{a photo of Catherine from last summer that we are using in the newly updated kitchen}

Happy snowy Friday! We lost power today, so this post is a tad late. All the heavy wet snow was too much and brought down a branch at the end of our road which in turn fell on a power line. We lose power, A LOT. We live in a true “bedroom community” with many, many trees. It abuts another busy town so we have the best of both worlds; few commercial businesses and minimal traffic – but easy access to all the conveniences.

But we have a backup plan. After a storm blew down trees several years ago, we lost power for seven days – a time that I’d prefer not to repeat. When we knew that Storm Sandy was coming, it was a foregone conclusion that we’d lose power again, so we purchased a generator to keep the essentials up and running. With Kerry on his way home from Atlanta, Jackson and I dragged our generator out from the mini barn and through the snow to the hook-up point (daily aerobics, check). I was determined to start it myself, but despite the owner’s manual in hand – I couldn’t get it to run. Thankfully, our friends came by to plow the driveway and got it started for us. It gave me peace of mind knowing that we wouldn’t lose all the food in the refrigerator and freezer, that’s always my biggest concern. Our electric company came through, and within 5 hours we were back on the grid! So yes, happy Friday y’all.

{a snow-covered tree in our back yard, everything was so pretty!}

{bow tie champagne glasses for an Academy Awards Viewing Party post}

{new kitchen valances, the reveal will be on Monday!}

{I went out of my comfort zone and painted the kitchen island bar stools purple – I need to live with them awhile before I decide to leave them this color}