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1.31.2012

Color love!!



About a month ago I spotted these photos on Pinterest.  I instantly fell in love.  The blue, the green, the hint of pink ... heaven!!  


Our dining room is currently the green ... so I just needed to decide which room to make blue.


Dining room and panels

A little convo with the bestie and we both agreed.  It would be the front room ... aka the office.  We picked out the paint, grabbed some fabric to tie it all together ... and found some amazing plates at Boxwoods in town.


Confirmation photo ... we both loved!!



Bad photo ... fabric is so bright and happy in person!!


Amazing ... yes??

Now to just get it painted.  I can just hear Felix now ... didn't we juuuust paint this house neutral for resale???  We may have ... but I am no fan of neutral!!  Color makes me happy!!!

Just when I thought my love affair with blue and green was satisfied I spied these photos from the new JCrew line and the love affair was ignited even more!!!


(glitterguide.com)


(glitterguide.com)


(glitterguide.com)

The skirt, the shirt, the bag, the accessories and most of all the pants and the sweater ... simply put ... Divine!  
Looks like I have more shopping to do!!

And with this little buddy home sick for the week it looks like any shopping I will be doing will be online only!


xo,
MPM

1.30.2012

Oh yeah that!

Saturday evening I was preparing to make dinner for the kids and just didn't have the energy to make it happen.  I was exhausted and just wanted to snuggle my kids and call it a day.  Then I felt guilty.  I should be making healthy meals and not giving in to my exhaustion.  So I compromised.  I went to pick up the take out instead of having it delivered.  

As I was backing out of the garage I backed into the garage door.  The door wasn't all the way up and the back of the Yukon slammed into the door.  Scared the pee out of me.  Luckily for me, the car and the door there was no damage.  Or at least ... none I can find.  

I returned home with the Little Caesar's and greeted the kids in the kitchen.  My teenager looks at me and inquires about the car.  "So ... (pause for effect) How's the car?"  Of course I feign ignorance.  He replies ... "Mom my room is over the garage I heard you hit the door."

Flash forward to Sunday night.  The teenager sneaks a piece of crazy bread (left over from the Little Caesar's)  while I am finishing up making dinner.  He takes a bite and then asks me about it.  

HSM ... Why is this bread so good?  What kind of cheese is on this?
Me ... It's Parmesan cheese.
HSM ... Just Parmesan cheese?  Why is it so good?
Me ... They use pizza crust and then brush on butter and garlic.  Before they put it in the oven they dust it with Parmesan cheese.
HSM ... How do you know so much about it?
Me ... I used to work at Little Caesar's in high school.  I put a dent in the fender of the car and my Dad made me get a job to pay for the damage.  
HSM ... Your dad or mine.
Me ... Mine.  And I have never had an accident again.   
HSM ... You mean until last night when you hit the garage door.
Me ... Oh yeah that!!!

Smart kid ... makes me crazy!!!
xo,
MPM

1.27.2012

Hammer Time!!!


Oh, its Hammer Time up in here!!!

It's the 100th day of school and you would have thought they were going to Disney!!!  Except, of course, for the teenager who was eye rolling and dismissing the silliness!

And to top it off Lawyer comes home tonight for a total of ...

36 hours!

Yo ... beggars can't be choosers!!!

We'll take it!

xoxo,
MPM

1.26.2012

The sun will come out tomorrow ...


(thank you Pinterest, once again!)

Today is a brand new day.  A new chapter for me and my family!!!

All is well, the sun is out and the possibilities are endless!!!!!!

xo,
MPM

1.25.2012

Today ...


(courtesy of Pinterest)

This is me today.  
I am full of anxiety and wait.  
But I know ... this too shall pass and every. single. thing. happens for a reason!!!

xo,
MPM

1.24.2012

A little spring color in this joint ...


I saw this photo yesterday over at Black and Spiro!  If you don't read her you are missing out!  

