That's One Huge Notepad

Check our latest DIY project (and yes, I have to admit, Dan did most of the work on this one)! It's a huge chalkboard we made out of a piece of smooth plywood and molding we cut and stained to make a frame. It measures 4' x 2'9" and we hung it in the hallway between our kitchen and back living room.

I'm a big note taker and to-do list maker. And I couldn't be more thrilled to have one huge surface to write down all my thoughts (most of which, at this juncture, are places I want to go and restaurants I want to try).

All you need is a smooth piece of plywood, some chalkboard paint, and a frame. We made our frame but you can easily use an old picture frame and make any size board!

Great Art, Great Friend, Great Cause

I've always taken issue with the generic, mass-produced prints you can buy at Target and Michael's. Sure, they look pretty on the wall, and they can totally bring a room together, but wouldn't you rather hang something in your house that tells a story?

Back in June, Dan and I went to the wedding of one of Dan's former roommates, John W. Tomac, in New York. In addition to working as an illustrator at Barron's, the financial magazine, he's also an accomplished long-distance runner. And on September 22, 2009, he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia. If you've ever met John, you know that not even cancer would get in his way (he got married on June 18, just got back from a honeymoon in Spain, and will be running the New York City Marathon this fall). In addition to running 26 miles to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, he's selling prints of his own illustrations on imagekind and donating 100 percent of the profit to the Society.

It was a no-brainer for us to purchase a couple—a personal friend, a great cause, and lots of empty walls in our new house. Plus, they're a little nod to our New York roots. We particularly love the Ebbets Field one—before we moved to Dallas in October, we lived just a few blocks away from where the historic baseball field once stood.

You'll get a much better view of these two prints—and many more—here johnwtomac.imagekind.com Or, support John's marathon efforts by donating here  beatcancer.johnwtomac.com