What Ana Does

We're MOVING!  One thing that this COVID pandemic has made super-clear to us, is that living near family and life-long friends is no longer just a dream or luxury, it's a must.  We moved out to Illinois nine years ago with two baby girls and a goal to live within our means in a larger home with no commute and a big yard. And we succeeded. It's been a really great place to raise our kids and build a life, but we don't have any big personal connections here.  I made friends with the girls' friends' mothers, but those relationships have started to disappear as their friendships haven't survived adolescents.  Meanwhile, we have friends and family we see annually on the East coast that continue to be important to us. And in normal years we get to see them enough to satisfy our itch for close social ties. But this year, when travel has not been possible, we've really seen how our life is lacking without that connection.  It's something we even talked about

 This is my last list post of 2020 ... and it's a roundup of the 10 most popular posts on my blog, which got about 10,000 views this year. Not too shabby. Thanks all you guys for visiting!  10. Christmas at My House - from 2013's celebration, everyone around the dining room table, my favorite thing ever.  9 .  Cleaning Up My Morning Routine - I had such a plan together ... then it got BLOWN UP once 2020 really hit. I do still drink my smoothie breakfast.  8. Shopping with Purpose - love a shopping list! And sustainability is one of my pet projects. Maybe it's just the cool photo of my toilet paper?  7. Formal Dress Shopping by Mail - this one had a lot of try-ons, which is odd for me. But I do like the dress I eventually picked.  6. Planning for Summer on the Patio - Midwinter summer daydreaming ... yup, it's all true.  5. Holiday Gift List Round-up 2018 Edition - odd how this one was such a popular post this year. Maybe I need to do a holiday gift list for next ye

2020 was certainly a shopping year at our house, mostly thanks to being home and having nowhere to go since March. I had way more time than usual to notice the things around me that were in need of replacement and new things I've long thought about but haven't done much about. Here's my list of favorite purchases of the year: Match PJ Sets!  I've been buying these Dreamy Cotton Pajama Sets from JCrew whenever I got a good coupon code -- I think I now have four, the fifth is a short-set. They are super comfortable, fit great, wash well and make me feel a little more put together at night. A huge glow-up from the mismatched flannel pants and old t-shirts I used to wear to bed.  New Family Room Sofa.  We finally replaced our poop brown sectional (I swear it was a lighter color in the showroom) with a light grey u-shaped couch in the family room we can all sit on. It's done wonders to lighten the room and the fabric has proven to be kid and dog-friendly, too. This is t

WAY back in 2013 we got a piano for free from a neighbor. Here's the full story of how we found it is here and there's a bunch more posts here . It has been in a place of honor in our home since ... right by the front door near our living room. The girls took lessons, but, unfortunately, they never really found a passion for it. But I always enjoyed the noise of them practicing. Or just banging on the keys.  This year I decided it was time to find our piano a new home. We never picked up lessons again after we got home from Paris and no one has touched it in all that time. A piano must be played to exist and the soul of this piano was just crying out to me.  I put it up on Facebook Marketplace for free and offered it to a few friends; all they'd need to do, is pay for moving it. And it didn't find any takers for a few months. Then a friend from Dave's gym was over for a Friendsgiving dinner and we mentioned the piano was up for grabs. They just moved into a new (th

What can you say about 2020 that hasn't already been said? It was NOT a normal year. With mandates to "shelter in place" that cancelled all our travel and weekend plans, you'd think I would have gotten a bit more reading time. But, it was a pretty normal book year. I did break some of my rules about ordering more physical books than usual, thanks to the libraries being closed and wanting to help out a black-owned independent bookstore in Chicago.  I'm starting this year's list with my four favorites. Books I would HIGHLY recommend, if you're looking for something to read. Than, I'll bold other good picks, too, that are in no particular order.  To Note: As usual there's probably 30 or so Kindle romances that I read too quickly and didn't make much of an impression on me or didn't finish all the way, so they're not listed.  Fable: A Novel by Adrienne Young - my favorite book of the year, hands down. Such good world-building, incredible s

Well, the guest room is done and I think my goal has been reached. *High five*  I really wanted a little accent wall that acts as a headboard for this bed and to lighten up this really sun-filled room. And the lighter curtains and more cohesive art on the walls sure helps make it clean.  We like the room so much that David moved his office up here. You can see his table/desk and office chair in this room.  Check this room off the list. 

