What Ana Does

It occurred to me this week, after scrolling through some Pinterest images, that I used all black frames on my navy gallery wall. See ... Exhibit A: Black Frames on Navy Wall And it hit me: that makes no sense. Why would I use a frame color you can't even really see on a navy wall? Because we switched out the TV for the smaller one (the bigger screen was sent to the basement), I had to rearrange the pictures here anyway ... but this time, I decided to use all (or most) white frames and images that POP OUT of the navy wall, not get hidden away in it. The results ... Exhibit B: White Frames (Mostly) on Navy Wall Ok, so it may be a few too many frames, but it's a pretty serious (and fun) focal point in the room. And, as assumed, those white frames really POP at you. Hello! This wall and the cabinets below are a constant work in progress, but I'm pretty happy with the collection right now. Hooray!

Today we added overhead lights to the girls' bedrooms. And by "we" I mean I called our handyman Rick (who can do just about everything) over to take care of it. Before we had little lamps that provided very poor light at night in the bedrooms. Not to mention they took up the limited space on dressers and shelves. Since we moved in I've wanted an overhead light to really brighten up the rooms. So, I bought these hot little numbers from Amazon  almost a year ago with a gift certificate. They looked least like the common overhead "boob" light I was trying to avoid. You know the ones ... they look like this . Don't be embarrassed, we all have them. Anyway, it's a "semi-flush" so if anything, it looks like a slightly dangly boob light. So there you have it. Here's the final photos of the (not clean) bedrooms. Before pictures seemed unnecessary, as there was just an empty ceiling before. Honestly, the lights look like they'v

How crazy is this?! We booked our spring break for London months ago when the prices were so good to Europe we couldn't resist. We're about a month away and I'm starting to plan. And for years I've followed Londoner  Deliciously Ella on Instagram (she has an interesting health story), so I was certain that I wanted to visit her Mae Deli  while in London. Well lo and behold our hotel is just two blocks from the deli. How's that for serendipity!? Honestly, we booked that hotel for two reasons; proximity to the tube/Hyde Park and for its indoor pool (the girls want to swim for Spring Break, understandably). Yippee! Other sites on my long list: The British Museum, The Tower (we missed last year in our one day London lollapalooza ), Liberty London, St. Paul's, Kensington Palace and any other castle/palace/museum I can drag my family to. More London planning posts to come.

Masterpiece Theater is killing it this month with queens, have you been watching? I don't watch much TV but lately I've looking for reasons (laundry, quilting, etc.) so I can binge. First, there's Victoria , which is dramatization of Queen Victoria's life starting at her coronation at age 18. She's this lovable, headstrong teen and her advisors want her married ASAP. First, she gives her heart to an older man ... but then meets up with cousin Albert and BOOM it's all over. Albert is German and shy in a Mr. Darcy kind of way. Lots of interesting facial hair. Totally adorable. I've been swept away by their love story and the actors portraying them. (Before you ask, yes, the actress playing Victoria looks exactly like Christina Ricci!) Then, if that wasn't enough British monarchy for you, they are also showing Secrets of Six Wives about Henry VIII and his doomed marriages. This is done almost like a movie -- with actors playing Henry and the wives

A few months ago, the girls became roommates and Leah's room got turned into a crazy-messy play room. It's pretty much been that way ever since. But lately, the girls have talked about NOT sharing a room anymore. Alice might want to sleep in a little later on a school day. And I don't blame her. But we've always had a challenge with arranging the furniture in Leah's room ... the bed specifically. There's really only ONE way to do it and that's with the bed running down the middle of the room. I made a quick drawing of the layout ... And here's a photo of the bed and the niche from when we moved in and decorated back in 2012 ... While the bed looks good in the middle of the room, it takes up a lot of valuable floorspace. And Leah has requested an alternative location for the bed when she moves back in. Where oh WHERE can I put it? Related Links: The 2012 post of Leah's room complete An idea of how to get rid of that nook that did

It's been said over and over again but there's really nothing better than taking some time away from your life and kids and just getting away with your spouse. Sounds obvious, right? Working on the marriage is important, letting the kids fend for themselves with a different supervising adult (in our case it was my Mom) is a great experience and getting away from the day-to-day -- and especially WINTER -- is therapeutic. We just got back from a long weekend with life-long friends in Puerto Rico and it was delightful. The kids had a great weekend with Nana and we had some dedicated time to relax, reconnect and let loose. Drinks, laughter, swearing and doing next to nothing were the themes of the weekend. I'm back with a sunburn and a ton of tasks but feeling more clear-headed than before. Ready to get it all done.

Gosh, it's been awhile since I've listed out all the things I'm totally digging these days. Yikes! Since I'm home full-time, the list is slightly different (no audiobooks, as I'm not commuting more than an hour each day), but it's still me. In my continuing quest to tap-into the creative parts of my brain that have been on lockdown for so long, I've been experimenting with  doodle drawing and lettering . I've never been good at drawing but the doodles are simple line drawings  that make it simple to eye. I may even get out the watercolor! At night I've been reading the Clarice Bean chapter book series by Lauren Child to the girls. We all love it. Clarice has a similar voice as Junie B. and Violet Mackeral, that's childish and funny (in a good way) but she's also got good advice to share. We're having fun discussing the plot points and what might happen next. And having a chapter book waiting for me at bedtime makes the routine go