No Junk In The Trunk

A couple weeks ago we took a little visit over to Snohomish, Washington which is a great place to find antiques. One of our favorite stores, Faded Elegance, has a mixture of antiques and new, weathered vintage items. 

We stumbled upon this amazing trunk there marked for $130. 

And this amazing trunk...

And this amazing trunk!

After much deliberation, the first trunk won out. We tried to pry it open in the store and the store employee said it wasn't able to be locked- and it was locked. She said we could take it to a locksmith and she'd take 10% off because we couldn't open it. Sold!

It's now our living room coffee table and has replaced our little $20 Ikea one. 

This plaque inspired me to do a little search on Mendel Trunks. I'm guessing our trunk was made around the 1920's-30's. I found this website explaining a little more on Mendel trunks. 

Promoting itself as “the Aristocrat of Luggage,” the Mendel-Drucker Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, manufactured this sturdy metal wardrobe trunk in the early 1930s for what it called the “class market.”

This trunk features an enclosed compartment for clothing on hangers, as well as several drawers for shoes, accessories, and folded items. It was also made with special gaskets, interior dust curtains, and sturdy bolts and locks to protect the owner’s expensive garments from moisture, soot, and theft.

I never really thought about trunks being so sophisticated before. It makes our modern day suitcases look really... boring and impractical. How awesome would it be to be able to have your own little mobile wardrobe wherever you went? If you just forget about how incredibly heavy these are you might be tempted to use one!

Ok, maybe not... I'll take my little boring suitcase with wheels. 

Just a side note: imagine what the person who used this as travel gear would think about us using it as furniture in our home? 

Deployment Thoughts: Nearly Halfway

We are already almost halfway through our first deployment so I thought I'd just take some time and complain just talk about some of the things I've experienced as a Navy wife during this deployment. 

-Anything that can break, will. 

So far on this deployment the shower drain has clogged, the oven heating element has broken and nearly caught fire, the oven handle has fallen completely off, the front tires on the car needed replacing, the rear turn signal bulb burnt out, the XBOX wireless adapter has quit working, the cable box downstairs is unresponsive, the kitchen faucet is now loose, the food truck's seat belt doesn't unwind, the glove box door is broken, and the handle for putting the window down needs replacing. 

-Bad things happen and you have to be prepared to deal with them without your significant other's support. 

Last underway my friend passed and my grandfather passed. That was pretty difficult. On top of everything I couldn't even have Russ there with me, giving me support. I also couldn't even communicate with him regularly either which left me upset.

-Care packages can be expensive to send (but fun also) and frustrating when it takes nearly a month to receive them. 

I bet I spend at least $75 on care package supplies and another $15 in shipping fees. 

-You will stay up waaaaaay later than usual watching Netflix. 

I don't remember a time when I went to bed before 1 am. I consider that turning in early. 

Ian has turned in before I have, as usual. 

-You will tear up at random moments when you think of your significant other.

Sometimes when I'm driving, or writing him an email, looking at the night sky, or I see a rainbow... you know, whenever. 

-You will keep their body wash in the shower just so you can smell it sometimes to make you feel like they're still there. 

T-shirts lose their scent too quickly. It's the only thing I have left now. 

-Communication is key... but frustrating, repetitive, and sometimes not too exciting. 

I love writing Russ emails. I usually write him a long email every night before I turn in at 3 am. Somedays they don't go through, somedays I don't hear from him. And sometimes there's not a whole lot going on in my day. Some days just aren't that exciting, you know? And I know he doesn't get sick of hearing, "I love and miss you and am so proud of you! I can't wait until you're home!" but sometimes as I'm writing it I think, does this sound repetitive? I completely feel those things but written out rather than said just doesn't feel the same. It's hard to convey all the things you're feeling but it's good to try.

I love the few times we can talk on the phone (it's only been three times since March) but when I ask him how he's doing, he says "work and sleep." Which is accurate... and then the conversation gets quiet. So yeah, it's hard to talk about things when they're gone because our worlds are so different right now. I try to make sure he's informed on everything, however minute, to give him something else to think about. 

