I'm obsessing. Just totally obsessing about our new house. Poor Mark. I am becoming such a pest about it! The first thing we need is a new chandelier for the dining room. So I'm scouring Lamps Plus for some ideas and presenting said ideas to Mark. Every night. But then in a weird twist of … Continue reading I am (becoming) a pest!
One year ago this week we were skiing in Kandersteg as a part of a typical day in our Swiss lives. Now we are almost 8 months into our lives back on the east coast of the United States. And it seems we are likely to remain here. Because we're buying a house. We originally … Continue reading House Hunters: Maryland Edition
I can't believe it, but we've been back for 6 months. In a lot of ways it seems like we just left. In other ways it seems like we've been here forever. Life is filled with the mundane right now. The boys need to go to school. The laundry needs to washed, folded, and put … Continue reading 6 Months Back
It's a new year, people. The dumpster fire that was 2016 is over and we stand basking in the shiny new-ness and promise that is 2017. I, for one, am full of the relief and hope that only a new beginning can bring. 2016 wasn't all bad, though, and before I move on I want … Continue reading Thank God It’s 2017
The boys' school has a really strong and active parent community. The Welcome Committee is constantly organizing trips for wine tasting, hiking, and area tours. This time Mark and I went on a tour of the Freitag bag factory in Zurich. I've seen these Freitag bags on the trams in Basel. Often I see about … Continue reading SFC Go to The Freitag Factory
Well, we are a week into summer vacation here in the SFC household. As you may remember I posted about the Summer Screen Rules here and I thought I'd give an update. It's actually working!!! Firstly, it helps that E is goal driven and the rules are clear. If this is what it takes to … Continue reading An update on the Summer Screen Rules
By now all of you know how much I love to bake. It's calming and therapeutic for me to cream together butter and sugar with eggs and then mix in flour to form any number of cookies or cakes. I get it from my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. My DNA isn't pairs of ATGC like … Continue reading Sweet Bretzels: The cookie that almost beat me
I've had three friends forward me a story that appeared in The Washington Post on January 14, 2015, asking me to comment on it. It's a story about how two parents in Montgomery County are under investigation for letting their children go out by themselves. Specifically, they are being investigated by CPS for neglect because … Continue reading Free Range Parenting
When I was growing up our church had a Christmas Need Tree. It was a basic Christmas tree with little paper ornaments all over it. Each ornament had a request for a gift or two from a family or person who couldn't afford Christmas gifts that year. My Mom always had my brother and I … Continue reading Holiday Giving
Okay. Not quite. BUT! We are *mostly* moved in. As a reminder, this is the apartment we chose during my House Hunters International Posts Contestants and Conclusion. We got the keys on a Monday night and started taking things over the next day. Plus our shipping container with all our stuff also arrived on the … Continue reading Finally moved in!
My honest opinions. Day to day life, and how I go about handling it. An outlet for creativity.
by Elle Renee
"A Word of Substance"
Traditional Veg Recipes
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sailaway from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain
I want to be rich. Rich in love, rich in health, rich in laughter, rich in adventure and rich in knowledge. You?
Cultivating coziness one idea and project at a time
