Friday 5+1 {5 Things I Love + 1 Thing I Don’t}

Happy Friday!

I hope you’ve had a great week, and are ready for the weekend!  The weather has been glorious here this week, and the forecast is calling for more.  Love it!

Let’s get to it!

Unique Wall Treatments
I spotted this gorgeous dining room created by Maria over at Live Beautifully, and had to share.  The walls are upholstered with a beautiful crewel fabric.  At first glance, I would never have guessed it was fabric – judge for yourself.  If you’re like me, you won’t be able keep from perusing the rest of her designs – so pretty!  And I saw on her Instagram feed that she just had a new baby, and could not be a cuter new mom. 🙂

Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup
I’m a little embarrassed to admit how obsessed I am over this soup.  If there is such a thing as a Soup Stalker, I am one.  But it is so. darn. delicious!  I may or may not have ordered two bowls when I went through the drive thru, so that I could have one for lunch and one for dinner.

Pumpkin Bars
In keeping with the fall food theme, I made these delicious pumpkin bars this week.  They did not disappoint!  If you love pumpkin, you’ll love these.  Pumpkin + Cream Cheese Frosting = Autumn Goodness.

Productive Days
I tackled a bunch of items on my to-do list yesterday, and it felt so good to get. things. done.  Some days I’m just lacking in the motivation department, and I love it when I have a day where I actually feel like I made some forward progress!  (Yes, that desk is from over a year ago, but let’s celebrate the small victories, shall we?)

Dustless Sanding
On last week’s 5+1 wrap up, I mentioned how obsessed I am with Traditional Painter, and all of their beautiful hand painted kitchens.  Well, in the midst of my research, I read about how they do a lot of dustless sanding, making cabinet prep and clean up a bit easier by eliminating a lot of the dust.  So, I picked up a starter package, and put it to work on the desk in the above photo.

I used the Mirka Abranet Vac Block and the hose that goes with it, and picked up the sanding pads at our local Woodcraft store.   You hook this baby up to your Shop Vac, and it sucks away all of the dust while you’re sanding!   

I would love to get one of their orbital sanders, but they’re a bit more spendy. Until then, I’m really happy with how well the hand sander performs.  I went to work on the desk that had been sitting in my garage, as I was having a hard time stripping off all of the paint.  The hand sander works great!  You can see the big area on the right where I used it in the photo below.  It cut through the junk that I was struggling with removing.  The sanding pads are like no other!

For the one thing I don’t like, I have to laugh at this one.  My husband played in a golf event last weekend, and came home with a couple of “prizes”.  This being one of them.

Don’t be fooled – it’s not just a large plastic beer can.  It’s a mini-fridge.  Jealous?  We agreed that it is the modern-day equivalent of the “Leg Lamp” from ‘A Christmas Story’.  

Am I a lucky woman or what?

Have a great weekend!