10 Things in My Kitchen

These posts are so fun, I want to play along!

Ten things you will find in my kitchen:

1.  This beautiful bowl that my uncle made sits on my counter and I keep tomatoes and other fruit in it.  It reminds me of my uncle and I always loved cooking with him in my kitchen so it's really nice to have this there.

2.   A lot of heirloom pieces - when my Naunie passed away, I took some bowls from her house and some other things that remind me of her.  I did the same thing with my uncle.  I get comfort from using these things and feel like my Naunie and my uncle are right there with me.

3.  Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar - I love this stuff.  It is so good for you!  Many years ago, my mom cured my dandruff with ACV.  I drink approximately 1 tbsp. diluted in water every day, it promotes digestion, helps control weight, removes toxins from the body.  I have an ulcer and when it acts up, I drink an extra glass of water and ACV and it neutralizes my stomach acid and works better thank OTC remedies.  I use it on my salad every day.  I even got my dad to start drinking it!

4.  Glass jars of flours and grains, popcorn kernels, flax seeds, chia seeds - when I was a kid my friend Tami's mom had glass jars lined up on her counter with different pastas and rices and grains and I loved the way it looked.  I vowed then that when I had my own house, I would do the same.  And a few years ago, I did!

3.  Fiestaware - We have open shelves for dishes and I love the way the bright Fiestaware looks against the white shelves.  The only thing that bums me out is that I got these colors 17 years ago for my wedding and now they no longer make these colors so I can't add to my collection (the new colors don't match well).

5.  Stoneware and Le Crueset - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE baking on Stoneware and cooking in Le Crueset.  I really do think it makes a difference.

6.  Kitchenaid Blender, Mixer and Food Processor - I can make green smoothies that are perfectly smooth with my blender.  I love having my mixer on the counter -- I have promised both of my girls that I will buy them a Kitchenaid mixer when they get married--I use mine ALL the time--pancakes, bread dough, mashed potatoes, you name it!

7.  A lot of heirloom pieces - when my Naunie passed away, I took some bowls from her house and some other things that remind me of her.  I did the same thing with my uncle.  I get comfort from using these things and feel like my Naunie and my uncle are right there with me.

8.  Sourdough Starter - when Jason had hernia surgery last fall, he started making sourdough bread and we have kept it going.  We make a couple loaves every week.  It pares well with soups and stews or salads.  It makes the house smell awesome and it's just nice and comforting to have home baked bread.

9.  Photos of friends and family - My fridge is plastered with photos of friends and family, artwork that my girls made either recently or when they were little and artwork and notes kids give me at the library.  I have also been known to print out favorite poems and quotes to put on there.  Years ago I was a teacher and I had a bulletin board in my room that looked like this, all things people gave me or things I loved...now all that is on my fridge!

10. An inordinate amount of cookbooks and cooking magazines - I have amassed quite a collection of both over the years and despite my best efforts to purge some, the collection grows as I inherit family members' books with notes in the margins.  The worst part is, with the exception of a couple tried and true recipes that I have not memorized, I never even look at cookbooks anymore--I pin recipes and check Pinterest for menu ideas!

Clearing the Winter Doldrums

I like winter.  I love hunkering down under my down comforter with a good book and a cup of Tazo tea.  I love cooking hearty soups and stews and baking multigrain bread.  I love the feeling of being snuggled up inside all cozy with my family while the winds rage outside.

But there comes a point every winter where I get tired of the gray skies and I need a pop of color.  The other day I was at Wegman's and I saw this jade plant and I just had to get it!  It adds a bright pop of color and reminds me of the greens if spring!

My old velvet drapes in the living room were nine years old.  They were embarrassingly faded in places, but I just couldn't find anything I liked to replace them.  Correction: I couldn't find anything in my budget that I liked to replace them.   Now that Jason has been back to work for a few weeks and we replaced everything we took out of savings when he was out of work after surgery, I decided to splurge and reward myself for being so disciplined to put that money back and I bought these curtains at Pottery Barn.  They filter the light so beautifully and make my living room so much brighter--just what I need this time of year!

