Smoothie, dah-ling??

My bestie, Cai, had surgery yesterday.

Now, to say she's my sister from another mister is an understatement. Her parents and my parents have been friends since they were in high school...so we literally have been raised together, and our friendship is a lil' more than the usual "bestie" relationship. (Its also totally awesome that she and my brother-in-law have been dating for the last year and a half...SQQQQQUEAL- one day we will totally have the same last name. Just like real sisters do!)

So anyway, today was one of those days that makes me super thankful for being able to do what I do (have my own bid-ness, and work from home). Lemme set the stage for you:

Last week I receive a call from a client I haven't worked with in years. She said she's hung onto a letter I sent her a while back and she wanted to work with me again. I was so excited- but I had to ask, "why?" and do you know what she said? (This part made me smile-big.) "Because since working with you, I've worked with another designer and you paid attention to what I really wanted. She didn't. You gave me your suggestions, but you always let me make my own choices without yours being thrust upon me" So I told her I was doing my 'happy-dance' (because who doesn't want to hear great things like that?) and we setup a meeting for today.

Yesterday Cai had her wisdom teeth pulled. All four. (I had mine done back in October, with some after affects, that still today (March 15) are present- so I feel for the girl.) While I was getting ready for my meeting today she and I were talking and she said she'd really like a smoothie (obviously she can't drive) so I asked if she'd like me to bring her one. "Really?" "Yeah. What kind?"

The stars aligned and my sitter was able to come over a little earlier than planned so I could run and grab some hardware for a client (whose bathrooms we are just wrapping up and OMG, they look uh-mazing!) stop into Smoothie King and get the smoothies (of course I got one for myself), stop at my clients house, drop off the hardware and paint color suggestions, drive over to Cai, drop off the smoothie and go to my meeting at my old client's new home.

Once I got home from everything and I laid Lil' man down for his nap, I was changing and I realized, "That is why I do what I do. Getting Cai her smoothie is why I do what I do." I might have sounded like a crazy banana to anyone walking by (thankfully its too cold for people to go walking...) but it made perfect sense to me. The whole reason I do what I do, is so I can be available for my family.

There is nothing more important to me than my family. Never has been. Never will be.

So even while I was super busy today, making sure Lil' man was taken care of, making sure I was put together to go to meetings, making sure my client's were happy and making sure my family was taken care of I still have the clarity (?) to be able to sit back and thank God everyday for the blessings He has given me and my family.

And, just because I can, tomorrow night, St.Patrick's Day eve, I will be hosting our annual party :) (I think I've talked about this before, but I prefer not to celebrate the actual holidays- I like the eve's because there isn't any pressure...and you can serve cheeseburgers and everyone is super happy...why? Because its not the actual holiday and there aren't any rules!! I'll post more about it later!)

12x12 Love

When we (and by 'we' I mean 'me', with the hubs blessing) decided to go with an under the sea theme in the nursery I didn't know how far to take it. Like, did I look for fish sheets? Should I start investing in a huge aquarium? And what about wall art? Is the tidal wave painted on the wall going to be enough? Too much?

See, this is what happens when your a designer. For other people's homes, its really easy (I find) to make decisions for them. When it comes to our home, I tend to over think things or leave things empty until I find the perfect item for the space. (Because I know it exists, I might just not have found it yet...) So when it came time for the wall art in lil' man's room, I got the best of both worlds.

I used (6) 12x12 frames over his crib (three on top, three on the bottom) and put scrapbook paper inside so I could switch them out as I saw fit. One of my favorite reasons for this is that when we switch out the papers, its a project lil' man and I get to do together.

We shop for the paper together, he points to ones he likes...and I point to ones I like. Then we buy the ones that make most sense.

When we get home and make the paper switch, its always fun for me to watch him lay in his crib and look up at the papers and go, "ooooooh" (Especially at Halloween when we hung super cute paper that had friendly spiders and mummies on it. He LOVED it!)

I've found it to be a super fun, easy and cost effective way to spruce up his room each month (or more frequently) and keep him entertained as well. He loves Mickey Mouse, so I try and keep at least one Mickey in the frames...(when he was super little, having his crib against the wall wasn't a big deal, but now he knows he has arms, and they are long, so he can easily touch the frames...so normally his crib is pulled away from the wall about 12"...I'm all about straight pictures! Oh, and safety. Of course!)

Teething rings

I'm amazed at how many teething rings there are available. The other night, I was flipping through my Family Fun magazine (yes, I'm totally that mom, even though lil' man isn't walking yet...) and I came across this teething ring with little finger-like things that "can reach all the way to the back of their gums". So I pulled out the page and put it aside.

