What's your poison?

Lately I feel like I need to wear a gas mask when I clean the bathrooms. Because, ironically, the bathroom is about a million times smellier while I'm cleaning it than it is between cleanings. It's not the smell that's really bothering me, I guess, it's the fact that I'm sure something that something that smelly can't really be very good to be around...

So, I want to know, what do you use to clean your bathrooms?

I currently have a handy tote full of cleansers and sprays that I take from one bathroom to the next on bathroom cleaning day... Right now it's got some Fantasik bathroom spray, Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, Clorox wipes, store brand blue glass cleaner, and a bottle of The Works tub and shower spray (which I just used for the first time--not only was I worried my nose hairs were being singed by the chemical smell of it, but it didn't seem to make my shower look a bit cleaner).

I don't mind the wipes, bowl cleaner and glass cleaner so much, but I want to find a better solution for the tub and counter/sink that will get the job done without poisoning me in the process.

I've thought of trying the homemade route, but I always worry I'll go to all that work for something that either doesn't make my bathroom look clean, or doesn't actually get it clean (disinfecting all the dirt, grime, and bodily whatnots that happen in a bathroom...). Any thoughts on this?

I've thought about (but not yet seriously considered) something like the Shaklee cleaning system that professes to be both economical and safe to use. Has anyone tried this?

So, please leave a comment, tell me what you use, what you like, love (or dislike for that matter), and any other tidbit that might help me decide how to clean my bathroom without having to invest in one of these:

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Color Conundrum

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My cute husband and I began discussing paint colors and such for this new house before we moved in. We even picked up a bunch of paint chips at a home improvement store while we were scouting out fun things like new fridges and washers and dryers.

Right away, we noticed a difference of opinions when it came to paint colors. I was all over the "tan is neutral, and you can add color with accessories" argument, while my husband (who by the way, on multiple occasions has told me that brown is not a color, silly boy) said tan is boring, and why don't we paint the walls colors like blue, green and red?

I tried to tell him that the main reason was to avoid having our house look like the inside of a circus tent (or something to that effect--probably more like "we don't want it to look like crazy people live here") etc, etc.

Anyway, we ended up choosing to paint the living room and adjoining family room/dining area a couple of nice neutral tans. Just like I wanted, and still what I think is the best choice for these areas. So I moved on and started thinking about what to do with our bedroom. And all I could think of was TAN. Same for our master bathroom. And even I started to think that that would just be too much tan!

Anyway, it got me wondering, was I choosing tan because I really thought it was a great design choice (ya know, since I know so much about that and all...) or if it was just because I was afraid of choosing the wrong colors. Yes, friends, it turns out that the reason I was afraid painting colors other than tan is that, though I have seen lots of design shows and blogs, I don't really know what I'm doing (and chances are good that it would look like a circus in here).

And if you're still reading what has turned into a long boring post about nothing of consequence, I will tell you, I still feel that tan is a wise color choice, but maybe not in every room of the house. So we'll be painting mostly tan in the main living spaces with a little green, blue/aqua, and maybe yellow and grey (the last two being kids' rooms) thrown into the mix.

Whether or not it ends up looking a little too circus-y is yet to be seen. I hope not.

What's your opinion on using color on your walls? Would you play it safe with tan or add some punch with color?

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Bitty quilt inspiration...

On my list of projects to do this year, is a twin-sized quilt for my little boy, that he can start using when he moves to a big boy bed.

I'm not planning on starting it until after we move this summer, because I have so many other projects to finish first (including 2 other quilts!). But, I have been keeping my eyes out for cute patterns and fabrics. I want something that will definitely look like a "boy" quilt. BUT I also want colors that I could find girly prints in, in case the next baby we have (no, I'm not pregnant!) is a girl and we needed them to share a room. I'm thinking ahead, ya know.

Which also brings me to...I don't want it to look extremely juvenile either. I mean, I've never finished a quilt yet, in my life...I would love to be great at it and make my kids lots of quilts, but just in case, I don't want the one I make this year to be something he outgrows too fast.

Anyway, I was browsing Cluck, Cluck, Sew the other day and found this really cute disappearing nine patch quilt made for a boy!


I think the disappearing nine patch in the center is so cute, and just "messy" enough to be a great pattern for a boy! So I'm thinking I'll do some version of this for his quilt! Cute, eh?

Now the question is should I buy the green or the blue Garden Party print (on sale at Around the Block Quilter's Shop this week!)?

Which do you like better??

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LAZY BUM!

That's me....

I wish I had a clean house or some terrific finished projects to show for my neglect of this blog... but no. My dresser-turned-entertainment -center is still yet to be primed and painted.

I know, "What do you DO all day??"

I have no idea. Make meals. Eat them. Play with the baby. Watch HGTV. That about sums it up. I could probably be a thousand times more productive than I am, but I've been lacking motivation lately. Do you ever get like that?

What do YOU do to get back in the groove when you've lost your motivation to get things done?

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Girls' night treats

About a week and a half ago, my BFF Jackie came to visit. While I was grocery shopping before she came I happened to walk past the cake mixes and realize I didn't even have any treats for her visit, and you can't have a weekend with your best girl friend visiting without treats! That would just be insanity.

