Drumroll....

So...I disappeared again. Dangit! I was being so good about sticking to my promise of posting every week and also creating at least one new listing a month...until I wasn't. Sorry to have let you down, yet again!

Where were we, anyway? It's been so long I can't even remember. I know that I had you all on the edge of your seat waiting to see the reveal of that one room we were working on repainting....oh! and you probably want to know how our yard is coming along, right? Well, good news! Both of those projects have been tackled!!!! Wanna see?

Okay! Let's start with our den, or extra bedroom, or whatever you want to call this room. We (I) debated over a long time over what color to paint it because we wanted it to feel cozy and also coordinate with the rest of the colors in the house. We finally settled on a lovely blue color.

Here is before..

And after!

Voila! There it is! It's such a cozy, quirky little room and I just love how it came out. How about all of that natural light pouring in? And those shelves and glass door knobs? How charming are they?? :) We ended up painting all of the shelves, all the trim, and both sides of each door. My plan is to continue on into the hallway and freshen up all the trim and doors with a new coat of paint.....but! For now, let's just admire how pretty this room is.

Oh, and you know what?

See that sliding glass door? Want to see what it looks out onto? Not a concrete track anymore because guess what...IT'S GONE! :D

Isn't that amazing? I swear, sometimes I wish the clone stamp was something I could use outside of Photoshop because it really would've saved us a lot of work here..like weeks and weeks of work and wheelbarrows and wheelbarrows full of dirt. But really - LOOK at that grass!! :D

And so the grass isn't lonely... the past several weeks, I've been going a little plant crazy...like I can't stop buying flowers and plants because they are just so lovely. Also, just being in a giant plant nursery and walking around is so relaxing. Strolling through aisles and aisles of flowers and greenery, being surrounded by bright, vibrant colors and discovering new fun plants, and smelling their pretty fresh, floral smells and seeing other people walk around enjoying themselves...it's really hard to be upset about anything in that setting (and also makes it hard to care about spending a bunch of money).

So..as a result..I've planted some hydrangeas (originally on the right hand side of the dirt track, but it was too sunny there, so moved them outback more), some blueberry bushes, hung lots of flower baskets, planted some lilies, daisies, and some other perennials and! we even planted our first little veggie garden. Tinkering around in our yard has become my new absolute favorite thing. (Okay, not really - the cats are still my most favorite thing). It's so peaceful and we just love it! <3 So...this is why I have stepped away from the screen lately. We get so little sunshine and nice weather in CNY, I've been trying to make the most of it. I hope you have been, too!

Okay, that's enough for today. I hope it was worth the wait! :D

-- Alison --