Endless entertainment

This weekend Will installed a birdfeeder.

We’ve been meaning to put this up for, oh, most of our marital relationship but just like many other things on that ‘someday’ list, other to-dos took priority.  But finally!  We are now a birdfeeder family.

Foolishly, I was a bit concerned the birds wouldn’t find it or would be turned off by its location (right next to our trashcan area).  I see now I needn’t worry.

I kid you not, I could spend most of the day at our kitchen window watching these little beauties come and go.  And as you can see I have yet to learn the lesson that a camera cannot quite capture images through a screen.

Can you spot the stalking squirrel?

He actually made a flying leap for the feeder only to fall surprisingly gracefully to the ground.  George and I have been giggling ever since.

A day in the life of Lucy.  Beyond exciting, I know.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Springing forward

It was a gorgeous weekend to get accustomed to the time change.

Cowboy George was up with the birds.  But we're used to that 'round these parts.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Two quick recipes

After our loooooooong snow day yesterday, complete with three trips outside to play, two cups of hot chocolate, and one very necessary movie (so that I could regain my slipping sanity) the day finally slowed down.  I began to make the kids' dinner after their much-needed bath time and when they realized I was making green beans for their vegetable, Frances and George both cheered, "Yay! Green beans!!" and did a happy dance in the kitchen.

They really do love these simple beans, which I pretend means they are really good and not just tolerable compared to the steamed broccoli and cooked carrots they get on other nights.  Will likes them, too; he just rarely gets to eat them because they are usually entirely consumed by the time he walks through the door.  Plus, they are ridiculously easy to make:

Roasted Green Beans

• Wash and break in half green beans and put in a square cake pan.  
• Toss with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and add garlic powder and kosher salt to taste.  
• Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes (check at 12 minutes) until tender.  Enjoy!

Honey Mustard Dressing

I must admit, I am not a big fan of honey mustard dressing.  Most store-bought brands (or even restaurant options) are too sweet for my taste.  But when I saw this recipe on one of my go-to food blogs (here) I gave it a try.  I liked that the main ingredient was Greek yogurt (healthy, right?) and it had a fairly small amount of sugar.

Don't worry - it's not actually this electric yellow.

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 T yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
• 2 T honey

Try not to lick the bowl.

Because of the yogurt, this is actually best served as a dip (chicken fingers!) or on sandwiches rather than as a salad dressing where it can taste a little chalky.  But who are we kidding, I also slather it on my salads, too and gobble it up at an embarrassing rate.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

In like a lion

Snow in March is just plain cruel.

Snow in December is magical; snow in January and February is expected and (usually) a welcomed change from the monotony of winter.  But March?  March is springtime, darn it.  March should be sunny, warm and full of small, happy flowers. 

Poor pansies.

Two members of our household are not complaining about the weather though.

But Marshall and I will be spending as much time as possible inside.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  And for those of you in warmer, sunnier climates … enjoy it for me : )

Window treatment help

The internet has its ups and downs, but one of my favorite upsides to Facebook, blogging, and other online connections is finding how much you have in common with people you knew during a different time in your life.

Anne and I are both from Lynchburg, but she is six years my junior so we never crossed paths in school.  Instead, we met lifeguarding at the local country club—I was in college and needed a job; she was in high school and needed the same.  Once those summers came and went, we parted ways and I didn’t think much of it until she happened to marry one of my law school friends several years later and moved to Richmond.  Even after all of that, we rarely saw each other and she has since moved to another state (and is moving yet again to California, so we should all now be totally envious), but we both dabble in blogging, motherhood (which I suppose is more than dabbling) and other similar activities that stem from being a full-time mother.

Anne recently started a new blog (found here) inspired by her love of home decorating and which I have been reading with great admiration.  Will and I have lived in our home for nearly nine years and are still working on those nagging little projects that we noticed from our first month of moving in, so I have been so impressed by Anne’s ability to quickly turn an army base home into an elegant, comfortable and simple place to live.  Plus, the girl has style!  So, when Will and I decided to tackle one of those many projects—window treatments—I logically asked Anne where she gets her inspiration.  She kindly volunteered to help me if I sent her pictures of our rooms and examples of our taste in curtains – seriously?!  How amazing!  I really think I am tapping in to some early, escalating talent here and I couldn’t be more willing to be her guinea pig.

And since I’m all about multi-tasking, I thought I would include this process on my blog.  Plus, if any of you other stylish readers have suggestions or critiques (believe me, I can take the criticism), I would love to hear from you.

Here goes.

Den

We love our den, but it’s a very, very dark northern-facing room.  We’ve done a lot to brighten the room (painted the wood paneling, painted the fireplace, removed the navy (yes, navy) curtains that came with the house), but I’ve been very hesitant to add window treatments because of my fear of making the room darker than it already is. 

After briefly searching Pinterest, I found a couple of fabrics and styles that I thought might work.

Call me crazy, but I love these bold stripes in orange (which I know would not work in our house).
But maybe something similar in light blue?

