ch-ch-ch-changes

... not BAD changes.

Just... move-the-blog-along changes.

Because I'm bored. 

I'm bored with writing once a week (ahem, if I'm being good) about random nothings that we do. Might have done. Thought about doing. 

Or random crap I wish we had the moolah to buy.

Because obviously, judging by the SERIOUS LACK of comments, you're all as bored with me as I am. 

SO.

I'm implementing a few weekly, monthly features. BUT.

I want your opinions.

I have admitted to myself (and my husband along with me) that I (read: we) are serious cinephiles. 

So I'm going to post after every new movie we see. I'm going to TRY to post after every new movie we see. And I mean in the theatre and rented. 

Or on HBO.

{think: Cinephile Says...}

You get the idea. So far this summer, I could post about Thor, the new Pirates, and Priest. Oh, and then some. Seriously, big ole cinephiles over here.

Like, Michael Bolton-type shizz.

In addition to that, here are a few of the other features I'm contemplating:

** Toddler Tuesdays: because one weekly post on L's activities will be better for *all* of us.

** On My {Digital} Bookshelf: an update about my current reads. I'm thinking once or twice monthly on this one. I think it could be fun to keep track of my progress with reading this year. 

** Nailed It: I am NOT about to turn this into a nail polish blog, but I do indulge and paint my nails ALL the time. It might be fun to post when I try a new color?

** Pinnable Me: ONCE weekly post featuring my favorite pin by me and one favorite pin from a friend on Pinterest. Keeping each week's post to TWO only. 

** Edible Wrap-Up: An end of week post featuring our favorite meal from the week.

That's what I'm thinking about right now. 

Of course, I will sprinkle in posts that are unrelated to any of those mentioned above. When those posts are warranted. 

I will continue to throw in the posts about stuff I'm lusting after, crap we're up to, home improvement, but I feel like the blog is in the doldrums.

I can't just post when we've done something EXCITING! YAY! or when I've completed a project. 

... because that's clearly NOT keeping you all entertained. 

Also, if I don't remember, someone remind me to add a survey so y'all can vote on features you'd want to read. Or not. Whatever.

Fair warning: if you don't let me know what you are/are not interested in, I'm gonna go with my instinct and that may not be on point.

past painting projects

I can't believe it's taken me SO LONG to get around to posting about this!

To begin with, I started the project in Liam's bathroom when my dad was home last... so, around Valentine's Day? Yes. I didn't quite realize when I made the plans for this room quite the project I was in for.

I designed the look I wanted in my head a long time ago, bought the paint before we moved into our house and never had a moment when my dad was free enough to help me. I've gotten a lot better at my painting (meaning: I have gotten really good at edging everything by hand, without the hassle of painter's tape) so I figured I'd get started.

I wanted the bathroom to be a modern beachy theme- without the kitsch.

crabs left over from the first birthday party

Personally, I could not be more thrilled with the way the bathroom came out. The stripes were the most difficult part of the whole project. My dad helped me a lot with those. We used his laser level to lay out the straight lines and then we applied a single piece of painter's tape to each line (and those were LONG pieces of tape!). Once all the tape was on, I went along with blue paint and painted over the edge of the tape that would define the tan stripe, allowing the blue to bleed under the tape. After all the blue dried, I hand painted the tan stripes. It was a lot of steps, but the stripes are completely spot on, you'd have to look really, really hard to find anywhere where there's even a little bit of a blemish. Really proud of the way this room turned out, and pleased that it's done. I don't think it's childish at all, so it's going to stay this way while we're in the home. 

Back in January (I guess?) I got that "must paint" wild hair and made my hubby decide on a color for the wall behind our bed. I used Ralph Lauren's Regent Metallic paint on a wall in my bedroom in a townhouse in college and just loved the way it came out. I decided to go ahead with that again in this house and am really glad we did. The metallic sheen is very, very pretty in the evening when the lamp is on. I think you can get a little bit of an idea from the sheen the flash of the camera creates, but I think it's far lovelier in person. I'm also really in love with the way the color goes with the inspiration cushions. 

That's the painting -- on the walls -- that's gone on at MY house lately. I did help my mom out by painting her upstairs powder room, but I don't have photos of that. I also bought paint two days ago to use on the "console table" (what it actually IS, I'm never telling!) at our entry. I cannot paint enough furniture. I'm also in the process of planning a display board in our hallway that involves colored chalkboard paint, lacquered frames, sliver clips, particle board and moulding. And my FIL. You know. Gotta have a place to display all those sweet works of preciousness Liam will be bringing home in his backpack come August. 

Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday. I'm off to draw up a couple of designs for our backyard. Yeah, I think I'm also an amateur landscape designer. Ha. HAHAHAHAHA.

opinions needed: frames for the famous

I'm sure you all remember the hulaballoo I went through getting myself a desk, and the work that my dad and I put into the one I have now...

A while ago, I found 7 wonderful, fantastic, terrific prints on Etsy that I talked about in this post. They came in the mail a few days ago, and now I'm trying to settle on HOW and WHAT to use to frame them. This is what my workspace currently looks like:

I really like the chalkboard and the two framed pictures, but am open to taking the PICTURES down. The chalkboard stays. My issue is that I thought all 7 prints were going to be 5 x 7, but two ended up coming in at 8 x 10:

I really love the way the white frames look against the grey paint in the room (see, ladies? I told you it was d-a-r-k grey!), but I'm not sure that the white frames will look great with the off-white paper they printed the images above on. SO...

I have frames around the house, frames like this one:

So here's my dilemma:

1. Should I paint the frames white, or should I paint the frames to match the desk?
2. Should I take down the photos and replace them with 2 of the smaller quotes, and then stretch the two 8 x 10s and the remaining 3 5 x 7s across the top? Or should I keep the photos and randomly arrange the 7 prints above them all?
3. Should I try to get all matching frames for the prints, or should I just pick up pieces like the one above and a few random others and paint them all the same color to coordinate?

My initial thought was to keep the photos, buy mismatched frames for the prints and arrange them over the desk. I can't decide what to paint them. Then I thought if I painted them like the desk, I should buy wooden frames and sand them down. And then when I thought that, I figured they'd all have to match. 

If I were to keep the photos, and use all 7 prints over the top of the photos and the chalk board-- which I have plenty of space to do due to the 9 foot ceilings in there-- I would put each 8 x 10 in larger frames on the end, then I'd put three 5 x 7s across the top, with two centered under them. I don't know if I explained that well, but I think it'd look fine.

I'm kind of lost. I'd like to go looking for frames tomorrow- I want them UP on my wall for next week when my mom and I are starting our first weekly "Grandma takes Liam, Mommy works on her novel" dates. I think the quotes are just the right kind of inspiration for me!

THANKS a million for all the help y'all give. LOVE.