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1.24.2014

Friday Night Musings

I bought some tulips yesterday.  It's very white outside, bitter cold, and there is no end in sight.  I just couldn't help myself when I walked in Trader Joe's.  They begged me to take them home with me and seeing as how I desperately needed to remind myself that one day spring WILL come, I happily forked over $4.99 in exchange for their beauty.  
 And they didn't disappoint.  
Oh my, are we desperate for some color in our world.  I know the whole country is experiencing crazy temps and more snow than anyone knows what to do with, but while it's likely a fluke where you might live, we've got months and months to go.  All this winter fun is just beginning for us! Tis' quite cold yet, but this is my favorite time of the year to have fresh flowers in our house.  We just need some life and beauty to invade our snow globe world, you know? It's amazing how tulips do the trick! 
 We've been trying to keep ourselves busy at home, only heading out when we need to or when we get these crazy, temporary spikes in temperatures.  Yesterday it was so cold that schools cancelled around here, which is apparently a new policy this year, but then today we warmed up to 30 degrees again.  So weird!  When it's cold like this I get itchy to create things.  This is the time of year I do lots of cooking, lots of trying new recipes, lots of baking.  I haven't done as much this year, because I just don't have the energy, but looking at our forecast and knowing we will be hunkered down for awhile has me flipping through some of my favorite cookbooks, old and new.  
 For Christmas my sisters and I all got Rhee's new Holiday cookbook and I have many things flagged in it to try.  With this pregnancy I am craving lots of fresh fruits & veggies and all things Tex-Mex.  I'm also loving stir-fry, rice, chicken and salads, which is quite a departure from my usual winter menu of soups, stews, casseroles and crock-pot dishes.  As you can see I also have a healthy appetite for chocolate!  My plan this weekend is to come up with a couple of weekly menus to rotate in the coming months.  Lately my pregnancy brain has done me no favors when it comes to remembering things and therefore going to the grocery store, or trying to come up with meals on the fly, has proven to be hilarious.  And also, not helpful.  So I'm trying to remedy that with some menus that require no thinking and curling up with a stack of my favorite cookbooks.  Sounds like a great Friday night to me!
 Lately we've been doing all kinds of things to keep the boredom from kicking in...pulling out old books, new books, ebooks, and whatever else we can think of.  
 I rearranged some of the kids' playroom recently and declared that we have way too many books.  At least way too many that we don't read on a regular basis.  Trucks and princesses are our typical M.O., imagine that  :)  
 Ava and I have been fully embracing the opportunity to lounge around in some odd clothing choices.  Mine mostly due to pregnancy and waves of hot flashes, Ava's due to her desire to change every 30 minutes based on the make believe scenario she's currently living out.  
I've never been more thankful for a daughter who loves make believe and is content for hours to just play and play.  I swear she could entertain herself with a paper clip and a rock and somehow turn it into a princess story-line.  She's giving all of her dolls and play sets a real work out this winter and this Mama is grateful! 
 A few weeks ago I was at Homegoods with my sister and spotted a few clearance pillows that I decided to bring home to brighten things up on our bed.  I took these pictures knowing I would be playing with everything for awhile until I got it just how I want it.  
The shams were in a 2 pack for $8 and the yellow throw pillow, also $8.  Steals!  The coral throw was not on sale but I loved the pop of color.  Unfortunately when I got it home and on our bed I spotted a big snag in the weave that couldn't be fixed.  Totally a bummer but it just wasn't going to bode well with kids around, so I returned it today.  Not sure if I'll replace it or not, I really wanted to find something in that color again but they had nothing like it.  
I've already ditched the white shams in the back and the silk pillow in the front, but I really do love the mix of browns and indigo with the yellows.  I was digging the brown, white and blue thing for awhile but I just needed some color to make up for the endless days of grey skies.  
For $16 it felt like a win/win!  

This is what winter does to me.  I cook, I rearrange things, I rotate toys, I nest, I change up color schemes.  I don't know, it's a character flaw. I can't sit still and I need projects when it's cold out.  After I get through a big commitment on my calendar in a few weeks, I moving on to Carter's Baby Book.  You know, the one I haven't even started??  Suddenly the pending arrival of another child makes me a little more motivated to actually get something together for Carter before I turn him into a true middle child who thinks he's invisible :)  To be clear, I also do all the responsible things like cook, clean, do the laundry, pay the bills and drive the kids here, there and everywhere but if I don't HAVE to be doing those things than I'm giving those creative muscles a workout.  

Desperate times here, desperate measures...you know?  It's good I'm pregnant this winter or else I'd be tackling some other projects that are much bigger.   

What about you?  What are your winter survival tips?    

1 comment:

Yevhenii Avramenko said...

Hi thanks foor sharing this