The lease on the CR-V is up at the end of the month -can you believe it’s been three years?- so I’ve been looking at a possible replacement. I decided the I needed something a little larger than the CR-V this time around, much more stuff to haul around with the little guy in the picture. Shawn and I went and looked at a few different cars before I had the baby and I narrowed it down to the Honda Pilot and the Acura MDX. So, this past weekend we ventured out to the local Honda dealership and I test drove the Pilot. . . . and ended up coming home with one. Yep, I liked it so much and they were able to put together a great deal for a new lease that we traded the CR-V in that day.

I’m really happy with it and can’t wait to make it a part of our new family’s adventures!

It is the beginning of August and we still have many hot days ahead, but I am already dreaming of fall. These gorgeous wool throws from DWR would be so perfect for wrapping up in on those chilly autumn evenings either on the couch or out on the patio. A bit pricy, but they look as if they would be heirloom-worthy additions to the home.

Part of our busy weekend was spent at the garden center picking up pots and plants and soil. Then I spent a few hours repotting some houseplants and putting some plants in containers for outside. This year we are not putting in a garden – I want to figure out what is growing in the yard and see what I like and don’t like before putting in our plot- so I picked up a container tomato plant and some herbs. Since Shawn is anti-veggie, I figure I can just pick up whatever is in season at the farmer’s market this year for myself to eat. Plus, a dear friend has promised me some vegetables from her garden in return for a little manual labor weeding the beds. I’m already scheming what things I’ll can and preserve later in the season.

I thought that I’d share some of the paint colors that we chose for the house. We used a lot browns at the old house, so I wanted to change things up a bit here. The main area of the house is a very light putty color and we have white trim throughout, so we leaned more towards grays and blues. We chose the paint colors and then had Sherman Williams match the chips, using an interior eggshell paint. Go to the full post to see the colors and what rooms we used them in.

Well, now that the vacation is over, I am jumping back into the house stuff. We’ve got an official date for the movers: May 27th! (Lord, I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting in our house and out of this apartment.)That means I have little more than a week to get some things done.

Before we left we picked paint colors for some interior rooms and the painter is almost done. (I’ll post the colors later, I forgot to grab them from the house.) The AV guy is busy with his wires, speakers, and components and hopefully the closet shelving will be installed in the master soon. I’ve got to pick out and order the washer and dryer and also some light fixtures this week. I’m also on the hunt for a shower curtain for the main bathroom. Why is this so difficult to find? Maybe I’ll try to sew one myself if I can’t find anything. Can’t be too hard, right?

We’re also planning on making a trip to Ikea this weekend. We need to get a ton of things for the house, plus I want to check out some EXPEDIT for my craft room.

I’ve also got to do the more mundane things: schedule the phone/internet guy and the satellite dish people to come hook us up, change over addresses, clean the shelves and cupboards, etc. Well, I better end this post and get started. Lotsa stuff to do!







I purchased these vintage Kromex spun aluminum salt and pepper shakers a few weeks ago off of Etsy. Shawn has broken not one, but two, sets of my shakers in the past year, so I decided that I needed to get something a little bit sturdier than ceramic. These should live up to to the task. They are made in the 50’s and are similar to the Kromex canisters I have. I’d love to find an exact match, but thought that these were close. Aren’t they cute?

Just thought that I’d share a photo of some of the most perfect peonies I’ve seen in a while. Picked them up at the good ol’ Dane County Farmers Market this morning. Aren’t they the gorgeous?

In addition to picking up some good looking herbs for my planter out on the back deck, we also got our customary chocolate long john for breakfast. Shawn was so happy because we stopped at Fraboni’s, an Italian grocery, for some cheeses, pepperoni, and such. We’re going to be making pizzas for some friends tonight, along with some homemade strawberry icecream for dessert!