Quarantine has spoiled me in one important part of my day: The mornings.  My only alarm clock is this little dog's bladder (or mine). We hop out of bed, head downstairs and while she and Bruce hit the backyard, I make my cup of coffee and we meet on the sofa where I think about my day, fill out my to-do list, grocery list, etc. I look at Instagram and play Words with Friends with my sisters. And sometimes I'll get in a 15 minute meditation on Headspace.   Most days, the girls will join me on the living room sofas and we'll chit-chat about the day or who they're watching on Instagram. They eat breakfast, too.  Then, on weekdays, I jump up to get dressed and into the home office by 8:30 to start work. And on weekends, well, it just depends on what I want to tackle first.  It's important to honor these natural rhythms that happen in life because, like all things, it's temporary. This will all change soon enough as another season of our lives begin. But, for now, I&

I haven't made it into a salon since early 2020, so my hair was long, heavy and style-less. Most of the time, it was going directly from shower into a bun.  Time for a BIG CHOP!  BEFORE:  And AFTER:  And I got 8inches + off, so I can donate it to charity. I found this one: Children With Hair Loss that will take my hair -- even with a few strands of gray! So off my little ponytails go ...  and I feel about 20lbs lighter! 

 It's been a few months since I updated you on the guestroom refresh project ... and with good reason. The shiplap I wanted to finish out the "feature wall" and be the solution to the bed's headboard was out of stock at my local Home Depot.  In fact, it was out of stock at most Home Depots near me except for the one in Wisconsin. And this Fall, the COVID virus was on a major spike in that state, so I was avoiding going there. Mostly because I had a few doctor appointments and the first thing they ask you is if you'd left the state and wasn't willing to forgo my mammogram just for building supplies. 2020, y'all!  Anyway, last week after waiting two month I just decide to make the drive, since Illinois was also spiking new cases and, well, I have no where to go for the next two weeks anyway.  Here's the progression. Starting with the blank wall and moving all the way up to the caulking/wood filler step:  It was late Sunday night when I push the room back

I have always loved plants and grew up around a ton of houseplants.  But, sadly, I've got no green thumbs. And along the way, I've lost my plant-caring confidence. I kept killing so many plants! Through neglect, extended vacations, over-watering, etc. I just couldn't keep much alive and thriving.  Lately, though, I think that might be turning around. Since returning from Paris and adding plants I've read are hardy, I've killed a lot less houseplants than I ever.  And in just the last few months, I added three BIG guys into the mix of Pathos and Spider plants which I can definitely keep alive!  This is a ZZ plant. It's new and still settling in.  Agleonemas with a pretty variegated leaf. I am feeling especially optimistic about this one, as you can tell from the giant pot I have it in. I'm hoping it gets really big and bushy.  This one is called Monstera and it tops most lists as the easiest to keep alive. Well, we'll see about that. But it's very tal

 I'm way too excited about this light to wait to show you ..  Ok. Now that you've Ooohs and Awwwed, here's some context: this is the guestroom and it's the room I'm currently working on redecorating. I didn't install a ceiling light when I did the other bedrooms a few years ago and I very-much regret it to this day. But, it did allow me the opportunity to buy a fun wicker hanging light that I've been eyeing for a while.  (Link to this fixture on World Market .) I'm so happy with its location and the peeks of bamboo. I'm using a 3M contact hook right now, but I'll install a real hook in the next day or two, now that I know the position is right. And once that curtain is back in place, it will hide the cord hanging down the wall.  In other guestroom news, I ordered the new curtains. They are light-blocking, pretty creamy linen curtains I found on Amazon. And I painted the first coat of the white trim color. It's making me like the taupe color o

