hello, delight.

I'm Claudia. German-American and NC native currently living in Northern NY (pretty much Canada) with my husband Alex, our son, and love pup. Finding happiness and fulfillment by practicing yoga, eating more salad than cake, restoring old furniture, and reading everything I can get my hands on. I write about all that and some of life's random musings.

[bluegrassblonde]

[hello-delight]

Seven days of 2017 are in the book.

Lots of snow days. So many cuddles and kisses. Only one meltdown. A few mini adventures. Mild case of cabin fever.  A Christmas tree gone too soon.  Blocks and legos everywhere. Dance parties. Cleaning and organizing parties. Two seasons of Outlander. One baby free day date. Three cups of black coffee. Seven days of Whole 30. Four trips to the grocery store. Long telephone calls. Belated Christmas cards. New dutch oven. Multiple breakfast for dinner feasts. Long walks through the cemetery. Two novels read. Two handsome men to love and adore. 

[gradschoolstyle]

[hello-delight]

If I wore a uniform, this would be it. 

[hello-delight]

At home with 2017

I’m an eternal optimist and the newness of a year really gets me excited. I love setting goals and just giving my perspective a good scrubbing.

Maybe I’m a little naive when it comes to my approach because I’m always taken aback when I see people yelling at cashiers, throwing cigarette butts out of their car windows, or cutting people off on the highway on a January 2nd morning. What? I thought we were all trying to spread love and better ourselves?!  I’m guilty of getting tripped up and weighed down by other people’s attitudes and actions.  This year I want to do my best to pick up the slack when someone is having a bad day and let it not cloud my desires to grow into a woman I really like.  There is no room to get bogged down by pettiness.

This past year and the latter part of 2015 was spent developing myself as a mother and a nurturer. It took me by surprise by how much I loved nearly every moment of being a parent. That said, I didn’t think being a mom would be so hard and engrossing. I thought balance would be easier to come by. Another naive thought I suppose. While my heart grew immensely, my creative muscles atrophied and my social calendar remained intentionally sparse. 

Now it’s time for me to marry the deep rooted parts of my self with my newfound abilities. I feel mentally and physically ready a year of further growth. To get to that place I had to forgive myself and let go of certain notions. Recently I admitted to myself that having a career at this stage in my life is not where my heart presently lies. At all. For months and months I searched for that desire and felt deep guilt and pressure to find it, but I never could. My peace for now is at home and I feel so fortunate to have such a choice. So in my home, in my time, in this new year, I’m dissecting my focus and aiming to be more active, more present, more artistic, more sociable, more gracious, and less in want. 

It feels nice to write again and to say it in this space. 

Wishing you all a beautiful year. 

[hello-delight]

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a gentle closing of 2016. I think we all deserve it. Hoping next year I'll get the whole crew to face the camera and smile. It was so windy and cold and between operating the self timer, fiddling with the tripod, and bribing Zoey to turn around I completely forgot to suck it in. So for those who kindly wished their congrats after getting our card in the mail, thank you, but I'm not expecting. 😂😑I just ate a lot of feelings in 2016. Here's to 2017 bringing us all love, success, and peace.

[hello-delight]

My joyous little love.

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Friday Five

1// I ate dinner at 5 pm and I hope to be in bed by 9:30 at the latest. I don’t hate it. Sometimes I can’t believe I used to actually leave the house around 10 or 11 pm on a Friday night to go out. That’s how I got here though; went out to an Irish bar after work, met a guy, moved the next day, married that guy, moved all over the East coast, and had a baby who wakes up at the crack of dawn ready to party. 

2// Alex insisted that I put my book down to watch Snakes on a Plane with him. I thought he was kidding. No, he said I could not be distracted watching it. Must say, it’s better than I expected. Taylor Kitsch sighting check! But since I can’t just sit there and watch a movie like a normal person, we compromised and I said I would like to mindlessly surf tumblr while it’s on. If I were on twitter though, this would be the perfect movie to live tweet. My feed would probably look something like this: “Sam Jackson looks so healthy then, what’s going on now?! Sam, are you okay??” -  “If that kitty gets eaten I’m out,”, - “Sticking it out, need to make sure Taylor Kitsch’s perfect face doesn’t get eaten,” and “This is too stressful, thank god the scientist said “time is tissue” or I might have taken this cinematic masterpiece too seriously.”

3// I’m currently reading Modern Lovers by Emma Straub. It’s chick lit, which I don’t love, but I was in need of a light read after finishing up When Breath Becomes Air and Between the World and Me. If you don’t have the Overdrive app then you are missing out. This app and the amazing New York library system and technology have really helped me make a dent in my impossible reading goal. 

4// Marcus turned nine months old yesterday. No question, he is my most favorite person ever.

 5// Roughly two weeks until we leave for our much needed vacation to the Catskills. I was feeling like I was all set with what I wanted to bring and then I caught wind of Anthropologie’s tag sale. This silk skirt has me reevaluating it all. 

[vintageluxe]

nuevo estilo

[hello-delight]

Midweek Update

Love- Is all I want to demonstrate and spread. The weekend news brought such a hard blow onto the world. I know that love and goodness outnumbers the evil, but sadly those filled with hate and misunderstanding are so compelled by their convictions it still makes a dent. I hope and pray that the light from this will be a harder look on our gun laws, our love and acceptance of people from all communities, and demonstrate that we are all connected. 

