Summer. In March.

This weather is just wrong.

WRONG!
We're having June weather in March.

Not good.

Know what is good?

Heirloom tomatoes.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Life Is Good

I thank God for good days. I always appreciated them, but after being so sick and not being able to care for Jane in those early months, good days take on a whole new meaning. Good days don't have to have exciting moments, or shopping, or perfect hair.

Good days have late afternoons with the windows rolled down and Jane talking to me from the backseat.

Good days have lunch breaks at Sonic.

Good days involve buzzing around the house every morning while Mabel licks Jane's breakfast off her face.

Good days have prayer time.

Good days have dinners and laundry and plugged sink drains and dusty bookshelves and ice cream on the front porch after Jane goes to bed.

These regular things are extraordinary things now.

They make life so good.

Pinterest = Girl Fantasy Football

1. I can feel the wheels starting to turn with this inspiration for my Mamie pink bathroom.
2. Is it possible to find this inside city limits? Sigh.
3. I'm trying to master the art of the gallery wall. Mine does not look like this.
4. My favorite shade of green, hands down.

Phase 3: Dining Area Mini-Redo

I know, I know. Getting a new light fixture hardly qualifies as a major decorating. But it definitely counts as a mini-redo.

Remember when I said I thought my tastes were changing a little bit? I was talking about this light fixture. A year ago I wouldn't have looked twice at it. But now, I love it.

I'm also rubbing my hands together and pondering the blue wall. Not sure if it goes with all the changes we've made lately.

Phase 2: Living Room Redo

What has this little redo taught me? Never say never.

First, I should announce that we've said goodbye to our little retro couch. I will miss it. I will not miss the fact that every time I sat on it I said, "Ouch."

Back to the never say never part.

You guys know how I feel about the color brown. It's not my fault. Once upon a time we spent an entire year renting a townhouse where every windowless wall was painted dark brown. It was a cave. It was depressing. It scarred me.

But as I began searching for couches I found that, gasp, I liked the dark brown ones. I fought it. "You need a white slip covered couch. Or a sleek mid century reproduction," I lectured myself.

Want to know a secret? White slip covered couches are a pain in the butt (no matter what anyone says) and sleek mid century couches don't feel very comfy when you've got the flu and want to wallow and watch some movies. Yes. I've become that woman. The "function over form" woman. Who would have ever thought.

So here she is. Our dark brown couch (and our new rug). We love her so much.
I never knew watching TV could be so comfortable. I also never knew that not worrying about Mabel's muddy feet or Jane's crumbly snacks could be so blissful. And I realized that dark colors aren't depressing or dreary when paired with white walls and bright colored pillows.

Since we got our new dresser in the bedroom, we moved the old painted buffet into the living room. My mission was to paint it bright white and find some funky Anthropologie handles to replace the old ones. That's still my mission, you know, after I win the lottery. Instead I just spray painted the handles bright red in hopes of making them look like bakelite. It's also a dream because I can store all my movies and throw blankets in it. Wahoo for more storage.

So that's our redo.
One word of advice: spring is a great time to buy furniture. They're selling floor models and making room for new stuff.
Another word of advice: never say never.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Waiting for hyacinths.

Jane grabbing for my camera.

She's pretty sure she could take better pictures.

Sage that survived the winter.

Pink powder.

Phase One of Redecorating: Knobs

When I'm sick I can still:

Make oatmeal (pretty much the only thing I've wanted to eat for days).

Wash my hair (our hot water heater was out of commission for 3 days and I've never appreciated a warm shower so much).

Nap (pretty good stuff when your fever is over 100).

Scratch Mabel's ears (she likes it when I'm sick).

Write a major honey-do list (Matt doesn't like it when I'm sick).

But like all sweet husbands he complies. Like changing the knobs out on our new bedroom dresser. The dresser was on clearance (yipee for floor models) but the knobs were ugly. A few weeks ago I nabbed these from Hobby Lobby for half off, and now I have a chance to use them.

We also got a king size bed. Let's face it. Between two healthy sized adults, one flopping and twisting and teething 11 month old, and a cranky schnauzer... a queen bed was getting mighty tight. Don't worry, our lovely four poster is in the storage.

Still Alive

Why are all the worst germs floating around during such a beautiful season? Boo. On the upside, it gives me lots of time to stare at the ceiling and think about our little redecorating project. Jane doesn't understand and expects me to continue on with animated dance renditions of Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here's hoping that happens soon, because until then Jane will keep grabbing my toes insistently.

The Plague

With daycare comes the daycare cooties. I'm sick. Again. I'm coping with blueberry waffles and all the ceiling fans set on high (helps with fever). I can't wait to get better and get out in the spring air, plant flowers and wear swishy skirts with sandals. But today I'm wearing sweatpants and leaving a trail of Kleenex like breadcrumbs in case I should get lost in a feverish haze between the bedroom and the bath.

Redecorating Teaser Part 2

Three Day Weekend

We've all been sick around here in one way or another for the last two weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this weekend is full of fun, not Kleenex!

A Little Redecorating Teaser

Baby Flowers

I love watching hyacinths sprout, don't you?

Redecorating

So we've been doing some redecorating lately. It's a slow process, and as you can see I'm not in any hurry. Normally when I redo a room it's a crazy rush. But not the this time. Good old Paxil.

I'm taking my time, for once. I'm enjoying the smell of new furniture. I'm also enjoying Jane's messes all over the floor. It's the cutest mess ever. I do not, however, enjoy stubbing my toe on that giant Simba rocking chair turned on its side. It gets me every time.

Back to decorating. Want to know a secret? I think my decorating tastes are changing. Anyone else go through that? I always thought I would buy a sleek, light colored couch if I got the chance. Well, I didn't. I can't wait to show you some of the changes, but as usual, there's a lot of spray painting to be done first. That part of decorating hasn't changed at all.

Instagram Party

If I live a thousand years I don't think I'll find a pattern I love more than the one on these curtains (made out of a vintage tablecloth).

Mabel does her best to out perform Jane's cuteness.

Jane is oblivious to this competition.

This was me, moments after discovering I had baby food all over the side of my face and neck. At work. After a meeting.

During a rain storm I realized I was surrounded by polk-a-dots.

Jane diligently punches buttons on her cell phone and mutters, "Dadadada."

It melts my heart every time.

Sickly

We're a bit down for the count around here. Be back tomorrow!

Rearranging

I started rearranging things in the house. This is sort of like a house of cards. I pulled one from the bottom and then all sorts of things started to collapse. If I move this then I have to move that. And if I move that then the other thing looks funny. And what about this stack now?

We'll see how it goes.

These are everywhere.

I want to pick a bunch of branches and make an arrangement. But then Matt, Jane and my allergies would have a full on nuclear meltdown. So we'll have no pretty flower branch arrangements, just a crazy furniture rearrangement and piles of stuff everywhere.

We are what we believe we are.

C.S. Lewis

Pinterest Is Like Fantasty Football For Girls

Cute.

Heart banner.

I love white walls.

Now I want to blow up a giant picture of Jane.

This makes me think about Jane's upcoming birthday!

Caramelized bananas and strawberries. Yes please.