We got about an inch and a half of snow yesterday. Which means school was cancelled yesterday and continues to be cancelled today. There is talk it will be cancelled tomorrow as well because of ice that might appear. It’s delightful for those of us who love snow and love being snowed in, but frustrating for the more practical set who meander around the house complaining that if this state actually cleaned off its roads appropriately, kids could go to school, and hours could be billed, and those grumpy people might actually be able to take some time off at the holidays.

As for me and Penelope, well… SNOW!

Yesterday we baked cookies and cleaned up the house after a terrific Christmas party on Saturday night. Today we will bake some more cookies and possibly zip out to the grocery store. But if not, that’s fine. I’ve got a fireplace and hot chocolate and a snuggly turtle with no need to really go out.

If Tennessee keeps up these cold and snowy winters that they’ve given us since we moved here a year and a half ago, I might just stay for life. Keep em comin’, Southern Comfort!

Over the past few weeks we have been diligently working in our breakfast nook and have made significant progress. Matt finished installing crown moulding and building the door trim, baseboard, and corner bench (which opens for storage!), which we then caulked, primed and painted. We still have a bit of touching up to do on the paint, and the whole process has made it such that we will need to completely repaint the floor. But that’s how renovations work. Project begets project.

Here’s what it looks like today:

From Daily Daguerreotype

My mom and dad come into town tomorrow, so I’m excited to capitalize on my mom’s sewing expertise to create box cushions for the bench. I’m hoping to find a gray and white (or will settle for blue and white) ticking to use.

About a year ago we bought this print from Hatch Show Print to hang on the wall. It’s an odd size, so I need to hunt around online for the appropriately sized frame.

From Daily Daguerreotype

I have high hopes of painting all the doors in our house black, including that door to the basement pictured above. Then when Matt finishes the window trim, I’ll put up cafe curtains that I’m going to make from this Anna Maria Horner fabric I picked up a while ago.

I love seeing that which I envisioned a year ago finally coming to fruition. And I so adore my husband for making it all happen.

While we patiently waited for Penelope this weekend, Matt and I sprung into more nesting action to finish off a few projects that had been lingering. He put the final coat of paint on our laundry room cabinets and installed the hardware for them which means that our laundry room is officially finished.

Here are some before and afters from when we first bought the house. The projects in this room included ripping out lower cabinets and countertop, moving the extra fridge to the basement, tearing down old wallpaper, putting up new wallpaper, painting cabinets, running water and electricity for the washer and dryer, installing a new floor, installing beadboard on the walls and ceiling and putting in crown molding & chair rail.

Before:

From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

After:

From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

I’m so pleased with how it all turned out, which is a tribute to how good Matt is at actually creating what I have in my mind. As you know, I love doing laundry, but probably because of my adorable laundry room and its convenient location right off my kitchen. We’ve started parking our cars in the backyard now, so this is becoming our main entrance and has been really functional so far. I’m also seeing via the picture that it’s time to take out the recycling.

We also tackled a project this weekend that we had been wanting to do for years. I had inherited an old beat up bookshelf that my grandfather built years and years ago. It had been sitting in my parents basement for a while holding cans of paint, so it was in pretty rough condition. This weekend we sanded it down and put a few fresh coats of black paint on it giving it new life. Then last night Matt hauled up the boxes of books we’ve had in storage for a year now, and I organized them on the bookshelf. With my new zest for reading, we’re both tickled pink that our books are finally accessible. Although we realized we need about 2 more shelves of the same size.

From Daily Daguerreotype

Matt’s currently down in the basement putting the second coat of paint on a coffee table he built years ago, which is getting a new life in our newly finished den upstairs. The den and guest room are slowly coming together, so I’ll have pictures of those perhaps later this week if Penny Cate is still snoozin at the wheel.

Feels good to be finishing up some of these things and finally moving into our house.

I think I’ve mentioned before that Matt and I joined a CSA this year recommended by some friends. After an unfortunately soggy start due to the Nashville Flood of 2010, we started picking up our CSA boxes two weeks ago and were delighted to see a delicious assortment of seasonal produce. The first week we wound up with lettuce, broccoli, bok choy, swiss chard (my favorite!), green onions, tons of strawberries, a half dozen fresh eggs, and two huge ham steaks. This week we’ve hauled in lettuce, spinach, broccoli, more strawberries, more green onions, some fresh herbs, a half dozen fresh eggs, and some local ground beef.

I’m having so much fun making dinners out of these ingredients, and we’re starting to get into a pattern for dinners that includes huge salads and many meatless meals. I had been wanting to cut down on our meat consumption, so I’m not really buying much else other than what comes in our CSA box. One night a week we have breakfast for dinner and spend the entire meal discussing just how daggone delicious those fresh eggs really are.

I’m also trying to get into the habit of only keeping around food that we’ll eat up in that week. I used to be a person with a fully-stocked pantry at all times, but after having a conversation with my sister about keeping food costs down by only having on hand that which you would eat in a week, I’m starting to become a convert. It’s forcing us to eat what we have on hand instead of what I’m “in the mood” to cook. I’m also feel like I’m doing less cooking by making bigger batches of our meals allowing us plenty of leftovers – something I never used to do.

I will admit that I’ve started splurging on locally made bread and high-quality deli meats and cheeses for Matt’s lunches because my CSA pick-up location is a local deli. I used to just buy him whatever was on sale at the grocery store, but now he’s getting locally made roast beef at $9.99/lb. because of the sheer convenience. I’m making up for it by crafting him smaller sandwiches (sorry hun!) and filling out the rest of his lunch with things like a huge bunch of CSA strawberries. So far he doesn’t seem to mind. The roast beef is just that good.

One of my big concerns was that the CSA would require so much prep work that I’d be overwhelmed when Penny arrives. But I’m finding that’s not the case. Everything requires a little extra washing, but is so tasty and fresh served cold or quickly cooked that I’m spending less time cooking and more time sitting at the kitchen table reveling in my meal. So far the portion we signed up for hasn’t been unmanageable, and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to continue managing it after our daughter comes along.

Tonight’s dinner is super simple. I’m making a huge CSA salad to go with red beans and rice. Tomorrow night we’re having a veggie stir-fry to go with leftover fried rice made with local eggs. On Saturday night, we’ll grill up our local ground beef in some tasty burgers with homemade sweet potato fries and… you guessed it… a big ole salad.

It’s probably not too late for you to join a local CSA. Some just give you produce, others have meat and dairy items as well. Check out localharvest.org for more information.

I’m headed out of town this weekend for a ladies weekend in Easternish Tennessee, which is going to be fun fun fun. On the docket is food, more food, some movies, some reading, some exploring, and food. Last night I folded myself up like a pretzel to give myself a pedicure… THAT is how serious I’m taking this weekend.

As I prepare to drive out of town, we’re having a delicious Tennessee thunderstorm. When I moved here last year I was blown away by the thunder and lighting, and every time it rains like this I’m tempted to break out 1980s Eric Clapton and dance around until the power goes out. Don’t ask. I just love it that much.

While I hunker down for girl time in the rain this weekend, Matt will be busy working on the second floor and told me that he intends to have it basically finished by the time I get home. “Basically finished” means all the painting except the trim. I won’t hold him to it, in case he decides to spend all day tomorrow in front of the TV watching scary movies about space exploration that I would never put up with. But the thought of coming home to a completed upstairs makes this pregnant woman ready and willing to head straight into labor and delivery.

I hope you have a glorious weekend that involves either chocolate or space exploration – whichever is more your gig.