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a slice of life
Favorite Things

Best of 2015

2015 was a pretty full year for me and my business and I thought it would be fun to look back over a few of the highlights. I started off by committing to the Whole 30 eating challenge and I stuck to it!  It resulted in a 7.5 lb weight loss, clearer skin and a healthier attitude towards food.  I wish I could say that I kept going and reached my goal weight, but I’m still working towards it.  It’s a process.  I did lose more and I have done a pretty good job maintaining the weight loss.  (Well, Christmas has hit the waistline a little hard, but I’m getting back to it!) I also launched six new MMS Milk Paint colors, our European color line.  Marzipan, Arabesque, Layla’s Mint, Schloss, Bergere and Mora all joined the ranks. I did a marathon of upholstery and furniture projects leading up to Lucketts and a

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January 3, 2016 19 Comments
a slice of life

Christmas recap | 2015

I think this stretch is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting on my blog!  I can’t remember ever taking five full days without posting anything.  I’ve always taken posting fresh content very seriously.  It is my job, after all!  But this year, I decided to relax a bit and allow myself a few days without posting or prepping posts ahead of time. I didn’t set a “back to work” day, but I woke up this morning and felt ready to write, so here I am. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  We definitely did.  The boys are at a prime age to appreciate gifts and we were able to surprise them with some really fun ones this year.  My parents, brother and sister-in-law joined us, so the house was full of noise, fun, wrapping paper scraps and yummy smells. Marshall woke up feeling a little queazy, so he carried

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December 29, 2015 33 Comments
a slice of life

a christmas song | what a glorious night

It’s become of a bit of a tradition (every other year, anyway) for me to share a Christmas song here on the blog.  Last year, we just couldn’t pull it together, but this year, I heard a song that I thought would be great and I had just the group of people to do it! I asked Kriste and her husband, David, if they would be up for joining me, Jeff & the boys, my parents and my brother & sister-in-law for a song.  I was able to lasso everyone in, assign each one an instrument or a part and we spent a couple of hours practicing and recording the song. I’ve shared a lot about decorating for Christmas over the past few weeks, but Christmas is all about that glorious night when Love came down in the form of a baby in a manger, so we could be saved from our

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December 24, 2015 79 Comments
a slice of life

Rosa’s Fruit Salad Recipe

I’ve mentioned my great-grandmother Rosa’s fruit salad many times on this blog over the years.  It’s a must-have at Thanksgiving and Christmas in my family.  It is citrusy and sweet and we all look forward to it each holiday. I only make it twice a year, but Rosa used to make it once a week in single-serving aluminum molds to keep in her fridge for when the grandkids stopped by.  I just love that and I almost want to do it, but I would probably eat all of them and that wouldn’t be a good thing. This is Rosa, holding her daughter, my Oma (grandmother), also named Marian. Most of our family recipes came from Rosa and most of them are pretty common southern favorites like cheese straws, biscuits, pimento cheese spread, and teacakes. But her fruit salad seems to be pretty unique.  I have never, ever been served it or

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December 24, 2015 21 Comments
a slice of life

my favorite things 2015

Today I’m joining Melissa of 320 Sycamore and a few other bloggers in sharing a few of my favorite things!  She was one of the first bloggers I met and is such a genuine and encouraging person, so I loved the chance to team up with her and some of her favorite bloggers. I decided to share a mix of things I’ve loved for a long time, things that are new loves and things that I would be very sad to do without. And, here they are… (Disclosure, this post is not sponsored by any of the products I share, but it does contain affiliate links.) Mrs. Meyers Lavender cleaner – This makes the whole house smell amazing! Wood-handled dish brushes – I bought these for the way they look, but they are the best dish brushes I have ever owned.  I want to hoard them. Oreck steam mop – I received

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November 18, 2015 15 Comments

a shopping trip & a cleaning day

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to “breakfast at Ballards” a celebration of the opening of the new Ballard Designs store in the King of Prussia mall near Philly.  Usually, invitations like this are too far for me to travel, but this one was just a couple hours away, so Kriste and I decided to take the day to attend the event and do some non-antique shopping. We started super early, so we could make it to the mall in time for the breakfast and to tour/shop the store.  I’ve never been in a Ballard store before, but I have to say that it’s worth it if you have one near you.  I’ve been getting their catalogs, but everything is even prettier in person. I now have the distinction of being the second shopper ever at that Ballard store.  I bought some blue and white checked pillow cases for

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November 5, 2015 4 Comments
a slice of life

dear reader | what are you afraid of?

When I posted my first “dear reader” post, I asked for suggestions of what you, my readers, would like me to write specifically to you. I received this suggestion from Krista and I really loved it, so this is what I’m writing about today… “I do have a suggestion for the “Dear Reader” series, “What are you afraid of?”  What I mean by this is I have ideas, plans, goals for my own business/craft projects but I always put them off.  I’m too busy with house cleaning, gardening, and kids to just do my own thing.  So I never ‘do my own thing’.  And I wonder why.  Why can’t I just make time for me to do what I want to do?  Certain things can wait so why don’t I try?  I think I’m just afraid to do it.  How did you do it?  How were you able to justify time on what you wanted to do when you

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October 30, 2015 33 Comments
a slice of life

royal scout giveaway

Once the milk paint line started taking off, my business became more about no’s than yeses.  I said no to blog tours, giveaways, almost all sponsored posts, antique fairs and special events I was invited to.  I was saying no to pretty much everything and I think that’s what I needed at that time.  I needed to simplify and focus. I got to the point, though, where I felt a little isolated.  I wasn’t plugged into this amazing online community of entreprenuers, creative souls, kindred spirits and all-around fun people like I once was. I decided to start saying “yes” more.  Intentional and careful, yeses, but more of them.  And I’ve had a great time being a part of a few blog tours, working with more brands again and introducing my readers to great products (and giving them a chance to win some!) So, when I recently received an e-mail from

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October 24, 2015 No Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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