TEN things I love about Spring

This post is probably a little over due, but it just didn't really feel like spring to me last week. I mentioned taking care of three boys with the flu (and let me tell you, the 32 year old one can be just as cranky as the 10 month old one!), and it was pretty rainy and gray around here to top it off. But this weekend, the sun came out! The boys are healthy! I got my hair cut! (see #2 below). And it finally feels like spring has really arrived...

10 things I love about Spring:

1. Fresh rhubarb (another underappreciated but amazing product of the natural world!) Try it in a sauce over really good vanilla ice cream. Cut rhubarb into small pieces (bigger than a green pea, smaller than a cherry) and put 2 cups of rhubarb in saucepan with ¼ cup water. Add ¼ to ½ cu p of sugar, depending on taste. (I like it tart). Let it bubble and stew on the stove for 10 minutes or so (longer if you don’t want any full pieces left), and then serve over ice cream. Springtime loveliness in a bowl.

2. Getting a haircut. Nothing says rebirth and renewal like a new ‘do! I just got 6” cut off last weekend, and I feel like a new woman!

3. Opening the doors and windows to let the warm afternoon breeze in.

4. Blooming branches


5. Green shoots coming up in the garden

6. Reading a good book on the patio in an Adirondack chair. I just started “Suite Francaise” and its really extraordinary!


And...6b. The first light sunburn on my cheeks (from sitting on the patio with a book…). I know—sunscreen 365 days—whatever.

7. Driving by a fresh green field and seeing baby horses/cows/goats/sheep learning to walk on wobbly legs (hey—you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country…)


8. Crisp, fresh, THIN local asparagus (have you tried it grilled?)

9. Flip flops, Capri pants, skirts…getting the stuff I love to wear out of winter storage.

10. And speaking of fashion…I love it when the spring catalogs arrive. Spotted in some recent ones:
A great white jacket from J.Crew

A gorgeous dress from Anthropolgie

And a really bright bag with beautiful details... (ok, this one is a little beyond my budget, but this way I'll recognize it when the Target version shows up in a few weeks!)

We have sun here in Seattle this afternoon...I'm going to go enjoy it now!