the awesome Grandpa he was. It is weird not hearing my husband call him everyday.

When I think of something that is weird...I think of it being a little off. That is exactly what this past year has been without Gary...off. I have never lost anyone that close. I still have my Grandparents and even my Great-Grandmother. I have to admit death is very hard for me. Maybe because I have not had to deal with it. But, God gave me so much peace this year. He reminded me that Gary is still alive and well. Gary was such a trooper here on earth. He had so many health issues. I know when I just have the flu...I call in sick...lay in bed and am miserable. Now, this is not to say he was not grumpy:). But, it was all justified. He was not well..but he pushed through it. He loved nothing more than to have his family over. His eyes lit up every time we came over...more so for the Grand kids:).

I was able to have a few conversations and special times with him before he passed away. I treasure those and am so thankful God gave those to me. One night I was over their house and we started talking about when The Hubs and I were dating. He asked me what I thought of him...not what I thought about The Hubs..but himself. I quietly said I was a little afraid. I then quickly followed that up with an explanation. You see, he had this rough exterior but a heart of gold. I told him about a few times I had gone over to their house and every time I did he was on the phone with his sister! I was so impressed. He had such a great relationship with her. I was able to tell him how much I respected that as I did not see this in my own family...even with myself. I had a moment where I thought to myself.."I want to be a part of this family". When choosing a spouse you have to look at their parents. Scott has the most amazing parents. They loved each other and God..something that is hard to find. I see so many of Gary's great qualities in Scott(and some of his not so desirable ones, but they made him who he was and I loved it).

Another special time we had was when Jan and Gary enlisted my help to clean out their closets. Oh my...this was so fun. Well, for me at least. Gary was not really into it...at first. He was holding on to everything. I started to turn into one of those tv hosts that helps people organize their home. Gary had his ah-ha moment and just started getting rid of everything. I can't help but think God had us do this to make it a little easier on us and not have to get rid of so many of his items. Not to say he still does not have a lot of other stuff:). He loved his stuff. We had so much fun that night. We started to get on Jan as she was holding onto pant jumpsuits from her younger years (which were totally fabulous..so I can't blame her).. God allowed these times and I am so grateful.

The day before he died was so wonderful. Just another moment I am thankful for. We spent time in the kitchen together that day. That was always our common ground. He loved talking about cooking with me. We went out to the locker where he kept all his canned goods and we gathered all the ingredients for dinner. What a great night. Although, it is weird to not have him here I am thankful he is in perfect condition...free from pain and suffering. If he can't be here with us...how marvelous it is to be with God who can take care of him far better than we or any doctor could ever do here on earth. No doctor could completely heal him or give him a new body...but The Great Physician did and I am sure Gary is singing His praises at this moment. It has been a hard year without Gary, but I am thankful for the man he was and for that legacy that is carried over in my own husband. And now I will stop writing because I am getting my computer all wet from my tears!!!

One of my favorite pics from our wedding. Gary was a great teacher and Scott was listening:).

Ohhhh...so precious. They loved eachother so much. I really wish he could have been around longer strictly for Shane. They had great adventures and he had so many future plans he wanted to do with his Grandson.

Grand Re-Opening:The Days of Summer

Hello there my faithful followers:). I blog because I love to write. It is definitely a creative outlet for me. When I first decided to start my blog I thought, "who is going to want to read anything I have to write about"? I am not an English major. My grammar and use of punctuation marks are atrocious.
I said to heck with it...I want to write!!!! I am very thankful for all my sweet friends who have encouraged me to continue to post and that actually read my posts. I appreciate it. I have thought many times about doing this more often and getting sponsors and making it more of a job rather than for fun. I remember doing that with my passion for baking and cooking. That did not end well. I got burnt out and I no longer enjoyed it. So, for now I just write for the few that read and I love it!

My blogger name is Flour Power. I went with that as I always wanted to open up a bakery with that name. I started this blog with intentions to post strictly about baking. It bloomed into much more as I got interested in interior design and makeup. Then of course I had a baby and I am married, so I like to share things about parental life and married life. I realized that I needed to change my blog name. Luckily, my sister is a Graphic Artist and I enlisted her help. It took me forever to choose a new name. Having the name Summer I knew I wanted to come up with something clever. The Days of Summer ended up being the winner. Unfortunately, The Days of Summer is already taken as far as the URL, but I did change my header. I may eventually change my link but for now it will remain the same. Soooooo, with all that said I thought I would do a Grand Re-opening post:). To celebrate I am going to do a "get to know me" post. Everything you ever wanted to know about me or maybe way more than you ever wanted to know:).

I was born in the summer..but I was named Summer because of a girl my mom knew in High School. I grew up in Riverside until the age of 7. We then moved to Moreno Valley and lived there until I got married. I met my husband(of 10 years in September) through a family friend and through cooking. I often questioned why I went to Culinary School. Like I said before it was a hobby but once I started doing it for a living I did not enjoy it anymore. I realized God knew what He was doing. I started working as a Personal Chef for a family, who my family knew for years. The older son's best friend was my now husband. It is a long story(I will post that story soon) but we ended up meeting and falling in love and got hitched!

I am shy. Like, puke on my shoes if I am the center of attention, kind of shy. I have always been. I actually was a lot more shy when I was younger if you can believe it! God is working on me though. I am a very fearful person and I don't have time for that anymore! I want to be me and be comfortable with who God wants me to be. It has been a long process but I give all the glory to God for any progress I have made.

Speaking of God....I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. I have been for years. I am learning more and more of what it means to live a Godly life and not just a Good life(that will be a post soon too). Being shy I lived many years not branching out and living a life that was pleasing to God. Thankfully, God is very forgiving...I need that. His mercies are new every morning...can I get an AMEN?!

Most of you already know all of this so I will try not to bore you with any more random facts about me. I hope you enjoy my posts and will continue to read them. I have so many posts that are still in the draft folder and I need to finish those up. Writing has always been apart of my life. It is a creative release, but also very therapeutic. I am not quick with my words when I speak. Writing allows me to free the thoughts in my head and share my feelings about life. I hope you enjoy The Days of Summer.