Well, you know what happens well you put things "aside". They disappear. No, I'm not joking- I went to bed, it was on the kitchen table. Woke up, gone.

I was thinking of making a WANTED poster for it and placing it in The Hubs line of vision, but decided against it. Instead, I remembered it was from Target.com, so I went there, searched for 'teething ring' and got zero results (which seems weird to me...) so I search instead for 'teething' and up pops a bunch of information about baby Orajel, teething rings (which I knew they carried, apparently their search engine didn't...) and some various tooth brushes. But not the fancy teething ring with little fingers to get to the back of his gums!

So I pop over to Amazon.com and search for teething rings, and you know what? They have like 250 pages of teething rings. And not ONE of them is the one I'm looking for. Isn't that always the case? Himph.

I could go look harder for the missing piece of magazine. I'm sure it still exists in some form- but I have a few spare minutes to sit down (lil' man is nappin' away!) and I'd rather not use them to hunt for a missing piece of magazine.

Here are some highlights from my teething ring search:
- The Bling Ring black onyx teething ring. Doesn't that just sound weird? I feel like this might be something cave men used for their little cave man babies...sticking a rock into my kids mouth doesn't seem like an okay idea for me. And besides, the idea of his little teeth scratching up and down on the ring...just sends shivers down my spine especially if it makes a noise....eeeeeek! Oh, and don't even get me started on the name....Bling Ring? Really?

- The Empire Sterling Silver Teething Ring. Uhm, where do I even start with this one. I'm going to hope that this is intended to be an heirloom teething ring, not an everyday functional one (unless of course your Donald Trump's kid, in which case gnawing on sterling silver is probably something you've been doing since you were born. With that silver spoon in your mouth. Just sayin'...) Also, this teething ring has received FIVE stars, from only one reviewer. Why only one person reviewed it I ask...probably because only one person purchased it. Looks to me like we need more cow bell! Moving on....

- Maple Teethers. Yes, Maple, as in the wood. As in, your giving your baby a hunk of wood to ease the pain of cutting teeth. Why not just give them a piece of mulch and save on shipping?

...and so I will continue my search of the finger teether I found but lost. 

Fun with color!

One of my favorite reasons for working out of my home is that when my product reps want to meet, they come directly to my office- the kitchen table! (Actually, I have my office setup upstairs, but you know, the kitchen table is so much more friendly! 'Specially with a cup of coffee in hand...its more like chatting with friends rather than all business-like)

ANYWHO...

So I met this morning with my Sherwin Williams rep, Rebecca, who covers Ohio and Michigan (talk about a commute!) and she popped in to update me on all kinds of stuff that I already knew (but *may have forgotten about- ok, I totally did. Who am I kidding...) Here's a fun run down of what I re-learned and you should know too...

- Letschipit.com is up and running. What does it do? Well...its a little widget that you install on your toolbar. So let's say your one of those people who adores looking (and maybe drooling) over pictures of interiors that you love- you click your letschipit widget on the toolbar and BAM! It creates a palette of that picture. Could that be any easier???

- I relearned about Sherwin's Emerald line of paints which is as green friendly as they come. Zero VOC's (volatile organic compounds...which is the off gassing of the paint- you know that "just painted" paint smell...THOSE are VOC's...and this line has none of it..which means, you wanna paint your house in the middle of winter, and can't open any windows? That's okay with this product!) It also prevents stains from soaking in, so super easy cleanup and it won't streak or spot when you clean it! I do say, this sounds like the perfect paint!!

- Maybe one of the most important things I learned today was Sherwin Williams Color of the year...and guess what, its not Pantone's Emerald Green...or Erinteriors Navy Blue...its Aloe SW6464!! Its a soft green, a little pastel-ey, super fresh and clean looking...go check it out at SherwinWilliams.com

I love learning (or re-learning) things about my profession. It makes me even more happy when I'm learning these things while lil' Man is crawling around, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on in the background and we are sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee...yup- this is the life. And I'm so thankful for it :)

Snowball men!

I'm sure you read my last post about the cake ball situation...well, here's my experience:

First, I find the boxed cake mix and the icing. Get all excited come home and bake it, which is just mean. Baking a cake, which you can't EAT yet (mean- just cruel!) So the next morning, I break it apart, start mixing in the icing and stuff, roll it into balls- which let's talk about that for a second, shall we?

