Laowai

Well we are into February. It’s nice to see that my plants are reacting to the extra bit of light that we are getting because it still feels pretty dreary to me. I keep my geraniums in my dining room in the winter and then move them outside when the weather is warm. I have lots of plants in there by my big windows. I try to give the geraniums a big trim around Christmas time so they don’t get leggy. They look pretty leggy in the photos so I think I need to not be afraid to trim them back even more. I just love how tough geraniums are. 

It’s looking even more like a jungle in my dining room now because I made some new curtains. The old curtains were so old they were turning to dust. I chose a bold leafy pattern with lots of green. It makes me happy. The dining room was an outside room or enclose porch when the house was built. The real dinning room is the room that we use as our TV room (is that confusing?). Based on the old blueprints that I have it seems that they enclosed the outdoor room just a few years after the house was built. It’s the only room in the house that has radiators. So along with all the sun that comes in the big windows it’s a nice warm room. Probably too dry for my plant’s liking but oh well. 

The room needs to be painted and the windows need to be washed. I’m afraid to open up the big storm windows to clean – afraid they won’t go back in because they seem in such bad shape. So even though it needs some work – I love my dining room.

Sometimes when you can’t control things in your life – you can at least buy expensive light fixtures. I don’t want to spill all the gory details, but being a mom – particularly a mom to a unique girl like mine – is not for sissies. So where can I get a little confidence, where can I go to feel like I am good at something? I can go to lighting store web sites and scroll through 157 pages of pendants. Then I can feel like I have really done something good when I find the perfect one that will be the icing on the cake of my impending kitchen remodel. And then I can feel even better (sort of) when I find it $100 dollars cheaper on an obscure web site. Try not to infer how expensive it was based on that discount – cringe. And now that I’ve got the perfect pendant I can move on to getting paint samples and thinking deeply about gray tone neutrals. And I can talk with my kind contractor. And I can gaze at linoleum floor samples. I may feel completely inept at being a mom some days but I sure can spend Brian’s money. That’s my job right? Now I have to go – I need to check the UPS shipping status of my new light fixture.

Here it is:

… on the couch going down a rabbit hole of old photos. Their cheeks are so much pudgier. Sigh.

Here are some photos that Brian has sent me over the last 10 days or so. As I mentioned he has gone from Tokyo to Dubai to Hamburg and now Boston (no pictures from Boston). Now we need him back home.

I found this great free printable calendar – The Calendar of Ridiculous Holidays. Today is pie day and it’s a perfect excuse to make a celebration. A way to brighten a blah winter day like today. 

We actually started our pie celebration last night. We shared some chocolate pie with Bea’s best friend. And tonight we will have pork pie for dinner (Grandma C’s recipe) with more chocolate pie for dessert.

Brian is gone for a long work trip (Tokyo to Dubai to Hamburg to Boston) so we really had a need to find something to do. I’m so glad he rarely travels on the weekend because I just really start to miss him. 

I’m feeling a little jealous that we are not getting the big snow storm that is happening in the Eastern part of the country. But at least our nearby ice rink was just opened and we got to go ice skating.

Claire is not a fan of the camera lately. Little stinker.

Best friends!

I was inspired, by this wonderful book, to make a painting of my home. The book is called Home and it’s written and illustrated by Carson Ellis. 

Maybe I’ll do some more painting this winter – on paper, not walls.

So we are starting down the path to a kitchen renovation. Yippeee ad Yikes too!

Last weekend I dragged Brian and the girls to some showrooms to look at sinks and faucets and stuff like that. The girls found a pink bathtub in the sale room at the back of one store. What’s with the tongues out? I told Claire she could have the tub but she’d have to get rid of her bed.

Today I met with a kitchen cabinet designer. While we talked Bea designed this special kitchen complete with a cheese maker, flying pizza and a special avocado protecting room.

The kitchen designer was very good. I was hoping for someone that was a good listener and someone I could have a good rapport with. And I think I got that – it’s a good first step.

I spend a ton of time planning on Pinterest but after the kitchen designer left I thought I would look to the past for some inspiration. I got out the magazine that the previous owners of our house left – it’s from 1973 and it features our kitchen!

There it is 40 years ago and it looks pretty much the same today. That is my kitchen! All that pattern. All those flowers, all that Formica – all mine. I noticed today that there were curtains that match the wallpaper – I don’t have those.

Here’s some more inspiration from that 1973 Better Homes and Gardens idea book. 

A fancy sink can complement a fancy dress. I think we were looking at this brand of sink last weekend.

The headline below says “For today’s women — alert, open-minded… involved”. I want to be alert. I want to be open-minded. I want to be… involved. 

A wifesaver – that’s something I have to have.

I would love to add some bright color to our kitchen. A pop of bright green would be so happy. Unfortunately Brian disagrees. Maybe if I show him the color in this kitchen he well let me put a small bit of bright color in our kitchen. 

I like the pom pom fringe on the curtains but I think I will skip curtains in my kitchen – especially curtains right next to the stove.

European inspiration. A red kitchen to go with your European red pants.

More fancy curtains and a street lamp in the middle of the room:

We have this exact faucet and it is in perfect working order. I feel bad wanting to change it out but I think I will.

It does make me sad to think that in 40 years people will be laughing at the kitchen I design today. I don’t know how to avoid it – even if you think you are making classic choices it always ends up looking stuck in a decade.

But I do take comfort because no matter what I do it will never look as goofy as Mary Tyler Moore’s kitchen below. What is she sitting on? Did her island shrink? Does she trip on it? 

It’s good to look back.

Bea made a pack of four and the bargain price is $5.00.

It’s quiet around here. We’re back to our routine. We got a bit of snow and I did my first shoveling of the year this morning. I’m enjoying the sun when it comes out—lighting candles and making fires when it’s not out. I’ve been spending lots of time thinking about our kitchen. We are probably going to start the process of renovating soon. I’m supposed to talk to a cabinet company kitchen designer today. We went sledding over the weekend. Today I didn’t realize it until I was on my third bit of baking (sandwich bread in the morning, banana date bread after I took Claire to school and then biscuits to go with dinner), but I guess the cold weather made me go a bit baking crazy. It’s good to have hungry people to bake for. I’m enjoying the birds in my heated bird bath as I type. 2016 is rolling along.