two years...

Two years ago today I had the privilege of marrying my best friend and the man of my dreams. 
The two best years of my life.
Two years with so many more to look forward to.
To grow closer.
To grow our family.
To love.
I thank God everyday for finding a way to put us in the same place at the same time and the instant connection we found that summer Saturday night in 2006.

I love you, my sweet husband!
Always,
Jen

dreaming of decor...

Last weekend, Mr. Boom and I had HGTV on in the background as we played with George and did some things around the house.  As a Cash and Cari marathon came on, I casually mentioned that I would like to find and refinish a few pieces of furniture once we are find a larger space. I have an itch to take old discard pieces with good bones, sand them off, paint them interesting colors and give them home and function once again.

I want to walk into our home and see things that we have done together, created, made our own.  Just a few of numerous pieces that inspire:

I've been collecting images on Pinterest (not on Pinterest yet?  You need to be!) for the future, looking at blogs of crafty, talented refinishers and reading how-to articles on stripping paint, sanding and painting techniques.  Enamoured.

friday faves: work, destinations and words...

Dream job: What would I truly love to be when I grow up?  A photographer.  Specifically, maternity and newborn photography.  I love capturing the bloom of pregnancy and then a brand new life.  I

have a very long way to go toward this goal with so, so much to learn but I love to dream on this. Here are a few of my favorites shots from shoots I have done for friends and family:

Favorite vacation: I love to travel. No, I LOVE to travel.  Put me on a plane to anywhere, get me in a new destination and give me time to explore and immerse myself in someplace else and I am a happy girl.  From the moment I stepped off the Britih Airways jet at Heathrow airport to begin my study abroad experience years ago, I was hit with wanderlust.  Choosing a favorite vacation spot is likie asking me to choose a favorite book (oh wait, I need to do that next, hmm...). Nearly impossible.  The California mountains, several gorgeous spots in Mexico and the untouched perfection that is Alaska.  But, in the end, I am one of the luckiest that I have the privilege to go back to one of the most amazing places on earth time and time again.  Greece.  

Favorite book: I have likely read thousand of books in my lifetime. My parents instilled me with a love of reading at a very young age and I was never denied a new book.  I lose myself in books, tuning out the world around me and not recognizing when the sun has fallen and a room has gone dark.  Many evenings my mother or father would walk in my room to find me engrossed in a book and rouse me from the pages saying, "Don't you want a light?  You're going to strain your eyes in the dark."  So caught up in the plot, I hadn't noticed squinting in the twilight. 

That happened as I joined Anne Shirley on her many adventures and more times than I could possibly recount here.  So, I'll share a couple of my more recent favorites:

I could not get enough of either of these novels and was so disappointed when they ended.  Turning to the last page was like saying goodbye to a close friend after a particularly wonderful visit. Do yourself a favor, read them soon.

home hunt, vol. 2: when open houses slam shut...

Getting much more serious in our search for a larger home, Mr. Boom and I attended our first Open House together last weekend.  Not too far north and that, by realtor description, seemed as if it could be a good match for us.  With George in the carrier, we walked our way through the two stories of a charming 4 bedroom, 2 bath center hall colonial.

Cute, right?  There were beautifully refinished original hardwood floors throughout and a h.u.g.e. master bedroom (just estimating, it was about 40' long by 15' wide) with his and hers closets.  The two other upstairs bedrooms were good size, both with full closets and architectural ceilings due to dormers.  This house had a TON of storage.  Closets everywhere, pull-down access to a sizable attic, crawl spaces in the bedrooms and an attic garage.  The full basement contained a laundry room with updated high efficiency appliances, another room that would serve as a great workshop and that rest of the basement was all set to be finished off. 

BUT...(here's hoping there won't always be a "but")...

#1 - The kitchen was impossibly small.  As in, smaller and with less cabintry and counter space than we have in our condo right now. The cabinets were tiny, original and not in good shape.  The countrertops?  Old woodgrain formica.  Original 1960's stove. Poor layout. and, did I mention tiny?  Not good.  Not functional.  The only good thing about this kitchen was the brand-new french door, bottom freezer refrigerator.  But, that could not nearly make up for the rest.  Moral of this Open house?  Beware relator listing lacking a kitchen photo.  Sad, so sad.

#2 - The living space on the first floor was very chopped up adn the exact opposite of an open floor plan.  The family room was so long and narrow that we weren't sure how we would even go about furnishing it beyond the staged teeny loveseat and miniscule ottoman/stools.  There just wasn't a good flow to this downstairs and we would have had to gate every single doorway in order to keep George in sight.  Not practical. 

