April 02, 2014

Long Awaited


April. Finally. This may be the most anticipated April in my personal history. I feel like my entire life just breathed a deep sigh of relief.


 I kicked it off by mailing off the rest of the pincushions. Hopefully they will all be where they are supposed to be by Friday. I thank you all for supporting my little dip into the world of making and selling! Please take a minute to leave feedback for me on Etsy if you are so inclined.


I celebrated the mailing of the packages with a little pampering because, lets be honest, happy toes just make life a little better, right?


In the afternoon we went on a little fieldtrip to our local creamery for ice cream.


While we were there I made a new friend whose name happens to be Number 26. We bonded. My only regret is that I couldn't get close enough to rub my face on those fuzzy ears, although it's possible that if I had I might be suffering from a different regret today...


Emma also made a new friend whose name was Come-one-step-closer-and-I-will-attack-you. I'm not sure if you could call what they did bonding though.


This creamery is only 10 minutes from our house and I'm so embarrassed to admit that we've never been there before. I've realized lately that we three introverted homebodies need to force ourselves out of the house more often and have more adventures. We are busting on out of this rut this Spring.


I showed this shot of my mini bowl obsession on Instagram the other day. I don't know what I'm going to do if Anthro continues to come out with irresistible new colors.


What I didn't show on IG was the rest of the story. I have a well documented bowl problem. It's an ongoing joke in my family. This is not even the rest of it. Plus I have given so many bowls to Maddie for her apartment (so that I could justify new ones I had brought home) that she is now in danger of having too many bowls. I'd stop buying them but the withdrawal gets to me every time.


Speaking of Anthro, I got this towel there recently and love seeing the happy colors brighten up my Spring kitchen. In case you worried about the fate of this cute towel, everybody in the house knows that the towel hanging on the stove is hands off. Now, if you come over, you will know too and we can avoid any embarrassing situations.


While gathering up my unread magazines for an upcoming road trip, I got to wondering what magazines you buy or subscribe to. I now only subscribe to Country Living, Southern Living and Cottages and Bungalows but I miss having an endless pile of magazines. I still pine for Cottage Living, Home Companion and Country Home. Luckily I have many saved issues of Country Home which I still pull out every season. That magazine is the one that got away and I will likely never get over the ending of our relationship.


So that's April around here so far. I'm going to finish this day off with a well earned viewing of You've Got Mail while I catch up on Pinterest and flip through some garden inspiration. That may just be the most perfect way I can imagine spending an afternoon.

33 comments:

  1. I just discovered Country Living - British Edition last year, and have been so impressed by it. I don't have a subscription, just pick it up at the bookstore. It is double the cost of the other magazines and is on stands later (like this month the February issue is on stands...maybe March), but, to me, worth it with all of the information and beautiful pictures. It shines brighter than any other magazine I've ever read.

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    1. Ditto. The British Country Living is amazing! Every single issue.

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  2. ah, cottage living. i have them all, lovingly stored on my shelf. i miss it so much. i love how some aspects of it have wandered over to southern living…but they are each their own in my mind. :)

    p.s. apparently, ME made the "Life is just a chair of bowlies" design for you! ;) but i agree. bowls are such a HAPPY dish to buy!

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  3. Love your sweet towel. I read Country Living, but might give that up because either it has changed or I have changed.... I just watched You've Got Mail the other night. It had been years since I watched it and it was so funny hearing the "dial up" sound!

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  4. It looks like you have such a wonderful start to spring, Icecream from a real creamery sounds delicious. It's so funny that you are talking about magazines because I was thinking about doing a post on magazines, the ones I still love and the ones I miss so much like the three you mentioned and I also miss the variety of garden magazines that used to be around, I always found so much inspiration and I miss all these magazines so much.

    I hope you continue to have good weather and find more little local adventures, it looks like a wonderful town :)

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  5. I love pretty kitchen towels and pretty coffee cups! Your towel is so cute. I have tried the don't touch this towel approach, but having a husband that does the majority of the cooking and uses whatever is there to wipe his hands on, my cute towels don't stay that way too long. I love You've Got Mail and I also think your calendar is fabulous! Have a great evening!

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  6. Country Homes & Interiors is by far my most favorite magazine (not to mention it's British). Hardly any advertisements and beautiful pictures with delicious recipes, whats not to love?

    I really enjoy your blog!

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  7. i have a bowl problem also. :)

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  8. Amen and Amen. I flipped that calendar page March 31 first thing in the morning because, lets face it, in my mind March was already a thing of the past. April came in and was everything I had hoped for, 60 degrees and sunny. I opened all the windows and baked a peach pie to celebrate. I don't really subscribe to anything anymore. Country Living was my fave but then they made my bill look overdue even though my subscriuption wasn't even close to having run out, and since I can't abide devious marketing ploys I told them good-bye. Now I read it online through the library for free. Ha! Love your towel, call me silly but a new kitchen towel can brighten my day. I completely understand the bowl fetish. Completely.

