Happy St. Patty's Day

A warm batch of cranberry scones with bright green vanilla icing surprised E this morning.

Hallway Handiwork

(before)

(E get's her chance to paint on the walls)

(midway)

(makeshift scaffolding for our 3-story entryway)

(yours truly; Tweedle Dee)

I really can't believe it took us this long to finally make our hallway look nice. When we moved into our 1960's home nearly 4 years ago it was bathed in this horrific peach paint...everywhere. They clearly stopped at the 50% off paint table at Home Depot before they put it up on the market. When we got into the house we did a lot of work, but ran out of gas before we hit the entry/hallway, and they've been standing that way ever since.

So with a little fire lit under us (baby coming) we tackled the nursery and the afore mentioned hall and entry. I framed up some photo's, D threw up a new lighting fixture and mirror and it feels so much better. We still have a few more prints to hang and we'll eventually pull up the carpet, refinish the hardwoods, scrape the popcorn ceilings, and replace the doors but I am totally happy right now to leave it as is for a while. I'm gonna have to do a "to be continued" on the nursery as it's still a disaster and not even close to being finished, but we've got time.


p.s. please don't worry when you see me holding that paintbrush, we bought the crazy expensive Zero VOC no odor paint...

Snowy Mornings

I know there have been quite a few posts about the snow this last winter, but truthfully I can't remember a winter with so many sporadic downpours. Our home is located to the north of the city so it's a bit colder this direction, and let's just be honest; if it's gonna be cold enough to snow, it might just as well let go and do it, huh? It doesn't last long, and will likely turn to a slushy-rain mix and melt away by tomorrow. So we take advantage of the show, fling back the curtains and add the spectacle to our living room landscape.

E usually scarfs down her breakfast, asks me to get her snowsuit and boots down (which have been washed and packed away since the last flurry; I always think "This is the last one...") and scurries outside to build snow lions and snow elephants (apparently the old standard snow man has lost it's luster). She'll emerge at our backdoor about an hour later wet and chilly and then we'll spend the rest of the day in p.j.'s, build a fire, and likely bake up some yummy treat, and today a batch of wassail.

Crocus

Our rosemary bush really suffered this winter and it's likely that the 10-year-old + plant won't pull through to see this summer, and now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all my bulbs!

Didn't We Just Do This?

Set your clocks ahead tonight...

Lollies

Last Summer D was fortunate enough to visit Australia and brought back E a few mementos, among which was a collection of hard candies with the most intricate designs - Lollies! They taste fabulous and I'd been meaning to snap a few photo's of them for the longest time. I set aside one of each so you all could see the craftsmanship, and will now toss them as, well, they're totally stale.

Tried & True Tulip Trick - A Penny For Your Thoughts

With the emerging blooms we are entering into that hopeful time; Spring! Blossoms begin to don my tabletops on a regular basis and earlier this morning I was reminded of a tried and true tulip trick as E and I perused the bouquets while at the market. We'll call it : Give a Penny (stealing from the title of the blog that exposed this fabulous trick to me 2 years back). Add a penny to the bottom of your vase and your flowers won't wilt over.

Unofficial Trader Joes Commercial

*Thanks for sending that to me Tania!