70 Degrees in November?

The weather was incredible over the long Thanksgiving weekend, sunny every day and in the 60's and 70's all weekend. So amazing, thank you global warming :)
On Sunday we went to the Capitol Hill ward because it was where Brody had spend the bulk of his mission and there were still a lot of members in the ward that he knew and loved. Unbeknownst to us, the chapel is getting torn down and re-built and that was the last Sunday in that building! We got so lucky with the timing on that one.

It's always fun to drive around the hill. There is so much charm and history, and of course the gorgeous Capitol dome, which is just so captivating. I got a little camera happy while we were driving, but we never see it in our neighborhood!


And as promised, here is the new gallery wall in all it's taken-with-my-phone glory. I liked my old black-and-white arrangement, but I think it's a little fresher and unexpected now.
Before's:

After's:

Thanksgiving Weekend

This was our first year away from our families as a married couple. We had both spent Thanksgiving away from home before when we were single (Brody on his mission, and I during my infamous month-long cruise) but this was the first time it fell upon our shoulders to actually cook our own little feast. I was especially nervous at the idea of cooking a turkey by myself, but we decided if there was ever a no-pressure "trial-run" this was it. So on Wednesday we went to Trader Joe's, (along with half the city apparently...) and loaded up on some goodies for our meal.

this is the line in front of us, and behind us. We were at the very back of the store, but it moves very fast, they have about 30 checkout stations and are super efficient.

Since it was just the two of us, we decided to do a little turkey breast instead of the whole bird, and Trader Joe's had the perfect 3-lb, pre-stuffed option for us (the idea of "de-gibbleting" an actual turkey still grosses me out), so we happily snatched up one of only two breasts left on the shelf. We made some yummy whole-grain croissants that were to die for, some delicious mashed potatoes and gravy, some asparagus and mushrooms, and of course had the delicious cranberry-apple stuffing.

This is the only picture I took, we didn't want our food getting cold :) The meal turned out pretty good if I do say so myself, and the whole experience made me fully appreciate how amazing my mother is. Every year, the woman makes everything from scratch (yes, she even makes her stuffing from scratch the night before, endlessly cutting up celery and onions and bread crumbs), she makes the cranberry sauce from actual cranberries, boiling them, straining, them, sugaring them... my dad actually mashes real potatoes and yams by hand, before using the mixer, it's truly amazing amd rare and I can now fully appreciate their yearly, heroic fete. Maybe someday we will get to that level (maybe being the operative word there).

In all, it was a relaxing, low-key Thanksgiving and even though I thoroughly missed my usual midnight, black-Friday madness with my friends and sisters, it was great to spend time with Brody before I completely lose him to the utter insanity that will be his finals this semester. We whiled away the rest of the afternoon listening to Christmas music, putting up our two (yes, we literally only have two) Christmas decorations, and watching some football (really Brody watched football while I pinterested and browsed online shopping).

We have so much to be thankful for, what a great day/time of year to reflect and re-focus on what's really important.

Gallery Re-Do

I was walking through the neighborhood a while back and stumbled onto a sidewalk sale at the lovely Second Story Books just up the street. They were selling all kind of wonderful vintage prints, sketches, etc. for 3$ each or 6 for $15, so naturally I rummaged through the masses and snatched up my favorite six and have been re-framing and switching things around in our gallery wall above the couch.

I really wanted a new original painting in there too, which gave me the itch to just do my own. So using some pinterest inspiration from the photo/palette below, I set to work using oils and a piece of cardboard that came with this old frame, which I spray-painted gold.




Once I had everything in their new frames, I did a little pre-arranging on the floor to find the right arrangement and then took a picture to use as a key when putting them on the wall.

I'll have to take some photos of it all on the wall when I'm actually home when there is some natural light....but the new additions are the gorgeous sketch of the Madonna profile, the peaches, the vase of roses, the Thomas Jefferson print on the right, the vintage print of the bridge at the bottom, and an old world map that isn't in the picture. Yay for sidewalk sales!

Fantasyland Friday: Breakfast Nook

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It's been so great to have a little break from work and spend some relaxing time at home it's been a bit of a fantasyland in it's own right...speaking of, back to the dreamhoming. I just love the eat-in Kitchens/breakfast nooks for Saturday morning breakfasts, late-night chats with friends and everything in between :) Is there anything more inviting or cozy?

Last of the leaves

The leaves are starting to fall in earnest, and the trees are starting to get barren and forlorn. I managed to take a couple pictures of some on a street by our apt the other night. I thought the way the yellow leaves seemed to glow in the light from the street lamps looked really beautiful.

On a completely separate note, Occupy DC marched across the city last week to Key Bridge and they came down K Street right by my work. I snapped some pictures from one of the partner's office. There weren't as many people as I was expecting.

Fantasyland Friday: The Kitchen

Ususally the heart of any home, right? I have one must for when we eventually buy a house; the kitchen has to be open to the family room. It's where all the good conversations, meals, and all-around family-togetherness takes place. So naturally, in my fantasyland dream house, the kitchen is part of a great room that is open to the family room, and would ideally have some kind of built-in breakfast nook.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a sucker for timeless design and would love to have traditional white cabinetry with a few glass-panelled ones for display, a beautiful subway-tile backsplash, with a natural stone counter-top. A big farmhouse sink, and perhaps a gorgeous butcherblock island. I'm always partial to a beautiful hardwood floor, but I love these herringbone-tile floors as well.




And of course form and function would need to work together. Like a pull-out drawer under the sink instead of the annoying deep cabinets that you have to get down on your knees to reach the back of. A pots-and-pans organizer, a pot-filler by the stove, gigantic pantry, all those fantastic new innovations.