Frozen

I woke up yesterday to 5 fresh inches of snow and a sore throat and stuffy nose. I think that means that I am officially sick of Winter.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I ordered the movie "Frozen" and should have it today. For those of you with young daughters, I don't need to tell you about this,. You have heard "Let it go. Let it goooooh." for weeks. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie but I am most likely going to have a Princess Elsa breakdown in the near future where I will be heard shrieking, "No!! I don't want to build a #%$$* snowman!!!"

I decided to do a "Frozen" inspired bedroom on Polyvore to warm up to the idea (pun intended).

My four year-old chose the chandelier herself.

So " For the first time in forever" I have designed a themed bedroom. Sort of.

If you want to know what on Earth I am talking about look HERE.

What was I thinking?

What was your biggest decorating misstep?

You know the purchase or modification to your house that later had you asking, "What was I thinking?"

I have had several but the one that stings the most is my idiot idea to modify a bed. My grandparents had an antique 3/4 size pineapple bed from the Tidewater region of Virginia and my grandfather had plans to modify it to a twin size because there was a gouge on the edge of the headboard. They offered it to me as a "big boy" bed for my then 15 month old son. I was thrilled and (here is the idiot part) asked him to cut down the legs because I worried that my little boy could not climb into a regular height twin.

He was my first child but even a new mom should know that they grow (more quickly than you think) and he would be able to climb in by the time he graduated from high school. He turns 19 next week and I am happy to say that he has mastered scaling the heights of a mattress but I have a ridiculous bed frame in my basement.

What are you still kicking yourself about?

Birthday sky-a special guest post

Nearly a month ago my neighbor gave birth to their third daughter. I had been watching their oldest daughter, Madelyn, after school for over a year and she had an extended visit that day.

As the sun began to set we noticed a most beautiful sky. I snapped a few photos. My husband said, "You should paint that." we both thought the same thing at the same time and said "Its a perfect baby gift!"

I painted it and wondered, "Will they get it? Did they see it?"

Here is the story as told by 6 year old Madelyn.

 When Andi was born at 4:13 on November 6th, Daddy left the hospital about an hour later to pick  us up to bring us to the hospital to meet our baby sister. When he walked out he was greeted by this absolutely beautiful sky. We couldn't help but think that our loved ones in heaven were sending a message to Andi that they love her too!

 Look at the heart in the clouds! Is that not amazing or what??? Daddy did NOT capture these pictures although he said that he captured a mental picture that he will have forever. My neighbor, Kerry,  noticed the sky at the same time that we let her know that Andi was born. She was watching me at the time and captured these beautiful photos!

AND Kerry is also a professional artist. She not only surprised us with the amazing photos, but she made this gorgeous canvas for Andi's room! 

It is perfect in her nursery and every time we look at it, we can't help but think that Pop and Great Grandma Betty didn't have something to do with that sky!  She is so talented. Since I spend so much time with her, she has inspired my inner artist too! I love making abstract art now and call it my masterpiece! Thank you, Kerry! Thank you Pop and Great Gram for the message....we love you too!
Love,
Madelyn 

I just love that Steve saw the sky and they totally understood the special meaning I intended with the painting.

Halfway there

This light was ordered

We mostly finished painting my youngest daughter's room on Tuesday. The contents of her room are making both the hallway and my bedroom a bit uncomfortable at the moment so the last bit of touch up is a priority.

As you can see, even the painter's tape is still in place. The color is a very pale pink, BM-885 Key pearl. I wrote about choosing the colors before and the wisdom in choosing a lighter color on a paint chip than you think is right. I also advised using sample pots of paint to choose the right shade.

I followed all of my own advice but in the early part of our painting, I had some serious doubts. It looked really pink. I like pink but a cliche little girl's room was not my goal.

I am thrilled to report that it is a very subtle and understated pink now that the entire room and ceiling are painted.

I have white linen curtains for the window and I am still looking for a shade.

The light fixture in the first photo was ordered from Home Depot and the budget friendly price was key. It uses three chandelier bulbs which used to freak my husband out but his training is coming along quite nicely.

Her dresser has been painted with AS chalk paint in graphite.

Now I need to choose one more piece...for the TV.

Before you shudder, let me explain.

I have a boat load of kid's VHS tapes from my first round of little ones and this little girl, being in a home of adults only, often loses out in the TV department. She likes to lie on her bed and watch movies, no cable. So I need to rework that set up. Here are the two options I like.

As much as I like this choice, I am not sure it is right as it won't hide cords and leaves me stacking tapes on top which was the set up and I hate how messy it looked.

I am leaning towards this one for several reasons. 1. Its gray, albeit lighter gray than the dresser. 2. It doesn't hide cords but the basket I store tapes in on the bottom shelf will. 3. Its got cute fretwork details.

