on painting

Seriously, any other time I have ever set out to paint I just pick from a swatch, put it on the wall and live with it. And in all honesty, that has worked out well for me.

Then came yellow.
And grey. Or is it gray? 8 pots of tester paints and I think I finally have it narrowed down.
Thanks to Facebook (thank you Colleen and Teressa) I tested Blonde from Sherwin Williams and I love it. Just the shade I was in search of. It is shown, but not well, on the right.

The grey is from Home Depot and is Martha Stewart Bedford Gray. It is the bottom right on my top sample. In my larger living room, I may use the darker shade (not the ugly darkest one!) which is MS Grey Squirrel.

(photo credit: Jones Design Co.)

I have been spending loads of time on the internet looking at color combos and funny, this one showed up today in my google reader and is pretty close to what I am going for. (Totally wish I had the vaulted ceilings to do this trim work).

So, the loose plan: Yellow in the kitchen, down the first floor hall and foyer + the upstairs hall too. Greys in both the living room and dining room. I might use the same shade for both or a different shade in each. The family room is also in for a shade of yellow. I may use Blonde in here or I also like Behr Biscuit.

So is your head spinning? Mine is. But I am excited and inspired. Also for the first time ever, I may hire out some of the painting. Sounds like a dream... Pin It

Meal Plan Monday - April 25 2011

First, a report on good stuff I ate and made during the past week.

Angel Lush Cake, 2 thumbs up for sure. Next time, I might make it in a trifle bowl and add some other fruit.

Tortellini Bake. Man, I love this stuff but last week I made it for a friend and they enjoyed it too.

Monday: Leftovers! Turkey, Ham, Salad and plenty of Easter desserts.
Tuesday: Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Sandwiches (or chicken patty on a salad for me)
Wednesday: Beef BBQ for the bigs, burgers for the girls
Thursday: Drive Thru or Pizza
Friday: Baked Fish, Mashed Potatoes and a Veggie

**Before I could even press publish, I am already moving plans around for the week!!** Pin It

Spring Break 2011

We are still rolling along, although rowing along is a more apt term. It has rained non stop and in buckets full. Despite that (and a whole lot of spending money) we have had a really good time. Since I last checked in, we have:Attended the Cleopatra exhibit at the Museum Center
Enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt with friends
Gone to the theater to see Rio

Enjoyed dinner (and a margarita for me!) at Acapulco along with Kacie, my niece. Their veggie quesadilla was super delish.
Today the girls and I have made Easter Cupcakes and this heavenly Angel Lush Cake which I cannot wait to dig into tomorrow. This is made with all low fat ingredients but still tastes incredible (at least the pineapple/pudding/cool whip combo does!) . I need to confess that I have fallen very far from the Weight Watcher wagon over this past week. I will be back on track Monday. Sigh.

I also made my extended family's favorite potato casserole for tomorrow's lunch. I am trying an asparagus & mushroom dish for dinner at the in laws from my new Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.

As I write this, thunder rumbles yet again in the distance. Here in the Cincinnati area, we are many inches over our typical rainfall for April. Boo-Hiss.

Have a great weekend and Happy Easter. Pin It

Monogrammed Onesies

Over the past few days I have made two little onesies for two special little girls. Both S's - Sidnee and Scarlette. I hope to get these in the mail soon but not before I craft up matching headbands!








*my first snafu...it appears I can only insert one photo per blog post :(

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone


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A remote post

I finally enlisted the help of an app so that I can post on the go. So, testing 1-2-3...


If you can see this post and a picture of soccer practice, leave a comment.
Thanks!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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Monday Meal Plan - April 18

Monday: Mett, Trader Joe's Sausage, Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Carrots and Dip. (Grilling on one of the few days that look decent in this week's forecast)
Tuesday: Baked Salmon, Mashed Potatoes, Veggie, Chicken Nuggets for girls.
Wednesday: Night out for me!
Thursday: Mio's Pizza for me and the girls
Friday: Spaghetti (no meatballs), garlic bread and salad

(photo credit: Olivia's iTouch)

Day 3 of Spring Break and we have:
attended the circus
colored Easter Eggs
the girls went to the Newport Aquarium
the girls got fancy manicures with my Mom today and had lunch at the mall

Still on the books:
Cleopatra Exhibit at the Museum Center
Movie in the Theater
Easter Egg Hunt x2 Pin It

saturday with time on my hands

Another Saturday, another day of rain and crazy wind and another day of canceled soccer. So instead of using my time constructively (cleaning the house) I have been in front of the computer enjoying my new Catscrap goodies and making a few layouts for this year. (Layout credits and details ::HERE::)

The pic of Olivia is from last night at the circus. Here are a few more of those, all from my iPhone.
As of yesterday at 3:20p, my girls are on Spring Break which means no school (or homework!) for 10 days. Giddyup! Pin It

thankful for...

