After work walk.

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There is a natural park about 7 blocks from my house. It's a great little area for walks and such. Not really good for hiking as there are no hills but still a decent 30 minute loop around the park.

Here are some pics I took in chronological order. It was a great day out.

This tree had grown over the path an into the ground on the other side of the path. Pretty cool nature, pretty cool.

It is hard to tell in the picture but there were 4 or 5 kids, looked like young teenagers, playing and climbing the tree. It made my heart happy to see kids still did this sometimes. And I did not see one ipad or phone anywhere.

A great Saturday so far.

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I was only able to sleep in about 45 minutes later then the time I normally get up for work. But I was wide awake and have a ton of energy so I figured I would get the day started. Cleaned the house up some, got some sun tea going out on the porch, and walked over to my favorite bakery. Typical order there, poppy seed bagel with cream cheese and an 8 oz. mocha. 8 oz. does not seem like a lot but for me it is plenty. I usually don't even finish it.

I did a cannoli for later though.

Can't remember if I posted the pics of the garden seating area at the bakery but here they are.

Across the street they were having an annual locally grown plant sale. I thought that was pretty cool so I checked it out. I bought a little lavender plant and the lady who was selling them told me she names all her plants. Apparently my plant is named Lucinda Lavender. Hippies. Gotta love em!

After I got back I jumped in the car and headed to Home Depot to get a few things. They had a clearance sale and I got a lot of really good stuff for $10. Grabbed some potting soil and green beans, stopped for an ice cream, and now this.

I has an ice cream.

And now back to work on the mirror frame and maybe a walk later. And beer. I definitely feel like a beer on this warm day. Hope everyone else is having a great Saturday so far.

Quick Preview...

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Just a quick preview of a mirror frame I am working on for a $5 dollar frame less mirror from Walmart.

Going to have some wood inlay in it. Will be awesome when its done.

Not sure why...

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But google and blogger have removed all videos. What the hell, they are from their sites!

Mmmm....cake.

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Last night I made dinner for Sarah and myself. Caesar salad and kale-sausage penne with a lemon creme sauce. The sauce was pretty good, Sarah really enjoyed it, but I thought it needed more lemon. Still, turned out well for something I had never made before. I would make it again, I like that you can use pretty much all fresh ingredients. Definitely not the healthiest meal to be sure but worth it.

For dessert I made a pistachio-cherry bunt cake. It was good as well but definitely needs more pistachio flavoring.

By far the girliest looking thing I have ever made.

Next time I make the cake I will do it all from scratch instead of using the Betty Crocker cake mix. That way I can add a lot more pistachio flavor. It would go well with a little pistachio ice cream.

It was a good dinner and good conversation. Good luck on your interview Sarah!

Recipe:

Time to build something.

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It has been a while since I have built anything but I have that itch to do so. I am finally going to start on my Dawson entertainment unit inspired by Pottery Barn's INSANELY overpriced console. Their consoles start at $1000 and up. Pretty sure I can make mine, with a new jig for making pocket holes included, for less than $200. And it will look just as good. May even be better in fact because Pottery Barn does not list what wood they use at all. It does not even say it is a hardwood, which most likely means it is a cheap pine or white wood.

I got most of the lumber yesterday and going back with a friend and his truck today to get the 2 sheets of maple plywood I will need for the panels. I would like to build the large version but I decided with the cost of lumber right now and being that I have not built this yet, I would go with the smaller 50" version. It will be plenty big for my use right now and if it turns out as well as I think it will then I will build the big one this summer and sell the smaller one. Or put it in the guest bedroom. Or whatever. You don't know!

Here are the plans I am going to be using:

http://www.thedesignconfidential.com/2013/01/free-diy-furniture-plans-build-pottery-barn-inspired-dawson-small-media-console?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDesignConfidential+%28The+Design+Confidential%29

Long link I know but the site does not have a blogger button.

And here is the actual Pottery Barn one:

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/antique-wood-media-console/

I most likely will not be distressing this piece. As much as lumber is I would like to show it off more I think. Although the simplistic design of the piece does suit it to the aged looked quite nice.

Tomorrow I am also hosting a game, beer, and bbq at my house. Any who want to are welcome to come by for ribs and burgers! And I guess I could be persuaded to share some beers.

Pics of the build up to follow. I know you wait with bated breath.

Yelp Hot Nerd Dance Party

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As promised here are a few pics of the Nerd party. I guess it was HOT nerd neon party. I only heard 2 out of 3 of those. Can you guess which ones? :)

My friends Sarah and Alicia.

As you can see they got 3 out of 3.

And here is me doing my best bob and weave to avoid the camera. God knows I love pics. My pocket protector turned out really good. Did you know drunk people love snapping suspenders? Fact. Straight up.

Alicia and Sarah again out on the dance floor.

And finally Alicia and I holding the poster I stole for her. Yes, that is man bush in that poster. That man in the poster is named Jake Shears. Oh, the irony.

Also, as you can see I look like a giant next to Alicia!

It was a great time. And thankfully Sarah drove us so we could have a great time while there! $1 Bacardi drinks make the money go a looooong way. But it was all for a local charity so we, um, had to drink a lot. For charities sake.