Just a little bit of progress and meeting the neighbors

So I am proud to say that the "new" medicine cabinet is painted and hung!!

The doors are a little off but my darling hubby stayed up extra late to help me get it hung and I wasn't going to be too picky about the doors when he was so tired! I am so glad it's finished. Everything the girls aren't supposed to get into is well out of their reach. Yay!!

Part of the reason it took me a little longer than I was expecting was this:

Which is a $40 dresser we purchased off craigslist for our guest room. It looks like someone tried to stain it but didn't sand it first or something. Poor dresser. Right now it looks like this.

and this

Which, while is not finished is still leaps and bounds better than it was. The tricky part of this dresser is that it was all veneer. And it was thin or broken in a lot of places. I sanded it down as best I could while trying to be aware of how thick the veneer was but despite my best effort the stain still did not take as evenly as I was hoping for. It looks like reclaimed wood and like I did it on purpose so I guess we can pretend like I did :) The top was loose in a few spots and we got out the wood glue and the clamps this morning. I am hoping that in the next 2 days (since it's supposed to be really nice!!) I can get the top coat on it and then it can move to it's home upstairs.

The dresser that is up there now is another project waiting for my attention but I am going to play musical furniture (the best part of settling into a new house) so we knew it wasn't going to go back upstairs and why we bought the other one. You will hear about that one more as I get to it!

We got new neighbors about 3 weeks ago. The house that is the mirror image of ours, on the outside at least, finally sold. We like our new neighbors. It also made me realize we hadn't really met any of the neighbors we already had. It's cold and no one really hangs out outside in the winter unless they are shoveling. And we haven't had snow, so... no neighbors. Yesterday I tried a new cookie recipe. I guess I didn't really read the recipe because it made 7 dozen cookies. What do we need 7 dozen cookies for?! So I bagged the majority of them up and started knocking on doors and playing cookie delivery lady. I found out that we have a lot of really nice neighbors. I also found out a lot of good info on the neighborhood. Apparently this was the Italian neighborhood back in the day and there are still a few older Italian couples that live here.
One of the houses that borders our back yard is adorable. It's on the small side for the neighborhood but has lots of character and charm. The couple that lives there, has lived there for 45 years. With as much moving as we have done in the last 5 years, I can't even imagine. That same lovely couple also had put this out at the curb.

Apparently they owned the chair as long as they've lived in the house. She had gotten a quote to have it redone and at $700 she decided she would rather get rid of it. It can be my learn-how-to-upholster practice chair. I am pretty excited. I love the wood detail. Best meeting the neighbors trip I've ever had!

It is nice to know a little more about where we are living and the people who live here. It really does seem like a nice neighborhood. I wanted to share one picture of Aleena from the other day. Her hair is getting so long and her Daddy requested either a ponytail or some pigtails since I don't usually try to put it up.

Doesn't get much cuter than that!!

See you soon!
~R