Freedom

It's been six and a half weeks since the move. Unpacking, setting up, organizing. Trying to get a sense of how to live and be in this new place. There's no denying that it's a beautiful apartment. But I still don't quite know what I'm doing here. If you've seen images of my old living room, you'll recognize several old friends here and here. I have to admit that everything works better in this space. It's open and inviting. 

Today I pulled out the seashells. I've grown accustomed to displaying them in the summer months. So why not keep up the tradition? 

Late afternoon storms darkened the sky and brought much-needed relief from the heat. Then the clouds cleared, bringing oblique rays of summer sun to the living and dining rooms.

Had fun arranging the shells. Decided they should appear organized as a collector might display them on a board or in a cabinet drawer. 

At 7:00 this evening, the sun moved into a particularly felicitous angle, and the daisies caught fire. 

I loved having the mid-week holiday break. Original plans were scrapped due to concerns about the weather forecast. Turns out we didn't have rain after all, but so what? When you have the opportunity to spend a wonderful summer afternoon with your wonderful daughter, it doesn't much matter what you end up doing. These sailors, at the corner of Wisconsin and M in Georgetown, seemed to be enjoying their version of the Fourth. They looked particularly crisp, even in the oppressive heat.

"Let's go to J. Paul's for a bite to eat. We'll have a toast to Wendy." I texted Wendy to let her know we were there. She was delighted to hear it. A couple glasses of wine and the crabcake appetizer for each of us. Perfect lunch, perfect company, perfect afternoon. The silly July 4 beach theme, complete with sand, chairs, umbrellas, "and a DJ," according to the sign above the bar, somehow just worked and brought a big smile to my face.

Claire loved it too. 

"Happy Independence Day, Mommy," she said to me on the phone that morning. Indeed. Thanks, Sweetheart.


The first week of July 2012 has drawn to a close. 

You Are Here

Back in early February, before the two now-infamous blizzards that suffocated the region, I visited Claire and her roommate Jenna in Baltimore one blustery afternoon. We ended up in Fells Point at a little street art festival that several of their friends participated in. We had a very difficult time finding a restaurant with a free table for Sunday brunch. Here are the girls, trying to figure out which place we should try next.

The MICA Art Market is coming up this weekend, and I'm very excited to be going on Saturday morning. Claire is selling some of her screenprints, note cards and laser cut jewelry. It's sure to be a fun and easy way to get some Christmas shopping done.

Claire's Room Redo

As part of our end-of-year home renovation spectacular, we're doing some minor work on Claire's room. But since she reclaimed her bed this summer (it now resides in Baltimore), the room is bed-less. So this gives us the opportunity to rethink the decoration a bit.

I rediscovered this beautiful image from the dearly departed Southern Accents website. I think it's one of my all-time favorite bedroom scenes. It's also nearly identical to the design I've been thinking of for her room:  Iron bed (headboard only, in our case), white wing chair, sisal carpet with small oriental carpets on either side. 

We don't have an antique suzani for the bed, but we do have a beautiful, faded quilt given to Claire many years ago. It just needs some minor repair.