She is fabulous ... full of color and great ideas!!!

And this photo inspires me to add some spring color in the Lawyer house this week. 

It will definitely counter act all the grey, rainy days!

Right?
xo,
MPM

1.23.2012

A wet but rather lovely weekend!!

It was our first weekend without Lawyer and to be honest, I was dreading it.  The weekends are so much harder than the weekdays.  So much more tiring!!!  To my surprise it went off without much more than a whine!

We started the weekend with a movie night at the school.  The student council was raising money for Must Ministries!  They were showing The Smurfs and National Treasure and selling popcorn and juice boxes.  Precious event ... great evening!!!  Saturday we all slept in ... absolutely glorious!!!  The rainy weather is wearing this house out.  Caught a late afternoon showing of Beauty and the Beast in 3D and ate fajitas for dinner.  They loved it ... I stuck with water.  Too much junk from the movies!!  I would rather eat caramel cremes than beef any day!

Sunday we traded church for devotion time at home.  It was just what the day required!!  After brunch the kids washed their clothes and finished their chores.  I snuck away for the afternoon and left the gang with a sitter.  A little quiet time and alone errand running is required for me during these long gaunts of single parenting.  And there is no better sight than returning to little piles of folded clothes.  Its like having a house full of housemaids.  Now, if I could only get a footman or three!

I finished up the evening with a quick glass of wine (or 2) with California Girl.  For me even the quick get togethers refuel me.  One hour of girl time does this girl quite good!!  I came home with pizza, tucked in the kids and finished my day to Downton Abbey.  I have said it before and I will say it again.  This is a great series.  If you aren't watching it ... you are missing out.  Absolute, sweet perfection!!

Hope your weekend was lovely!  Even if it did rain all day every day!  

It makes for great nap weather!!

xo,
MPM

1.20.2012

Party of 4 ...



After getting used to having Lawyer home every night for the better part of three weeks ... he is on the road again!  (He sounds like a country music artist!)  Big long sigh here!

The time alone started off rough ... MHM was home with strep, WPM had two tests to study for and they were all being super hard on the mom!!  I think they collaborated and decided to make me as crazy as I could be.  I felt myself becoming more unglued by the minute!  

But it has been two days now and we have once again settled in ... it only took a few days of antibiotics, an entire bag of double bubble, restriction of the television for a week, two big bowls of homemade popcorn for National Popcorn Day, two big nose bleeds from stress (WPM) and a night out for pizza and salad to rally us all!!!  HSM spent the night out last night so after I tucked in the younger two last night I tucked myself in!  I was sound asleep by 8:30 pm!!

Today is a new day and all is as right as the rain falling outside!!!

Let's hope Lawyer returns on in February with news we all want to hear!!!

xo,
MPM

1.19.2012

Word of the day ...

Yesterday's word of the day on thesaurus was persnickety.  

Persnickety means overparticular, fussy.  Snobbish or having the aloof attitude of a snob.  Requiring painstaking care.  

Fabulous word.  Very Violet Cromwell.  

Enjoy ... use it as much as you can today.  I will enjoy doing so!!!

xo,
MPM

1.18.2012

True love!

MHM is sick.  Home from school yesterday and again today as we wait for her to become "not contagious".  As she was preparing to go to bed she became very worried.  You see, she sleeps with WPM every night because he is anxious about the dark and sleeping alone.  She didn't want him to be upset just because she was  sick and and could not sleep with him.  She thought for a minute and came up with a plan.


He could sleep in the bed ...


... and she would sleep on the floor.

I love it!!!  That sweet sacrifice warmed my heart all night!

xo,
MPM

1.17.2012

A complete mystery ...

The Lawyer house has a mystery!!  I entered my bathroom and found something missing.  No one, including Lawyer, is talking.  And I am completely at a loss!

This is what the towel hook in my bathroom is supposed to look like ...


And this is the hook now ...