So I solved that problem!

I picked up some of this:

And a can of this:

And made one of the best treats EVER! Just take a look at these little goodies!



And they taste much better than they look! Cakemix cookies are quite versatile, but this is my favorite way to eat them. Funfetti cake with rainbow chip frosting sandwiched in between...YUM! I learned how to make cakemix cookies from my college roommates (Jackie was one of them, so what an appropriate treat for her visit!). The ones my roommates made most often were chocolate cake with peanut butter chips in the dough. The possibilities are endless, I'm sure.

The other reason these were a great treat is the fact that they are not very labor intensive. Here's the recipe.

1 package of cakemix of your choice
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
other ingredients or toppings of your choice

Shape dough in to 1 inch balls, faltten into 1/4" thickness (I don't think we even did that step...). Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

And that's it. Easy Peasy.

We also made a late night Sonic run when my brain had gotten too fuzzy to sew a straight line anymore.

{Have you seen that one Sonic commercial with the two ladies making a late night Sonic run? OH man, I laughed so hard thinking about it, and how we are those women...I can't remember it exactly but it's something to the effect of "We're two crazy ladies on a late night Sonic run...You never know what we're going to do next! Maybe go....buy some eggs....and boil 'em...." haha... If you've never seen it, I'm sure it sounds lame, but I think it's so funny!}

And we ordered something that may or may not have been a good idea. We each got one of these in the strawberry limeade variety:


Freaking delicious! The reason I say it might not have been a good idea to order it, is that I have SERIOUSLY been craving one every day since then. And at about $2.50 a pop I can't really just go get one any time I want. That being said, I'm not sure how much longer I can last without getting another one! Maybe I'll have to take my hubby out for treats at Sonic for part of celebrating his birthday this weekend :)

P.S. There was absolutely NO signage for these babies at the Sonic we went to. If you go to order one and don't see it on the menu, go ahead and ask if they have it. Luckily Jackie had had one before so we ordered them even though they weren't printed on the menu.

What treats do you like to have on a girls' night??

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Table painting advice

This is our little table and chairs. Pardon the mess and the poor photography. The mess I can explain. We found a great, cute apartment, that has so many things that we love about it. Especially the things our last apartment was lacking: dishwasher, washer and dryer, 3 big walk in closets, and almost twice the amount of space!

Maybe you could call us inexperienced, or even dumb, but we decided we'd be okay to go ahead and sign up for the apartment without seeing our actual unit. Between schedules of the apartment people (putting in new carpet, yay!) and us going on vacation, we weren't able to see it, but we'd seen another unit and the complex earlier on and really liked it, so....

Unfortunately, we ended up in an apartment that apparently had reeeeally dirty people living in it before. Even our super sweet neighbors (thank goodness for good neighbors!) described them as "trashy". What this boils down to is our apartment had bugs in it when we moved in. Yeah. I'm still disgusted and a bit angry when I think about it. And I still haven't unpacked anything in my kitchen. I'm still a little iffy on whether I want to put anything in there just yet.

Anyway, that's the explanation of why we've got a lovely plastic shelf full of dishes and food in our dining room, and cups stacked all over the table.

So, back to the table. I bought this table planning on painting the bottom of it black. Not so into forrest green. The wood on top is pretty, but I kind of prefer a lighter finish than this is. I've also thought about painting the bottom a creamy white and refinishing the top lighter. I recently saw a blog post on one of my friend's blogs where she painted her entire table black, and I also really liked that! Oh what to do, what to do!

Please give me your opinion!! Leave a comment telling me which option you prefer. Pretty pretty please, please leave me a comment, I really need some advice, because I'd like to do this project soon! Here are the choices:

1. Bottom painted black. Chairs left as is.

2. Bottom painted black. Chairs painted black.

3. Options 1 or 2, plus top refinished in a lighter stain.

4. Entire table painted black, including chairs.

5. Bottom painted creamy white, chairs as is.

6. Bottom painted creamy white, chairs paited creamy white.

7. Options 5 or 6, plus top refinished in a lighter stain.

I know, there are a lot of choices! This is why I need your help! I really appreciate any comments or thoughts you have on the topic (even if it's really short, a la "#3" and that's it)! THANKS!

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Camera

So this is my first "Questions & Suggestions" post. Here is the question:

As I mentioned before, I am slowly saving up for a new camera. In a perfect world, I would like to get a fancy SLR and learn how to take great pictures with it. I know they are super pricey though. So, I am wondering, what kind of camera should I get? I'm not ruling out an SLR, but it'll be a LOOOOONG time until I can get one. Is it worth it? How much would I really be looking at spending to get something good? What kind of camera do you have? Do you like it?

Please leave your comments with your thoughts on the topic.

Also, if you have any questions that you would like me to ask of the readers of this blog, just shoot me an email.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for a family quilt camp with some of the girls in my husband's family! I think it'll be pretty fun! I'll be gone until Monday night, so probably no posts until Tuesday! I'll let you know how it goes!

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