Stopping to Smell the Flowers

And just like that May arrived. Where did April go? Here it passed by in a flurry of gorgeous weekends.

I have been spending lots of time outside weeding and also painting the outdoor furniture my Sweet Hubby built for me. He made the table for me last year for Mother's Day and the benches a few weeks ago. I still have another coat to put on the benches and I need to do some distressing. The chairs were purchased with pincushion money so thank you all for that! We love this spot so much and have eaten so many meals here already.

We celebrated Easter. It got competitive. When it comes to egg hunting we don't play around. Especially when there is money in some of those eggs.

We celebrated our 14th anniversary. He took the day off work and we had a wonderful day capped off with dinner at our usual restaurant...upstairs table #10 overlooking Main St. as it exploded with Spring color. This was our view. You can see why we request this table, right? We don't do anniversary gifts, choosing instead to have an over the top dinner and lots of sweet talk. My guy is hands down, the best at sweet talk. We talked about the last 14 years and all the joys and heartbreaks which have each brought us closer together. We talked about our dreams for the future. It was perfect.

I've been busy fluffing the nest, moving things around our house and doing some painting projects. Sometimes it's as easy as changing a slipcover to make a room feel fresh.

I've been making plans big and small. We decided to open up the enclosed front porch on our house. Then our stove died and thwarted our plans so they have been rescheduled for next April. That's life. It's ok. I'm a roll with the punches kind of girl. I'm patient and always willing to wait for what I really want.

Speaking of patience. I have had a broken clock hanging on my family room wall for better than 6 months now. I was hoping to find one for a good price and was checking HomeGoods regularly but I never found one I loved...and I have a rule, If I don't love it, it's not living in my house! I have realized as I've gotten older that sometimes you have to pay more to get what you really want. I found this one at Pottery Barn and I couldn't be happier with it.

I've been taking time to smell the lilacs. I'm pretty sure succulents don't have an aroma. I've felt a shift in my priorities lately. I don't get on the computer much. I'm spending more time taking care of me. I bought almond milk this week. I put lavender on my pillow at night. I've started listening to yoga music even when I'm not at yoga. This morning I meditated. There is a chance I'm turning into a hippie. 

I've been reading. Pretty books, magazines, even real books with plots and everything.

But more than anything, I'm just being easier on myself. No more giant to do lists every day that make me feel like a failure because it's impossible to get it all done. I have a rough idea of what I want to get done in a given week and whatever doesn't get done just gets pushed to the next week. Or maybe the week after that. I set my alarm for an hour in the mornings and clean for that hour and then give myself permission to not feel guilty if I want to do something fun afterwards. It's kind of magical this new phase I've entered. I don't think there's any going back. I can't imagine why I'd want to.