The More You Know

Today I will fill you in on important things that you should know.

1.  Our powder room was featured on this little blog called Young House Love yesterday.  No big deal.  Okay, fine.  It’s a huge deal. John and Sherry think a room in my house is worthy enough of their blog.  Holy cow.  I thought my blog might explode.  Seriously.  Can a blog combust from page views?  I thought so.  Click below if you missed it/don’t know about YHL/live in an internet-less cave…



2.  Jillian Michael’s is trying to kill me.  I will be Ripped in 30. Or I will die trying.  Probably the later.  Yes, definitely the later.  One of the girls in the video is named Michelle.  I get all panicky when Jillian yells at video Michelle.  I have issues.



3.  I’ve been reading about super foods.  I think waffles should be a super food.  Because they are super.  Especially with peanut butter and syrup.  Who’s with me?  Mmmmm, super food.



4.  My co-workers think I have a problem.  I styled the bookcase at work.  Why do we have WD-40 in the pharmacy?  No one could answer that question.  Good thing I’m not the boss.  Oh wait.



5.  My little brother is done painting his house.  Well, all but about 3 rooms of it.  My little brother will soon be home alone.  Ahhhh.  (P.S.  He’s single.  Holla…..He hates when I try to act cool.)  I’ll share before and progress shots of his house next week.  You know, when I try to be a good blogger again.



6.  I think Nate should help me do something like this around our circular staircase.  I can't get it out of my head.  Nate thinks I'm crazy.  What are your thoughts?  Don't let me down dear blog readers.

Source: tiekbuilthomes.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Happy week-end!  Who votes molding around the stairs?  Any Jillian fans/haters out there?  I understand both sides.  Waffle fans?  Any styled bookcases at work?  Who wants to date my brother?  I’d make an awesome sister-in-law….

Instagram for Android

I about peed my pants when I received this e-mail Tuesday afternoon.



Instagram is now available for Android. All of us Android hipsters can now join in on the fun.  (You can find more info on the app here!)

I tried to install it quickly. You know, in between counseling patients not to drink booze with their pain pills. My career is very rewarding. Unfortunately, my phone software wasn’t up-to-date.

Tears rolled down my cheeks.  (Okay, not really..but it makes for a better story.)

I had to work until 8:00PM.  The e-mail was a tease.  I sent Nate a text that his evening involved updating my phone software and installing Instagram…as soon as I walked in the door.  He told me he wouldn’t have time.  Five minutes later I received an Instagram photo from him.  I married the devil. 

Many hours later I became an Instagram user.  My life is forever changed. (Dramatic much?)  This is my “I’m finally an Instagram user” smile complete with “I did my boy hair in 2 minutes this morning because 7:30 is way to early to be at work.”…



I’m finding that Instagram is perfect for over sharers like myself.

Who wants to see what’s in my fridge?  Man, do we need groceries! 



Ike is already sick of Instagram.

Seriously, can't I enjoy my post-walk rest?

When will Nate be home to save me from this non-sense?

Fine.  I'll pose for another photo if you'll give me my bones already.

Who's on Instagram?  I need more people to follow!  My user name is DecorandtheDog.  Anyone think I should learn to take photos of something other than my dog?  Yeah, me neither.

Surprise!

Hey! Guess what?  You all are attending a baby shower today.  Bet you weren’t prepared for that one, were you?

Kelly and Andy over at View Along the Way are expecting their second baby any day now. A group of fellow bloggers and I are celebrating by throwing a surprise virtual shower.  We’ll be sharing food, games, drinks, decorations and gifts.

Virtual showers are awesome.  No one has to see my annoyed looks after the 604th pacifier is unwrapped.  I will miss actually eating the cake/finger foods though.

Erin at His and Hers asked if I would like to be in charge of a handmade gift.  Yes, please!  Minor problem.  I was gone all week-end and am working extra hours at work this week.  Doh.  But Kelly is one of my favorite blog buddies so I totally wanted to send some baby love her way.

Here’s what I came up with…

I brought back the appliqued onesie.  I love this gift because it’s easy to personalize and also easy to whip up in a time crunch.

Kelly is from Georgia.  She is a Bulldogs fan (Hence the red for Georgia.  I did get this right, right Kelly? Otherwise your blog led me astray.).  And baby girl is totally going to be the star of her Mom’s blog.  Personalization for the win.  And Kelly lives many miles away so if she hates them I will never know the difference!  Distance for the win!

