ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

ah, the joys of spray painting. i literally have a hundred picture frames. i've just collected them over the years. usually black or some sort of dark metallic. but since that doesn't really fit my decor style anymore, i'm embracing the spray painting  addiction  trend that's taking hold of the [mostly blog]  world. my husband thinks i'm nuts, until i place everything back into the house and he loves me again because it looks perfect. i even spiritualized spray painting/repurposing here . yes, i really did. this is my little bookshelf. given to me by my mom. the corkboard is from Homegoods. the other items i've had for years [except the lantern which is a $1 Goodwill find, painted black]. the "a" holds up my books, "j" holds my husband's, and "r" holds my daughter's. she knows that she can only touch her shelf but she always talks about ours.  the crate might be sprayed to match the [krylon "jade"] frames. not sure...

i am growing to love our little yard. from the surprise flowers blooming everywhere , to the convenience of actual food growing on trees... i love it! and i've never really been an outdoorsy girl or a gardener. but i'm becoming one. here are the latest picks from the tangerine tree, and there are literally hundreds more. we have a lemon tree too, which is so nice. fresh lemon is a staple in so many recipes but i always hated buying them. i want to plant an apple and/or avocado tree soon. mmm, or what about plums or peaches? i think we only have room for two or three, so that will be a tough decision. any thoughts? we also planted some flowers yesterday afternoon. my husband is off for two weeks and he gets really bored really quickly. he started by de-cluttering the junk drawers and vacuuming the house , and then moved on to surveying the projects that need to be done around the yard. first was planting flowers and second will be re-painting the patio overhang. i love that he ...

spring is in full bloom here in san diego. at least in my little corner, in my yard. we've never seen our house in early spring, so everything is a surprise. when we got home from mammoth a few days ago, we were greeted by three white calla lilies blooming by the front door. i didn't even know that was a calla lily plant? [my wedding bouquet was all calla lilies. i adore them] i don't think i've ever appreciated spring so much. not since i started counting the gifts , noticing the beauty. and certainly not since spring became so symbolic of my life  right now. there is beauty all around. it is breathtaking. so my husband suggested that i cut them off and bring them inside. i'm no floral designer like shauna  ;)  but i just placed them in a simple glass vase, leaning to the side. i love them. i hope they last a long time here on my kitchen table. but if not, i know there will be more where they came from. God is too good. ** to leave a comment, ...