My Friend Staci

Well, Friday I promised to come back and let you know if I did anything particularly interesting… Some of this is interesting and some isn’t but… here goes! Those who follow me on instagram have seen all of these photos… but now the whole story shall be revealed…

Friday, during the day I tried to clean my gunked-up coffeemaker with water and vinegar but I didn’t stick around to see the cycle through and somewhere between noon and 5:00 pm the whole thing got ruined. The carafe had boiled dry and I don’t know what else happened. Couldn’t tell anything was wrong from appearance though, so I poured water into it to flush any residual vinegar flavor, and the water just gushed out of the bottom of the machine and I had a major clean-up on my hands. The old machine (pictured above) got tossed in the trash and a new one was acquired at Target later that evening. We got a much cheaper one, less painful to replace in a few months, since the water here in town is so hard it’s very tough on appliances it’s silly to invest a good one. I found this out the hard way.

Friday night, Doug and I went to a special event in downtown Hutchinson where many of the shops were open until 9:00! (Note to big-city-dwellers. In small towns, stores being open past 6-ish is a BIG DEAL.) It was the perfect opportunity to experience some stores I’d never set foot into before! From hair salons to cowboy gear, there truly was a store for everyone. There is a cute cooking store called Apron Strings and an amazing retro toy store (which has toys from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and yes, 90s). It was cool to see some “new” old toys like Olympic Gymnast Barbie (so many hours spent trying to get that unitard back on). The toy store also had an amazing Lionel train collection in the back.

Saturday morning, I had a staff workshop then I scooted across town for a party the likes of which you only see online. Except I got to live it. My friend Kellory threw a garden party brunch for my other friend Lisa’s wedding shower. We had a full meal and the weather was perfect!

Saturday evening, to honor Cinco De Mayo, we had a meal at On The Border (yes, we drove an hour to get Mexican food even though there are Mexican restaurants here in town) and retired to Katie’s patio to get devoured by mosquitoes. I was pretty weary from being surrounded by people since 8 that morning, so it wasn’t long until I had to retreat home to the comfort of my bed and company of my pooch.

Sunday after church we swept and mopped the whole house, a terrible task I related to back in last Thursday’s post. It still smells fresh when we walk in and we know we’re healthier for it. So, win. Also, my friend Libby and I explored a half-million dollar house on the market here in town, pictured above. This house has four stories (this includes a finished basement) and semi-secret passageways. In another town it would go for a cool million, so anyone who wants a Victorian fairytale house for half the price, consider a transition to the small-town life. Except I don’t want to be the person who has to get all the heavy weight-lifting equipment out of the top floor.

Last but not least, since it got a pretty good reaction on Instagram, here’s a quick shot of me. I’ve gotten new glasses in the last month-ish. My hair is getting lighter because I stopped dying it like a year ago.  I guess I like seeing pictures of my favorite bloggers, so here’s one of me.
If, in fact, I am one of your favorite bloggers, all I have to say is “aww shucks.”

What did you do this weekend?