Watersliding Dog

I just had to share this.  It has been makin' me smile all day!

I'll be drawing for the giveaway @ 10PM EST tonight!

Summer Fun

So this is my first summer at home with Han.  This is also her last summer as an elementary school kid so I want it to be special for both of us.  Summer begins next Friday for us and we can't wait!  Yesterday evening, we lay in the bed together, discussing our Summer plans.  Here's what we have so far.

Book Club - We're still trying to decide on a book, but so far, this is my favorite idea.

Beading - I want to teach her how to make her own earrings so she can save some $$ and always have a fabulous pair to wear.  

Knitting - I taught her the basic knit stitch earlier this year and hope that we get lots of opportunities to knit while watching some girly movies.

Sewing - She has already learned so much from her 3 weeks in sewing class.  She's already better at it than I am!

Painting - I had an idea that we could do a still-life session, to see how different our styles and perceptions are.

Polymer Clay - I took a class at AC Moore back in Feb and it is really simple and fun.  Hannah's been wanting to learn so we added that to the list.

Galleries & Museums - Hannah's only been to one gallery (where Charles has some of his stuff) so I want to get her out and get her cultured.  ha ha

The Pool - It opens next Monday and Han is dying to go.  I kind of am too!  :-)
 
What are your summer plans?  I'd love to get some other ideas.

Bad Blogger

I've been somewhat of a bad blogger the past few days.  No post since Thursday, no comment replies, no Weekly Faves post and no blog following.  

I had kind of a blah weekend.  A lot of sleeping and a total lack of motivation.  I don't know what came over me.  I'm feeling back to my old self now and am replying to comments tonight.  I'll have a new post tomorrow. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Ellen & Etiquette

My instructor showed this video in class today.  I thought it needed to be shared.  Ellen is too funny!  As someone in class put it, she's a hot mess.

I'm Gone Be Learnt Some Good Manners

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  We had a great storm last night and it really cooled things off.  I love thunderstorms, but when they come on at night, I think of "Poltergeist". 

School starts back up today and one of my classes is Professional Manners and Etiquette.  This is required for my degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.  I thought it was odd that there is even a class for this and that it's required for my degree, but I'm kinda excited to see what it's all about.  I know they cover fine dining and how to behave and what the formal place setting is all about, but I'm not sure what else there is to it.  Then I've got an online class (easy peasy) in Hospitality Marketing.  I read over the final project and it's gonna be a doozy!  The third class, and the one I'm most excited about is Bakeshop.  I do bake at home some, but I have a feeling this is gonna be way more than muffins, cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls and Booger Pie (not really baking, but you get the idea).  That class doesn't start until June 7th, but once it starts, I'll be at school on Mon and Tues from 8:30 until 6:00.  Yikes!

Hopefully, I'll have a bathroom reveal for you tomorrow.  I'm just waiting on Charles to install the new faucet and I've got to touch up a little paint on the frame we put in around the mirror.  Until then, here's a sneak peek.

Too Funny Not to Share

Julie from Joy's Hope posted this today.  I don't drive a minivan, but this sure makes me wish I did!

A Random Post & A Half-Finished Project... Need Advice!

Thanks to all of you for your kind and reassuring words concerning THAT room.  Good to know that I'm not alone (ha!).  Charles says that he expects the producers of "Hoarders" to call any day now, since I've posted the photos online.

I'm planning to start on it first thing tomorrow.  I'm thinking I might be able to pay Han to help me out a little.  She's been asking me if I have any itunes cards that I'm not using.  I do have a couple so I should be able to bribe her with those.  

I signed her up for a sewing class today.  It starts on Friday.  We were going to get groceries today and I decided to stop by a quilt shop on the way.  She was amazed by the Amy Butler bags they had hanging around and also some of the cute little sample dresses they have.  I don't have the patience or the knowledge to teach her properly so I thought it'd be a good idea to sign her up.  Oh, I have grand plans for her sewing career!  She'll make her own clothes in high school and will have all of her friends paying her to make theirs.  Then it's off to the Fashion Institute of Technology and maybe even a stint on Project Runway.  Yeah right!!  One thing I've learned in my short time of being a parent is that the more you push something, the more they hate it.  So I'll just keep my mouth shut about all of that and just praise her work for now.

OK, now for the half-finished project.  I've painted the bottom black and sanded the finish off the top.  I brushed on a thin coat of satin poly to deepen the colors of the wood and I was planning to leave it like this and add a few coats of lacquer, but I'm not totally in love with this, now that I've had time to look at it.  I'm looking for opinions, ideas and inspiration peeps.  Please help!

Here's a before, just so you can see the detail on the bottom, which isn't as easy to see with it being painted black.

And here is where I am now.  We've got horrible lighting inside so please ignore my horrid photography skills. 

This one's a little better for seeing the wood detail.