Mad Men finale... let's talk, flist. I'm pretty sure I can't be the only one underwhelmed. This has been a stellar season for the most part, featuring possibly the strongest episode of the show's entire run (The Suitcase). We've seen Peggy become even stronger, Sally grow into a young woman, and Don actually think about his awful life and choices. And if it's one thing that Mad Men is known for, it's AWESOME finales. Last season was pretty subpar in my opinion (Don's affair with that obnoxious teacher really tried my patience), but the finale was a huge gamechanger. This one? Not so much.

I wasn't in love with Fay/Faye, but I did like her more than I've liked any of Don's previous girlfriends. So to say I was bummed about his random decision to propose to Megan is an understatement. I think Megan is a lovely girl, but this marriage can only end in heartbreak. I think Don loves the idea of her. She was great with his kids. And can I just say that I loved seeing Don play with his children? He actually looked genuinely happy. That and the scene between Joan and Peggy were the highlights of the episode for me. Don wants to make a family. I just wish more time had been spent building the relationship between those two. We got all this Faye/Don interaction for no real (romantic) payoff. We did get Don admitting to being Dick, so that was something... I guess.

Totally knew Joan didn't get rid of the baby. Also: why is her husband still alive? Hate him.

I think I might be done with The Event. It just can't hold my interest. I was watching it last night, but mostly my attention was on finishing Scandal in Spring, the 4th book in the The Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas. I enjoyed all four of the romance novels and definitely mean to check out more stuff by Kleypas. She's a very fun writer. But now I need something else to tide me over until I can get Catching Fire from the library. The hold list is so loooong :(

ETA: OMG. typicrobots just made my day. Check out Sassy Gay Friend: Mad Men.

And for good measure, my favorite Sassy Gay Friend video.



Runner up goes to the Othello one.

Things have been going a little non-stop at work. I wanted to make this post on Monday, but that... didn't happen. So here I am! Pieced this sucker together throughout the day. My eyes kind of ache and all I want to do is some loooong distance looking, since I'm sick to death of staring at a computer screen, but I need to get this post up. DEDICATION, PEOPLE. Recognize.

First, PROJECTS.

Randomly decided a couple weekends ago to refurbish my dining room table. This wasn't exactly the wisest move since I had a really tight budget for the month (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, CAR), but I did it anyway. Because who am I to kowtow to reality? I laugh in it's face. Besides, I was bored of looking at this: ( BEFORE! )

It was just a cheap dining room set that was actually found on the curb. The two red chairs I got from a family friend since it originally only had three chairs. I removed the legs, which was a lot easier than I thought. I was worried it was going to be super complicated, but it was just two bolts that were easily undone. Then I sanded all the pieces and primed the legs, sides of the table, and all five chairs.

TIP: Don't get quick-drying primer. It leaves all kinds of crazy brushmarks. I wasn't too concerned for this project though, since it's nothing fancy, but this is information I will hold for future reference.

Then I primed the top of the table. I used the same color stain as I did for the armoire I refinished, but it looks a LOT darker. I couldn't quite figure out what the table was actually made out of. I thought it was wood, but now think it might just be MDF with a veneer? It's not that heavy though. Anyway, it didn't want to take the stain at all. So I had to just let it sit on there and dry. When I've stained stuff before it soaks it right up. But this took for-ev-er. But it eventually dried. I don't even know how many coats I put on until it looked even. Then I put on three coats of satin polyurethane. I didn't want it to be super shiny, especially because it ended up coming out pretty much black. That's not exactly my style, but it looks really good against the aqua blue I put on the legs. That was just a little quart of paint my sister had left over from painting her room.

I ended up using the pale yellow I bought for my kitchen on the chairs. I love the way the table turned out, but I'm not convinced I like how the chair color looks. Maybe I just need a better rug to pull the look together? Anyway: the finished project ladies and gentleman: ( AFTER! )

The desk covered in junk and kitty litter bag probably aren't helping the look. OH WELL.

I also made a monkey: ( MONKEY! )

It's for the boy my cousin had a couple weeks ago. I have several other new babies to make gifts for. I'm making a lion next and I think I need to switch to a smaller weight yarn because it's HUGE. It might eat the baby, is what I'm saying.

On to entertainment yammering...

Not really thrilled with this week's Mad Men. I think it's because the last couple of episodes have been pretty fantastic. This one just felt blah. Good, but not GREAT. I want to like Faye, but she hasn't really clicked with me yet. But I was thrilled when she refused to break client-confidentiality for Don. Then she went and backed down :( As least it made Don feel guilty for SLEEPING WITH HIS SECRETARY, AGAIN. BECAUSE IT ENDED SO WELL THE LAST TIME OH MY GOD.

Read The Hunger Games. Loved The Hunger Games. Need the next book in the series, WHY MUST THE HOLD LIST BE SO LONG?! D: Katniss was a fantastic heroine. I loved her. I loved how exciting and emotional this book was. I cried like a baby when Rue died. Full on sobbing. The only downside is that I'm trying to come up with something to write for NaNo and I've got nothing. I wish I had the creative powers displayed by Suzanne Collins. *jealous*

Finished My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and enjoyed it overall. By far the best thing about it was Mi-ho. It reminded me a lot of Fantasy Couple in that respect. I loved Anna, but could take or leave the rest. There were things I both liked and disliked about the finale. Mi-ho and Dae-woong's final day together was beautifully done. I teared up when they kept trying to find something to do and being thwarted. I thought the resolution was a major cop out though. I don't ask for much, but I do ask for no deus ex machina. If they were going to have the Samshin grandmother come in and help fix everything, they least they could have done was introduced her earlier. Random, but I loved how Hye-in was all "eff you people, I'm sick of this nonsense" by the end XD