No towel, no hook ... nothing!  I have questioned each of them together and separately.  Still nothing.  They all look at me like I am the naughty one.  

I guess I just completely give up the search, throw in the towel and head to Lowe's for a new hook.

And possibly a surveillance camera! Or two!

xo,
MPM

1.16.2012

my365 ...

As always ... I find great things via the blog world.  My recent discovery was a new app for my Iphone called my365.  It is a free app that allows you to post a photo a day on your calendar to keep as a memory.  The blurb sells it as ... "One day. One photo.  Every day is a precious moment.".  I thought it was brilliant.  


After downloading the free app I immediately scrolled through my camera roll to chose the photos I would like to place on the calendar.  Since I downloaded the app on January 4 I did not have many days to fill in.  Once you add the photo you are asked to give it a title.  Easy enough ...


Jan 1 ... Happy New Year!


Jan 2 ... our amarylis


Jan 3 ... Disney bound


Jan 4 ... Organized again

And a few more of my additions ...


Jan 6 ... Happy Birthday!!!


Jan 7 ... Lawyer's formal


Jan 10 ... School resumes!

It is fun and so easy to use.  I will say more than once it has forced me to stop and take a photo of the day just to be able to add it.  

I think that is a good habit to have!!

xo
MPM




  



1.13.2012

A little bonus for fellow Downton Abbey loves ...

Maggie Smith aka Lady Grantham is by far my favorite character!  Her question of "What is a weekend?" still makes me giggle.  Clearly she doesn't know what a weekend is ... only working people would know that.  She is witty, completely snobby and oblivious that the world does not exist exactly as she sees it.  I was googling around and found a list of her quotes.  I giggled!


It is freezing here and I am hunkered down waiting for Lawyer to come home and make a fire.  I could make one but that would require me to go outside in the cold.  Not gonna happen!  OK?

Hope you are snuggled and warm!!

xo,
MPM

Downton Abbey ... I heart thee!

My friend Alice has long since been referring to Downton Abbey as a most fabulous indulgence.  I was none the wiser.  That is ... until yesterday.  She had shared on Facebook that she was finally sitting down to enjoy the season premiere of Season 2 and I had yet to even watch the first episode.  When I inquired about catching up she pointed me to Netflix.  



Since I noticed it was available for instant viewing I put it off until the chores for the day were complete.  I could not have Don Draper returning from work with the kids unwashed, unfed and me hold up in our room watching hours upon hours of a period drama.  He would have flipped his 1960's lid.  

I held off until 5 pm when all else was done and I had minestrone soup simmering in the stock pot and was able to sneak off for one episode.  I had no idea that I would instantly fall in love and be sucked into the happenings of a Lord Grantham's house in 1912.  It is simply fantastic.


I did break for dinner, bath and books and then tucked myself right back into bed for another episode.  Or six. I managed to stay up until 1 am watching the entire first season.  Lawyer was convinced I had lost my marbles as he answered emails, watched NCIS on DVR and was snoring away by 11 pm.  I never stay up past 10 without a very good reason or at least a good nap under my belt.  

I had neither and am suffering the consequences today.  I am exhausted and suffering from a migraine ... though I know they are not related.  The barometer is all whacked out and my head and left eye are pounding something fierce!!


I have been out of pocket most of the day.  Not to worry.  I did shower, get dressed and make a run to Whole Paycheck.  I have dinner ready to be prepared, and after the kids are asleep I will be tucking myself into bed with a cup of tea and a warm blanket.

No Downton Alley for me today ... after watching the season 2 premiere this am ... I am completely caught up!!

You must check it out ... I challenge you not to fall in love!!

xo,
MPM

1.12.2012

Lunch and snack packing 101


I have been asked to share some ideas on lunch and snack packing for school.  I have been making the kids lunches and packing them and their snacks the day before to maximize the time in the mornings!!!  It works for me and I love it.  I posted the photo above on Facebook yesterday of my new habit and one of my friends asked me for lunch and snack ideas.  It was easier to blog about it then answer her on Facebook.  Jill ... this is for you!!!  

