Spring Forward

Nothing reminds me more that spring is near than daylight savings time. Granted, it may not feel that way, given the cold temperatures and snow flurries, but nonetheless spring is in the air. I have gardening and breakfast nook projects on my mind.

This past weekend I visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it was very inspirational. I took a ghost walk tour of Society Hill with its cobblestone streets and row-houses; it was lovely. Not only was the tour fun, it allowed me to take a sneak peek of the lovely home interiors. An excellent source of inspiration especially given that I'm restoring my breakfast nook. Some of the ideas that I came away with were the use of indoor shutters as window treatments and using wallpaper to accent walls.

My breakfast nook was built as an addition, the foundation of this room settled and the center sank about two inches. My first order of business was hiring a carpenter to reframe the room and rebuild it from the ground up. This process was surprisingly, quick and painless and well worth the trouble (provided you are working with a professional). The floor is now completely level and transitions smoothly with rest of the house.

The second order of business was redoing the lighting. The previous owner installed outdoor sconces along the walls. Once the structural and lighting tasks are complete I will begin decorating.

In the meantime, I'll be tackling my herb garden complete with oregano, sage, basil and mint.

Projects, projects and more projects!

This past Monday I invited a guest speaker from China to my Foundations of Leadership class (in addition to my regular daytime job, I teach at the college level), at the end of class we chatted about our jobs, and every day life. At some point during the conversation, she asked me why I felt compelled to work two jobs and if I was happy. I was quite taken aback, interesting questions, especially coming from a stranger. This gave me pause, I gave it some thought and answered honestly- yes! Do I work a lot? Yes, but I love what I do, I feel in my own small way I'm making a positive difference. All that aside it's not just my job where I derive a lot pleasure. I enjoy restoring my house, I love cooking, entertaining and all the other stuff in between. For example, I'm working on several fun home projects/hobbies and my husband is doing the same.

I travel quite a bit and I always try to bring home something from every country or city I visit. Over the years I've collected some really neat things, but now I'm struggling to find a suitable place for them in my house. I have Mardi Gras masks from New Orleans, and Florence, terra cotta soldiers from Beijing, to name a few.  I'm also working on making sense of my favorite recipes. I liken my cooking style to that of a chemist, a little bit of this and that. Recently, I've begun measuring my ingredients and writing everything down as I go.  My husband too has found success brewing his own beer! Of course, if all this can't seem to keep me busy I also have my book club to fall back on! 

One of three masks I'm trying to find a place for.

I'm so happy I managed to bring this mask back from Florence, Italy without a single a scratch. I wrapped it in thick sweaters and placed it in the middle of my suitcase.