It's time for me to pretend I'm a home design blogger and reveal our basement renovation.  I started renovating our basement in September after we had an unfortunate mystery puddle on the floor. That seems like a really long time ago. Lately we've been using the basement so much that it almost feels like it…

Is there anything better than having someone bake a cake for you? Someone washing all the dirty dishes for you is a close second.

Quarantinewhile – that's what Stephen Colbert has named a segment on his show. Things are getting super bad again pandemic-wise so there is more hunkering down and less normal social life happening. I say this, not to you dear readers since you are aware, but more to my future self as a reminder of what…

I persuaded the fam. to go for a walk on this cold blustery morning. It's my birthday so they have to do what I ask. Ha. We went up to Fort Sheridan along the lake. It was beautiful and refreshing and everyone seemed to be in a good mood (amazing).  I wish there were more…

I think Switzerland is still very much on all of our minds here at the Chapman household. And even after we get over this repatriation period Switzerland will of course have a special place in our hearts. So when I was searching my mind for things to put up in our entranceway I thought of…

Oh I do love a jumble of kid art and snapshots and ephemera all mashed together on a wall. Today I updated our wall. It's the cork-covered wall in our TV room. It was a bit of a time capsule from when we moved away three years ago. So I took down a few old…

Halloween 2020 was a success. It's so good to have something to celebrate properly in this crazy year. We had a beautiful fall day and handing out candy was only a little different from normal. We sat outside and set a big basket of candy about 12 feet away so trick-or-treaters could safely help themselves.…

This was my scenery last year. This year my scenery is a little different. Changes.

Can't beat Midwest fall color.  

This week it started to feel cold in the house. I'm preparing for a long winter of hunkering down at home (as everyone is). Time to bring out the wool blankets and sweaters and the thick comforters. I'm lighting candles all over the house (even in the tub). And I got out our bins of…