A few fun things

Last week was my "Spring Break." What? I barely started working - for 3 weeks or so? It was nice to have a week off of school but I still had to stay here to work my other job on Friday! So...What did I do all week?

Well the weathermen called for rain every day but, lucky me, I was able to enjoy 3 warm, sunny days with views like this....



I hung a few things and straightened up the house...





I took my car to be inspected at the "Girlington Garage."


This place was started by a woman for (mainly) women that were tired of HATING the normal car repair experience. It was such a pleasant experience, half the price I was quoted at another place down the street AND they left me a cookie on my dashboard when they were done :) As Matt said, "Only in Vermont."

Last, but certainly not least, I spent some time doing my favorite thing!



Seeing this makes me so excited!



I explored some new stores - a little farther from home.







I came away with something great from this store (for $28!) - It's a work in progress so I'll put up some pictures when I'm finished with it!





It's back to work every day this week - WOW - the first time I've been full-time since I think December. Back to the real world :)

Spring is here...finally!

I feel like the seasons change slowly in Vermont...which seems to be OK with most people around here. I've passed many houses that still have Christmas decorations up - one has a tree complete with lights! Anyway, I think now we can officially announce the arrival of spring.

We started with crocuses...



And forsythia...



It's fun to live in a new house and see what comes up - everything is a surprise. Now that we've had so many sunny and warm days (70 twice this week!) lots of things are blooming! We might even have to mow our grass soon!





I think this is rhubarb...?





Although Spring arrives many weeks later here than VA (and 60s feels really warm to us), we're glad so far to be missing out on the pollen and allergies that usually plague us this time of year! I'm sure it's coming for us soon :)

Bathroom Facelift #2

We love our new house, but the bathrooms are definitely not its strongest feature. I knew something needed to be done so I would feel better about them. Bathroom #1 was a quick, easy and cheap makeover thanks to the new vanity put in by our new plumber :)

Bathroom #2 was a little more of a challenge. We started with a white tile floor complete with a pink border. The toilet looks as if it was recently replaced, which is great, but the tile around it was also replaced with a brighter white than the rest of the floor. The walls around the toilet and sink have blue tile on them. The other walls at one time had wallpaper that had been painted over. There is a full tub, but with some outdated glass doors on it. There's a large window without any type of blinds, leaving you exposed to everyone next door when getting out of the shower. In summary, lots of great things going on in here but they didn't all fit together like I wanted!

Here is the before:







Here it is with a few improvements (I apologize for the poor picture quality, it's a big space but difficult to get good pictures!):

I started by reusing the shower curtain and valance that my mom made for our last bathroom, hanging a tension rod over the glass shower doors.



I also reused the curtain my mom made for our last bathroom and hung it over a rattan shade we bought at Lowes. I found mini-blinds in the basement that fit in the window (luckily). Rattan shades don't block the view in from the outside, but I find them much more attractive than mini-blinds! I also put a new coat of paint on all the walls and trim with leftover paint we had from our bedroom.



My mom had some leftover fabric from her last bathroom sewing project and was nice enough to make a sink skirt for us!



The biggest challenge of all was the floor. It took me a while to figure out the best solution. I spent hours on the internet looking for tiles and non-permanent flooring solutions. I ended up ordering an inexpensive indoor/outdoor rug. It wasn't fun trying to use a box cutter to cut it to fit in the bathroom, but I made out with only a small cut on my finger. (ha!)

I then took the rug to the carpet place down the road to have it bound. The guys in there found me very amusing. They couldn't understand why in the world I was cutting a rug to fit around a toilet. I first asked if they thought I could buy the edging and use a hot glue gun to bind it myself. They laughed. They then agreed to bind it for me and reported afterward that none of my cuts were straight, but they "just went with it." Anyway - it's finished and in the bathroom and I think it's so much better!





What do you think?

Canada!

On Friday night, before leaving town on our trip to Montreal, we ate at the Bluebird Tavern. Delicious! The restaurant is part of the Vermont Fresh Network, which promotes partnerships between restaurants and local farms. The menu changes daily depending on what is available from local farms in the area! We stayed after dinner to hear the Starline Rhythm Boys. For our Jackson friends, this band reminds me of one that would have felt right at home playing at the Virg...maybe Bob Stevens would have opened for them.

Saturday we headed north to Montreal! Willow couldn't make the trip with us so she spent the night here:



Montreal is an amazing city! It's a little wild to spend less than 2 hours in the car and step out into a city that feels like it should be somewhere in Europe! On the way up we had to wait for a while at the border. The Canadians really question you on why you want to enter Canada.



Note: I told someone that I wouldn't be able to use my cell phone "Once we left the country." Matt informed me that it isn't "cool" to refer to traveling to Canada like that so from now on I have to use the terminology that we are "crossing the border."

Once we crossed the border, everything was in French. Distances and speed limits are measured using the metric system and all the signs, menus, etc are written in French. Everyone speaks English but only offers it when necessary.



We had only a little trouble finding our hotel. We stayed at a cute boutique hotel in Old Montreal.





The hotel was right in the middle of things; here is a view from our window.



Old Montreal is very cool and historic. The streets are cobblestone and all the shops, restaurants, etc lining them are very charming.





Saturday afternoon we spent some time exploring the town.











We went into the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal and we are both glad we did. It is amazing! Every square inch of the inside is intricately painted. The altar, confessionals, pulpit, all of it! is very ornate. The stained glass is beautiful as well. We were allowed to take pictures but of course they didn't come out well in the dim lighting. If you want to see the inside as it really looks go to the website.



Here are a few of my photos...









Saturday night we went out for drinks at a bar named Vauvert and then a big birthday dinner. Delicious! It seems like our trips revolve around meals - especially on the weekends - but trying out new restaurants is fun right?





Here are some images of the restaurant where we had dinner.





Sunday (Matt's birthday!) I managed to talk Matt into going to a museum to learn more about Montreal's history (I'm a history major and he's not quite as entertained by museums as I am). We visited the Chateau Ramezay museum, built in 1705 as the home of the Governor of Montreal Claude de Ramezay. We learned about the history of Montreal from the French settlement in the 1500s through today. Very exciting.



On the way home I pushed my luck and tried to convince Matt to stop at one of the awesome looking antique stores on the side of the road. For some reason he wasn't interested. It was his birthday after all so I gave up easily. I'll have to go back sometime with my mom and Meg and stop! Little Willow was excited to see us when we picked her up. She was exhausted from playing all day for 2 days - it was great! I'm excited about a week off of school (Spring Break), starting my new job on Friday, and a visit from my cousin! I hope you all have a great week and a happy Monday :)