Spring Refresh

How cute are these apple rose tortes? Check out the recipe here :)

The arrival of Spring is always glorious, and one of my favorite times of the year! It is always so deeply entrenched in my senses - the awareness of longer days, the sounds of birds chirping, the feel of the warmer rays of sun, and smell and sights of fresh new green grass and flowers. Everything about it is a miracle!

This spring seems to be bringing new changes along with it, all good changes that I am welcoming with open arms! It has been a tough winter. TOUGH. Not only has it been cold and snowy, but there have been many times when I've felt so stretched thin. My patience, my time, my luck. But the promise of some new changes is bringing a renewed sense of hope, and gratefulness. So I wanted to offer a glimpse of some favorite moments so far this spring, including current favorites and goings-on.

Currently, there are lots of favorites! As seen in the pictures above, there's a lot of home decor going on! I finally visited Terrain, a garden haven I've been dying to visit for a few several months now. It was so worth the wait (and it is absolutely worth the hype!). We only visited the garden store, but I definitely could have explored more of the eatery and grounds. I got some cute plants and pots, but the best thing I got was springtime inspiration! I cannot wait for it to get a little warmer, so I can start growing fresh herbs for cooking. I always love having an herb pot in the summer, with fresh rosemary, basil, sage, etc.

There are so many other things I can gush about, but one I was so pleased with was my discovery of Grove Collaborative (btw, nothing in this post is sponsored - just truly love it!). Via instagram, I found a great deal to get a 4 piece set of home cleaning/decor supplies (including a linen apron, soy candle, etc). with a $20 purchase. Not only was it easy to pick out $20 worth of supplies I was already going to buy, but it was so fun to pick out my "free" gear. I ended up picking a lot of the cleaning supplies from Mrs. Meyer's line. I love their Peony scented stuff for spring - it's limited edition so I like to stock up. True story: I rationed my Peony handwash from LAST spring and still have some of it even now, because I loved it so much and didn't want to run out!  I loved the concept that Grove offered and definitely think it's worth trying out.

Last one: cooking veggies. I've been reading and listening to books/audiobooks about Italian culture and one of the biggest takeaways from all of these amazing reads is just how much they make me want to COOK! And not only cook, but focus on VEGGIES! And now that we're heading into a new season, finding in-season vegetables will be easier. I made these pretty lavender rosemary twice-roasted potatoes for Easter dinner at my parents' house and it was really delicious. Roasting veggies has always been something that I've liked. Some of my current favorite twists on the classic veggies are cauliflower puree, throwing garlic in eveeerything, and sautéing spinach. 

Ok, off to get ready for another week!