Gloria Muriel

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Gloria Muriel is a wonderful artist. She creates fun, surreal pieces of art. She also does giant murals. I came across her work at Comic Con three years ago. I purchased two of her paintings that year. She opened the gateway for our family into collecting art that fit our love for fantasy. We own eight of her paintings. I am showing you four of them today.

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Lakshmi. She is my favorite. She has a mesmerizing power. Gloria has an amazing story about this painting. If I can remember correctly: She had a vision of painting two elephants and a lotus flower with a third eye. When she looked up what she had drawn, she realized it was Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of wealth, fortune and beauty. My husband and I were drawn to this painting. We love it!

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I purchased this alien painting a year later at Comic Con. It is special to us, because we got to see the painting in progress at Gloria’s home, when we picked up a painting my husband purchased for me for my birthday. Which brings us to:

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This cool painting. This was entitled “1800 self portrait.” It is such a neat mixture of art techniques. The dog is based on her own terrier she owns. I get to stare at this painting everyday in our bedroom.

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At the same time we purchased the alien painting, we also picked up this cute surreal rabbit painting. It goes perfectly in our Wonderland Shire house. Gloria had it framed in the coolest red frame. I adore it!

I had the most fun meeting Gloria on my birthday two years ago. She is very sweet. And just the coolest chick. You can also follow her here on Facebook.
I cannot wait to collect more pieces from her.

Do you have art that transports you to a different place? What is your favorite thing on your walls?

Our Completed Baseboards

I am so excited! We had been living with our sad, dinky baseboards for ten years. I had finally had enough! We had been putting it off, because it is such a pain to have to move the whole house around. But we knew it was time to give the house a new interior paint job and so we decided to kill two birds with one stone. Could there maybe be a better way to say that? Such as, catch two fish with one line. Or capture two butterflies with one net. I do not know. My analogies are lame.

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Anyhoo, the baseboards are done! We chose a more modern, simple solution. They are 7 and 1/4″. I believe the style number is #314.

I cannot believe what a change it has made to the house. The house looks fresher. More modern. Dare I say, fancier. Pinkies up!

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Before pictures, above.

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After pictures, above.

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The baseboards are painted Swiss Coffee. They were installed throughout our entire home by the sweetest guy, Paul, and his brother, Chris. Paul is at Vrieling Woodworks. He also built us built-in bookcases in some niches, our custom frame on our bathroom mirror, and installed the legs on our vanity. I will post pics of those projects later. But if you are in Southern California, I highly recommend this company. He did a great job!

Thank you, Paul and Chris!

*The grey color on the walls throughout the house is Moonshine by Benjamin Moore via Home Depot. I am doing a separate post about the paint. The darker grey formal living room is Forde Abbey by Ralph Lauren (they do not sell this any more at Home Depot, but the color mix was still in the computer).

I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

Applebee’s Triple Chocolate Meltdown

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Okay, first, I have only been to Applebee’s once.

And I have never eaten this dessert there. I do not know how this at-home version compares.

My son bought me this cookbook. This is the recipe he wanted to try out. For Mother’s Day. Which is very sweet.

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I followed the recipe. Actually, my kids followed the recipe. I just supervised.

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We did not make the chocolate sauce in the recipe. I hoard these little jars. Why mess with perfection?

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Even though it was Mother’s Day, I still could not indulge all of the way. I tried to find the calories for this dessert. Applebee’s website states this dessert is 980 calories.

Say what?!

Chocolate has calories?

I had half of a serving. Meaning it took up almost half of a full day’s worth of Weight Watcher’s points.

But, mmmmmmm…

Was it worth it?

OH YEAH…….

It’s The Little Things: Facial Wipes

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I am a believer. A convert. If you will. I tried these facial wipes on a whim from a sample. I thought they felt good and uncharacteristically bought a pack. My skin showed improvement within two weeks. My daughter borrowed them. Her skin showed improvement almost immediately.

I recently ran out of these wipes. God forbid, I go to Sephora and purchase more. No, I must save my 4% back through ebates. I broke out almost instantly waiting for them to arrive in the shipment.

The wipes are called Ole Henriksen Truth To Go Wipes. They are $15 for 30. I am cheap, so I cut mine in half. I have tried cutting them in thirds, but they do not work as well. That means this is a $15 a month habbit for my daughter and myself. It is worth it.

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All I do, is wipe my face with a half of a wipe once a night. This is my nightly routine. In the morning, I scrub with a Murad product in the shower. If I am feeling particularly gluttonous or have a lot of make up to remove, I use the whole wipe. My skin tingles. My makeup is removed. I go to bed happy.

I buy the 30 count package. I have done a little research and I think Sephora sells these wipes the cheapest. (I am not putting a link, because you can choose to go through ebates to receive cash back). You might be able to find them cheaper elsewhere. I am satisfied with Sephora. Even my favorite fancy store, Amazon, cannot compete with their prices. If you purchase through ebates, you save 4%. You also receive free shipping over $50. If you go directly to the Sephora store, I bet they will give you a sample. Maybe even two. If you cut them in half, you would have a four day supply. Then you could decide if they work for you.

I am lazy, so this is the perfect night ritual for me.

It’s the little things: an easy beauty routine.

What’s yours?