Friday 5+1

Happy Friday!

I hope you’ve had a great week, and I apologize for being off the grid this week.  Memorial Day has thrown me off completely, and I’ve been busy cleaning the garage and trying to get my flowers planted and garden ready.  More on that next week…

In the meantime, here’s another edition of 5+1 (5 Things I Love + 1 Thing I Don’t).

A Fractional Tape Measure
I stumbled upon this brilliant tool at Lowes, and absolutely love it.  I surely can’t be the only one who doesn’t know all of the little fractional measurements off the top of my head when using a tape measure.  Sure, I know the easy ones, like a half inch, but when we’re talking 5/8″, this tool saves me the trouble of trying to count the little lines by putting the fractional measurements on the tape measure.  LOVE.

And you can’t beat the price – $6.98 for this little gem.

I have been using it this week to construct some of these…

Ana White
While we’re talking construction, can I just tell you how much I love Ana White and her site?  I have been using her plans on building raised garden beds, and she makes me look like I actually know what I’m doing.  Not to mention that her plans for these beds are uber-economical, using fence pickets as supplies!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Source: Ana White

One of these days, I would love to use one of her mud room plans:

Life Lessons from a Navy Seal
I read this article over the weekend, and printed it out for my oldest son to read.  I have always been fascinated with the physical and mental strength required to become a Navy Seal, and these life lessons are equally compelling.

On Parenting Teens
A great and funny article on parenting teens from Jen Hatmaker.  Love.  Trying to embrace where I am with my teen, rather than feel anxious and sad about the dwindling years we have before he heads off to college.

Old House Charm
In keeping with my real estate stalking history, I had to share these listing photos from Hyde Park (near Cincinnati).  Such amazing charm and character in this town, I love it!

Like this awesome butler’s pantry – would you just look at that sink?

Or this?  Again with the sink (and the gorgeous cabinetry isn’t bad either).  Take a closer look at the sink – there’s actually two of them, each with their own faucet.  Fantastic.

Or this built-in bed with oodles of storage.  Yes, please.  My daughter would absolutely adore this room.  And the floors aren’t too shabby either…

For the +1 thing I don’t like, I’m going with customer service this week.  More specifically, Arhaus’ customer service.  As you know, I’m a big fan of their cushion replacement program, and much of our furniture has had nine lives as a result.  Awhile back, I called to get a replacement cushion for our sectional, since the center seat cushion was looking rather deflated, compared to the rest of the cushions.

To make a long story short, I’m on my 4th attempt to get this cushion.  Yes, you read that correctly.  They keep sending me the end cushions (which are different than the center cushion).  I now have four of these:

The last time I talked to customer service, she was about ready to send a “technician” out to our house to take cushion measurements.  For real?  A cushion technician?  But, she supposedly figured it out with the help of a supervisor, so hopefully the 4th time is a charm, and I’ll get the right one.

It’s a petty complaint, I know, but really frustrating since it seems like a pretty simple request!

Have a wonderful weekend!