Busy, busy, busy.

Moving plans. We're making them. 2 more months, and we're outta here! We still don't have a place to live, no rental home set up yet, but we've talked to the moving company and we're talking to realtors.

Things have been a bit hectic...

We weren't around much last week because Housing decided to install a sprinkler system in the building. Not sure why they don't wait until the summer... but their strange timing makes life much more exciting :P. We basically spent the day in another apartment and walked back to our place to sleep in the evenings. We kept a few toys and snacks at our temporary hang-out spot. When it came time to "move back in", there wasn't a spot to park near the other apartment, so we just used our handy stroller and paper bags to take our goodies back to our unit. It was pretty funny. I was laughing the entire way home; I asked Jose to pose, he chose an appropriate pose and expression, I think ;).

We spent quite a bit of time at the library. I call it my second home. Mirabel's even made a few new friends!

Twins? ;)

An awesome cookbook!

Sleep-deprived and/or busy moms (or anyone who doesn't have too much time to cook these days!)...I've got a cookbook to recommend! I love it, quite a few of them are gluten-free too.

Ali, I remember you mentioning your good ol' slow cooker recently :). It made me realize that mine wasn't getting enough attention!

I found a cookbook that uses really fresh and tasty ingredients creatively. Slow cooker meals never tasted so good! I tweaked one of the recipes from the book (the American Paella), and added a few ingredients that reminded me of home.

Warm flavors. This is super hearty. Omit the red pepper flakes if spice isn't your thing. (I've got weenie taste buds and thought it had just enough kick.)

If you're looking for a good cookbook, check out The Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook (oh, and I wasn't paid to say that! ;) (Uh, oh! I just noticed Better Homes and Gardens also has one that looks good! Ooh! And America's Test Kitchen has one too?! Look at this recipe I came across recently! YUM! A childhood favorite of mine.)

I blogged about this recipe on my "work" blog...you can find the improvised recipe here :).

IDEAS!

Thank you, ladies, for your suggestions! I really enjoyed browsing the blogs. On the search, I came across a few other awesome blogs that are loaded with craft/diy/furniture restoration ideas. I have been thinking about some of them all morning. I have to admit, literally! I'm a little crazy, but when Mirabel woke me up at 4 AM I started thinking about this AWESOME LAMP! I'm kind of obsessed ;). Isn't it adorable? And I have to agree with her, I think it's a lot cuter and has tons more character than the one from Anthropologie--and I am a fan of that store, too :)!

Also, this dresser is adorable. I've never been a fan of yellow...until recently. I think living too long on the East Coast has made me a fan of everything that reminds me of sunshine. Though I love an airy white room, there's something to be said about walking into a colorful room. It's so cheerful. I have to admit, part of the reason why I'm getting ideas from books/blogs has to do with one little thing...I think if I really let

myself go, I might end up with a house that resembles PeeWee's Playhouse! :P But I love how that yellow dresser still looks cute and classy.

Ooh, and it's almost Easter! Isn't this a cute idea??!!

One more thing. Is there a place, maybe a little box under your bed, where you like to store clippings of your favorite things? Magazine cut-outs, maybe? I really enjoy weheartit.com because I don't have to worry about keeping track of that kind of box, or even lugging it with me across the country (because, after awhile, it'd get pretty heavy).

Check out the site! Basically, you put a button on your toolbar and click it whenever you see an image on a page (basically a blog/website) that you like. Then, the images on the page are highlighted and you just select your favorite image from the page :).

Fun, huh?

This is my page.

Homesick

drive from Houston to Austin. TX sky; puffy clouds.

Can't wait to throw open the blue picnic blanket over the cool green grass. Warm breeze, just enough sunlight but a few clouds shield us from too many rays. Maybe a summer storm brewing up ahead? Nothing to fear. Even if it rains, we'll dry off in a few seconds. Grab a local soda. Hear the thunder. Rainbow shortly after. Music always in the air. Clean air. Trees, bikes, crafty folks, food. Good food, grown nearby even. Soil still on the carrots.

Austin, I love you.

Austin, Texas, I mean. Next best thing to California. Actually, even better. No plastic surgery or mega highways.

2 more months 'til I'm home.

Spring is here! (Almost :)

Remember this post? Almost a year ago to the day. Below is a photo taken about 8 feet from the one featured in last year's March post. I'm a lot smaller now, and Mirabel's a lot bigger. In fact, she turned 10 months on the 14th! AND...she took a step today! She is standing on her own but hasn't quite mastered the art of putting one foot in front of the other; it seems she's testing the waters now!

Notice the sunlight in this photo? A beautiful thing! Yesterday and today were exceptionally sunny and warm days (50s and 60s--practically beach weather for us ;). This photo was taken earlier in the week, but it was still sunny (quite windy). That's our friend's dog in the photo. I love this classic but totally candid pose, such a sweet daddy/daughter moment :).

More fun with daddy (and mommy in the background, taking the pic) at the Boston Children's Museum. Mirabel LOVES other kids. She is always eager to talk to them, and even extends her arms out to them (sometimes in an embrace, it seems!). See her smiling with her new-found friend by her side? They have an area of the museum dedicated exclusively to tots and little ones, great hands-on/crawling area.
Looking forward to more sunny days as spring approaches!

Though it's been nice out, I've still been taking quite a few trips to the library lately, mostly to check out books on interior decorating (my other love!). So far, I've found 2 great books that I think have great photos and tips. Domino's book and this awesome Nest book. Check them out if you love interior decorating. Right now I'm trying to get ideas for when we move into our rental in just a few short months! If you all can recommend any great books on the topic, I'd love to hear about them! I need all the ideas I can get. Oh yes, and decorating on a budget is a must! I'm thinking I'm gonna go for the flea market look...

And maybe I'll try my hand at some furniture make-overs/restoring. Oh yes, and if you all can recommend good blogs/books on that topic, do tell!

Sunny Day

This past weekend started off (Well, Friday starts off the weekend for me ;) at the library. It was cold and sunny Friday afternoon. Sunny enough to get out of the house, but too cold to go on an actual walk. One thing I really love about living in this area is how close we are to the awesome library. It's literally a 5 minute walk away, and the entire third floor is dedicated to kiddos. So we don't need to worry about making noise! Here are a few pictures of one of their noisy guests under 3 feet tall... :) So many expressions. The teddy bear wanted in on the pic too.

Then on Saturday, we took a drive to Providence, Rhode Island. The outdoor farmers markets only run from about June to November around here, and I miss seeing all the beautiful produce, so like devoted little foodies we took a trip to the Winter's Farmers Market in Pawtucket...we also visited a few Italian delis/markets in Federal Hill and I bought some reallly good gluten-free chocolate cookies...but here's the healthy stuff ;).

Then we drove back to Cambridge for lunch, to eat at a delicious local sea food restaurant. We stopped off at home, and then (because the weather was beautiful--50s--all day) we went for a walk to Harvard Square, where we picked up a few sweets, including my new favorite dessert, creme brulee...

We also re-arranged the bedroom. We put our mattress on the floor, and also took Mirabel's crib mattress out of the crib, and placed it next to ours. (THANK YOU for all the suggestions, btw. :) Still trying to figure out a new sleeping system, but we're surviving and...

It's almost Spring, thank GOD!

YES, we've survived our final winter in the North East!