Updating Something Dumb and Old

'Dumb and old' is exactly what I'd describe this hutch before I painted it.  It was something an old roommate bought at a garage sale for $20-- it was an old, scratched oaky color with dull bronze handles, and we used it because we just needed something cheap and simple to hold up our TV.

After a year of dealing with its ugliness, another roommate and I painted it white and tried to distress it-- but we had no idea how to distress it.  The paint peeled and looked gross and we kind of just...dealt with how bad it looked.  Again.

Now, I'm moving into a new place all on my own. The hutch seems like it has so much useful space, so I'd hate to just throw it out or donate it when it could be such a good addition to my new home.

SO....I painted it!

I went through a lot of color options, including sage green, but eventually I realized how many freaking colors I have (or will have) in my kitchen (which is where I want to put it).  Whatever color I painted it needed to go with all of these colors...which includes two shades of green.  So sage was out.

I ended up going with white.  My dad encouraged me to go with enamel paint, since that's usually the best for furniture.  I was able to paint in the sunshine while listening to Aziz Ansari's Dangerously Delicious album and it was the best time ever.

This is how the hutch turned out:

But that wasn't enough to complete the vision.  

So I went to Hobby Lobby and realized they have a DOPE drawer pull collection.  So I bought a bunch!

Loved this pink-- it looked really French, especially next to the black and white checkered one. 

I almost grabbed a cow's head style knob, but it was a tad too country for me.  I needed something a little bit cheekier...hence, the dog.  That other knob served to tie in all the colors I'll have in my kitchen together really well while also toning down the overly French vibe since I want it to feel really eclectic. 

Hey, Dog. 

This-- I couldn't turn it down.  It is the best of all the knobs, it's such a cool color, and it's bigger than the rest so it really stands out on the dresser. 

And finally, this gorgeous gold one to make everything modern and a little more updated. 

I LOVE DIY projects and this one was no exception.  For one last update on this, I want to put something on the top of it-- when we put our TV on this so long ago, we were too impatient, didn't wait for the paint to dry, and scratched up the top.  Now, it's all lumpy, even after I sanded it down before I painted it (I'm obviously not good at sanding).  I want to put glass over the top, or maybe marble tile (if I can afford it).  We'll see what happens!

Let me know if you have any questions and please share your DIY experiences in the comments!

Palm Trees In The Snow: Netflix Movie Review

OK, damn.  I just watched this movie and I have to admit, I'm head over heels.

I watch a lot of Netflix, and I admit, most of the time I'm looking for something fluffy.  Friday night, though, I was looking for something with a little more depth-- and since I'm single as a pringle-- I wanted to see some ROMANCE, BABY.

Well, romance I got in spades.  Palm Trees in the Snow (Palmeras en la Nieve, in its native tongue) was one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

It starts off with a really cryptic scene between a Spanish man (Mario Casas, OMG he's so incredibly handsome) saying goodbye to his Guinean lover (Berta Vazquez) in the sixties during a tumultuous political environment.  It kind of bummed me out to be honest-- in my head I was like 'okay, this isn't going to end well.'

SPOILERS BELOW-- don't keep going unless you don't mind. :)

And honestly, after a while of watching Killian's story-- basically becoming a man amongst the natives of the plantation, trying to decide what kind of person he's going to be-- it kind of seems like a romance gone south would be the least of his problems.  He has to decide whether or not he's going to be cruel, but a good businessman, or kind and compassionate to the feelings of those he's working amongst.

He also deals with someone planting a poisonous snake in his room, high tensions between the Spaniards and the Guineans, and the rough reality of working from dusk till dawn.

But we only find out about this after his niece, Clarence, in the present day, finds a piece of a letter in his things letting someone know he's going to send money to them soon.  She knows she can't just ignore it, especially with her Uncle Killian having one foot in the grave, so she goes to New Guinea to figure out if there's someone who needs to be taken care of after Killian passes away.

I won't totally spoil the end for you, but I will say that she-- and we-- learn all about Killian's story, which is both rough and beautiful.  Compared to his racist brother, Killian is obviously more compassionate and understanding, and wants to fit in with the natives since he considers the island to be his home.  His brother, Jacobo, only wants money and women.

Early on in the movie, we see Killian get lost in the forest and end up stumbling onto a cliffside, where a woman is crying and singing.  This is Bisila-- and the first hint of romance we see between the two, but the connection between them that we see in the scene doesn't last long since Bisila leaves in fear.  Their relationship doesn't even happen until Killian's place on the island is fully established in the film, but eventually we see him falling for the young nurse....who's already married.

Their romance is beautiful, but Killian constantly has to leave to tend to his sick sister halfway across the world, not to mention his and Bisila's relationship is forbidden.  They're constantly sneaking around, but towards the end of the movie there's a sense of understanding on the island that Bisila and Killian are together and everyone knows how right it is, which was really cool to watch.

Something incredibly terrible happens to Bisila while Killian is away, and I thought the director handled it incredibly well-- I was afraid there was going to be some terrible twist or scandal connected to it, but I was so happy when everyone-- mainly just Killian-- found out what happened and wanted to help Bisila move past it.  I could be mistaken, but in the scene where Killian tells Bisila he's sorry for what his brother has done, it sounded like he was telling her this in her native language (if not, someone correct me) but I thought that was so beautiful and touching.

The last thing I want to say is about Jacobo-- I couldn't figure him out.  He was a playboy, interested in money, representing the worst of the Spanish colonizers, and I thought his relationship with Julia was there to show us that Julia's unrequited love would never be matched by someone so intent on destroying himself...but I just don't know.  There were some moments in the movie where I thought maybe the point was that Julia could have saved him if Jacobo would have wised up and seen how great she was...or maybe Jacobo is honestly just a piece of shit and that's that.  Tell me what you think in the comments.

I won't say any more about this movie...there's just SO MUCH TO SAY.  Go and watch it for yourself and tell me what you think-- I, personally, will be watching this again someday.

Tattoos: DO NOT ASK

I was inspired to write a personal post on our station's sites yesterday after my colleague Matt Sparx wrote this awesome piece about not wanting to have kids. 

I have three tattoos-- nothing too intricate, no sleeves, pretty simple art in hidden places on my body-- and yet I am constantly getting judgement from others about my ink.

I won't rewrite the whole article, but I will link it at the bottom of this post and share a little piece of it here:

1. What does it mean?

 

 

This question may seem totally harmless, and I will be honest– it’s definitely not the worst of the bunch.  However, for me, only one of my tattoos actually has meaning behind it, and that’s the fawn– the rest are just things I love, like the daisy and a horseshoe.

People never fail to make me feel terrible for having a ‘meaningless’ tattoo.  ‘Well, why did you get it, then?’ is the question that always seems to follow the one above.  MAYBE BECAUSE I LIKE IT.  MAYBE BECAUSE IT’S PRETTY.  Maybe….maybe it’s none of your business."

You can read the whole article here.