Cave Progress

The downstairs living room is still far from done, but it is a much brighter and more enjoyable space than before. We finished painting the walls white in mid-March. I've been hesitant to post any pictures because it's still not a very pretty room, but it is what it is for now.

Like I said, still far from done. However, it's a huge improvement over where we started.

We considered painting the trim but decided to leave it for now. Neither of us is thrilled to take on the tedious task of painting the windows. We are hoping to paint or whitewash the fireplace, remove some extra furniture, add new window coverings, and potentially paint the ceiling. Given that 75% of the weekends over the next three months are already planned out, I'm not sure we'll be seeing any changes anytime soon....

Family Fun

Sheridan home improvements were put on hold for the last few weekends while we've focused on family. We spent Easter weekend with Alex's family in Maryland and then spent the following weekend with my sister, Jill's family in South Carolina.

We had a big crew for Easter:

Friday and Saturday included a trip to Alex's Dad's farm, lots of Settlers of Catan, a long stroll in Baltimore, and an annual crab dinner.

On Sunday morning 12 Easter baskets were found, bunny ears were modeled, and a delicious brunch was shared.

I don't have as much photographic evidence of our South Carolina trip, but it was equally as entertaining and exhausting. Alex and I always enjoy time with family, but Tad was especially happy. He loved being loved. We all do.

Talla's Black Thumb

Have you ever heard the term: "A green thumb"?  In case you have not, it means that you are good at gardening, or you have a way of making things grow.  Well... Talla has the opposite of that.

This week, I was in Austin and Dallas from Tuesday morning to Friday afternoon.  When I returned, the vegetables that I had been nurturing looked significantly different.

What my plants looked like before I left:

What they looked like when I returned yesterday:

Hopefully I can nurse them back to life, but more than likely, we are going to have to wait until October to get our tomatoes again.

Also, the English Ivy in front of the house has seen better days.

Spring, 2013: 

 As you can see, the Ivy is lush and green.

This is about the same time a year later.  You remember all that lush green ivy?  It's all dead now.  Not really sure what happened...  

Another picture of post ivy apocalypse.   You can see the white azalea about to bloom.

Inspiration

Before I start decorating any room I roam the internet for inspiration photos. Once I get a clear vision I rarely revisit the inspiration photos. It's fun to compare my current results with what I was thinking about over a year ago.

Dining room: I loved the light airiness, splashes of red and aqua, and eclectic choices these dining rooms. Similarities in my dining room include - red chairs, random glass bottles, plates on the wall, aqua accents, and lots of sunlight. I was originally planning to incorporate some stripes and armchairs but they didn't make the cut.

Bathroom: I was at first perplexed about how to work with the blue tile. I found a few inspiration photos using lime green, coral, yellow and orange as accent colors, but ultimately decided to keep it simple and go with white and grey.

Office: We haven't really done anything to our office since moving in other than an initial arrangement of available furniture. I'm hoping it will look like a combination of these inspiration rooms sometime soon.

Here is a peek of what the office looks like now (this pic is from March 2013):

I'm looking forward to getting our office, basement, and kitchen looking more like our inspiration rooms!

Blue Bathroom

I was excited to move in with Alex but also a bit nervous - I like my own space and enjoyed living alone. Maybe it's because I grew up with so many siblings. Luckily, Sheridan has plenty of space and I was able to claim a bathroom as "mine" and repurpose one of the bedrooms into my closet. This left Alex the master bathroom and closet.

My bathroom started out looking pretty out-dated. We spent a weekend removing wallpaper and lots of chrome accents. The result is a much more pleasant and spa-like bathroom.

Other updates included:

• removing the blinds and frosting the bottom window using this technique
• re-caulking the seams between the tiles and walls
• painting!
• replacing the mirrored doors with a double shower curtain
• creating custom canvas art using a photo I took

My mornings are usually pretty rushed so I really appreciate any calm moment I can get. Alex often surprises me with a latte to help coax me out of bed (he's amazing, right?). I like to sip it in the shower - but you'll notice I had to add a clock so I don't linger too long in the warm water.

