Art

Right now, I am working on a big art project for baby's nursery, inspired by these CarsonToo cards.

Update June 6, 2011: Yay, I've finally completed this project! I'll share a nursery tour in the coming weeks!

Posters

This more we delve into our Love it Or List Adventure (no decisions yet!), the more I find myself daydreaming about new rooms to decorate (I am so in love with Lara Hedberg Deam's home). These 'And I Love You She Said' posters fit the bill, for sure.

Anywhere

Feeling a little 'kd lang's Anywhere But Here', my mind is drifting to getaways, and new adventures and possibilities that exist beyond my current place. I need to reinvigorate my soul.

If I could be anywhere but here, I wouldn't mind being:

• On a sail boat wearing horizontal stripes on the Caribbean
• At the Manukubra Ranch participating in cooking glasses
• Seated at a desk writing short stories while eating peppermint sticks
• On the beach in Dubai meeting Greg's twin brother and his wife
• Exposed to new tastes and smells in Greece and Turkey on a culinary tour
• With my whole extended family laughing around a campfire after a delicious cook up
• Creative by making fun film videos on Super 8 like these
• In the United Kingdom on a Rothermere Fellowship

Photo via Courage My Love.

Cottage

This week I caught an episode of Sarah's Cottage. During commercials, Greg and I bantered back and forth about owning a cottage one day, and that conversation got me thinking. When I think five, ten, twenty years down the line, I imagine myself with a house that smells like gingerbread and exudes life from the bustling family inside. Buying real estate is, for me, as much about thinking about how I want to live my life, as it is about hopping on the property ladder.

There are things I know for certain and other details that are fuzzier.

I know I would like to continue to be able to walk to work and to a grocery store from my home. I also know I want green space within reach. Greg would add great lighting to the mix.

I'm less certain that I want a big house, though this home in Georgetown, St. John's continues to appeal to me. The Georgetown Bakery is as good a neighbour as anyone.

I do however, think about owning two properties. Perhaps there is a way for Greg and I to own a place in Newfoundland and another in British Columbia. We could run a B&B in St. John's during the summer, rent the place for a long term rental in the winter and then spend winters and springs in Vancouver doing contract work. Cash flow is an obvious deterrent, but I don't rule a hybrid regime out when we ponder which coast to settle on.

If conventional careers are more necessary, I'd give thought to purchasing an affordable condo in the city, like this one and owning a big old house for spending weekends with the family, like this one.

I'm decidedly in the brainstorming phase right now, but it is enjoyable to think through different sorts of plans.