You may remember that Jason got the hernia moving furniture so we could paint our bedroom.  I am in love with the color.  It's a light gray.  I love toile and had been looking for years for a toile duvet cover--NOT a comforter, but  duvet cover--and finally found one!  I bought four!--my mom and the girls turned two of them into curtains for my bedroom and I have a spare in case the one on my bed gets dirty.  Yes, that is how much I love it!!

I have a few more ideas for changes around here.  It's keeping my head on other things than gray, bleak weather.  I can't wait to share them with you--as soon as I get a chance to complete them!!

Art Studio!

We have been very busy around here.

When we finished our basement, several years ago, we made an office/library to house our vast book collection and our PC.

Well, things change...and we now use laptops and ipads and The Big Mac in the living room.

So our office became wasted space.

I considered making it a Mom Cave, I actually put this chair in there, thinking it would create a cozy little nook to read in...but I never used it.

Last winter, my dad asked if the girls wanted a sewing table.

They take sewing lessons with my mom and they are CONSTANTLY sewing.

They would LOVE a sewing table--but where to put it??

FINALLY

it dawned on us to make the wasted office space into an art studio!

Large craft table and sewing table.

Piper's wall o' inspiration

Originally, we left the carpet, but all of the fabric scraps and other craft debris was too big for a vacuum and needed to be picked up each piece by hand.  We realized we needed to do something else with the floor.

I had wanted to put down black and white tiles, but the people that owned this house before us had painted the floor.  I did some research and that paint needs to be removed with very toxic, caustic chemicals.  Lots of ventilation required.  Unfortunately, we do not have adequate ventilation for that project with that one tiny window.  So, we rolled up the carpet and left the messy floor so the girls can feel free to paint until their heart's content and not worry about drippy spills.

We decided to leave the messy floor so the girls can paint without worry of drips.

The room is still a work in progress.

We have been looking for nice bins to hold things nice and neat and organized.

I am really thinking we may need one more of these bookshelves too.

Having all the craft supplies in one place with space to spread out and create has made our girls very happy!

still looking for inexpensive bins to hold things nice and neat and orderly

This is NEAT for this room.

Sigh.

Mama can't go in here too often...I start cleaning and get mad that it isn't cleaner.

I am trying to learn about their creative process.  

Giggle.

sewing, crafting, painting

Our old PC is in there for now.  

We use it as a hub for our network.  

When it dies, it will open up more space.  

Having a lot of art supplies in one place has made the art of creating a lot easier.

The girls have spent DAYS in the cool basement, down in their art room

crafting & creating!

marker organizer

Right now we have a little painting corner and a messy floor so we don't need to worry about drips :)

easel

40 Bag Update: Falling Back in Love with My Home

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a young girl.  She loved to decorate.  She was always re-arranging the furniture in her bedroom and adding little touches here and there.  This young girl thought of becoming an interior designer, but she really wanted to help people, so she settled on a different career.  But she dreamed of one day owning a home...and how she would decorate it.  She spent hours drawing plans for homes and designing rooms.  When her friends started getting married, she would ask them when they planned to buy a home and how they planned to decorate it.  Traditional?  Country? Contemporary?

Finally this girl met the man of her dreams and they saved their money and finally bought their first house.  This girl spent every second of her spare time painting and priming walls and refinishing woodwork and floors (yes, she refinished floors!).  She spent every spare dime on items to make their house a home.

This went on for several years and several homes.  The Connecticut farmhouse was done in a country style (natch!), the Princeton Cape was uncharacteristically done in a contemporary style.  And finally, she settled on a traditional style in her current home.  Other women would shop for clothes, this girl would shop for things to make her house a home.  Pottery Barn catalogs could make her drool.  Ballard Designs could make her swoon.  Other families spent their money on luxurious vacations, while this family spent their money on finishing their basement, adding a deck, redoing bathrooms and other things for their home.

Things handmade with love, in my opinion, really make a house feel like a home.

Then this woman started homeschooling.

And blogging.

And she no longer found time to clean her home, never mind decorate it.  Her home got cluttered and disorganized and dusty.  This woman, at times, wanted to pull her hair out.  She longed to feel inspired by her home again.  But she just couldn't get the energy up to do anything about it.