Another fun thing I like to do are fill out old goofy surveys and send them to him and have him write back his answers. Sometimes it's pretty funny and you can even learn a few things about your spouse that you may not have known before! 

-You can save a ton of money... if you aren't starting a business.

That's where our savings is going right now, sorry honey. :-/

Mint To Be

Today was a big day for us because we finally have our truck painted. It's a beautiful, striking mint green that'll really stands out and looks amazing!

Here's what we started with:

In a couple days we're headed down to our graphics place to get measured for the decals and they'll be put on in a few weeks after the paint fully cures. We are so happy with how beautiful the paint came out and thankful that Randy at Maaco really helped us out selecting the right color (which was nearly a three hour process between finding paint colors, trying to get the right Pantone shade from our graphics company, mixing paint colors to see the correct shade). It was exhausting but in the end I think the result was worth it. 

As a thank you I spent yesterday afternoon and evening making the people at Maaco a lovely dessert platter of Nutella Brownies, Red Velvet Brownies, and Java Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were very appreciative! 

This truck has felt like it has been us fighting against the tide at every turn. Right when we think there will be smooth sailing we get thrown another annoying curveball. I know we're headed in the right direction and that someday (hopefully soon) it'll be worth it.

Update: This was my 400th post! Woo hoo, can you believe it?!

Living Room Mood Board

Every time I go to Fred Meyer I see this adorable gray sectional and I've wanted it so badly.  I've sat on it briefly and it's just so comfortable but also stylish as well. I can totally see Russ hanging out on it and playing video games together. It usually hovers around $899-799 (and one time last holiday season it went down to $699) but I don't have a reason to buy it now- don't have the money or space. So, I guess it'll just have to live in my goofy little mood board that I worked up.

It's nothing fancy, just for fun. 

1.) Sectional: Ashley Furniture

2.) Coffee Table: Overstock

3.) Rug: World Market

4.) Decorative Boxes: Target

5.) Floor Lamp: Overstock

6.) Aviation Art: Z Gallerie

7.) Curtains: Target

8.) Hemnes Storage Shelf: Ikea

Happy Weekend, everyone! 

You've Got To Be Kitten Me

This past weekend I was inspired to pick up a paintbrush and a spare canvas and paint a goofy little idea that's been bouncing around my brain for a while. I love lucky cats... I love sugar skulls... so, why not a lucky cat decorated like a sugar skull?! 

I found inspiration via Google images and just did my own take. I first drew everything out, then began with the emerald background. I originally wanted to do a black background but I thought the cherry blossoms with the emerald would be an unexpected combination and would still fit nicely with the Japanese-themed style. 

I love the way the cherry blossoms came out. I put a glob of pink paint right next to white paint and dabbed the brush in so each color was on half of the brush and just had fun with it. It gives the flowers a little more dimension when you use the white barely mixed with color. 

I am really pleased with the end result, my little lucky cat is adorable! I originally wanted to paint him in a similar color that Ian is but with all the ornamentation already covering him I thought it would be too much. 

He found the perfect home among the rest of our quirky game room art. It's probably my favorite art display in the house because it can be goofy, unexpected and just fun. 

Speaking of cats... I haven't mentioned the kitties lately, have I?

Well, they've been really busy lately so...

How lazy, right?

The Besta of the Resta

For a while now Mom has been looking for a replacement TV media stand ever since I initially messed up the drawers on her old one. :-/ I'm usually so good at assembly but those drawers confused the hell out of me! As a result of repeated attempts to fix my mistake and shoddy construction, the stand drawers were beyond repair.

Enter: Ikea. Of course. On our last trip we went through the TV and media stand section extensively measuring and figuring out what would best fit in the space. We'd looked at the ones online and nothing really grabbed us. But what I didn't know was that they sometimes have custom models on the floor with parts that they assemble together to create a new unit.

For around $100, we saw one that would work and looked pretty cool. It was made up of multiple parts (which scared me because finding stuff in that huge warehouse at the end can be tedious and it's easy to forget a part!).

This unit was part of the Besta series; gotta love those Swedish names! 