Here’s how I made them.  There is a right way to do make these…and the Michelle way.  I’ll share both.  Both strategies get you to the final product.

Step #1: Make a template of the shapes you want to use. Resize in photo editing software of your choice, if needed. I Googled my images and resized them in Photoshop Elements.

Step #2:  Gather the rest of your supplies.  You will need a onesie.  Fabric.  (Scraps will work.)  Heat n’ Bond Iron on adhesive.  Thread.  A sewing machine.  Maybe a diet Dew?

Step #3:  Michelle way:  Cut out your shapes and trace them onto the fabric.  Cut out shapes from fabric. Cut out iron on adhesive and iron onto fabric.  Get adhesive all over your iron.

Right way:  Apply iron on adhesive to your fabric following directions on package.  You will not get adhesive all over your iron.  Cut out desired shape from fabric/adhesive combo.

Step #4:  Remove backing from adhesive and iron shape onto onesie. 

I’ve read some reviews that you can stop at this point.  I like to make life difficult…and I’m not sure the shapes would make it through a washing.  Even though others say they will.  I think the stitching adds to the handmade feel of the gift.

Step #5:  Carefully stich around the appliqued shape.  You can hand stitch or use a sewing machine.  That Georgia coastline was rough.  Luckily Kelly understands that sewing is hard.

Be sure to head on over and visit the hosts, His and Hers and Neathering Our Fest.  Be sure to stop by View Along the Way and wish Kelly “good luck” with that whole labor thing!!

Here’s a handy list of the other shower festivities…

Jen & Katie have decorated.

Ange has whipped up our appetizers.

Visit Faith for a pink dessert.

Carrie took care of the beverage table with a punch that’s—you guessed it—pink.

Cassie also brought a handmade gift for the baby girl.

No shower is complete without the obligatory game, and Maury has two. (I promise you won’t have to do anything awkward like “guess the weight of the poop” or anything.)

Carol is taking care of YOU with a special (and practical!) handmade gift for the mama.

And on your way out, stop by to see Jean for your perfectly girlie favor.

Congrats Kelly and Andy!!!  Sleep now…while you can!! ;)

What’s your favorite last minute handmade baby gift idea?  Anyone else afraid to drink the water?  Everyone is shucking out kids.  Life must be trying to tell me something… 

Lessons Learned

Today I’d like to share with you lessons that were learned in my brother’s living room this week-end.

Lesson #1:  I am the world’s greatest sister.  Almost 30 hours of painting/slave labor will get you that title.  *Pats self on back.*  Little brother has a lot of projects ahead of him.

Lesson #2:  Don’t paint your living room purple and minty toothpaste.  The next owner (and his sister) will hate you.

Lesson #3: Always check behind bookcases.  They may be hiding things…like brick walls.

Brother had a mini panic attack.  I told him no sweat.  He can paint it charcoal and add a piece of wood for a faux mantle. Stick a clock over the vent.  No problemo.  Panic attack averted.

Lesson #4: Grey is a finicky color.  Little brothers don’t like light grey…like Sherwin William’s Argos.  Color fail.

Lesson #5: Sherwin Williams will add tint to make your paint darker if you hate it.  The walls will then be painted with Grey Matters.  (The same color as our master bathroom and basement.  It’s a good grey!)

Lesson #6:  The stained trim in the living room no longer makes me want to throw up in my mouth but white painted trim would make this room look fantastico.  Feel free to leave comments letting little brother know what you think…either way!  I think I almost have him convinced to paint it.  Almost.  So close.  Come on little brother!

Lesson #7:  My dad taught me a trick.  Milk Duds work as antidepressants when your brother makes you paint his entire house.  My dad is a wise man.  But I may have overdosed.

Lesson #8:  Improving a room is totally worth painting away your week-end.  I do, however, miss that purple.

I’ll share some of the other before and afters this week.  I’m a little sad I live 4 hours away.  Oh wait.  No I’m not.  I missed my couch and neutral walls…and white trim.

How’d you spend your week-end?  Any other ideas for the brick funkiness? Should we have another poll on painting the trim? ;)

***I’m sharing our house tour over at Karen at Home today! Be sure to head on over and check it out here!***

Awesome Stuff in My Life

Who wants to see awesome stuff in my life?

