With all of the gorgeous spring weather the past few days, I’ve been thinking and wondering why on earth I never tried making another terrarium after my first attempt last year (I over-watered them and had an issue with mold, so I dismantled them and was able to salvage much of the plants and replant them in my garden).  These gorgeous terrariums from Flickr have my hands eager to work with loose soil again.

{images belong to helloyarn, koko studios, ex.libris respectively}

Loving these gorgeous photos from 100 Layer Cake, especially the paperwhites and gigantic pinecones!

{images shown via 100 Layer Cake, taken by Jose Villa}

Hooray!  What a glorious way to start Monday but with a new Anthropologie catalog to flip through (even if it’s online).  I love the plants, ferns, and fauna found throughout the catalog, especially the greenhouse section towards the end.

{all images belong to Anthropologie}

Being inspired today by the colors, textures, and variations found in nature.  I’m definitely one of those people who can’t leave an experience in nature without picking up something small (*and not alive, mind you) to remember their experience by.  Just looking at these items I’ve collected I’m reminded an afternoon at the beach on Cape Cod, a hike in the White Mountains of NH, a walk through Central Park in NYC, a rocky shoreline on an island in Maine, and a path at my favorite nature sanctuary near my home.

Bringing the outdoors inside is definitely a good thing.

{for more of my at home photos, check out my Flickr}

Sunday was perfect: family, good food, lots of tea, a hot fireplace, and plenty of relaxing and gabbing.  The birthday tea party I hosted for my Mom went well, with the exception of some very missed and loved family members (who were all sick… and I hope are all on the mend!).  I did a little bit of decorating for the party, including making 2 paper garlands for the fireplace mantel (after being so inspired by this garland by Lobster and Swan).  Surprisingly, preparing for the party went well and there was no rushing or stressing at all (hopefully my new outlook on parties and holidays is paying off).  The soup was delicious, the sandwiches perfect, and the desserts and scones absolutely scrumptious.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves and got to relax and catch up with each other.  I’m now thinking tea parties should happen at least once a month… or even once a week, for that matter.

{for more of my perfect parties photos, check out my Flickr}

One of my favorite types of cuisine is Indian, thanks to my husband who is head-over-heels for it and insisted that I keep trying it until eventually, I fell for it too.  The combination of spices are unlike anything else, and was for me (I was a very picky and bland eater) hard to take at first.  But over time, I grew to like the flavors and now especially during the winter months I find myself craving it, wanting to warm up from the inside on out.  Chana Masala is one of my favorites, and is also one that I’ve found is easier to make.  None of my attempts at making Indian cuisine have really tasted like the actual stuff, but this dish can come close.  I haven’t tried this particular recipe yet, but it looks like just the thing to experiment with this chilly winter weekend.

Chana Masala (from Smitten Kitchen)

{image shown belongs to Smitten Kitchen)

This weekend should be filled with lots of cleaning, designing, planning, and of course seeing close friends and family.  I hope it also involves a warm fireplace (it is freezing here today), staying in my pj’s, and some good hot cocoa.  To start off my day of designing, I perused my Flickr Favorites (something I should do more often).  It’s interesting to see the images as a whole, and this page is my favorite combination of other talented people’s photos:

What do you plan on doing this weekend?
- Colleen

Not sure if it’s the season for crows, but I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately.  One very early morning after dropping my husband off at work at 6:00 am, I was driving home and upon stopping at a red light I heard a very loud noise over my car heater and radio.  I shut off all the interior noise and rolled down my window, looked up at a tree in front of me and realized it was a huge flock of crows.  The tree was completely full, there must have been close to 200 of them.  The noise was literally deafening.  I sat there with my eyes and mouth wide open, wishing someone else could be in the car with me to experience this strange situation.  The image was so surreal with the sky still completely dark and the black silhouettes of the tree and crows against it.  This sound clip is similar, but honestly would have to be reproduced about 3-5 times to match the loudness of those crows.  I have also yet to find a photo that can match how many crows were in that tree.

Then, twice this past weekend we had flocks of crows in the backyard, sitting in the trees and again “cawwing” and squawking and making all sorts of noise.  I’m beginning to wonder why I keep seeing large groups of them, which by the way is called a “murder of crows.”  It’s making me slighty nervous.  I wonder if seeing large amounts of crows is an ominous sign for something…

{image shown belongs to MissusK}

Images from Pia Jane Bijkerk’s visit to the Vaucluse House in Sydney, Australia.  I am such a sucker for black and white diamond floors.  Someday I must have a hallway with them.  By the way, these photos totally remind me of Vermeer paintings.

{images belong to Pia Jane Bijkerk}

Upon checking out Flickr today, I happened to glance at their blog and noticed the incredible photos of libraries and bookstores from around the world.  I am totally in love with that staircase from the bookstore in Portugal in the first photo.

{images shown belong to delviking, FriskoDude, and Bert K respectively}