House Highlights

Inspired by a reader request, I felt compelled to tidy the front room of the house and show you some of my favorite things about it. Please don't ever think my house is this ship shape - we typically eat at the coffee table like most people our age (according to my unofficial poll...you do too, right?) and have the usual clutter of opened mail, pairs of shoes, and other things that don't make it past room one after work.

Welcome! This is where we spend most of our time - eating, relaxing, watching Game of Thrones. It has great light from the east facing windows in the morning and a cozy fireplace for chilly nights. 

The cats like to hang here as well. Boo (little pirate cat) practices parkour on the couch like a crazy person and Cat likes to curl up on a pillow.

I recently rediscovered a wool Pendleton blanket that made it with me from Portland. It's toasty on chilly nights and I'm a big fan of the white and navy design.

On the mantel I have some of my favorite pit fired pots. I love the orange and gray marks that came out of their firing in sawdust and salt. 

And this Voluspa candle is amazingggggg. I picked it up in Hawaii but you can find lots of heavenly scents  at Anthro. My other fave is Baltic Amber (thanks, Chic!).

Autumn

We've had crisp days and we've had 80 degree days. Now we're due for a hurricane colliding with a cold front that could bring rain, wind, and snow. Eeek! But the fall colors around Richmond have been beautiful this year.

Farewell Squirrels

Squirrels season has come to a close. We went to about 10 games over the summer, but I always say to Chris that we could tally up how many $8 charges we have on the credit card to figure out the number of games we've attended because without fail I always order a Super Pretzel and a jumbo Diet Coke. I have enough souvenir Nutzy cups to sell a collection on Ebay.

At our final game I popped into the shop with my friend to grab some extra souvenirs to tide me over until next season, including a shirt that says "RVA - Proud home of the Flying Squirrels" and this ridiculous Nutzy hat. I put it on immediately and wish you could have seen Chris' face when I was climbing back up the steps to our general admission seats. His expression said "thank goodness you're cute because right now you're insane." I justified the purchase as planning ahead for this year's Halloween costume.

Neighborhood Spot

Garnett's, I adore you. Your eclectic framed photos on the walls, cheesy mornay sauce on my Croque Garnett, and little slice of ever-rotating heaven for dessert. To you I will always be true.

And It Begins!

The great house hunt has begun! As soon as we got back to Richmond we starting asking friends for realtor recommendations. Since we found someone to work with, she's set us up with an online search site with our preferences already built in. Each day I get an email or two with new listings that fit our specifications. Addicting!

Over the weekend Chris and I started driving through some of the potential neighborhoods we're looking at, taking in the general feel and jotting down any other houses for sale that we spot. We've got some time (our lease is up in June) and if we don't find the right one we can always rent for another year. But I told Chris that this process is going to be like the Christmas I went to the cat shelter -- you can't go to a cat shelter and not come home with a cat (Cat!). I have a feeling that once we start seeing places we're going to come home one day with a house.

The illustrator who painted the house above was recently featured on Design*Sponge. I would love to have our (potential) new house done with Cat's little face in the window!

Friday Lunches

One of the best parts of my week is spending my Friday lunch with a fifth grader. I pick her up from her classroom, stand in the lunch line to get cheese pizza, and then head to the library for crafts, conversation and games. One time we even played 18 rounds of Uno. Eighteen! 

Sound fun? Learn more about becoming a Big Sis here.

Fall-la-la-la-la

Fall in Richmond is glorious -- the days are pleasant and there's a morning bite in the air that makes a scarf a necessity.

This morning we made hot chocolate and sat outside to cheer on the Richmond marathon runners (the course passed right by our front door). "Good job, blue shirt! Keep it up, orange socks guy!" we shouted from the sidelines. "Moms everywhere are proud! You're going to remember this day forever! And hopefully in a good way!"

Busy Bees

Yeah, we've been a little busy. BBBS gala at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, glazing some wicked fine pots (note the progress!), working later hours, waiting patiently on fall weather to arrive and impulsively buying house plants, dabbling in Christmas gift making (hint: I bought a zipper foot), and gearing up for some pretty sweet volunteering opportunities. I think I'm one of those people that functions better with a slightly fuller plate, so we'll see how this autumn plays out.

Only two months until we're back in Portland for the holidays!

Table for Two

Husby and I had a date night at The Boathouse at Sunday Park a few Fridays ago. The weather was perfectly pleasant and we were surprised to find a live band playing by the water. Hot, hot days are worth it for these enjoyable evenings.

Tourists in Our Own Town

We kicked the weekend off with a Flying Squirrels game before some friends from college came to visit. We took them to Lamplighter and Ellwood's (hipster Richmond at its best, so reminiscent of Portland) and spent a cloudy but deceptively humid afternoon on Belle Isle. Chris and Stuart hopped rocks out to the middle of the rapids while Shiann and I snapped pictures.

Monday was so darn hot that we decided at 10am that we wouldn't leave the house or even get out of our pjs. A pork tenderloin in the slow cooker and corn on the cob were as close as we got to Memorial Day grilling. Perfect weekend.

Monument Avenue 10k

I've never run a 10k. I've never run a 5k. Heck, I've never even run more than two miles before taking a break to walk and remind myself that I'm not a runner. But on Saturday the cheering crowds on the sidelines, my feisty red nail polish, the garlic breadsticks from the night before, the sun and blue skies that replaced the forecast of cold and rain, and the other 41,000+ runners put me over the edge. And I ran the ENTIRE way.  That's 6.22 miles, folks. SIX ______ miles.

And I was smiling for every second of it because it was a downright blast. That, and I was in a dazed disbelief that I was still running after each mile marker.

A day later I'm still a little bit in shock of myself. My body is in shock too. I woke up this morning feeing like an arthritic old woman -- and old woman who's been slammed in the back with an anvil. After a breakfast of pancakes (er....it was more like lunchtime when I hobbled out of bed) and a day of general lethargy, I think I'm getting back to normal. I just might do this whole thing again -- well, once my joints feel like they're back in their twenties.

Eeeeee!!!! So proud.