My goal for the weekend was to finish the basement niche shelves construction and I did!  I'm so excited with how neat and tidy it turned out.  I got book storage at the top. Some game and craft storage in the middle, though that's not final. And blankets at the bottom, which was the greatest need.  Everything got painted and caulked, so it truly looks like a built-in storage space that has always been there.  If you remember how it was before, with an old bookcase tossed in there with no organization. So much unused space and wasted potential.   Constructing those built-in shelves are still not one of my strengths. The pantry and laundry room closet were my last two projects and they didn't turn out completely perfect ... but I learned a bit more in each try.  This project allowed me a bit more practice AND made the basement look more put together.  I'm still sorting through the tons of leftover furniture and toys, among other things, that are stored in our basement. I

I don't like wasted space. If you're not new around here, that doesn't surprise you. When I think of areas of my house that are not living up to its true potential, it's a blaring red alarm in my brain. FIX ME FIX ME FIX ME This weekend I started fixing the niche in my basement, which was one of those spots. Here's the BEFORE of that corner of the basement.  It's our "media center" space, so you'll see the edge of our soft, comfy sofa. It's also the corner that has all the toy storage and toys the girls just couldn't part with. (Ugh) The actual niche is holding one of my mom's book cases, but, as you can see, there's so much unused space in there.  My grand plan was to install a cabinet with built-in shelves above, but once I started to think about what I needed storage for, going with open shelves made more sense. As you can see, we need blanket and pillow storage, as well as some place to put away toys and books.  Supplies for fou

Oh, our poor guest room. It's time to give this often-overlooked room some attention.  Here's the thing ... this room is currently used as the "GIRL DEN" for art projects, youtube watching and "sister sleepovers." And we spruce it up a bit for when my Mom visits and it turns into a true guestroom.   But it's a total disaster. The wall color is wrong. The curtains are all wrong (color and location). The closet is a cluttered mess. The furniture is just the rejects from all over the house. The girls do their best to make it a "cool hangout spot" but it's just a mess.  Here's the REAL, unfiltered BEFORE picture:  But I've got BIG PLANS.  ACCENT WALL: Oh baby. It's going to be so sweet to create an accent wall on the far wall which is really what you focus on in the room. Shiplap is currently pricing out to be somewhat affordable. I also found a cool peel and stick real-wood option, but it was incredibly pricey. I'm hunting othe

As a family, we are devoted to bringing reusable bags to the grocery store -- every time. It's a practice we started WAYYYY back when we were living in New Jersey, continued in France (where a plastic bag is not free) and we've gotten pretty good about remembering each time we go. (Checklist: grocery list, phone, sunglasses, bags).  And yes, I look down my nose at people walking out of the grocery store with a cart full of plastic bags. It's so wasteful, horrible for the Earth and bringing your own is stupid SIMPLE, people.  BUT, with this pandemic, grocery stores are not allowing use of reusable bags for fear of spreading germs from home. I'm fine with that. But I'm NOT OK with using plastic bags.  We get by with refusing a bag, when it's just a few items. Or requesting paper bags, which are a far more sustainable choice. Most are made of recycled paper, are easily recycled or reused around the house.  But let's discuss the reality of the situation. It'

We miss three things the most in the pandemic world: travel, restaurants and seeing BIG movies in the movie theater. Otherwise, we're pretty content (on most day) with staying in and keeping our community safe.  BUT the travel thing is a real big bummer. We love to travel as a family (obviously) and the WANDERLUST is a thing.  We can order from our favorite restaurants for pickup. And we can watch movies at home, in the dark basement while eating popcorn and approximate a theater experience. But there's not much we can do to fake a trip to London. Or Hawaii.  Then ... my older sister told me about her cool NordicTrack treadmill with iFit that uses videos of trainers in locations all over the world and you VIRTUALLY run along with them. The best part ... there's an app! So I don't have the fancy treadmill that will adjust to the trainer's speed (I have to automatically adjust the speed) BUT I can follow along on the video using the iFit app  on my iPad.   I've

