minimal christmas {still + life}

These pictures were taken about an hour apart yesterday morning. 7:10 and 8:30. Ish. After I took the first Neel and I looked at the tree and both liked it so much with just the lights. Neel said, maybe just the lights and the star? Could we do just that?

So I opened the first box of ornaments and there was the star, right on top. A sign. I felt a little clutch when I saw the garland that Callum and I made when we was just wee and we were living in San Diego, but we held firm and here we are. Lights and a star. That's it.

You guys.....??? Can we do that? Just lights and a star? Really? Is it, you know, okay? Will Santa still come?

revealed {life}

Okay, okay. Couple things. It's hard to get good shots in a tight spot. You know this. And I had to wait to post anything until today because my mom is on her way, and we wanted her to be surprised. I should have posted befores. There somewhere around here. I'll look around. Trust me, it was bad. No bath, just a shower. And that shower leaked and the lowest point in it was not the drain. So, ugh. Impossible to clean. The floors were hard to keep clean too, and the vanity was 72 inches long and crammed into a 71 inch space. So, also ugh.

It's better now. We put radiant heat in the floor, a jacuzzi tub and two vanities instead of one long one. We frosted the window. Hee hee. We went from six drawers to four, but it was a good lesson for us. There was a lot that we didn't need. We're each using a sink, so I'm not storing my hair dryer in one of them anymore. Erin will be pleased to hear this, I'm sure.

This project took entirely too long, but that was largely our own fault. Neel demoed the bathroom when Cal left for Richmond back in January, and we just moved back in this weekend. We sat on our hands and waited for our contractor and trust me, it was worth it. He was meticulous and patient and I fell madly in love with him. He listens to NPR while he works. He keeps bees. He grows flowers that attract butterflies. See what I mean?

So I miss having John around, but all in all, we're pleased. The floor is my biggest complaint. It's hard to keep clean, but I'm sure that when it's warming my tootsies in the dead of winter, I won't even mind that. What do you think?