We gave it eight months.

This was the color that we painted the living room when we first moved in. It was a dark reddish brown color and I really liked it. It brought the warm tones of the shutters to life and worked well with the brick fireplace. The problem was that is was prettiest during the sunlight hours. As soon as the sun went down it was like Jekyl and Hyde. That beautiful rich warm room turned into a black hole that was quite dreary. And of course it was the room we spent the most of our evenings in. So we decided to paint it.
We picked up tons of paint swatches and considered lots of options finally narrowed it down to a grey-blue or blue-green. After alot of deliberation we went with the blue with a hint of grey in it.

I was a little scared at first. It was such a drastic change from the red.


I am still getting used to it but overall I like it. In certain light it reminds me of a very country blue and thats the last thing I want. I am going to give it eight months and we will see.

Butt Out!

I am glad to say that Daniel and I officially quit smoking! It was tough at first and there were times that I thought we were going to kill each other but we made it to four weeks (well we did fall off the wagon once but that was only because our judgement was impaired due to slight intoxication).
At first I felt a little sad, Daniel and I had made a ritual out of smoking. We drank cups of coffee, sat outside on the porch, enjoyed the fresh air and talked about our work day. It was like we bonded over cigarettes. Now we still hang out on the porch and talk but instead of smoking we yell at the dog to hurry up and do his business.

Daniel, being more of a diehard smoker than myself, found it difficult at first.
This was Daniel before quitting, notice the overall jovial expression and the relaxed posture:

After quitting, it was more like this: (yes, that is a knife he was wielding)
Just joking! I just wanted an excuse to post that picture with the knife because I thought it was funny.
Actually, Daniel has substituted his passion for smoking the tabacco for a passion for grass. The grass in our backyard that is. He seeded and fertilized this year. And now instead of lighting up every hour when he takes the dog out, he waters the lawn every hour. He is completely obsessed.

As you can see from the picture, its growing. And although its still a bit patchy it looks much better than when we bought the house.

Surprisingly Cooper enjoys the watering also. (Check out his tongue in that picture, isnt it freakishly long?) Its funny becasue he is scared to death of getting a bath but he loves to get soaked by the hose. He also enjoys the new grass:

First Flowers in the Garden!

We have Dafadils! This weekend we will be planting orange and purple Calla lillies, of course one of my favorites. They will remind me of one of my favorite artists Frida Kahlo. We also bought a huge bag of wild flower seeds that are supposed to bring humming birds and butterflies to the yard. Cant wait!