Isn't it funny how spaces reflect us and how we change?  Leah's room has definitely been such a fun snapshot on watching a little girl grow! When we moved into this house, she was 5 years old and wanted a blue room. I found a beautiful quilt and used the blues and greens from it to decorate her little-girl room. (Here's that 2012 post .) It went from flowers and teal to blue with a surfer/beach theme a few years ago. And we filled it with beachy elements, including a huge surfboard mural, and updated the blue last year when we returned from Paris ( here's that post ). But, now as a high school freshman, and so grown up, she wants a more minimal, subtle room theme. And, as a fan of painting bedrooms, I was ready to do it for her.  We worked together to pick the right color, "Swiss Coffee from Behr" because it was a creamy white that would match the headboard we brought back from Paris AND the beach mural I refused to allow her to removed. (It was expensive, peo

 I have been devouring books like crazy this season.  The Body Reset Diet from Harley Pasternak - we listened to this guy on the Goop Men's podcast while driving through Wyoming and I liked his very sensible approach. I've never done a diet "reset" and I thought, "well, if I'm going to do one, give me one with lots of yogurt and smoothies." So we got the book and did the reset diet, as prescribed. And now I'm doing my best to follow the spirit of the diet, if not down to the letter.  Beach Read by Emily Henry - My favorite book of the summer, so far. I laughed, I cried my eyes out and I really enjoyed the dialog and pace of the book. The characters were well sketched and it was such a quick and sweet story. I very rarely read "mainstream" titles, but this book restored some of my faith in what "everyone else is reading."  Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerhall - First off, isn't it funny the main character's name ISN'T E

When we returned from our RV trip we found a citation for an "unkempt" yard from our town hall. No fine but it was still very annoying. YES, we were aware of the state of our yard but we went on vacation. We also got one from our neighborhood association, thanks to a nosy neighbor who took a picture of our yard (with the RV in the driveway) to report us. Really cool.  The truth was, we had already called a landscaping service to pull it all out, and, in fact, had been waiting for their estimate when we got the city's notice. We quickly learned landscapers have been abnormally busy this year, so it took a few weeks to get the estimate and on the schedule.  Finally, I have some before and after photos for you ...  We also did the other side of the house, but I don't have photos of that side. It's much the same: weeds to grass seed.  The plan is to sod and get grass growing in all the cleared out areas. And, eventually, add something like hydrangea along the front po

I struggled a lot with household chores for the kids, allowances and money. I read a few parenting books about allowances and listened to some parenting experts, hoping to land on something that felt right for my house and kids. ( Here's a book on that subject I didn't agree with. )  But with quarantine and everyone being HOME, I really had to find something that would work. Because if it was just ME AND DAVID putting away dishes every day, I was going to lose it.  For a few years, we've been working on this clipboard of chores, where I had listed chores and how much they paid out, but there was room to add and negotiate price. Alice got especially good a bartering. And I was good about paying immediately for awhile, but eventually we started to list "I Owe Yous" to the girls and it got a little meaningless. As you know, I'm not good with consistency.  But while home, we figured out if we added up the money on the chalkboard, we could keep track of what they w

Our home office has been a bit of a wreck since we moved back from Paris. A catch-all room. But then we started working from home in March and this room has been in a state of PROGRESS. David used it. Than, he moved to the basement, and I've been using it. We moved the chaise in here for the dogs to nap and watch the neighborhood -- it's everyone's room.  Once the decision was made to distance learn, we had a family discussion on where the girls wanted to work. After last Spring's experience, the dining room or kitchen was out of the picture. Too messy. We quickly identified the office as the optimal place (the first of there several options) so they're close to me, for guidance and questions while I'm working from home, and they're away from distractions in their rooms. The desks in their rooms would play an alternate roll, once they got up and running successfully and needed a fresh location. Options are good.  It was also the perfect opportunity to clear