Project 365 - Week 10

You might have noticed there was no Project 365 post last week. I haven't been feeling too great, and I sort of put everything on hold. But I have a couple weeks' worth of photos that I hadn't posted yet, and I finally got around to editing some today. I'm hoping I'll feel better soon and can pick it back up again. I miss it.

Day 64 - Trying to get in the habit of taking breaks every now and then and being mindful, which is sort of the whole point of this project. I have a tendency to spend too much time in my mind, if you know what I mean.

Day 65 - Looking up.

Day 66 - Wrapped up a present for my nephew. Apparently, he loved it so much he hid it from his younger brother because he was afraid he might have to share it. :)

Day 67 - Trying to cool off by a fountain on a super hot day.

Day 68 - I love that plant in the center; it reminds me of Sideshow Bob's hair. :)

Day 69 - Finding little pockets of nature here and there between sidewalks.

Day 70 - We walked out on a dock to watch the sunset from Daingerfield Island on a sleepy Sunday evening. One day I'd like to live on the water and walk out on my own dock.

Hope everyone is having a good week! xoxo

Project 365 - Week 9

Hi, guys! I hurt my finger, and it's a little hard to type, so I'll keep the captions brief this week.

Day 57 - Early morning light when the day was full of promise.

Day 58 - An afternoon at Jones Point. Something about that tree in front of that lighthouse pulls at my heartstrings every time.

Day 59 - Jam and bread for breakfast.

Day 60 - Peter thought I should snap this photo. It looks like the entrance to an enchanted forest or something, but it's really just a cut-through next to a park. It makes me wonder what Alexandria looked like before it was developed. A few years ago, archaeologists found a spearhead in a cemetery nearby that's 13,000 years old! It's both hard, and somehow not hard at all, to imagine people walking and hunting on this land 13,000 years ago.

Day 61 - I don't think I've ever shared this little gallery wall in the living room before. I bought all of these pieces when we were living in different apartments, and I didn't hang them all together until we moved into this house. But at this point, I feel like they belong together, all these little creatures, and it will be weird to split them up when we move.

Day 62 - Morning coffee.

Day 63 - Pink skies.

Project 365 - Week 8

This week was really busy, and I didn't have a lot of time during daylight hours to photograph anything, so most of these photos were taken either early in the morning or late in the evening. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you don't mind photos of my breakfast. :)

Day 50 - Waffles are probably my favorite go-to breakfast food when I'm in a rush. (Side note: has anyone watched Stranger Things? No spoilers...but that scene when Eleven walks out of the supermarket carrying all those boxes of waffles, I was like SAME...though to be accurate I would be carrying TJ's waffles, and it would be a miracle if there were even that many boxes left in the case as our store is always a war zone, but I'm getting off-topic. Anyway, watch Stranger Things if you haven't already.)

Day 51 - Making my to-do list on my "DO or DIE" notepad. Isn't it cute? (It's by Rifle Paper, if anyone's curious...I have way too many of their products.)

Day 52 - In the evening, we stopped by the rose garden for a little while. I like to come here because it reminds me of my grandparents, who grew beautiful roses in their garden. After they passed away and the house was sold, my dad made rose cuttings for each of us and has been nursing them at his house until the time comes when we can transplant them. I hope one day, when we're more settled, to transplant my roses from Nana and have a garden that does them justice. :)

Day 53 - Watching the sun sink and fade from my cozy spot on the couch.

Day 54 - We spontaneously decided to drive out to the nearest Krispy Kreme for late night doughnuts, and it was the best decision ever.

Day 55 - My friend Marieken emailed me one day to let me know she saw one of my pink hedgehog brooches in an old issue of Flow Magazine. I was like "No way! I love Flow!" Marieken was kind enough to email me a scan the next day and then mailed the actual page too! (And I learned a Dutch word; egeltjes means "hedgehogs.") :)

Day 56 - Marieken also sent a bunch of beautiful prints and papers as well as a tiny notebook she made! Peter was laughing at me as I went through each thing in the package because I think I was squealing and saying "Oh my God!" a lot. I love everything she sent so much that I had to photograph it all the next day. And she also sent some recipes for quiche that I can't wait to try out as well. So needless to say, I'm working on a "thank you" package to send to her that I hope will be half as awesome. :)

Happy weekend, guys! As soon as I hit publish, I'm heading to the kitchen to bake some cookies and then finish a movie Peter and I started earlier. He's been very patient waiting for me to finish this post, and by patient, I mean napping. Perfect Friday night if you ask me. xoxo

Project 365 - Week 7

Day 43 - Here's the peach cobbler I made with the peaches my brother and his wife brought up to DC. It was so good! One drawback to making this dessert in summertime, though, is that it makes me miss fall weather something terrible, especially when the heat index is 115 outside. The recipe calls for lots of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and the aroma of baking is heavenly, to be sure, but also makes me long for crisp cool days and cozy sweaters.

