Outdoor Loving

Oh hey there, I've been gone a loooooong time.  But since I'm at home sick (again) today, I thought I'd take advantage of some downtime and dream of what the Mr. and I will be doing with the backyard this spring...assuming that our spring weather ever gets well, springy.

Source: lovelyundergrad.com via Summer on Pinterest

When I went to Lowe's during my extremely productive Spring Break (more to come on that) I spied concrete paint.  Oh. to. the. no.  (If you're Mr. Cook) Otherwise it was like all of my hatred for the ugly concrete slab had been set free.  I want to paint it in a chevron pattern like that awesome little pic above.  But with these colors:

Source: hgtv.com via Summer on Pinterest

One cannot go too crazy with color after all when the Mr. is allowing you to paint (seriously?!) the concrete.  Ask me again when I'm in the middle of painting if I'm still this excited.

Color scheme, red and aqua everywhere else of course.  It may seem tired or overdone to some but I love it, it's what I'm going for in our kitchen and living room (since they're one big open space) and I see the patio as an extension of that.  But time telling I will change my mind, which is why when I would really like to get this:

Source: worldmarket.com via Summer on Pinterest

I will get this:

Source: worldmarket.com via Summer on Pinterest

And jazz it up with some of these:

I've missed you.  Now time to go get something accomplished before I return to The Fury tomorrow.

Christmas Lovely

Normally I wait until the day after Thanksgiving (or later, if I shop on the scariest day of the year Black Friday, like last year for the first time) to decorate for Christmas.  But, Thanksgiving is a little different this year and a day closer to Christmas is a day closer to Mr. Cook being home.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays (and Mr. Cook's too) but it's not the same without him here.  This year we're going to celebrate Christgiving (as deemed by Mr. Cook), his only request for his homecoming was to have Thanksgiving prepared just the way I had for our first Thanksgiving as The Cooks (Thanksgiving '09).

So what's a girl to do with a little less than 30 days on her hands?  Nest, nest, and nest some more.  Here's what Christmas looks like Cook style.

{oh, the glow!}

{estate sale finds that fit perfectly with the aqua/red newly unified color scheme for living room & kitchen}

{kitchen counter inspired by this}

{i'm in love with white this year}

{little trees spruce-ing up the fridge}

{even my cook books were feeling festive}

{can't wait for my Christmas wish to come true and have my handsome hubs at that table}

{my grandma had a thing for cardinals this time of year, i have a thing for holly berries}

{no post would be complete without the Cook wall, buh-bye autumn wreath, hell-o Cost Plus placemat}

{spreading the love to the guest bathroom}

{my updated candle, inspired by her}

How are you making your holiday lovely?  Head on over to Heather's too see how others are making their lives lovely.