First of all I will say that it was not my idea to pack it all the day before.  But ... it is a great one!!!  It takes the pressure off of me in the morning and making it in the afternoons definitely makes the witching hour and bed time smoother.  And I am just plain lazy.  Once I tuck the kids in at night I rarely go back down stairs.  At this point of the day I love to hang in my room.  I blog, I read and I hang with Lawyer if he is in town.  I have been making lunches and snacks while the kids are doing their homework after school.  They come in off the bus, have a snack and do their homework.  I am available if they need me and the lunch boxes are clean and ready to be filled.  Once the lunches are made I refill the lunch boxes and they go back in the frig until the next morning.  Wham bam ... thank you ma'am.  Done!  


Snacks ... I am a mom who packs a salty and a sweet, or basically a salt and a fruit.  If they have a big fruit like an apple then their salty is tiny ... like 1/2 of a Z bar.  If they have a larger salty ... then they get a box of raisins or a few strawberries.  


My favorite fruits to send are apples, clementines, strawberries, grapes (when the fat ones are in season), raisins or squeezable apple sauce.  I buy the small apples ... you get a lot in the bag and they are plenty for a snack!!  Bananas are a complete no go!!  I also trade out fruit for squeezable yogurt.  If its frozen it stays cold until afternoon snack time.  MHM has snack time in the middle of the day since her lunch is at 10:25 am.  


Here is MHM's snack for tomorrow.  
I let her match her fruit and salt for the week and then bag them.  She tries to get creative.  It is fun to watch!!!


WPM is all about the salt.  He loves crackers and any other carb and my goal is to squeeze the protein in.  He goes thru fazes.  For a while it was popcorn, then hard pretzels and cheese and now its Ritz crackers.  He took them with cheese for two days and today he asked me to pack them with pepperoni.  


Lunches ... each kid is different.  They all like the same food but they ask for different things.  MHM will eat peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese.  WPM only eats ham, cheese and mayo.  Once in a while he will ask me for a peanut butter and banana sandwich but he is a creature of habit ... so ham, cheese and mayo it is.  HSM will eat anything including the bag if I let him.  I usually pack him a ham, salami and provolone sandwich for lunch and a pb&j for snack.  He also gets barbeque chips and a yogurt.  Sometimes I pack him a pimento cheese and ham sandwich or tuna if its made.  MHM will also eat these ... but she says the other kids look at her funny.  If they want chips they get a 1/2 sandwich (all but the teenage boy) and then I match it with a fruit and drink.  Either water or I just sprung for Trader Joe's lemonades this week.  MHM reported that they were fancy and WPM reported they were for girls.  Hmmm ... he will be getting water again.  

Once in a while I completely branch out and send soup.  The younger two love tomato soup and cheese sandwiches.  I tried for a while to send wraps and other things and Lawyer made me stop.  He insisted I was feeding his children untradeables.  He's a joy!!!

I hope that helps Jill!!!  Hugs to you and that cute boy of yours!!!  Now I need that rosemary chicken recipe you gave me ... I think it was rosemary chicken!

xoxo,
MPM

1.11.2012

The studio ... organized!!!


My office has always been in the house.  It is at the bottom of the basement stairs to the right.  It is pretty large.  The room is unfinished with painted concrete floors.  When I first started my business in 2005 it was neat as a pin.  I mean neat, tidy and amazingly clean.  I had a baby ... it had to be!!!  Then I grew and gathered more stock, the baby started walking and well ... life goes on.  I would straighten it each January after busy season and it would stay that way for a while but as soon as show season started again it would grow scary day by day.  Then ... we put the house on the market.  It was super tidy the entire time the house was for sale.  Show worthy and quite amazing.  


