Paint SCHMAINT

This is the color of the interior of my home. Silver Sage. I love it. This is the color I'm going to paint the kids' bathroom. Sea Green.

With the ceiling in Silver Sage.

I know, not much risk here.

And this is the bathroom floor (only with dark gray grout).

This COULD be the color I'm going to paint our bedroom, and possibly the boys' room. Or something like it. And since I don't have a RH swatch, I have spent many an afternoon pondering Benjamin Moore's gray selection (and it is vast).

Does anyone know of a good gray that would look nice with...

this pillow?

Or not. I'm flexible. It seems like it should be so easy, but I have already purchased paint and tested it on my wall, and gray can be tricky. Too blue, too green, too purple, too brown. You get the idea. Just a nice neutral gray, that's all I want. And yes, I've already looked at Pottery Barn's Ben Moore offerings. Most are too brown.

BLUE

Over a year ago, one of Mark's vendors gave me a gift card to Dolce, Arizona's Largest Luxury Salon, for a manicure and pedicure. It was meant to be used last January, as a trade off for letting Mark go on an ice fishing expedition with the vendor's company. An unnecessary, but very welcome swap, since I knew he was going anyway.

For fourteen months, I was thrilled with the prospect of soft feet and the ultimate pampering experience. I mean, It IS Dolce! But for fourteen months, the fabled spa treatment eluded me. I just didn't/couldn't make it a top priority.

And then last week, Mark pushed me to get it scheduled. The plan went like this: he would stay home with Owen, pick up the kids from school, take them to Sonic, and not be at all upset if I stopped off at Chandler Mall on my way home for some light shopping.

So all my mani/pedi hopes and dreams came to fruition on Friday. For 2 hours my feet and hands were massaged, pampered and painted. I opted for the trendy-all-the-hip-stars-are-doing-it-blue nail polish. Russian Navy to be exact. I had my doubts after the first coat, but all the 40-somethings oohed and aahed at my bold color choice, as their own much safer, back-filled acrylics were shaping up. For my toes, I went with the traditional french tip. Thanks 3-M and thanks Mark and thanks Denise, the nail girl, for a lovely afternoon! It was worth the $95 plus 20% gratuity I did not have to pay.