Chairs in Position

One of the chairs in it's new home up in the loft.
The other chair in it's new home in the living room, to which I have tried to throw in more color, after being accused of on Rate My Space (hgtv.com), of being 'bland and mundane' with color...bitches! Whatever, I'm still trying to figure out the artwork. I like this artist on Etsy- her name is Rachel Austin, check her out, her stuff is super cool and beautiful colors. I'm going to order some prints. www.http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=44863

Kim's Room- Before and After....

These pics are some 'oldies' from late Spring when we redesigned Kim's bedroom...I finally got her to give me some pics. Here is a 'Before'
In progress...
Bye bye ceiling fan.
Kim gets to work sewing her new pillows.

More Kim's Room 'Afters'

New light
New dresser with accent lighting
Gorgeous new bed and linens
You can see the wall color a little better here- think Dijon mustard, or 'calf shit' according to Kimmy's Aunt Suzy- hilarious!

Yard Sale Score!

A lot of people have been asking me 'Melissa, what do you do now that you are not climbing?' Well, if you haven't noticed, my blog has been tending towards more homey stuff, because obviously, one of my hobbies is interior design and shopping for cool house furniture and accessories.

A big part of my daily routine is scoping Craigslist to see what cool things people are selling, and I think it's fun to incorporate bargains and vintage stuff into your house- it's the ultimate recycle.

I have also been spending a lot of my days Garaging as I like to call it. Today was a banner day, as we scored a charcoal grill for 10 bucks, as well as the Coup de Gras of all garage sale finds: a vintage designer piece.

Yep, I scored two Eames fiberglass shell chairs for 10 bucks a piece. The real deal, stamped and authentic. Ok, so they had seen better days, but with a little guidance from Ron at the Green Ant, they restored beautifully.

See the pics below and view the complete transformation. Now, if I were a greedy bastard, I could now put these suckers on Ebay and make 10-15 times (or more) in what I paid for them, but with all the blood, sweat, tears, and itchy fiberglass now imbedded in Adam and I, why would I do such a ridiculous thing, especially when I now own a sweet little piece of Vintage Modern history.

Scroll down to the very bottom view all of the instructions for how to sand and refinish an Eames fiberglass shell chair, as well as to see the pics of how it went.

AFTER- Totally restored and ready to enjoy! Amazing classic for just 10 bucks a piece!

The happy sanders are smiling behind their masks!
Adam uses steel wool to polish the metal legs.
Melissa applies Penetrol with a soaked rag.
Post sanding. The chair on the left has not been coated yet with the Penetrol, the chair on the right has been treated- AMAZING transformation!

BEFORE: Dull, itchy, UV and water damaged, fiberglass-flaking chair...
A classic, stamped!
The "H" Base
Adam and I conduct a 'wet sand'. First with coarser 320grit water proof sandpaper, then finer with 600grit. You have to apply a fine mist as you sand and keep the chair wet to minimize fiberglass dust. A moistend dust mask is essential as well as heavy duty rubber gloves.

Mid Century Craigslist chair

I have been eyeing several pieces of Mid Century Modern furniture lately (also seen below in my "I am Coveting" post of the Eames rocker...Here though, tucked delightfully under the stairs is my latest gem of a Craigslist find- a cute little Mid Century bucket chair. The last addition to my living room, except for the artwork.

I LOVE LAMP

My beautiful lamp has arrived. As cool and lampy as I'd hoped. As Lubowski says: "it really ties the room together." Think I'll go pour a White Russian now....

Pole Fitness

Last night, I did something I had been dying to try for ages! I went to a Pole Fitness class at Studio Soiree, right in my neighborhood. Check it out: http://www.studiosoiree.com/about.html

My good friend Rachel knew I had been dying to try it, and she got us a deal on an intro class through a girl who recently started climbing at the Front.

Rachel and I not only had a fabulous time, but it was one of THE BEST workouts I have had in a long time. Think of it like vertical yoga or pilates, and extremely complimentary for climbing. The poles were TALL too (about 15 feet I'd say), these women were strong, sexy, and fearless, and there was absolutely nothing scandalous about it. The teacher, Niki, was totally ripped and she had some killer moves.

There was even a guy in the class! I would recommend this type of class for all of the climbers I know, and go with an open mind and you will get worked!

A couple of tips:

1. Do NOT apply lotion prior to class or you will slide down the pole and likely hit your head or ass on the floor
2. DO apply some sort of self tanner to your milky white thighs at least a few days before class
3. DO expect the skin between your legs and behind your knees to get raw
4. DO expect to have fun and get really sore

I am coveting:

Any millionaires out there want to donate to my cause?

My Blogging skills really blow...

Well my friend Shannon prodded me nearly two weeks ago, and I guess I hadn't really even noticed it's been about 5 weeks since my last post.

Hmmm. Ok, cool things that have happened:

1. Went to Portland to see the Holmes family...saw cutest niece Jennelle and nephews Reece and Trevor...absolutely in love with them, they ROCK

2. Lipani parentals visited. They are fun to have around, lot's of eating and drinking, and they might retire in Mesquite; read all of you climbing buddies: warm bed, awesome food, and showers when in the St. George area!!!!!