Red velvet cake mix is DYED red. Which means, when you rub it all over your hands, several times over, your hands become red (should have thought about this a little...) but I wanted to follow the directions- she uses red velvet so I use red velvet. So I roll 'em all up, shape them into little pear shapes, and put them into the refrigerator until Saturday afternoon...

I didn't want my mom to see her birthday cake (balls) until they were all done- but since she got dinner started early in the afternoon, she had to go home and change, I had the perfect window to start the ball process!

Thankfully my bestie, Cai, was on hand to help a sista out. She's all into baking from scratch (I'm more of a boxed girl...) and so I thought she'd be the perfect assistant to help me decorate the little balls! Well, as we were mid-pushing-the-pretzel-arms-into-the-ball she says, "I think he's going to be an amputee" 

It kinda went downhill from there.

After her second snowman she asked if she could be the 'dotter'. I said sure and continued in my happy little snowman induced happy-place. (Who knew I'd enjoy decorating little cake balls so much?!) Once they had little faces, they really came alive! Like, totally...now they just needed hats!

The directions called for tiny little cookies, with chocolate chip cookies on top to look like hats. However,  I couldn't find the cookies they asked for, so I bought some cookies which I thought said, "MINI" fudge cookies...turns out, I get home, it says MINT. Fail. Which meant their little snowmen heads were going to be really cold! 

See, with just a chocolate chip on top, chilly snowmen. Awwww...

And we didn't want to have snowmen with cold heads, so Cai decided to use the MINT cookies (not mini) and here was the result:

Looks like he's wearing a sombrero, right?

 Well, hand a girl some icing and she gets carried away- see that one snowman, middle row, third one back? See how he looks all ANGRY?! Right. So we had an angry snowman, one wearing a sombrero and one with only one arm! 

Can I just tell you though, how much FUN we had making our little snowmen? Might not be exactly what Bakerella had in mind...

...but laughing with my bestie while making something for my mom was so much fun! When mom came back, in her new shirt, she was so excited looking at our little creations! And, let me point out...see in the Bakerella photo, she uses those little chocolate sprinkles for arms? Yeah, I feel like, even though one of ours was an amputee (because the candy coating dried too fast...) the pretzels were awesome! That salty/sweet combination...mmmmm!

And what party isn't complete without a glass of wine that holds an ENTIRE bottle of wine? Just to be sure, we emptied the fresh bottle into the glass, what do ya know- they were right!! mmm

Pops or balls?

Go figure, I adore pretty pictures. Of nothing specific, just things that are pretty. Pretty colors, pretty people, pretty landscapes (specifically of a beach...our high today is like, 18. Degrees. Fahrenheit.)

Soooo pretty!

It should come as so surprise that while browsing the book section at Target just before Christmas I came across Cake Pops by Bakerella, and instantly fell in love. I mean, look at the colors!!! Well, like most Christmas gifts, you play with them for a few days and then they become ancient history. (Oh, please, don't act like your the ONE person in the whole world who remembers every gift they opened...and subsequently played with it throughout the rest of December and into January.) I don't feel bad about opening my gift, googling (and drooling, a little) at the pages and all the prettiness of the pages and then, like most things, it got put away (because I do NOT believe in clutter...talk about pet peeves...) on a shelf, that I actually look at every day...but you know, its all the way over theeeeeere and I'm alllllll the way over heeeeeeeere. (Sometimes I can be the most lazy person, ever. Just ask The hubs. I swear, if I could train JTWD (Jack The Wonder Dog) how to fetch mama a glass of wine...)

And just to prove a point, although it came out of a boxed kit, I did manage to make these fierce lookin' Snowmen cupcakes for New Years day...with the help of my bestie!

See his little orange triangle nose? Yeah...he was totally cute, and tasty!

Ok, so my mom's birthday is on Monday and I was thinking "oh how fun, I should bake her a cake! What kind of cake should I make her..." I'm totally 1000% partial to Pillsbury Funfetti cake. Why? Because its perfect. Just the right amount of yum to my gums and I'm a sucker for sprinkles. Why? Because they are PRETTY!!! So having a cake with sprinkles INSIDE and OUTSIDE? Hello...have we met? GET IN MY BELLY!

And then it hit me. Like a thunder bolt- go look at the book you haven't opened since December 26th! So I did. And it was even prettier than I remembered!! All the cakes and the cake pops and the SPRINKLES! and the clever ideas!! Ahhh, I'm a sucker for imaginative people (and add sprinkles to that imagination? Your right up there next to like, Mickey Mouse. And that's HUGE!)

