One thing that I like to do is take pics of the things I see when I look up.Ā Iām not sure if youāve ever given it much thought but I have.Ā I am five foot tall so I tend to look upā¦a lotā¦haha!
Here are some things Iāve seen.Ā Let me know what you see the next time you look up!
A quote that morning show DJ Kidd Kraddick used to always end his show with before he passed comes to mind.Ā
“Keep looking up ’cause that’s where it all is!” – Kidd Kraddick
(((hugs))) ~lisa
I tried something fun and new last night.Ā I went to my very first painting class!Ā It was held at a place called, Painting With A Twist and the concept of the class is that it pairs instructional art with friends and a lively instructor to produce individual works of art.Ā You can bring wine or other beverages as well as snacks to the class.Ā Itās great for bridal or baby showers, bachelorette parties, or just a fun evening with friends.
Not really knowing anything about painting or how these classes work it was hard to know what to expect.Ā
I sat down and saw thisā¦
And had theseā¦
And of course there was thisā¦
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We did have an awesome teacher, Katie, who was there to guide us through each step.
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I was sharing this experience with some awesome ladies, most of whom I just met last night!Ā
Okay yāall ā letās get started.
Basically you could loosely compare this to a paint by numbers kind of project.Ā But harderā¦haha!!Ā We had to mix paints, use different brushes and even pay attention!Ā šĀ
Here is what we started with.Ā As you can see {if you look real close} the design is already lightly sketched onto the canvas.Ā So I didnāt have to learn how to draw AND paint in one classā¦haha!!
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Katie, our instructor, started us off with the big flat brush and had us fill some of it in with just black.
I had actually painted down ātoo farā on the far right side of the page but no worries!Ā All the instructors are quick to come when you raise your hand for help!Ā
We mixed black and white to add gray to the canvas.
Started painting in the bottom portion.
Adding some detail with the smaller brush.
Working on āAudreyā now.
*FINALLY* painting the Tiffany box.
We added the bow and we were done!Ā I am now officially a painter!Ā
Our finished masterpieces!!
One of the cool things about the whole experience is how different yet the same each one is.Ā
This particular painting we did was not an easy one.Ā It was a three hour class and I still felt that I could have taken a little more time on some of the steps.Ā All in all I am very pleased with the results though and would definitely go again.
Here are some examples of other things that you can create at these classes.
This could be a couples painting or an individual piece.
And this super cool photo prop.
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(((hugs))) ~lisa
First you need some tree limbs.Ā Fortunately for me, my hubby was trimming the trees in the front yard anyway so the timing of this project was perfect.
I measured out the size that I wanted.Ā I decided to go with a trio of tea light holders measuring at 12ā, 10ā and 8ā.Ā
Since I couldnāt hold the camera to take pics *and* saw the limb I asked my trusty assistant, aka my hubby, to do the honors.Ā Seriously, he really is very helpful and handy!Ā
After we cut the limb to the various desired lengths we had to drill out a place at the top for the tea lights.Ā To do that you will need a 1 1/2ā spade drill bit.
The tree limb was not perfectly round so we placed an āxā as close to the center point as we could.Ā Ā
My hubby then clamped the wood to his work bench and used his drill and 1 1/2ā spade drill bit to create the hole that the tea light would set in.
Be sure to wear safety glasses when working as wood stuff will start flying everywhere and you donāt want it getting in your eyes.Ā
Let the drilling begin.
I donāt know if you can actually tell or not but the āfloorā of the hole is uneven.Ā We seemed to have two areas that had a bit of a bump instead of being flat.Ā
We may not have been perfectly straight with the drilling and so my dad helped us out and smoothed the hole so the tea light would set in it more evenly.Ā The tea light should sit just slightly above the wood top to minimize the potential for the wood to catch fire. And of course, never leave a lit candle unattended.Ā
And hereās the finished product!Ā You could even set these in a pretty dish or add some greenery.Ā Think of the possibilities for dressing this up!
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I hope this inspired you to upcycle something today!Ā
(((hugs))) ~lisa
Itās not like the stool was actually broken or anything.Ā Itās just that the bottom of the legs looked like this.
And we have dark hardwood floors in the closet.Ā I am short so I need this stool to reach the top rods and didnāt want to risk the stool scratching the floor.
This was my temporary solution to that.
Not quite the look I wanted in my closet so I thought that Iād add some felt to the bottom of the legs.Ā Sounds simple enough, right?
But first I have to tell you this.Ā When I turned over the stool I noticed it said this:
I must say that anytime I hear or see the word, āMalaysiaā I think of Zoolander and THIS SCENE,
Okay, back to my project.Ā
I turned the stool over to size the bottom of the legs.Ā Please disregard the current covering on my craft room stool (yesā¦itās an old pair of shortsā¦I can only get to one project at a timeā¦haha!!) and the pile of books on the floor.Ā The room is a work in progress.
