Spring!

Spring is a time for all things new.  New birds, bugs, and blossoms abound.  Everywhere you look, life is bursting forth.  The drab leafless trees now have budding leaves.  Bright and cheery flowers are reaching their way out of the ground.  And baby animals are exploring their recently discovered surroundings.

All this rejuvenation has inspired me to get back into the renovation game.  After my very first one (the renovation of the bathrooms), I needed a break.  A little down time where I didn’t spend every weekend at home improvement stores.  After re-focusing on just enjoying my place, rather than ripping it up, I’m ready to begin again.  But ah, where to start?  A sparkly new kitchen, with shiny new appliances?  A gleaming hardwood floor?  Or all new landscaping, where drought tolerant plants and flowers abound?  Decisions, decisions…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Now that I live in a bona fide suburban neighborhood (for the first time in my life), I’m enjoying the new sense of community.  So, when I saw the sign for a pre-St. Patrick’s Day event at the local community center, I was determined to be there.  The Pumpkin Festival was so much fun, that I figured this one would be great too!

As often occurs in the life of a new home owner bent on decorating and renovating, though, my Saturday quickly whizzed by in a whirlwind of visits to Lowe’s, Home Depot, and furniture stores.  Which left little time for Irish-themed revelry and merriment.

That being said, the day was a great success.  I found a wonderful outdoor furniture set (with green cushions, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day).  And the store was offering to put an extra 10% of the purchase price of a store card back on it.  A great place to hang out as the weather gets warmer, and free money to boot!  I must have the luck of the Irish.

Balance

As fun as it is to learn about the furniture, building material, and other decorating and renovating related stores in my area, it’s also been a great joy to get to know my neighborhood in a whole different way.  Namely, by venturing out into the great outdoors.  Each weekday, I head out at sunrise to a nearby trail to join the deer, bunnies, and coyotes in their morning jaunts.  The simple quiet of the morning brings a peaceful start to the day.  (Much needed before I hit the freeway!)

And then on weekends, I try to strike a balance between all the home related errands, and really enjoying all the beauty of the area to which I moved.  Because, like most people, I didn’t buy just four walls, a floor, and a roof.  I moved to where I wanted to live.  And on a beautiful spring afternoon, hiking through the hills near my house, I find that I am home.

Imagination

I have a great imagination.  In my mind, I can picture just what all the pieces for my home look like.  A round side table for the reading nook, made of glass and steel, to counterbalance the rectangular dark wood dressers and bedside tables.  A red couch for the living room, with cushions that stay firm (though still beyond comfortable, of course), and a magical fabric that doesn’t fade or stretch, ending up resembling a pug dog.  The wrinkles are adorable on a puppy.  Less so on a couch.  And a coffee table that is modern and unique, yet friendly, inviting you to pull up a plate and use it as a dining table.  (I can’t be the only one who gives into the desire to relax and eat dinner in front of the TV, rather than sitting in the dining room like a grown up.  In my defense, when the latest Mad Men disc arrives, I pretty much bee line it to the DVD player.  I’m hooked.)

Alas, the real world doesn’t allow my decorating fantasies to come to fruition as briskly as I might desire.  So this weekend, it’s off to more furniture stores I go.  Because, one of these days, I’m going to find these dream pieces.  Until then, you can find me curled up on my pug dog.  I mean, couch.

Sweet dreams

One of my all time favorite things is curling up in bed while listening to the rain.  Add to that scenario my brand-new warm, fluffy, 44 ounce (not sure what the optimum ounce count is, but that sounded good enough to me) down comforter (bought on sale, thanks to Presidents’ Day), and I am ready for the coming rain.  Curled up in bed with a good book, it just doesn’t get any better.

Add to this delightful locale my newly acquired throw pillows, and this cozy spot looks down-right grown up, too.  Since I am the world’s slowest interior decorator, the pillows took awhile to arrive on said bed, but it’s coming together nicely.

Where’s your favorite spot to enjoy the rain?

