Farewell my dear friend
Relief from heat you offered
Deflated you sit
Oh the horror! The party pool we purchased two summers ago, for the bargain price of only $29 smackers from Target, has hosted its last party. It served us well during its time in our company, offering us a cool retreat from the Capital Area heat and a brief sanctuary from the Northern Virginia humidity.
It was the perfect spot for an afternoon dip with a magazine.
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The life and responsibilities of a DIYer definitely do not end with working on new home projects. Maintenance and correction of home-related issues are equally if not more important in many instances, although not nearly as glamorous. This weekend was a particularly rude reminder of this simple yet often forgettable fact. But before I get into our weekend work, let me take a step back to tell you a little bit about what we were dealing with.
The guest bedroom bay window has been a bit of a pain in our sides since we bought the house back in 2003. Whether we're talking about the rotted windows, the uneven surfaces, or the fact the windows don't actually open, we've been dealing with issues related to this sad set of windows since day one.
Last week we had a run of several days with on again/off again rain and thunderstorms. This bane of a bay window actually offers some of the better views from our home when we're storm watching. About two minutes after posting this Instagram video of a thunderstorm that included lightening, wind, rain, and hail...
VIDEO
...I felt a drip of water on the top of my head. No, I wasn't outside, nor was I suddenly transported into our shower. This drop of water, quickly followed by at least four of its closest friends, hit me on the top of the head before I could really even process what it was I was experiencing.
"Odd," I thought, "it seems like water is coming into our house...oh wait, wait just a second...it IS coming into our house!!"
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Our backyard is small, it's true, but it's one of our home's spaces that we happen to love with with all of our heart. Our backyard is our entertaining space, our relaxing space, our outdoor dining space, our gardening space, Lulu's squirrel chasing space (and sometimes potty space), our party pool space, Mel's chilling space, our baby shower having space, and our urban outdoor sanctuary space.
Over the years we've packed so much action into this little area and have shown you example after example of how we use our tiny 15 foot by 40 foot space. While some members of our family have hated the backyard from time to time...
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This evening, at 7:45pm, the Washington Monument is going to put on a show. This may seem odd for a hulking stone structure that's been in the same spot for more than 150 years, but the National Park Service has a light display planned that we don't want to miss. This is all being done to beatify the iconic monument while it is wrapped in a mass of aluminum and fabric during repair efforts.
If you've been following along on Instagram , Facebook , or Twitter , you've seen our periodic photos of the Washington Monument over the past several months highlighting the impressive scaffold build surrounding the monument.
The Washington Monument is one of the items that truly stands out in DC. Instantly recognizable, iconically antique, and decidedly phallic, the monument represents a central component of the National Mall. Built between 1848 and 1884 (with a break from 1854-1877 due to funding issues, political disagreement, and the Civil War) to honor, arguably, the nation's most important founding father, George Washington.
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Do you remember my post yesterday? You know, the one about making patriotic table place cards from paint chips ? If you didn't see it or need a refresher, the focus of the post was far more on Alex's adventure in boosting copious amounts of free paint samples during a recent trip to the big box hardware store, and the ensuing awkwardness he felt while doing so. I swear to you, he felt like he was the Great Paint Chip Bandit of 2013, and he was on the run, constantly looking over his shoulder for when the authorities just might catch up with him. He's delusional and neurotic, what can I say.
The thing is, I ultimately only used a few of his chips on the place card project, and when Alex saw our blog post about the paint chips I used, I quickly got a phone call.
Alex: "Good morning..."
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