Sponge-worthy

I really need a full weekend that doesn't involve any home improvement projects. It seems that for the last month, there's been something. This weekend, it was an alcove. When we bought the house, it had the original built-in bar. We tore it out and put in a saltwater aquarium. The aquarium was gorgeous for up to a week after it would get cleaned but then would be an algae infested mess for weeks afterward. It was too deep to make it easy to clean and the voracious wrasse didn't make it fun either. We sold the aquarium a couple of months ago and so the alcove was barren for some time.

The faux sponging took about 2 hours (would have taken 30 minutes to just do regular paint) and I got tired of it after about 30 minutes. The result looks great though and I think I'll go on a sponging binge next weekend.

Total spent Saturday:
$16 dinner for 2 at Don Ramon's (saved $9 with Entertainment card)
$42 two tickets for community theater production at Long Beach Playhouse

Total spent Sunday:
$60 supplies for decorative finishing of alcove project (paint, materials for faux finish, stones)
$30 supermarket
$6 Goldmine Yogurt

Total spent Monday:
$45 gas
$0 lunch for 2 but expensed
$13 table runner that will be used for another decorative purpose from Target
$28 decorative bamboo from Pier 1 Imports

Total spent today:
$7 lunch with colleague (Viet pho)
$17 dinner for two at Watson's Drug and Diner (This is the oldest surviving business in Orange County, established in the late 1800s. It's located right off The Circle in old towne Orange and several movie scenes have been filmed there. Saved $9 with Entertainment card)