First Attempt

How many times have you stared at an abstract painting and said to yourself, "I can totally paint that"?Maybe the only difference between some of these artists and ourselves is that we don't paint that.  I've seen my kids bring home paintings from preschool that, if done on a canvas, would likely be hanging over my mantle. So, I decided to put my theory to the test and splurged on some painting essentials- a few small canvases, some basic acrylic colors and a few quality brushes- all-in-all, about a $35 investment. Here's what $35 and some determination got me:

 

While the picture doesn't really do it any justice in terms of color or texture, it certainly is no masterpiece, but I think it's a good start. Mostly, I played around with color mixing and composition and was pleased with the original outcome, but the longer I looked at it, the more I realized it's basically just a rainbow! 

You're probably wondering how I found the time to paint- but the truth is, total home destruction was taking place while this painting was accomplished over the course of two days, but real artists are messy, right?

Here's to painting #2, and complete domestic chaos.

What's Tia Doing?

With my return to work looming in the very near future and a 10 week old who has decided he will now be checking in with me every 2 hours at night, I need all the help I can get keeping HMD afloat- so it's time for another potentially regular installment I will be calling "What's Tia Doing?"

Whether it be going to exclusive parties, or meeting sexy Swedes, Miss Tia is always up to something fun- so WTD will share with you some of the highlights of Tia's glamorous, child-free life - so that those of us who consider finding time to read a few blogs with coffee without interruption to be our biggest source of excitement, can now live vicariously through her various exploits.

The month of January marked another year older for Ti McGhee and she spent the day in style at the infamously hip Parker hotel in Palm Springs.

Tia and her awesome BF- Mike. One day I, too, will walk through those orange doors.

"Hi, I'm Tia. I play croquet in miniskirts."

Tia wrapped up the month with a little sales dinner with her boss- who I think you may recognize:

Hob-nobbin as usual. Pic from Martha's blog post here.

Stay Tuned for more of Tia's adventures. What will that crazy broad be up to next?

Super Plates

Being the total girly-girl that I am, I have never made any attempts at even feigning interest in football, but there are a few things I love about the SuperBowl- none of which involve the game. Sure, I love a good monkey commercial as much as the next guy, but I don't find it sufficient reason to congregate all day.

For me, the SuperBowl marks the joyous and official end to my husband's excuse for accomplishing absolutely nothing on Sundays- except for, occasionally, a slow-cooked meal. I mean, seriously, can you imagine if I told him all I was doing was sitting on the couch and watching Housewives all day on Sundays? Ludicrous. I don't even think a pulled pork dinner would get me that kind of shamelessly negligent time to myself.

So, for this reason alone, the SuperBowl is worth celebrating- and by "celebrating," I mean stuffing my face with appetizers and cookies all day long. If you're looking to do the same, here is a little inspiration from my favorite internet foodies to get you good and hungry:

Buffalo Chicken cups from Young Married Chic

Cheesy artichoke bread from Vanilla Sugar

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs from Mint Love Social Club

Hot Carmelized Onion Dip from Closet Cooking.

Zuchinni Pizza Boats from Proud Italian Cook

Let the gorging commence!

Haute Links - First Edition

In the past eight weeks, I've come to the sobering realization that I am not the adrenaline-charged, vacuuming, baby soothing,  28-year-old mom that I was when I had Max. Five and-a-half years and two kids later, I am feeling a bit wiser, but disproportionately older. And so, I've decided to let some of my blogging icons do a bit of the heavy lifting for me from now on in the form of a weekly installment I'll be calling "Haute Links" that will highlight some of my favorite blog topics from weeks prior.

And I'm sorry if my puns are starting to annoy you.

So, here goes:

Land O Lakes never sounded so good- awesome A Capella from I Suwannee

Commemorative Corks from Mint Love Social Club

Elise Allen paintings at Amber Interiors

Monogram Must-have from Home-Rec.

