Small joys today

I've been pretty eeyore-ish lately. I can see that, looking through my last handful of posts. But there are still those daily glimmers, some small joys to notice and celebrate:

~ stumbling upon The Waltons while Maddy and I cleaned out our closets and sorted through old clothes the last two afternoons. So wholesome, so days-gone-by. I always thought Olivia was a beautiful, wise mom and had a little crush on Jim-Bob (hey! he could fix lots of things!). I still dream of a white farmhouse on a mountain...

~ my newly-weeded out closet

~ my sunny office/crafty room, formerly Maddy's bedroom (+ she's happy to now have the former studio for her room):

~ installing long-owned items with lingering good (inactive) intentions, like these ledges that are still works in progress but much better on the wall than in the box:

~ finding quick solutions to my problems today via Facebook: a dog sitter and a CSA crate picker upper. Who knew that all I needed to do was post a status and all my wishes could come true? Thanks, Facebook friends. 

~ watching this video, which makes me want to (a) join in and (b) get some vintage dresses (let's bring back hats! yes?) (via kotke.)

So that's how I'm trying to outrun Eeyore who is, after all, a slow small donkey. Not to mention fictional.
What small joys have you found today?

Curtains!

We have curtains! On our windows!

We moved here three and a half years ago, folks.  And it's taken me that long to weigh options, decide, doubt my decision, weigh again, postpone, repeat. As Fanny Price says in Mansfield Park, "I have no talent for certainty."  You're going to laugh, because after all those years of hemming and hawing, I went with a very basic white linen drape (and, by the way, it's actually a lot thicker than it looks here with the light glowing through).

We really wanted this little den-like space to feel like a cozy timeless library, like it could have been assembled by your librarian great-aunt in the 20s or 40s or in 2010 by, well, us. Eclectic. Maybe a little quirky.

 

Because of this--and I know this will not be everyone's favorite--we also chose antique brass hardware.  I love it for this room, though. (By the way, I've been seeing a lot of brass and gold in magazines so maybe the trend is turning back to gold and brass?)  

Linen drapes on sale, here

Rods and such, on sale here

No, I don't get any fees for mentioning this.

Just trying to be helpful and informative here

in case you are three years into a curtain decision and need someplace to turn.

I'm glad we got this vintage, scraped-up postcard spin-me-round at Brimfield last month:

(^You spin me right round, baby.)

But it's kind of awkward there on the trunk/table.

Any ideas?

Wishful thinking

 

Leaving Utah on Saturday, G turned to me and said

"You know how {our friends} went to Hawaii on vacation and ended up just staying there for good? Do you ever think about doing that?"

Oh, yeah. I do.

. . .

Time with family, long talks with friends, big skies, mountains, comfort food, friendliness, and the geography of home = one good week.

It's amazing...

...what a little paint did to boost my love of our house.

Best Change to your Home .09 |  Exterior paint (finally!)

The original colors weren't bad, they just weren't *us* and I've been planning on changing them ever since moving in two+ years ago.  This summer we finally made the change and couldn't be happier.  We chose a gold-yellow and a light cream/yellow for trim, with black rimming the windows + black doors and garage door (eventually we'll replace the door with a vintage wood one with a warm finish).  It's classic and warm and looks good in the bare winter and the lush summer.  (Benjamin Moore custom paint mixed by our friendly neighborhood paint shop.)

After:

Before ^

. . .

Best of .09: Change you made to the place where you live.  What about you?

Snippets + verbs

photo via

Shivered.  It's cold 'round here.

Read.  I loved this essay by Mental Tesserae.  And this passage from One Magpie.  Kindred thoughts in both of these.

Wrote.  Posted on Segullah this week, a (religious) piece about Mary and her "how shall this be?" response. (If you've read this blog for more than two years, you might recognize the first paragraph or so...) Also, I've played around with the formatting for this blog. I've been having so much fun...like moving the furniture around without all that effort and floor scraping.

Watched.  Had a long-awaited movie date with G this afternoon. It's been ages since we were able to get out just the two of us...ever since our girls acquired social lives and obligations. (Although last night we did go out to dinner. Sam came with us and was a wonderful dinner companion.  Still. Not really a date.)   We stopped off at the Danish Pastry House on the way home to prepare for St. Lucia Day tomorrow--hooray! Now I'm catching up on emails and watching It's a Wonderful Life.  "George Bailey, I'll love you 'til the day I die." (Someday I hope my kids understand how George Bailey-like their dad is, in all the right ways.  Because he is, lucky us.)

Delayed. I have a take-home final due next week.  No headway there. Also, we haven't yet taken our Christmas card photo. Ditto no Christmas tree...hopefully Monday's the day for that.

Savored + celebrated.  Feeling really content to take my time with the holidays this year.  Each day I'm doing a little bit and shunning any guilt or agendas (trying to, anyway). So far: books, candles, garlands.  Next up: tree, nativities, presents.  Bit by bit, especially until finals are over.

. . .

Best of .09: Food.  Hmm. I think I'll dub this the year of Really Good Chocolate. Truffles from Burdick's. And Nancy sent me some decadent chocolate from a chocolatier in her Brooklyn neighborhood: the really good stuff, with interesting flavors like pepper and salt and chiles.  It's not new to me but I upped it a notch.  How 'bout you? Best new food of 09?