We are finally back home!  After 10 days of driving across the country and visiting our family on the east coast, it’s so good to be back home.  I was planning on hitting the ground running and getting right back into my normal work routine, but the backlog of mail, laundry, cleaning, and things that needed to be done was overwhelming and it took most of my day and energy.  I sat last night in front of a blank screen and just could not make a post happen. Now, I’m mostly caught up and ready to write again. First of all, our trip was awesome.  We had a great time with Jeff’s family and celebrated the completion of his Masters Degree.  The boys played with their cousins and kicked off summer at the pool.  I had lots of quiet time to sketch and paint and lazily pass through each day

We’re already 10 days into May and I realized I haven’t shared my favorites from April!  Well, let’s take care of that right now.  Here were some of my favorite things… AVIARY Launching Aviary was pretty exciting and definitely a highlight… THE PORCH  I turned 40 years old (eek) in early April and we didn’t have any special plans, but some of my new friends fixed that and whisked me away for a girls night out to dinner at The Porch.  It was an amazing dinner including sinfully delicious offerings like Proper Fried Chicken and Cold Mac & Crack.  It was so fun and such a great way to spend my first birthday in Minnesota. If you’re ever in Rochester, do yourself a favor and eat there. HOWARD’S END This was a new period drama miniseries that showed on Starz in April.  While it’s not my favorite story, it was

Can you believe it’s already April?  Can you believe we just had a snow storm that dropped about 8″?!  Over Spring break?!  Can you believe I just turned the big 4-oh and I have joined the ranks of the middle-aged?  Yep.  That’s what’s going on. Before we get too far into April, though, let me share some of my favorites from March… Creative Getaway I’ve already gushed about my creative getaway, but it has to make my favorites list.  It was such an amazing time…restful, inspiring, rejuvenating.  It was awesome all-around.  The weather was perfect and I enjoyed walking through the surf looking for shells as I listened to podcasts and audiobooks.  It was a time to focus just on myself and my business and where I wanted to head in this next decade of my life.   It was awesome and I already am looking forward to the next

It’s the beginning of another month and that means it’s time to look back at some of my favorites from the previous month.  As I wrote this post, I realized that there is a theme of “spending” spread throughout the highlights.  Spending time with friends and family, how and when I spend money, spending energy on creative endeavors, and spending time appreciating accomplishments. Here are my February favorites… Dining Room & Office Wood Floors  Oh my goodness, it’s amazing to have these done!  I still do a double-take every time I catch of glimpse of these rooms and I am just loving my office as it’s developing.  It’s pretty and practical and actually I’m working in the space a lot more, not just using it as storage for office-y stuff. And I’m looking forward to refinishing the table in the dining room, putting down a rug, getting stuff on the