Maryland Climbing

I am in the great state of Maryland, just outside of DC. I am enjoying the balmy Spring/Summer weather and the company of my family. We had a delightful hike along the Potomac yesterday.

I love the green, lushness of summer. Very different than dry California.
In this way, the East Coast reminds me more Hawaii. 

My dad, the arborist and climber.... playing in his parent's backyard while I serve as ground crew. 

I am learning a few new trees to ID...
crepe myrtle,
dogwood,
pin oak,
and weeping cherry. 
I really like plants.

Patio Tomatoes

Fuzzy canary-colored tomato blossoms preview
delicious sandwiches to come.

Patio tomatoes are great for apartment dwellers. Find a sunny spot on your porch or doorstep because this compact variety was bred for containers. Though I have 12 huge tomato plants growing happily in my outside plot I can't help also having one waiting to greet me when I come and go.

The first tomato!
Pink geraniums, pictured in the shadows,
also love this time of year.

Kitchen Update: The Contact Paper Movement

Since the day I first saw my new home, these cabinets have rubbed me the wrong way. Who would pick such an orange/gray? Maybe it is a remnant of early 70s discount paint. It is difficult to capture their ugliness--the flash somehow improves them. 

We've worked hard to cover the chipped linoleum, the ripped grip tape on the steps, and much more. It's been a fun challenge making this place the best it can possibly be using temporary "renter" measures. But I can't quite bring myself to repaint these cabinets, knowing in a few years I would have to do the tedious task of recoating ever cranny and corner back to Rotten Gold.   So, I grudgingly accepted them.  But a week ago, while cleaning out a cabinet, I found an old roll of contact paper I bought.  I googled "contact paper on cabinets" and discovered a recent movement in apartment therapy.  It's been done with positive results.

After easily removing the hardware with a screwdriver, I smoothed a $7 roll of white contact paper over the orange surfaces. I left a bit of an overhang, which I removed by dragging an Exacto knife around the edges.  It was so fast and simple.  The best part is the white reflects much more light from our window. Along with the 3 mirrors I've put up in there, it really helps to brighten our little kitchen.  And when the season arrives in which we depart, it can easily be peeled off. 

Spring Inspiration: Before & After of a Window Box

It seems like summer most of the year here with a few weeks of crisp autumn, chilly winter, and blooming spring squished in. Right now we are experiencing springlike weather--the trees are blooming, bulbs are coming up, and it is brrrrrisk outside. Last week was summery and near 80 so I'm not sure if there is much order to these seasons. Growing up in Hawaii we didn't have the distinct season change the mainland is blessed with (though we did have mango season, gardenia/plumeria season, tourist season, and huge-waves-on-the-north-shore season). In Santa Barbara the seasons don't change like they do in Oregon, and in Oregon they don't change like they do in Chicago or New England. I remember gleefully collecting acorns and colorful leaves my first year at college in Oregon while all the kids from Massachusetts scoffed, "They call THIS fall?" As a Hawaii girl I relish the transitions between seasons.

With Spring comes spring cleaning. I am trying to reduce the clutter and complications in my life and keep living simply, with hope that the order in my external life will reflect/compliment the peace I feel within. While I like this zen philosophy, and aspire to be a more of a minimalist, the truth is I am a total maximalist. I love stuff, collections, and am a natural-born gatherer. A seashell? Mine. A book I want to read? Mine too. Baby clothes? Let me get that and start a stockpile of gifts for so-and-so. It can quickly get out of control.. Everything in moderation. When you have too much stuff you stop appreciating it and instead appreciate the gift of open space. Which artist call "white space" or "negative space" right?

The flowers I haphazardly planted in my window box last fall have been bothering me. They were barely blooming when I bought them. Then they started growing into this chaotic rainbow:

Sorta pretty but purple (and hot pink!?) primroses, bright yellow violas, and red pansies, plus a few viney nasturtiums have become too much of a good thing. My entryway screams crazy artist lady.

So, inspired by all the showy-white blossoms on the trees around my house, I decided to go with clean, crisp, and classic white. I decided that flowers are eye-catching enough without having to come in shades of neon. I feel a lot better coming home being greeted by this elegant, calming flora made up of white malacoides (fairy primrose) and white dianthus (a carnation cousin).

Ta-da! Most of the blossom are still in bud form, but it's already a bit more zen this time around.

Building A Nest: Before & After of a Kitchen Floor

I am constantly working on creating a home for us here. I think "nesting" is the term these days. I have to admit, I started bawling when I first saw this place and its very institutional first impression. It's 1970s architecture at its worst, which involves minimal natural light, popcorn ceilings, buzzing fluorescent light fixtures, dingy chipped linoleum, and gritty "no slip" tape on all the steps: Wah! Wah! Waaaah! I have to mention that we arrived to our new hometown after 5 days of travel, a month of sleeping on couches, and a year of extremely intense grad school. Plus, a fire was raging nearby and it was raining ash (which I just took for Southern California air pollution). Oh, and as most of you know, I cry pretty easily.

For half as much money I got a bit higher quality of place in good ole' PDX. But, hey, that's the price you pay for paradise. And I have since realized the AMAZING value of having a spare bedroom in a town like Santa Barbara. This room doubles as my walk-in-closet/office/guest quarters/ project room/ professional library/ linen closet--and comes complete with it's own 3 ft x 3ft balcony. Okay, enough bragging about having an extra room. There are families of 8 squeezed into these townhouses--and we're filling ours up quite nicely.

There are some Utopian aspects of my community: Most of my friends here happen to be my neighbors, we have a free thrift store, a thriving and friendly community of gardeners, kids are always laughing and playing outside, and it's a very diverse community of pretty educated folks. Plus I have a view of the Santa Ynez Mountains from my kitchen sink and I can walk to the beach. So, now that I know better I like it.

As far as the interior goes--a little bit of paint goes a long way. And when a place is filled with stuff of your liking it starts to feel like your own. As a girl who grew up in the tropics with 17 foot tall ceilings in my house--the darkness factor does bug me. But I have mirrors squeezed into every dark corner, bouncing in as much natural light as I can get into this place. This helps immensely.

Despite an awesome view the kitchen is still pretty fugly. But it's on its way, like the rest of the house. I thought I would document a our latest do-it-yourself development. We found a roll of vinyl outside last night, neatly rolled and in perfect condition, ready to be swapped (or swiped?). This spot near the dumpster is also where we found our screen door . So we "redid" our kitchen floor.

Before we had chipped, 35 year old, green-gray, industrial floor tiles (read: underfunded public schoolhouse tiles). Plus, the cracks gross me out--who knows what germs lurk within them?

After: Fresh and fabulous, easy to clean, vinyl "wood" floor. Not the classiest, but a definite improvement, dontcha think?

Now, what to do about the peach gray colored cabinets...

I think I can deal with them for now.