A (LONG overdue) list

1. Long time no type! I can’t even remember the last time I blogged… It’s been a whirlwind since school ended; our trip to Italy was followed by a week at home (crazily trying to recover) before I rushed off to my brother’s high school graduation and my annual ‘East Coast trip’ to visit friends and family in DC and Pennsylvania. As usual, it was a great visit, but always nice to be home.

2. And another note about our/my recent adventures… We’re currently experiencing technical difficulties with my computer. As in, it won’t let us/me upload any more photos due to lack of memory. Hmm…talk about a problem I never anticipated having! Blast all those photos Andrew takes of our trips! So, until we resolve this issue, Italy pics will have to wait. I may, however, be able to blog about my East Coast trip from my phone…

3. I start school tomorrow. SO SAD. Here I am, a month out of school and into summer and I feel like I’ve barely had a day off at all! Thankfully, it’s an online writing class that shouldn’t be too much to handle. Cross your fingers that my hopes become reality.

4. I’m hitting the gym tomorrow–it’s back to reality for this girl! After a month of ‘vacation’ and the number of runs in the single (sniff sniff) digits, I’m both anxious to and about getting back into my regular routine. I’m actually starting to crave a major sweat session and counting my calories (while sometimes a drag) always makes me feel better.

5. I’m seriously nesting right now (no, I’m not pregnant) and just want to feel like we’ve really moved in! It’s almost a year and we still have things to hang on the walls… I finally ‘moved into’ our porch yesterday by simply moving a piece of furniture and throwing some artwork on already-existing nails, and I’ve already been out there THREE TIMES to read/write. Now, if only we had some more seating out there…

6. Speaking of additional furniture… I’m in DESPERATE NEED (ok, so maybe ‘need’ is used loosely here) of a bed! I have a double headboard, but would take a twin. Really, I suppose I just need a mattress. Anyway, I have all the components to furnish our extra room except a bed and bedding (which I’ve of course already picked out and over which I continue to drool) and it’s killing me.

7. Our yard is also in need of some TLC, except that we have so many ‘plans’ (some sooner rather than later) that it’s almost pointless to tackle much of it until other things are finished. Case-in-point: I’d LOVE to plant beds with transplanted hostas from other parts of the yard, except that we have to do fence work in the near future. So, no bed-planting yet…

8. It’s hot here. Well, not that hot, but our house gets pretty warm due to lack of air flow. So warm, in fact, that Andrew is on the cusp of buying a window AC unit for our bedroom. I’m anti-AC, but am apparently losing this battle. I’d give anything for a ceiling fan, but that’s a huge project that just isn’t high on the priority list right now.

9. My car key clicker battery is dead. It’s totally a first-world problem (thank you, Regina, for that ever-appropriate reference, except that now Andrew uses it whenever I complain about anything…), but it’s so inconvenient. It seems more often than not, my hands are full just when I need to unlock the car…

10. We’re having friends visiting for the 4th of July, and then more friends the following weekend as well. I am so excited! Obviously, I want lots of things to be done around the house, but here’s what I’m MOST excited about: planning the menus. Seriously. I can barely contain myself thinking about what I will make for these dear ones who will drive six-plus hours to see us. Forget about visions of sugar plums on Christmas Eve; I’m imagining pancakes and our BBQ spread and homemade ice cream…

Happy Summer!

out with the yellow

A few months ago, I decided I hated the yellow in our kitchen. Perhaps it was the additional lighting Andrew added, or perhaps it was that it began to remind me of Rachael Ray’s horrible pastel yellow kitchen and multi-color accessories. Either way, I knew my yellow-green-orange-blue with cherry cabinets motif needed to go.

Long term, Andrew and I have plans to do a tile backsplash and put glass in two of our cabinet doors, as well as put in a new (white, French-door) pantry door. But for now, I settled with ‘de-coloring’ the kitchen.

First, I bought a new crock in which to put all those spoons and spatulas, and a new dish rack for drying dishes on the counter. Second, I put the green mixer and green crock ( filled with lesser-used cooking utensils) in the pantry and out of sight. Lastly, I picked a paint color I thought would lighten up the kitchen and be as close to white without being white, or any sort of pink-y cream, either.

I couldn’t wait to get started!

Before:
(I couldn’t find a picture with all the stuff on the counter, so just imagine green and orange crocks, a green mixer, a black dish drying rack and pops of blue.)

After primer:

Hello!

Where am I???

Andrew was kind enough to move the fridge for me so I could get a hard-to-reach spot, and then I realized I still needed to paint above the door…

After:

Again, I really do think it screams for some sort of tile backsplash that will complement the counter, but other than that, I’m really happy with it. Andrew is also going to take out part of a wall (hopefully soon!) that will let in more natural light, which–I’ve noticed–is key for this color to work. In the shadows, my ‘luxury linen’ looks pink–NOT OK!

All in all, this color makes the cherry cabinets more livable for me. And I am LOVING both the bright white utensil crock and my new dish rack!

I didn’t mean to dig up the tree…

I may have gotten a little over zealous in my yardwork endeavor today…

The truth is, I’ve hated that tree since the moment we moved in. In my mind, it was only a matter of time until it was disposed of or moved so some other back corner of the yard. It was mangled and off-center.

I won’t say ‘it just happened,’ because it didn’t. It took work! I was sweating like crazy trying to dig that thing out.

Case in point:

I’ve cleared three beds and pulled more weeds than any yard should have. I suppose this is what I get for not doing a pick of yardwork til the first week of June.