Me colorful cucina

When I went clothes shopping with B this past week, she pointed out that the drab, neutral colors I gravitate towards feed my need to blend in. This, however, is not the case when it comes to my kitchen - the most colorful space in my house.That loudly screaming bag was gifted to me by one of my younger sisters. It is from her trip to France last spring. It has an inscription that says something loosely translated to "I am shopping with my Jaguar". It's perfect for the farmer's market.

And check out that bamboo thing-a-ma-jingie holder I purchased last week. It replaced a boring, plastic cup.
I also got this cute octopus pot scrubber that dispenses soap at Target. And I love that soap in "Kitchen Lemon" from Bath and Body Works. It foams up so nicely and it's anti-bacterial (bring it on, swine flu - or rather, don't).And the brightest thing of all is my kilim rug - it was made for me as an heirloom and a wedding gift. It's colorful, beautiful, and a pain to keep clean. (I've spent many moons brushing the dog hair out of it.)
There is a corner of the rug and the main mess culprit. See - I am colorful. Who's drab?

Too inspired

Despite my better judgment, I acquired more knitting books. As if I needed more...
Still got many knitting projects that need to be finished. Like this one:Here are a couple knitted toy books I got (really cute):And then I found this book on Folk Mittens at the library. It's out of print, so I was pretty excited I located this:And I am straying from knitting and trying to teach myself crochet - blame it on these cute amigurumi toys:
Right now I am working on the owl. So far, I've got the eyes:It's the money you could've saved... had you not bought all those books! (The eyes totally reminded me of the GEICO commercial - I just HAD TO).

Spring feelin's

Oh, how I love spring. Here is a picture of my front yard:
AND - the lilac tree outside my bedroom window is budding. Sigh...
So I decided to plant my meager little seedlings (seeds from my grandmother's garden in Bosnia that I brought over last summer) in the garden bed in our backyard.
Look at that yummy lettuce! Mmmm... Minus all the dirt, of course. :)
I'ma gonna eat it!

I wish I had Carla Bruni's milk-honey-butter voice

Last Sunday I opened our hallway storage closet and decided I would no longer tolerate the pile of shoes on the floor. It resembled a landfill. I could never find a matching pair. So being a perfectionist on either extreme (either perfectly messy, or perfectly organized), I decided to do a 180 and give each shoe its own "bed". I found a great shoe storage unit at Target on sale. Here is the After photo:

This required that I donate some of the shoes I don't plan to wear (ever). I also put the flip-flops and other flimsy shoes undeserving of their own rightful place on the shelf into a plastic bin on the top. My vacuum cleaners and mops fit in the corners, as well. Sweet. I kept opening the closet doors and admiring the view.

I also replaced an old, decapitating set of blinds from my kitchen window with a fresh, clean version. And I got some cute place mats by Orla Kiely (from this collection) and chair cushions for my dining room table. Then I made a dinner consisting of fruits and veggies I had on hand and my favorite wine ever, Caba Moch by our own Summerset winery.

There is my dinner, and there are them place mats. And here is my puppy, dressed for the occasion.