Xeriscaping

My neighborhood is one of well-kept lawns, and neatly maintained flower beds.  It’s the rare home that deviates from this impeccable standard.  Though as soon as spring brings slightly more be-outside-all-day-planting friendly temperatures, my house may just become a stand-out on the block.  The idea of xeriscaping is being bandied about, for a few reasons.  For one, I live in an area where water just isn’t a plentiful commodity.  Sure, it may seem like a tropical paradise, with all the emerald green lawns, and swaying palm trees.  But left to its own devices, it’s a somewhat thirsty place.  So, saving water where I can would be helpful, not just to the water supply, but also to my checking account.  (Having been a renter for ages, that water bill takes some getting used to!)

Creating a drought-tolerant landscape is much lovelier than it used to be.  There are some beautiful, unusual plants available, and to stand out from my neighbors may not be such a bad thing.  Once my delightfully generous mother got wind of the plan, she started giving them as gifts.  Great colors, interesting shapes, and fun names.  Chocolate soldier?  Never heard of it, and now I have one.

Have any favorite succulents that simply must be part of the design?  Let me know, and I’ll throw ‘em into the mix.

And the winner is...

It turns out I decorate like I renovate.  One piece at a time.  When I was doing my bathrooms, I went to multiple stores for each type of item before choosing my very favorite one.  I looked at quite a few different tiles, faucets, and slabs of marble before the winners took their place on the podium.

The chair for my reading nook now sits cozily in the corner of my bedroom.  I looked around at several until I found just the right one.  Not too big, not to small, and a color that was just right for the rest of the furniture in the room.  Now all I need to do to make it the ideal little corner in which to read is to find the right lighting, and perfect side table.  I may be the world’s most leisurely interior designer, but I always enjoy the result.  And that’s the best prize of all.

Juicy

I love fruit.  The way other people love chocolate, I love fruit.  So when house hunting, every time a house had a fruit tree, that pushed it much farther up on the "this could be the one" list.  The fact that the home I chose has not one, but two citrus trees, was definitely a consideration when placing the offer.  Yes, I know, you can always plant trees, but these were mature.  Which got me excited that I wouldn't have to wait years for newly planted trees to grow, but that I would have a bountiful crop of grapefruits and lemons as soon as they ripened.

 

Once the grapefruits were nice and large, and just the right shade of pinky-yellow, I picked one gleefully.  My grin was quickly replaced with a pucker.  This thing wasn't just normal-grapefruit-sour, it was melt-the-enamel-straight-off-your-teeth-sour.  SO disappointed.

But over the weekend, all that changed.  We had gotten a deluge of rain in December, so when I returned from my recent vacation, I picked another.  Apparently all these trees wanted was a serious soaking.  When I cut into the grapefruit, it was the perfect rosy pink.  And it was juicy and delicious.  And the grin is back.

Welcome home

Travelling through Ecuador and the Galapagos over the course of a few weeks was amazing.  All the people I met were wonderful.  And the Galapagos Islands were teeming with life.  Although I’m always excited when embarking on a new adventure, this trip was especially memorable.  Experiencing a new culture, and seeing such a wide diversity of wildlife in its natural habitat, was truly phenomenal.  Sea lions and iguanas share the sand, with barely a notice of the other.  The penguins and blue footed boobies chirp happily, perched on rocks above waters swimming with sea turtles, sting rays, and sharks.  Each day I was away was a reminder of why, and how much, I love to travel.

But, ahh, it’s great to be home.  To my own bed, with soft sheets, and my perfect pillow.  To my beautifully renovated bathrooms, where the water pressure is constant, and hot water flows freely.  (After weeks without such things, I will no longer take them for granted!)  I’m enjoying getting settled back in, pouring over photos, and sharing holiday stories with friends and family.  After a nice break, I’m ready for the year to come, which is sure to be filled with many house-related projects.  I may even get adventurous, and incorporate some of the vibrant colors of Ecuador into my decorating.