Tiffany's anyone?

I have a better description for the paint color Rob selected in the guest room. Highlighter. It looked just like someone colored the wall with a yellow highlighter. Really, it hurt to look at and I wanted to run for my sunglasses. I didn't even take any pictures because I have no desire to ever see the color again. Seriously.

Anyway, I did have a chance to get out to the paint store again today. Thank goodness as anything is better than highlighter. But so much for my muted or paled down Tiffany's blue paint color idea for the guest room. I had a color matched today from a paint deck that I have. Well, after 1 coat...it's almost identical to the little Tiffany's blue box packaging. Not exactly what I was picturing. I was a little shocked at first (apparently I overcompensated for how dark the room is and it looks like you're walking right in a Tiffany's box now!) But I think I will like it...with crisp white linens and some nice white accents. Yes, it will work. (Though if you've been to my house, you know it is NOTHING like any of the other rooms which are all various shades of brown. Hah!)

So here it is. Notice the real Tiffany's bag in the background for comparison...Or maybe you don't b/c it blends in. (I promise I did not have the actual bag matched nor did I match that bag to any of my paint decks.) The edging (both my and Rob's least favorite part of painting) is left for last. So tomorrow I will attempt to get as much done as I can during nap time.


Really....pardon my appearance (although sadly, this is usually what I look like during the week when I'm just home with Jack!) I know the color will show up differently on everyone's computers as resolutions vary, so I'm including a few photos with and without flash in hopes that one of them will capture the "real" color for you :)


So now I just need to finish it and then add the details. I am pretty sure I'll like it. After I walk in and out of the room about 97 times to get used to it, that is...

Guten Abend und gute Nacht, alle!

Painting woes

Countdown is on...Jack will be one in just 8 short days! Still coming up with some last minute ideas for food for his party on Saturday. And we're practicing blowing out candles, but he's just not quite there yet. Just like we did with Christmas, we gave him his birthday present early. We got him a sand and water table and he loves it...even if it's just in the playroom right now, loaded with toys because it's too cold for outside yet. It's pretty cool though and I can't wait to play with it outside...I mean I bet HE can't wait to play with it outside :)

We've decided to paint the guest bedroom today...sort of last minute. But something we've been intending to do for a long time as it's still builder's beige and very blah. It's smallish and doesn't get a lot of light b/c the deck is above the window. Anyhow, I decided to let Rob pick the color as he's been questioning my decorating ability as of late. Mistake. It's one shade lighter than neon yellow/green and hurts your eyes to look at. Even he agrees how horrible it looks and has given me full reign again on the decor of the house. Thank you. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon I can get out to the store again and get a new color...something a bit lighter than Tiffany's blue and maybe a little more muted. I'll be sure to post pictures...after it doesn't look like a sour apple exploded in the room. (By the way, the color he chose really is called Sour Apple.)

Have a super excellent weekend, my faithful blog readers!

Ode to Amanda

Greetings all. Jack and I had a fun morning...we got to meet a bunch of other little babes at the mall for a small playgroup! I think he played hard as he came home and crashed for a few hours. I would have loved to crash as well b/c I couldn't fall asleep until 2:30 this morning (headache...allergies? sinuses? barometric pressure and wacky MI weather? Probably.) But I resorted to touching up the trim paint in the bathroom. Something I intended to do 5 months ago. Oops. But it's done now. Other than that, a pretty darn uneventful day. For which I am thankful.

I was chatting with my friend, Amanda, tonight. She knows of my blog streak and I was asking what I should blog about...since our day was fairly uneventful as mentioned above. It was really a rhetorical question but she replied with "how wonderful I am...what an honor it is to know me." So, here goes, good friend:


My Ode to Amanda...

First of all my dear friend you're way cool,
I wonder what you were like in elementary school?
We started with the knot and then moved to the nest
Now to the baby board...yet to come is the best!
I love that you always comment on my blog,
And Elsie...she's your pretty cool white and gray dog.
And so beautiful is your little girl, Addie
I really do think she looks just like her daddy.
I know I always kid you for this and for that
But please don't think I'm just trying to be a brat.
I've never met such a ridiculously picky eater
Or someone who doesn't like to park at a parking meter
Actually, I don't know if the last one is true,
But I couldn't come up with a word that rhymed there too.
So Amanda, without you my life would be boring
Thank you for being so kind and adoring.
The end.

On the fifth day of blogging...

I can't not blog and break my streak of 4 days in a row now! Oh what should I tell you about...

My darling husband took me to dinner tonight at San Chez. Yum!!!!!!! Grandma and Grandpa more than willingly watched Jack for a few hours. But when I went to pick Jack up...I think he wanted to stay there! Yes, mom got the shaft. Grandma and Grandpa trumped mommy and daddy this time :) They're just too much fun I suppose! (That or he knew what awaited him at home: bedtime!)

