Home sweet chalkboard.

So like I said, I had a lot on my to-do list this weekend. One of those things was to buy chalkboard paint and create more chalkboard surfaces than one apartment needs. I'm happy to say that I succeeded!

I headed to the hardware store on Saturday with the best intentions. Unfortunately, as I tallied the bill for chalkboard paint ($15.50), roller ($3.50), and masking tape ($4.60), I because unsure. I changed my mind at the last minute and in the interest of saving money on a non-essential, I opted for the spray chalkboard paint.

Let me just say that I was terrified of fire when I was a kid. My dad, in an attempt to rid me of this phobia, would light the fireplace and hold me in his lap while we sat nearby. Despite my cries, he wanted me to know that I was okay. That when handled safely, fire was a wonderful thing. I eventually grew out of it, but the scene where the gas station explodes is still the scariest part of Night of the Living Dead. So when I got home, taped off a section of the wall in the kitchen, and began spray painting, I was seized with fear at the warning on the label: EXTREMELY, SUPER, UNBELIEVABLY FLAMMABLE. (Something like that.) I retreated to the porch and stared in the window, waiting for the pilot light in the stove to ignite the vapors and explode. I wondered how much a new stove would cost, if the flame would ignite the gas pipe that disappeared into the wall, if there was a possibility of our entire building exploding.

Eventually I gathered the courage to run through the kitchen to hide in my bedroom and call Mike. He assured me that everything would be fine with these comforting words: "If you were going to explode, it would've happened already." After I was sure that the stove and I were safe and friends again, I decided to head back to the hardware store and exchange the spray paint for the traditional chalkboard paint and the rollers. In short, I am slowly learning that sometimes paying a little bit extra can get you what you actually want rather than a cheaper, more dangerous version.

I spent yesterday watching movies I rented from the library while I painted various surfaces in my apartment. Here they are, all painted and decorated!

Those last pictures are of an old school desk that I inherited from my good friend Nabi that was turned into a mail-catcher in our hallway. What projects did you work on this weekend?