Posts from — October 2011

Because I’m a firm believer that every house should have an in-home library with gorgeous white built-ins. And because a bright red room is just thrilling.

Photo found on Houzz

I’ve always been slightly enamored with cowlneck sweaters, and this fall is no exception. Anthropologie, though generally out of my budget, has the best to offer and I’m dying to buy a few. I wear mostly neutral colors, and they have an endless selection. I love stripes, color blocking and thinly woven, slightly sheer tops. Now if only I can save up a couple hundred dollars!

Anthropologie sweaters

This pictures reminds me of my time spent in Florence.  Waking early to sip espresso on our rooftop, watching the locals start their day.

Photo by Xilvia (Discovered on The World We Live In)

Good morning, muffin! I followed a simple recipe for banana nut muffins and swapped out the walnuts for chocolate chips, because let’s face it: everything is better with chocolate.

Recipe for Banana Nut muffins from SimpleRecipes.com

“Growing up in Maine is a privilege. It’s more than where you’re born. It’s an idea & state of mind imparted at birth. It’s more than loving red hot dogs, potatoes, lobster, Humpty Dumpty potato chips, and Whoopie Pies. It’s being hospitable, devoted to the outdoors, all the seasons, and each other. We don’t become Mainers, we’re born that way.”

I know that I don’t need to reiterate my great love for the state of Maine, but when this quote starting popping up on Facebook, I just couldn’t go without sharing it… somewhere. So thank you Maine, for giving me a life that truly is the best.

I spend a lot of my weekends in Maine.  Spring, summer, fall, winter – season doesn’t matter.  And no matter how many times I head north, there are some things about my weekends at home that just never get old.

Like driving over the Piscataqua River Bridge, crossing the border from New Hampshire to Maine.  I take a picture almost every time.  On the way north, I’m filled with joy, excitement, anticipation for the days ahead.  On the way south, sadness, exhaustion, a sense of desperation. Don’t make me leave.  Don’t make me go back to Boston. Back to work, the real world. Don’t make me leave my paradise.

The other routine that never gets old is weekend morning breakfast dates with my mom and dad. I love waking up early and heading out with mom and dad.  Ordering a cup of coffee from a diner and getting a breakfast bill of under $20.

Breakfast with my parents is just nice. It’s “me” time with my parents. Time to chat, catch up, and talk about what’s going on in our busy worlds.  It’s a weekend routine that started as a young child.  Of course back then, it was breakfast for our whole family. Now my sister is married, and weekend mornings mean time for me with my parents.

To add to the charm of this family routine, we have a few favorite spots, breakfast joints we rarely stray from. We love Bernie’s on the foreside, Porthole on the waterfront, and Steve and Renee’s by the boulevard. Mom always orders water. Dad one cup of hot coffee – but just one!  Me, I go for iced coffee almost every time. Mom and dad split a meal, typically an omelet off the special board. And I splurge when I can. Because that’s what’s so fun about being home with mom and dad. I’ll go for the lobster benedict. If not on the menu, yogurt, granola and fresh fruit.

We don’t change our routine much.  Same breakfast joints, same drinks, same meals.  But that’s what makes a routine so special. And this familiarity, the regularity of our weekend breakfast dates, just the three of us, makes me love the weekends in Maine that much more.

So I can’t promise that I’ll actually do this each morning, but I just love a few blogs that share a daily piece of color inspiration. A picture, a painting, a piece of clothing, a plate of food. Something that is beautiful on its own, with colors that leave you emotionally giddy. I’ll try.

‘Waimanu morning’ by Konaboy (Discovered on The World We Live In)

I’ve always admired home owners and designers who can pull of festive and season appropriate decorations.  The photos are everywhere.  On everyone’s blog, on tumblr, on Pinterest.  I however, suck at this.  My parents brought me a pumpkin when they visited the apartment, and for a while it sat on my counter.  It’s ugly, and tacky, and orange, and doesn’t match anything else in the place.

So I threw it in the trash. I immediately regretted the decision when I saw Emily’s golden painted pumpkins.  Too bad.

I still wanted a way to bring something transitional into my apartment that just screamed fall.  So far, I’ve landed on two things: owls and fall foliage colored flowers. How original, right? Apparently white ceramic owls are everywhere right now. I didn’t know that when I stumbled across this cute little guy on the clearance shelf at HomeGoods.

But after situating him in the entry way, strategically near the awesome hand painted owl above, I started seeing white ceramic owls, everywhere.

1. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/786380/list/Easy-Ways-to-Dress-Up-Your-Home-for-Fall/
2. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/767823/list/An-Ode-to-Owls-Around-the-House
3. http://pinterest.com/pin/203038580/

Fortunately I don’t mind the fact that my white ceramic owl is following a trend.  I love him, and I love the trend.  So I win.  Now, for more fall decorations…

So apparently there is a lot to learn about keeping up a home.  Like washing the bathroom more than once every 6 months, and always keeping extra batteries on hand for when the fire alarm battery dies in the middle of the night and the beeping is so annoying you want to scream, and well, apparently, washing your windows.  Inside and outside.  I know that I’m just renting this apartment, so it’s not nearly as much work as owning a house, and no – this isn’t the first time I’ve lived on my own (7 years and counting folks). But something about living here, living with the boyfriend, something about this time feels like adulthood.

But no glimpse into adulthood would be complete without a ‘we’re here to lend a few extra hands’ visit from mom and dad. So… they spent a few days in Boston and helped around the apartment.  Dad built out two new custom closets for me, and mom – well mom told me that every single window in our apartment was absolutely, beyond words disgusting.  And that they needed to be cleaned. Immediately. Inside and out.

Okay, one quick look at the windows and I realized mom was right. As always. So while dad built out the new closets, mom and I popped out each window, one by one, and cleaned the heck out of them.  It quickly became apparent that this is not anything the landlord, his cleaners, or the previous tenants have done – for years.  While the pop out windows made the outside easy to access, this was a surprisingly long task.

Who knew being an adult meant cleaning the windows?  And who knew it took so damn long?

After days and days of rain last week, I was excited to see the sun shine this past weekend. The blue skies and bright sun were refreshing, but the rain drops and puddles had already left me feeling inspired. Now, with rain in the forecast again this week, I pulled out one of my all time favorite nail polish colors: You Don’t Know Jacques! by OPI.  The dark gray is quite the departure from last week’s Malaga Wine by OPI, inspired by Maine’s fall foliage. Instead, this color reminds me of cloudy days and this old lobster boat photo that we have hanging in the blue-green bathroom.