Source

I couldn't find the cabinet door on their website but if you are in the showroom and want to make sure you have all the pieces, you can ask an employee and they'll print out a parts list for you.

I think it turned out great. I love the dvd divider because it keeps everything in line. The door gives easy access to the XBOX and then you can just shut the door and hide it. It wasn't too bad to put together and on the Ikea Assembly Difficulty Scale of 1-10 that I just made up, I'd give it a 6 (just because I had to figure out how to put the drawers in and the cabinet doors myself with no directions provided).

Chugging Along Nicely

The truck has been transformed with our new paint job and I think it looks amazing! Today we are taking the truck to be painted... she'll finally have a beautiful exterior to match her gorgeous interior. 

Here's what the truck started off looking like when we first adopted her:

Then we had to take her in to get the electrical and plumbing redone, replace the window, add racks, and a new jump seat.

We painted the cabinets and walls and used rubber molding with some strong adhesive along the back of the sink and where the counters met the walls. 

I didn't get a picture of it but we also replaced the old driver's seat cover (that was embroidered with frogs...) for a black seat cover with houndstooth. There's a few more things to add in here (more storage for boxes and paper products, our equipment, a generator) so I'll be updating as we go. So many exciting changes!

Care Package #3

Since I was too dim to realize that the last package I sent should have been his birthday box, I made this one as his birthday box instead. 

I just used scrapbook paper glued to the flaps and some other scrapbooking supplies to decorate. I used a silver Sharpie to draw the stars and other little personal messages. I taped down the 'happy birthday' letter stickers because they could easily fall off if the package is handled so badly as they usually are. I put an envelope on the side so I could place a few pictures and a little handwritten letter inside. 

Inside the box:

-Nestle water flavoring- iced tea
-Little Bites Blueberry Muffins
-Snyder's Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzels
-Chocolate granola bars
-Microwavable tortilla stuffers with tortillas
-Honey Bunches of Oats Granola 
-Pudding Snack Pack
-Milano Cookies
-Extra gum
-Different types of gummies
-Nutella dipping snacks 
-Cliff bars (white chocolate macadamia nut- the best kind)
-New boot socks
-Some fake mustaches
-Silly Putty

But his big birthday/deployment's over surprise is this: The XBOX One. I've been saving for it a little at a time since he left and I'm about 1/4 of the way saved for it (about $10 every week or so).

Source

Today is his birthday: Happy Birthday Russ! :D

Friday High 5

1.) I got to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the only Navy wife friend I'll ever have- I haven't seen her in months so it was fun to catch up.

2.) We picked up the truck!

3.) We started painting the inside of the truck! We used primer especially for aluminum and then we're using a semi-gloss or eggshell to go over that. Everything is getting painted white for a clean, bright look. It's time consuming but it's really starting to look like "ours" now. :D

4.) The Veronica Mars movie came out this week and I bought it yesterday. 

5.) I found this adorable lucky cat for the truck dashboard that'll hopefully draw in the customers! (In the Japanese culture they believe the maneki-neko, or lucky cat, will bring in customers with the left paw raised and wealth and luck with the right paw raised... I need to find one with both paws up! It also depends on what color the figurine is... definitely need a gold one for wealth and prosperity.)

And here's the rest of my collection that she gets to join!

Another Obstacle Down!

Yesterday we drove down to Auburn to finally pick up our truck that has now passed Washington Labor & Industries! :D Another obstacle we've overcome, a huuuuge obstacle! For the past couple weeks we've had our electrical and plumbing completely redone. 

We had the mirror above the sinks taken out, what was begun of the hood and counter (for a cooking area) removed, bakery racks and cabinets installed, the fridge and our new freezer mounted to the floor and wall for stability. 

We also got this sweet jump seat installed so a passenger doesn't have to roll around on the floor or hang on for dear life. Its got a cross-body seatbelt that's mounted to the wall as well. 

We are planning on painting some of the inside and the cabinets to make it look a little more inviting and homey. This truck is all about making everything look amazing, inside and out. Next stop painting and decals! Then commercial kitchen. Then health department... and so on and so on. 

The list never ends!