Hello Lovely

Care for a wee square of gooey butter cake?
Croissant?
Homemade amaretto and sparkling wine?


There is still no stopping me from baking even though
I have eliminated almost all gluten from my diet.
I baked a g-free white bread this week that is
actually edible...SCORE!

Also new to my kitchen this week:
From Mom to Daughter:
The Quick Tips of Italian Cooking
by Maria Elena Congedo
(Congedo, 2014)

This is my kind of cookbook!
Each recipe's list of ingredients is short,
and these are simple, authentic Italian dishes
to enjoy any night of the week.


Meatloaf in a crust? Really? Really.


Nuggets of cheese wrapped in pancetta?
You betcha.





I found a linen fabric which may actually be sewn
into a window treatment for the window over the sink.
It has only taken me 7 years to find something I can live with.


Also new to the kitchen:
a new refrigerator and dishwasher...which
should put to rest any rumors that this is one of
those kitchens which doesn't get used.
Sweet Jesus, the marinara splatters and cream cheese
on...um...everything...prove otherwise.

What say you about nuggets of cheese
wrapped in pork fat?

Peace to you right where you are.






 Hello Lovely at times partners
with companies I  love and think may interest you.

It has been a long while since I took photos at home.
Too many doctor appointments and dreary days sitting
at the computer...but today I had a reason to
get snapcrackalackin.



My place may or may not get spotlighted in
a magazine, and I'll not say more until
I get the word (and then you will
be invited for champagne).



But enough of me.


Wait, no.
I also wanna brag that two of my paintings
sold today in Seattle to a cool and chic East Coast cat.


Now I'm done for real.
Remember this majorly foxy grain sack from
A Beautiful Mess?
It's starring as a runner on the dining room table now.



The sunlight's pretty, oui?
The round table that used to be in the foyer
is downstairs in the mancave for now
where the men watch Fight Club
and work puzzles.
I can't do puzzles. Isn't it so sad that all
I can do is refill Mountain Dews,
stand by, and applaud them?


The plates are by Rae Dunn and have been
our everyday dishes for many years now.

One more ridiculous random story
(you are not allowed to judge) and some good news to share.

The story is kind of about the wool handknit throw
on the bench in the kitchen, but not really.



I found it the other day at Goodwill,
and it was this pathetic yellowy-white hue
(not cute & creamy as it appears at left).
I figured someday I would dye it.

A few days later I had this scary doctor visit
followed by a brain MRI followed by two days
of waiting, and in my anxiety I decided: screw it.

I cannot live with that color in my house.
I don't think I am up for shaving an already
radically thinned baby fine head of hair
if it's a lesion or a tumor, and I am 98%
certain I cannot face another year like last year.

I dipdyed the exquisitely knit throw
in a vintage punchbowl
filled with black paint and water,
and it was SO GRATIFYING.
Seeeeeeeee...this I can change.
And now that throw is a color you can't really name.
(Those colors are always my favorites.)

And my brain seems to be ok.
And I'm not having panic attacks but
rather ocular migraines (without pain).
And life is good, friends.

Peace to you right where you are.

I had every intention of blogging about our kitchen today.

What works about the space, what I'd change...

yet something infinitely more important is

stirring my heart.

We phoned our son, a senior in college, to

check in with him yesterday, and he was very quiet.

He was in shock.

A friend heading over to his apartment

the night before, never made it there.

She slipped in her bathroom, breaking her neck

and passing away soon after.

Maybe you understand why a post about

paint colors and quartz countertops feels so empty.

My heart grieves.

For this young life, her family and friends...

for everyone who grieves the loss of a child.

Oh that pain must cut your soul so deep.

As I type these words,

I am thinking about each one of you reading.

I am honoring those of you who grieve and 

hoping we might all take a moment

to hold in our hearts those we love with

a renewed sense of gratitude and warmth.

Please, please, say what you need to say today.

Send that text which needs to be sent.

Write the letter. Phone the friend.

Forgive him. Forgive her. Forgive you.

Ease their pain. Get gutsy vulnerable.

Love as if you cannot be hurt.

My heart is full, and I am sealing this post

with every bit of light within it.

Peace to you right where you are.