Chasing my tail...

     Lately, I feel like a dog chasing its tail. No matter how hard I try, or how fast I run, I am always just shy of grabbing it. Occasionally, if I'm really warmed up and let's face it, lucky, I can catch it for a fleeting moment. Usually before I can enjoy my victory for too long, I lose my grip and I am right back where I started, surrounded by unfinished lists and piles of laundry.

     Kindergarten and nursery school are kicking my rear. I'm lining up to collect my "Mother of the Year" award. I know I'm lucky in so many ways: to be home with two healthy, happy children, to have a supportive husband who is not a caveman, and to have great friends in the same boat as me. I know many people have so much more to juggle and deal with. I don't know how my grandmother managed seven children. I can't imagine having to fly solo all the time or having truly sick children. I know it's been harder than this before.  I know it all goes too quickly. I know this too shall pass.  

     For now, maybe I'll just focus on straight ahead, instead of where my tail is. Better yet, maybe I should take my cue from cats and take a nap in the sun.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Erin

Pinspiration: "A Someday Kitchen"

Earlier this week, I shared some images of my "dream homes" with you.  It's safe to say that I have a similar obsession with kitchens.  Like many of you, more than half of my time at home is spent in the kitchen. It really should be called the living room. It's inevitable then that images like these make me drool.

Canadian House & Home via Pinterest/Annie Diamond (lovely things)

Pinterest via Jen @ Rambling Renovators

It's no surprise that I have an entire board over at Pinterest dedicated to my "Someday Kitchen". While I've been plotting this space in my head (and occasionally on paper) for years, an actual renovation is light years away.  In the meantime, here are some of my favorite, inspiring kitchens. Can you tell what they all have in common?



thedevinehome.com

Our kitchen is currently an L-shape with a wall and small doorway separating it from the living room. Ideally we'd like to open up the space between the two and work with a layout similar to this. I love everything, and I mean everything, about this kitchen, especially the fireplace.

Sarah Richardson

I love the salvaged corbels Sarah Richardson used in her farmhouse between her dining room and kitchen.The warm colors, textures and patterns make this space so inviting.



Pinterest via Jen @ Rambling Renovators

I love the idea of a comfy banquette under a sunny window, but love the gorgeous upholstered chairs even more.

 This kitchen over at For the Love of a House took my breath away though.

Look at all of those deep drawers.

From the layout, fixtures and finishes, to the fireplace I would flank with windows, a banquette or maybe some built-ins, I fell in-love.

Did you find the common thread?  It's clear to me that I crave a bright space with simple white cabinets, wood floors and the warmth and texture of some rustic wood. Oh and a fireplace.  It reminds me that I am always drawn to simple, timeless elegance, 

with a warm and casual vibe. 

A girl can dream. 

What does your someday kitchen look like?


Have a wonderful weekend!
Erin
Linking today's post to:





Uncle...

Each year I get my kids to start thinking about what they'd like to be for Halloween around August, so I can start thinking of how to make their costumes. I am no seamstress and I know my limitations.  My costumes are usually limited to things made out of sweatsuits or ready made clothes with my own embellishments (i.e. lots of felt and hot glue).

Halloween 2007

2008

my favorite costumes to date, completely born from Neve's imagination...

2009

Eamon's first encounter with lollipops (and lots of them!)

The Woody costume and hats were hand-me-downs from my niece and nephew. 

All I did for Woody was add a belt buckle and pull string. 

The Jesse costume was homemade.

2010

Last night though, while trying to make Neve a Spider Girl costume, I cried Uncle. She has this thing about not wearing itchy clothes. I can't say I blame her. She took one look at the Spider Girl costume we saw in a catalog and asked me to make hers.  Apparently, I created a monster.  As much as I enjoy making their costumes, I knew that this one would test me.

After three nights of trying to work with what I had, a trip to Michael's and waning patience, I threw in the towel and ordered one online. Once I assured her that she could wear a tee-shirt underneath to cure any itchiness, she was on board and excited to boot. I will cover her rainboots with black fabric and call it a day.

While most of me feels relieved, a  part of me feels defeated, not by my limitations, but by the subtle reminder that I am crossing into big-kid land a little more each day. I'm proud of her growth and independence and don't want to be the mom who needs to be needed, but this  one is giving me pause: making her costume is just another thing she doesn't need me to do for her. Ouch.

I guess it's a lesson in letting go and enjoying the ride. As she matures, my role keeps evolving and shifting, which is probably not such a bad thing.

On Halloween, she will be thrilled and smiling in her Spider Girl costume, regardless of where it came from, and I will be happy because she is.

Have you cried Uncle lately?

Erin

Linking this post to:

A Bowl Full of Lemons:One Project at a Time Link Party

Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mommy: Tuesday Confessional Link Party

A Diamond in the Stuff: Time to Shine Link Party

A Dream House

Barbie had one. 

Barbie's Dream House, circa 1979, via Google

Mr. Blandings built one.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, 1948

Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,
both images, via Google

And I am forever falling in love with other people's houses.


From the breathtaking,

image via Pinterest

to the classic beauty on a tree-lined lot,

from Crush Cul de Sac via Pinterest

to the humble charmer where I can imagine sitting by the fire

Google.com, via Pinterest

in a cozy kitchen like this, 

fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com

I am a daydreamer and a voyeur when it comes to houses.


I have several favorites in and around my neighborhood.

  

They are usually nothing fancy or very large, but typically pretty classic with an older soul and lots of charm. Nothing really like my own home or even the home I grew up in, both boxy, post-war homes nestled among their look-a-like counterparts on neat and tidy  suburban plots.

It always surprises me that I ended up living in the opposite of what I always daydreamed (and still do) about, but maybe the reality is better than the dream. As unremarkable as our house appeared from the outside when we first looked at it, the inside told a different story.


What was it that sold us? Practicality, perhaps, a blank canvas and good bones, for sure, but the ability to see our future, absolutely.  By the time we returned to our car that day, I could see where the Christmas tree would go.  We were sold and a different kind of daydreaming began.  

My house and home, like its residents, will always be evolving.  I'm guessing that the homes I  admire the most may have looked something like mine at one point.   With time and patience she will be a charmer, but the life that happens inside is better than any daydream I could imagine. 


What makes your house or apartment a home?

Erin