winter walk after work today

basement project - part 1

We quickly realized we need more space in our house once Matteo officially became a toddler. While the layout of our house is quirky, we're fortunate to have a lot of underutilized space so we're updating our basement and turning it into a playroom.

This weekend was Phase 1 - Destruction. Our basement used to be a separate apartment and one wall was an old kitchen, complete with a 50's-era stove. With the help of Joe and Carrie, Saturday morning we tore it all out. One of the best finds was another window that had been covered up with wood paneling. The bottom picture was taken at night but it really does make a huge difference in how much natural light we get down there. We also found one of those coin with a naked lady on it that says, "Heads I Win" on one side, and "Tails You Lose" on the other. Oh, if our basement could only talk the stories it would tell...







The next steps are to 1.) put up drywall on this wall and two other walls in the basement that are covered in wood paneling. 2.) Paint the room. And, 3.) install simple IKEA cabinets for storage.

I have a big vision for this room, people. Wish us luck!

warming up with the team

Matt took Matteo to basketball practice yesterday. Here he is stretching with the varsity players.

sacramento

After our trip back to Baltimore I was home one day and then left again for a work trip to Sacramento. I've never been to Northern California and loved seeing palm trees and orange trees and blooming flowers, even in (relatively) chilly weather. I stayed in a hotel a couple of blocks from the Capitol building and spent my morning walk strolling around its grounds.


my hotel room


palm trees


my first macaron


preparing for the state of the state later that night


building art


orange trees

matteo's thoughts on the ravens loss

[flickr video=6752698369 secret=b329e8ede8 w=225 h=400]

wedding weekend

One of my cousins got married over the weekend in Annapolis so Matteo and I flew home to Maryland. The wedding was in a gorgeous Catholic church and the reception was at the Annapolis Yacht Club. Matteo wore a tie and looked so cute it almost killed me. As you can see, I'm still switching between cameras. All my people shots with my iphone were terrible. Ugh, I need a lot of practice with this.


ready for take-off


flying into baltimore


rehearsal dinner - brother, cousin


rehearsal dinner - my dad, groom & bride, uncle & aunt, cousin with devil eyes caused by my damn iphone camera


rehearsal dinner - cousin, cousin's new fiancée who has the most amazing hair


at the church


matteo learned how to say "cheese!" this weekend


siblings


parents of the groom, my aunt and uncle


another uncle and aunt


melissa & kevin


boat bar at the yacht club


flags


my mom, me, kevin


boats, father-daughter dance


newlyweds


how you know you're in annapolis


watching the ravens the next day


driving back to the airport


flying home

photo a day

I'm still figuring out taking photos with my iphone. I love all the great apps that are out there but overall I'm taking fewer pictures, which isn't a good thing. One thing that's helping inspire me to take more photos is Instagram and the January photo-a-day challenge.



Here are my first 10 days:

1. you



2. breakfast



3. something you adore



4. letterbox



5. something you wore



6. makes you smile



7. favorite (that's chicken tikka masala. i need to work on my food photography.)



8. your sky



9. daily routine



10. childhood