morning by candlelight

you might remember a while ago i told you about a friend who showers and dresses by candlelight. i think she's on to something.

this morning was one of those mornings where you just feel like you CAN NOT. you know the feeling? and sort of by default, i didn't turn on the bathroom light right away. i opened the blinds to see the icy gray sky and snow-topped trees, and after turning the shower on, i decided to try the candlelight route. it was really, really nice.

i had the distinct feeling that although i could not control anything that happened on the outside of that bathroom door, i was in small, temporary, but complete control of that very moment.

i highly recommend you try it one morning soon.

turn up the heat

i wanted to give you a sneak peek of the paint job we've been working on...and by "we," i mean "mitchell." we did the entryway and the kitchen the same color...benjamin moore vibrant blush. and we love it, especially now that we've started to break it up with the artwork we're hanging and objects we're shifting. sophie and alice like it too, i assume, because they won't get off the counters!

at first i wasn't crazy about my mostly green and yellow french advertising prints against the wall, but i really love them and spent a fortune framing them a million years ago, so i reserved judgement.

and over these past few days i've started to really like the tension between the colors, which underscores the edict i've learned in recent years that you really have to live with something for a little while before you decide to keep it or get rid of it. hmm...maybe that's why they advise you live with someone before you marry them :)

the kitchen is becoming warmer, compared to how it was before, and it's a pleasure to be in.

it's a work in progress...it was so white white white white to start, that i think it's going to take a few layers of color and texture to truly warm it up. i think the next step is a curtain or some kind of textured panel and maybe a few textural floor mats like these, in lime (though i do love the amazingly comfortable one from costco i have there right now).

i've started to add the wood tones back in, as i banished them when we first moved in, going for a much more modern, monochromatic vibe. but i'm realizing...that's just not me. or us. in fact, mitchell was calling for the return of color long before i was. in every room, i'm now experimenting with finding the perfect balance - a modern, clean sensibility with texture and color to spare - that's what i'm going for.

here are some textiles i'm thinking of adding to further warm things up, and i'm loving the little parisienne vibe i'm feeling as i browse through these ideas. hook it all up with some springtime in paris while i'm prepping our meals, and c'est bon!

crate and barrel

anthropologie

if i had my druthers (yes, i said druthers), i'd add in some of these objets for good measure. of course, some are more attainable than others, but just for fun...

anthropologie

pottery barn




paris market

cb2

oh, and a bigger kitchen would be nice. how else am i going to fit a fantasy this size?

all non-original photos from linked sites

honey gift files...salt and pepper, to taste

i fell in love with these jonathan adler salt and pepper sets the second i saw them. they're sculptural and witty, and strike the perfect balance between functional and whimsical. i think these are a perfect gift for a host/hostess or for anyone who takes pleasure in unusual or statement pieces for their home.

i also really appreciate the graphic packages each set comes in - to me, it really raises the appeal of these as a gift - they are clearly a carefully selected design element and i think the recipient would feel flattered to be pegged as one who'd appreciate them.

they're available on jonathan adler's website, through nest dallas , and nordstrom's website among many other sellers.

licking your wounds, and other cliches

WELL, last night was certainly a busy one at our house. sophie and alice got spayed yesterday and were none too pleased about the lampshades on their heads.

of course, these "devices" are meant to deter them from licking their wounds and rough-housing, but they did neither. i think i expected them to be subdued and a little loopy coming home from the vet, but instead they were bouncing-off-the-walls (and each other) hyper and wildly spinning in the air trying to catch some imaginary culprit. at one point, they collided mid-air in a hug.

very late into the evening, i felt like my heart might shoot out of my chest from the anxiety of their antics and their not drinking water for 24 hours and refusing to even try to drink it, even when in an elevated bowl to accomodate their lampshades. this must be what parents feel like. OY.
at some point, mitchell suggested we remove the shades, the reasoning being that the shades were making them crazy, and that maybe they just wanted to clean themselves since they were all matted from the vet. it actually worked, and they weren't even trying to lick their wounds. interesting how the prohibition of wound-licking makes them wants to lick their wounds. and how giving them a little trust and dignity -- allowing them to clean themselves and be presentable -- makes a difference in their mindset. it reminds me of the post i did a couple months ago on the comforts of home even in uncomfortable situations.

anyway, i am looking forward to a calmer weekend - one that doesn't involve collisions in mid-air, constant knawing at plastic cones and large glasses of water being knocked over repeatedly.

here's hoping your weekend is a good one too.

a new beginning

we're getting kittens!

we're picking them up tonight, and i could not be more excited. i have been saving the tops of milk jugs for months, knowing that cats love playing with things like that.

even mitchell, who was slightly resistant to the idea of two is really happy about it now. we don't know what they'll look like yet, or even what gender they'll be, so we don't have names picked out, though we've tossed around a few ideas. mitchell's top pick is "bubbles." really?

since we made the kitten plan earlier this week, we've been prepping, and my feelings have been mostly of excitement and the unique joy of anticipated happiness. it has been only a fleeting thought that our sweet cat abe who died over the winter might feel replaced. now of course i know he probably doesn't feel anything, especially now that he's no longer alive, but i can't help but feeling a little melancholy about him watching over us as we get two new kittens to love.

mitchell and i have talked a few times about how we would never get an orange cat again - we only want to love one orange cat in this life, and that was abe. and we don't want our memories of him to ever blend in with our memories of another loved cat. it's a funny thing, moving on. there's a part of me that is almost afraid to love a new cat (or two, in our case) because i'm afraid of comparing them in my mind. i keep telling myself i won't do that and that there is no comparison, that every animal is different, no two are alike.

what i am realizing though, is that while every animal is different, our love for them is in many ways the same. our relationships are not as complex as they are with people, and in that way, while lost pets don't get replaced, i think in a way our relationships with them are a thread that's continued through all the pets we have in our lives. in a way, mitchell and i will pick up with the new kittens where we left off with abe - and i hope we do. i hope we can apply all the lessons we learned in abe's final days about compassion and selflessness and mercy.

and i hope that if abe is watching over us, he knows that my love for him is what has brought us to the decision to get two more, and that my love for him is what makes me already love the kittens i've yet to meet.


kittens in basket from www.great-pictures-of-cats.com (yes, there's a website called that)

goodbye old friend - take two

in the spring, i planted cosmos in seed form in memory of our beloved cat abe who passed away. i loved the idea that their yellow and orange blooms would recall abe's powder-coated orange fur and that we'd enjoy them all summer while we enjoyed the outdoors and all the birds and squirrels he always loved to look at.

because it was my first experience with planting flowers from seed, i was very patiently awaiting their bloom, but they never even really grew into stems, never mind full blooms. in fact, what there was in the way of stubby green sprouts a few weeks ago have since gone away, maybe from all the rain. the morning glory seeds i planted nearby weeks after the cosmos are growing inches and inches, so i am taking that as a sign that something with the cosmos is just not right.

this morning, i decided to dig up the wannabe cosmos and plant a perennial flowering vine my father gave me from a fellow green thumb neighbor. it's not flowering yet, but i have a good feeling about it. because my soil is pretty rough in that spot, i dug into it significantly and broke it up while creating a hole (this also improves aeration in the soil). because the plant had been in a plastic pot for a couple weeks, it was very well molded in that shape, so i was sure to break it up at the bottom before i put it in the ground, otherwise it wouldn't properly root or receive nutrients.

while i was planting it, it felt nice to know that it will come back every year, and be a part of our lives, always there. just like our memories of our beautiful orange friend.