Paintings From Rita Maria

One of the first things we did this year was put some artwork up on our walls!

A little back story first! I met Rita, an artist, at a networking event in  2011. One of the biggest things I took away from the networking was don't try and meet as many people as you can. Instead, spend your time making a meaningful, personal connection with one or two people. I'm so glad I did! Rita and I found that we had quite a bit in common.  We were new to the networking scene, we lived about .5 miles away from each other, our wedding anniversaries are a day apart, we usually don't drink beer (the event was at a brewery!), and we were both settling in to what we wanted to do professionally. Since then Rita has been a wonderful client of my graphic design and photography work. And now I own two absolutely gorgeous pieces of artwork that she made especially for me!

She made one for my craft room.

I just adore it! You know, when I first saw the photos she shared with me I wasn't sure exactly how it would look, but it's so perfect for the space!

 She put so much lovely detail into it! Rita, how do you do it?!?

She made one for our kitchen as well!

You can see more of Rita's beautiful art on her website, blog, and facebook page.

I am so blessed to own these two pieces of art and I know I will treasure them for a long time :)

Eat!

I'm sharing a bit of our new house with you today! The kitchen is pretty much staying the way it is...for now. There are other rooms that need much more attention than this! Until then I'm embracing our kitchen the way it is (quirks and all)!

Did I mention our kitchen has a lot of yellow? Haha and who am I fooling with those clear counters?!?

We don't have a dishwasher and quite frankly sometimes we fail and somehow loose the ability to do dishes. Really why is it so hard to do 5 minutes daily compared to the hour of not doing them for days... Anyone else with me?

One of the themes we've found about the previous owners is that they didn't want things to go anywhere.  Case and point - cutting boards attached to the counters. There was one on each side of the sink. One came up easy and after trying to pry the other one up we found it was screwed on. For realz!?!

That meant holes through the counter! 6 of them.  Hubby filled them with some clear silicone sealant. Glad those cutting boards are gone!

Our kitchen is carpeted. Can you think of any instances when carpet in a kitchen is a good idea? Note to self avoid spilling anything on the floor.

Yes, there are things not to love in our kitchen, but I do love the shelves that the previous owner left!

There was a third slightly longer shelf below which we took down because it was too low.

What do you think of the eat sign?!? I love it! My husband cut it out for me. If anyone is wondering, it's the font, Lobster 1.3 super large!)

I can't decide if I want to paint it. I was planning to do it in teal or white, but I'm kinda liking the natural wood. What do you think?