Tuesday, April 8, 2008

It's Springtime for Cherries and Washington

April is time for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. Since moving, Mia and Maggie have come to love our ventures into "the city" (as Mia puts it). I thought I'd share a few great shots from our visit to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. The best moment came when the girls discovered a live band in front of the Jefferson Memorial. Of course, the open space and music meant they were to give a dance concert of their own. Check out the picture of tourists taking pictures of Mia and Maggie's show. With their large stuffed animals in tow and energetic personalities, I swear I saw more people smiling at and photographing my daughters than the cherry blossoms that evening!











Saturday, April 5, 2008

Paint 'til You Faint

This week was a huge milestone -- I finished painting my house. I know I am a bit obsessive and perfectionistic. (Maybe more than a bit.) So, I have been working hard, but with reasonable restraint to finish getting our new (and when we bought it very boring and white) house completed. I limited myself to one day a week of non-stop painting or projecting -- I figured that one day of television and dinner at Chik-fil-A would not permanently damage my daughters. And, this week I completed the biggest and most daunting job of all: painting. I painted nearly every room in the house and all of the existing cabintets (with special thanks to my mom who stuck it out for SEVEN coats of paint on the kitchen cabinets).

Admittedly, there are still some more things to do. I have art work to acquire (like the two Minerva Tichert paintings I decorated my bedroom and family room to complement). One more set of drapes and a few throw pillows to sew. And, then there are all the jobs that fall more into the "Jeffrey's responsibility / we have to find the money to pay someone else to do it" category, like painting the top of the family room, installing lights in the girls ' bedrooms, etc. But, with new countertops to be installed this summer and a my hopes up that we can put in the new wood floors next year, all the work that I am responsible for is about done. And, before I move on to some other task, I needed to pause and commemorate the moment. Celebrate the accomplishment and take a deep breath.

So, for those of you who are curious how it has all turned out. Or, have not yet made it out to Virginia and want to have more of a feel of where we are living, I have put together this virtual tour. Walk in my front door, around the main floor, up the stairs, through the upstairs, and then check out the basement family room and playroom spaces. (Sorry, this is not comprehensive, and does not include spaces like the exercise room, my messy craft table or the storage closet.)