Smells like DIY...

Look at this terrible picture of the item I rescued from the snowbank (I mean sidewalk...) last night. Yep, it's a dresser. Somewhere along the line it seems to have lost its drawers (mercy!) but that's ok. I plan to give it a new life and whole new purpose. Right now I am deciding between finishing it out as open shelving, or creating doors and making it into a server type cabinet. More to come soon!

PS- a special thank you to my friend Gabby (Gabbie? Yo Gabba Gabba?) who rushed to my rescue to help me carry this thing home at only a moment's notice, and my roommate Danielle who helped us as we struggled to get it up the stairs.

in which I go temporarily insane and wrap the fridge with patterned contact paper

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

also, I kept the postcards, pictures and magnets collected over the last year; they now live on the side.

September is...

September is an exciting time of year. For many a new school year starts, vacations end, the trees start changing colors, and the air grows the tiniest bit brisk. In Boston, September is moving season. All the rentals turn over at once in a massive flurry of moving trucks, which cause traffic all over town on the first of the month. I, luckily, did not have to deal with the stress of moving this month, as my roommates and I have decided to stay put for another year. In fact, I have never had to move on September first, my last few apartments have had odd lease start dates that left me in the only moving truck on the street (November 1st, January 1st, November 18th- the last was a fluke related to delayed renovations). So instead of September equaling moving month in my mind, it is instead merely "sidewalk shopping month"- a time to take advantage of the discarded items left behind by those that moved. And this year I celebrated Sidewalk Shopping Month heartily. In the last week I have focused most of my energy on restoring the objects and furniture I picked up, and in turn, had very little remaining energy for cooking/baking.

A few of my finds

In the last week I did make a somewhat disappointing nectarine cake, and a few basic loaves of french bread, so it is not that I have not been producing food at all, simply that I have put less time toward it than usual.

There are many good food related holidays of note in September: it is National Honey Month, as well as Better Breakfast Month- plenty of potential for great recipes there! Single day holidays of note include Sewing Machine Day (September 10th- I have been contemplating picking up a used sewing machine I keep seeing at Goodwill, is this a sign? Should I go ahead and buy it come the 10th?) National Apple Dumpling Day (17th), and of course, the always amusing International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Ar- th' 19th). I think this month will require at least 2 little-known holiday posts.

As it has been keeping me quite so busy though, I do think I should show some pictures the finds/work I have done related to my very own celebration of "Sidewalk Shopping Day".