Southern Charm- It’s my guilty pleasure and brought a little humor to the close of such a nasty weekend ending. Gosh, it’s so deliciously bad. The Thomas-Katherine train is crazy. That said, I can't look away. I’d love to hang out with Landon and  have Cameran divulge all of her beauty secrets on me, though I suspect it’s a discretionary use of Botox. 

Baby- Marcus is 8.5 months old now and we are in the most delightful and destructive age yet. Nothing is safe. My design aesthetic is forcefully going through a metamorphosis to adapt. House plants, pretty trays, fresh flowers, candles, books,-Bye! I’ll miss you. I will instead be comforted by my baby boy’s sweet snuggles, giggles, hideous primary colored baby contraptions, and the occasional hair pulling. 

Move List- Alex just received his broadening assignment list. This is typically what military officers do after their company command is over. There are a few locations I was hoping that would be on there (Colorado Springs and Savannah) that aren’t and a few pleasantly surprising ones (The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, DC). I’m nervous and excited for what’s to come. No matter what, I hope this assignment will offer a slower pace than the last 2.5 years have. Command, while so rewarding for him and our family in so many ways, has been so depleting energy wise.  Despite the long and hard winters I have grown to love Northern New York so much, which is a 180 from my attitude when I learned we were moving to a frozen tundra. Summers here are so dreamy though and the locals, the sights, and the charm makes it all worthy of enduring year after year. But by August we will know where we are headed next and I imagine by the new year we’ll be there. 

Vacay- In a few weeks Alex, Marcus, and I are soon taking a weeklong trip to Phoenicia in the Catskills. We’ve rented an adorable little AirBnB located downtown and thanks to Grace Bonney’s incredibly detailed Ulster County guide, I have stalked nearly every diner, coffee shop, restaurant, hiking trail, and cute little boutique in fifty square miles. 

[builtsosmall]

GORGEOUS TINY HOUSE http://tinyhouselistings.com/listing/battle-ground-washington-12-24-retreat-model-by-handcrafted-movement/

[hello-delight]

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.." -General George S. Patton

Thanked and celebrated we did. 

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My little love. ❤️Fella has been battling a teething related fever all day, but who could tell from that smile? #beingababyishard #smilingmakesitbetter #marcusshadrach

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This stud is finally home! And he's got a fancy new badge. We celebrated with our Northern neighbors over strong coffee, baby kisses, and a late brunch. 🇨🇦🍳☕ 🎉 (at Le Chien Noir)

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Monday thoughts

•Last Monday my family received some horrifying and heartbreaking news. My dearest cousin committed suicide. He’s left behind his wife, three children, and a successful architecture business. It’s been a shock to our entire family, we all spoke and messaged with him often. My sister had made plans to see him in Munich in May and I had hoped to visit with him next summer during a trip to Germany. No one saw this coming and a week later it still makes no sense.

If you’re hurting, please reach out and get help, the world is better with you in it.

1 [phone] National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

•Despite this tragedy I am reminded of life and love and newness with my son. Marcus has grown my heart beyond any fathomable capacity. He’ll be six months in a few days, which is a testament in itself as to how fast life is, and every day he blows me away with his curiosity, affection, and strength.

•Yesterday Alex left for a three week training course. While I love living with Alex, I love having the house to myself slightly more. As long as Marcus has me within his eyesight or is wrapped across my chest, he is a happy baby. So with my little guy by my side, I am focusing inward and getting some serious stuff accomplished.

- First on the list is Marcus’s bedtime routine. Teething and travel really through a monkey wrench into our method. We were doing a lot of co-sleeping and while I love having my little guy next to me, I was not getting quality rest. Marcus just wanted to nurse all night and I was getting out of bed exhausted and stiff from laying on my side all night. Last night went so smoothly, he pulled an all nighter in his crib and I feel like a new woman. Fingers crossed that we’re on a roll. -Spring cleaning is in motion thanks to my newfound energy. If you are interested in not only cleaning your home, but also sustainably organizing it, then I highly recommend Marie Kondo’s book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Becoming a mom has changed my entire lifestyle - the little crawler has altered the way I decorate, breastfeeding has dictated the clothes I wear, and my choice to not return to work has influenced the way I want the household run. Plus, the military lifestyle favors simplicity. -I meal prepped early this morning. Homemade almond butter, roasted dijon mustard and thyme carrots, quinoa with tons of herbs, apple, fennel, and celery salad, and mini turkey meatballs are all made and stored. Maybe when the spring weather makes its way to the north country I will commit to a workout plan that expands beyond jogging and Pilates done while entertaining a baby. -Personally, I want to continue to develop in my education, faith, and health. The upcoming three weeks will hopefully offer up some tranquility (no serious cooking, no spontaneous trips, and tons of early bedtimes) and I can make more intentional moves towards growth.

[hello-delight]

My little bundle of love. Happy Sunday and happy Spring!

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Celebrating life the only way we know how, with our babe and at least one of us wearing a skirt.

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May this be the last weekend Lake O be covered in ice. May I also add that I was one-hundred percent uncomfortable with Alex and baby being on the ice. #letsgospring #adioswinter #lakeontarioisourbackyard