Bonjour les amis, February is coming to a close, and I'm busier than ever! Between the renovation, Jessie's surgery, work, and catching a terrible cold, February has passed in a blur.
I may be the only one enjoying winter in New Jersey. I keep asking the weather god to stop letting Boston steal my snow (HA). February has been lovely, with over 24 inches of snow.
BUT it's almost March... and I find myself daydreaming of sundresses and gardening.
Family arrives at the end of this week, and then I leave for Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary.
Time, please slow down.
THE PIT: We are in the last few weeks of this renovation project, finishing about 1,500 square feet in the basement. A decorator at heart, I'm finally getting an opportunity to turn a vision into reality. We are calling the design style: Aspen Modern.
After about six hours of searching websites, I found this photo on Houzz, it's the inspiration for the windows that are being painted this week.
Next up... my new workspace!
FITNESS: For those of us from Minnesota, with weeks below zero.. snow means it's warm outside. A fresh snowfall creates the perfect conditions to snowshoe or cross country ski. I have had many opportunities to snowshoe recently, cutting a trail in six-plus inches of fresh snow several times proves to be a great workout.
The farm loop: Jessie, our nine-year-old dog, had surgery two weeks ago, to remove a melanoma from her paw. Thankfully it was benign. She has a dozen stitches and a cast that can't get wet, making our daily two mile walks a challenge. We are eager to start up again (this is when I listen to audiobooks).
Running: I registered for a half-marathon in May and plan to run one a month all summer.
WHAT I'M READING: Do you use Oyster? I'm thinking about trying the thirty day trial soon but may wait until April. If it works like Netflix, I need to be in the US to download/view... no reason to lose half a month on a free trial.
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake: I'm only 40 pages in, the story is setting up nicely. Synopsis: Every first Sunday in June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year, Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved wife, Willadee, and their three children back for the festivities. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes, jolting the family to their core and setting the stage for a summer of crisis and profound change.
Genesis Code: I saw this book while visiting BN over the holiday's. Think DaVinci Code 'light' set in 2023. I'm about a third done, the first plot twist is close.Synopsis: Blue Magic, the latest designer drug linked to a rash of overdoses, might explain the needle mark on the arm of a young woman found dead in her apartment. But when Star reporter Rich Azadian digs deeper, the clues point to a far more explosive story: MaryLee Stock was a special protegee of evangelical megapastor and power broker Cobalt Becker, who is poised to deliver his followers and the presidency to a firebrand right-wing senator in the next election. When Azadian sets out to prove that MaryLee’s death was no accident and she may have been carrying Becker’s genetically enhanced baby, the stakes become life itself.
THIS WEEK: I have a few new recipes to try and have been spending about 90 minutes a day practicing French as I prepare for a trip to Switzerland in March. Yesterday I woke up thinking in french(!) and am dangerously close to listening to audiobooks in French. {Just don't ask me to speak}
Beaucoup amour, Mari
