A Beach Donut Type of Day

Yes indeed it was!
Beach Donut is located in Clinton CT, on Rt.1, in a little strip mall...and it is worth the trip (45 min. for us)...even in December. It's worth the trip if you are a donut lover like me-(and I mean real donuts, not from a mix Dunkin Donut Donuts type of donuts). You can tell I am serious about my donuts!
One day- when my life is less insane- I will teach myself how to make real donuts...but until then- I have to drive.

Mom- this cinnamon cruller was devoured in your honor;)

The only thing that trumps my love affair with Beach Donut- is my love affair with the actual beach:) I love going in all seasons. When I woke up this morning and the sun lite up our bedroom- despite the blackout roman shades- I had a feeling it would be a good winter beach day- and was it ever...

The life guard stands were the first thing we ecountered. They were being stored for the winter in the dunes near the parking lot. (The kids immediately figured they were climbing structures), and climb they did indeed!

We even stopped a second time before going back into the car:)

My little red riding hoods quickly warmed up in the December sun.

the tiniest tinkle shell ever

my winter beachy Angelbabies

and we also brought along the old boy- my original baby- Beau. He's been having some trouble getting around lately (old age related issues- he's 11). But he loves the beach almost as much as I do- he was so happy to run around in the sand with us.

I took the following 3 shots of him after reading Erin's post the other day on Elements of Style. I love the idea of having a huge closeup shot of him in our house. Which shot is your favorite?

 He has the sweetest soul.

Below are my two most recent paintings. I finished them last month- dreamy, watery landscapes. I was inspired when driving to work one weekend morning.

While I really wish I could spend my days painting, and playing on the beach with the Angels- instead I am sequestered each night in the dining room/office I have set up- meticulously studying object relations theory for an upcoming presentation (next Tuesday)- wondering if deciding to go back to school was the right one...

it's not easy, or frequent- but I am still attempting to squeeze in some artistic time to myself- otherwise I would loose it completely. I am working on a dyptic right now for a family member/client, and I am super excited about a mural project I'll be doing on Sunday!! I'll be sure to share some shots next week after my presentation is done!

I Reupholstered Our Fridge

...for the following reasons:

#1- it's disgusting- it was here when we bought the house, it was painted with flat white paint to hide the rust and crust that was on it when we moved in (painted by the previous owners)

#2- I bought a new fridge last week- and when it was delivered, found out it wouldn't fit through the interior doors that lead to the kitchen- I took this as a sign (to hold off on the financial plunge that a new fridge requires) and returned it (my biggest return to-date).

So after having my dream fridge sent back- I really couldn't stand looking at the old fridge anymore...so I started thinking of a way to spice it up...
Here's the background history. On a couple recent blog posts I saw various ways of recovering fridges. Jenny from Little Green Notebook had this great run down of various ways to cover them up- from contact paper- to cork- check it out!
Then I saw this other tutorial on covering a door with fun fabric- also a great post- check it out! (This is the method I ended up using).

This morning I woke up inspired and decided to run (to Walmart) before the inspiration left me- and purchased 4 yards of fabric and box of cornstarch- $26 vs. $1000+, I really do LOVE a bargain! Here's what I found-

it's a stretch jersey tie-dye/ikaty print in brown, pink and cream.

FYI: (I would not recommend stretchy fabric- it was tougher to work with then I can imagine non-stretch fabric would have been)
Not my ideal fabric, but it worked in the scheme of our kitchen (which is quite limited considering the pink floor tile, back splash and counter tops-CRINGE) I will not bore you with all of the inspiration shots I have of my dream kitchen- but I will tell you that the thought of it is one of the things that keeps me plowing through this grad school endeavour;)

 

                                             BEFORE                                               AFTER

Not my dream kitchen by any stretch of the imagination- but a whole heck of a lot better than what it was!

What do you think?