There are a still a few things left on the list to do before the room is officially complete:

• wall repairs (if you look closely at the photos above you'll see what I'm referring to)
• complete caulking
• update light fixture
• do something with the mirror (frame it or replace it?)

Tigers and Pandas

"The tiger in you says go go go and the panda in you says slow down, relax, enjoy. Which one is dominant in you right now? Set your intention to bring out the other." Alex and I heard this in a yoga class some time near the end of 2012. After class we laughed about how Alex is the tiger in our relationship and I'm the panda. We bring the opposite out in each other and this is one of the many reasons we work.

2012 was a great panda year for me. I took the year off and traveled the world. When I got back I spent loads of time with friends and family and with Alex in New York. It was wonderful. I took the year off because I felt I needed a break. I needed to learn how to just BE. I didn't have a particularly tough life leading up to 2012, I just let my inner tiger run the show and it was time for my panda to take the lead. By the end of 2012 I realized neither should be in charge, they need to co-lead.

Around this same time Alex was visiting his mother's home and sent me this picture of a balance she has on her entryway table.

He said she keeps this in such a prominent place in her home as a reminder to seek balance. I found this inspiring, especially in light of the tiger/panda reflections, and set BALANCE as my 2013 theme.

I prepared this next picture for the blog in January 2013 but it never made it up. It seems I quickly got wrapped up in the new job and forgot about my quest for balance...

It's kind of hard to tell, but Alex is wearing a tiger hat and I am wearing a panda hat. We snapped this photo during an "Ultimate NYC Christmas tour" when Alex was still living in New York.

I did not achieve balance in 2013. I probably never will. But I won't stop trying.

A couple of weeks ago Alex and I received a package in the mail. It was his mom's balance. She sent it to congratulate us on our engagement and to remind us to stay balanced. It was such a nice reminder (to stay balanced and to finally publish this long overdue post!). It now has a prominent place in our home.

More vegetables please!

Last February, Talla and I talked about growing some vegetables in a space somewhere in the back yard.  With the other projects in the house, we didn't get anything in the ground until early April, and most things didn't get planted until early May.  Since it was a little late, there wasn't a whole lot of planning on the layout of the garden, and we just kind of put them in rows... transplanting when things got over crowded.

April 12th, 2013 - I started digging for the patch of earth that would become our garden.  This is directly outside the kitchen window about 10 feet from the house.  It is one of the best spots for sun in our back yard in the summer.  I transplanted the sod I dug up to a bare spot in front of the shed.

 June 7th, 2013 - By June, most successful gardeners in Charlotte have 3ft tomato plants with green tomatoes on them.  Well... ours were just sprouting, along with the yellow squash and okra.  The peas were well along though, producing a few handfuls of peas.  This was me picking some peas in the rain.

July 21st, 2013 - As you can see, we got A LOT of rain last summer, and our garden didn't drain very well.  The okra produced well, and out of the 4 plants, we ended up getting enough okra for a few dinner and breakfast side dishes throughout the fall.

Lessons learned:

1. Start earlier
2. Fix the garden area so it can drain properly
3. Figure out the proper layout of plants.

March 14th, 2014 (Pie Day) - Here is the jump start on this year's garden.  They are in egg cartons on a table in the sunny spot between two windows in our living room.  This year we have: sugar snap peas, okra, pole beans, ozark pink tomatoes, lemon basil, parsley, cilantro, cucumber, sweet peppers, zucchini, and yellow squash.

 March 19th, 2014 - Something tells me we are going to have a much better output this year.  The sugar snap peas are thriving!  (They are the ones in the picture with the stringy vines reaching out from them.  We are going to have to transplant soon, but with another arctic cold snap headed our way on Wednesday (3/26), I don't think we will get anything in the ground until next weekend.