Then the house came off the market and it became the door I dreaded to pass.  It was scattered, covered and smothered in there.  You could not walk.  At all.  I hated it!!!!

Not any more ... 


The products are all tucked away in their baskets ...


Each basket is tidy and organized.


Everything has a place and each place is labeled correctly.


The working table is clean and all things are put away!!


The thread is organized by color and ready to use!!


I even hung a favorite Kate Spade drawing!!!  Its my outlook ... to be colorful on a dreary, grey day.


The fill is all tucked away and labeled for easy use.


The studio is once again perfect!!!


Even the gift wrapping area is neat, tidy and has a few gifts already purchased ready for the year. 

It was a long three days.  I hauled crap to Good Will, I bagged more crap for the trash.  I drank a lot of tea and ate lunch in the studio.  All in the name of organization!!!  And it was worth it ... all is right with the world once again!!!

xo,
MPM


1.10.2012

Cue the music ...

Wow!  The kids are finally back in school.  Today is their first day after Christmas vacation and it was a long 19 days for all of us.  They were antsy to get back and I was ready for a schedule once again.  Do not misunderstand me ... I did enjoy the lazy mornings but those lead to lazy afternoons and after a while we all start going to pot.  It was time!!

This morning consists of an extra cup of coffee before I have to bust a move around this joint!!!  MHM has a doctor appt this morning and I have some paperwork that is calling my name!!!

I have not forgotten the photos I promised you from the studio clean out.  Plus I have a birthday recap to give you.  It was a fabulous day!!!  My lens was acting up ... I will have it back this afternoon and will get them up tomorrow!  Pinky swear ... 

xo,
MPM

1.06.2012

Wow ... Happy Birthday to me!

I woke up this morning another year older.  Don't really feel any different and look exactly the same as yesterday.  Hmmm ... still thinking about those numbers ... I would not want to be any younger than I am if no other reason than the fact that I do not want to revisit any of the younger lessons.  Be there, done that!!!

I am off to spend the day any way I want with one amazing friend!!!  Does it get any better???  I had a fun lunch yesterday filled with girlfriends and gifts and wine and happy giggles!  I loved every second and was sad when it ended.  I am one lucky girl!!!

Since calories don't count today I will be indulging in cupcakes, champagne and carbs.

Gotta rock it one day a year ... right???

Happy day to you!

xoxoxo,
MPM


1.04.2012

The gift of a week ...

MHM is at Disney for the week with my parents.  They take every child when they are 7 for a week.  She has been waiting a very long time for this.  When she was born the oldest went (not that she remembers) and then WPM went and she totally knew ... and was not happy to be left at home.  Now that it is finally her turn she left without even noticing she was leaving others behind.  She kissed us all ... boarded the plane and blew this popsicle stand.  

It is very weird to have just two children in the house ... especially two boys.  They are self sufficient and only appear in my area for food and to ask questions.  Hmmm ... I have been reduced to transportation and cook.  
And ... I am ok with that!!!

I have been in my studio since the airport run yesterday am.  It needed help.  In. A. Big. Way!!!  It was all scattered, covered, smothered, diced and peppered with crap.  It had gotten so bad that I could only open the door and set more crap down.  It had been affecting my sleep and deterring me from even walking into the basement for fear of passing the dreaded door.  It was BAD!!!

Not so much anymore.  And I slept great last night!!!  Part from exhaustion and part from organization.  It was bliss!!!  

I will reveal at the end of the week when I finally emerge longer than it takes to call for take out, run the boys to the drive thru, grab more tea, pee or sleep.  I am taking time off tomorrow for lunch with girl friends and Friday to spend my birthday with the bestie.  Its our tradition and it rocks!!!!!!

Til then ...

xo,
MPM  

1.01.2012

Welcome to 2012!!


Happy 2012!!  

I am enjoying the time with my family and the lazy days of the kids being out of school!!!

Hope your new year rocks so far!!

xo,
MPM

 

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