England Round Trip!

arriving.. the rolling hills of England! coming home.. the deep green of upstate NY!

I have no good excuses... I have neglected my blog terribly!!! And so, it's time to make up for um, lost time! 

I have been a busy bee, jumping here, there, and everywhere for the past month! But all of that later! As promised, I shall start off with my trip to England!

It was a great week (although a week wasn't really long enough!!) and although I was exhausted from running up and down England (and in need of another holiday to relax from the holiday!!) it was worth it!!

So a few quick pics.. first off, my Family, from left to right, my Mum's Brother and my Uncle David, My Mum, my Sister Kathryn and my Brother Daniel. I'm actually standing in my Uncles boat (which was obviously on land at the moment for maintenance!). On the way back to my Mum's house, we stopped for a classic Cream Tea... scones, jam and clotted cream, and of course, Tea!! My mission while in England was to eat everything completely and classically British! And I did pretty well too! Fish and Chips, Toad in the Hole, Proper Breakfast Fry-up!!

I also went up to see my good friend Sarah, in Shropshire, who has just been spending the last two years renovating her house! Finally, it is near completion! And it was a delight for me to see it after hearing so much about it!! I did fall in love with her bathroom, which has turned out beautifully - I wish I had the before pictures to show you!! Just think avocado green.. ew!!!

In this huge room, she created a huge shower, and a deep and welcoming tub, with Grohe fixtures. But best of all, I loved the way she used her slate tiles!! (which needed a whole sealing process also). The artist in her came shining through to create an original and striking design which, I think, makes the bathroom so special. One of the best things was, is that with this design, there was hardly any wastage of tile at all! Every sliver of slate was used!! I'm in love with this! Definitely one to keep in the inspiration folder! I can't wait to see the bathroom, and house completely finished and accessorized!! 

Lucky Stars..

Hiiii.... yes, I know, the regularity of my posts has well, left little to be desired...

Anyways! I'm back, and all has VERY thankfully found it's way back to being normal and good again.

Over the past week I've hopped over to Michigan to see my Dad and my Sister (who's been over from England). It was so very good to see them both, I was glad to find them both with smiles on their faces, and to join in with that comforting security a family can bring... at the end of the day, there is something so wonderful being surrounded by people who would go to the ends of the earth for you, if you needed them, if you asked them to. My family is so priceless like that, I thank my lucky stars to have them all.

Above is a purdy pic of my Sister, Kathryn, it snowed a ton in MI and it was our job to shovel it off the driveway - but not without a few snowball fights and snow angels!!! You'll see Dad's dog Rufus in the background, who has a taste for eating the fluffy white stuff as well as rolling in it!!!!

So posts will be coming thick and fast again soon!!

Let It Snow...

I LOVE snow!!!! Today, New York is facing it's second (as far as I've seen!) sprinkle of the wonderful fluffy stuff.... I think watching snow fall is one of my most favorite things.

New York looks so beautiful when it snows too...glowing in the street lights. So I thought I'd post a few beautiful pictures of the city in snow! I'm sure there will be more of these from me over the next few months - after all, the serious snow probably won't arrive until after the holiday's, as usual!
And as I'm spending this Christmas in Michigan, where it's hard to escape the snow! I'm hoping for a throughly white Christmas too!!

My Dad has a wonderful German Shepard/Black Lab mix Dog called Rufus, and I'm seriously considering taking inspiration from the above image and covering him in twinkle lights!!!! Ha!!!


Madison Avenue


Central Park


Lower East Side

Treetops Glisten...

For my Sister, Kathryn. Because no one loves this movie as much as she does!

Two weeks and counting...

I can't believe Christmas is only two weeks away now! When I was little, it couldn't come fast enough, now it comes around wayy too fast!! 

This year things have unfortunately changed in my family, and for the first time, in my lifetime, we won't all be together for the holidays. You see a big fat ocean lies between my Mother, my Brother and my Sister in England, and my Father and I sit on this side. Fortunately however, at least all of us will have some family. I'm jumping over to Michigan to spend it with my Dad and his dog Rufus, and probably a whole chunk of SNOW!! I haven't been back there for two years! I can't believe how they can vanish so quickly...

But... I LOVE Christmas!!! And I adore Christmas music!!! 

So, the above song is Judy Garland, singing 'Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas', which I just love. It must be one of my all time favorites, so beautiful, so classic... it makes my heart melt..

Then there's this one, Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' is to keep my lonely heart cheerful...and for my Family, who could do it better than Bing Crosby? 'I'll Be Home For Christmas'... if only in my heart.

All three images from Living Etc.

Picture Perrrrrfect...

For any of you who know me, or even if you look back on my blog posts, you'll see that my lil boy Oscar is a pretty big deal to me! Well, I know many people get bored with how others go on about their pets, but I figure, If you understand how much a little animal can bring into your life and how much of a part of the family they become, well, you'll keep the complaining to a minimum!

My boy is a daily inspiration to me, he is my family. I know his every move and look in his eye, what each one means. And he knows me too, and he certainly knows when he's doing something he shouldn't! With a quick snap of my fingers, a little meow of compliant, and he stops! He even greets me when I come home! All in all, he's a total babe, and rather entertaining!

And yes, I may sound like one of those crazy cat ladies, except I'm not old enough and I'm not sure you can say that when I only have one cat! Ha!

So, anyways, I have finally built up enough courage to include him in a painting I am currently working on. It should be up here soon too. I hope I do my boy justice! I do get a bit snap happy with the pictures of him, and took these two the other week - I love how they turned out, so I thought I'd share them..

Now, if nature takes its course correctly, I should probably, and sadly, outlive him. But until that very sad moment in my life, I enjoy his company to the fullest. And all being well, he'll be with me well into my forties. My, how much of my life he will see....What also makes Oscar so special, is that he will be with me in probably the best years of my life. The last year alone has been unbelievable, and he's been at my side all the time....

Now if only I could teach him how to type, perhaps he would write my memoirs!

Sisters!

I found out earlier this week that my Sister had started a blog! And not one - but two!!! So of course, I had to check them out! I just love that she's got the blog bug! Now, and daily! I can see what she's up to, what she's into, and what she loves and hates all in one click of a mouse!!

This sure does save on some serious phone bills - she's in England, and I'm in New York.. so enough said!

And what kind of a sister would I be if I didn't give her a lil shout out on my blog?!

So here, I present to you, my Sister, Kathryn Elizabeth Hunter...and her two blogs, 'I'm Loving All Of This..' (for her love of fashion!) and 'Then She Wrote' (for everything else she likes and loves!) So check them out!