CONTEST!!!!!!!

Come up with a yogurt advertisement/caption for the following picture. The winner will get an 8 x 10 print of the photo of their choice (I'll provide a selection to choose from). I do ask that you post your responses anonymously so I can make a completely unbiased decision. Only two entries are allowed per person.

However, I will also need to know the name of the winner. So in addition to posting your responses here, please email your submission(s)--and your name-- to me at charmingsimplicity@gmail.com. I promise, I will not be checking that email address until after the submission deadline.

The deadline for your submission(s) is February 12th.

I will post the picture with the winning caption and the "name" of the winner (altered to protect the innocent--of course) the following week.

Disclaimer: residents of this household (those bearing the same last name as I) are not eligible to participate in this contest.

Good luck!

Slow...1 mile...end construction ahead

I hit a bit of a bump in the road to completing my room. A-week-and-a-half ago I got a staph infection in my foot. Don't ask me how--I haven't got a clue. It wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world, but it wasn't the worst either. I'll spare you the pictures I took of it and instead just say that my foot is much better now than it was last week. The dr. basically said "You're going to spend your weekend sitting on your duff with your foot elevated." Well, I still had a room to finish painting, so I sat on one stool--with my foot elevated on another stool, and finished painting the border. I'm not quite sure that's what the dr. had in mind but...

Things are coming along quite nicely. The painting is completed (except for my vent cover), the furniture back in, and the garage slowly being emptied.

The border: before filling in. . . (I have to admit that it turned out very nice--considering it was free-handed)


. . .And after filling in.


Here the colors are much more accurate. . .plus you get a sneak peek at my curtains (a work in progress).



Left to do:
- Put books on bookshelf
- Chair
- Under-bed drawers
- Finish curtains
- Cover pillows

Point-&-shoot

I got a digital camera for Christmas! It was totally unexpected, but not undesired. "C"got one too. And Dad was worried about us filling up the hard drive memory when we had to share the family camera.... I'm convinced my B-day gift this year will be an external hard drive (grin).

Anyway, while eating my snack after PE class this morning, I decided to take some pictures. I never knew that a yogurt container could be so inspirational!



I had fun playing with my perspective features.

Macro setting--focuses on the closest object, and blurs the distant.



Infinity setting--focuses on the most distant objects, and blurs the closest.



"Normal" setting--focuses on the central, and blurs both the close and distant.



I loved the lighting on this one!


I have some tulip pictures coming down the line, but they'll have to wait for later.

Pictures of the (nearly) completed bedroom coming soon. . . .

Caution! Construction Zone

No one can accuse me of being a lazy bum this winter break. Ever since the completion of finals--actually before--I have been working on my room. Call it a "deep spring cleaning/total revamp."

I started out by going through everything that could possible hold something. Soon, it took on the appearance of a tornado aftermath zone: bulging trash bags of "why did I ever keep these?"; Trader Joes bags stuffed full of "let somebody else have them"; and even a couple (only 2!) boxes of "save, but not sure where to put it yet."

Sorting. Hey! Trust me, this looks pretty good!



Look! Wood! I was wondering what the desk was made of. (smile)



In addition to purging, cleaning, and otherwise dismantling and reconstructing my room, I decided to paint it. After all, it has been 8 years since the last paint job (Mom did it while Dad and we girls were on a weekend camping trip).

Deciding what to paint was the hardest part. Originally I wanted to go with a venetian theme, and paint a mural on my wall. But as the spring semester loomed closer, I abandoned that idea and instead decided to buy one of those "stick-up" wall murals. But then, again, I realized that wouldn't be the wisest use of $70. Next I wanted brown, but I forgot that my room is on the ugly side of the house--which doesn't get much light, except in the morning. So that idea quickly joined the others.

Jackpot! I got it! I'll do a spring green garden theme (hey, look at that, I'm a poet...). Now what color green? I didn't want something dark like C's cool-sage green (still got the light issue to worry about), but I'm not a brighty-bright person either. I finally settled on two tones of warm yellow-green (the circled colors below). The darker shade--"Zen Mist"--will cover the bottom 1/3 of the walls, and the lighter shade--"Sassafras Tea"--will cover the upper 2/3 of the walls. Between the two will be a swirly border (I designed it myself) in "Swiss Coffee."



Before



After Primer



Top color



This afternoon, I finally got the first coat of paint on the bottom 1/3. I only had a half-an-hour to do it in, so the cutting-in has to wait 'til tomorrow.

List of things to do tomorrow:
-Cut in edges and baseboards
-Paint 2nd coat
-Cut out border stencil
-Trace stencil on wall--if paint dries well.
-Paint border--I hope!

After the walls are finished, Dad and I get to move on to the bedroom and closet doors, the door frames, and the baseboards. When that's done (I hope by a week from Saturday) I can move my furniture back into my room. (It's challenging to be starting school, buying books, doing homework, working, and painting, and not have a place to put anything.)

Coming soon to a blog near you...curtains, lamp shades, and coat racks.

Better than Cold Stone® Milkshake

I just made the BEST milkshake ever—thanks to my brother-in-law! While down for a visit, he shared with us about his “protein shakes” (a.k.a. glorified milkshakes), and I decided tonight—as odd as the recipe sounded—to give it a try. After all, if it went bad, I could just toss a cup’s worth of milk and ice cream right?

Well, I don’t need to say that the result was astounding! Islands, In-n-out, and Cold Stone, in my humble opinion, have some of the best shakes around (trust me, I was allowed a milkshake every time I got braces on or off, and whenever I had teeth pulled—so I’m a valid authority on milkshakes); but I have never—and I mean NEVER—had a milkshake as good as the one I made tonight.

Basic recipe:
Several scoops ice cream
2 eggs
milk (just enough to make it smooth)

My shake:
Several scoops ice cream
2 eggs
milk (just enough to make it smooth)
+
1-2 spoonfuls chocolate syrup
1-2 scoops peanut butter
Shredded coconut

Blend a couple scoops of ice cream, 2 eggs, and whatever else you want, together until smooth. Add the milk only after you’ve blended everything else—and use it sparingly. I added chocolate syrup, peanut butter, and a scoop of shredded coconut. LR adds a scoop of protein powder to his.

I know: “raw eggs in a milkshake?” I was a bit put off by the recipe too at first, but LK loved the shakes her husband made; and she’s not one to eat raw eggs—except if it involves chocolate-chip cookie dough…but that’s another story. The eggs are responsible for the great texture—not to mention the protein! Did you know that one large egg contains 6.3 grams of protein? So a shake using 2 eggs has 12.6 grams of protein—wow!

I have no idea what the calorie count is on these things, and I really don’t want to. Hey…if it’s got 12.6 grams of protein, who am I to complain?

P.S. Grandma, you'd like one of these!