Everyday Beauty

May Musings

May is wrapping up today and summer is beginning! May, the month of Mother's Day, is also of course the month of Mary for Catholics. This beautiful statue is on my dresser and reminds me daily to try and be the best mother I can be. 

We celebrated Sofia's 2nd birthday last weekend (so hard to believe!) and had a big party with all of our family. She had so much fun being the bella of the ball, playing with her cousins, eating cupcakes and opening gifts. She knew exactly what was going on and that it was all for her. I ordered this dress on etsy from the most adorable shop, Lover Dovers Clothing. I stumbled across the shop by chance and am glad I did. You must go take a peek at all of the adorable designs for children and grown-ups alike!

Isn't this a great time of year as school winds up, and plans are made for the hot days and lazy afternoons of summer? I'm a summer girl and am looking forward to being outside with the kids. We've already broken in the swings at the park.

...and spent many a May day at the baseball field.

I can't wait to head to the beach, the zoo, the amusement park, farmer's markets and flea markets. Naturally, we have to make time to indulge in ice cream cones and frozen treats (with a little help from this book), which I don't think will be a problem.

We've been eating dinners outside under our striped umbrella. Black and cream stripes remind me of Italian cafes, so I close my eyes and pretend I'm there sometimes. It works for a few seconds!

April showers did indeed bring May flowers. These were some of the ones in our yard.

Many a blossom got cut and brought inside.

I think that about sums up the beautiful month of May around here. All of these pictures were taken with my iphone and uploaded to Instagram. It's quick and easy, and I think it's a great way to see what your friends are up to through their photos. I've been using it daily and love it. You can add filters to your photos to make them look old, and quite cool I think. A pile of dirty dishes would probably even look good with Instagram! If you have Instagram and want to follow along with my photo stream, my user name is andreasingarella.

See you in June!

Simple Pink

I love this simple jar of branches snipped from the Flowering Crab tree outside the kitchen windows. It took me about 30 seconds to do this and it was free. I can't take much credit for the yard at our new house since I didn't plant any of the flowers, but what a pleasant surprise to see 2 peonies, a couple of roses, lots of flowering trees, Lily of the Valley and tons of spring bulbs blooming. Can't wait to see what summer will bring!

Spring on the Sill

Snow might be covering the ground outside, but Spring is here on my kitchen windowsill. There's nothing like a plant or two to brighten a room!

Hello Peonies

 
My favorite flower of all time is in full bloom here. I cut an armful on Sunday and filled vases and urns with lovely fluffy peonies. Glad I did, too, since the heavy rains have destroyed the remainder of the blossoms outside.

 
I do a blog post on peonies every year, and I never ever tire of them, their fragrance or the way they photograph so beautifully.

Just a little bit of beauty I wanted to share with you today!

May Flowers

 
April showers surely brought the May flowers around here. I tucked some Lily of the Valley from the garden into my boot as I did some gardening the other day, and could smell the sweet fragrance with every step.

 
It feels so good to be digging in the dirt again, with Spring so full of promise and sun, sun, sunshine!

 

Spring Happiness

 
Happiness is.....

* the fact that it is officially Spring and the daffodils are on the brink of blooming

*playing in a pile of old millinery flowers

*getting organized and doing some good old Spring cleaning

*getting ready to go to a friend's house to play with a bunch of other friends

*watching my husband put a fresh coat of paint on the walls

*wearing a dress without my legs being chilly

*deciding which color to paint my toenails

* finally finishing up a handful of Easter Eggs topped with rumpled vintage flowers. {They will be for sale in the shop sometime on Monday. Maybe around noon EST. More or less.}

*Hearing the birds chirp, chirp, chirp as they build their nests

*feeling hopeful about all the good things that the warmer weather will bring

*what is YOUR Spring happiness?

Simple Roses

 
I was out in the garden today, and I couldn't decide whether I should leave the roses on the bush or cut them and bring them inside...

 
where I could place them in a mason jar and tie on a simple ribbon...

and let the sweet fragrance fill the room...

 
and the beauty catch my eye everytime I walk by...

I'm glad I decided to cut them.

Flowers & Fluff....and I need to focus

 
As I was carrying this vase of Lily of the Valley up to our bedroom to set on my nightstand, I got side-tracked, made a pitstop at the Nursery-in-Progress and set the vase down on the dresser for a minute. I thought it made a pretty composition so I snapped some pictures.

 
The nursery is very much not finished at this point, but I am making a little progress. I'll share a few pictures soon. Right now it's a disaster area with piles of fluff and dresses and fabric everywhere.

 
You can barely walk through the room....but, hey, it looks pretty. And I have SO enjoyed decorating this tiny space for this tiny girl, yet to be born. {2 more weeks!}

 
This is a bracelet I made last year. I hooked it onto the lace around the vase for an easy little embellishment.

 
Can you tell my mind is all over the place? I start one thing, forget all about it and move on to something else entirely. Is that what they call Pregnancy Brain? Ah, well, as long as it all gets done eventually I suppose. Eventually being the key word.....

Focus, Andrea, focus.

In Full Bloom

 
Hello Friends!
I want to say thank you for all of the heartfelt comments you left about my Grandfather's passing. As so many of you said, his memory will live on forever. What a gift to have known someone special for 34 years, and to be able to remember him fondly for the rest of my life. I'm grateful for that.

 
So, are your Azaleas blooming now? Here in Virginia it's Azalea time for sure. Seems like nearly every house has one. Ours are in full bloom and they cover the front flower beds with a sea of hot pink blossoms.

 
You can't miss our house as you drive down the street!

 
And then, just like that, the blooms will wilt and fade away all too soon. But there are plenty of other flowers to admire.

 
Dianthus {above} and Jacob's Ladder {below}.

 
The Lily of the Valley are ready to be plucked form the garden and brought in to fill vases.

 
My Peonies and Roses are ready to open soon, as well as the Clematis and Coral Bells. Everyday I step outside to be greeted by brand new buds. Now matter how many years I have a garden, I am continually amazed at nature and all the beauty that it brings. 
The essence of Everyday Beauty.

Blooming Beauty

If you've been reading this blog for the past couple of years, you may remember my previous "Peony" posts. Every year, they are the flowers I look most forward to.

 

Aren't they just take-your-breath-away beautiful?

 

Mario & I were outside taking pictures, and he took this one of me just before I cut the peonies and took them inside.

 

And I took this one of him watering his beloved carrots. {gosh, I hope they grow! he'll be so disappointed.}

 

I think May blooms are my favorite. Between the Lily of the Valley, Peonies & Roses, I'm in flower paradise for a few weeks at least. As far as roses go, this one is heavenly. It's a David Austin rose called St. Cecilia and it smells incredibly fragrant. My mom had one in her garden and clipped a blossom off for me before George and I flew to Italy on our Honeymoon. I wore it in my hair for the entire flight and still have the dried flower almost 6 years later. It held it's fragrance for a couple of years. I loved it so much she bought me my own plant!

 

Let's see...what else is blooming?...

Well, the Pansies are holding on nicely. Not bad for almost-June. They remind me of my childhood.

 

Clematis growing up the arbor:

 

The Iris' are so delicate, and here today, gone by noon. But very pretty and soft.

 

I should've taken some shots of the Azaleas.The previous owners of our house apparently had a love affair with Azaleas. There are 10 of them. My front yard looked like a sea of shocking pink for a good 10 days. Every year I want to transplant some of them to another part of the yard, but we never do. We're lazy like that. Maybe next year. They are pretty though, just a bit much all together.

I hope you're enjoying the beauty of late Spring too. Summer will be in full swing before we know it.