I've Got Sunshine In a Bowl

{thrift score}

{saturday lunch date}

{mama made scarf}

{sunshine in a bowl}

{sewing project!}

It's been a mild winter this year and there are already some flowers coming up (what!) but it feels like that weird transitional time of year at the tail end of winter (maybe?) where anything could happen.  Like a sunny patch followed by a hailstorm and thunder.  What's a body to do but go out for frozen yogurt in the hail?
Or today.  I had the day off (my team took a holiday today in lieu of MLK day last month) and didn't do much other than read an Earl Stanley Gardner and eat a really offensive amount of Doritos.  But then, I started fooling around with my sewing machine and ka-pow, two new pillow covers.  Weird.

Oopsie Poopsie

It's been pretty quiet around here for a month and I'm finding it difficult to start it up again.  What I've been eating and knitting and reading don't seem too enthralling to me right now.  And yet I miss writing and sharing because all my energy has been focused on work.  My work stress goes from bipolar (there's light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!) to flat-line monopolar (nm...that's a train) and I struggle sometimes to remember that the real fabric of my life is not made up of work but of love and family and our little home.

To that end,  some of the little wins this week have been a successful pancake dinner (pancakes are my nemesis but on Tuesday I won a battle in the war) and the beginnings of Spring Purging.  A couple weeks ago, my freestanding clothing rack toppled over at 3 am and disgorged half a dozen cardigans and most of my skirts.  I have a freestanding rack for additional extra space to hang clothes because I can't fit everything in my closet and that clothing rack collapsed because it had too much stuff on it.  As a short term fix, I grabbed armfuls of stuff and stashed it in our guest bedroom until I could appropriately deal with it.  Ugh.  Today, I am finally starting to deal with it and it feels good.  I went through my scarves, sweaters, short-sleeve shirts, long-sleeve shirts and skirts and pulled out everything I haven't worn this winter or that has a known grudge against it (I'm looking at you, deep v-neck tee that I never have a tank top for).  This is a preliminary pass but my end goal is a whittled down closet of things that I love.

Other things that I am looking forward to are a bedroom refresh (new duvet on the way! cheers!) and this art exhibit.  And these muffins....I have a thing lately for chocolate chips.  That sounds like a good weekend to me.

A Beautiful New Year

I have to admit that I wasn't too jazzed about the new year.  I have a huge work project due in a few months and am dreading the long march to the deadline.  Being in 2013 makes it reality that the end is near.  However, we're 4 days in and this year is not as grim as I had feared.

My one resolution for the new year is to be more intentional about bringing beauty into our every day lives.

This resolution was born when we were cleaning up for Thanksgiving and one of the items on our checklist was to "make sure pot holders are not gross" and then we went into Thanksgiving with one presentable pot holder.
I realized at the same time that my kitchen towels are approximately 10 years old and belonged to the hubs in college and were purchased specifically because THEY ARE SO MASCULINE.  Ten year old masculine college boy towels are not my idea of beautiful and I feel like someone should rip up my Woman Card for allowing this situation to occur on my watch.  I have been asleep at the wheel, folks.
I don't mean beauty to be just things that can be bought with money.  I want to appreciate this beautiful state where we live.  The first few days of this year have been startlingly, blindlingly clear, and cold.  My morning commute takes me through a little valley and yesterday it was frosted and filled with fog.  Breathtaking.  I resolve to be more aware of nature.

Twenty-twelve was a good year for us, full of firsts.  Our first full year in Washington, our first time hosting Thanksgiving, our first trip to NYC, and so many other things.  They are the reason we are so grateful and excited for 2013 and looking forward to a beautiful new year.

*photo by Ryan

Ain't Nobody Got Time For That

{elevenses}

When we're able, we weekend hard.  I'm in my pajamas until noon, at least, and doing one of three things; eating, reading or knitting.  Preferably a combination of two or more.

This is one of those weekends.

The most strenuous thing we're working on is our laundry pile, which is my favorite home to-do anyway.  I leave dishes duty to my more than capable sous-chef but ain't nobody got time for that today.

We do have time for a late, lazy breakfast (instant oatmeal!), fooling around making ringtones (success!) and making a few holiday plans.

I was listening to The Classic Tales podcast the other day and this sentence struck me as one of the best I've heard in a long time, "...life reached in, seized him, handled him, stretched him, and unrolled him like a piece of Irish lace on a Saturday-afternoon bargain-counter".  F. Scott Fitzgerald is a genius.