Awesome #1! Angry face wants bones.  But he’s pretty awesome.  (Please vote for Ike over at facebook for happiest dog.  I swear he really is the happiest dog…after bones.  He’s quite the diva.  Vote here!!)

Awesome stuff #2: These granola bites are beyond delicious.  Like I want to eat the entire mini muffin pan delicious.  You can find the recipe here.  So good. 

Awesome stuff #3:  My parents got me these Libbey County Fair glasses for my birthday.  They make my cupboard look happy.  And they are fun to drink out of.

Awesome stuff #4: I used some birthday moneys (The word “moneys” always makes me laugh.) to purchase the Madewell tote that I had been drooling over.  This tote cost more than all of the purses I have purchased in my life added together…but it’s so darn pretty.  And it was bought with birthday moneys.  It’s big and perfect.  I like to pet it because the leather is so soft…and real.  I’ve never owned real leather. 

I should probably change the mudroom art too, huh? Did you notice the bouncy tail at the bottom?

Awesome stuff #5:  Target donates extra stuff to our Salvation Army.  These brand new flats now belong to me.  $3.00.  Michelle for the win!

Don’t worry, he doesn’t eat shoes.  He just inspects them and reports to Nate if I make any new purchases.  True story.

Awesome stuff #6:  You may have read that I recently turned 30.  Guess that makes me elderly.  Elderly people need grapefruit spoons. I have been meaning to buy some grapefruit spoons since I moved out of my parents house about 12 years ago (holy cow, I’m getting old).  Quick Amazon search and this grapefruit spoon set arrived at my door 2 days later.  I have been missing you in my life dear grapefruit spoons.

Awesome stuff #7:  I made my first Dr. Bronner’s purchase.  Dr. Bronner’s and homemade granola bars.  I’m turning into quite the hippie.  This soap smells ridiculously good.  I’ve only used it a couple of days but my skin is less dry.  Coincidence?  I’ll keep you posted!

Awesome stuff #8:  It’s Friday!!!  I’m actually back at home helping my little brother paint his house.  I much prefer using free labor than being free labor. ;)

What’s awesome in your life lately?  Do share!!

February Old Lady Quilt Square

Do you remember when I decided to join the block a month project over at In Color Order? (If not, you can read about it here.) Do you remember how I told you all that a block a month was pretty low pressure and I could totally do it?  Well, I just finished February’s square…



Good thing it’s not almost April.

Again, the block isn’t perfect but it makes me happy.  I had to reteach myself how to sew the half squares beings it had been about 2 months since I completed the first square.  I should probably get to working on March’s before I forget…again!

February’s square looks mighty cute with January’s.




There’s still time for you to join in!  Peer pressure.  Head on over to Involving Color to catch up on the fun.  You can seriously do this.  Trust me.  You might need a seam ripper.  And hopefully you haven’t recently given up on swearing.  But other than that, you are good to go!

Tell me I’m not alone in having to reteach myself things if it’s been over 2 days.  Anyone else working on an old lady craft?

$50 Home Depot Giveaway Winner

The winner of the $50 Home Depot Giveaway/Kwikset Review is…..

Drumroll please….

Lucky commenter #6……

Congrats, Michelle!!  (And what an awesome name you have!)

I enjoyed reading all of the scaredy cat answers.  Glad I’m not alone.  Except for you spider weenies.  I’m all over spiders.  I think someone was afraid of rubber bands too. I’m okay there.

Remember to check out Kwikset SmartKey at homedepot.com and at your local The Home Depot store. And also heck out Home Depot on facebook and the Twitter.

Quinoa is Weird

So, I’m trying something called eating healthy.  Yesterday was day 1.  I’m killing this thing.

I’m not eating healthy to lose weight.  I don’t diet.  I eat what I want and then make sure I move enough to cover it.  Calories in.  Calories out.  I should write a book.

The problem with my weight control strategy is that I’m not getting enough nutrients/the right kind of nutrients.  A lunch of Skittles and baked Cheetos is within the calorie range I need (and not to mention, delicious).  It just isn’t quite as nutrient packed as let’s say a salad and a bowl of fruit.  Did I mention that I don’t like salads?  Salads are for rabbits.  Vegetables gross me out.

