Springtime Hodgepodge

The weather is absolutley stunning today. I am so lucky to live here and I am constantly reminded of it. I don't take it for granted. Not for one moment. I know what my family and friends are enduring in Chicago and back east. I endured it for over 15 years.

My Sweetface Achilles is sleeping in the back yard. He loves his little shady spot by the wall.

My Love-Love Milo is snoozing at my feet right now. He can't sleep unless he's by one of us.

My puffy bird Captain Morgan is dozing in and out of sleep-land in his cage as the warm breeze flows through the patio door.

My biggest baby boy of them all is napping on the couch as college basketball on TV provides its lullaby.

All is well. *Content sigh* :-)

Spring is almost here and like always, ideas and projects abound. Except that this year we've filled our plates extra heavy at the buffet of life. It's been hectic and busy around here ever since the calendar turned the page to 2008. We've got the house addition, the wedding party, the wedding in Italy, and then before we know it, the holidays will be upon us again.

We're close to beginning our home addition. The contractors have been in and out of our house all month long with design ideas, measurements, bids and questions. We're currently dealing with these three large holes in the backyard to determine whether or not the soil has compacted correctly since Ed filled in the gargantuan swimming pool over 6 years ago. That pool was built in the early '60s and it was a monstrosity. Hopefully these holes will yield the results we're wishing for so that we can get started on knocking down some walls and getting to work!

Our addition will include getting rid of the fireplace in the living room (which is currently hidden by the television), knocking down the wall and pushing it back 10 feet so we can have a dining room. The western wall of the dining room will be one giant window. Oh, the sunset dinners we'll have with our beloved friends and family!

This dining set from Pottery Barn has me completely head over heels. It is 5' X 5' square and seats 8, but it can be lengthened to seat 12. Perfect! I love the fact that it's square and not rectangular, much more conducive to conversation, good spirits and shared laughter. It's the Montego collection and I'm going to stalk it like a hawk until it goes on sale. Either that or I'll hunt down something similar because this is the table shape that is going to be best for our dining room. We love our friends and we love having them over. These perfect, clean lines and the rich colored wood will be perfect for the light-filled dining room. I'm still not sure as to the colors I'd like to paint on the walls, but I'm open to ideas....

While I may not be sure about dining room colors, I do know that our bedroom will be soothing shades of light green. Our bedroom will also face west with lots of windows. Without paying attention to the furniture in this picture below, here's an example of paint color that I'd like to see in the bedroom:As for furniture, I have always loved the minimalistic look. I love clean, crisp lines. Nowadays I love the look even more since our bedroom currently acts as a storage locker, shoe closet, library, etc. Since we'll have a HUGE walk in closet, I'm going to make sure that there is not one dresser or armoire anywhere in sight! All of our clothes will be organized into the new 8' X 12' closet, and we'll have ample storage in other areas of the house for everything else (like the Christmas ornaments currently hiding under our bed).

A bed, a couple of recliners with a reading table, some plants, wall art/pictures/mirrors, some Japanese style lighting, and that's it. That's it. That's all I want in there. I want it to be an environment tailored towards rest and relaxation. I don't even know if I want a TV in there, but Belov-Ed and I now will have to battle that one out. (He gets to build one room all for himself. It will be called "MAN CAVE"...more on that some other time....but, I won't feel bad if I make him agree to NO television in the bedroom.) I hate waking up to a bedroom stuffed full of crap, and I can't wait for our dream bedroom.

Speaking of beds, I have always loved low profile platform beds. In Afghanistan we slept on the ground on mattresses made of heavily rolled and matted natural materials. I loved it. I've never slept well in beds that are high up off the ground. That's all about to change!

Here's an example of a bed I like. Nice, clean, modern look. One that's all about sleeping, snuggling, cuddling, resting, dreaming, and *ahem*, maybe some other activities. :-) I like this one too, but without all the additional furniture...only the bed and nightstand...
If I REALLY had it to decide all on my very own, I would get THIS bed below. I don't know if Ed will go for how totally MINIMALISTIC this bed is, but I'll work on him. You can't get any simpler and closer to nature than this bed. I just absolutely love this bed. I love the wood, I love the lack of frilly stuff, and I love that overstuffed mattress. A king size of this baby with a fantastic mattress, thousands of luxurious pillows, heavenly sheets and voila! My dream bed.

Of course, who can forget my Golden Furbabies? A platform bed only makes it that much easier for me to pet my Golden children without having my arm fall asleep as it hangs off the side of a tall bed. Do you think they make these beds in a doggie size? Bwaa-ha-ha-ha!!! (Don't think for a minute I wouldn't get 'em one if I knew they made 'em!)

Our bathroom is going to have an aquatic/oceanic theme. The master bedroom opens up into the master bath and I want there to be a seamless transition. A skylight will allow for lots of natural light, and I'm keeping it really simple with bath furniture and decor.

I like this color scheme in the picture below. There's a little too much going on with decorations, but I want to have this type of island dark wood contrasting with different hues of light blue and white throughout the bathroom. The shiny chrome looks good here. Since we don't want to have a bathtub, the aquatic/oceanic theme is going to be carried into the walk-in, doorless shower.
The dual shower will be 8' X 4' with a built in bench and a niche to prop my foot on when I'm shaving. That is almost three times the size of our combination bath and shower that we use right now. A rain head, two shower heads, and a handheld showerhead are going to make me feel as if I'm showering in the sea. Don't worry, we're very eco-minded and there are all sorts of "water saving" pipes and pressure techniques built in to ensure we don't use any more water than we already use in our regular shower. In the winter months, when we want to give the Golden boys a shower, all FOUR of us will literally be able to fit in there together. Wheeeee!