The den’s color scheme is light blue, white and dark wood/black.  One day, we hope to part with the oversized TV cabinet (which we don’t even use anymore) and swap out some of the other borrowed furniture for sleeker pieces.  I like the idea of floor to ceiling curtains with no valance to add height, but not take away from the few hours of sunlight we get in here.

The most predictable den accessory--Marshall.

Living Room

This is our other dark room in the house—again facing north with only two windows for light.  The colors in this room are similar to the den (the walls are more of a Robin’s egg blue), but the room is more traditional—the Victorian sofa, the dark wood piano, the formal fireplace.

While the room is traditional, I am not a frilly, formal girl.  So I envision simple, white, and airy curtains in this room, like these:

I like these without the valance.

Master Bedroom

Please tell me that everyone’s Master bedroom is a constant work-in-progress?  For us it is the last room we work on because we are typically the only souls to lay eyes on it (except for Frances and George; but they are pretty forgiving).  In saying that, there are many things I would like to change about our bedroom, but here it is for now:

Our walls are a little too pink for Will’s taste (I could take them or leave them) and our secondary color is a greenish-blue.  Otherwise, I love a simple white bed and dark wood (just not so much dark wood).

This room is a bit trickier for me to envision successful window treatments.  For one thing, all three windows are different—one is sunken in (because of the Dutch Colonial style of our house) and the other two are different sizes.  

The sunken window makes for very little room to hang a curtain rod.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but the other two windows are different sizes--the left one is longer than the right.

I think I would like floor to ceiling curtains again, but I would be willing to be talked into something different as well.

Master Bathroom

Welcome back to the 70’s, my friends.

Our Master bathroom is tiny and very outdated.  As a temporary fix, we installed a new sink and painted the walls a chocolate brown, which makes the color scheme chocolate, avocado, and white (and I actually kind of love).  

While I would like to renovate and/or expand this bathroom, I don’t see that happening in the near future, so I was thinking a simple valance or Roman shade for the only window.

Guest Room

Another work-in-progress—the story of home ownership, I suppose.  These walls desperately need repainting and the décor needs updating, but the general concept of this room is blue, yellow, white, and lighter wood furniture.

We inherited the current window treatments and they are okay, but a bit too frilly for my taste.  I like the size of them, though; just a different style and fabric.

And I’ll stop now, although I am far from done (Anne, aren’t you glad you volunteered your already precious time!).  I started a pin board on Pinterest (here) for some more examples of my general style; but I haven't even cracked the surface of what is out there and any other thoughts would be wonderful.

Lastly, Will would want me to ask the most boring of all questions—what kind of budget should we anticipate for window treatments?  I know it depends greatly on fabric choice and style, but a general idea would be great.

Thanks so much to all of you for reading through this massive post and a special thank you to Anne for any help you can throw my way.  I’m sure California doesn’t seem quite far enough away from Virginia now : )  

Happy Monday, everyone! 

This and that

**Thank you all so much for your messages about my neck!  It’s feeling much better today and will (hopefully) continue to improve as the days go on.  I wouldn’t wish that kind of soreness on anyone, but it’s always nice to have friends and family who cater to your pitiful need for sympathy : )**

Frances’s Kindergarten class had a Valentine’s party two weeks ago:

Parents and siblings were invited to attend.  George and I aren’t one to turn down an afternoon of Oreo cookies.

Frances’s teacher, Mrs. Linkous.  

She adores her, I adore her.  If only she could be her teacher forever (or at least through elementary school).  Sometimes I think those one-room schoolhouses were on to something.

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A day in the life of Marshall

1.  A nap in the sunshine, if available

2.  Dinner

And that’s about it.

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Frances and George pretending to run so I could take their picture.

I think they should keep their day jobs.

And an actual action shot for good measure.

Frances was racing; George was the finish line.  I’m sure you can envision how this scene ended.

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The extent of any privacy I get during the day.

A closed door with two sets of hands immediately on the other side.  And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

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For the umpteenth time this year, George and I braved Maymont.

It was cold, but sunny and we were the only souls around who weren’t park employees.  The animals came out just for us, calm and almost human-like.  I like to think they missed seeing park guests for the better part of winter.

For some reason, the fox always reminds me of Marshall.  It must be his penchant for a sunny spot to nap.

George and the fox

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My kitchen sink desperately needed a good scrubbing, so I spent an hour or so one morning with the Clorox bottle and a (now) very white washcloth.

Wala!

By the way, these are the posts that my mother reads with a sigh and thinks, “So this is what seven years of higher education gets you.”

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Frances with her very first French braid.

It was a messy undertaking with her too short hair and my inability to braid on anyone other than myself.  But she loved it and wore it for the rest of the day.

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And what better way to end a post than with a gorgeous sunset.

I took this picture a week or so ago when we were leaving Frances’s dance studio for the evening.  Each year, around mid-February, you realize the day is suddenly a minute or so longer and every day after that the sun sets a little later.  It won’t be long now until it’s still light outside when Will arrives home.

Maybe.

Happy Friday, everyone!  And happy first day of March - yipee!