Still, it was a good begining to knowing what is out there, what we do want and what will actually be liveable for our family. Stay tuned for more updates as we move forward...

{nearly} wordless wednesday: a glimpse of spring...

Last Friday we had a sudden and brief burst of beautiful spring weather.  Nearly 70 degrees, sunny and perfect for a long stroll through town.  Of course, George snacked on his ever-present apple as we met a friend for coffee...

 The doors of one of our local churches flung wide open to let in the warmth...

And, his adoring reaction as he saw his Pappou approaching...

I love this kid. 
I am grateful being home on Fridays with him. 
I adore our beautiful town.

Thank you Mother Nature for this day of sun and a day of respite from the cold and snow. 

recipe: peanut butter oatmeal chip cookies

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from: Stephanie Cooks, Cathy's Kitchen Journey

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy will both work)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by teaspoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets. (Flatten the cookies because these don’t spread.)

3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes:  I doubled the original recipe because I knew I would be sharing and sending off some of the cookies.  The measurements above reflect the doubling.  The original recipe called for semisweet chips but, I had white and milk chips on hand so used those - use what you like!  Lastly, heaping tablespoonful measures had been recommended.  I tried that for the first pan and the cookies were enormous!  Teaspoonfuls still make for a decent sized cookie and, therefore, far less guilt if you end up eating two or three or...  The baking time remained the same.

home hunt, vol. 1: must-haves and would-likes...

Since last week I mentioned that we are starting to look for a larger home, I thought I'd share a bit more of our experience in the process and document the journey as we move forward.  I have been calling it a house hunt, depersonalizing the process but it's so much more than that.  Looking through online listings, a little voice is always asking, "Could we call this place home?" or "Would this be a comfortable place to begin traditions, have family meals, raise our child(ren)?"  It's a HOME hunt.

Disclaimer: I have never shopped for real estate in the past.  Mr. Boom purchased our current home the year before we met and I moved in after we were engaged. While I have some idea of how the process works after asking many questions and seeing family and friends take the plunge over the years, the reality is eye-opening and I clearly still have so much to learn. My task is to not be overly idealistic in this search.

One of the on-going conversations in our house has been around what we actually require of a home and what would be nice to have.  These are two very different things and more so due to the limitations of our search area (the need to have a reasonable commute to New York City) and budget (largely due to the inflated taxes in this region). Out of many talks, what we really need are these key things:

1. 3 bedrooms, minimum
2. 2 full baths
3. garage (attached or detached)
4. good storage space
5. basement - finished or able to be finished
6. a usable yard
7. a kitchen that is in decent shape, a good size and with ample cupboard space

If we could have it all, I would like:

1. 4 bedrooms
2. 2 car garage
3. an updated kitchen
4. pantry
5. laundry room
6. easy access to main roads and highways
7. neighborhood with sidewalks, ability to walk to shops and services
8. or, at least, the ability to safely take walks around the neighborhood

The kitchen is a big sticking point.  Many of the listings we are seeing have kitchens that appear to be original to the house and look something along the line of this (*shudder*):

The stuff of nightmares that could only be helped with a complete gut.  We cannot will not buy a home that will require an immediate investment of that magnitude.  Cosmetic changes?  Yes. Replacement appliances? Okay.  Change of countertop? Sure. 

We are not looking for a 100k showpiece kitchen, not by a long shot, but it needs to have be a good size, have good bones and a decent layout.  I like to cook, I love to bake and I spend a large amount of time in our kitchen.  I hope to spend even more time in the next and further expand my skills. So the kitchen has a separate and detailed list of needs:

1. good cabinet space - enough to store all of the basics, our everyday dishes and wedding china and all of my pots and pans.  No more storing pans inside the oven (dinner will become much more iontereasting with a readily available oven!).  Basic wood is fine and color/finish isn't a dealbreaker. Cabinets that are in good condition and plentiful can be transformed with a paint job and new hardware.  HGTV tells me so ;-)
2. counterspace and lots of it.  The type of counter isn't so much of an issue.  A solid surface would be great but, we can put in what we really want.
3. a good layout for cooking
4. an island or the space to add one.  I really like the look of a "furniture" type piece as an island with a differend color and finish than the rest fo the cabinets so just the space to add this would be fine with me.
5. pantry space with easy kitchen access (*wish list item)

Later this week, I'll be writing about our first Open House experience. The good, the bad and the kitchen that was, well, not what we had in mind.