There. 5 days in a row.

Ah, how I love picture books...

Ever feel like reading a book, minus the reading part? This post is for everyone who loves picture books. Go ahead and make up your own words and use your imagination :) (These are back from the fall but are rather entertaining.)

(My favorite picture book by the way is Flotsam. Jack and I "read" and reread it several times today making up a new storyline each time. So fun. I highly encourage doing this!)

"Feelin' Groovy"

So I've been slowly learning to write in html and I'm getting fancier with it by the day. (Now if I can just do a little more something with this silly blog, right? I know.) I've been working on creating a website from scratch (no it's not launched yet...but I will be sure to say when it is.) Anyhow, it's been a fun hobby. I never thought I would enjoy something I would classify as this geeky. And I also like that I can work on it just a few minutes here and there throughout the day and still entertain and spend plenty giggle time with Jack. Surprisingly, Rob (the amazingly smart and technologically savvy man that I just happened to marry) has helped me just a TINY (that was irony, eh?) bit. I'm proud of me, if I do say so!

And I also just got Photoshop a few weeks ago. I'm slowly figuring things out on there as well. Personally, learning a new language I think would be easier. But, one button at a time...I can do this. I will not give up...that's the spirit! These are the pep talks I must give myself so I don't quit. Like the first time I painted a room. It never got finished.

Ah, I'm just impressing myself that I'm trying to learn new things. It's satisfying. I was never a person who craved going to school or anything...actually, quite the opposite :) (In fact, many thanks to Jolyn [my twin sister] STILL for all the papers and homework she did for me throughout high school. Without her I would surely not have been inducted into the National Honor Society[I still have my falsely earned pin!], been in the top 10% on the Honor Rolls or so many other things I'm sure. In return, you ask? I was her personal chauffeur. I loved to drive. She hated it. Life was good.)

Back to my original point though, the older I get the more I am wanting to continually learn new things. Maybe because I've obviously matured from the teenager I used to be and it's not forced learning, rather at my own will. Major difference there. But there's a deep satisfaction I get from making an effort to learn/try something and succeeding. Ah. Impressing yourself is way better than trying to do something simply to impress someone else. For sure. (Now that I reread that, it sounds slightly self-centered! I hope if you're reading this you can somehow understand my thought process...without thinking I'm a self-centered girl who cheated her way through high school.)

Totally random post, but isn't that what blogging is for?

Hope everyone is "feelin groovy" just like the greeter at Meijer reminded me yesterday...

The goose is on the loose!

Yesterday my little man (affectionately known as "goose" by lots of family members though I've never really figured out why) conquered the art of walking. I am SO proud of him. I thought I was excited the first time he rolled over or sat up. Let me tell you walking brings about a whole new realm of excitement (and squeals and sounds) for both parent and child. A new world has opened up before him and you can see the delight in his eyes. It's funny...I had very jokingly been giving him little pep talks over the last few weeks that he had x amount of time to figure walking out before his first birthday. Little did I know...

Last year on Easter we were still in the hospital, as Jack was born on Good Friday. Easter will always have special meaning to me because of that :) And now all the more since he learned to walk on Easter.

Well, a quick entry here but laundry duties call. I loathe laundry. It's my least favorite thing to do.

Until next time...

Introducing Us

I finally caved and switched my blog from Xanga (which I had yet to even make a post on there this year) to Blogger.

Just a few things you should know...I'm not very good with continuous, regular updates. I'm better friends with spontaneity for sure. And I know I overuse "..." and I use "..." when it's completely not grammatically correct. But you'll have to get used to it. It's my favorite thing to type... (see!) as if I'm composing my thoughts for a moment before speaking. Yes, that's it...

With Jack's first birthday fast approaching (2 weeks from today!) I am going to start documenting his little life here. And occasionally I will try to mention my husband Rob and me too if I remember. But primarily it's about Jack. After all he is what my life is mostly centered on now. (I say mostly b/c I do have a life outside of him though it be relatively boring in comparison.)

Well, in short (if you're new to me) I'm a stay at home mom that used to be a makeup artist for a major cosmetics company and I was also an interior designer. Aside from Jack, I now enjoy my hobby of making sock monkeys (and other sock critters) but more on that later. I'm on a continual quest to learn the ropes of the kitchen in general. I am not a good cook unless it comes out of a box. I want to get better though. I've sort of gotten the baking thing down over the last year or two and I LOVE to make cupcakes. Red Velvet to be specific. And I also want to learn how to make soap. And someday I will plant a garden. I wanted to get to it this year, but I think I need to conquer our existing landscaping first. We'll see what the coming months hold... I love being able to pick up new hobbies and try things out that I've always wanted to.

Anyway, all for now and best to each of you!