Rice Pudding and Earl Grey

Sunday in Winter.

Right now I have a rice pudding in the oven; it should be ready for tea at four. I've never made rice pudding before, but this does seem like a good day for it. It's not too cold--about 34 I think--and sunny, but we've several inches of snow on the ground from Friday. Here's what I did when I arrived home from work:

Since we had so many unexpected household expenditures early this year (see below), plus a walloping marriage penalty on our taxes, there's not too much recent interior design to share. However, a couple of weeks ago the temperature climbed up into the high forties and my husband and I decided to take the out the ole Saab convertible and do some antiquing (we left the top up, though!). A nearby town has a cluster of antique shoppes and it was a great day to go poking about. We found some old cufflinks for our son, who turned twenty-two on Valentine's Day. Since he's about to graduate from college, he's become much more sartorially concerned and is into french-cuff shirts and cashmere sweaters, etc...until his budget can catch up with his taste, we had fun picking through about ten boxes of old cufflinks to tide him over. Anyway, We also bought this wooden piece that we installed above our bed:

We've never, ever had a bed per-se, and since in this room there's really no place for the bed but in font of the window, we're not in any hurry to find one--we like the light from the window and it's nice to feel the breeze in the summer.

Living in a small, old house means, sadly, that my closet space is dreadfully limited. I need an armoire for my sweaters and things, but until I can find the perfect one, I fashioned a cover for a simple IKEA bookcase:

When I was in law school, this was my study nook and I had my law books in the bookcase. I've since moved my books to my office on campus and now it's more of a dressing table. The window looks out into our garden, and the Star magnolia overhanging the patio.

We are eager to take off the old wallpaper and repaint our bedroom, but we'll wait until our youngest son heads to college next fall so we can use him room while the work's being done. I'm not sure what color. In our last house we used a lovely gray (Benjamin Moore Cumulus Cloud 1550) with white trim (Cloud White 967). Although the current wallpaper is gray, too, I might want something fresher. We also need to re-do the hardwood floors. the rest of the house has light wood floors, but I may darken our bedroom's. I love dark floors. Then again, even though carpet generally grosses me out, I might consider a nice flat one--Stark has lovely patterns.

One thing you should know about me: I'm obsessed with laundry. When my iron up and died (see below), I gathered up my Amazon coupons and bought another Rowenta. I love it: it's called the Steam Advance and I've never had a better iron.

Looking forward to roast chicken and the Academy Awards this evening!