Sayonara Ugly Green - New Day, New Bathroom!

The painting has commenced again, in my daughters bathroom this time.  I finished her bedroom and now it's on to her bathroom.  Her bathroom is in her room, lucky girl.   It's a small bathroom, but nonetheless it's all hers and she doesn't have to share with her brothers.  She picked a lighter shade of the blue that is in her bedroom. So off with the green and....

look how pretty!  I love this blue color and am thinking of using it in another room in the house, the guest bedroom.  It's a very soft, calming color of paint.  The ceiling was green also and now it's white.  I used the same color on the ceiling as the bedroom.

  Moving around the room and almost done.  Caution Wet Paint! 

Gone green, gone.  HELLO pretty blue!

Last wall done, all cleaned up and put back together!

Just have to hang the new shower curtain.

For less than $100, and in a matter of hours, the whole bathroom is transformed into something pretty.

These are the two colors I used - Popped Corn on the ceiling and Cloudy Day on the walls, both from Behr. Now on to the next project, the boys bath is getting done.  I will take a mini vacation this week from painting and then start that room.  I am keeping my promise to get the projects out of the way before the warm weather.

Shoes, Boots And A Little Bit Of Statement

I have a big fault, it's shoes and boots, what women doesn't?  I keep my buying under control by not paying full price for them, and waiting until they go on sale or I have coupons (don't leave home without them!).  If they're not in the store when I go back to scoop them up, then I chalk it up to "they were not meant to be" and probably would hurt my feet (that always makes me feel better, saying that to myself). I love shoes and the cuter or sassier the better.  Shoes are the accessory that will make your outfit, along with jewelry.  Just wearing jeans? Put on an adorable pair of shoes, it draws the eye and people will notice!

Two Tone Gold Metallic Flats ($19.99) and Black, Small Platform Pumps with 3 1/2 Inch Heel ($34.99) -both at Marshall's

 I have wanted these boots for so long and finally found a pair at Target.  Black slip on Chelsea Boot on sale for $31.78.  They are so comfortable and stylish. 

 A Christmas gift from the hubby - black and white polka dot boots for rain or working in the yard. Just rinse them off with a hose. (My secret want - Red Gloss Hunter Boots, my birthday is coming up!)

I have a pair of Cognac riding boots and a pair of black riding boots but wanted a brown pair.  I found them at Famous Footwear on sale for $69.99, and lucky me I had a $10.00 off coupon.  They have a lot of give in the calf area with the extra elastic in the back.

 Something extra - I found this gold and turquoise beaded statement necklace and gold filigree bracelet at Kohl's, on sale of course.  The necklace was originally $28.00 on sale for $5.60, and the bracelet was originally $24.00 on sale for $4.80, score for me!

A Lotta Meat and Mushroom Sauce

We love pasta in this house, and we eat a lot of it.  I try to find new ways of making pasta to keep it interesting.  It's hard to cook other meals when there is a vegan in the house, but pasta is always a good choice.  All I do is scoop out enough sauce for the vegan and add what I want to the rest of the sauce.   He will always eat pasta, but it has to have vegan sauce. I had a package of mushrooms to use, they were hanging out in the fridge, and some ground meat too.  I never make meat sauce, we almost always have meatballs/sausage in our sauce, so I switched it up a little bit and made this meat and mushroom sauce and it was delightful.  Recipe below.

I started my sauce first and got that cooking up on the stove.  Then I browned my meat, drain the fat off because you don't need that! Transfer to a bowl and set it aside.

 Saute those 'shrooms in some olive oil until they are nice and brown.

 Back into the pan and toss them together.

 Now this is some hearty meat sauce!  I take out a few ladles of just sauce for the vegan and added some of  the mushrooms, he loved it.

 Top your favorite pasta with this awesome meat sauce and grated Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese, MANGIA!

Homemade Meat and Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 - 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons of oregano

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

8 basil leaves sliced

2 teaspoons of onion powder

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

2 teaspoons of sugar

1 lb. ground meat

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1 - 8 oz. package of sliced portobello mushrooms

1 - 1lb. box of your favorite pasta

Directions

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, heat the olive oil then add the garlic.  Cook for 30 seconds, stirring so the garlic does not burn. Reduce heat to medium and add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, oregano, parsley, basil, onion powder, red pepper, salt, pepper and sugar. Continue to cook stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is cooking, add the ground meat to a frying pan and cook until completely brown.  Drain the fat off, I use a colander, it makes it easier.  Transfer the meat to a bowl.  Add the one teaspoon of olive to the same pan and cook the mushrooms until they are golden brown.  If you have a vegan in the house, ladle out some of the sauce and toss with some of the mushrooms before combining with the meat. Toss the meat back into the frying pan and combine with the mushrooms.  Add all the meat and mushrooms to the sauce Cook the meat and sauce together for one hour.  In the last half hour of cooking, start a pot of salted water to cook your favorite pasta.

On The Move Again, Painting In The New Year

I can't stay still, I have to keep moving all the time.  I am getting a little slower now that age is creeping up, but you know what they say, you're as young as you feel.  I have a lot of projects that have to be done this year, so I thought what better time to start them then when it's cold outside, and I don't want to be there.  So I'll stay inside and get all these things done.  I started with my daughter's bedroom.  I finished painting it yesterday and it came out great.  She out grew the lime green she picked out when we first moved into this house, she was ten years old then, now she is just shy of twenty-one.  I thought it was time she moved on and away from THAT color! The room painting was very time consuming and detailed, but in the end all the aches and pains were well worth it. 

I love this color - Popped Corn - for my ceilings, it a softer white color.  As you can see, the darker, ugly painters grade paint on the ceiling is now being replaced.

 Ceiling all done, now on to the walls.  She chose Winter Lake as her wall color. 

These are the walls before.....hey! there's a lazy cat on the bed.

And this one is making sure I do the job right!

And the painting begins.  I recommend two coats of paint even though this is a primer/paint mix.

Trim all done.

 

Last wall done.

 A small amount of touch up.

 And I'm all done!

 Furniture moved around, room looks bigger.

Love the color! Blue is relaxing.

 The two doors in the picture below are - Right side is a walk-in closet and left side her bathroom.  Both will be painted this week also.  Her new room is almost complete, draperies still need to be hung and a new desk and chair are on order.  She has now moved into adulthood.