Then, through a blog, she discovered 40 Bags in 40 Days.

Get rid of one bag of "stuff" a day for each of the 40 days of Lent.  Well, that was right up this woman's alley.  She did this periodically, but on a much smaller scale.  A few bags here and there.  Disciplining herself to one bag a day...from all different areas of her home might just do the trick.

It wasn't always easy.  There were days where she didn't have time to do a bag.  Then there were days where she did 4 or 5 bags.

Then she fell back in love with her home.

She got rid of clutter on the shelves in her kitchen and in going through her attic (yes! she got a few bags from her attic!) she remembered the Fiesta wear that she had received as a wedding gift.  Placing it on the open shelving in the kitchen makes emptying the dishwasher and setting the table a snap!

Rather impulsively this woman bought some new slipcover for her living room.  It was impulsive and then a fleeting - oh my!  I am getting rid of crap and here I just bought more stuff! - kind of moment.

But then she saw how the snazzy green slipcover brought her drab, dreary old living room back to life.

She had been afraid that the new slipcovers would mean having to buy new curtains...but so far she is happy with the look :)

My grandma, who celebrated her 93rd birthday last Thursday, down the shore with my Grandpa in the 1930s.
I love how dressed up they are on the beach!

 Allie was the flower girl in my brother and sister-in-law's wedding when she was 2.

3 in 30 Update:  I am still working on 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.  I need to get better at making time for it EVERY DAY.  But I have learned a ton and have attained several of my blogging goals.  I was offered two exciting opportunities this past week that will help me reach more of the goals.

Home Goals 2012

Today I am linking up with The Nester for

My favorite room in my home is the 

Living Room.

We have a very open floor plan.

Our dining room opens to the living room.

It's great for holidays because I can easily accommodate several tables of people throughout the two rooms,

but it seems like we are all in one room.

We keep the TV in the Family Room,

so our living room is a place to just hang out and talk, be together, play games, entertain.

Last summer we bought a Big Mac

We decided to keep it in the living room for a variety of reasons.

But I just can not seem to come up with a furniture arrangement that I love with it in there!

I tried moving the couch to the opposite wall and making a separate sitting area from the computer area.

(I took these photos as I was moving furniture around, which is why there is an extension cord on the floor...)

I tried having the couch in the middle of the room with a walkway into the sitting area on the left side.

My most recent configuration is having the couch in front of the side window and although you can't tell from this photo, the computer ends up being part of the room.

I am still trying to come up with ideas...

GOT ANY IDEAS for me on how to configure this?

I would sure appreciate them!

Every January, Jason and I sit down and figure out some goals for our home together.

First on our list is replacing our roof.

We've already sent in the contract, just waiting for the right weather ;-)

Second on MY list is for Jason to get the house power-washed.

Third on our list is to replace the window in our bedroom.

We replaced all of the other windows two years ago, but we had a tree that needed to come down RIGHT outside that window and felt it was best to wait for the tree to come down BEFORE replacing the window...since there is always the chance of breaking a window.

And when things get put off...welll, they get put off...and off...and off...

I would also like to replace our kitchen floor

the previous owners had it installed.

First of all it's gray,

and I am a beige person.

I have a thing about beige and gray together...for me, it's one or the other.

In my humble opinion, you can't do gray and brown.  

And the rest of my house is beiges, browns, crimsons, greens...

Secondly, although I had always wanted ceramic tile...I despise it.

It's hard on your feet and back, even with the gel mats by the sink and stove.

You can drop plastic on it and the plastic will break.

The grout seems dirty to me no matter how often I seal it.

It just never seems clean.

I want something maybe like this:

Easy to wash, easy on my back...neutral.

What are your goals for your home this year?

Link up with The Nester!

Our Town

The other night we went downtown to get pizza.

I have lived in this area almost my entire life.

I have seen this downtown area change from the 70s to the 80s to the 90s to today.

I have memories of this downtown area that I think may cloud my view.

Maybe it was the Christmas lights,

maybe it was the spirit of the season,

but as Jason drove down the familiar streets

I saw our downtown area with new eyes.

