vintage

Balance Beam

Mon GCW-508 (1).jpg

In an effort to start back doing more of the things I want to do so I can still enjoy doing the things I have to do for my business, I am going to start blogging again. I might not do every day but several times a week I should be able to do. ESPECIALLY with ridiculousness like Amanda Knox going back to Italy knowing them people don’t want her over there. And did yall see that Social Security is going to be deplete in 15 years? And Prilosec and drugs like it are killing folks by giving em heart and kidney disease! Any day now one of us is going to die in a monsoon the way this weather has been kirking up and yall…there are over a hundred dolphin deaths out here recently because they opened up a spillway and let in a lot of freshwater without thinking of what it would do to the ecosystem. Like…WHERE.ARE.THE.MARINE BIOLOGISTS? SHOULDN’T SOMEONE SOMEWHERE HAVE SAID SOMETHING???????????????????

Got into a debate about Creole gumbo versus Cajun gumbo recently and literally just stopped talking and said, “Okay.” I’m good on my gumbo.

Speaking of gumbo, I have new hours at my store so I don’t kill myself trying to do it all. It wasn’t doctor’s orders it was husband’s orders. Dude was like…why are you killing yourself?

AND I FELT THAT!

I tried to return my hair to natural and was on the journey for 7 months and then decided nerp…not for me. And I relaxed again. I just didn’t have the time it seemed necessary to dedicate to transitioning. And…I caused a LOT of damage trying to transition and had to get a good cut to level it all back out again properly. So I’m rocking a layer cut that looks like nothing in my day-to-day topknot. LOL! You know…cuz I don’t have time to comb relaxed hair either.

I’m making things pretty and having an amazing time doing so. Check out my Instagram to see most of my projects. Let me know if you need any help doing something on your own. I can help you out via messages or phone! WHOOT WHOOT!!!!! www.Instagram.com/ThatGumboLife

I’ll be 50 years old in September and I’m starting to really feel this getting old thing. Aging is just wrong to women. I can’t take this hot stuff. It is honestly taking it out of me.

I’ve moved my store to a bigger location and I’m always looking for real estate for my next move. It’s super cute and I enjoy being there. I just don’t want to be tied to it every single day. Work life balance is key for me to have what it takes to choose happy. If I don’t have it…I’m just grumpy. I was either busy or exhausted. Those were my two modes.

EW.

What’s been going on with yall? I honestly miss all the different perspectives on topics that come up in the news and in my life so I’m going to try blogging again. Not every day but certainly a few times a week when it just builds up so much I wanna snap. LOL! And I miss writing daily. Massaging that muscle really helps me.

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That Gumbo Life Shop

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I hung a headboard on a wall today.  

Why, you ask?

I'm not taking any questions.  Just go with it.  It works.

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Depression Protection: Small Vintage Writing Desk Paired With Mirror

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I found this small writing desk and thought how nice it would be in a guest bedroom where you don't have a lot of space for a real desk but would like to have something in there for your guests to do some work if they have to.  As I was working on it, I remembered a mirror I bought but didn't use in my mirror gallery.  The mirror was just hanging out in the garage behind some stuff so I pulled it out and coordinated the paint with the desk.  I chose Annie Sloan Duck Egg just to have a pop of color in the space it lands.

I have to say...it is super dooper cute now!

The desk has a small drawer for note cards and pens/pencils and a little pullout shelf in case you need a bit more space.  It's pretty perfect and now I'm wondering, as always, do I take it to my shop or do I put it in one of the guest bedrooms?  Hmmmmmmm...

LOL!

I used Howard Golden Oak Restor-A-Finish followed with Howard Feed-N-Wax on the top, drawer and shelf.  It makes it really pretty.  

I know you're saying to yourself...Monnie is always doing something and to that I say...I have to.  I absolutely, 100%, always have to be doing something and if I can't do what I truly WANT to do (make my own movies), then I guess it's cool having a hobby that can consume major blocks of time so you don't sink too far into yourself and get lost swimming around searching for shit you don't even know how to recognize.  I mean...I know that happens to some people and that it is just the way life goes but I'm pretty happy knowing that all I have to do is DO SOMETHING and I don't get too low in my the spirits.

And I do get low.  Very low.  Shit...how could I not sometimes?  

But only sometimes.  You can't let that mess become a habit.

Go do something okay?  DO.SOMETHING.  And it's perfectly okay if it's something you've never done before.  In fact...that's even better.  Having your brain consumed with a project and moving is a good thing.  When the noise gets to be too loud...go do something.  It is a for real solution.

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Antique Victorian Oak Eastlake Spoon Carved Vanity Dresser Chest

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This piece?  SWOON!  1800s.  Astonishing.  Look at the finish before I started working on it!  

How amazing is that transformation????????  I only used Howard's Wax-N-Feed once I'd done the repairs and sanded out the insides of the drawers, followed with a quick dry rub of stain.   I used Brasso on the drawer pulls and man...it is soooooooo gorgeous to me!  LOVE.IT!!!!!