Out on a Limb: 04.12

4.27.2012

Catching up and thanks...

Well, I've been way out of the loop for the past week. I was busy planning, prepping, celebrating and recovering from my husband's 40th birthday, nursing a cold and just trying to regroup this week and get my bearings. In the midst of this happy chaos, Elizabeth from the Little Black Door surprised me with the Liebster blog Award which is given to a blog on the rise. It is a great way to shine a light on those who are making their way in the blog world, and I am beyond flattered for the nod.

If you haven't visited Elizabeth's blog, you should definitely take a look. I stumbled upon it when Emily A. Clark featured this gorgeous corner of Elizabeth's house.

She has incredible taste and talent and always makes me laugh to boot.

Her blog is a daily read for me (when I'm not off the grid like last week), so I'm really honored that she thought of me and my little old blog.

Now it's my turn to pass along the same admiration to five of my favorite blogs:

Kathleen of Simple Silly Life

Erin of Skoots and Cuddles

Holly of West Pear Avenue

Joanne of Homestyling 101

Lisa of A Room With a View

Lisa of Trapped in North Jersey

Fellow bloggers, if you'd like, feel free to continue the tradition and:

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you.
2. Post the award on your blog for all to see!
3.Give the award to 5 of your favorite bloggers (ideally with approximately 200 followers or less).
4.Leave a comment on your chosen 5 blogs to let them know that they have been given the Liebster award.

Thanks Elizabeth and to all of my blog friends and supporters!

Have a great weekend!

Erin

4.19.2012

40...

My husband turns 40 today.

A big deal.

I wanted to write this post a week ago.

I wanted it to be well-planned and thoughtful and poignant.

Somehow, once again, life got in the way of my plans.

Actually my refrigerator did, but that's a story for another post.

Sometimes the simplest and most subtle messages convey what I want to say even better though.

Happy 40th Birthday

to my friend and partner:

the one who makes me laugh like nobody else can,

the man who makes me think more critically about things that matter,

or should matter,

my safety net and touchstone on this adventure,

and one of the strongest, most loyal people I know.

Happy Birthday to an amazing father whose strength and love

guide our two kiddos in innumerable ways.

The sun rises and sets with him each day.

Happy Birthday to a man who is talented and passionate,

determined,

and knows how to live life to fullest with everything that he's got.

Happy 40th Birthday to the man I look forward to celebrating the next 40 and beyond with.

Happy Birthday Todd,

with all my love,

Erin

4.08.2012

Happy Easter

Wishing you and your families a Happy Easter, a Happy Passover and a spring filled with the feeling of rejeuvenation and renewal.

Erin

4.06.2012

Risk Taking: Pimiento and Pumpkin

Don't worry. That's not a recipe of any kind.

A couple of months ago I blogged here about risk taking. Some days, as a stay-at-home mom, big risks are not really on the horizon. My everyday is often a harried, yet predictable routine, that's not really worth messing with.

The riskiest moves I've made lately have been paint choices. I know. Living on the edge. But really, it's so easy to get comfortable with the predictable. I personally have had a habit of hemming and hawing and obsessing over paint swatches.

I'm trying to move beyond that and make quicker decisions. It's just paint after all. I read once that Sarah Richardson painted her living room or house something like six times in eight years. While every experiment might not always end in success, even for a pro like Sarah, it's a lesson. You can't learn without doing.

Here are two examples of risks that really didn't hurt so badly.

The pumpkin: Back in October I painted our very generic white door Benjamin Moore's Jack-O-Lantern.

I'm honestly still on the fence about the end result, but I'm glad I took the risk. If nothing else it looks better than the plain white. When we eventually paint or whitewash the brick, I think I'll achieve the look I'm after.

The pimiento: Before. A pretty, perfectly fine off-white mirror I picked up for our bathroom at Marshalls. It was a $20 mirror. There was really nothing wrong with the color, but I thought it wouldn't do all that much for the space, as is.

I thought about playing it safe and spray painting it black,but then I thought about pulling the pretty reddish-orange from this Covington fabric I chose to make curtains with.