creating space for beauty & simplicity
chris is away for a few days as a chaperone for the annual OC teen trip.
yesterday he spent the day here.
yeah i am a bit jealous.
he keeps sending me photos and texts saying how much he wants us all to go back.
he just sent me a text saying “architecture is my new passion.”
the girls and i have a few things planned while he is away but it’s all pretty low key.
our schedules are calming down and that summery relaxed feel is creeping in.
:: i want to thank all of you who leave me such warm and thoughtful comments.
you really make my heart swell. xo
:: feels like the weekend has already started.
be brought strawberries and homemade barbeque sauce home from the farmers market today.
the long weekend will be full of parties and picnics.
i am super excited to have been invited to this on saturday night. thanks kate!
happy thursday.
this place here can be a funny thing.
this place here meaning the internet.
sometimes it can bring me so much joy and inspiration and sometimes i get overwhelmed with it.
i stumbled on this interview with Lisa Congdon and found it inspirational.
well that was a nice long break now wasn’t it?
life has been full these days.
and on top of it i decided to take a little break from the computer which has enabled me to get lots accomplished here at home.
i painted my bedroom and i love it. it used to be a deep blue and now it is my favorite benjamin moore ‘revere pewter’.
now i want to spend all of my time in bed!
it is amazing how paint can completely change the feel of a room.
my grandfather crafted my bed and built in closets. i only have one little dresser in my room and the rest is completely built in.
chris has some pretty little knobs ready to go for the drawers along the bottom of the bed.
i made another hanging planter for in between the windows. this time from a basket.
i want to make one of these for the opposite wall and then i think the room will feel complete.
ok off to take a nap.
yesterday i said to myself “wow i did absolutely nothing today” and then i realized that i had done more than i have in a while.
i slept in til 9 o’clock (was out late for the reunion), made a fairy house with norah, played rummy 500 and scrabble with hannah, made popsicles, sat in the sun on the back porch and went to an afternoon movie with chris.
why is it that doing nothing seems to translate as something negative?
or that doing nothing means not getting anything done around the house or crossing anything off of your list.
i have decided that i want to do a lot more of nothing because nothing is what we are all are going to remember the most.
you know that feeling you get when you sometimes write a simple word like the or yesterday and you look at it for a while and wonder if it really is spelled properly, like you have never even seen the word before.
or when you look in the mirror and get that weird feeling like “is that really me?”
maybe none of you have had these thoughts or feelings. maybe i am just weird.
but lately i have been having those same strange feelings when i think about the fact that my girls will not live with me forever.
chris just rolls his eyes when i get all misty eyed and ask him “has it hit you yet that one day they will move out?”
i know i shouldn’t be focusing on these things and gosh it’s not like it’s tomorrow or anything but maybe it’s the fact that hannah is now 10 and man that just flew by. i felt like it was yesterday (yes it’s spelled properly) when i would see moms on the playground with “older kids” and think how far away that was.
now i am the mom with the “older kids”
believe me i want them to move out one day and be independent and travel and learn new things without me.
but i won’t lie when i say how much i love when hannah tells me she wants to move in next door when she grows up.
and yes i am fully aware that this probably means that she will move far far away.
i am loving the spring manifestos over at the art of seeing things.
it got me thinking about writing my own.
so here goes.
this spring…
i will learn new songs on my ukelele.
we will eat more meals out on our front porch.
i will sew myself a summer frock.
we will take more walks in the woods.
i will get my piano tuned and begin to play again.
i will fill my garden with plants from other people’s gardens.
i will find and plant wild ramps.
we will have as many outdoor fires as we can.
we will go on our first camping trip of the year.
we will plant a few simple favorites in our community garden plot.
i will sew a pair of shorts for each of the girls.
i will try making our own pita bread.
i will make a living wall out of an old pallet that lives behind our garage.
i will say yes more.
i will plan a weekend getaway with chris (it’s only been 10 years. jeesh!!).
we will have more impromptu picnics.
i will shop more at the asian market.
i will drink more water.
i will write letters.
i will stop comparing.
i will spend less time on the computer (which is where a lot of the comparing can happen).
i will promise myself that even if only one thing on this list happens i will treat myself to a gelato and a new pair of summer sandals.
sometimes….
:: i turn the calendar a day early
:: i go to bed with dirt still under my fingernails
:: i can eat an entire bag of jellybeans in one day
:: i wished i liked my spring wardrobe better than my fall one.
:: i drive into the city and back and realize i never turned the radio on
:: i look at hannah and can see her in 10 years
:: i look at norah and have no idea what she will be like in 10 years.
:: i walk across the street at night and look into my windows
:: i cut branches off of neighbors trees without asking (pruned properly of course) for a vase on my mantle
:: i pretend that these things happen sometimes when they really happen a lot.
as ms. blossom dearie said “they say it’s spring”
a celebratory toast with a little rhuby.
happy spring to you my friends! xo