Yes?

I'll have to show our future progress. We are still waiting on the light to arrive and until then we have this klassy number.

Weekend fun

I never thought I would say this, but thank god its Monday!? I hope your weekend was every bit as lovely as mine and all of the mommies had a great day.

Our party was smashing success.

 I can safely say that it was the best party we ever had.

Thai chicken

The key was having the kids bouncing happily away in a bounce house and keeping the adults well lubricated and fed. We had crabcakes, salmon and lobster phyllo cups, lamb chops,and these amazing Thai chicken hors d'oeuvres that were a new thing for us.

Mini cupcakes meant that there were no half eaten slices of cake all over the place.

My croquembouche was a bit lopsided.

Last time I made one was for a New year's eve party and it was great. The caramelized sugar did not like the humidity.

The whole thing was exhausting and I ended up wearing bunny ears.

Sunday was a great day to share with my little girl. We saved the present opening until her actual birthday.

THEN, I got to open my mother's day gift!

My husband and I were in an antique shop months ago and I mentioned loving those canisters. The man went back secretly and hid these in anticipation of Mother's day. He gets a gold star.

I also got a handmade card from my 18 year old son that read:

Happy Mother's day

Guess what?.....

Chicken butt.

Awesome.

A typical chaotic day around here...

I did not intend to take my own Spring break but life kind of led me that way and I was in no mood for fighting with the forces of a 10 day school vacation.

As I get back into normalcy today I thought I would tell you what my average day consists of... not that its particularly interesting but you might be amused by my complete time management ADD.

5:45- alarm goes off and I head down the hall to ensure that oldest gets up and into shower. I head downstairs to wake up with my first cup of coffee and semi-conscious news watching.

6:15- skip happily (not) to the basement to turn off hot water because 18 year-old boys can't manage their time. Grumble. Wake up 17 year-old.

6:45 - 7:45 Shower, dress, wake up littlest, dress her, slap together breakfast and start my blog reading until my neighbor's little girl comes over.

8:05- Take neighbor's daughter out to bus. Two things I hate most...morning and outside.

Shoes on and rush off to preschool

9:00- Home. You'd think this is when I could get some painting done but no not really.

9:05- Realize I should have gone to at least three grocery stores and make a list.

9:07-Realize that the kitchen still has dishes from last night's teen midnight feast and breakfast.

9:08- say some very unlady-like words when I find a full but unwashed dishwasher.

Handwash everything.

9:45- Remember I have no makeup on  and head upstairs to remedy the problem. Sit down at my computer instead.

10:45- Remember I still have no makeup on and actually walk up stairs passing the laundry room with overflowing hampers. I'll get that in a minute.

11:00- Pass laundry room again.

11:03- Remember I have a painting that is ready to be shipped. Rush out the door

12:00- Home for lunch.  Assist with princess dress-up and urgent block building. Sleeping Beauty still takes naps. 

Nope that's not when I paint either.

This time is filled with more blog reading, walking past the laundry room with ever better excuses, and oh crap, what's for dinner?

2:00- Vacuum or otherwise clean something all while pretending to be a mermaid.

2:30- teens arrive home and ask me why they have no clean shirts. Start a load of laundry and promise it in three days or less! Remember to make my bed.

3:40- neighbor's daughter comes back and I have to get serious about this stupid dinner thing except I never went to any of those grocery stores. I am made aware that I am no longer a mermaid but Cinderella's mom anything but Dumbo's mom...please.

5:30- eat something resembling dinner that only three out of six like. Make kids do dishes.

6:30- Pour a glass of wine and get out paint.

8:00-stop everything for bath time and folding of three day old clean laundry.

9:00- I either go to bed or stay up until midnight painting. The latter involves a rather unpleasant 5:45 wake up the next morning.

Vow to hit the grocery tomorrow.

Lather, rinse, repeat

How do you play?

I find the differences in how people live curious, fascinating and sometimes a little horrifying. I will never understand people with "showplace kitchens" that do not cook. Also, I have come to realize that it is the norm use a formal living room or dining room space as a playroom.

Here is where my opinion is going to turn people off. I find that a room that is a mecca of pink and primary plastic completely horrifying.  I am a toy minimalist, plastic and battery-operated hater, and a fan of integrated spaces. I think that makes me weird in comparison.

My family room is is a shared family room. My three year-old has a shelf with toy bins and a the chest that holds the TV has a few additional toys and movies but all in all, it is a grown-up space... with toys in it.

Smart storage is a huge part of making it work for all of us.

I personally do not want a separate playroom. I like to have my little one near me while I cook or paint or relax (haha that last one is funny)

Do you agree or do you think I am a big meanie?