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Bathroom Makeover

October 27, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield


It all started with this bath mat.

This beautiful, wonderful, blasted bath mat that Captain Cavedweller gave me for my birthday a few weeks ago.

The yurt where we stayed on vacation had the best bath mats in the world in the bathroom. Luxurious, soft, perfectly marvelous bath mats that made me stand on them for no reason except to enjoy the experience. I wanted one. Quite ferociously.

I don’t know where or how he found one, but Captain Cavedweller did and bought it for me for my birthday along with a set of dreamy towels to match the bath mat.

The only hitch in this whole get-along was that the bath mat and towels did not match the walls of my bathroom. Sure, it was all green but sage green and mint green are not the best of friends and truly do not play well together.

So last weekend, I decided to paint my bathroom to match my new rug. After all, it should only take an hour or two. Right?

Ha. Ha. Hee. Har-dee-har. Ho.

No.

It took all weekend. All blooming weekend.

The painting itself took about two hours (forgot about painting the ceiling in the sparkly world in my head where I was planning all this), but it was the scrubbing and cleaning and polishing and shining and more scrubbing that took forever. I mean, seriously, you can’t slap new paint on the walls and not clean every square inch of everything else in the room. Can you?

It would just be so wrong. Way faster, a lot simpler and much less stress – but still wrong.

The thought that I could have possibly returned the rug and towels for a color that would have gone with my mint green walls never even entered my mind until I was completely done with my makeover project. Wouldn’t that have been an easy fix to the problem. Except I really liked the color of the rug and towel. According to the many color surveys I have willingly participated in over the years, my “home” color is green. That would explain why all but two rooms in my house sport some shade of green in the decor, paint or window treatments.

So not having green wasn’t even an option. And despite all the work involved, I am loving the end results.

Here are some before and after photos of the bathroom…

Mint Green - before

 

 

Ahhh - beautiful spa-green walls.

She Who is Really Liking the New Color

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Entertaining at Home, Home and Garden, Home Decor | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Slippers and Sippers Party Theme

October 25, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

With chilly weather, days that are getting shorter and the holiday craziness approaching, think about hosting a party just for your girl friends.

Use a Slippers and Sippers Party Theme for a fun, relaxed evening they will long remember. Invite everyone to wear their favorite pair of slippers. They can be cute, wild, crazy, ratty – whatever floats their boat. Have a contest and give away some fun prizes for the prettiest, ugliest and most unique slippers.  Prizes could be something as simple as a bottle of lotion or some foot soak tablets.

Provide a few tasty beverages for guests to sip. A pot of mulled cider is not only delicious, but it fills your home with the most wonderful, welcoming scent. You could set up a hot chocolate station or a coffee station as well.

You could host a home party where your friends can sit and relax while doing a little shopping (think about companies like Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Willow House, etc.) or you could each bring a handful of catalogs to browse through and get ideas for Christmas gifts.

The main objective is just to get together with your friends and have a fun evening.

Keep the mood light and enjoy a few hours of connecting before the hectic hurry of the holidays sets in.

She Who Needs to Find a Cool Pair of Slippers

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Party Theme | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

A Monday List

October 24, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

1. It definitely looks like fall in our neighborhood today. How did so many of the trees don entirely new coats of color overnight?

2. Because it looks like fall, I just want to stay home, drink spicy tea (thanks, Brandi) and sit by the fire like a warm, lazy slug.

3. I spent the entire weekend repainting my bathroom. A project that should have taken two hours, in my head. Things are sparkly, lovely and completely delusional in my head.

4. Because I spent the entire weekend repainting my bathroom, polishing, scrubbing and putting things back to rights, the rest of my house looks like a stage 3 disaster zone.

5. My BFF brought me pumpkins yesterday afternoon.

6. Because she caught me in the midst of my project, I was completely disoriented by the fumes and even more loopy than usual. I didn’t even ask her to stay long enough for a cup of tea.

7. Captain Cavedweller bought me the most wonderful rug for the bathroom for my birthday.

8. Because of that blasted rug that didn’t match my walls, I had to repaint the bathroom. Which was so much easier than returning the rug for a different color.

9. I’m trying to meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing my two holiday books before Halloween.

10. Because of my self-imposed deadline, I don’t see the disaster in my house getting any better anytime soon. In fact it may get worse as I make the final recipes for my holiday entertaining book and snap some photos.

She Who Isn’t Quite Ready For It To Be Monday

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Musings | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Christmas Salad)

October 21, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

A few years ago, I was looking for a festive, fun salad to make for a holiday dinner. Coming across a recipe for a broccoli cauliflower salad it sounded good right up to the raisins.

I’m not so fond of raisins. Apparently the feeling is mutual. So we avoid each other at all costs. The last time I ate a raisin was when I was 8-years-old and my mom made me eat a bowl of Raisin Bran. I was so sick all day. And we happened to be in Disneyland. It goes without saying, I’ve held a long and ardent grudge against raisins.

I also wasn’t wild about the dressing used on the salad which involved onions (ick!).

So I improvised and this is what I came up with. Even Captain Cavedweller likes it and that is saying a lot!

The colors are fun and festive and really do look pretty on a holiday table.

(Yes, I realize it is a bit early to be thinking about Christmas but I am in the downhill slide of finishing up my Holiday Entertaining tips book so my head has been firmly entrenched in the holidays for weeks, now).

 

 

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Christmas Salad)

2 cups of fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 cups of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup buttermilk ranch dressing

Cut up broccoli and cauliflower florets, stir in cranberries, sunflower seeds and dressing (I just use the bottled dressing, but you could make your own if you are feeling the need to work extra hard). Sprinkle a few extra seeds and cranberries on top in the center and serve.

She Who Likes Easy Recipes

Posted in Recipes, Salads | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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