Start your day by boosting your immune system with this easy and refreshing breakfast!
Start your day by boosting your immune system with this easy and refreshing breakfast!
This photo was cropped from one of the photos shown below.
If you read my “Why I Shot My Own Professional Looking Portrait“, then this post will make more sense. If you haven’t, read it first!
To summarize, I am in the process of redesigning my Interior Design business website. When I inserted my recently taken (and lovely) professional photos into the “About” page, the page fell flat because the colors in the photographs clashed with the graphics.
I wrote a post called Photo Shoot for Online Profile Picture a few months ago, showing some of my recent professional profile photos. Dana, my photographer lives in Southern California and I live in Seattle. To keep the ball rolling, I wanted a photo that would work with my new website now. So out of desperation, I shot my own professional looking self portrait a few days ago.
I just die. Look at this cute little muffin. It’s our mother daughter portrait.😉
Recently I wrote a post called Photo Shoot for Online Profile Picture. My friend Dana Leigh Snidecor-Hauser has taken all of my professional photos for the past 15 years. I am a huge fan of her work.
The photos she took of me in April were excellent, but there were things wrong on my part. First and foremost, I spent the night with girlfriend Valerie (About) the night before. We stayed up until 2:00 am. When morning came I was disorganized and had no time to wash or style my hair! I hurriedly applied my make-up and was unfocused and frazzled by the time I got to the shoot.
Not fully present
I frequently hang out, virtually, with a group of my design girlfriends. Conversations happen between us when we are at the beach, on boats, in airports, leaving client’s homes, hanging out with family, and sitting in our offices.
It may appear that we spend little time working on our design projects, but the truth is that we are working on them constantly. This morning I woke up to a group email, from one of my comrades, asking for input on a small project she was working on. Continue reading
I showed a picture of Mexicali Soup in Hey, Girlfriend’s Fun and Games ’til Someone Gets Hurt post. The day I took this picture, my mom served it with delicious toasted cheese sandwiches. It’s also very good served with fresh baked multigrain bread, slathered in sweet butter. Just wrap the bread in foil and throw it in a 350 degree oven, heat until the crust is crispy and the butter is melted.
The credit for this heirloom recipe goes to my childhood bff Nancy. Her 4th grade class made a cookbook and this is the dish she contributed. Over the years, my mom has made this for our family as a quick, nourishing and satisfying meal. When we were young, she typically had all of the ingredients on hand because many of them could be frozen or canned. Now she is more likely to make this with fresh ingredients.
Fresh Organic Green Beans
When Jon and I moved back to the Pacific Northwest, we had no idea it would take so long to sell our previous home. As we waited to get our equity out of a relatively slow housing market, the market in Seattle skyrocketed and the competition got stiff.
Not only is the competition with homes for sale stiff, so is the competition for rentals. We did finally sell our previous home, but the timing was not well aligned for us with what’s happening in Seattle’s real estate market.
Accessories: My attempt at distracting the eye from a multitude of decor issues.
I once bought XS dog shoes for our sweet little Affenpinscher, Mamba, I thought they’d be an outstanding way to get her to walk on the wet grass she so despised, but they paralyzed her.
On Father’s Day weekend, I noticed a box of XL dog shoes at my mother and father in law’s house.
An intriguing yard sale find, dog shoes. Size XL
While we are renting a house in Seattle, we are slightly unmotivated to settle in and put our hearts into decorating. Previously, our faux bamboo étagère has had other uses, but in this home, it landed in the family room. Slowly, it has become a display of souvenirs and treasures.
The night I returned from finishing my parent’s floors, I sat on the sofa in our TV lit family room, staring almost blankly at the étagère across from me. Then I started focusing on the shelves and reminiscing over each item displayed.
Faux Bamboo Étagère Display Shelving
The week between our vacation and Maria Killam’s True Colour Expert™️ Workshop, I helped my parents install laminate flooring. My parents aren’t the type to live in a mess or a construction zone, but they tore their carpet out in preparation for their carpenter to install the new flooring. They had no idea the carpenter would be tied up for months and that they would be forced to live with subfloors for all of that time.
They finally asked me if I could help. They tried to hire me (that makes me laugh) because they know that I am a hobbyist finish carpenter and have all of the tools to get the job done.
Hey, Girlfriend! 