Snow Days

Remember when snow days were fun? When the mere mention of the word made you dance with joy and anticipation for a day off from school?

I remember my dad going out to make sure our sledding path was clear of big branches before a predicted snow storm.
I remember the anxious feeling of watching the school closing list scroll across the bottom of the TV screen.
I remember fun-filled snow days - sledding, building snow men, and making snow angels - and then going inside for hot chocolate by the fire.

And now?

Now snow is an inconvenience, a hassle, something I'd rather not deal with (hence why I moved farther south!). This evening, I trudged through the wet, slippery, still-falling snow. Fighting to stay upright, to keep my umbrella up, to not step in large, dirty puddles of half-melted snow. I arrived at my corporate apartment feeling cranky, wet, and miserable. And it makes me sad.

Sad that something that once brought me so much joy now brings misery. Sad to have lost that childhood sense of wonder and fun that came along with snow days.

And I wonder....what else have I lost along the way?

Politics (and peaches!)

Now that I'm back in Washington DC part-time, I find myself being more interested in politics. Sometimes when I'm working long hours I feel like I'm in a bubble and have absolutely no idea what's going on in the world. But being in DC inspires me to at least try to keep up with news and politics. I watched the State of the Union address tonight. Overall, I thought it was a good speech. Political ideas have a way of sounding great in speeches and then being very difficult to actually implement. We'll see what happens. ok, enough politics - on to peaches :)

This past weekend, we had a session with a professional photographer. We haven't had professional pictures taken since our wedding, more than 5 years ago. Last summer, I bought a Groupon for a portrait session and finally was able to use it this past weekend. I'll post a few good ones when I figure out how!! In the meantime, for anyone in the Atlanta area, check out http://www.sarahesther.com/. Sarah is super-sweet, really energetic, and takes wonderful pictures! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!

Well, Hello There!

It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Life threw me a huge curve ball a few months ago in the form of an out of town work project. For the past three months, I've been traveling to Washington DC (the irony) every week for work. In short, it's terrible. It's been difficult to juggle home, husband, friends, family, the holidays, etc. all while being away from home every week. The home that we just finished and moved back into.....life can be so unfair. It's tough, as I'm sure everyone has experienced, to keep the faith that things will get better. Sometimes I feel as if I've been dealt more than my fair share of trying times. But then, I take an honest look around - at the struggles of others, at the unfairness that seems to grip entire countries, and the horrible events that appear on the daily news, and I realize that I'm being rather self-indulgent and spoiled.
And so.....I'm back. Again. Back to share bits of my life, to connect with friends, and to learn from this crazy adventure called life.

House Tour, Part 1

I've been delaying posting pictures of the house because, honestly, it doesn't yet look the way I want it to. We need furniture, there are many blank walls and it just doesn't look and feel complete yet. But that's my perfectionism talking so I'll go ahead and share pictures of the work-in-progress.

Living room - this room is exactly the same as it was before and that's the original fireplace - one of the only pieces of the original house that survived!

Dining room - also the same as the original except for a few minor changes, like the built-in china cabinet below, designed by Cary :)

Front hall. We bought that painting at the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta this past spring and I love it. It doesn't photograph well but I think it's beautiful.

Kitchen

Family room, which is open to the kitchen.

The other side of the family room, which goes out to the screened porch aka my favorite place. And there's Jackson sleeping, which he does 80% of the time :)

Guest bedroom on the first floor.

Guest bathroom



Master bedroom, it's pretty dark in the picture but it's actually very bright and sunny. This is the back of the room, across from the door.

The other side of the bedroom. We're sleeping on a mattress on the floor - see what I mean about incomplete? So there's part of it. More to come!

Creative inspiration

I absolutely LOVE Paper Source and going in the store always gives me tons of ideas for creative projects to try. Granted I'm not the most artistic person in the world, but just stepping foot in a PS store makes me think I could pull off anything.

For anyone who does not live near one, they also have a great website and blog where they regularly share some amazingly creative projects. I love this idea for sugar-stamped plates. How gorgeous is this?

I can't wait to try this out for a shower, birthday party or even just a small dinner party!

A sort-of-final house update

I say "sort-of-final" because I'm sure I'll be posting more pictures as we move in, decorate, etc. But...here's the finished product!

It's been a long year-plus since this day but now we can't wait to move in!

got corks?

wine corks, that is! I had tons that I'd been saving forever. I saw a similar project at a wine festival a long time ago and recently decided to make my own.

I still need to make a pretty bow for it (talented sister, are you reading?). Overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out. And before you start to worry about (or judge) my (our) drinking habits, I've been saving these corks for years. Some of them are from our wedding 5 years ago so it takes awhile to accumulate enough good ones for a project like this.