Syrup, Glasses and Peachy Walls

The big news at our house is that Dee is taller...(3 inches in the last year) and right on up to 10th percentile and he is also going to be getting glasses! He's all hot and cold, nervous about it...getting rid of the nearsightedness headaches sounds great but he's worried about looking weird and finding frames that "suit him." I am looking forward to a fabulous frame shopping session with just him where we let him try on every single one that appeals and don't come home tell we have suited him up like Gregory Peck in the most handsome pair of specs possible. Must. Call. And actually schedule that appointment.

 The weather is crazy. We had a few more inches of snow this past week, then some warm and golden days where everything melted and then today the wind was whipping around the house and the ground was all solidly frozen again. I stayed indoors, tried not to cry, shuffled around in my moccasins, drank lots of tea and joined a fitness challenge. Oh spring, please come soon! I may elope to Florida if you don't.

 Its sugaring season at the local nature center which makes me feel nostalgic, like an imposter and slightly superior all at once. I love the smell of sap boiling down and the taste of the fresh syrup which just IS different than the bottled product on the shelf, I feel totally silly going through the "This is how real maple syrup is made, kids!" class and activity at the nature center...my parents would eye roll so bad....I know how to do all of this and the only reason why my kids don't is because I haven't ever gotten my tail in gear enough to be able to make it happen at our house. I am also not sure it is worth it. It smells incredible and I have no sugaring shack and it tastes divine and I have no desire to be outside in sugaring weather. Heh. This is why I support local folks with my purchasing power. Check back when we are discussing fresh carrots or foraging for autumn mushrooms.

 BUT....in a teeny nod to the warmth of the summer and the colors I love and the deliciousness of the tropics...THIS is my new bedroom wall color! Isn't it pretty?

There is still a lot of painting to do...it didn't cover perfectly, some spots still need spackle and sanding and the trim always needs some going over. But I love it. Its lush and soothing and just the lifting shade I was hoping it would be. Isn't it great when things work out?!?

I love painting walls...almost nothing can help me relax quite like it.  Except for maybe gardening.

Oh Spring....Can you come now?!?!?!?!?!

Sister Paint

Lockbox and I together are a little combustive. I don't mean that we conflict but more that like a combustive engine we are a positively explosive combo. The two of us here in the house means that suddenly we're caught up on the washing, planning art projects, starting new books with the boys and randomly busting open cans of wall paint! Huzzah!

The other night when we were sitting around together, plotting the final hours before A came home and what still needed to be finished...we got the urge to paint. With no real warning we found ourselves in the dining room with paint and brushes, screeching all the furniture to the center of the room and skipping the whole taping off the edges part. Bam. The dining room is that beautiful Swedish grey I've been contemplating. I went with the darker color that I wasn't sure I was brave enough to try and we repainted all the gloss white trim to contrast.

I love it.

Lockbox is galvanizing for me. She tells me to go ahead and do the things I am bashfully considering and then volunteers to hold the ladder.

Love sisters.

Bathroom Stripping

 No, not me...this frightening bathroom wallpaper! One of our upstairs bathrooms had this lovely heavily plasticky, blueish, faux-woodgrain wallpaper. As soon as we strolled through the house for the first time I put removing it on the list of renovations to tackle early on.

 Now, of course, all of you real life home-owners know that "early on" means sometime in the first five years of owning your new place, right? I'm so ahead of schedule, getting to the job in the first year. (This is what I tell myself anyhow.) I did a little online reading about wallpaper stripping and then began....then there was a long lull and finally A helped me tear the rest off. Handily, the heavy plastic texture turned out to be a bonus....it peeled off in pretty large sheets and left nothing but a little glue on the wall.

Here are some shots of the plain white tile that lines the shower and the tiny teal-ish tiles that are on the floor. Inspired by them, I am hoping to paint the walls a bright orange as soon as I finish washing all the glue off the newly naked walls. Good thing it's a small room. I am hoping to go for a nice poppy bright color. I always do these edgy, borderline bizarre rich colors and I'm not entirely sure it is wise. I am no interior decorating wizard, that's for sure.

 This one spot above the sink is all I really have clear so far. Lots left to do. This could take a while. Good thing we started to early, eh? We could be occupied for a bit.

Here's Nib on the new bath mat, next to the shower curtain. I hope the whole theme works out. I am primarily being inspired by bright orange coral and seafoamy ocean water. Sounds sane, right? Tell me I'm sane.

Here's my whole design inspiration board, just in case you wanna visualize the colors I'm thinking.