It was glittering.

It was beautiful.

It was quaint.

It was so cozy and homey...and so comforting.

I think sometimes when we see something EVERY DAY or when we have seen something all the time for forty years we don't take the time to notice it the way we would if say, we just moved to a new town.

For instance, I had never, ever noticed these wrought iron railings, yet they are on the building where I have gotten my haircut many, many, many times.

I never noticed how quaint these shops looked,

yet I have eaten many, many, many pizzas at Picasso's.

I never noticed these cute train shops.

These are something that I would marvel at if we were on vacation.

I remember finding the Colonial Williamsburg shopping area so quaint and wishing I could live there.

I never realized that the town where I live has such charm and appeal.

The sidewalks were paved when I was a girl.

I remember that.

I remember sidewalk sales

in the heat of the summer.

I remember my mom rewarding us for walking from store to store with her

by buying us each a toy at the toy shop.

I think the pavers were a charming recent touch.

Our pizza place is BYOB, so we sometimes stop in this wine shop for a bottle of wine on our way to get our pizza.

I had gotten very negative on our town at one point.

But I am starting to remember why we chose to settle here.

There is something so vintage-y and retro about it.

There is something that is so small town and comforting.

There is something that is so "A Christmas Story" about our downtown area,

I almost expected to see a Red Rider BB gun in a window.

maybe a Sno-King sled.

As we walked down the street to get some antipasti and a pie,

I felt so blessed to live in an area like this.

I felt so fortunate at the beauty and the twinkling lights and the quaint old shops.

I felt so lucky that I am here.

I love the connection I have with this town.

There was a fabric store right where those green lights are, the store was a mess, piled HIGH to the rafters with fabric and the owner despised children, yet my mom was always sewing something and we were always going in there with her to get fabric.

The store is no longer there.

But I feel blessed to have that memory, that connection.

I remember going to the show store and getting my Buster Brown shoes every year for school.

I remember the record shop where we bought our babysitter Meatloaf "Bat Out of Hell".

I remember the lunch counter at Woolworth's.

I remember getting called to jury duty when I was 18 at the courthouse just down the street from where this photo was taken.

The television in the window reminded me of something you would see on a movie,

people huddled around watching TV through a window

as a major event unfolds.

Jason always likes to stop in the music store.

We usually recall the time when we were first dating and a new Pearl Jam album was released at midnight and this store stayed open until 2am for the release.  I went and purchased it and then drove all the way down to Princeton and left it in his mailbox.  I called him in the morning and told him to check his mailbox.

I feel blessed to have this life.

To live in this town.

With these people.

I have passed this shop window a hundred times and never seen how beautiful it is.

I am glad that store windows like this still exist.

I am glad it is not just all commercialized must-haves.

I am glad it is beautiful.

I encourage you to take your camera

to an area that you frequent

ALL THE TIME

and to look at the area from a different perspective,

through your lens,

as though you had never seen it before.

I would love for you to share the results with me.

Christmas Tour of Homes

I love Christmas.

I love the anticipation,

the baking,

the preparations,

the decorating.

Getting our home ready for the holidays is a labor of love for my family.

My girls love when the house is decorated.

My husband says it feels cozy + festive.

I like things simple, but elegant.

There are touches of Christmas throughout our home.

I adore my Spode china.

It's so classic.

We eat dinner on our Spode almost every night in December,

it's just one more way we celebrate the season.

This was my mother-in-law's...

each Christmas after the gifts were opened and everyone went their merry ways,

my mother in law and I would clean up the living room,

then she would light the candles

and we would watch the little men go around and around

and marvel at the design.

It is such a good memory.

I was so happy when my father-in-law gifted me with this last year.

My mother-in-law has been gone for 5 years now, but each Christmas I feel that she is with us.

My husband started our Dept. 56 Dickens Village collection

the year our youngest daughter was born.

He started with a house with a family of four dancing around a Christmas tree.

He adds to the collection every year.

Our plan is to one divide the pieces between our girls so they can each have a Dickens Village in their own homes.

Linking up with