I've just gotten done ripping all my CDs in Lion. Here's my workflow, and yes, I get that it's a pain, but I'd argue the results are 100% worth it.
Rip CD:
Let iTunes do a Gracenote query on the CD in question and do a virtual rename of files on the CD. There's no metadata stored yet, but at least the files have track numbers and names. I simply create a folder titled the name of the band, a folder inside of that titled the name of the CD, and if there's multiple CDs to this album, then folders inside that named Disc 1, Disc 2, and so on. Then, I drag the tracks off the CD to the appropriate location. This will result in AIFF files in the directory.
Acquire Album Art:
If I can find 500x500 px (or larger) album art on the Web that's of perfect quality, I'll use it. If it's above 500x500, then I make sure it's a square image and then I scale it down to 500x500 px using Gimp. Otherwise, I'll shoot the album art myself, edit it in Gimp to clean it up, crop it square, and shrink it to 500x500. In any event, I store all album art to be used as PNGs, since I do not support the use of proprietary file formats.
Metadata Insertion and Transcoding:
I use
Max to allow me to batch-edit metadata, batch-add album art, and then batch-transcode my AIFFs into FLACs. In this way, I know exactly what I've got, and there are absolutely no errors or inconsistencies in my music archives. This can be a painstaking process, but since iTunes does not support FLAC, there is no useful alternative. Also, in using Max to transcode existing AIFFs, it does so ultra quickly. DO NOT use it to extract the audio from the CD, because that will be a painfully slow (30 minutes + per CD) process.
Storage:
I store all my music on a personal file server. Everything is grouped by Artist -> Album -> Disc # (if appropriate) and I typically will append the year of the release of the album to the album name. Also included at the track file level is a PNG of the album art, just in case. I always try to be prepared.
Google Play Music:
Google Play is a bunch of d*cks. They insist for God-only-knows-what-reason on storing all music as MP3s. I've tried uploading FLACs to them but it adds a bit to the delay time of having the music available. So, what I've done (since I already had the music encoded as FLAC with album art and all relevant metadata) is to take them and transcode them into 256 bit MP3s (which is the rate that Google Play Music nominally uses) and then let Google Music Manager upload the results.
Local (on-phone) Storage:
If there's any music I want to keep on the phone itself, I use Max to transcode it into good quality OGG Vorbis. As I said above, I don't advocate the use of proprietary file formats, and so I won't aid or abet such things myself.
Ultimately, is my process the quickest and easiest way of doing this? Probably not. Is my process for everyone? No; simply put, most people lack the technical knowledge, competence, and understanding to do what I do. But, I didn't devise this process based on "Is this what Joe Average computer user would understand?" I devised this process based on what works for me. All I can do is assure you the end result of my process, while laborious, will give you files of exacting quality and the open-endedness to allow you to create files of formats suitable for any situation (Max, for instance, supports 40 different open and proprietary formats, WMA being a notable exception to this). Also, if FLAC should be succeeded by a newer (and/or better) format in the future, these FLACs can presumably be re-transcoded into that successor format. If one insists, for instance, on using a device or service that only supports MP3, you can convert them for compatibility, all the while retaining non-lossy originals that can be played on better-quality equipment with no loss of fidelity.
looked great, very readable. 
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