we ordered a dining room table and chairs today. does this mean i'm an adult now? we're having easter at our house - i can't wait!

we introduced socrates to the dog park today. so far we know that it takes her some time to get warmed up to people - mostly men. we had no idea how she was with other dogs. wow - she loved it. she ran her little heart out. such a sweet dog.

sweet little love.

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oh - how i long for spring. as soon as the snow melts i'm buying a big bunch of beautiful tulips. consta and i have cooked and ate for the last 3 days. with 30 inches of snow on the ground and another 10-20 coming today - we really have nothing else to do.

we walked to canton square last night and ate a Mama's on a Half Shell. Yum! We always order the calamari appetizer. it's hands down the best calamari we have ever eaten. Consta ordered the scallops and I got fish and chips. They brought me an entire beer battered cod! Holy smokes! It was great but way too much. We should have split. Lots of left overs though.

today i'm heading over to the library to pick up some work out dvd's (i'm dying here) and a yoga dvd. also, book club pick of the month this week is Girl with the Pearl Earring, hopefully they have that too. i also need to walk to the grocery store and pick up some milk. thank goodness for living in the city. not sure any place on the east coast is drivable.

the artwork we have in our office are two muted watercolors of koi fish. how fitting these would be.

i'd like to introduce Socrates, the newest edition to our family.

these are incredibly clever. check more of this designer's work out here.

oh the goodies i ended up with yesterday!

i needed a mental health day yesterday afternoon. i left work early and headed up to mcclean, virginia. they have a west elm at the tysons corner center and i've been eyeing up a storage bench.

i wanted to check it out in person first. i've been a little leery about ordering west elm furniture online. i've visited the store a few years ago and the wood appeared to be pretty cheap and the fabric and cushion material was flimsy. they were pricey too!

they've done a complete 180 and i'm blown away. everything in the store was gorgeous! the cushions were firm, they're using organic linen, velvet and silk. the wood was stunning. i feel like i can comfortably order online again.

ok - i'm posting again officially. hopefully i'll keep up with it a few times a week. it's a resolution after all. :)

last year was HUGE and now a small recap:

My Aunt passed away in a horrible car accident in February. It was a complete tragedy to my family. She is incredibly loved. The mentally handicap, I believe, can be a gift from God. I have never met a more innocent and sincere and happy person in my life. I love her deeply and am sad that Consta never had a chance to meet her.

My best friend married a wonderful, kind man in April.

Consta purposed to me a week later in a sculpture garden.

I graduated with my MA in May. Then - wedding planning began.

House shopping took over. After grueling it out for 2 months and seeing EVERY house in Baltimore we fell in love with a sweet little house in September. We walk away after we received the long list of repairs. Heartbroken we kept searching. We found an even better house in October and moved in at the beginning of November.

Our first project as new homeowners was to tear up carpet and lay hardwood floors on the second level. We tried, and realized that sometimes you just need help. Not everyone HAS to be incredibly handy. We hired someone.

Oh - and then there is the secret. I might tell you sometime. But the close of the year is something I will never forget.

It's crazy how beautiful and blessed a life can be, but it always seems to be balanced by something tragic. I get the need for balance. It's just a bummer though.