I am a huge sucker for a real-life painting. I just love going to an art show or the museum and strolling along through all of the paintings. There is something so special and magical about an an original piece of art that it's almost as if the artist was able to freeze time and capture a moment, an emotion, a movement, a feeling or even just the energy in the air. Art is something that lives within its materials and only an artist can make it come alive. It's looking at the layers of simplicity and complexity for the hidden meaning behind the layers of paint. It's watching a sculpture stare back at you almost like it's living and breathing. When it comes to sculptures, I just want to reach out and touch them.. or maybe I should say poke them! The best thing about buying art is that I will have it forever and I can enjoy it as much as I want. I have collected a lot of art throughout the years and each one I truly still love looking at and that I could never part wit...
I have been totally craving pickles, maybe it's my pregnancy talking or maybe it's the fact it's summer, but we've been going through about a jar a week. I thought to myself, could it possible, could I make my own pickles? I'll be honest, making my own pickles has made me love eating them even more! They are after all, the greatest sandwich and burger accessory of all time.  Lately, my favorite is on the side of a grilled cheese sandwich. They add that extra special, crunch, acid and zing to every bite. Pickles are such a easy and quick snack, and I don't have to feel guilty about eating as many as I want or giving them to Nora. She always requests, pickles at breakfast time.  I don't know about you, but oatmeal with a side of pickles sounds like an amazing combination to me.  hehe. Refrigerator pickles are so incredibly easy and fast to make,  it makes me wonder why didn't I discover making them sooner. Want to know the secret to good pickle? ...
I am totally 100 percent embarrassed about my old kitchen table.  I have had this table for maybe 8 years now and I have not been nice to it, like at all.  I have done so many projects on this table and it completely shows. There are a ton of water marks, scratches, burns and who knows what else it has been tortured with.  I even convinced myself that there was some level of character rather than a crazy mess.  Maybe me being 5 months pregnant might have something to do with me feeling like I need to complete all of my projects and clean every nook and cranny of my house, but I knew it was time to tackle the table.  Tim wanted to just get a new table but I of course convinced him to give me a chance to try and salvage it, and if he liked it then I got new kitchen chairs. Completely fair deal, right? Before starting on this project, the main thing I was worried about was seeing what was underneath all of the damage.  I thought I should strip it and try to save the wood and if it was...
If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed I have been doing a little painting.  In my first trimester it was pretty hard to do any sort of art work but I am slowly finding time and solutions to paint. Let me tell you, I really missed it, like a lot! I have been mainly working in my sketchbook and have been painting in bed.  I know in bed isn't the best place to do any sort of art work but there is nothing more comfortable than wearing a good pair of pajamas, in my favorite pair of fuzzy bunny socks, laying on a big pile of pillows and making art. And, why not? Art can happen anywhere can't it?  Did you have a view master as a kid? I sure did! It's a little device that you look through with circular cardboard filled with color photographic film.   They have been around a long time and the one that I had when I was kid was filled with disney cartoons.  The view master is a place that once you look inside it puts you into this little viewing tunnel and liter...
Hello! Did you have a good weekend? We escaped to the coast for the holiday weekend and it was pretty amazing weather. When I say ah-mazing I mean it was so sunny, warm and I could run and dip my toes into the cool crisp ocean water. Getting to be in the ocean is a pretty rare occurrence in the Pacific Northwest because it's always so cold and the sub zero wind blows extremely hard (even in the summer), so it's such a luxury when you can really enjoy the beach and play in the water.  This is my first 4th of July celebrating on the coast in Washington and here you can buy the fancy fireworks.  These are the fireworks that my husband gets really excited about and as soon as we go in to firework tent, he immediately grabs his own basket and gets into this frenzy of needing to get his hands on the biggest and loudest fireworks possible. Now if only he could be so passionate about shoe shopping.  In the end we went to 3 different firework stands to make sure we weren...