Bopril

Happy Weekend!

I know that I still owe you the final few stops from our Italy trip as well as our Derby fun from last weekend. I am working on all, and will post them in short order, I promise.

But in the interim, best wishes for a happy weekend. I'm powering through my workday with my trusty Friday office mates and the gorgeous peonies I picked up last week that are still going strong. I've always loved peonies, but they are currently making a run for the title of my very favorite flower. Aren't they stunning?

We're getting organized this weekend, attacking closets and drawers and any excess space that is enabling clutter. No area will escape my wrath and by Monday, we'll be fully ready to (finally) transition into a new season at Casa Carretta. I'm hoping to get a little planting done as well so that our front and back balcony and patio will be spring and summer ready too.

Have a lovely and relaxing weekend, Internet. I hope it is filled with all the things you love to do and the people you love to do them with. TGIF.

Wall Flower

Since downgrading from an office to a cube at work, I've been a bit stumped as to how to customize my space and make it feel creative and inspiring, while maintaining a minimalist and tidy appearance.

I think a collection of these precious mini vintage posters might just do the trick. You can customize colors, or even make your own phrase or design. Adorable!

A few of my faves:

And I need to add these to my desktop immediately, and begin incorporating an official stamp of approval or disapproval as I provide feedback on documents. Genius.

Decorative

I don't think it is wise to underestimate the power of a few artfully placed accessories to really make a place feel like home. We spent a couple of hours last night hanging photos and various pieces of "art" (I use the term loosely as the majority of ours comes from embarrassing stores or flea markets), and instantly, our "comfy home" meter swung heavily to the right. 

Patience isn't my best quality, and I'm inclined to want every single aspect of a place to come together in perfect harmony right from the start. I simply don't understand the ability to move in and unpack boxes slowly over time. I honestly can't live another minute until my things are neatly put away and order is restored to my surroundings. We were essentially fully moved in by the beginning of day 3. Why yes, it IS a total blast to live with and be married to me! Why do you ask?

To that end, a long adored activity which I refer to as "online decorating" has become a treasured guilty pleasure.

I trolled around on a few of my favorite sites to drum up a few "essentials" that I think Casa Carretta really needs.

First, let's discuss rugs, shall we? I adore rugs. You can't have too many, really. And these days, the rugs are getting more and more unique and (mostly) cool. Our bedroom is done in grays and whites and browns, and I think these contenders would fit right in:

We are soon to be the very excited owners of a brand new, quite fabulous couch for the main living room. We ordered it back in the beginning of June, and expect it to be delivered some time around the end of August. I'll have to wait to see it to fully determine what decor will be essential to complement our new staple piece of furniture. It's a grayish brown color (are you sensing a theme here?), so who knows? Perhaps a new rug will be in order along these lines?

I also stumbled upon these adorable framed images which I think would be a perfect fit for our master bedroom:

And while we're on the accessories kick...

I'm pretty much in love with these lamps:

And these vases:

You know what accessory is absolutely essential, but also quite difficult to find? A MIRROR! I think this beauty would work really well in our upstairs half bath:

It's sort of fancy and yet, not really at all. I quite like that quality in a mirror.

I'm having fun conjuring up something like this for the main wall of our downstairs den:

It's quite different from my typical style, but there is something whimsical about it that keeps drawing me back. These lovely oars are having a similar effect (and would work perfectly in our guest room, I think):

I love having something in the house that evokes the water---it's the reason you'll never visit without seeing seashells on display in at least one room. It's my small way of keeping the coastal life central to our daily experience. And no, it's not even close to a replacement for the real thing.

Speaking of the real thing, I honestly can't piece together the right words to describe my delight at this:

I want this on our office wall, immediately. I think I'd spend forever in there, just marveling at the awesome organization.

Bit by bit, we'll make it our own and ever so slowly, the masterpiece in my mind will meet the walls and floors and shelves of our home. That will be a beautiful day.              

Home, Sweet Home

It's sort of an odd thing, packing up all of our belongings---purging what isn't essential to bring into the next phase---and then unpacking them all over again in a brand new place.

I love getting to know a new space---allowing our things to blend and settle in and find new routines that color our normal. I'm the sort of sappy gal that's hard wired for nostalgia, so I certainly miss each place that we leave behind, and even as I'm embracing a new place, I give melancholy its due until it goes away and our redefined normal firmly takes root, pushing the old normal out once and for all.

