new look and more of a break than i thought

hello my faithful readers!

i have been a bit MIA with the crafting since the holidays. they seem far away and yet really almost 6 months ago!

i've been taking a much needed break from sewing and making and creating, as the holidays were a very busy time for me. needless to say, i got a little burnt out and decided to let my listings on Etsy expire and start fresh! a new year, a new start. (that sounds familiar)

i have a lot of ideas rolling around in my head, most involving the decorating of our apartment. it's become a project and has taken over! the studio was going unused, and i was looking at my husband working day and night in our living room, distracted by my silly TV shows and knitting projects (yes, i still have those).

so i decided. to give him the studio to make into his study. a little moving around, a little organizing with plastic bins (i love plastic bins), putting them in closets and wallah! the clutter was gone and B has his own space where he can close the door and work quietly without hearing vampire slayage in the background (no, i'm not going to tell you what silly TV show i'm referring to).

see before as my studio. (what a mess!)

and after as B's study (B has a much hipper chair now).

this actually was finished quite a few months ago, in February, ugh! have i really been gone that long?

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in other news, i really have not been crafting. other than knitting, i have been craft-less. my sweet mother who lives in Michigan visited the week after Mother's Day, and she stayed in the study. the sofa you see in the photos is actually a convertible sofa, and turns into a nice size double bed for our overnight guests. also quite comfortable i hear.

my real reason for posting today was to tell you about my "windowsill garden" that i've started in our apartment! i have recently been longing to live in a house, to have a backyard to call my own, to grow things. i read an article in my new favorite magazine, "Body + Soul" (which is changing their name to "Whole Living" from the website by the same name), a Martha Stewart publication. it was about a woman named Rosalind Creasy, a landscape designer in Northern California. she is known for her "edible landscaping." i was so inspired that i called my dad immediately to tell him about it! (my mom and dad are amazing gardeners, see my dad's blog here, he talks a lot about their garden, and my mom's blog here, she always posts beautiful photos of flowers and such)

(newest issue on the top)

i thought to myself. just because i live in an apartment in New York City, with no backyard to call my own, doesn't mean i can't grow fresh ingredients! i bought a basil plant when my mom was visiting, and it is the first plant in my new project. basil on the kitchen windowsill.

so this weekend, i think i'll venture to the local farmer's market in Union Square and get some edible plants that will thrive indoors! luckily this window gets a lot of sun during the day!!

i know i can be happy with this.