Easter

Easter this year was very laid back.  It was a nice change of pace.  This is the only present I bought this year.  (For Chloe of course.)

There were no baskets, no eggs, no candy.  And no one seemed to mind.  I was actually surprised.  In a few years, Chloe will want to look for eggs and an Easter basket and I will be so happy to enjoy that part of Easter again.   But this year, it was great to enjoy being together as a family and that is it.  We did my favorite thing.

 We all sat at the table together and had Easter brunch.  We ate and talked and laughed and told stories.  All of my kids were home.  We were together as a family.  I cherish these moments because I know these times will become more and more scarce as time goes on.  My kids may move.  They may have in-laws that they want to spend the day with.  As their families grow, they will want to have holidays in their own homes. So I cherish these times.  I am very grateful.

Healthy, Natural, Active

Lately, I have been working hard at changing my lifestyle.  Really, it is a paradigm shift in how I think of myself and my life.  As I picture my life and the things that are important to me, I see family, fun, love, faith, friendships, creativity, accomplishment, joy, gratitude.  I want to really LIVE my life.  I don't want to sit by and watch it just happen.  I want to be proactive. I want to make the most of every moment.  And for me that means I need to have the energy and attitude to make that happen.

So the new outlook I am choosing to focus on for my lifestyle is Healthy, Natural and Active.

I have been studying about healthy alternatives;  what I eat and why, exercise, natural health and positive mental attitude .  I have learned that the more natural and healthy I eat, the better I feel.  I have also figured out that exercise in whatever form I like at the time makes me feel refreshed, alive and happy.  I feel great when I shop for local, organic and in season.  I  think that things must be better the way God created them.  Right?  I set aside time to focus on the good things in my life and focus on being grateful.  And I am learning how to laugh at myself and not take myself too seriously.

Anyway, now I want to grow my own vegi's and I want to start a compost pile.  My husband thinks I'm crazy.  Maybe I am.  But that's ok.  I like being crazy.

This is my dream garden!  This will be in my backyard someday.

                                                                    Source of Photograph

Update on my newest project

So here is what has been keeping me busy these days...

I have a sewing room!  We have a room in our house that is designated for Tom's office, someday.  It is not in our budget to finish this room right now, so he graciously let me clean it up a bit and move in my sewing stuff.  Up until now all of my junk sat in our living room, not a pretty sight I must say, but a girl has to have her sewing stuff readily available for whenever that creative moment hits!

I painted the walls and then painted and stenciled the subfloor.  I saw this idea here on a blog I love, Under the Sycamore.  I changed it up a bit, but followed here directions.  I must say, the floor is my favorite part of the room.  And so soft.  I love walking around barefooted in there.

My room needed to be budget friendly so I did all the work my self.  It was very satisfying!  It made me feel a bit like supergirl!   In the back of the room there is a stud wall that never had sheetrock put on it so I covered it with curtains from Ikea.  They weren't quite long enough so I added more curtains (from Ikea) to the bottom.  I actually like how this turned out. It lets in the light from the back window.  I'm thinking about adding some mirrors on top of the curtain...we'll see.

Next I picked up this great desk at one of my favorite vintage home stores in Berkeley.  It's called Home 101.  You should check it out if you are ever in the area.  It was originally a dark green, but they painted it for me.  I just love it!!

I added my work table and a comfy chair so people can hang out with me.  I may paint the dresser a turquoise blue, what do you think?  I usually tend to stay pretty monochromatic when I decorate, but felt inpsired to add lots of color to this room.

My hope is, that friends and family will want to come and hang out in this great space.  Nothing would make me happier than to come home and find someone I love creating away in here.

Have a great weekend!

Carol

Calender Girl March 2011

3 more months until her big day!