here comes peter cottontail

"Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way," I sang as I peeled off egg shells for deviled eggs. My mom joined in, and I'm pretty sure our dog went in the other room to get away from our out-of-tune voices.

Although I am not very religious, I appreciate that Easter is a holiday that symbolizes rebirth. With Spring bringing the grass back to life and aiding the flowers in blooming, I can't help but love the season. It doesn't hurt that my birthday is in Spring, too.

Although we had an ice storm just a few days ago, the temperatures rose just in time for Easter, melting the snow, and bringing sun for our family dinner today. My mom set the table with pink dishes, white milk glasses, and Easter decorations to pull off another beautiful get together.

Last night, my mom and I sat around the kitchen table writing names on eggs with a wax crayon and dipping them into dye. As an extra touch, she bought egg holders that were glazed in pastel colors and shaped like tulips. These served as placemarks for the guests, which pulled the whole table together.

Along with the table setting, she decorated the house with bunnies, chicks, flowers, and more. Take a look at what our Easter entailed and I hope you had a wonderful day yourself.

Old children's books that feature bunnies and ducklings.

A little stuffed carrot bundle.

Left: It's hard to find tins anywhere these days, but we have a Paas Dye Company one that will be an antique at some point. Right: Pink plate on pink plate + egg place setting. 

Easter bunnies taking a break -- Easter Greetings!

We even have Easter salt and pepper shakers.

Bowl of wooden eggs.

Ham, fruit salad, olives and pickles -- just the start.

Our feast #mouthwatering

 

Deviled eggs are delish.

Bunny in a cabbage water pitcher.

My favorite brother, Colton. I love him so.

My dad and I.

Easter flowers, yo.

St. Paddy's Day Lunch

Did you wear green on St. Patrick's Day? If  you didn't, did you get pinched? 

For many, wearing green is the extent of their dedication to the holiday. For others, it's a day to get drunk on green beer. For my mom, it's a day to decorate, cook Irish food, and gather around the table. 

It can be a lot of work putting a themed lunch together between choosing a menu, buying the ingredients, making the food, and decorating, but she loves it. A few weekends ago, she went antique shopping with my grandma and picked up a set of dishes with an intricate green design just for the party. She came home itching to show me the find that would bring the whole lunch together.

After searching the internet for what type of foods she would make, she settled on beef stew, soda bread, and coleslaw. She couldn't decide on an Irish dessert, so my grandma made no-bake cookies. Although not Irish, you can never go bad with no-bakes. The meal truly was delicious.

An antique find

Singing leprechaun figurine sitting on a pot of gold

A peak at the green decorations 

Do you decorate the bathroom for holidays, too? These shamrocks are hanging from the shower curtain 

Homemade beef stew with huge chunks of meat and potatoes

Yum

Soda bread + coleslaw

And next week -- Easter. Now we have to disassemble St. Paddy's Day decorations and get out the bunnies and baby chicks.

A new season, new household, new everything

 Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I can't really describe what makes it so special. Maybe because it feels like it's the gateway to Spring (my favorite season). Kids hunt for eggs beside tiny mounds of melting snow or behind the tiny green stalks burrowing out of the dirt. I like bunnies and pastels and jello eggs (jello poured into egg-shaped molds and a tradition in my household) and flowers and family.

This year, Easter was a day of transition and a reminder of what I'm getting myself into.

On Saturday, I planned on taking a few of my bags over to my new room. I wanted to prove my independence by transporting all my things myself, but quickly realized that it would be nearly impossible. I could do it, but it would take many trips on the ferry and bus to accomplish this task. I really didn't realize how much stuff I had and how heavy it would be until I packed it all up and tried to move it.

I thought I should pack up one back and bring it over to my room, so I filled my backpack with books and headed out to meet the house manager to get my keys. A few things went wrong though. I missed the ferry I was going to catch, the next ferry was late, then the manager asked if I'd rather meet her downtown in the International District. Not having a smartphone that can easily access a map, I had to ask for help from my parentals (2,000 miles away) for directions. After their valuable help, I did find the way, but after trekking up steep Seattle hills with a 50 lb backpack, I was beat.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to get on the bus and go all the way to my apartment, but finally decided to just do it. When I arrived, the roommates were surprised to see me. Little did I know, the house manager supposedly doesn't have very good communication with the tenants and didn't tell them I was moving in. It was awkward for them, awkward for me, awkward all around.

I sat down with one of them who was watching reruns of 90210, but after awhile decided to head back to Bainbridge. On the bus ride home, I asked Clo, the office manager at YES! and angel house mom, if she would be able to help my transport my stuff. Thank goodness she said yes.

