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

Tell me, tell me

Amanda Nisbet

This Amanda Nisbet fabric, "Positano" got me thinking. Trouble is so did a bunch of other stuff. Today I am going to tell you about a few of my inspirations, cravings etc and I want to hear yours too.

The fabric made me want to make a wallpaper for my little girl's room. then I thought, "Duh just paint it".

Whaddaya think?

Also in the little girl world realm, is this fantastic shared space for blogger, Elizabeth of  Little Black Door's daughters. I am crazy about it.

ORC Little Black Door

My little girl's favorite color is green but it is not mine. I am really digging these green pillows here though. I already have mostly white bedding, pink and black velvet bolsters and a painted (ASloane graphite) dresser in her room. I really need to leave matchy-matchy world and incorporate some pattern and color.

Elizabeth did a bang up job of it.

One thing I love is is cheese grits. I am absolutely not allowing myself to eat such things at the moment but Oh how I would love to dive into that. It is so easy to make and comforting. 

I make them with regular Quaker grits following the directions and add as much or little Colby Jack cheese when the grits are done. Plus a sprinkle of garlic salt. Don't even think about using instant grits or fake cheese.

One reason that I will not indulge in such deliciousness is that I would like to wear this.

 If I can't wear a skirt in the next few weeks that Groundhog is in a world of trouble. Snow in March!

So tell me:

What are you dreaming of changing in your space?

What is knocking your socks off in blogland?

Made anything yummy lately?

Any fashion love to share?

Do you also want to kill that stupid groundhog?

Weekend babble

Tulips in my entryhall

Its been a crazy week of "to dos" around here and there never seems to be enough hours in a day.

Not complaining, but Dang! its hard to find blog time. I have two posts in my head that I have not had a chance to put together.

I have been working on several commissioned paintings as well as one that continues to explore my "opposing forces... in harmony...paradox" theme. LOL! That is a goofy explanation but I am just babbling today.

I also spent a great deal of time investigating preschools for my little one. She taught herself to read (wasn't me) so it seems like a waste of time to send her into another year of a school that is teaching letters and colors. This adds up to major $ but I think I have made my decision.

We are also about to start creating a studio in my basement. There is a bit of natural light but it doesn't matter. I paint at night mostly anyways and I would just have to bring the work upstairs in the a.m. to check colors.

This is not a quick project. Shelves have to be built to organize stuff better and a sink and lighting needs to be installed. My husband has yet to have two days off in row this year so finding the time has been impossible. This is about to change, so I am excited to finally have dedicated studio space.

What have y'all been up to?

This and that

Last week, I mentioned that I have reluctantly joined the smartphone world with my iphone.

The most interesting part so far, is the quality of the camera.

 On the left is the iphone picture and the right was taken with my camera both at the same time in fairly low light. I love that the iphone captures truer more vibrant color but...

in my living room with light coming towards me the iphone (on left) captured color better but the room looks quite dark. My camera just washes out everything.

On the left is the iphone photo and the muddy shot on the right is from my camera. These were taken at the same time in the same light. I know which I will be using to photograph all of my art from now on.

That painting is another, larger oil on canvas that I completed over the weekend called "Babylon". The goal was to either juxtapose or tread the balance line between happy/floral/feminine and dark/aggressive.

I most definitely erred on the side of happy/floral and it feels like a successful canvas to me even without as many dark and aggressive elements as I originally intended.

Jack in his Tibetan hill tribe hat at 9 months

Today is my son's 18th birthday.* sniff sniff * It will be his last birthday living at home and this is a bittersweet moment for me.

He almost always wants cheesecake as his birthday cake but this year request a brownie cake with chocolate ganache. There is no more budget friendly, simple yet decadent cake out there.

I start with two boxed brownie mixes and bake one each in a 9 inch round cake pan and let cool.

The icing or chocolate ganache couldn't be simpler.

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream

Heat the cream over medium heat without boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted.. This will take several minutes and the ganache will thicken as it cools.

 This sometimes needs an extra few seconds over low heat to get smooth.
 Once the ganache has thickened somewhat, use it to frost the brownie cake layers.

 Be patient. Not like me, who always pours it too soon.

This is much more fun if you let a little girl lick the spatula and pot.