Wow, I am very late to this, but I feel the need to say something. I sell these tubs for a living and $2,000 is basically a steal anymore. V&A has some of the most reasonable prices, especially since it's a stone composite. Most tubs, especially ones with jets, that are sold in a showroom are far more than that. Never, ever, ever buy a tub off-line or from a bulk store. There are simple reasons for this. One is for warranty. You will want that warranty. Box stores and online will not offer you real warranties. If you buy online and it comes in scratched, the company will do nothing to help you. Neither will your local dealers. There are numerous other reasons that I won't go into. Never, ever buy a tub off of craigslist. Not only can it be a health risk to you, but it resurfacing to sell is normally done very cheap- meaning it's only going to last a few years before it's once again needing to be resurfaced. Resurfacing is not cheap. It's always best to research the style you want. Go with a respected brand and research the prices. Research why they cost that price- especially, when stone comes into play (V&A uses volcanic limestone). Research what comes with what- for instance, American Standard has a very pretty freestanding that comes with a chrome floor mounted filler for about $2,000. It's a basic acrylic, but it's fairly good quality. Buy it from a dealer, where they can get you the warranty and parts if and when needed. Always think about the worst case scenario. Research and find a dealer. Don't buy for the cheap- it will break. I have people in my store everyday wanting us to fix a cheap faucet they got online and we cannot. Do not buy a cheap tub- they are typically single layer and will not hold up. They are often rarely finished, which leads to the tub looking dull and scratched after only a few years. Always, always talk to your local showrooms about offers and the best deals. I just recently spent three days looking for a modern style slipper tub under $2,000 for a customer and found a beautiful one for $1,600 made of double layer acrylic. Also, most freestanding tub fillers run about $1,000 for simple and good reasons- their design is not anything like a deck mount and they are expensive to make and occasionally difficult to install. Also, places like Quality Bath sites charge you lists prices that are typically higher than the price a showroom will offer you... This post was edited by EmilyDesign11 on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 14:15

Made another batch today....dismal failure. Again. Here is the recipe I tried: Pecan Supremes Mrs. Fields Cookie Book 2 c AP flour 1 tsp soda 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 c quick oats 3/4 c dark brown sugar (packed) 3/4 c white sugar 1 c salted butter, softened 2 large eggs 2 tsp vanilla 1 c chopped pecans 1 c semisweet chocolate morsels Preheat oven to 300F, In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt & oats, mix well with whisk and set aside. In large bowl, blend sugars with electric mixer at medium speed, Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until fully combined. Add the flour mixture, pecans and chocolate chips, blend at low speed until combined. Do not overmix. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. bake 18-20 minutes. Immediately transfr cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface. I experimented a bit. Made 6 cookies on an airbake sheet and 6 cookies on a heavy aluminum sheet. No difference...I ended up with a big, run\-together blob of thin cookie. Chilled the rest of the dough for 6 hours. Baked a dozen cookies. No difference...I ended up with a big, run\-together blob of thin cookie. Each time I let them cool a bit on the sheets and I practically needed a jack hammer to remove the. it was a mess. I was going to take a picture, but found my camera battery is dead. I still have half the dough in the fridge rolled into a log and wrapped in plastic. I am afraid to try baking more! Linda

You guys are too much :-). And I'm shocked at how much a 2 year old's attitude resembles that of a belligerent teen! The refusing to answer when spoken to, the ignoring of direct instructions, the odd eating habits... No wait lists for any of the hotels but I did manage to find a room via Travelocity. The funny thing is that when I specified the town as "Mansfield" the hotel came up as available but changed to unavailable when I tried to book rooms. A call to the hotel itself confirmed that, no available rooms. But when I changed the town to "ashland" (about 20 miles away) the exact same hotel came up as available & allowed me to book rooms. So I did. Printed up my confirmation so I have proof. Now I'm even toying with the idea of flying out & renting a car. What with the cost of gas in my area it wouldn't be all that much more money! But I'm liking the thought of camping more & more & maybe later in the season we can get away for a few days to just camp. bring the little guy & the dog & play wild slumber party in the tent. Both the little guy & the dog would love it. Thankfully we have a big tent! Melanie, I'm beating myself up because I know better. I consciously left this until the last minute. It's a bad, bad habit of mine. I insist that I work better under pressure :-). Yes, Bill, how far west are you heading? And since you're in Maine have you ever done the trip east to Nova Scotia? Now that's a spectacular holiday! Nina

It could be that Dutch Boy doesn't touch up well either. Some paints just don't touch up. Instead of trying to simulate the stipple effect that a roller makes by dabbing paint on, you should just use a roller. Using the same tool as what you originally applied the paint with gives your paint the best chance to blend in. Use the same nap size as what you painted the room with. You can get roller sleeves in 4" size so you don't have to use the 9" ones.