What I'm Loving Lately....

1. My new bag. I bought this with some of my "pay" for my last cooking assignment at Collage. Baggallini is a company started by flight attendants and is designed to be no-frills and practical.




2. Skirts. This is probably a pretty dangerous thing, actually. Skirts are comfy, stretchy, and unlike shorts, not a great gauge of body proportions (translation: I could gain twenty and never know it!).






3. Flip-Flops. These are part of my summer wardrobe, almost exclusively. I've been wearing the same pair of JCrew flips I bought at Gabe's for $1.49 for at least seven years. I decided this was the year I needed a new pair! I've been lusting after these Chaco on Sierra Trading Post, but I really can't justify paying that much for sandals! I found mine at Gabe's for $16.99 (still more than I usually pay), and found that they retail for $50. Either way, they're comfortable, practical, and seem pretty durable. (are you sensing a theme here?)




4. Our neighborhood landscape. We have one of the most beautiful collection of flowering trees I've ever seen. Because the neighborhood is older and more established, trees surround us. Purples, pinks, whites, and yellows invade our little street for two to three weeks every year. The above picture is taken right underneath our dogwood, peering next door at the neighbor's two flowering trees (all varying shades of pink).





6. My new armchairs. We moved a large (and very old) sectional downstairs to our basement for the kids playroom. This left a very empty space in our living room. I'm not great at designing beautiful spaces, so I really had no idea what should be placed there. We really needed some additional seating, but the room is a little challenging, due to two doorways and a large and curved window. My friend is in charge of selling the contents of her grandmothers house and I found these:



They are super-comfy. I love the fact that even though they're probably more than forty years old, they are traditional and are pretty timeless. Rob doesn't love them, but they were very affordable and we really, really live in our house and I appreciate their durable fabric and construction. Sometimes I think things were better made forty years ago!

7. Spring Cleaning. I've just started. Trust me, this is barely scratching the surface. My goal is to spring clean my house sometime before the kids are finished with school for the year (June 9th). I know that seems like a long time, but it's been a few years until I've done this and it's way past overdue. Spring cleaning, for me, involves lots of purging. I've only cleaned and organized three closets, and already, four garbage bags have been filled. For the size and age of our house, we really do have plenty of storage.

This is my closet:

It is a cedar closet, located in our hallway. For some reason (probably the fact that our house was built in 1955), our closet doors are not being very cooperative. Most of our closet doors have been removed, which is a good incentive for keeping things relatively spare and organized. Also in our hallway, we have a full-sized closet that we use for coats and our "winter bin" and a smaller broom-closet where I keep my vacuums and cleaning supplies.

This is Rob's closet:

Rob's closet is located in our bedroom. I successfully finished changing all of our clothing for the season and organizing the three closets and cleaning underneath our bed. Our comforters and sheets have been laundered in our bedrooms (in bleach, of course. I love bleach). This commences all progress in spring cleaning. I'm going to try to work a little bit each day. I'll keep you posted.

What are you loving lately? What projects would you like to tackle in the next few months? Tried any great new recipes? Have you purchased something you now can't live without? I'd love to hear all about it!