Cape Cod & Rhode Island

July is for family reunions. 

At least is always has been for my family.

Right after 4th of July, it is time to start packing for New England,

 where my Mom's family has some deep roots. 

Rhode Island is Home in so many ways, 

but mainly in the way a small Narragansett cottage 

(and the large family that invade it )

can make your heart so full.  :)

This my friends, is the very meaning of finding tranquility. 

Fresh off our plane to Providence, we headed toward Cape Cod 

to meet up with some other vacationing family members and enjoyed a whale watching adventure.  

It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely time of it. 

Once we arrived to the cottage the weather didn't treat us too nicely for the remainder of the trip, 

but it was dry enough to enjoy the bay, the boat, and socializing outside. 

I'm so happy that we were able to make it up this year and see so many people. 

We enjoyed familiar sites, sounds, smells, foods, and some new ones too!

We had an epic Trivia battle "kids" vs "adults" - kids lost, but we were right at their heels! :)

Maybe a new tradition?  I hope so. 

It was too short of a trip, but we managed to pack in a lot.

We even got a great meal in Providence before we left back to the Queen City. 

We've been back to the grind ever since getting back to the good ol' south.

Building shelves in our loft, finishing the pergola & patio, and finally getting around to decorating. 

We celebrated 1 year in our home last week! :)

Sunny Sunflower Summer

Sometimes surprises are BIG and BEAUTIFUL!

I didn't even plant these sunflowers! 

The birds did.. and now they are some of the most gorgeous plants growing in our garden.

We are not the only ones enjoying the beautiful blooms.

The birds and bees are actively enjoying them, too!

It was a bit difficult to get photos of the yellow finches without disturbing them.

Here were a couple of my photo attempts through our back door

of them enjoying the seeds from the spent sunflowers.

Pergola | Part 2

Here is the semi-finished product!!! :)

[Pergola | Part 1]

We are so excited to be this far and only have a few things left to do:

1) Add 4 more decorative scroll end caps to surround the front corners

2) Box out the bottoms of each supporting post - for decoration

3) Stain the whole thing White!  Which is really a project in itself!

Bonus Project:  Add Curtains!! For real though.. this will happen soon!

Here is a review in pictures of our construction:

PS- look at that grass!! You might remember from March Project Madness that 

we have been trying to get it growing... and it is green!  Hooray! :)  

I think we might be ready for a Before & After update soon.

Up next... finishing the patio stones.

So close to having an outside space... relaxation is right around the corner! ;)

I can almost taste the sangria!