City Mouse for the Day

My niece and her boyfriend have been visiting this past week. It's been such a wonderful visit. They're heading back to college tomorrow so we topped off their vacation with a trip into New York City. I'm not going to lie... I'm exhausted! We walked the entire day. It was so worth it though, especially with the weather as amazing as it was today! The sun was warm, the sky was the perfect color of blue, trees were showing their buds and Central Park was perfection. I loved seeing the miniature sailboats on the pond (which immediately reminded me of "Stuart Little" by E.B. White). I love hearing all the different languages being spoken as we walked along the city streets. The smell of sweet roasted nuts on nearly every corner was deliciously intoxicating! The city was definitely on it's best behavior this fine Spring day. I took several photos today, but the two below are among my favorites!

I hope you had a great day. If you ever get the chance to visit New York City in the Spring, please do! You'll love it!

Today is day 24 of NaBloPoMo and I'm barely getting this post in while it's still day 24... but I've done it! 24 straight days of blogging. I've almost reached my goal!

Cheers!
-Patti

The Promise of Spring

For so many of us, Winter overstayed her welcome. I have friends in the northern parts of the US, and they're still living in a snow globe world. As I look outside and see the beginning signs of Spring, I can't help but wonder when the trees will be blooming. They seem so far from showing their pink and white blossoms as they stand at the ready with their tiny crimson buds.

I decided to look at last year's blossom photos to remind me exactly when I can expect to see the blooms again. The first photo below was taken April 28, 2013. I am giddy at the thought that in roughly 10 days from now, the trees will be full with green leaves and delicate white flowers! Ten. More. Days.  I can wait. I can believe in the promise of Spring. For many celebrating Passover or Easter, this is truly a season of promises... of hope... of faith... of renewal. If you're celebrating this season, I wish for you a meaningful holiday.

one of our bradford pear trees: April 28, 2013

our garden: May 2, 2013

Happy Spring, friends!
xo
-Patti

Thoughts of the Garden

I am nearly giddy with thoughts of my garden coming back to life! Within a few weeks there will be buds, blooms, birds and bugs: All the wonderful things that turn our back yard into one of my favorite places. Thoughts of my garden have inspired my latest treasury on Etsy. Please click here to visit this treasury and all the talented shop owners. While you're there, please stop by my Etsy shop as well!

Cheers to Spring!
-Patti

H A P P Y: An Etsy Treasury

Every once in a while I like to share Etsy treasuries I've curated. Today I designed this light and fresh treasury made of items that just make me happy. I hope it brings a little happiness into your day as well. Please click here to go directly to the listing where you can find out more about each of the featured sellers.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xo
Patti

March Photo Challenge 2013

Here's this month's Photo Challenge List! Our twitter tag will be "MarchPic", so please tag all your March Photo Challenge pictures with it on twitter and/or Instagram. If you want to upload your photos to the Flickr group, that would be great too!
Hope you have fun with it. If you want daily reminders on twitter, let me know in the comments below. If you're new, welcome! And if you need to know the "rules" they're quite simple. Take a photo each day using the subject matter listed on the image below. Post it on twitter, instagram and / or the group's Flickr page. No sweat if you miss one now and again. Just have fun with it. Please only submit your own photos. This challenge is designed to be fun and stimulate your creativity! It's also fun to connect with other "Photo Challengers" and see how they view the daily subjects.

Feel free to share this photo challenge on your own blog... but please give credit back to Easton Place. Thanks!

Cheers to March, 2013!
xoxo
Patti

Spring Color Palette for your Palate

My friend, EA Stewart (a Registered Dietician  & fabulous food blogger) recently posted a recipe for Potato Leek Soup with spring pea shoots. Not only does the recipe sound delicious, the photos accompanying it are gorgeous! I was inspired to create a color palette from the photo below. When you get a chance, hop over to The Spicy RD blog and enjoy EA's recipes and photos!

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo
Patti

Dreaming of... Sunglasses

A few months ago I had some fun trying on sunglasses by Tiffany & Co. I posted a photo on Instagram asking via twitter if I should get the ones I was wearing. A resounding "yes" was the final vote. (no surprise). With the unseasonably warm Spring weather New England is experiencing, I revisited Tiffany's sunglasses collection and shown below are my top 4 favorite styles. Which one is your favorite? Just curious.

a. Tiffany 1838, b. Victoria cat eye, c. Return to Tiffany Square, d. Tiffany 1837

Of course, I'm just dreaming about these at the moment. With Spring comes "Spring Fever" and I do believe that's what I have... do you?

Spring Dreams...

I've been enjoying creating color palettes from recent photos of mine, but today I came across a photo, belonging to someone else, that instantly had me dreaming of my garden in Springtime. I couldn't resist creating a color palette! I plan on leaving a thank you for the person responsible for the lovely photo. Only problem is, the blog is in German and well... Ich spreche nicht Deutsches. (I do not speak German.) In any event, the name of the blog is Wunderschon-gemacht. Have a visit. If you do know who to communicate in German, feel free to tell the author I sent you :)