bathroom redo update

I’m heading to San Diego tomorrow for a work convention – so this will be another weekend at home (well sort of). It’s all good, though, because one of my very bestest childhood friends from Kansas - who I haven’t seen for over 30 years - is in Boston and we're planning to get together for dinner tonight. I’m really, really, really excited about this – got to love facebook!

Anyway – just so you don’t think that I’m slacking on the whole bathroom thing, here is where I’m at.
Apparently painting laminate requires a super duper primer that needs a full week to “cure” before painting over (Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3) Sooooo – not wanting to lose that much time, I primed the cabinet before leaving Vermont and brought the vanity drawers and door home. And, here they are

- well cured and ready for a coat of paint.

Now, if I could just decide what color that should be. After much deliberation and viewing thousands upon thousands of pictures (thank you Pinterest and Houzz), I decided to switch out the wooden accessories for oil rubbed bronze. The walls are creamy colored, so I’m thinking of either matching the walls or trying a soft tan.

Decisions, decisions.

Oh, and speaking of decisions – I’ve been agonizing over choosing a new light fixture. Did you know that there are thousands – and I mean thousands – of light fixtures to choose from? Seriously? I really think that I have a love-hate relationship with the internet. Life was much easier when the only choice was whatever happened to be available at stores within driving distance.

Sooooo – after getting completely sucked into the whole web-surfing thing, with my head swimming from way to many choices and staying up much too late one night, I woke up bleary-eyed and thought – “This is a bathroom light fixture!!! Just go to Lowe’s and buy an inexpensive one and be happy with it!!”

So that’s what I’m going to do. And I’m going to LOVE it, because here’s the thing - it’s a bathroom light fixture!!! Sheesh!

So, that’s where I’m at with the whole bathroom thing – except for my picture frame disaster.

I don’t want to talk about it.

But don’t you just love the old Lion King sheets? I love that the little cub is smiling up at me even as the frames are lying there daring me to try something else. But hey, I am not stressing about this. I have a paint store nearby and they're more than happy to sell me all the paint and stain and sandpaper that I need to get it right! All is well.



Thanks for dropping in!

home for the weekend

It’s bound to happen every now and then – staying home. This weekend I enjoyed Easter dinner at my mother’s house. Our family holidays have evolved a bit as the “children” have grown, but we always know we’ll have a good time and enjoy a great meal.

As usual, I was in charge of bringing the salad – “sympathy salad” as my daughter’s boyfriend has dubbed it. He’s convinced that no one really wants to eat salad when there are so many better dishes present, but sympathetic guests always eat some anyway. He's probably correct (although my family insists that they actually like salad – hmmmm).

I’m not an enthusiastic cook, so salad suits me fine. But really – sympathy salad? Time to shake things up! This year I brought a layered salad - ooooooo, ahhhhhh.

Of course this is really just a regular old salad layered into a glass bowl. But it’s oh so pretty to look at – right?

I chose not to make the traditional recipe with bacon and eggs as ham and deviled eggs were already on the menu. Sympathy salad is bad enough, but I really didn’t want to bring redundant salad…

We all know how to make salad, so no instructions here. This is the list of the ingredients that I used layered from bottom to top:

Layered Spring Salad

spring mix
red and orange peppers (chopped)
artichoke hearts
sliced cherry tomatoes
frozen peas (defrosted)
salad dressing (½ cup mayonnaise, ½ cup sour cream, ½ package ranch dressing mix)
shredded gruyere cheese
toasted slivered almonds

Layered salad recipes always instruct to make ahead of time. I’m not sure why - it’s not as though the flavors mix at all. The nice thing, though, is that you can make it ahead of time. I added the almonds right before serving to keep them crunchy.

The possible combinations of ingredients are endless. Choose a theme (or not) and have fun!

Thanks for dropping in!