project renovation is over!  the hallway is done and it looks amazing!  i had some real moments of panic, halfway through the project.  but it is exactly the color we had in mind!!!  yippee!!!

here are the pics…

BEFORE

AFTER!!!!!

feeling very smug and hip.  like those artist-type people you see in home depot with the dew rags on their heads, and sleeves of tattoos?

here’s a shot from the other side, so you can see it as you walk in the door…

oh yes, feeling very smug.

i cannot believe the hub approved of this color.  this is my absolute favorite color of all time, and so incredibly ME.  but he loves the color, too.  how can this be?

i can’t stop looking at the pictures.  i feel like a home decorating narcissist!

next project ~ finish the armoire.  here’s the current status of this cabinet…

waa waa waa waaaaaa….

and that smug smirk on my face has vanished.  i think that ugly cornflower, country blue will look better when i paint the rest of it black.  but if it’s still heinous, i’ll do some kind of top coat treatment, like a metallic thing. or i’ll fill it with sweaters and shut the doors.

i’d like to paint it today, but i’ve got some baking to do.  tomorrow is my good friend paula’s 60th birthday and she has requested my ganache chocolate cake!  well, i guess it’s martha stewart’s ganache chocolate cake, if you want to get legal about it.  but hey, i have successfully followed her directions the 50 times i’ve made the cake, and have warmed many hearts and bellies with that recipe.  so i claim it as my own.

it is the most amazing cake ever.  that’s the truth.  i first made it in 1998, when a friend of mine wanted a chocolate cake for his masters recital.  everyone went nuts, including myself.  the cake is a process to make, but an amazing one.

so that means i’ve been making this cake for almost 15 years?  could i be that old?  oh my gosh.  i’m that old.  oh well.  if being 38 means i am a genius at ganache chocolate cake, then i like 38.

i’m sure i’ll show the cake off on the next blog entry.  i seem to be doing a lot of bragging lately.  i’m just so proud that i have almost made it through this year!!!!

last night, one minute i felt fine, the next minute, i had a terribly sore throat and was feeling awful.  i thought, “NO WAY.  you are not going to get sick and finish this year out with some crappy singing.”  but thank god for emergen-c.  i downed one last night and feel fine this morning.  i have exactly SIX performances left, and i want to go out with a bang!