So yesterday, Clo helped me move my stuff in the afternoon after she picked up the new graphics intern and showed her around the island. When I got to my new place, I unpacked a little and then ventured out to the store.

At the intern house, the rooms were furnished. They had towels, comforters, blankets, pillows - but not here. In Jas' words, I was going to have to "rough it," meaning buy an air mattress and live minimally but when I got to Target, they were closed because it was Easter. I would really have to "rough it." So much for loving Easter.

Heading back, I saw Walgreens was open, so I wandered in. I looked around a bit and went down the discount aisle. That's when I found it: an air mattress. Thank goodness I wouldn't have to sleep on the ground but when I got home, I realized that it didn't have a pump and I'd have to blow it up myself. So I put Grey's Anatomy on and puff after puff blew that mattress up.

By the end, I was ready for bed. It was 9 p.m.

It was kind of chilly so I put on some thick socks, a sweatshirt and long pants. After tossing and turning, shivering, and downright freezing, I got up. I rearranged my sleepwear so I was wearing leggings, two pairs of long pants, two pairs of thick socks, a long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, zip-up, hoodie, hat, scarf, and gloves. You're thinking I'm crazy right now, aren't you? I literally think I'm crazy too. I half wonder if it was psychological because I was still tossing, turning and cold all night.

When I woke up, guess what I did. I went to Target and bought a comforter. Hopefully I'm not as cold tonight. Oh the joy of moving somewhere with just a suitcase.

On the bright side, I got an Easter box from my parents and grandma at the end of last week. It brightened my transition. They put together a box of ingredients for Apple Salad (aka Kayla Salad because it's my favorite) and other Easter goodies. Here are a few pics from the box.

Coconut flavored popcorn, a bag full of candy from my grandma, biscotti, trail mix, apple salad ingredients, Bella Grace Magazine - THANKS!

Candy, candy and more candy!

My mom always decorates the box with seasonal paper. Here's an up-close view with a bunch of Spring-ish words.

Throwback to 2001 when I was helping with Easter dinner by arranging jello eggs.

Vows to my future partner + Valentine's Day shenanigans

Isn't this raspberry chocolate ladybug truffle from Bon Bon the cutest? It even has spots in the shape of hearts. 

"I vow to always hand-write you a Valentine's letter to explain how much I love you. I vow to set the alarm 15 minutes early every morning so we have time to cuddle before getting ready for work."

As I laid in my bed last night thinking about love (because of Valentine's Day, of course), I started to ramble off promises I wanted to make with my future partner - the whole time replaying the scene from The Vow, and envisioning a "perfect" relationship where you can be goofy, serious, loving, 100 percent yourself and know your partner still cherishes you.

You see, that's the type of relationship I want. That's the type of relationship I've had and the type of relationship I hope to experience again. Although I'm single this Feb. 14th, I am not wallowing. I am so grateful for the people in my life. I'm not sad that I don't have a Valentine because I can feel it in my bones that my partner will come to me when the time is right. It might be someone already in my life, or it might be someone I've yet to meet, but my heart flutters at the thought that I will someday spend this day with my other half (I know, I know, ahh the gush). And I refuse to be one of those desperate lovers who settles - and I'd suggest you not be that person either because life is too short.

This morning I grabbed toast from Blackbird Bakery and in the display case sat homemade X & O cookies for lovebirds on the island. Right then I realized that this year I had not felt so turned off to Valentine's Day. Here on Bainbridge Island, I am hardly bombarded by consumerism. Almost all the businesses here are locally-owned, meaning I haven't encountered aisles and aisles of v-day exploitation. This, I think, has made me more aware of my feelings toward the holiday: that it should be more rooted in love than generic gifts.

Many feel obligated to get their honey a box of chocolates or a bouquet of red roses, but just because commercials and society say that's how it should be, doesn't mean we shouldn't challenge that thinking. My roommate works at Bon Bon, the local candy shop in Winslow, and we all know that the store is going to be packed today with desperate customers asking what they should get their significant other. Hint: not some last minute, random piece of chocolate.

You see, it's not about the present. To me, Valentine's Day is about cherishing the person you love, your partner. I watched this beautiful video (and then couldn't help watching the whole series), which asked couples how they would describe their feelings for their partner without using the word "love." It's so easy to say you love someone, but describing why can deepen those feelings and reveal just how much you care. In my opinion, telling your Valentine why or how you love them could truly be the best gift you give them.

So maybe open yourself up to alternative ways to celebrate your love this Valentine's Day. Write down all the things that you love about your significant other. Hug them a little tighter, and kiss them a little longer. Give them a true compliment about their character. Put a song on and slow dance to it. Hold their hand. Tell them one of your favorite memories together. Make dinner together. Do something for your partner just because you know it will make them happy. Show them how much you care because when it truly comes down to it, the little things are what count, not the material items.