We aren't 100% settled yet---we still have those nit-picky tasks like hanging photos and artwork and finding the perfect rug for about seventy different spots throughout the house, and choosing accents that fit just perfectly there---or hey, maybe we should move that over there, or how about we just find shelves that actually fit our pantry so we can organize the food in there? It's the small things---you understand.

In spite of our formidable list of items to purchase and tasks to accomplish, the new place is already beginning to exude all the right smells and sights and comforts---already welcoming us home day after day. 

We are thrilled to have the most tedious parts behind us---the packing and hauling and unpacking and organizing and picking up of the packing peanuts and bubble wrap---rinse, cycle, repeat. If there is a process more exhausting than moving, I don't believe I've yet discovered it.

And while things in our new little casa aren't 100% perfect or quite yet ready for prime-time, I think it fits us perfectly. It's homey and comfortable and lived in and warm---and I look forward to each new enhancement---to choosing the exact perfect spot for each of our photos, to finding just the right pattern to reupholster our chairs---step by step, to creating our home. 

Many have been asking for photos, and I'm here to please, so I will oblige---if you promise to overlook the empty walls and the somewhat "lived in" feel you'll see throughout. I didn't bother to perfect the place before snapping photos---you're getting the uncensored version, because that's what it looks like 90% of the time anyway. Enjoy and we'll update as we continue to put the finishing touches on our humble little abode.

I think we can all agree that the kitchen alone made every back pain and paper cut and packed box worth it---it's new and modern and sleek, and yet still very comfortable and warm, all at the same time. The back splash makes me positively giddy:

The kitchen opens to a small dining area which I'm pleased to report we've been using most evenings, opting to shun the TV and instead, actually sit and chat while we eat. It's very "Leave it to Beaver" of us, and also, really quite nice.

Just beyond the eating area is the living room, which is a cozy space to snuggle up and watch tv and where we look forward to enjoying roaring fires in the fireplace this winter. There are floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors that open onto our small balcony where we have a little table and chairs for dining or chatting and my beloved geraniums, thriving as they are wont to do.

The other room in the house over which we can just barely contain our glee, is the master bath. Heavenly shower with dual nozzles, a rain shower head and a bench (all encased in gorgeous tile)? Check. A deep and lovely jacuzzi tub that I plan to line with candles and fill with bubbles and sink into with a good book this weekend? Check. Side by side sinks and vanities that strike a perfect balance between modern and classic? Check. All around, Internet, this bathroom is one gigantic CHECK:

Beyond the bathroom is our master closet---it has a lot of shelving and a built in hamper and a bunch of really cool hooks where Hubs has displayed his impressive collection of hats. It isn't exactly my dream closet---you see, in that scenario, it would be a little deeper, would offer a little more shelving options, maybe an island in the middle, some drawers, and oh yes, there would be TWO side by side: as in his and hers, separate---but it's pretty damn close.

In addition to the master bedroom, bathroom and closet, the downstairs also features a very cozy den where I know we'll spend a ton of time watching movies and hanging out---I really love how this room is coming together.

There are also two more bedrooms---one of which we're using as an office---a guest bathroom and a full size washer and dryer, which we're thrilled with after three years using the smaller version at our old place. We're slowly climbing a ladder, as I recall being thrilled with the small washer and dryer since our last place in LA required us to leave our front door and insert quarters in order to do laundry. Progress!

All in all, we're thrilled with the space and I'm excited to make it home in the coming weeks and months. In our case, the evidence is irrefutable---home is, indeed, where we are.   

Casa Carretta the Second

We survived the chaos and we are busy settling into the new house, new neighborhood, new routines. I promise to share photos soon, but for now I am enjoying our new digs and adjusting to change---always a biggie for me. The time, it goes so fast. Cheers to enjoying every moment. Cheers to embracing new routines.

Brief Hiatus...for the Big Move

Pardon my silence of late---the days have been a crazy blur of work and travel and family and obligations and other vertigo inducing experiences, and have conspired to push writing WAY down to the very bottom of the to-do list.

I am wading my way through boxes and bubble wrap, packing tape and paper---and of course, piles upon piles of stuff---everywhere I turn. There are books and clothes and furniture and dog toys and dishes and piles that need sorting and items that need tossing and also? Wine that needs drinking and a head that won't stop pounding (mine, in case you were curious).

But on the other side of this here chaos, I know there is order and a new place that Team Carretta will very soon call home. I fully embrace the process that gets us from here to there---and until then, dear friends, cross your fingers that the complete disarray of my current home won't swallow me whole.