 Happy Tuesday.
xoxo

Happenings.

Despite my home looking dangerously close to something I once saw on an episode of hoarders, I thought I would take this opportunity to forgo putting away the rest of the laundry and rather check in with my neglected HMD readers...or those of you that are left.

I have been passively aggressively indicating to the hubs that I have not had any time to do things for myself lately, so upon returning from golf the other day, he urged me to go get my nails done....

"oooor..maybe you could go get a bikini wax."

This was said in all seriousness. 

Needless to say, I almost gouged his eyeballs out with my brain daggers.

I promise that one day, I will get my sexy back (see "ridiculous cougar pose"), and get back to blogging about fashion and other superficial topics, but in the meantime, I am enjoying my hibernation and my long days with my cubs- since, sadly, I know that they're numbered.  So, here's a quick look at some of the happenings around these parts of late: 

Tummy Time. 

Hitting up CrewCuts clearance for some new "cowboy shirts"

Hanging at Super Franks (despite my bad-mouthing)

and last, but very not least, doing LOTS of smilin' (and a little bit of barfin' at the same time).

Busy Bees

Having had my first two sons in the middle of summer, I've come to the conclusion that winter babies are a bit more challenging. I know most people around the country scoff at the idea of California winters, but still, nobody wants a 50 degree wind blowing on their boobs when they whip 'em out at the park for a feed.

With school out for the past few weeks, I've been doing my best to prevent cabin fever by getting the boys out of the house every day and have been racking my brains for creative indoor spots to take them, where I can nurse in comfort. One of the only options around besides that seth pool Chuckie Cheese, is Super Franks, which is a step up from the Rat  themed pizza, but is basically still the equivalent of dipping your children in a vat of assorted mucus-y germs while you scarf down a basket of soon-to-be-regretted curly fries.

 What we need around here is something like Bumble Cafe in Los Altos. I've been contemplating the 35 minute drive since I happened upon this awesome spot:

Cute, right? Let's look inside..

Kitchen of my dreams!

Playroom of my dreams!

"Kids, go play in the sand box while mommy guzzles this glass of sauvignon blanc."

 The menu is full of all sorts of healthy, delicious grown-up food, like the salmon nicoise salad and a prosciutto, fig and goat cheese flat bread, along with a cool, customizable kids' bento box with offerings like ants on a log and pretzel crusted chicken.

I think a visit is definitely in our future and I'm not sure if Bumble will look as pretty as it does in these pictures after my boys get through with it- but I think it's time we put it to the test.

FRANK the TANK

Sorry for taking such an extended hiatus- it's just that I've been busy birthing and feeding and cleaning poop and am apparently not as capable of a multi-tasker as I had hoped I would be.

So, without further a-do, meet Francis Ryan Madigan. He's pretty incredible:

He was born at 6:55 AM on Friday, November 25th after literally 2 days of "early" labor and 5 hours of totally insane, mind-blowingly painful, real labor. He claimed the title of my chubbiest baby at a whopping 8 lbs, 11 oz and 22 and 1/4 inches long, and he's been working hard to maintain that status ever since. My little eating machine goes by the aliases of Frank, Frankie, Francisco, and my favorite of late, Mr. F.R. Grumpn'Dumps.

His big brothers think he is pretty great and have already asked for a little sister in their stocking. I told them that Santa knows better than to cross me like that. Here they are at their first official meeting:

Hud, while currently obsessed with his little brother and constantly attempting to kiss him on the lips with his booger-y face, was much more intrigued during the hospital visit with my unsightly catheter bag. I guess I should have considered not telling him it was a "bag of pee", which he promptly reported to everyone he saw upon leaving the hospital. Max, despite looking undecided in this photo, has been an amazing big brother thus far- at least to one of his little brothers.

I'll leave you with a few more pics of my little angel, and I suggest you get used to it :) Enjoy.

                                                                 Can you stand it?