mother earth

Anders and I love Earth Day, but, to be honest, I wasn't that excited about it falling on a rainy, cold and miserable Tuesday when Anders and I both had to work. However, despite the weather reports, the sun did grace us with her presence for the afternoon, so Anders surprised me by getting off work an hour early! We were able to have a small (albeit cold) celebration. We planted a few flowers and vegetables that we had bought and cleaned up a few more beds for planting. It was a small work party, but it felt good to be outside and celebrate Mother Earth who really is so beautiful and wonderful. 

a house that makes me happy

Stumbled across this AMAZING house in W. Seattle the other day. It is covered from head to toe in flowers. Do you think they'll let me move in?

I'm in love.

I can't decide if it's really sad that it is surrounded by big, modern condos or if it just makes it that much cooler. I love the shot of personality and hope they never sell!

Hope you all have a colorful Monday!

two for tuesday

A little weekly photo project.

Two pictures 

Showing the bits and pieces 

of Jen's and my life

Week 1, 2 and 3

macro

For my birthday this year, I bought myself a fun little toy. It's a macro lens for my cell phone camera that sticks to your phone with a magnet. It's the coolest little thing although it definitely takes some practice to get it right. I didn't realize that it requires you finding teeny tiny things to photograph (much smaller that I was even expecting), and it also requires a very very steady hand, which is sometimes hard and frustrating. However, I do love that it makes me look closely at the world. I'm not a very observant person, so it definitely forces me to look at things closely...like the hairs sticking out of moss or the inside of a flower. Here are a few of my favorite I've taken so far.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! I sure do love three day weekends. We are hanging around the house today; relaxing, doing yard work, planting flowers and grilling. 

how we spent earth day

(thanks, sister, for the fun pin!)

arboretum

Anders and I have been trying to make the most of any day with sunshine, so this past Sunday we got coffee, packed up the dog and headed to the Washington Park Arboretum. We hiked around for a few hours; checking out the shores of Lake Washington and all the flowering trees and plants. We walked until the sun went down and our legs were sore and then we promptly went home and made king salmon for dinner. Such a great day.

Unfortunately the world isn't always such a fun place. My heart goes out to everyone affected in Boston. It's sad and scary, and I just don't understand any of it. Sending everyone a little extra light and love this week.

tropical butterfly house

Oh spring...you sure are a fickle thing. I mean, how to you honestly go from last weekend's sunny and 70 degrees to the rainy, messy, chilly crap that is today. I woke up on Saturday to rain, and it was on and off with a variety of extremes all day long. I let the clouds play with my emotions for most of the morning until I finally decided to take matters into my own hands. I sat down and tried to think of the warmest place in Seattle, which lead me to the Tropical Butterfly House at Seattle Center. Random? Maybe, but it worked. I warmed right up in there seeing as how you have to create tropical weather in order to have tropical butterflies. The actual butterflies swooping around my head was just an added bonus. Butterflies are just so cheerful!

cherry blossoms

Two reasons to celebrate this weekend: Anders is finally home (officially) from the book tour, and the sun was (kinda) shining. We took a little bit of time on Sunday afternoon to go check out the cherry blossoms in bloom on the University of Washington's quad. We were definitely a touch early as the blossoms were just starting to sprout, but it was pretty none-the-less. Although, we might have to go back next weekend just to see them in all their full-bloom glory. Spring is coming! I am so excited.

my favorite room

Anders and I have this quirky little room in our tiny house that hasn't served much of a purpose for a long time. It's an open room visible from the kitchen, and you have to walk through it to get to the back bedroom. For the longest time, it held a desk to make it an office, but it was never used and the desk held so much clutter that the room was mostly just an eyesore. Anders and I finally decided to change it up in there by removing the desk and adding a little table and chairs, family pictures, pike place fish memorabilia and tons and tons of plants. It's officially my new favorite spot in the house. You can even see our neighbor's blooming tree outside the window, and with all the green and natural light, it's the prefect place to wait for spring time. Also, I'm thinking the rest of the house needs more plants as well. They just make me so happy!

garden show

Anders and I had such a good time at last year's garden show that we decided to go again this year. If you are even remotely into gardens and landscaping, you should check this show out. Beware, though, it does make you a bit itchy for springtime.