Happy Halloween everyone. Keep safe, have fun and dress up!
We had a fun little party over the weekend. We invited a group of friends that I met when I first moved here.
We kept the decor simple, because our parties are about the people. We celebrate our friendships first and then the holiday.
This group has been together since I moved here. Working on a fixer upper and living in the fixer upper is challenging. Getting away on occasion to meet with this group of great ladies has made my move to Florida so much more enjoyable. It's a groovy group of women.
It was great for Mi Miguel to finally meet the girls and get to know their husbands.
We bought Banjo a lion's mane because her fur looks like a lion. But she didn't like it and let us know real quick.
She didn't end up participating in our Halloween Party. She is still too rambunctious for a party...even a small one.
Now that we took a break, we can continue to move forward with the kitchen project. Onward with this project and trying to achieve a look something like this one.
Enjoy your evening, I'm off to sand some cabinets, go to dinner and then enjoy my Halloween with another great group of women and their spouses. Happy Halloween!
One of my favorite things about Florida is meeting people from all over the United States. Actually, there are people from all over the world living in Florida. However, I recently met someone that just moved here from Ohio.
Which brings me to my fascinating person that I'm going to blog about today.
Let me introduce you to Diane Pinkston. She has lived all her life in St. Clairsville, Ohio. She recently moved to the Sunshine State just a few short months ago. She and I met in the most peculiar way.
Mi Miguel and I had decided to stop taking Banjo to the dog park. She doesn't engage eye contact like she should, maybe because she is all about running with other dogs and having too much fun. We did decide to walk her around the park but noticed that hardly no one was in the dog park. So, we took her in and unleashed her to give her a good run. Banjo was really wound up from not being at the dog park for quite a while.
In the adjoining, Little Dog Park, was the cutest little Yorkie named Sam. We started talking over the dividing fence to his owners. Funny thing is, Sam nor Banjo really didn't notice each other too much. Sam's owner, Diane appeared to me as such a sweet, sweet soul.
But, I quickly picked up on the fact that she was having a bad day. When we first moved to Florida, I had lots of bad days. It's a huge adjustment moving here from the Midwest. It is a paradise here, but you have to jump on board with the pros and cons of Florida in order to see the paradise.
The more Diane and I talked the more we realized that we had a lot in common. She has two grown children about the same age as ours. She, too is married to an IT guy.
Not only is she married to an IT guy, but his birthday is on the exact same day as Mi Miguel's. Diane and Brent have been married for 24 years and this is her beautiful daughters, Darian and Carina.
Another thing we have in common, Diane's favorite thing about Florida is Honeymoon Island. I don't need to express my feelings about this gorgeous beach. I've written many blogs about this tranquil place.
Diane, like me finds the most amusing things on this beach. She loves to come here and just listen to the waves and relax with a good book and her family.
One of things that Diane expressed to me was that she was looking for a job as a hairstylist. One of the things that I'm naturally good at, is coordinating anything and everything
Within a few days and with the help of a friend via social media, Susan Sorensen, we found Diane a prospect. She talked to them and they asked her if she could do a technical interview. She called me and asked if I would be her "model" for her interview and I said, "Yes."
Even though I didn't know her at all, I trusted her with my high maintenance and unruly hair. Diane took my red sun tinged frizzy hair and turned it into a great color and a great style. We were both excited because after the owner looked at my hair, Diane was hired on the spot. Love my new trendy cut and color.
When I asked Diane if she was more talented in cutting or coloring, she said she loves to do both and is very educated in both having gone to a lot of hair shows and being a Paul Mitchell technical trainer. Here is an example of her coloring skills. Who doesn't love fun pink hair?
She also enjoys coloring and cutting hair for her family. Here is her daughter showing off her blonde look.
Up-do's and special occasion styles are another aspect of working with hair that Diane enjoys. She also loves doing short hair on women. Here in Florida, a lot of us love the short do's.
Diane misses her hometown and her friends and family. I'm hoping she will adjust and enjoy Florida because she is quickly becoming my new best friend.