3. My good friend Kim 'hired' me to design her new bedroom. I LOVE interior design, so this was my dream 'job'. Kim is easy, and had a decent budget. We did lighting, bedding, furniture, paint, accessories, the whole shibidang...it looks SWEEEEEET. And, if she ever gives me pics, I can post 'before's and after's'.

4. One of my favorite Utah Ute's Daria Bijak made the German Olympic Gymnastics team....friggin' sweeeeet times a bajillion. Stay tuned in August for the Beijing Games.

5. I ordered and am anxiously awaiting for this lamp: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=120&f=2976&viewall=1 I LOVE LAMP!!!!!

6. Lastly, and this is definitely lame and NOT cool, I'm still injured...WTF???!!!! Hoping to be climbing by July 1st...send healing thoughts and voodoo magic my way, please and thank you.

Now for some cheesy pics.

Sweet ass fire pit
Hilarious pic

Awesome 5.10 tee shirt.


Ikea furniture assembly...Note to self: Dad does NOT read directions or diagrams.

Invasion of the Snails

I really don't even know what to say about this. In my life I've had a wasp hive break through into my kitchen, mice, box elder invasions, but this one was new to me. When I got home from work, there were thousands of snails that came out of the ground and were all over my yard and plants after a good rainstorm. This is the bucket that we collected them in. There were even babies everywhere! EWWWWWWWW! Anyone have a good snail remedy?

Birthday

Adam's birthday was a total blast. We had a bunch of friends meet over here for beers and margs with a nice little appy spread. When everyone was good and sufficiently drunk, a large group of us walked down to the recently re-opend Este Pizza: http://www.estepizzacompany.com/.

We ordered four different pizzas and a few pitchers. My favorite is the Italian Flag. It has pesto on one side, ricotta with roasted garlic in the middle, and traditional marinara and mozz on the end. Great NY style, fold-the-gigantic-slices pizza. They even have vegan offerings.

Then we walked back over here for more patio fun and games...anyone ever play drunken tug-o-war while standing on a wobbly bucket? And, spectacular carrot cake, yummy!

Fun for all! Check out the pics. More will be posted as available.

Adam's Birthday Recap

Adam's favorite present, yet another pair of BD skis...
A good spread before we hit the road to Este Pizza
Wouldn't I make a fabulous mom? Here's me getting my bosses baby drunk!
I made my grandma Cerniglio's carot cake recipe. It was delish!

Food Rulz

Many of my dedicated readers (all 2 of them) and friends and family know I like to eat. I just love sweets especially, but I really like to eat just about anything. I just saw a new bakery has opened near where I work at Black Diamond. I can't wait to check it out. It's called So Cupcake, and they have a heartwarming story.

Check it out:

http://www.socupcake.com/cupcakes.php

While we are on the topic, other SLC hotspots for treats include:

Hatch Family Chocolates- the BEST chocolate..try the dipped pretzel, my favorite-http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635201855,00.html

Les Madeleines- you have to try their Quoing Aman (I know I butchered the spelling)-http://www.les-madeleines.com/

Crumb Brothers- the most delicious seeded baguettes EVER-http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/1814/crumb-brothers-bakery

Pierre's Country French- the BEST almond croissants- huge and buttery with tons of almonds
http://www.pierrecountrybakery.com/

Injured Reserve

I'm sad to say that I may have royally F**KED myself today in a pre-work bouldering session. Remember that post where I said climbing was all about fun?! Why didn't I listen to myself. Within 24 hours of writing that post, which I sincerely meant, I fell in love with a difficult project. After spending 2 days on it, I felt ready to send. Only problem, was that my work schedule sucked for the time, so I decided to get up early, rush through my warm up, and try to send before work.

One tenuous heel hook and tweaky undercling later, I feel as though I have probably partially tore my left ring finger tendon down into my forearm.

I can't tell how serious it is, but right now it hurts to close my hand and type this entry, so it can't be good. Bad timing, as I really wanted to finish the proj, and we are heading to Ft. Collins to climb this weekend. Hopefully the damage isn't as bad as I fear, and I can get back to action soon. As for now, I will be resting and trying to stay psyched!

In Mourning

Well, it is both with great pride, and great anguish that I have to report my beloved Utes took 2nd place in the NCAA championships. They had a phenominal season, and under the most difficult of circumstances competing at a raucous enemy arena (Georgia), they took the runner up spot for the third year in row. Georgia once again dominated, this time on their own home turf.

In addition to that, Ashley Postell, the most successful, decorated college gymnast in NCAA history, couldn't pull off the All Around competition that she was favored to win, taking second to former olympian and UCLA standout Tascha Schwikert.

The Utes and Ashley are still #1 in my book, and they deserve all of the credit for having an inspiring and successful season, being the only team in NCAA history to not count one fall all season, and going 17-1 during the regular season.

GO UTES!