I have been hearing a lot about quinoa lately. I think my favorite part is the pronunciation… "KEEN-wah", “KEEN-wah”.  I think I said it 100 times around Nate this week-end only to drive him insane.  Quinoa is a relative of spinach but is more often used like a grain.  It’s a good source of protein, magnesium, and antioxidants.  Sounds like it fits into my healthy eating plan.

Kristen over at Iowa Girl Eats posts a quinoa recipe at least once a week.  I decided to try out the quinoa mac and cheese.  I mean, mac and cheese.  Can you go wrong?

I gathered my ingredients.  Can you guess where I shop?

Cooked up the quinoa…

I love the looks of it.  And it smelled good.  Grainy…kind of tortilla like.  It’s messy.  I will be finding quinoa in my kitchen for weeks.

I mixed it with some egg, milk, and cheese and slapped in the oven.  I let it bake while I did Week 1 of Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30.  I’m not messing around with this healthy business.

30 minutes later I had this…

It looked pretty decent.  Smelled pretty decent.  I didn’t screw it up.  Go super Michelle.

I’m not sure how I feel about it though.  It definitely didn’t taste bad.  But it didn’t taste good either.  I thought it was a little bland.  That would be my fault for not having things like red pepper and garlic on hand.  I also think I might like it better with some chicken or ham…or baked Cheetos.

The texture is interesting.  More interesting good than bad.  It was soft, yet chewy, yet crunchy.  Very interesting.

My first quinoa experience was a bit of a let down.  I think I will give it another go though.  Mainly because I like saying “KEEN-wah”.  I just need to find a recipe more suited for my picky tastes. 

Any favorite quinoa recipes?  Any favorite healthy recipes that are quick, easy, and don’t have vegetables in them?  I don’t ask much.

**I’ll announce the winner of the Home Depot gift card this evening.  I forgot about it last night.  Bad blogger!**

Organization Baby Steps

Last week I shared with you my chalkboard painted pantry doors. 

I decided to try something new in my life.  I followed the directions on the paint can.  Weird.  I waited the three days before writing on the chalkboard.  It was hard.  But I did it.

I also “seasoned” the chalk paint with a layer of white chalk.  (I rubbed the side of the chalk all over the chalkboard paint.)  This helps to prevent your writing from being permanently etched into your paint.  Worked like a charm.

Why did I paint the insides of the pantry doors?

 Doodling would be fun but I really needed something to get our house in order.  I’m on a slow organization spree.

I needed a place to list out what’s in our freezer and what leftovers are growing things in the fridge.  I also needed a place to hang our grocery list. Done!

Do you like how I put the Raisin Nut Bran front and center so you all think that I eat healthy? It may be hiding Reese’s Puffs and Lucky Charms.  You’ll never know.

I also listed the healthy stuff in our freezer first.  I did that mainly to trick myself into eating healthy by reading the “good for me” stuff first.  But also so you all think that I eat healthy.  Read further. You will change your mind.  Girl Scout cookies anyone?

I needed a spot to hang our weekly grocery list.  I made a list about a year that contains our most commonly purchased items.  It is organized according to their location in the Target aisles. (I need to redo it though because Target moved stuff around.  The nerve.)  During the week, we mark off the items the we run out of/think we will need.  Having the list organized by aisles makes grocery shopping a little easier.  We used to go from one end of the store to the other because we would forget one or two important items.  Now the items are grouped together!  I have enough lists printed for 1 month and they are proudly displayed in the pantry instead of shoved into the junk drawer.

We are trying to work things like Cheese Whiz and Teddy Grahams out of our diet. Baby steps.  Our grocery cart was very healthy this week.  I did hear something about the world ending.

I’m still debating on how to use the bottom panels. I think I may use them for meal planning…and doodling.  

There you have it.  Baby steps towards kitchen organization.  Sharing my pantry and grocery list feels a little like showing my underwear drawer…very personal.  (P.S. I did just organize my underwear drawer and it’s been life changing. But there are some things that will never make this blog!)

How do you keep track of what’s hanging out in your freezer?  Any great grocery list tips?  Meal planning strategies?  Any organization that you won’t share on your blog?

Like this post?  Read about our tidy kitchen tips!  Also check out our DIY/Projects page!

$50 Giveaway + Kwikset Smartkey Review

Today I'd love if you headed on over to our ad free blog.  The post involves a $50 Home Depot gift card giveaway and our front door lock.

If that doesn't get you excited on this Friday, I don't know what will!  See you over in ad free land!!