It's always nice to know that my parents are thinking about me. They sent me a countdown to Valentine's Day box. I was instructed to open one bag a day until the 14th. My parents definitely know me well because today I opened Dove dark chocolates and strawberry Peeps (my fav), but I especially liked the personalized messages they printed & pasted on the box.

I walked into the YES! office on Friday and at every desk was a red tulip, Red Hots in the shape of hearts, and a chocolate heart. It definitely brightened my day and put me in the Valentine's spirit.

Although I'm not a fan of consuming these candy hearts, they sure are a cute decoration in the YES! office.

Tulip from work #ValentinesDaySelfie

Merry Christmas

My mom says I'm grumpy on Christmas mornings. I probably have the "I'm still half asleep. Why do I have to be up this early" look on my face, and my attitude probably matches. When I asked my dad on Christmas Eve what time we had to be up in the morning and he replied with 7 a.m., I laughed saying we should move it back a few hours. That's just not how it works in our house though.

When I was a child, I would try to stay up as late as I could, waiting to hear the hooves of reindeer on the roof. I would wake up in the middle of the night and skitter into the living room to peek in my stocking and see if Santa had brought me the one big thing I had wished for. It was always sitting on the couch, unwrapped.

I guess over the years my eagerness to be up on Christmas morning has declined, but it's still such a magical day. I get to watch the faces of my family light up as they open the presents they didn't expect or are excited to receive.

It's tradition that my Spears side of the family comes over for breakfast. And let me tell ya, it's a feast. We have bacon, sausage, eggs, cinnamon rolls, potatoes, and my favorite - a huge assortment of fruit. I look forward to, not only the delicious breakfast, but the company of my cousins that I don't get to see very often.

On the Schultz side, we get together whenever it is convenient for everyone. The last couple years we have been extending our party out to friends and relations beyond my aunts and cousins. That's what's so great about the holiday season - we get to catch up with the people we love.

First of all, I'm supporting CMU. Second of all, I was so excited to get my favorite Disney movie Sleeping Beauty. Third, yes, I'm grumpy.

I guess my dad and mom had gone to a pawn shop and she set her eyes on an antique stove that was in the shop. My dad said she was "raving about it." He logged it in his memory and went back to get it for her for Christmas. I'm not sure where she's going to put it, but take note all you men out there. Listen to your woman and you'll make her very happy.

My daddy unwrapping the gift I got him: a memory foam neck pillow. He hurt his shoulder awhile ago and has been sleeping in the chair every night. Hope this helps a bit.

Mom, dad, me, and grandma making Christmas breakfast.

My mom is a master decorator (did you see her table at Thanksgiving?). My brother's place card was held by a wizard...I mean Santa.

All workin' in the kitchen. I'm cutting apples for our fruit platter, my dad is cooking sausage, and my mom is flipping the bacon. Teamwork!

This is only a small portion of my mom's Christmas village. The first picture is also of her village.

My mom and I don't know how to take a good picture.

A row of angels looking over us.

My cousin smiling beautifully, and her fiance, Jordan.

My place card was a sled. Isn't everything at the table just so cute?

Me, my cousin Autumn, and Jill (aka the other Autumn). Funny story. My mom texted my cousin, Nick, to tell him about Christmas plans. He said he was bringing Autumn (his sister), his girlfriend, and his dog. My mom thought he meant his girlfriend's name was Autumn, so she put that name on her place setting and her gift. Come to find out, her name is Jill. Whoops.

Nick and his dog. This is an 80 lb puppy and runs so crazy. He also got on the table and had a few bites of cinnamon roll. I don't blame him, they were really good.

The table centerpiece.

My Sadie girl. She was looking at those squirrels running around outside. As you can see, there was no snow. It was basically the same weather as Seattle.

Colton and I. He was giving my grandma a lecture about not taking pictures with flash (preach!) and he told me to take a pic with him to show grandma. I asked if we could take a pic with his really good camera and he refused. Later he said that if I didn't make such a big deal about taking a picture with him, he would do it. I wasn't making a big deal about it (at first). I never win.

I brought this Bainbridge Island ferry ornament home to put on our tree. It even has little cars on it.

My brother showing my Aunt Cheri some stuff on her camera.

Steph and Claire. That little girl is getting so big.

Little miss Chloe was all cuddles at the Schultz Christmas party. My aunt took a pic of Chloe, Isaac (her brother) and I all cuddling on a very comfortable chair, but my dad missed the photo op. Love them.

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday, too.