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  9. Well since you asked, G&G is amazing. Seriously. The.Best.Writing. Amazing photography. Fascinating people and their stories. I always read their "Good Dog" article first. The Soul of the South? Yes! (And I'm Southern, so I take such things seriously.) Their recent Greatest Southern Towns Bracket even correctly choose Savannah over Charleston- bold.

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  10. I love bowls, but I think plates take the #1 spot! I, too, hang my "good" towel on the oven door.

    Are you loving the new editor of Southern Living as much as me? (not sure how long he's been there, but not too long). I feel like he brought the magazine back to life again.

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  11. 1. You have good toes.
    2. Now I sound like one of those foot fetish people...
    3. I have the bowl that matches those flowered plates.
    4. I miss mags, too.

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  12. Oh I SO understand your love for bowls! I have a thing for bright vintage pyrex bowls. I think having fun bowls makes cooking so much more fun!

    Your day at the creamery sounds lovely! I too have a lil' list of places to visit locally this spring.

    And YES! Magazines!! Love them! It makes my day so much brighter when I see that Country Living in my mailbox!

    Happy Spring!

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  13. i still mourn the demise of cottage living magazine...love all of your bowls! i have the same problem with mixing bowls

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  14. Let's make one thing perfectly clear. You do NOT have a bowl problem. You are a bowl COLLECTOR. [silly girl!] I KNOW, because um.... I ummmm, am ALSO a COLLECTOR! I love the Anthro bowl, but only have two of the minis. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the color scheme you've got going with those. Like... sea glass!! Totally makes me rethink what colors I will pick up next time I go... COLLECTING. *wink wink I love the pretty floral plates and bowls on your shelf too! Beautiful.

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  15. Sounds like a great start for Spring Jen. Keep it going! :)

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  16. I have some of the bowls from Anthro too. Yours are cute too! I was just in Antro in Charleston on Tuesday, I just love the store, found some cool clothes that I bought!

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  17. Sigh! I miss Country Home so much. Soooooo much. I treasure all of my old issues. I keep threatening to go on eBay and buy up the ones I don't have. It's a sickness. Right now I'm only subscribing to Country Living and Country Gardens. I think I am still getting BHG, but I am going to let that one go, since it's not focusing on what I'm interested in right now. I keep meaning to subscribe to Cottages & Bungalows and Romantic Home, but keep forgetting! ARGH! Plus, didn't Fifi come out with a magazine awhile back? Is that still going? Anyway. Love your bowls, love you! ~Angela~

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    1. Country Home...I wasSO SAD when they ended it.

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  18. I loved Home Companion and was so sad when the publications ceased.

    I find myself reading magazines on my iPad these days. I can't justify the paper being used and with the digital copies, I have them all in one place when I want to go hunting for an idea.

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  19. A girl can never have too many bowls, tea towels, or good magazines. :)

    Do you get Cottage Journal? I absolutely love it! It only comes out 4 or 5 times a year but if you subscribe it isn't expensive.

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  20. there are some pretty colors going on in those photos. i need more bowls!!

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  21. I am loving your April so far, Jen! No wonder you never want to leave your nest...it is so beautiful I don't know if I would want to leave either. lol Looks like Emma had fun even if there was an attack chicken on the premises. Okay-it may be April 1st but we have freezing rain here today- this is too too crazy! xo Diana

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  22. I love your calendar! I also LOVE your bowl collection...wonderful colors.
    I love magazines...it is so fun when new issues arrive in the mailbox. I subscribe to Southern Living and Country Living...

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  23. I have a carefully hoarded, oh so loved stack of Home Companion I pull out every so often.

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  24. Yay -- happy April -- love your calendar. I also need a stack of magazines for a road trip! Have fun!

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  25. Have you ever read a magazine called Mary Janes Farm? It's my favorite...matte finish cover, thicker pages, every page useful, inspiring, and beautiful. I love it!

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  26. I have those same bowls - but in a bright green. I won them in a blog giveaway last year. :-) Good news for you...I was at World Market the other day and they now have these exact same bowls! Made in Portugal, just like the ones at Anthro. And much cheaper. So if you have a World Market nearby...run! You need more bowls! lol Magazines...oh, I love them. I'm a magazine junkie. I miss Cottage Living, too. That was my fave. I don't subscribe to many now (well, "many" depends on your definition), but I do go to B&N once/month and spend a couple of hours in the cafe with a stack of magazines, thumbing through them. I love your stove...what kind is it?

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  27. we should be neighbors ...

    xo

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  28. You crack me up! I loved the….might have regrets…if you had rubbed your face in those fuzzy cow ears. LOL!! I am a homebody, too so I do understand that. The "hands off" towel, super funny, too. Can't wait to see what you gather for garden inspiration ;)

    ~Shanon

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  29. I too miss Cottage Living and Country Home. So sad. New reader to your blog. Love the direction your porch is taking. We have a porch and shutters (love adding color with painted shutters). When we drive around looking at new neighborhoods my family thinks I'm crazy when I say,"but it doesn't have a porch or you can't put shutters on that elevation." It says Home to me.

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