Day 44 - I had a dentist appointment in DC, which is never fun, but at least I passed by these cute houses on my way there. (When I have to do something I really don't want to do, or go somewhere I really don't want to go, I try to notice all of the beautiful or interesting things around me. It's amazing how much it can help quiet anxious thoughts.)

Day 45 - Hydrangeas are so beautiful I can't stand it sometimes. I mean, look at those blush and lavender tones! I would fill our whole yard with them if I could, and I've sort of tried, but they don't seem to grow well in our soil. One day I'll have them if it's the last thing I do! *shakes fist at hydrangea gods*

Day 46 - Gathering inspiration among kindred spirits. :)

Day 47 - Taking a shortcut through an old railroad tunnel.

Day 48 - Pretty geese, bathing in the sunlight. I know people complain about geese being a nuisance, but they're such beautiful birds, aren't they?

Day 49 - Not the best photo, but definitely the best ice cream! We've been going to Sugar Mama's in Fairfax more often than we probably should. We've tried almost all of their flavors at this point, and they're all good. (The scoops are huge here, so if you're watching your diet or want to try multiple flavors, you can ask for mini scoops...not that we ever have, but I've seen more conscientious customers ordering them.) The woman who owns the place was a school bus driver for many years, all the while dreaming of opening an ice cream shop, and she finally did a few years ago. Isn't that great? I wish there were more small business success stories in our area.


After this week, I missed a few days, but I just decided to keep going as if I hadn't. (I'm sure I'll miss a few more before the year is out.) I'm not beating myself up about it because I don't think it will really matter in the long run. Maybe I'll get a book printed at the end of the year (or whenever I finish) so I'll always have a little time capsule to look back on when I'm old and grey...well, older and greyer. ;)

Happy Friday! Hope your weekend is filled with all of your favorite things. xoxo

Project 365 - Week 6

Day 36 - This colorful mural was a happy surprise! I passed by it when I was out running errands on a humdrum sort of day, and it instantly brightened my mood.

Day 37 - I'm trying not to buy too many books these days, to be patient and wait for my local library to stock the books I want to read. But I'm powerless against the charms of a book like  Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World. I bought it a few weeks ago, and I've loved flipping through it and learning new words. "Szimpatikus" is Hungarian: "When meeting someone for the first time, and your intuition tells you that they are a good person, you can refer to them as 'szimpatikus.'" I know I have felt this before, most recently when meeting our next-door neighbors for the first time. :)

Day 38 - I noticed the setting sun cast shadows of cacti and succulents on our coral-colored wall, and I pretended for a moment that we lived somewhere in the desert, where the air is dry and nights are cool...as opposed to here, where the air is so close it will make you dizzy sometimes.

Day 39 - We spent the day with my brother and his family who were passing through town on their way to New Jersey. My niece, Maddie, made Peter and me matching bracelets, which we wore with pride (of course!). I can't wait till we live closer.

Day 40 - We went to the Renwick Gallery to see Wonder, and it was pretty spectacular. I wouldn't say no to having large-scale rainbow installations in my house one day.

Day 41 - My brother and his wife gave us a bunch of fresh peaches that they bought on the drive up. I made peach cobbler a couple of days later, and it was so good!

Day 42 - I took this photo on the 4th of July, which as you can see, was very rainy! In fact, it was so rainy that pretty much all plans (fireworks, barbeques, etc.) were canceled. When they announced that they were going ahead with the fireworks on the National Mall as scheduled, we drove to a spot across the river where we've watched them before, but visibility was so bad (and it was still raining) that I didn't even bother getting my camera out of my bag. I think they even aired a previous year's fireworks show on PBS because it was so hard to see anything. All that aside, I kind of liked how this photo turned out, so all was not lost. :)


I might do two posts next week to try and catch up a little, as it's now the 21st and I've only posted through the 4th. I don't plan on posting in real time, though; it's enough to remember to take a photo every day! And in all honesty, I missed a few days between last week and this week. I don't want to post a blank spot for those days--that seems silly, no?--so I think I'll just keep going as if I hadn't and not worry about it matching up to the calendar exactly.

I hope everyone is enjoying these long summer days. xoxo

Project 365 - Week 5

Day 29 - After a day of violent storms, the sun finally peeked out from the clouds around 8 p.m.. I felt like I needed to get out of the house, so we went for a walk in the park and spotted a rainbow, which you can sort of see in the middle there. :)

Day 30 - I repotted several plant babies after I noticed they weren't looking so great. Actually, they started to look a little peaked almost immediately after coming home from the garden center, and I was bummed because they weren't cheap. But they seem to be doing better in their new pot, so we'll see.

