Spring Countdown!

One thing I look forward to most when the cold fronts finally pass is having picnics. My husband and I try to do a picnic every month when the weather is nice, which os quite often in Florida. With the new house, random cold fronts, and muggy weather, we haven't had a picnic since 2 weeks after we got married. We usually over buy but share what we can with the squirrels that parade around us. Is seriously cannot wait to grab our little blue and white plaid picnic bag, grab tons of food and have a picnic under the same tree we were married at.

{photo credit: suzyputnik}

La Vie En Rose

Throughout junior high and high school my biggest dream was to visit Paris. I took a few french classes, watched movies about Paris from the library, wrote school papers on the Eiffel Tower. As the years have passed, my passion for Paris has dwindled a bit. I'm not as high-strung about it as I was a few years ago. That is until I saw La Vie En Rose. I knew nothing about Edith Piaf until seeing this movie (which I had to subtitle in english since my french isn't very strong). I only knew of the song La Vie En Rose because of Louis Armstrong's version which I first heard in one of my all-time favorite movies, French Kiss [spoiler alert:end of movie].

I am officially back on the dream path to Paris. The breads, the buildings, the lights, the romance, the wine, everything. It's back to number one on my travel list!

Dream Home

Everyone has a dream home. A place that they have imagined, seen, or visited and said "I'm going to live here one day." Unfortunately many of these dream homes will be only dreams. Either too expensive, too far away, or one can just not find a way to make their dream home reality. Yesterday I spoke with the owner of my job. Unfortunately for him, he has 1 male employee and about 25 female employees, not to mention only 3 daughters. Since I am the age of one of his daughters he always likes to give me some fatherly advice. I had mentioned about leaving this town and having a dream home but I don't know how to make it happen. He says to me "Do not give up on your dreams. When I started I had [figuratively] two cents but I knew I wanted a house by water. I love the water and I wanted to live by it. I worked hard to make sure my dream came true. You almost have to become obsessed with making your dreams come true. Never give up." Now he lives on the beach in a multi-million dollar home.

My dream home..... LARGE yard; enough space inside the home for a family of 6 to fit comfortably, plus pets; a slight fixer-upper. something that needs enough updating and cosmetics to make it our own; lakefront; colonial/american; gardens of flowers and veggies and fruits. I'm sure there's more to this dream home but do to being sick and late hours (yes, 9:15pm is late for me during the work week) I cannot think straight. But these features are the main hopes for my home. And, by golly, I will have this home.

{photo credit: myself, Cocoa}

"On the side" job

My mother in law sells books on ebay. She recently opened her own little warehouse where she stores all her books for selling. She has told my husband that she wants him to jump on board since she usually clears nearly $2000/month. This would be great because he hates his job but it currently helps pay our bills. My darling mother in law has also asked me if I would like to help by being the vintage clothing scout. I love vintage clothing and happily agreed. I have gone to thrift stores numerous times and found old clothing I adore and now I get to find some that may not even be my size, but clean it up, stitch it up if necessary then turn it around and make a profit on it on etsy or what-not.

We cannot wait for this weekend when my husband goes around scanning books and I get to find awesome clothes. Wish us luck!

{photo credit: Rag & Bow Vintage Clothing}

Last day of "vacation"

I ended my last day of vacation doing the office. Unfortunately I realized I liked a different room for our office than originally planned and since my husband is working, I moved my ginormous computer desk alone. A few bumps and scratches on the doorways between rooms later, I managed to get it in. A job that my Dad and husband did together when they brought the desk into the house on move day. You can say I feel a little empowered.

Now I feel like pretending I'm on a real vacation in Ireland, riding my bike down this tree-lined street after going to the local bakery....

{photo credit: estrusia_uk}

Is it spring yet?

I understand that since I live in Florida I do not have much room to complain about the cold weather. More so it's the on-and-off cold and hot weather that bothers me, and it's making everyone sick. I cannot wait for the 70 degree weather to come and stay a bit. Luckily that's exactly what is called for this weekend. Sunny skies and in the 70's.

This means gardening on Saturday and inviting family over on Sunday for a barbeque!

Just wish I could have a beautiful tulip garden to fill my whole backyard!

{photo credit:.:philipp klinger.:}

Let the outdoor reno begin!

Our back porch and my dad fixing something up, such a handyman

our front yard

some of our backyard, viewing the shed

back yard view from the shed

As you can see my husband and I have our work cut out for us. Unfortunately we've had quite the wind chill here in Florida which makes any outdoor job uncomfortable. Yesterday was probably the nicest day but my husband is at work, and even though I'm taking my vacation time to clean our apartment and set-up the house, the yardwork is a joint activity.

For a general to-do list here are some plans:

--Clean up entire porch and replace blinds, possibly add curtains. Plus, remove furniture from last tenants.

--Rip out weeds and replace with new, fresh plants.

--Fix light in the front yard since it is wobbly.

--Paint shed.

Soon we will put our grill out and have everyone over for a yummy bbq! Pictures to come as 'Renovation: Outside' begins.