I figured out that the size of the bottom of the leg was approximately the same size as this paper die cut I just bought!Ā Hurray!!Ā This will make it faster and easier for sure.
I had some felt that had adhesive on one side so all I had to do was press out four circles, right?Ā
Wrong!Ā
As you can see at the top of the pic the die cut only worked on the peel away paper and not the felt material.Ā I then traced one of the washers I was using for another project and traced out 8 circles total.Ā I wanted to double up on the felt so there was enough padding between the bottom of the stool leg and the hardwood floor.
After cutting the circles out I peeled off the adhesive cover.Ā I then applied a small amount of hot glue and put one circle on.Ā I waited just a couple of moments then put a little more hot glue on and then the second circle.Ā I repeated this for all four legs.
It looks like it is going to work out just fine.Ā I am also going to apply the felt to the bottom of my laundry baskets so I can get rid of that bathroom rug that I am currently using.Ā
Have you āfixedā anything around your house lately?Ā What projects are you working on?
(((hugs))) ~lisa
And it was pretty good.
We definitely either wanted to try Katzās Deli or Carnegie Deli.Ā We didnāt necessarily have a preference but a scene from, āWhen Harry Met Sallyā was filmed at Katzās Deli so that won out.
Here are some shots of the inside.
It was definitely crowded and lots of customers coming in and just picking up food to go.Ā
Very close to our table was this pic of Mike Logan and Lennie Briscoe.Ā Yes, I know that is their name on the show and they are just actors but thatās how I know them.
Hereās the menu and when we walked in we were given this blue ticket thing.Ā The blue ticket thing wasnāt ever clearly explained to us but we were told to hang onto it.
The waitress brought to the table a plate of cucumbers and pickles.Ā And even though they were basically the same size, the cucumbers tasted like cucumbers and the pickles tasted like pickles.Ā Iām assuming there was some different process or pickling involved but either way they both tasted good.
So the waitress comes up to the table and said, and I quote, āWhaddya want?ā.Ā And thatās how she took our orderā¦haha!!Ā We asked about the pastrami sandwich and since weād never had one she brought us a sample.Ā She let us know that one sandwich was more than enough to share so thatās what we ordered.Ā At $18.75 for one sandwich I sure hope it was big.
And it was.
Thatās just my half of the sandwich!!Ā Loaded with meatā¦actually a little too much meat but it definitely filled us up.
On our way out I had to take a pic of āWhere Harry Met Sallyā.Ā In case you arenāt familiar with the scene, CLICK HERE.
A close-up of the sign.
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I also saw some vintage looking signs on the way out.
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Iām curious to know what liver puffs are.Ā I may have to google that.
Not sure what the āNo Connection with any other storeā means but Iāll assume there is some drama and you can just save that for your mama.
Back to the blue ticket that we were told to hang onto.
Apparently it had something to do with paying for our meal as this was written on the back.
And a super important thing to note is they only take cash!
After our meal we decided to try and find a place to have a cannoli.Ā We found a quiet little place and shared a vanilla and a chocolate one.Ā
And yes, they were yummy.
Have you ever been?Ā What did you order?Ā Did you have what she had?Ā š
(((hugs))) ~lisa
The Statue of Liberty was an obvious stop for us while exploring NYC.
The day we went was windy and a bit cold.Ā I was still very excited to finally see Lady Liberty in person.
The strong cold wind was really trying to make my hair go cray cray!
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Even M looked a little cold!
We are getting closer!
Once we arrived we headed inside because I was a little chilly.Ā We were able to see the original torch.
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And then we headed up to the pedestal.Ā We tried to get tickets to the Crown access but the website said it was sold out.Ā I was a little bummed about that but maybe next time!
Heading back down the stairs.
Some pics from down below.
Of course we had to take a selfie.
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Just being silly. š
The gift shop had cool door handles.
The tickets for the Statue of Liberty were $18 for me and $14 for M since he is a Senior Citizen. Ā Unfortunately, even though it’s a National Park they did not honor our National Parks Pass.Ā
We took the ferry to Ellis Island and you know, I thought that Ellis Island was going to be different.Ā Some of the artifacts were not on display due to the hurricanes but it was still fun to say we had been there. Ā
I think I was thinking that it was going to be like in the movie Hitch where there was a book and you could flip the pages.Ā But apparently it was never like that.Ā The pages were much longer and they had so many pages that they would have filled up like 15 train cars.Ā The NP Ranger told us that they microfiched the records and then burned them.Ā That made me a little sad but they did have a genealogy are which was cool.Ā
Plus I was able to get a smooshed penny.
And two cool patches.
And an awesome mini statue.
Have you ever been? Ā Did you take any great pics or have any great stories to share?
