January 26, 2015

Monday Morning


It is quiet around here this morning. The dishwasher and washing machine are running, providing a hum in the background. You've Got Mail is playing and Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox are keeping me company while all the people I love the most are doing their own Monday morning things.


The sun is streaming in the windows casting a glow that holds the promise of spring and some of us are trying to soak it all up. On Saturday I heard the birds singing their gleeful songs but then on Sunday it snowed. Just when I think it might be too early to get excited, the geese fly overhead honking their wonderful greetings and I think, hello friends! You are back early! I hope that means you know something I don't know! When it comes to spring I always think in exclamations.


I have much to do today. I already can't imagine organizing my life without my Day Designer and while I hesitated to spend that much money on a planner, I will not hesitate next year. I'm now much better at  prioritizing and using my time wisely. There is still room for improvement but it is so much better than this past fall. Maybe that's part of why I've been away from here lately. I'm also getting better at making time to be creative as long as I get the less than fun things done first thing in the day. I'm working hard towards taking time for myself without guilt. I read this the other day "Choosing to make time to read a book or do a craft or pursue a passion is not idle. It is not unworthy." Yes! I needed that.


I have so many projects in various stages of doing or planning. A baby blanket, another baby gift, an embroidered pillow for Maddie, a birthday gift for a friend, Emma's birthday party, a bathroom renovation and Valentine's Day projects. I'm not as good at multitasking as I was back in my working days but hopefully it will all come together in the next few weeks.


Am I the only one in nesting mode lately? I'm fairly certain the purchase of this banquette for our dining room set me off. I had my eye on it for a long time and I'll tell you I found it impossible to pass it by at 65% off. I now find myself hunting for a new dining room light, two upholstered chairs as well as a new rug for our family room to replace the seagrass one that is currently unraveling a bit more each time I vacuum it. And also if the perfect wood dining room table (with a leaf) presented itself to me, I wouldn't turn it away. The problem is, because this is my forever house, I sometimes have a hard time making decisions. I get mired down in the research and options or the exactly perfect vision of a particular item in my head, which, in reality doesn't exist.


I love that every room in our house makes me happy and invites me in and makes me want to spend time in it. Not a single room is completely finished but it doesn't seem to put a dent in my happiness. I can't believe we bought this house almost four hears ago! I also can't believe how much we've done to it in that time. There is no other place in my entire life that has felt like this home does to me. It's the least perfect home I've ever owned. And also the most perfect. I hope your Monday is full of creativity and promise.

21 comments:

  1. Good morning my friend. I just poured myself a cup of coffee and was about to type up a blog post and saw you front and center on my sidebar. I do love our visits. My nesting mode has been slow to kick in this year. I suppose I did so much last year that I made a subconscious decision to sit the month of January out. So happy to hear you're happily nesting away. I love that new dining room upholstered bench and can't wait to see how everything evolves around it. I love the sound of a forever home. Have a wonderful day!

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  2. I think you dining room is perfection as is!

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  3. I have a hard time making decisions about things for the house. I hate buying things just for the purpose of buying. Have a wonderful day Jen!

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  4. Oh, how I want to nest. Instead it's time to put our house back on the market. I have let it go for a month now and it shows. Hoping it sells this time.
    Love your home.

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  5. The blanket is beautiful that you are making. Loving your mantel too with the Valentine touches!

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  6. Like you, I love my home and love looking at things that make me happy.

    I just wish we had snow days because it is so hard to be creative when the sun is calling. Yesterday Steve said we must play first and then do our work so of course no work got done. I made sure I did a little work before Lulu got her walk. And now, I need to get off the computer and get back to work in the yard that has been looking so sad.

    I love your beautiful dining room!

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  7. I just love the light in your home, very lovely. thats great that you found a good way to stay organized, it can sure be difficult finding what works for each person. what a great deal on the banquette, it looks wonderful :) I like getting to see what creative projects you are working on, looks great.
    Have a happy week

