Who is My Favorite Artist Hodgepodge?

I am joining up with Joyce and the other Hodgepodgers today for a few questions!

1. October 25th is International Artists Day...do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why. Well . . .my granddaughters are my very favorite artists! Our daughter is quite talented, also. My niece, who painted the canvas in our kitchen, is an engineer by degree but is very talented as are both of my sister-in-laws! I have art from all of them in our home. The other kind of artists . . .I love Starry Night by Van Gogh. Supposedly I’m named after the Mona Lisa (who I was the voice of during our women’s retreat) so I must say Leonardo Da Vinci, too.

The lemons hanging in our kitchen were
painted by our niece

Mark’s sister painted the fish PLUS she

made the fancy mats!

This is art by the two granddaughters 
and they are hanging on the wall
in my upstairs office.

Our graphic designer at work drew this as
our logo for the Women’s retreat. The theme 
was Portraits. One of the break out sessions was
to paint her. I didn't have enough time to finish painter her.
I’ve got to tone down her skin and
finish her. I’m not even good at painting something 
someone else drew.

My other sis-in-law painted this
years ago. It hangs in one of
the guest bathrooms upstairs.
I carried Rubrum Lilies in
our wedding.

2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate.  I am not artistic at all. I am creative in some ways. I can copy projects and I’ve come up with a few of my own over the years but I am NOT artistic. (See above)

3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'? I can out-type just about anyone!

4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (or not so recently if that's easier).  We dine out a couple of times a month at a nicer restaurant. We ate out with friends a couple of weekend ago at Bistro V. I had a wonderful salad with grilled shrimp. A less than stellar restaurant experience . . .I am sure we’ve had them and I can almost hear the discussion about the experience in my head. Sometimes Mark orders the wrong thing in a restaurant. I know – the kids and grandkids and Mark and I all went to Bricktops for Mark’s birthday dinner. The steaks were all cooked incorrectly – some were overdone; some were underdone but those who ordered steak didn’t complain because we had such a sweet server.

We had a table full at Bricktops

We were at Casual Pint (pub style food)
With our good friends/neighbors…
Being silly

5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live? Yes – see previous posts! We have tons (1200) of trick or treaters and our neighborhood decorates like it is our career!

6. Insert your own random thought here.  I just ordered two rugs from Boutique Rugs.com because I read about that website on a blog. I’ll let y’all know if they work. We actually need one more but I couldn’t make a decision. I actually thought about ordering the same exact rug for the dining room and living room. Have any of you used the same rug in two rooms?

These are the two I ordered. The red one is for the loft upstairs and the neutral is either dining or living/family room. I ordered large ones.