Two Weekends in Santa Ynez: A Pictorial Review

 Look what I made Saturday night!

Before I lived with Mr. W, I remember feeling like his house was a sort of haven. I would come over on the weekends and feel like I was at a mini resort. I wasn't far from home, but I was far enough out of reach that it felt like an escape. There always seemed to be time to read a magazine over breakfast or catch up on my latest novel before dinner.

My new haven is our Santa Ynez house. The drive up the California coast—with the expanse of blue water keeping me company out the driver's side window—seems to slowly, steadily calm my soul. By the time I arrive in our semi-circular drive, I'm filled with gratitude.

I hope this feeling lasts after we move. It's become fleeting for me in Hollywood, and I hope the calm I feel in Santa Ynez doesn't dissolve as our furniture and regular daily life take up residence in the house.

Since Mr. W is in Vancouver, I've gone up on my own the past two weekends to chip away at the seemingly endless to-do list there. It's coming along. It makes me smile bigger every time I visit. Here's a little recap of some of the progress...

 I don't know how the previous owner went about picking the paint colors, but pretty much everything was red or yellow. And let me tell ya, those aren't the easiest colors to cover with new paint. But after who knows how many hours of taping and brushing and rolling, I made it happen.

During one of our first weekends at the house, we went to an estate sale in the neighborhood (which apparently are the thing to do on Saturdays up there—the traffic on that street was crazy) and I developed a crush on these geode bookends. I picked them up for $15.

I felt even better about the purchase when I saw these on One Kings Lane a couple weeks ago:

Our other bedroom at the house feels a lot like my apartment with my old duvet cover on the bed. Mr. W doesn't love the girlie grandma-ness of the room, but I adore it.

A dear friend made us a piece of art for Christmas, and I thought it was the perfect addition to the room, with its fun cheery message and bright paint colors. She made it in honor of Mr. W's scheme to grow lemon trees with the seeds he brought back from our honeymoon in Amalfi.

In addition to picture-hanging, painting, and fire-making, I hemmed all of the curtains, pruned some of the flowers, re-affixed weather stripping to the front door, and taped off the hallway so we can paint it when we go back up after Christmas. There are 8 sets of cupboard/doorway molding in that dang hallway. It took me 2 hours to tape it all. But it's worth it. All just part of creating the dream.