I can handle a week like that as long as I have time to catch up again - thank goodness for the weekend.

{guest room light}

Fall: So Good, Right?

{Legalize Lutefisk}

{primary colors+}

{APPLE PIE!}

{American Tourists}

{natural confetti}

{sun in a rain shower}

{a cup of ambition}

We've had a constant supply of apple cider, sweet potatoes, squash aaaaaand  leftover Halloween candy.  Fall is the best.  On the downside, I hate digging through our wet laundry to make sure the wool socks don't get into the dryer.

We went as American Tourists to a costume party and I dressed as Frieda Kahlo for work on Halloween.  Now I am affectionately referred to as Unibrow by my coworkers.  Great.  I thought about going as an English Major but realized I go as that every day.  It's a lifestyle thing.  Which also means I don't do any math at work.  Math is for suckers.

Five Things (That Scare a Twenty-Seven Year Old)

Other People
I was sitting in a work meeting across from a group of people I had never met (and could easily pull rank on - one of them was an intern) and realized I was a little afraid of them.  Then I remembered how afraid I was of my my boss's boss' boss before I knew him and realized that I am still scared of other people, regardless of position.  Stranger danger!

The Unknown
I have done a lot of things in my life that force me into new situations (move to new states, study abroad, get married, start new jobs) and it's always exhilarating and a little terrifying.  I am convinced that when you do things that scare you and you come out okay on the other side, it's a source of tremendous personal growth. This is true even for knitting.  And talking to people.

The Dark
Our new place has a lot of beautiful windows that let in tons of natural light but at night...eek.  Who knows what could be in the darkness looking inside while you putz around in your robe putting away books in your bookshelf and letting a mug of tea steep before bedtime until the book you're holding reminds you of that one scary book that one time where maybe the narrator was the killer but it was so ambivalent you're not sure and it still gives you the creeps to think about and you get creeped out again and grab your tea and rush upstairs and have to act nonchalant when your husband asks what's wrong because you're 27 for pete's sake and still afraid of the dark?

The Passage of Time
It's been aaalmost a year since we moved to Seattle.  That clunk was my jaw hitting the ground.

Commitment
There are certain things that I am deeply and easily committed to but others I find myself dithering over.  All the way from "which pair of boots should I get?" to "what do I want to be when I grow up?"  There are people at my company who have worked there for over 30 years.  I don't think that's me.  I find it difficult enough to pick out a pair of shoes, much less a career.

(Deeply Un)Social Media

I was busily putting oatmeal in my morning face one morning and staring blankly at the container of salt on our table when I noticed that Morton Salt is on Facebook and they want me to join, share and connect with them.

WHAT.

I am no Facebook power user, but I suspect that friending your salt is taking it a little far.

Why does everything in my life (condiments included) want me to friend them on Facebook, read their blog, go to their homepage, listen to their podcast, sign up for their newsletter, check out their app and follow them on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Spotify? 

Can't I just use salt the way it's been used for the last 200 years? Why we gotta be friends now? 

I'm not here to make friends! 

While I love and appreciate my family and friends (and salt) in person, I don't want to be Internet BFFs with all of them either just because they stumbled on the newest social network and we know each other in Real Life.  As an introvert, I'm uncomfortable with the concept of being endlessly connected.  I realize this is my inner curmudgeon talking but sometimes the curmudgeon has a point.  There aren't many (if any) corporations with good/interesting/creative/worthwhile content to add to the internet in varied forms of social media but there's pressure to have a presence.  I think the same is true for individuals.

I am going to create an unsocial not network for people like me to not share personal preferences, facts and news.  It will be the equivalent of leaving a Word doc open on your desktop and randomly typing up not status updates that no one will ever see.  Sounds fascinating, huh?  Soon they will be making a movie about this phenomena, The Unsocial Network.

Anyways, sorry, salt.  Our relationship will remain distinctly unfriendly.

Life's Persistent Questions

• Is tipping a mostly empty bag of chips into your mouth ever socially acceptable?
• Why are so many people searching for "one bad decision leads to another" and landing on this here blog?
• What should I do about my Toms becoming smelly?
• Is it weird that I have a Value Village punch card?
• How was I supposed to know that the couple in the car ahead of me was *seriously* flirting, not fighting?
• Can I tell my coworker to stop breathing? Because I can hear it in my cube? Across the aisle?
• Am I cranky?
• At what point does "a lot of oatmeal" turn into "too much oatmeal"?
• Why do I keep accidentally eating pie for dinner?

{Who thought this was a good idea?}