Over the long weekend, I re-finished the legs of an old chair I got after a morning of volunteering for The Road Home. The legs were rusty so I sanded in using an electric hand sander ( a first for me! the whole time, i wondered what the baby must have been thinking!) and painted the legs black. It took me about 1 hour. Here are the pictures:

[ before: rusty ]

[ after sanding, getting ready to paint ]

[ e ntryway: though still temporary, i'm pretty happy]

This tree mural was painted by our good friends Tom and Laura. Great job guys! To see our tree mural here.

in progress

spirals

almost done

I have been under the spell — actually, my body and will has been completely severed as I incubate this little baby in my tummy. In other words, I’ve succumbed to laziness. I apologize, but in my short hiatus, I’ve been able to compile a lot of great new things! Stay tuned!

I met a friend for tea and appetizers at Alchemy Cafe last week and just had to make another visit 5 days later. I love it!

We had their sweet potato fries served with tarragon mayo and organic blueberry jam, dolmades (herb roasted rice wrapped in grape vine leaves!) served with garlic & dill cucumber yogurt and feta cheese and blueberry komucha tea. Glorious!

Sweet Potato Fries

Dolmades

Blueberry Kombucha

It was gorgeous this weekend. Spring is finally— hopefully…here! From weekend strolls on State St., Farmers market on the square, to bonfires  by lakes, hiking trails, to outdoor parties—- every event, at least for me, is something to be relished and cherished especially when I have the winter itch.

Here are some things I am looking forward to:

I’m so excited to join Crazylegs this year. I will be walking instead of running  because I  will be 20 weeks pregnant during this time! (but if I wasn’t I probably still wouldn’t run )

Although the picture is of California Spring, I look forward to Madison coming alive. Visit the Arboretum.

Flip flops and my “anti-Crocs” Crocs

And when the weather warms up: sun + beach = loads and loads of fun

Madison Parks

Picnics and  outdoor Play @ American Players Theatre

The hubby and I are expecting! Today marks the 17th week. Here’s the “little turnip” at 15 weeks

TLC has a fun feature on what do for your Spring Cleaning. It’s quite basic compared to other spring cleaning guides I’ve seen out there but it should serve you well in getting started. Plus, it’s quite entertaining   Click here.

Here’s a sneak peek of this season’s ads!

This is the newest addition to our home—a Foundation Bengal cat we named Lincoln. It’s a whole new world for us trying to remember where pet stores are, figuring out where to put his litterbox, watching our food so he doesn’t swipe it! He’s still getting used to living with us and we’re getting to know our little wild animal (he’s an asian leopard cat bred with a domestic tabby). There are times when I feel I don’t know how to prepare for a change because I don’t know what that change is exactly… I just gotta start somewhere, do my best and learn.

Madison is a place for animal lovers. Ever been to Java Cat Coffee? They have excellent gelato but beware… you just might want to get a cat when you see all the cute pictures of locally owned kitties.  I think I might just have celebrate our new cat by having gelato there…that way I can also post one of the already over abundant pictures of Lincoln!

I’m sure you’ve heard this new buzz word. This new word was borne by marketing gurus at the very eve of our economic ‘challenges’.  So what is it? And is it really ‘new’?

Stay-cation is having a vacation in your own ‘backyard’– sort of rediscovering your city. And for the question if it’s really new… well, that’s debatable. Some really smart people have been doing this for a long time now;  finding joy in discovering their city’s finest gems– not just stumbling upon it but actually making an adventure out of seeking undiscovered places.

Example, D and B, who are good friends of ours, would write down a list of all the breakfast places they wanted to check out here in Madison. Every weekend, as a treat to themselves, they would venture out to mine the breakfast scene in Madison. They were the ones who introduced me to Sophia’s excellent pastries on Johnson St.

This past weekend, I discovered Bolz Conservatory in Olbrich Gardens. It was glorious. The smell and feel of humidity, the luscious greenery of tropical plants…it made me feel like I was back home in the islands. We spent a good two hours soaking in the experience. It really felt therapeutic!

[blurry picture from the steam]

After our time in the Conservatory, we checked out the art exhibit going on and was so excited to find another local artist that I really liked! Nina Bednarski is exhibiting her works at Olbrich Gardens until April 11th. I wanted to buy all of her works! I especially loved the window paintings. Better check it out as it is one of the last exhibits in the area for awhile.

Would you want to have a stay-cation? What would you do?