...a few spare moments to update my blog :)
...a week of true happiness for my girl who sang for several nursing homes, sang at church and acted out the stations of the cross...all this week
...a friend who I only know through the world wide wide web, whose baby girl finally came home after a 5 month hospital stay
...for medicine and advances that will hopefully make my friend well who was newly diagnosed with cancer (this is definitely me trying to view the cup as half full b/c truly my heart aches over it)
...today being the last day of school for 10 days!
...free tickets to the circus tonight...for miraculously seeing the scale tick downward this week as I veered pretty far off my diet for pretty many days

Happy Weekend. Pin It

CatScrap CatWalk + Social Media Consulting

So, one of my newest and finest gigs is helping out with the blogging, facebooking and twittering at CatScrap-A Digital Scrapbook Company.
About once per quarter they have a fabulous event called the CatWalk where the designers all make kits and items based on the same color scheme but all of their products are sold individually. You really should visit CatScrap and check out the cool stuff.
And if you like freebies and quickpages, follow along on the blog hop and download yourself some scrappy goodness...for free.

Not only is this a talented bunch of ladies creatively but they are super organized and goal oriented. It is an absolute pleasure to be on their team.

If your small business could use a social media boost, please contact me for affordable rates to help maintain your business blog, facebook or twitter accounts. Pin It

a rainy saturday check in

Instead of heading to a soccer double header for Shelby, I find myself with the luxury of a few unplanned, unscheduled hours at home due to a thunderstorm. So nice to relax a bit and catch up.
I am hoping to begin repainting our downstairs living area soon. This old house is in need of a makeover pretty badly and my hope is to begin with paint, a bit of new carpet and *maybe* refinishing our hardwood floors and extending that into our dining room. Here are a few of the gray and yellow rooms I found on Flickr. (all photo credits can be found in my Flickr Favorites). I love gray but since all of our window trim is oak, I am not sure I will like it as well. I absolutely prefer white trim and this oak has been my chief dislike in our house since Day 1.


I love this room too but you will have to visit Flickr to see it.
Also on my wish list, a gray couch.
What do you think? Pin It

There is more to life than just food...

The girls enjoyed playing a few pranks on us on Friday.
Shelby returned to the soccer field and played quite well despite the cold and cRaZy wind.

This was our view from the car on our way home from soccer, big white fluffy clouds with beautiful light streaming through. Pin It

Monday Meal Plan - April 4

Gosh, my only recent blog posts have been about food...which I am supposed to be eating less of!

Sunday: Dinner at my Mom's (grilled sirloin burgers, baked beans and lots of snacking that I should NOT have been doing!) My neighbor also brought me a plate of strawberry shortcake. She covered canned biscuits in cinnamon and sugar before baking and used those as the shortcakes. Um, hello YUM! Again, way off the diet but really tasty. My girls have been very into waffles from the waffle maker ever since they had the made to order kind at our fancy brunch. I bought the light version of Bisquick and made those at lunch time per their request. I even ate one of the lighter version with a ton of fruit on the side.
Monday: Turkey Cordon Bleu Cutlets (recipe from my new Taste of Home Comfort Food diet Cookbook) Shelby will hopefully eat a plain turkey cutlet and Olivia will have chicken nuggets. I will probably serve fruit on the side.
Tuesday: Pork Chops (will likely use a recipe from the new cookbooks, I got two versions)
Wednesday: Pizza for the Girls, Smart Ones frozen meal for me, night out for Dave
Thursday: Dave begins golf and lots of activities = drive thru meal
Friday: Fish Fry at the school

I shared my meal plan HERE. Visit for lots more recipes and ideas! Pin It