(((hugs))) ~lisaĀ
We made a quick stop in Toys R Us.Ā Toy stores are always a fun place to visit and this one was no exception.
They had a Statue of Liberty ā made out of Legos.Ā
And The Empire State Building out of Legos.Ā I seriously think the folks that make these things must have a lot of patience.Ā I donāt have that much patience to make something that would take that much time.
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We spotted a Michelangelo mask.Ā Our grandson is crazy about the Ninja Turtles so whenever we see Ninja Turtle stuff it reminds us of him!
And that had this robotic dinosaur that was kind of cool.Ā It was like Jurassic Park in a way.Ā And the eyes on it kind of creeped me out a bit.
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A super awesome thing is that the Toys R Us has an indoor Ferris wheel!
M taking a pic of me taking a pic of him.Ā
Yāall *know* I had to get my smooshed penny!
We had a good time and then we headed to M&M world.
Elvis has apparently *not* left the building.Ā
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What M&M are you?
My color mood was Peanut Butter Mix.Ā Iām good with that.
What will M be?
As it turns out he is brown.Ā
Now isnāt this cute??
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And another smooshed penny opportunity.
My mom looks for money when she goes walking so anytime we see money on the ground we take a pic of ourselves picking it up and send it to my mom.Ā Feel free to take a pic of yourself doing the same and send a pic to herā¦haha!
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Yeah, I have no idea why M has his jacket half on and half off.Ā
Whoa!!!Ā The Property Brothers!!
Another fun day in NYC.
(((hugs))) ~lisa
I seriously wish we could afford to travel all the time.Ā I absolutely love to explore new cities.
Anytime I see a mail box or a post office, it reminds me of my husband who is a retired letter carrier.
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Views from the top!
One cool thing was the fact that The Empire State Building has a manual elevator.Ā
It was another great day exploring NYC!
(((hugs))) ~lisa
Let me go on record and say that I know that I took a ridiculous amount of pics when were at the Today Show.Ā I will spare you and not make this a complete photo dumping post but let me just sayā¦the Property Brothers (from HGtv) are awesome!
We arrived around 6am for this show.Ā I was super excited because I LOVE watching the Property Brothers!Ā When you arrive we got in line and there was a food truck there with complimentary coffee and muffins.Ā We had pre-registered HERE and once they allowed us to start going, in we were able to bypass the kiosks where some had to stop to fill in info.Ā
The super cool thing about the Today Show was they actually provided poster board, markers and even sticker letters to make a sign.Ā I thought that was super awesome so I created this:
We took our spot where they were going to film the Property Brothers segment and while we waited I had a chance to meet Alex on the Plaza!
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We also saw Tamron Hall!Ā Loved her dress and coat.
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My hubby got a pic with Willie Geist.
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They suggested we move to the other side by the arch to be seen on tv but me, and the two girls next to me, were staying put so we didnāt lose our spot.Ā I did send M to go and try to get on tv as he was taller and could be more easily seen.Ā :
The Property Brothers came out and they were joking around just like they do on tv.Ā
They came over to where we were standing and Drew took this awesome selfie of all of us!
And I got another photo with Jonathan photo-bombing us.
Some more behind the scenes shots.
Up close and personal with the Property Brothers as they signed our poster!!
And took selfies with our new NYC friends.
After the show they chill-axed on the couch for a bit.
And here are some screen shots of the show that M and I are in!Ā
And the completely :: BEST PIC OF ALL TIME :: is this awesome photo with Jonathan and I being photo-bombed by JD and Drew!!!
If you canāt tell, I had an *A*M*A*Z*I*N*G time!!Ā
(((hugs))) ~lisa
After our super cool Good Morning America experience, we headed to check out Rockefeller Center.Ā
We tried to take a selfie before going inside and this was the first shot.
Bless his heartā¦at least heās handsome!!Ā I guess technically that is a true selfie but not the one we were going for.
Truth be told, I stink at taking selfies so itās almost always my hubby doing the picture taking.Ā Plus, he has longer arms which is a definite need for a good selfie.
The Prometheus sculpture in front of Rockefeller Center.
The views from the top of the Rock!!
My very handsome husband.
Just me!Ā š
More viewsā¦
Central Park straight ahead.
Us just having some fun!
If youād like to take a tour and go to the top of Rockefeller Center then CLICK HERE.Ā
After we finished taking in all the awesome views we headed out and right across the street is St. Patrickās Cathedral.
Itās currently being renovated.Ā
We spotted this totally awesome mailbox while walking back to the hotel.Ā Love me some Sponge Bob Square Pants!!
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We stopped to eat at Johnās Pizzeria and it was really yummy!!Ā We split a salad and small pizza and it was more than enough for two!
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Another really fun day in NYC!!Ā Tune in to see who else we met on our trip!
(((hugs))) ~lisa
Our Gray House 