Day 31 - Rain on the patio.

Day 32 - Peter brought home some tulip-shaped cookies from a bakery near his work. :))

Day 33 - We spent a Saturday afternoon by the river watching sailboats and listening to the kids play in the fountains nearby. The weather was gorgeous! (You can see the Capitol dome on the left.)

Day 34 - The next day we drove out to a lake about 30 minutes away and walked around the trail that surrounds it. I actually didn't really love the trail, but the lake itself was beautiful. I think next time we'll just rent some boats and row around the lake.

Day 35 - Still making smoothies almost every day, helps to balance out all the cookies. :)

As I was putting this post together, I thought, "Yep, that's pretty much what summer looks like around here."...lots of rain, lots of sunshine, smoothies nearly every day, and as much time by the water as I can get. Hopefully, we'll be going on a little road trip to see the ocean later this summer too.

Hope everyone is having a great week! xoxo

Project 365 - Week 4

I'm a few days late posting week 4, not that it matters, I guess. I'm still taking photos; it's just finding the time to edit and post that's a challenge. I think I'll get back into the groove soon, though!

Day 22 - I love the way they painted this birdhouse at the garden. Give me all the colors and patterns, and I'm happy. :)

Day 23 - I got back some prints from a roll I shot last summer. (It's probably time for another SOOC post soon!) I love to get prints in the mail; it sort of makes me fall in love with film all over again every time. I've started browsing used 35mm cameras online again, as I've had my eye on a few that I'd love to try out...if only they were cheaper! Photography is not a poor woman's hobby, that's for sure.

Day 24 - We randomly find things from the kids next door in our backyard from time to time...usually when Peter mows the lawn. This week's finds were a half-deflated ball (or dog toy?) and a tiny shoe.

Day 25 - I love this pretty ivy-covered entrance, don't you? Most houses in Old Town are right on the street, as they often are in very old towns with small lots, but these people are lucky enough to have a bit of a front yard.

Day 26 - We went for a walk by the water at twilight, my favorite time of day, and it was blissfully uncrowded and quiet.

Day 27 - I made some chocolate chip cookies using a low sugar recipe I'm still working on. I basically baked my way through winter, and amazingly enough, did not get tired of being in the kitchen! I'm still at it fairly regularly, though I've cut back recently since it's been so hot out.

Day 28 - This was the day of the Strawberry Moon! Did you guys see it? I can't remember ever seeing the moon so big and so pink in my life! Unfortunately, I did not get any decent photos of it. We were out when the moon started to rise, and I only had my phone with me. I tried different photo apps hoping one of them would work, but the moon just looked like a tiny, white blob instead of the huge and gorgeously pink sphere rising in front of us. So I turned around and took a photo of the pink sky opposite, which was still very beautiful, even if the moon stole the show.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July yesterday! It was a total rainout here, but I know everyone still enjoyed a day off. :)

Project 365 - Week 3

Day 15 - Currently reading The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. I read The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters years ago when it came out, and I'd wanted to read one of Nancy's novels ever since. I finally picked this one up the last time I was at the library, and it's exactly as I thought it would be: clever, funny, and kind of dark. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a summer read!

Day 16 - Packing up this fly mug to mail to my Dad for Father's Day (pun intended). He loved it! (It's part of the Hook Line & Sinker collection from Wild & Wolf if anyone's curious.)

Day 17 - Sat outside on the patio for a little while to enjoy the sunshine and noticed our lavender is looking quite pretty! We don't do anything to it, and it grows and grows. I think it's one of the easiest plants to maintain. (I know lavender is recommended for warm, dry climates with mild winters, but we live in a humid, wet climate much of the time and have had horrible winters with lots of snow the past few years, and the lavender remains unfazed.) The bees and butterflies love it too!

Day 18 - Spent much of the day in bed in the haze of feeling awful. (Thanks for all the well wishes, by the way! I think I'm finally getting better, slowly, but surely.)

Day 19 - Long shadows in the afternoon, listening to the kids next door play outside.

Day 20 - I'm in the process of a major wardrobe overhaul. I've taken bags and bags to Good Will, but I've held on to some pretty dresses and blouses because I thought I might do a sale. Has anyone bought or sold anything on Depop or Storenvy? Is it worth the trouble?

Day 21 - Going through my felt stash to see if I have enough to finish an order I'm working on. I looked down at this stack of scraps and noticed an abstract pattern forming, like layers of peeling paint.

Happy almost weekend, guys! We're finally supposed to get some good weather here, and I'm planning on getting outside and enjoying it! :)