Splash Studio

Since moving, Adam and I have been trying to explore Milwaukee as much as we can. So on Friday for a triple birthday celebration, we decided to try Splash Studio, a painting bar. (I like their logo because it's clever)

My birthday is August 1st, Adam's August 10th, and Alli the 8th.

The group: me, Adam, Erika, Alli, Joe

 My little painter

I actually told Adam about this place back when we were dating but we never made it. We did however, tell Joe about it. So him and Alli have now been 3 times since I told them about it.

 Erika and Alli

 This is when my painting stopped looking good. I had so much fun but my painting was pretty awful.

You start off with a white canvas and there is an artist who takes you step by step to repaint a painting they have already done. (You look ahead at the calendar to see what painting is on the docket so you know when you want to go).  We used acrylic paint so that it dried fast so we could finish our painting in the three hour time limit. The theory is that when your painting is drying you can get a drink... we were kind of slow painters so we just got our cokes at the beginning.

 Adam's painting was pretty good.

 You can add whatever you want to your painting. (I mean theoretically you don't even have to repaint the artist's painting but I don't think many people do that.) I added a moon, Alli an arch since she's from St. Louis, and Adam mimicked the Chicago skyline.

 Everyone's painting

My painting was so bad, I tried to get the artist to switch me for his painting. He didn't go for it haha

All in all, this was a really fun outing and it was something different to try. We are hoping to go back sometime.

Random

I just wanted to blog to let you know I'm alive hehe I'm been so bad about blogging lately. Here are some super random things from the last week just as an update.

On Saturday, Adam and I met up with another couple for a Living Social deal at a local creamery. It was for a cheese "factory" tour. This was quite a hilarity because it was just a store with some bigger rooms in the back. Not really what I was expecting at all. Oh and the tour comprised of this guy first taking us outside (OUTSIDE?!?) and pointing in through the dirty windows at various machines and then taking us into this other room and pointing out some other machines that were hard to see from the our vantage point. It was quite comical that we paid for it but I think we sort of learned how cheese was made so that was interesting. We also got 2 bags of cheese curds and some ice cream samples that were oh so yummy. So I can't be mad.

 Ali and Joe (Living Social and Groupon Gurus)

 Then we went to this eclectic cafe that was in a really cool building. I had a B.E.L.T (Bacon, Egg, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich). It was good and fun to say hehe

 Adam and I went for a walk downtown to get pictures of buildings that he wants to paint.  He is going to do a painting like the Chicago skyline but of Milwaukee instead. The blue sky was so refreshing since it's been raining here almost everyday for 2 weeks.

 There is a park right across from this Cathedral where they have Jazz in the Park every Thursday during the Summer.

This weekend, we did a lot of work on our furniture projects. Stripping varnish/stain/paint, sanding, staining, and painting. There is still more to do but it's really exciting and fun ;) Can't wait to finish our projects.

I finally bough Woman's World that has Leighann's article featured in it. So fun!

So my wrist pain that I wrote about a couple weeks ago has progress and involves both arms from my elbows down. I went to a hand specialist who thinks I have carpal tunnel (fancy words that basically means a pinched nerve). I think the doctor is full of it after WebMD-ing myself but nonetheless I have a test this coming Thursday to help determine where the pain is coming from and what is causing it. Hopefully, I can get some answers, The pain came out of no where and is starting to affect day-to-day things.


I don't have many plans for this weekend but that makes me excited. I'm ready to relax and get some stuff done around the apartment ;)

Happy Weekend!

New Projects!

Adam and I are obsessed with making things are own these days. These are our current projects.

Adam got this frame from work before they threw it out. It was once white, then kelly green, and lastly that very bright blue. He is hoping to either stain it or repaint it a normal color and use it to frame this map he has been dying to blow up and print out. It's a map of the old train system in the Wheaton/Chicagoland area. The train tracks are now gone but the local towns used it to make the prairie path where people can run or ride their bikes all the way to Chicago if they wanted. So the map has all the towns, golfcourses, rivers, etc that Adam grew up around. It's really fun.

Now that we want to have people over more often we decided we might need to get a real table and stop expecting people to stand while they eat since we only have 2 barstools. Crazy, right? I thought it would be great exercise to stand while eat every time we have someone over. Brian's (our friend) mom and stepdad are hoping to move so they are getting rid of some stuff. They were getting rid of this table set and so Adam snagged it. I cannot wait to redo the table and the chairs for that matter! So pumped!

I wanted a home work station so we've been on the hunt for a small desk that would work. I've got big plans for this cute guy. Can't wait to get started on it.

My Dresser

Okay guys, I am really excited about this find. Remember when I said, we found this at a thrift store? I said I liked it but wasn't sure if we had room for it (even though we really needed it) and Adam being the awesome husband he is, said we definitely did and we bought it on the spot! Well, with my first day of my job looming in front of me last week, I kicked it into gear to get this bad boy done so we could get our apartment more organized. And am I ever glad I did. It took a lot of work but I am really giddy about the results. Our initial thought was that it was all wood and that I could stain the top and paint the rest of it white. This would have looked really good however, the top is not real wood while the rest of the frame seems to be.

 If you can see there are all kind of different lines going on. I think the trim is wood while the top is maybe plywood covered with veneer and the back is who knows what. I mean the side is who knows what either but I don't care.

The top coats did not come off very well at all so I just roughed it up with the sander and called it a day.

I think the original color had been cream and then the previous owner had painted/spray painted it yellow (why? I don't know? It looked bad) and they didn't even remove the hardware which is why it had paint in all the grooves and you can see the "leaf" imprints on the draw because the hardware had been left on (you can see it especially on the top drawer).

It was way too cold to do anything on our balcony but then Adam and I remembered that we have one parking space in the HEATED garage. Lucky for us too, we are the closest to the heater and are on the end so we have extra space ;) Perfect for parking the car and working on a dresser.  So I borrowed the community grocery cart to take all the drawers down to sand in the middle of the garage where the only outlet was in the whole 45 space garage. So many stares but I didn't care because I got the job done.

I decided to paint the dresser all white and spray paint the hardware a dark color. I think it's like a metallic dark gray/brown/black-- not really sure but I really like it! I love the contrast and the hardware it antique-y looking. Love it! Also I love the flower pattern on the top row of drawers and the character that the legs have ;)

 So cute right? We are going to add some pictures on the wall and maybe a tall vase to add height on this end of the room but I love, love it so far!!!

Adam the Artist

NOTE: I heard a rumor that Adam and I's wedding would be featured on Christy Tyler's blog (our photographer) today. I hope the rumor is true so check it out. I'll be checking it every hour hehe

Anyways.....

Adam's artsy side, which no one knew he had, has come out in the last few weeks. This is what he has been working on. It's pretty legit. It's actually hanging on our wall as I type this.

He saw this idea at his buddy's house. The original painting had maybe 2 famous buildings and then just the rest of the skyline. Adam decided he wanted to put as many famous buildings in there as he could. They are roughly in the right order. I think he did a fantastic job. He now wants to paint more skylines or do some for his friends as gifts. It's fun to see this side of him ;)

Happy Weekend to you guys! Have any fun plans?

New house

This is what my kitchen looked like (needed the most contrast so I got it when it looked it's worst :)

This is what it now looks like now

I'm now working on my bedroom :) Hope it looks good when I'm done.

Okay, so I know that we get in a rut but seriously do not let your blinds get so dirty that your rags (yes, plural) look like this when you clean 3 blinds. That is an hour and a half of my life that I will never get back.

In other news, I never want to paint again. Good thing I have the living room and hallway yet.