What Ana Does

 One of the unintended consequences of removing that tree in our backyard is the streams of light the back part of the house is getting in the afternoons and evenings. The western-facing part of the house has been shaded for years and now it's seeing direct sun.  Here's the back hallway, with the light hitting it from the laundry and bathroom windows. Amazing! And here's the kitchen dining area near the sliding doors. You can peek at the stump that will be grinded (ground?) in a few days. And maybe be the start of my fire pit! But I may have to move that plant on the table, since it's not a fan of bright, direct light its all of a sudden getting.  Also, if you're ever feeling like your house isn't as pretty as the ones you see on Pinterest or Instagram, take some photos of the clean parts during good light and WOW you'll change your mind quick. My house is a disaster most of the time, but these two photos make it look like a magazine-ready space. Gorgeous!  ...

While touring museums in Copenhagen, I also had a lot of fun taking photos of collections and patterns, zooming in and cropping them just right. Here's what I captured ...   Card Catalog at the Library Signets at the National Museum Noses at the Glyptoteket Roman Coins at the Glyptoteket Royal Medals at the Rosenborg Castle Rings at the National Museum  

 I can't take enough pictures of our new kitchen. It's been a total game changer EVERYDAY.  I love all the light fixtures and options to light the space. I love the huge sink and cleaning it up each night. I love that I can see the TV, so I can watch Ted Lasso while I'm making dinner by myself. And that all of us can be preparing food in there at the same time, because there are several prep space options.  On the other side of the kitchen, I'm so glad we added these cabinets, in BLUE, to the space and basically doubling the size of the kitchen. It's amazing! I have my coffee station over there and all the cookbooks and baking pans are in the cabinet. It's handy. And PRETTY. The Nova color on the cabinets in the kitchen table area is just my favorite!  Then I added this horizontal panels to this part of the wall, an attempt to do that design trick and "tie" it in with the wood oven hood. It's rustic and interesting. It's the first thing you see...

The corner of the basement that was hit by all that water is really making progress. The builders were here for the last month, replacing walls and building back the bathroom. And (hooray!) they finished up yesterday. Which means this space is MINE again to work on. I've been dying to get my hands on it and get it ready for our Christmas visitors.  I look some progress shots ...  And this is where I step in. They removed all the chair molding around the entire basement while they were at it, and I'm so excited to see it painted one color.  I ordered new scones to replace the ones on the wall (see them on the right?) and should get them Sunday.  The sofa is uncertain. I checked in on it last month and they said it was coming, but nothing yet.  But, this week I'm on a tight deadline to paint the floor and walls.  Here I go ....  Basement Posts To refresh your memory, here's the plan for this TV watching area .  And the FULL basement vision pos ...

It's not the summer we were planning but the kids are off of school and the weather is getting warmer. So, it still counts as summer.  Bring on the quarantine summer 2020! 

We've got a wedding in Florida at the end of February and none of my formal dresses currently fit. So instead of the frustrating, lonely and depressing experience of spending a few hours in the dressing room at Nordstrom or Lord & Taylor, I've been experimenting with online dress shopping. I've been using mainly Amazon and Zappos, because of quick and free shipping. And I found quite a lot of dress options. In fact, I spent WAY TO MUCH time browsing through dresses and imaging how they'd translate from the model's size 1 body to my, er, larger one. In the end, I found there were some advantages and disadvantages to doing this kind of very-targeted shopping .... Pluses:  - Try on is at my house, in my bathroom, with my own shoes and undergarments, etc. I had ALL the space to move around and take each for a test drive. - My house has better, natural lighting and several mirror options. - I could take pictures of myself in the dress to send to my sisters w...

It's not often in Illinois that we get snow in October. Usually Mother Nature has the good grace to wait for the leaves to turn and fall from the trees before dumping the white stuff all over the place. This year, it seems She was too excited to get to snow ... October 31, on Halloween, and we get a few inches! Not that anyone here was complaining.  They couldn't wait to get home from school and play in the snow.  Still all here the next morning! And look at that sky!  I think Bruce loves the snow more than anyone on the house. He spent the day playing and jumping and slipping in the backyard. So, I guess this week, at least, it's winter! Related posts: More Winter posts

Alice loves looking through Instagram pictures from AllThatIsShe , an artist from northern England who creates these wonderful images of herself and with her two girls. Check them out . So one weekend, Alice got the idea to try to create some images of her own. And, fortunately, we have a blue bed sheet that can look like water and the sky. These are a few favorites that I posted on Instagram. The tricks we found were to stand as far over the subject as you can without falling off the chair (this can be dicey), create some good lighting (we were near a window), and edit/crop the pictures well to remove any sign of the floor. A good filter is useful, too!  There are a few other artists and novices creating these kinds of images with sleeping babies, which we also love. Check out this one . And a bunch of them on Pinterest .  Related posts: See other fun things I dig

I had a quick errand up on the Champs-Élysées this week, so of course I headed down to the Tulieries garden and the Louvre -- because it's basically the reason I moved here. I love the Louvre. The Pyramid of the Louvre If you've never visited the Louvre, here's one thing you need to know ... it's too big to get in to one photo. I'm serious. In most photos, you get the I.M. Pei pyramid, or one of the towers. But, no, you have to get above it to see the whole thing. That's how massive it is. Click To Make Image Larger You feel almost swallowed up by it when you first approach it from the Tuileries gardens. It's overwhelming, and that's how it's meant to be. Total sensory overload. It was a gloomy, chilly and grey day on Tuesday when I was there. But made from some good photos, I think. I haven't picked a day to get in there and start wandering the Louvre collections. Will report back when I do. I fear that once I enter, I m...

While it's not home, this temporary apartment has been comfortable and full of little treasures and oddities. One day, while the girls were watching Barbie Life in the Dream House episodes on NetFlix (I name the show because I want to embarrass them as teenagers), I took some pictures around the apartment. The Dining Room Chandelier  This Antique Cookbook Is a Pretty Color, But I Can't Find a Publication Date. This Gentlemen Keeps An Eye On Us From the Main Hallway He's Not in Great Shape, But He's Interesting. A Priceless Masterpiece Maybe?! The Plaster Details Are So Pretty! This One is in Our Bedroom Above a Mirror The Marble Fireplace in the Dining Room Marble Flower From the Bedroom Fireplace This apartment is privately-owned and rented out by a leasing agency. So while it's been comfortable, it still feels like living in someone else's home. We're looking forward to spreading out in our own space with our own stuff. V...

School year kicked off on the same day as the eclipse. Coincidence? I've now got a third grader and a sixth grader. And since I'm still doing the freelance-from-home thing, I get to see them off and welcome them home every day. Lucky me! Related Posts: All "Back to School" posts