Cheers to a new beginning, and gratitude---to say nothing of memories---for a place that has held us dear, sheltered us and provided a soft spot for us to land, day after day after day, for more than three years now.

Onward.

Stormy

Summer appears to have arrived out of nowhere in Chicago, and we have been experiencing temperatures and humidity better suited to August, but they are warm, and thus, they are welcome. It's a vast improvement on the chill of the earlier weeks of what was technically spring, but more like winter's second take in the windy city. With summer's arrival has come a series of the sort of storms that leave fur-babes shaking and whimpering, deck furniture out of sorts and flowers upended at every turn. The sort of storms that have your work building evacuate you to the interior and shut down all elevator service, leaving you stranded 65 floors up and feeling quite unsettled. The sort of storms that wreak havoc on homes in the form of a small leak that becomes a gushing waterfall directly atop your guest room bed that results in a huge hole in the ceiling. My reaction to this is to keep the door shut at all times so as to avoid the immediate twitching brought on by the site of furniture against walls, an unsightly gaping hole and general disarray.

These same storms can sometimes leave a weary traveler stranded for six hours in a terribly depressing and astonishingly outdated airport after an exceptionally long few days of work on the road. A weary traveler who wants nothing more than to fall into her own bed and spend a little quality time with the Husband and the fur-babes. I will give you exactly one guess at the identity of said weary traveler.

The hubs and I have been like passing ships in the night---my arrival at 2:30AM and his departure at 4:30AM---I wish I were kidding, but alas, I am not.

And, we have the big move coming up---boxes are beginning to be packed and arrangements are beginning to be made (including a visit from Mom which is appropriately thrilling). It is hard to believe that in just a few short weeks, we'll be leaving the Southport area behind. I'm thrilled to discover a new neighborhood, but I know for sure that we'll miss our current spot something fierce. This type of change is always difficult for me, but I think the exercise is a good one, and I'll be thrilled when the last box is unpacked and we can pop open a bottle of champagne to celebrate the brand new Casa Carretta.

And of course, we have the annual family 4th of July extravaganza to look forward to in between. The lake beckons and this year's addition of a new boat to our arsenal of fun increases the excitement (and anticipation) tenfold.

Clearly, our summer is off to a hectic start---and I hope that yours is off and running and enjoyable too. Onward!

Apropos of Nothing

So --- we are going to wake up tomorrow, board a plane, endure a fairly lengthy layover in LA --- hello, old friend --- and then, finally, arrive in Paradise.

I'm pretty excited, Internet --- and because I'm a total nerd, the day BEFORE vacation starts is always just as exciting to me as the day of --- so, while working from home today, I also managed to make multiple lists, do multiple loads of laundry, and lay out what appears to be the entire contents of my closet for packing joy to commence later. Honestly, my first sign of trouble should have been the length of my packing list --- what, you don't create packing lists? I'm horrified --- it's THREE PAGES. But, in my defense, I'm very detailed and thorough in my pack-list making endeavors.

I'm taking a break from the preparation madness to type this post --- a glass of Patricia Greene grasped firmly in my hand (making typing somewhat difficult, but I press on) --- because I'm not sure how frequent my posts are going to be over the next couple of weeks. Which, of course, is nothing new around here --- but at least this time, I have an excellent excuse.

Seriously though, do you think I'm taking too much stuff?

No? My clothing and accessories pass muster? Well, then how about my line-up of shoes?

 

Over the top? Perhaps a little.

Truthfully, I could probably toss a couple of bathing suits and a few dresses alongside my flip flops and be all set, but c'mon, what fun would THAT be? 

Amidst my excitement --- which is fast approaching maximum capacity --- there is a touch of melancholy as well. I blame these faces:

They've been at my heels all day, staring mournfully as I pull each item from the closet and drawers and lay them out on the bed --- letting me know in sad puppy-eye speak that really, they'd like to come to Paradise too. Oh, you little monkeys --- I miss you already. They are somewhat distracted as I type this --- what with the bag of goodies The Mister came home with after work and all. We like to buy their love leave them with something special so they know we're thinking of them while we're away. 

I would really like to tell you about the world's most annoying bridal party that I encountered --- in the middle of the day, on a Friday --- at the nail salon today --- you know, when I was in a huge rush to squeeze in a speedy mani/pedi among my work day and other to-do's --- but, we'll have to have that conversation at a later date. Because, Internet, I've got wine to drink suitcases to pack, sheets to wash, things to clean, electronics to charge, songs and movies to download (wow, long flight), and fur babes to snuggle within an inch of their lives.

So, until next time friends, ALOHA!