If It's Thursday, This Must Be Beverly Hills

Went on a painting spree, then a shopping spree today. Went to the garage intending to get some green paint to do a minor touchup on the column between the dining & living "rooms" (really it's one big room, separated by this column). Grabbed the paint, saw a long-lost can of the "raw cotton" paint we used in the kitchen, so took that as well. Got upstairs, got started with the touchups and when I finished, banged the lid on the "raw cotton" back on with a hammer a little TOO excitedly. The side of the can caved in! And of course then the lid wouldn't fit. The problem is, we only had a 1/2 pint of this paint left, and they no longer carry that type at the hardware store.

So I rushed it over to TrueValue to see if they could pour it in a different can for me. They did, but pointed out that 1)they do carry this shade again and 2)there was still a lot left sticking to the sides of the can that I should use up today.

Hmm, I was in the car. I could rush home and do more touch-ups, or I could continue 2 miles up the road and do some shopping. (Well it's not literally on the same road!) Of course, shopping won out and I went to Crate & Barrel to buy an overdue shower gift and an early wedding gift. Then I hit Paper Source and got a baby-girl pink shade stamp pad and an "It's a Girl" stamp. I have about 5 ideas for the birth announcements, and one involves using that stamp. If nothing else, and it doesn't fit into the design, I may just stamp the envelopes with it.

Anyway, back to the shopping, I have to say I really like this "princess hours" thing, as my dear friend Jenna calls it. It was just me and one other person in Crate & Barrel, I think. I wouldn't say parking was easy because it was lunch hour near a bunch of restaurants, but it wasn't very bad when I compare it to other parts of town. I think it took about 5 minutes to park, tops. I prefer Beverly Hills to Santa Monica whenever I have to run errands that take me to big chain places like Crate & Barrel. It's 2.5 miles away from my house, the parking is free and easy, and it's a nice safe, stress-free trip through an awesome neighborhood (Beverlywood).

And Santa Monica, the correlary, is a wonderful place to live (so I hear) but they don't make it very easy for shoppers! Lots of one-way streets, lots of meters that seem empty until you're almost in the space and see that it's "valet", lots of overfilled parking garages with unclear confusing signs so you don't realize you will have to pay to park, etc. Such a hassle that I was "boycotting" the city for awhile after one particularly bad forty-minute long search for a parking space.

So anyway, had a relaxing time in BH, got the stuff I needed to get, came home and since the raw cotton paint hadn't dried up, decided to paint the kitchen ceiling. Maybe not something a 9 month, 1 week pregnant person should consider doing. But it was not actually the ceiling, just the metal things around the edge of the flourescent lights. They were brown before, which always bothered me since we painted the brown cabinets (now they're a nice light green shade called Scotland Road) and they stood out. So anyway, I stood on a chair, put masking tape around the edges, and used the leftover paint on the metal light frames on the ceiling. Then when I was done and ready to do the second coat, I realized I could do it without even using a chair. 5'9" has its advantages!

So no baby news, obviously, but then again you knew that, because how would I have been able to stand on a chair and paint if I were having contractions? :)