Awards! and Tips! and FOOD! Oh My!

First of all to do my Plastic Joy Award that Lori @ Wildflowers gave me!

Thank you again Lori!

Now I have to name 5 sexy characters from either movies or TV.

Hmmm....

The first one I am going to break the rules a wee bit on. Who wouldn't think Sean Connery as yummy?! So pick any character that he has played. The man could make a troll sexy!

Excuse me while I have a hot flash!

Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs! You would figure someone named Leroy Jethro would be a total dork, but not him.

Whew, it's still a little warm in here!

David Boreanaz as Seeley Booth on Bones. I love shows like this and he just makes it so much nicer to watch. Why couldn't all cops be this handsome?

Rutger Hauer as Capt. Etienne Navarre in Ladyhawke. This has been one of my all time favorite movies since I was younger. How romantic to have someone love you so much that he will stay with you no matter what. Always together, forever apart. I guess it does help when someone as gorgeous as Michelle Pfieffer plays your love.

Is it hot in here to anyone else?

Alex O'Loughlin as Mick St John on Moonlight. Alright, so I got a thing for vampires. He loves Beth though and is always there for her.

Okay, so now to pass the joy onto 5 others!

Cher @ Cher Shots

Maggie @ Just Between Me and You

Julie @ It's The Little Things

Jackie @ Home

Debbie @ Fairfield House

Have fun ladies! List your 5 sexy characters from film or tv. Then pass the joy onto 5 others!

Now for a quick cold shower and then onto those tips!

Just kidding about the shower thingy.

I'll wait....

Anyways, Debbie @ Dragonfly Treasures asked if I had stock in Sherwin Williams. Unfortunately, I don't. But.... I do have a cute story. My husband is a General Contractor. He does residential and lots of commercial jobs. Right before Christmas he had a customer that he remodeled her master bedroom. I was in charge of the painting. So we went up to SW (of course) to get some samples for her. We walked in the store and Matt the new manager said "Hey Maggie! How are ya doing? I just made fresh coffee so grab some!" My husband just looked at me. I shrugged. I told him we were there to grab some samples for a customer. He said not to bother, he just got in some new paint decks. My husband grumbled "how much?" He replied "For Maggie, free". Again he glared at me and I just stuck out my tongue at him.

I even get Christmas cards from the local store!

And a discount since I registered my husbands business with them.

Seems that I buy alot of paint....

So onto those tips!

I used to buy these. You know those cheap brushes. If you ruin it who cares?!

Then I got this! A Purdy brush! You would not believe the difference! I will never go back to those cheap brushes again!

You have to make that statement like Scarlett O'Hara though!

I also hate hate hate to clean up after painting. Even when I buy those liners I clean them to reuse them. The expainter guy that we hired told me to use tinfoil to line the pan!

Ingenious!

If your tin foil is not big enough to fit the pan, just put two sheets together, fold over one edge twice and press hard.

Voila! Instant pan liner!

See??? It won't leak either as long as you press the seam tight and don't rip the foil.

Clean up is easy peasy too! Just fold up and throw away!

See where my very unmanicured finger is pointing? That is a hole in the ridge of the paint can. You just poke a few holes with a flat screwdriver and a hammer. This helps the paint to drain from the ridge into the can. Saves some from painting your can of paint shut. The lid snaps into the ridge so your paint can is sealed and won't dry out.

As far as naps on rollers, you really don't need anything thicker than 1/2". You get into thicker roller covers and you get more splatters.

Also you don't want a cover 100% polyester. Get a cover with wool in it. The wool allows for more paint to be absorbed cutting down on how many times you have to dip your roller. Saves when you are up high painting on how many times you go up and down the ladder. You can get the sheepskin rollers that hold ALOT of paint, but since I cut in as I go I don't need them.

Now for painting....

I make a "Z" on the wall. Then I go back and fill it in with vertical strokes. This helps to get even coverage.

See?

I was lazy and just cut in around the floating shelf brackets.

You want to keep track of where you leave this pest. Seems that every time that I paint I manage to sit on the lid!

My husband told me that I look like I am losing weight cause the paint stain looks bigger now. I guess that was a compliment?

On that note, let's move onto food!

Yum! BBQ Shishkabobs!

You want to soak wooden skewers in water to help keep them from burning.

Unless you are like me and turn the grill on raging inferno and forget to turn it down before you put the food on!

Cut up chicken breasts and marinade them in Teriyaki. I used a bottled sauce.

Cut up some green peppers and wash the cherry tomatoes.

Take a skewer and chicken, pepper, chicken, tomato, chicken, pepper, chicken until all the chicken is used up.

Now for a little side salad. My kids LOVE this salad! It's so simple too. Fresh spinach, sliced strawberries and crumbled bacon. I used applewood smoked bacon. Toss with some raspberry vinaigrette and then top with crumbled gorgonzola cheese.

Yum!

A little brown rice with chopped broccoli thrown in for good measure and....

Bon appetit!

Dinner is served!

Now to get back to that painting....