I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food

This will likely be the first of many posts about kitchens. Of all of the parts of the home, this is the room I have spent the most time considering. Over the past few years, my taste has stayed fairly consistent. I'm generally drawn to the simple white cabinets, white tile backsplash, and carrera marble countertops. My only complaint with that look is that it can sometimes appear sterile and cold. I love the way this kitchen has the brick hood, rough hewn beams, and dark hardwood floors to add warmth:


Right now, this is my favorite kitchen. The only thing I would change is the pendant lights over the island. They're a little industrial. I would replace them with these schoolhouse lights:


I think I would also prefer antique wood or distressed leather vintage stools next to the island. Something along these lines:


Any thoughts or suggestions? I can just picture preparing coffee in the morning in a warm terry cloth robe with some furry Ugg slippers while it lightly snows outside. Sigh.

Colby: where the love affair began

I believe credit should be given where credit is due. On that note, I dedicate this post to Colby College - for without Colby, I would not be obsessed with Maine, but more importantly, would not be married to the man of my dreams and would not have such a funny, brilliant, and (let's face it) HOT group of best friends. Chris and I recently went back to Waterville for our 5 year reunion and had an amazing time. It brought back wonderful memories and was so refreshing to be back with people who we had gotten to know so well over the 4 years of undergrad. The reminiscing was out of control! I decided to go through a few of my pictures from 2001-5 and pick out some of the highlights to share with you:

Sophomore year: I think Nicole and I had gone crazy from organic chemistry studying and decided to throw a badass party on a Tuesday night. The best part was, we decided we had too much work and postponed it until Wednesday.

It was tough being the largest, I always was at the bottom of the pyramid!

This was on Valentines Day after Kyle did an amazing job directing the Vagina Monologues.

Here we are at the graduation ball during our last night at Colby, after dating for about 3 months. Who knew we'd be planning our wedding two short years later?

This was the first time I met Chris' sisters. I look like I might vomit in nervousness in this picture! Luckily, they're the sweetest people you could ever meet!

This is one of the very few pictures we have of the 7 of us together. Luckily, Emily's wedding is in less than one month, so we will all be reunited again soon!

So, Colby College, here's to you! Thanks for the great memories and the inspiration to move back to the great state of Maine, complete with its whoopie pies, rocky coastline, and Bean boots. We owe you one.

Let's Take a Cruise

With 3,478 miles of tidal shoreline, Maine has the most ocean coastline of any state in the continental United States. This means that unless you happen to live in Alaska, there is no better place in America to get out on the ocean, relax, and enjoy your own piece of salt water solitude. It's not surprising then that Maine has developed a strong nautical culture including lobster fishing, coastal vacationing and ship building.

Growing up I have always dreamed about someday owning a boat, and as long as I can remember these dreams have been of classically designed yachts ranging from (and probably covering everything in between) Herreshoff H 12 1/2, Shields, and when I'm feeling more ambitious the Morris M36 and Hinckley DS42. These four boats are sailboats, because for as long as I can recall there was no doubt in my mind that the only boat worth having -- especially if I was going to moor it in a beautiful Maine harbor -- was a sailboat.

The last two summers I have been racing

Tartan Tens on Lake Michigan, and although the racing has been amazing, I've started to realize in much greater detail the amount of work that goes into not only maintaining, but preparing and tidying up a sailboat for just a simple day's cruise. My mind has started to betray every instinct I've known my whole life, and dream that maybe a power boat is the way to best soak up the sun and enjoy the cool salty Maine ocean breeze on a summer's day.

Luckily for me, graceful lines and classic attention to detail are not limited exclusively to the realm of sailboats. And not long after changing my view on powerboats, I quickly fell in love with the T29R on the Hinckley website (long a go to for encouraging my sailboat dreaming).

Recently I found Grey Barn Boatworks, builders of custom center console boats, and now I have new visions! So take a look at my most recent dreams, plan a trip to come on over to visit us in the Pine Tree State and we'll take you out on a coastline cruise ... just give us a few years to get the house and the boat.

A little background

Not only do Chris and I have an unhealthy obsession with the state of Maine, we (or maybe more so I) also have an obsession with homes. It has been our dream to eventually design our own house. In order to prepare for the time when such a thing is feasible, we have been collecting images of houses we admire. We have magazine cut-outs of everything from mud room benches to kitchen drawer organization techniques. But before I get bogged down with the minor details, I thought what better place to start than with the outside of the house? As you can see from a few of our favorite house pictures below, we are in love with the traditional small New England homes:

Just looking at these pictures makes me happy.