65 and sunny with a light breeze

As the East Coast hunkers down for yet another winter storm (this time with damaging amounts of ice!) let me smugly welcome you to my Southern California garden.

KAPOW! I love Pêche, the peach tree. I might have to make that photo into a poster. Next up is Fred the aloe vera.

Fred was a sad looking clearance plant at Lowes last February. Mother-in-law and I took pity on him and loaded him in the cart. Have you ever tried to lift a giant, spike-ridden aloe plant that's overgrown its pot? Not easy! That's why he has a name, because he has a mind of his own. This year it looks like he's happy with his new digs, I've never seen aloe blossoms before.

This precious purple darling is called society garlic. It'll shoot up about 20 more flower clusters, it's a light addition to all the neighboring succulents.

And then for comedy relief... here's Henry being completely adorable. They're blurry photos but still so cute, so happy, and so free of ice!

January 2011: The good, the bad & the dramatic

We're barely into 2011 and it seems to be winding up to be a slightly ridiculous year. The first week was crazy with preparation for TNNA and the reveal of my new line of knitting patterns. GOOD! The second week was punctuated with a sad phone call about a good friend's death. BAD! The third week we decided to fly to the east coast for the funeral where it snowed 20" and we had subzero temperatures. DRAMATIC! I got to see both my sisters, my brother, my parents, meet my new nephew, and spend time with great friends. GOOD! Our flight home was packed, we had to sit separately and it was delayed by tons of snow. DRAMATIC! By week four we were both sick and exhausted. I'm welcoming February with open arms and hoping for a lot less drama and a lot more relaxing.

Peaceful happiness

There's something so nice about coming home. It was refreshing see the things we choose to surround ourselves with after being away from it all for over a week. I wasn't expecting a happy, euphoric feeling at 11:30pm after a long day of packing, saying goodbye, snow, shoveling, runway plowing, airplane deicing, and delayed flights, but when I walked in the door of our house and saw the clean, straight lines of my furniture I felt refreshed. I get so wrapped up in the clutter of everyday life that I don't often take the opportunity to step back and look at the bigger picture. Last night the zen of our home hit me like a ton of bricks.

Then Henry took me out at the knees.

Cute and complimentary

This is my new bff, Ruby. She came over with her parents to my dinner party on Sunday. It took her a little while to warm up to me but eventually she decided she liked me. I was wrapping up the prime rib and making sure everyone had their food. Her mommy microwaved her some mac & cheese and while she was chowing down she looks up and tells her parents, "That lady makes great dinner!"

Quintessentially American

This is my brother and sister-in-law's home and I think it's adorable. It's on a cute, quiet street in a small Pennsylvania town. The block of homes is perfectly post-war, each one is the same size with subtle differences like dormers or not. They're all set back the same distance from the street with perfectly sized lawns and square bushes.