Earth Day Craft Project

Happy Earth Day!

To celebrate I decided to use items I had around the house to make a decorative wreath for our front door.

What you need:

• 1 wire hanger
• about 2 yards of fabric (I used an old mosquito net sheer curtain I had from Ikea)
• Scissors

To make the wreath start by re-forming a wire hanger into a circle. Then cut lots and lots of strips of fabric. The beauty of this project is that the fabric strips don't have to be exact. I cut mine into 8-in.x2-in. strips, approximately. Then, just tie the strips on and fluff them around the hanger.

This couldn't have been easier, or cheaper, or better for our precious planet. It took about 2 hours, but I think it was worth it.

Here are some step by step pictures:

Happy crafting.

The Beautification

I love a good outdoor space to enjoy in the spring and summer. To me there is nothing better than having a glass of wine on a perfect spring evening being surrounded by beautiful plants. I just love it. So, when we moved into our new house we knew one of the first things we would do was to spend working on beautifying our outdoor space.

Last weekend we had the perfect combination of beautiful weather and time to spend the weekend outside. Well, I should clarify, Jim spent a lot of time beautifying the the yard. He trimmed, he weeded, he dug and he planted a lot of plants. We bought confederate jasmine (a plant we fell in love with in Rome and had on our patio), bougainvillea, herbs (basil, thyme, rosemary, mint and cilantro), ferns, and many more. We also used quite a few amazing trellis pieces that are handmade by my uncle, Noah. His work is so beautiful and adds a special touch to any outdoor space.

Here are a few pictures:

Before

Cute owl statue I found at Target

Table and chair (Thanks Debbie!) and a fire pit

Confederate jasmine

Bougainvillea

Herbs - basil, rosemary and thyme

Front porch (plus Libby)

Life these days

I've been back from Nepal for about a month now and boy how life has changed. In that month Jim and I have both started working, we rented a house, and we're in the process of unpacking the storage unit and getting all our things under one roof.

Our house is on my favorite street in Auburn - Payne Street. It is in the historic downtown area and is just 2 blocks from Toomer's Corner. The house was built in 1936. It has lots of charm and we love it.

Here are a few pictures, and there will be more to come as we make it our own.

Our home

Back of the house.

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Living Room

Other side of the living room that enters into the front bedroom/jewelry studio.

Master bedroom, corner view.

Sunroom

Main bathroom

Front bedroom

Fireplace in back bedroom.

Endless shelving in the dining room.

Now for work.

Jim and I are both working and loving our jobs.

Jim is working for his dad's hotel development business. Right now he is doing a little bit of everything to get to know the ins and outs of the hotel business.

As for me, I'm working for Auburn University. The International Hunger Institute was just recently approved and they hired me to handle the communications, social media, and to manage the website. I'll be doing a lot of work with Universities Fighting World Hunger, serving as the unofficial coordinator of sorts to help bring some organization to what has already been done and get some momentum going to build the movement. This is the perfect job for me. It is challenging and fun, and I'm working with amazing people.

Libby is adjusting well to her new home. She's had a lot of changes this month, but she's doing well. She also got spayed a few weeks ago and she has made a full recovery. Tomorrow morning we're going to Doxie Palooza. Libby is really excited and she's looking forward to making some American friends!

Ciao for now!

Not even pictures...

...could do this place justice.

On food

Wow. Talk about being blown away. The food in Nepal is delicious. In fact, some of the best I've ever had.

Nepal is in a unique location nestled in the Himalayas between India and China (Tibet), making it a crossroads for Asian cuisine.

Pictured to the right are my new favorite, momo - a Newari specialty. Which are dumplings filled with your choice of meats or veggies. Even ordered as take out from a little hole in the wall around the corner they are amazing.

I've also had tons of perfectly spiced curry, peri peri chicken (which was officially the spiciest thing I've ever eaten in my life), simple ramen, and loads of sweet pastries.

I've always had to classify myself as a wannabe foodie. I've always wished I could be an adventurous eater, especially when travelling, but haven't had much luck because of allergies (the worst and hardest to avoid being tomato). But, Nepal has renewed my faith in being able to travel with my taste buds.

Looking forward to more culinary adventures, but sad my time here is winding down.

Kathmandu - First Impressions

Kathmandu is a crazy, polluted, and bustling city, but, I love it.

There is just something about this place. It is an absolute feast for the senses. The smells of the food, the colors in the fabric, even the chaos that comes on the streets - it just tempts you to come and explore.

Back in Rome...

...well, kind of.

After being back in Auburn for a quick 6 days I headed back to Rome for a quick 48 hours.

Tomorrow one of my best friends, plus her two sweet cats, Bob and Dante, are moving to Kathmandu, Nepal. She needed help, so I'm going along to help. We're heading to the airport and boarding a plane to Bangkok, Thailand (just a 12 hour flight...), then we will have a 4-5 hour layover, then board another plane for the 3 hour flight to Kathmandu. I'll be there for about a week, then will turn around and do the same flights in reverse. I'll have a 24 hour layover in Rome, pick up the last pieces of my luggage that we had to leave, then fly back to Atlanta. I'll be clocking around 60 hours of flight time in about 3 weeks...YIKES!

It is going to be an exhausting trip, but I'm so excited to explore a new part of the world and more importantly I'm excited to help my dear friend start this new chapter in her life!