Weekend Happenings

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  

The weather here was perfect so my mom and I decided we would head to Stone Mountain for the Country Living Fair.  This was my first time to attend the fair and it was wonderful.  There were about 200 vendors who came to share their wares.  The vendors had an eclectic mix of handmade and antique items.

Here are some pics from the fair to brighten your Monday!

Simple Prints

I prefer Instagram over Facebook these days.  I recently saw an add pop up on my Instagram feed for a company called Simple Prints which allows you to make photo books straight from your phone.  This intrigued me because I can count on one hand the number of times I have actually had photos developed and placed in a photo album...our 5 year wedding anniversary was last week and we still don't have a wedding album of our over priced professional photographers pictures...opps!

So all that to say I downloaded the Simple Prints app and made a photo book of our trip to the East Coast this past spring.  It was so easy to use and arrived in the mail a few days later.  The quality is great and the whole process was so convenient!

This book has been a great addition to our coffee table and I look forward to making more!

Cherish, get ready for a book all about my fur babies LOL!

5 Year Anniversary

Over the past week Rich and I celebrated our five year anniversary in Mexico at El Dorado Seaside Suites.  It was just lovely!  We did a lot of relaxing and eating!

This was the sunrise on our first day.  

We walked this jetty almost every day and saw lots of tropical fish.  We also went snorkeling one day and it was so fun!  I had never been snorkeling before because I really hate the way the salt water makes my skin feel but I gave it a go and was glad I did!

The beach was lined with cabanas which I loved since I prefer to be in the shade.

One afternoon the resort set up a painting station on the pier and we painted coconuts which was right up my alley!

We were told to place our coconuts wherever we wanted on the resort.  There were tons everywhere! 

On one of our last days we ventured in to Tulum to see the Mayan Ruins.  It was HOT...

We had a great time and really enjoyed our resort.  We  would highly recommend El Dorado Seaside Suites and if you ever go definitely book a massage at the spa, it was heavenly!  

Weekend Happenings

It literally rained almost all weekend and temps were in the 50's!  I loved every second of it....I finally had an excuse to wear my rain boots,over-sized sweater, and make a Target run...with the cliche Pumpkin Spice latte in hand lol!  It really was good!

Friday started off with a Chili Cook Off at work.  I made white chicken chili.  Similar recipe here.  We had a total of 9 participants.  It was so fun to taste all the different chili.  They each had their own twist and flavor.  We have several hunters in the group so I tried Elk and Venison and believe it or not, it was good!

The vultures lined up and ready to dig in!  Just kidding, this group of guys is the best!

My entry...I got two votes...the competition was legit!

The Chili King!

 

Friday night we had a family dinner to say good bye to my grandparents as they headed to FL for the winter.  I sadly only snapped this photo of my moms porch decor and flat marshmallows.  Did you know they made flat marshmallows these days?!?

Saturday was low key...I heated up some cinnamon rolls and ironed while watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman!  This was one of my all time favorite childhood shows and just got added to Amazon Prime haha!

We then braved the rain and headed to the movies I literally do not know the last time I went to see a movie in the theater.  We saw Black Mass which was underwhelming to say the least.  The only reason I came out liking it when it was over was because it was based on a true story.  Don't waste your time going to see it in the theater.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Neutral Paint

By popular demand...a post on interior paint colors!

I grew in a home of white walls so naturally I am drawn to light neutral colors.

Here are some of my favorites.

You can not go wrong with Decorators White by Benjamin Moore.  This is a clean white that stays true to color even with the changing light throughout the day.  What I love about white walls is that you can change your whole color scheme without having to paint which can be a pain!  

Next up, Requisite Gary by Sherwin Williams.  Although I have never used this color if I was going to paint my walls gray I think I would go with this.  Finding the right gray is so hard because so many have blue and green undertones.

On to tan.... When it was time to choose a paint color for Twin Brook (if you are new to the blog, Twin Book is the fixer upper my husband I remodeled from sub floor to crown molding with lots of help from our sweet family and friends.  You can relive our journey by clicking here)...hardest decision ever...I choose Manchester Tan by Benjamin Moore in an eggshell finish.  It was hard for me to break out and choose a color other than white, but I wanted to try something that had some warmth to it.  Overall I was happy with the color.  The quality of the Benjamin Moore paint however did not impress me.   

When we move to the condo since the space was so small, only 750 sq. I wanted to go with light and bright to make the space feel bigger than it really was.  I ended up choosing Origami White by Sherwin Williams.  I have been really happy with this color and the quality.  I think Sherwin Williams will be my go to brand for years to come.

Finally, I love this navy blue!  Blue is one of my favorite colors to decorate with and I have tons of blue accents all over.  I would never paint a whole house this color, but I think it would be great for a powder room or laundry room.  In the picture below they have painted their foyer and stairwell which looks great!

My three tips on choosing paint colors are:

1. Buy a quart of the color you are considering and paint a huge swatch on your wall, and watch the color through out the day.  A paint that is supposed to be white could look very green at 3 o'clock in the sun.

2. Choose and eggshell finish.  This is the most durable and easy to clean finish.  If you are purchasing trim paint I would recommend a semi gloss.

3. For the main areas of the home I would recommend sticking with one paint color.  This will allow for a good flow and flexibility when decorating.