Home :: Ordinary AND Beautiful

Yesterday was one of those ordinary, uneventful days around here.  You know, the kind where you go to work, run errands, thrift (doesn't everybody thrift when they head into into town?), come home, throw a few loads of laundry in, think about what to make for dinner and putter around the house. Yeah, well, it was one of those days and it was really beautiful.

There was this feeling in the air that I can't quite put my finger on.  The windows were all thrown wide open earlier in the day due to the forecasted high temperatures.  The rooms were tidy and calm.

I jumped online and finished booking our flights to Alaska.  I've been working on shifting travel arrangements around all week and it felt so good to push "purchase" and solidify our family vacation plans for August.  I took Grady last year and wrote about it here and here.  This year, we're going as a family and dropping off our boy at the same week long marine mammal science camp in Homer.  We are all pretty happy about making this happen.

It was a truly exceptional mail day today when I popped by the post office.  I received my limited edition Ghost Mountain print by the talented artist, Lisa Congdon.  Her blog is aptly called Today is Going to be Awesome.  I love everything she does and will be taking a professional illustration class from her at the Makeshift Society next month.  Check her out.

Thrift + Consignment Finds :: Stripes are taking over my wardrobe

Nothing was on our social calendar for the rest of the afternoon (or evening) and that was a welcome, intentional change.  I threw on a cute new slinky dress recently purchased from a local consignment store and Grady asked me if we were having company over tonight for dinner.  We most definitely were not having people over.  I guess his line of questioning means I need to dress up more often.  It felt good getting out of my standard winter garb of leggings, tank top and ratty cardigan.  The season is definitely shifting and it felt like I could actually feel it happening in real time tonight.

Salmon season opened up a few weeks ago and so I decided to drive the curvy seven mile stretch of highway to Bodega Bay to pick up salmon for dinner.  The thermostat in the kitchen read 80 degrees and it was definitely too hot to cook inside tonight.  Steve was still working in his office and Grady was creating some kind of monster world in his art studio.  I jumped in the car, rolled down the windows and headed towards the coast.

Perfecting a new summer cocktail has been on my to-do list (yes, really) and I set about mixing up two Negronis for myself and the husband.  I nailed it on the first try and used the last of the blood oranges that I harvested from the orchard that surrounds the office where I work part-time in town.  They were refreshing and a nice change from the usual wine with dinner.

The tall weeds in our fields are reaching for the sky and most are taller than I am.  The late afternoon light setting over the hills has been a photographer's dream.  (Note to self - get out there tomorrow night and photograph your family!)

We ended the day by sitting around the living room, each of us with a book and sporadically checking our phones or jumping on the computer to look something up.  I watched a few episodes of 30 Rock and decided to hit the hay.

I shut a few of the windows and tidied up the kitchen table, wiped the counters down and went in to check on Grady and kiss him goodnight.  His room felt still and warm.  I lowered his blinds and left his window cracked open to let the cool evening air in.

Today was ordinary and absolutely beautiful.  

I climbed into bed and read a few blog posts from writers that I've recently met and smiled at our new connectedness.  I'm noticing how I'm consciously surrounding myself with all of the things that I love lately.  Good food and drink, my family, art, books, friends and nature.  I especially like when all of those things come together under one roof.  Our home.

Tonight our home felt like it hugged us and this little post is my hug back.