Life Is But A Drink

If you were looking closely, you may have spied something in a couple of photos from some recent posts. 

Check out this photo from my post the other day on my cabinet-cleaning hysteria (see here for the full post). 

Or this photo from my post about our construction paper turkeys (see here for the full post).

Do you notice anything?  Look closely… 

Here’s a big hint…. 

I got a Verismo!!!  You may recall that I was obsessing over it a few weeks back (see here) and started plotting a way to get me one, including dropping a not-so-subtle hint about a possible anniversary present.  Well, my husband is not dense and he picked up on the hint and surprised me with it for our anniversary.  Yay, hubby o’ mine. 

We’ve been playing with it over the last couple of weekends.  And the good news is that we are really liking it.  So far, it’s totally living up to its hype.  It’s very easy to use.  The espresso tastes great.  It’s simple to clean.  And it looks nice.  What more could you want?

My absolute favorite drink at Starbucks is the caramel macchiatto.  As part of the deal, Starbucks gave my husband a jug of the vanilla syrup and a big ole’ bag of the caramel sauce (which I put into a little green squirt bottle so I could feel like a real-live barista) so that I could make them at home.  (The syrup jug and the squirt bottle can be seen in the top photo in the cabinet….)  

So far, we’re very happy.  And really enjoying sipping on a lovely latte or caramel macchiatto at home on Saturday and Sunday mornings :)

 

OK, so I like a little foliage.  Plants are a good thing.  I wish we could have more in our house but we can’t because, well, our cats eat our plants.  Before we had cats, we had plants.  And then they ate them all.  And now we have no plants.  Plant-less in Virginia.

But, you guys, what’s up with all of the terrariums?  They are all over the Internet and in catalogs.  It’s like the terrariums have taken over.

Super expensive terrariums like this one from Pottery Barn.

Topless terrariums like these at West Elm.

Long-necked (and also topless) terrariums like these guys from Crate and Barrel.

Ultra modern hanging terrariums like this one from CB2.

 

DIY terrarium tutorials like this one over at Bower Power.

Entire articles on the best plants to pick for your oh-so special terrarium over at Better Homes and Gardens.

I don’t get it.  I’m not sure what the fuss is all about or why this is all the rage these days.

But, then again, it’s always weird to me how something so random can become so popular overnight.  Someone just decided that terrariums were going to be cool and then they were cool.

My guess is that this Victorian era-inspired trend will go as quickly as it came, and we’ll soon stop putting our plants in random glass containers with rocks.  And the good ole’ fashioned pots and vases will come back out of the closet.

{links here, here, here, here, here, and here}

We spent Thanksgiving in Texas with my in-laws. 

They live on a lake.  A real one.

And, people, they have a canoe. 

And because it’s Texas, it’s 80 degrees in November.  So you can like be outside in November without freezing your behind off (*she says with disdain since it’s freezing here in D.C. today and kinda sorta snowing or something*). 

Hence, there was canoeing over Thanksgiving weekend with little life jackets and little canoe paddles made especially for little grandchildren when they come to visit. 

You can’t beat that. 

No wonder my son has been complaining about how he wants to go back to Texas ever since we got home.  It’s way more fun and exciting (and warm!) than this joint, for sure. 

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.  And that you are having an easier time getting back into the swing of things than me… ho hum.