New House - New Projects!

We have set out on a new endeavor: living with roommates in a big house.

Our roomies are another married couple around our age, with two little girls same ages as ours. We'll be splitting rent and household duties. The whole "it takes a village" idea. I think it'll be great.

Also great: my to-do list of little (and big!) projects will keep me occupied for a looonnng time.

Here's our progress so far during the 15 days we've been here. Total cost so far $250 for paint and supplies (not including new furniture, in that case $3,550)

Dining room before after. Amazing what some paint and a new light can do! Capiz shell chandelier and turquoise paint. White trim also, creates a beachy vibe. We still need a proper table and to paint the floor trim. But I like where it's at so far.

Again, amazing what paint can do. We're pretty much under the belief that natural wood trim should be painted white. I also spray painted the ugly brass on the fireplace to make it a nice matte black with Rustoleum for hot surfaces.

Our bedroom. White walls and ugly brown windowsill. A little paint, a nice new bed and a pretty antique map make for a very nice relaxing green and earth toned bedroom.

Playroom! We think it was meant to be the formal dining room, but we're using it as the communal playroom. The paint we chose is a really nice bright (but not lime) green which we've lovingly named Guacamole. Makes me hungry.

Upstairs living room before after. Light & dark grey paints, and a whole new living room setup from Ikea. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the window side of the living room before I excitedly started painting.

Moral of the story: paint is amazing.

Cheap remodel paint project before after

Nerd Christmas Gifts - Logo Etched Beer Steins

My husband and his friends are geeks. Comic books and Doctor Who are their favorites. So for Christmas, I'm making them some personalized beer steins with their favorite symbol of geekdom.

I'll be posting a pictorial (picture tutorial) of how I made the Batman one for my husband, since the guys sometimes see my blog and I don't want to reveal theirs.

Materials needed:

• Beer Stein ($1 at the Dollar Store!! Made in US even!)
• Clear packaging tape
• Paper stencil (printed on normal paper)
• Armour Etch paste
• Xacto knife
• Qtips

Obesity - the 70s and 80s were the perfect storm

I recently started the ketogenic diet (also known as the caveman diet), so a lot of my mental energy is being used researching fat loss and low carb options.

*If you don't know - keto is a diet plan (lifestyle change) that involves only ~25g carbs per day. 70% of your daily calories should come from fat, and 25% from protein. So no grains, corn, potatoes, and very little fruit. As much meat and butter and leafy greens as you can eat! It forces your body to switch from using the easy-burn glucose (sugar from carbs) as energy to instead use your stored lipids (fats) - a process called ketosis.

Also, my mother in law is a diabetes educator at a prominent kids' hospital in the area, so we chat about diet and sugar often.  I've come to the conclusion that the obesity epidemic is the result of a few different things, all stemming from the 70s and 80s:

1. The food pyramid

2. The 'low-fat' movement

3. Invention of video games and readily accessible TV

3a. Social media

See the differences in the waistlines of the general populace?

Sugar is mostly the culprit, but it's been shoved into our timeline in pretty sneaky ways...