Salutations! Ta da, we made it through two weeks of complete family togetherness chocked full of long walks, late meals, movies, and sale shopping. I must admit, it did get a bit hairy there for a minute or so at about a week and a half in. I’m fairly sure that if I asked, I’m the only one that would think so though. The rest of my family was in deep chill mode I’m almost certain. As for me, my meal preparation and tidying up obsession was in full swing. If I had to give our holiday family time of togetherness a “team name” it would be “what’s for breakfast, what’s for lunch, what’s for dinner?” A long name for sure, but so, so accurate! Yes, I had to revive my domestic goddess to keep up with this crew.

We also enjoyed a handful of super loungy days and lunches out (my favorite Indian food!)—I could eat chicken Korma seven days a week without any complaints. We delved into a bit of binge TV too,  and I found a couple of new favorite shows.

• The Travelers (finished the first and only season on Netflix, now feeling the binging shame!)
• The Crown (honey doesn’t care for this one, but I’m hooked)
• Longmire (I’m not sure how many season’s there are on Netflix, but we’ve managed to finish them all over the last year)

I decided to squeeze in a painting project near the end of our holiday for a little fun-for-me project, and something fresh for the new year. I like to freshen up the ol’ cottage after the holidays each year, and pale pink did the trick.  I’ve been thinking about painting my heirloom trunk pink for a while, and I thought it would be a fun way to ring in the new year. It’s a soft, happy color and I like the way it looks with the wicker and brick. It’s Benjamin Moore angel pink in flat latex. It doesn’t sand off as easily as chalk paint to achieve a distressed finish, but I did manage to get some chippy goodness happening. I topped it with a coat of white wax which really helps soften the look and keep it looking light and fresh.

Paint history of my heirloom trunk

• Natural wood with dark stain
• A couple of coats of white flat latex
• It then goes blue with Annie Sloan Old Violet
• And now— pink!

Along with a coat of pale pink paint for the new year, I also declared 2017 the year of luck and kindness for our family. I don’t usually make resolutions, and I’m guessing you aren’t really supposed to impose them on other people. But this is something I’d like us all to enjoy together. After all, a kind and lucky cottage sounds quite nice I think. Honey says you can’t really “work” on having better luck. I don’t know? I like to think for some things you can sort of make your own luck. So we’ll see how that goes. And as far as being kind, that just seems like a given. Karma is a B!@ whether you’re making your own luck or not! Grin.

Thanks for visiting!

xoxo Sally