So I’m thinking—I need a project. I’m itching to paint walls or refinish a piece of furniture.

I need something to work on!

Alas, since I’m without income for now, the pragmatic side of me decided to hold off on the bathroom until I find a job.   After some discussion, Monsieur Bonaparte agreed—I don’t want to dip into savings. The chateau already has two full baths and a half bath. We’ll just go with the backsplash for now!

Here’s where my thriftiness and savoir faire come in handy. We need something to house the TV in our bedroom. For now, (and as long as I’ve known Bonaparte) the TV is sitting on this monstrosity of a stand.

This TV stand is as ugly as homemade sin! I’m not kidding. If I can paint it black and replace those horrible fabric bins with black trellis bins, it wouldn’t look as bad.

Am I right? Wouldn’t this kind of fabric bin look better?

It’ doesn’t blend in with our “décor”. The bedroom’s furniture is black—with the exception of an antique chest of drawers I purchased 30 years ago (I paid $25.00 for it in a junk shop).

I really like this bed.

..and the rest of the black mismatched furniture….even…

This looks good with the rest of the furniture too…but that TV stand–UGH!

OK—now here’s the deal. We moved into our home less than a year ago, and we are taking our time decorating. However, in the meantime, I think if I painted that fugly shelf black and replaced those god-awful fabric cubes with black trellis print cubes it would look a heck of a lot better.

Bonaparte says “Non”!!!   Why? He seems to think that because I’m a total car slob, and because I’m a messy chef, my painting skills follow suit. He’s right but I clean up well!

I’ve also been on the lookout for bar stools for the kitchen.

Bar stools go here!  Paint is needed too!

The frugality and thriftiness of it all has me looking at Craigslist.  Jeez. Craigslist used to have fantastic buys on everything. Now it’s a showcase for dealers and less for owners. Check this out!

                            Am I missing something? These are ridiculously overpriced and not pretty! The dealers are nuts!

This is $375 for three. For sale by owner. I would pay tops $150 for the three, and then I would have to re-cover the seats.

I miss Princeton’s trash days! I’ll just have to wait for the warm weather, garage sales and flea markets!

Anyway, since my legs are so pale, I decided to conduct a couple of experiments. (See how much fun boredom can be!) I fake tanned my right leg with Jergens Natural Glow in Fair to Medium and my left leg with Neutrogena Build-a-tan. Neutrogena is a control your shade.  I’m a huge fan of the fake tan—since my Mohs surgery five years ago; I really make sure to protect my skin these days. In addition, I cannot stand panty hose. Panty hose is just a petri dish for yeast infections. That being said, here’s my before pics and another pic that I took 4 hours later.

The Jergens actually was better to apply, it was not as “liquidy” and blended in much quicker than the Neutrogena.  These are the Before pics.

After–not much of a difference. I definitely need another coat. I am THAT pale!

My legs were so pale that I’ll need another coat of tanner.   Actually, my favorite faux tanner is the “Tan Towel” brand.

My personal favorite fake tanner. I’m all out!

I liken Tan Towel to a tanning baby wipe. You just wipe it on in a circular motion. It doesn’t smell bad. It doesn’t leave a “film” the way the lotions do.However, the tan towels aren’t as moisturizing as the lotions. During the summer, I’ll apply both a lotion AND the Tan Towels to get my legs looking faux tan fabulous!

Reminder to self:  Pick up some Tan Towel when you go to Sephora or Ulta!

I also decided to experiment with O’Keeffe’s Working Hands hand cream.

Squeezing even more fun to my boredom, I decided to use this on my heels!

 I used it on the heels of my feet. Yeah. My heels. I have absolutely NO idea what happened to my poor little feet this winter, but I’ve never had an issue with dry skin on my heels. Take a look if you dare—it is so disgusting and gross. I almost got sick at my own feet! This is a first!   I swear I cannot even go for a Pedi until my feet look better.   Here’s the before pic.

So truly disgusting. See what a giver I am–I’m putting my worst foot forward for you!

The O’Keeffe’s is nice and thick and really soaks deep into the skin.  I put socks on and waited–

The heels aren’t completely “healed” but I’m impressed. I’ll use this for a few days and see what happens! Looks 95 percent better!

Four  hours later. I’m impressed with this O’Keeffe’s cream. I’ll be using this  until my heels are in good enough shape to be presentable for a Pedi. God knows I will need one after this arduous winter!

I’m going to enjoy my cuppa Barry’s tea now and study for tomorrow evening’s French class.

The kettle is always on the stove!

Au revoir mes amis! Enjoy the rest of this day!

I leave you with “Monday, Monday” by the Momas and Papas! XOXOXOXO