Ohhh look at you beautiful sprinkles!!

Now I'm all excited to go buy my supplies and get 'er baking. Pretty sure I'm gonna start off nice and slow and just make regular, simple cake pops (or, I like to call 'em cake balls. Because that just makes me giggle...hehe)

Doesn't it just make you smile??

Oh, and no lie. I almost spat out my coffee while reading all the directions, specifically the part where it says, "yields 48 cake pops"...FORTY EIGHT?! I mean...I'm a girl who likes to eat, but uhm, I don't want my teef to rot from all that sugar because that's just not sexy and totally gross. Ewww.

So here's my plan of attack: I will make all the cake, but only decorate like half of 'em. I'm only hosting like, 10 people max. at the birthday festivities...which means if each person eats two (wait...lemme grab my calculator. Ohhh- that's simple math...that's only like 20 cake balls!) yeah, so I can make like 20-ish and then toss the rest? I found some ideas in the book to try...

Mummy balls for my mommy? ha!

Or should I stick with lil' cupcake-lookin' guys?

Ahhhh, ok, here's another thing that bothers me about this. Waste. Ever since reading The Hunger Games, and she's all "we're only able to eat stale bread and weasel..." (or squirrel...or some kind of other random meat) I hate the idea of wasting food. I mean, my parents were all "there are kids starving in Africa"...but that didn't really hit home quite like The Hunger Games did. So now if I bake the cake, and WASTE the cake, what kind of gift am I really giving to my mom besides causing MORE children in Africa to go hungry all because I didn't invite more people to her party???!?!?!?!?!

I might be over thinking this.

I mean, do those little kiddos even have milk to properly enjoy a cupcake with? Should I make a donation to some charity and request that they use my money to buy milk so that they can enjoy my cake balls? Ok, wait...now that I put it in that context, I understand why Bakerella chose cake POPS instead of balls. Ha. See, your giggling, right? Of course you are. Who can say 'balls' without laughing. Except maybe an ESPN reporter or something, but that's their job. 

Navy drapes?

Yesterday I'm at a client's home.

She was so excited to have me come out and help her for the hour (she assured me, I will keep you for a full 60 minutes, or 59 minutes and 59 seconds...however you'd like to put it!) that when I walked in she had all the pictures lined up (that she didn't know where to put them), along with some iron pieces and of course, the two CUTEST puppies.

Now, let me get off topic for a second. I love animals. I volunteer with the local SPCA and I spoil our puggle, Jack, as much as I can. (Which is why he's got his own blog...pugglywuggly.blogspot.com) This is one of the biggest perks of my job that I've found so far, getting to play with new animals all the time.

So I walk in and she's all, "Oh my gosh, HI ERIN!" We shake hands and I look down. At two of the cutest dogs, ever! A pug and a beagle. (Uhm, HELLO??? Jack is a PUG-GLE half pug and half beagle!) they both had the sweetest little faces, happy tails and loved being pet on their heads! Bella, the pug, followed us into every room and when I had a spare minute, she requested my hands be on her head...behind her ears, on her back...you know, wherever they fit!)

Ok, back to navy drapes.

I find a spot on all the walls for the pictures and iron pieces she had, even picked out a paint color for the guest bathroom and then we start talking about drapes for the dining room windows and family room.

me: for the family room, I'm thinking something icy blue. Very subtle pattern, if you even want one
her: ok. and for the dining room?
me: I'm thinking navy blue drapes
her: (giggles) navy?
me: yup
her: (giggles again) navy?
me: navy. navy blue. It would give a really dramatic look to this wall and make it a touch more formal than the opposite side of the room (now I start wondering if she's thinking I'm a nutter for suggesting navy because she's getting a little dazed look...wait, was that a nervous giggle?)
her: I. Love. It.
me: (oh thank GOD!) Great!

Turns out her husband loves navy (which is a total win-win because I really like making both parties happy when I do someone's home).

Here's a link to a set of navy drapes that I absolutely love! (Oh, and just a heads up, I love looking at regular stores for items for my clients, not just "designer" stores. Why? Because I'm a firm believer that great design is everywhere and shouldn't be limited to the size of your bank account...unless of course you like that sorta thing...in which case- email me! hehe)

I know Pantone is saying Emerald Green is the color for 2013...but I tell you, for me, its navy blue. I love everything about it. And, while I'm talking about emerald green...anyone notice the earrings Beyonce was wearing at the Presidential Inauguration? Emeralds. Huge, almost-as-big-as-my-head emeralds.