Diane's favorite movie is, It's a Wonderful Life. She also enjoy watching Big Bang Theory, Blind Spot and Black List. She loves all music genres but her favorite is listening to her girls play the piano. She loves to travel, shop, scrapbook, do crafts and floral arranging. She also enjoys doing the paint and sips. I see us doing this together in the very near future.
If you're in the market for a hairstylist, Diane will take your appointment or walk-in at Mirror, Mirror. Call Diane at 727-785-7100 for available hours. She is really good at what she does because she cares about your hair. She ran her own salon in Ohio for many years and understands hair because it's her passion.
Even though Diane and I just met a little over a week ago, I can clearly see that her family is her main priority. She is the driving force in her family and adores her daughters. When I asked her where she sees herself in ten years, this was her reply, "Retired!" If that is truly her dream, she picked a wonderful state to retire and relax.
I learned something new about Ohio recently, a fascinating person named Diane Pinkston hails from there and loves to do hair! Give her a call and help her get settled and build her new career here in the Sunshine State.
Stop by Mirror, Mirror in Palm Harbor, walk-ins are welcome. Call for more information, an appointment and/or directions.
The kitchen and utility room flooring has been removed.
After selecting a nice laminate wood and laying out several pieces to make sure we liked it...
Mi Miguel put down the muffler (keeps the tapping noise down when walking on the floor) and then quickly began cutting the doorway trim. He then tucked the planks under them and moved quickly after all the cuts were made.
Laying the rest of the floor was easy-peasy. You simply hold them at an angle and snap them into place.
Yes, it's that simple. No glue required and we're pretty pleased with the overall appearance.
Our options were limited since we had to flow with the living room and dining room. I like it. Once the cabinets are painted, I think it will look really nice.
The ceiling is Mi Miguel's next big project. I really like the coastal cozy cottage look.
When I showed this photo to Mi Miguel, He said, "We can do that." I'm amazed. I really like the look of it. Seriously, how hard can it be. Right?
About those doors. Hm. We both worked on removing 13 doors of the 44 doors and drawers. We then removed the hinges and all organizers and hooks.
First, I scrubbed them down with a degreaser.
Then I washed them, towel dried them and let them set for several hours to be sure they were completely dried.
I lightly sanded the doors on both sides and around the edges. I'm using an electric sander ever so gently, it makes the sanding process so much quicker.
This is a great time to fill any holes or flaws with wood putty. Let this dry and lightly sand the putty until it's even with the wood.
I gently wiped over them with dish soap water on a soft cloth...
and then rinsed them with a wet cloth and let them dry.
Finally, I got to put my first thin coat of primer on the doors. I put each door on a piece of wood to lift it up off of the table. That way I could paint around the edges of the door. I used a small sponge roller and kept the layer pretty thin. I waited several hours, flipped the doors over and put a thin coat of primer on the flip side.
After about 4 hours of waiting for the primer to dry, I went over the entire doors lightly with fine sandpaper.
I wiped them over really well with tack cloth.
After all dust and debris was removed from the doors (there wasn't much but you don't want any little bits and pieces of anything ruining your paint job,) you can then apply your second thin coat of primer and let it dry for 3 or 4 hours depending on the humidity.
Lightly sand the second coat of primer and...
gently wipe them down with a barely damp soft cloth. Let the water have a several minutes to dry and then...
go over them with tack cloth, again to remove any bits and pieces of whatever may be left behind from the sanding and such.
Here are the doors with the second coat of primer. I had to work inside due to the high humidity in Sunny Florida.
I'm now ready to put on my first thin coat of paint. Here goes...
Hopefully, my next blog post will be all about how I finished painted both coats of paint on the first 13 doors.
In the meantime, if you've been following my Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/floridarestaurants/
You know that we finally completed the entire alphabet on Florida Restaurants A-Z journey. Because there so many restaurants here in Florida, I have something new and exciting planned for our next restaurant adventure.
My next blog entry will also include a fascinating person. Be ready.
