Dinner al Fresco

Summer is so close!  Anthony and I had an eventful, fabulous, family wedding weekend, and are pleased to be back in our own apartment tonight, relaxing to music, the comfort of our livingroom and the glow of laptop screens (as I blog and he plows through the final days of graduate school coursework).  On Thursday night, we celebrated the new warmer weather and the early arrival of our weekend with a simple, tasty dinner in the backyard:  fresh field greens with tomatoes, peppers and crumbled gorgonzola, a homemade rice pilaf, and pork on the grill for Anthony/spicy black bean burger on the grill for me.  Summer dinners outside are one of my very favorite things.  They signal a freedom and relaxed, intimate atmosphere that makes me feel that life is simple and happy, which is sometimes just what the heart and soul need.

February Break

Paperwork, cleaning, coffee, exercise, art, blogging, photography, baking, magazines, comfort, graduate school, wine, family, inspiration, books, candles, laundry, old friends, pbs masterpiece, dining out, fresh bread, quiet.

Fresh starts

It's cold outside!  Oh right, it's winter, and finally feeling that way.  With no snow and temperatures fluctuating between summer and fall on a daily basis, it was easy to forget that it was December, which is probably why the holiday season basically slipped past me before I had a chance to prepare.  Now that it's January, and many of the projects and responsibilities consuming my time before the New Year are over with, I've been enjoying more time on my couch, hiding under piles of warm blankets, making plans for the year ahead and soaking up a little bit of this certainly short-lived calm.  

Things I'm obsessed with:: week one of 2012:
...pinterest
...voluspa candles
...making coffee in the morning before i go to work (groundbreaking idea!)
...my (mostly) clean apartment
...mindy kaling's book
...the moccasin slippers anthony gave me for my birthday and i have worn every day since


A few resolutions for the new year:

...make more time for creativity.  Photo-taking, craft-making, blogging, painting, decorating and more. 

...drink more water and mix up my work out plan.  Doesn't everyone's New Year Resolution list contain some sort of fitness goal?  Though they may be oft-neglected, I still think it's worthwhile to include plans for your health in your fresh start each new year.  My goals for 2012 include a little more yoga and maybe some strength training.

...keep working on becoming a correspondence queen.  I love receiving mail, and I love prettying up a card or package to send off to someone else.  Each year I get just a pinch better at sending birthday and thank you cards, and getting gifts in the mail on time; I consider this one a lifelong goal.

...work harder than ever, get into grad school and start acting on those career goals. 

Sunday Studies

 

Finally, a quiet Sunday at home (no weekend trips!).  Browsing at the flea market, freshly picked blueberries for lunch, AChef plows through Harry Potter VII, decorating with old and new flea market finds, watercolors in the late afternoon, enjoying fresh picked flowers from our garden (and road stands).

January is for hibernating

I'm still here, I promise.  It's been two weeks since I last blogged, and though I'm still in denial, it's now well into January and a brand new year.  I'm trying my best to embrace these cold, dark days and to dive into new projects, but the incessant post-holiday and post-travel cleaning is wearing me down; I find myself just wanting to sink into the couch at the end of the day and watch whatever Harry Potter movie is on tv.

We've been back in the apartment for a full week, and those seven days have been packed full of coffee from my new french press, the aforementioned cleaning, and just a pinch of projects.  Last Monday, after we unloaded luggage full of dirty clothes and our Christmas loot, the first order of business was to slightly rearrange the bedroom.  Meaning we rotated the bed 90 degrees.  Sounds boring, I know, but it's nice to make a change, however small it may be.  It feels somewhat fresh. 

And so:  I'm keeping my checklist short for this month.  Home projects are on the horizon for January.  A crafty thank-you card project (stay tuned for pictures, perfecting my chocolate torte, and watching lots and lots of Seinfeld on the laptop (our new habit in 2010).  Anything to stay curled up by a fire.  New years resolutions might just have to wait until February :)

Weekend Adventures, Rain and the Headless Horseman

Two of my besties came to visit over the weekend!  We lounged around in the living room, we played Lego Indiana Jones on the XBox, we bought a chicken suit, a globe and tried on winter hats at Target, we sipped Starbucks mochas, we made not one, but two trips to Sleepy Hollow, we drank wine and played The Office board game, and we shared stories of work and college.  What a weekend.  Now I think it's time for a nap.

Chef

Best Gal                                Me                                     Pids

Catching Up

I'm still working on this "updating on a regular basis" thing. I'll get there eventually.

Anyway.

Last night after work I spent 20 minutes looking for my headband (the fleece kind that covers your ears), went running, made dinner, ate dinner with Anthony, cleaned the dishes, and then sat on the couch. And felt strangely bored.

Sometimes I come home at the end of the day and all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch TV, but instead I have something to do that can't wait. Prepare a lesson, bake for a party or dinner, go back to work for an event, calligraphy, wrapping gifts, making and mailing cards... While I certainly enjoy doing all of these things (and it's usually by choice that they end up on my to do list), I also feel occasionally drained when I come home and have a full schedule.

Anyway, last night I had nothing on my plate. This never happens. So I sat for a minute on the couch. Watched whatever was on TV, and then announced: "I don't know what to do with myself."

Ridiculous, isn't it?

(Of course, I ended up rummaging through the closet for my sewing machine and Anthony's long-forgotten quilt, and added a few more patches. Maybe this will be the year I finish it?)

little things.

Yesterday when I left work it was still light outside. It felt so luxurious!

I'll admit, I do love winter and a nice clean layer of snow as much as the next New-York-stater (okay, probably most NYS residents actually hate it), but lately I am feeling very ready for it to be spring. Could it be that today's temperature (including windchill) is 5 degrees? Yes, probably. But I am also very much looking forward to outdoor runs in the SUNLIGHT. And arriving home at the end of the workday to a living room still full of natural light. And Spring Cleaning! Yup, I'm actually looking FORWARD to cleaning - and hopefully getting rid of some things.



But...it's still February.


Lucky for me, I have a full plate of projects to work on this February, including decorating, valentines day cards, little valentines day gifts for our goddaughter, more wedding invitation calligraphy, eating chocolate, organizing my crafting space and lots and lots of delicious baking. And while I wait for the snow to melt, I'm enjoying the practice of spotting little things in my current space that make me happy:


Like old maps,


and red mailboxes.


Tiny hearts and lacy doilies (thanks, mom!)...


vintage touches,

and late-night snacks :)

October Stuff.

A view of the fireplace all decorated for Halloween.

A very rare clean living room. See the skulls hanging on the left?

A delish fall snack.

The trees right outside my office window.