bloom

Every February, a different kind of snow falls on my little town.



The surrounding almond orchards become alive again with the beautiful white blossoms. And the bees are out in full force, working their magic on the blooms. Obviously, with Peter's family being almond farmers, this is an especially important time in the life of their trees. And it cannot be argued that it is the most beautiful. With orchards very near our house, I can enjoy this site on walks, bike rides, and on my drive to work, and I love it. The trees are no longer bare and hard, but lush and peaceful. I count myself lucky to see this change every year.



Maybe one day I will see the blossoms right out my kitchen window. One can dream, right?

first curtain

This past weekend I finally made good use out of the fabric I bought MONTHS ago. Katie had been graciously offering her sewing tutorial services for a long time and I finally took advantage of them. And I am so happy I did.

First revelation. Sewing a curtain is not as hard as I though it was. Dare I say the actual sewing was quite easy. The measuring and figuring out proportions was the most difficult.

Second revelation. Once you sew something, you want to sew more. I am seeing seat cushions and pillows in my near future. But dont worry, I wont get too crazy and start sewing my own underwear or anything.

Third revelation. Fabric stores do not have to be overwhelming. (We'll see, still working on that one)

So after working with Katie, I practically ran home to hang my masterpiece.

Fourth revelation. Do not buy a curtain rod that barely fits your space. For example, if you find yourself needing a curtain rod that is 52" long, do not buy one that stretches to 53". This rod will not be sturdy and will sag in the middle. This is probably obvious to most people, but when I am trying to keep my Target bill under $100, I tend to skimp.

So after being seriously disappointed and practically throwing a tantrum, my man jimmy-rigged a solution. Is it perfect? No. Do I need a new rod? Yes. Will I buy a new rod? Yes. But I couldnt bring home my first sewing project and not hang it. That would have been unbearable.

So here are a couple pictures. Simple to some, but I am proud.






Thanks again Katie!

around the house

House projects over here have been kind of slow lately. For the next few months we are busy every Saturday, but I am hoping to squeeze in some little things here and there. Last weekend I finally painted my garage sale chair, hung my plates, and painted my vintage peacock panels I found at Woolworths.















*this is a horrible representation of the color on my walls. I swear it doesnt look so poop-ish in real life. This is the result of night and an old camera. Or maybe my lack of camera skills came into play. I am blaming the camera


I am REALLY hoping to tackle some bigger projects, like painting the hallway walls and cabinets and finally finishing the guest room trim, in the next couple weeks. We'll see how that goes. But for now my obsession with spray painting random objects in my house will have to tie me over. Seriously...no vase is safe!

unexpected gift

Peter's birthday celebration continued tonight, with a great dinner out with our family. We were so happy his grandparents were able to come down, see our house, and meet our Scully (they are two dog lovers). The highlight of my night (besides spending time with everyone of course) was the totally unexpected gift I received from Peter's grandparent.

After Peter opened his they said they had an early bday present for me. Now this was very surprising, considering my birthday is in November. And I am known to ask for things, but not months and months in advance. To my delight, I opened up the boxes and two beautiful plates from Anthropologie were inside! I have been eying these plates for a while (they were actually on my Christmas list)and almost bought them the other day. They are beautiful and lovely and colorful and and I am going to combine them with white and cream plates I have been collecting to start a plate wall in my front room.
I cant wait.




something like this. the start of my collection. but not on rose colored carpet (ugh). on the wall


Thank you Grandpa and Grandma! I love them!

growing

This will not turn into a blog about my dog. But she is growing like a weed and I just wanted to share some more pictures.

Scully and Booda, her hedgehog. She fell asleep with her nose right up against Booda's bootay. I know she is a dog and this is a stuffed hedgehog, but we found this hilarious.




Doing what she does best. Chewing. Look at that tooth. She is such an animal.



Scully girl!

february

Things I have been loving so far in February
....
my man
my Scully
my home
70+ degree days
Jr Miss
Top Chef
American Idol
finding new blogs
spending my lunch hour at Woolworths Antiques
getting a massage
one hour Office episode...Boom! Roasted.


Not so much
....
the start of tax season (long hours for Peter)
my hair
my current wardrobe
the unfinished state of the guest room
my puppy's teeth that want to chew everything especially skin and pant legs
the lack of photos on this post
not receiving any of the President's holidays off
my dormant grass