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  8. One thing I really love about your house is the beautiful moldings around your windows. The windows in my face still all have that gross, ugly, cheap fake, brown wood (it's really plastic) around them. I don't want to replace it until we get new windows - which we desperately need! We did get replacement windows a few years ago for two of the bedrooms, but I want to wait until the whole house is done. I know I could prime and paint the molding for now, but do I really want to do that? Can't make up my mind. I just use a basic planner. I deliberated on getting the Passion Planner this year. Have you heard of it? Google it and check it out. What made me change my mind was when I read reviews, a lot of people said the cover was flimsy. And I wondered if I'd truly use it. I am still working on carving out time for creative pursuits. I'm all gung-ho when I wake up and think I'll get everything done in the morning - and I don't. It's like one little project or clean-up around here leads to another. Or, I have too many errands to run. Evening comes and sometimes I wonder if everything I did in the house all day was worth it! And then I feel mad that I "wasted" my time. Hmm, maybe I DO need a fancier planner! I thought I was the only one who couldn't make decisions on things to buy for the house. I spend so much time on the computer looking for the perfect rug or piece of furniture, etc. We bought a kitchen rug at Target for the kitchen last week and I didn't like it in there. So now I have it in the living room and though I like it, I keep thinking it's not THE perfect rug - that I could find better. Think I'm a bit of a perfectionist?! I *love* your banquette - it's gorgeous. I wouldn't look for a new dining room table...that white one with the white bench and chairs looks fantastic with the gray banquette. PS - love how you have your mantel decorated. The big LOVE letters are beautiful and whimsical.

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  9. I'm not the only one! I thought that I was weird because I'm so hesitant to take risks on buying things for our house now that I'm in a long term place. I find myself thinking & thinking, researching, deciding and then changing my mind. I thought that I'd know exactly what I'd want when we moved in!

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    1. You're not weird. You are perfectly normal. Or we are both weird. I'm not sure which of these is true, actually.

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  10. Awww, man! I just typed out a comment and it deleted.
    I commented that I can't wait to see what you choose for light above your dining table. I've got a gloomy "boob" light above my kitchen table, and it is, as most are, completely off center. So, I need something swag-able. The cute fixtures I find have exposed lightbulbs which have me seeing spots. Then there are the standard three choices...drum light, farm light, and standard chandelier pointing up or down. Do you have any fun resources or ideas? I'd love to see them. I thought of crafting a light fixture but I'm afraid I'd inadvertently use something flammable!! Yikes!
    Love your blog, as usual. Blessings to you and yours!

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    1. Kate, oh the dreaded boob light! Our dining room light is off center too. Plus I like to turn the table so that the settee is facing the fireplace so that throws everything off further. Plus we have LOW ceilings. The challenges are endless! I agree totally about exposed light bulbs. That's what is in there now and the light is harsh. We have it on a dimmer but that only helps so much. I don't have secret resources (wish I did!) but do like some things at Ballard Designs, Pottery Barn and School house Electric. I just don't love the prices or my inability to make a decision.

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  11. Love the pictures of the light coming through your windows....
    And your dining room so beautiful

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  12. I struggle with accepting my house. I moved in almost two years ago to the house my new husband and his ex wife bought 25 years ago.

    Its a cute cosy little house.. but it was far from the blank slate I'm used to starting with. I'm working on making it mine, though. One little corner, one furnishing, one piece of decor at a time.

    Maybe some day I will feel like its mine.... maybe.

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  13. Your house looks so pretty! Love that baby blanket you are working on there! So important to take time for yourself and I need remind myself of that too as am feeling a little bogged down in chores lately! Hope you have a great day!

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  14. I feel the same way about my house. There's all these rooms that aren't really finished, but not one of them that I don't love anyway.

    I love that painting in the first picture.

    xo

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  15. Love that new settee! SO glamourous, yet functional too. I really like how you changed your letters up on the mantel to spell "Love!" How sweet. I am glad you have found more time for creative pursuits. You and your art are worth it!

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  16. i love the "l o v e" on your mantel... you have such a sweet way of pulling everything together...

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  17. beautiful home, beautiful post! so needed to read this.

    i lit a fire in our tiny den today, fluffed the pillows on the sofa, changed from work-out shoes to big, toasty boot socks and settled in to read my book group pick for the month (Beautiful Ruins). i lasted five minutes until i started to feel like a guilt-ridden slug. jumped up and spent a couple of hours cleaning out a closet. you have inspired me to try again tomorrow :)!

    love the banquette and love even more the bargain! where did you find it?

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  18. Beautiful post. Even more so because of the contentment in your voice.

    Your dining room looks fabulous!

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  19. it sounds like a perfect monday! kathleen kelly is always great company! :) i'm glad you're loving your Day Designer. i'm trying out a new planner this year to see which i like best, but the Day Designer last year was so helpful to me as well!

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