Continuing with the ocean theme, a combination of ceramic or porcelain tile with glass mosaic tiles will help it look like a shimmering waterfall in there. Of these tiles below, I like the middle left and the bottom two mosaic blends. It all depends on cost at the moment, so we'll see when the building begins to determine how much of this glass mosaic we'll be able to tile into the ocean. Oh, sorry, I meant to type 'shower'.

If money and space permits, then Belov-Ed will have this haven below built for me. Just kidding, honey!!! (Tee hee!:-) In all seriousness though, one day I wish to have one giant ass room where I can build this exact bookcase. There will of course be space enough to include dog beds on both sides of my fabulous La-Z-Girl recliner.

(Ed, sweetie, if you're out there reading this, please make sure it's a red and purple microsuede recliner. Leather makes me sweat and it sticks to my bottom. Thanks!) While it has been a crazy couple of months, friends and love filled my life with light. Lynne and Amos have been tremendous and simply there at every turn. I say it often and I don't say it enough, I owe Nick HUGE for the beautiful people he helped bring into our life. Looking at that Montego dining set, I dream of warm nights, delicious dinners, and all of my friends around our table glowing with their individual radiance. I simply can't wait for our new home.

Linnea was able to visit us. She left San Diego last summer and it was the first time she'd been back. She's on a life journey at the moment and her gypsy feet have also carried her to Ireland and Charleston, S.C., searching for a wonderful plot to call her own and plant roots. I don't know if Charleston worked out as well as we'd have hoped, but the journey in and of itself is a wonderous advenure, no? If anyone has ever felt the urge to turn over a new leaf, or perhaps start over altogether, I encourage you to read her very well-written thoughts. Her blog is linked over on the right.

She brought little lambs for my furbabies. They nearly toppled her over trying to claim their new toys. Very much like my beloved little sister, Linnea always smells so pretty. Not that I smell bad (ha!) but I'm not as dedicated to using the various bottles of perfume that I own. She likes Euphoria by Calvin Klein and I've always loved it. For Valentine's Day, Ed called her and asked the name of her perfume. He actually went to Sephora IN PERSON and bought Euphoria for me!!! I was more impressed that he ventured into that bastion of feminine toiletries than I was with the gift itself. I can only imagine him walking in there on his lunch hour, in a suit, uncomfortable for all the frilly, girlie cashiers to see, as he quickly pays for Euphoria and beats it out of there lickety split! That image makes me giggle every time I think of it. My sweet Belov-Ed.

Achilles and Milo actually smelled like Linnea's perfume. She hugged them and loved them for hours and hours, which they relished since they never receive any such treatment from us. ;-)

Linnea got to hang out with our friends, Jack & Nancy, as well. Asta is their Borzoi hound, and they've since picked up a puppy boy Borzoi named Nico. That makes four dogs for Jack and Nancy! Nani and Jazzi are not in this picture. Jazzi is very, very old, and she's my personal favorite of the pack. Surprise, surprise, right?
Of my little pack, it turned out that Milo favored Linnea the most, as you can see blow. I think Achilles was a bit disturbed that another person had taken over Auntie S' room, who happens to be his personal favorite. Oh, you should have seen how upset Milo was when Linnea left. He walked circles in her bedroom for days. Poor thing. It never ceases to amaze me how animals form bonds. Achilles hears Lynne's voice and you'd think that a roast had been pulled out of the oven! He literally RUNS when he knows he's going to her house. Running at Achilles' age is a true phenomenon!

Linnea's mom and dad are in San Diego for their bi-yearly vacation. They stay at the same hotel every February and October, right on the sands of the Pacific Ocean. Here they are at dinner last night. They treated Ed and me to an amazing feast at one of the best new restaurants in town. If it weren't for the glass barrier, the ocean waves would have been licking at our toes with the high tide rolling in.

What a wonderful night and a what a wonderful time. They return home to Chicago and to Linnea on Wednesday, but we're going to feast together on Taco Tuesday where $1 fist tacos will be the specialty at Longboard's. Guess what? It will be our treat this time!!! Ha ha ha!! I'm going to see if Lynne & Amos are free. It'd be great if they could come with us.

Had to include these breathtaking beauties. Lynne's gift to me. Not your typical colored flowers. The picture simply cannot capture the richness of the colors. A rioutous, blazing sunset of colors. Linnea also brought us some rich, dark pink roses, but the pictures I took of them disappeared. I'll have to see what the hell happened to them. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these...

Did you think I'd complete an entire post without pictures of my babies!? Never! At times during these past few weeks, I've been a bit, ummm, grumpy, and Ed trying to take my picture during one of my "finer" moments wasn't helpful, but that doesn't mean that my camera's love affair with the Golden Duo didn't continue on...
...the Golden joys of my life still manage to brighten my waking moments. I love these babies to pieces and pieces and pieces and pieces. I can't say it enough!

Here they are enthralled with the delicious cuts of leftover steak that Papa will give them. They wait so patiently....
...still waiting patiently..sitting and waiting like the very good boys that they are....
...at last! Yummy delicious steak from a very, very fancy-schmancy restaurant! They each got several slices of steak, and the rest I used to scramble into our own breakfast this morning. Mmmm, it was soooo good.
Achilles was somewhat miffed when the last of the steak was doled out. Poor thing, he's got it rough, doesn't he? :-)