Stark Raving Shannon: So Much Excitement!

I have so many things to write about. I'll start with my most shameful and most exciting. It's a story about popovers. I love them. Savannah loves them. Myles loves them. But, I don't own a popover pan. Is there a use for a popover pan other than popovers? I don't believe so. And, in my crazy little kitchen, only things with multiple or regular uses is allowed in. So, my popovers have always been made in my muffin pan. But, instead of popping over, they tend to look more like a cornbread muffin. Very flat, but still very delicious. But, during this past week, I had a craving for popovers. (Usually they are only eaten around Thanksgiving or Christmas, so this was an unusual craving.) I made my first of 3 batches in 3 days and they turned out exactly as expected. Except for one lone popover that actually popped over. Savannah claimed that one immediately. And we all proceeded to polish off the other 11 popovers within the next 12 hours. So, day 2 of the Great Popover Craving resulted in these magnificent beauties. (Do not look too closely at my muffin pan. It has seen many heavy sprays of Pam and I hate scouring.)

I'm not sure what kind of magic happened on day 2, but it was wonderful. My first batch of popping over popovers ever! If you have seen the movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox, we ate those popover much in the same way that the foxes eat anything. Greedily, messily, and with sheer abandon. Day 3 was back to normal, non-popped popovers. And we still snarfed them all down.

In other exciting news, I have discovered the joys of chalkboard paint. I refinished the top of our black coffee table with the chalkboard paint and also repainted my kitchen back splash with it. Here are some before and after shots of the kitchen.

BEFORE:

The back splash in my funky kitchen was all white, the hole came from the removal of some outdoor light fixture that used to hang over the sink. It was helpful in illuminating the dirty dishes at night, but it's placement also resulted in your near blindness. Also, it was just ugly. I now hang a cute little shelf over the hole. Cause that's how I fix things. :)

Now, the back splash is black and lovely. I do really like it, plus it is an excellent writing surface for me to remind everyone else to wash the dang dishes! Here is the end result.

AFTER:

And here is how it looks today. This is more normal -- dishes piling up.

And here is the end result of the chalkboard painted coffee table, complete with original artwork. I asked the kids to draw something on the top of the table so that I could take a picture to post on my blog. That way I'm not taking a picture of a plain black table. So, Savannah drew her cute little dog, Biscuit. Myles drew the 2 upside down faces in the top right corner. They're barfing. Thanks Myles.

I also hung a new painting up in my bathroom.

It gives me hope that spring is coming. The snow has melted at my house for the most part. Unfortunately, it has revealed 5 months worth of Great Dane "presents" that were all mostly left in one 10 square foot area. Also known as my patio. It's a very dangerous walk from our back door to the car. Special shoes have been designated for that trek.

Today's mail yielded a very exciting find for me. My Jennifer Weiner autographed book! Sent straight from Jennifer!

Savannah caught me reading it.