Anyway, in an attempt to shake away my mood I headed outside. Well first I drove to the gym. I usually go in the morning (if I go at all) or go right at 5pm. Today I didn't get there until 6:45 and there wasn't a parking spot to be had. I viewed that as an omen and decided not to risk my life by exercising today...did I mention I am on Day 2 of no sugar and may not be making the best decisions? So I headed home feeling a bit defeated. As I pulled into my driveway I realized that all along the north side of my driveway I had a TON of lily of the valley in full bloom. I decided to cut a bunch to help cheer me up. Every year when I cut these I am reminded of just how amazingly sweet these flowers smell. They are delicate and fragrant and through the winter months I always seem to forget just how much I love them. And every year, almost as if in protest of my forgetfulness of their amazingness, they come back even fuller and more abundant than the year before. They are one of my mom's favorites too and always make me think of her when I see them. So we are definitely getting back on the road to cheeriness...
So I trimmed some of the nicest ones and took a few deep breaths and started to feel a bit better. I headed back inside and found my favorite vase. This vase used to be my Grandma Smith's. She had a bunch of cool glass decorations throughout the house that I always marveled at as a kid. She had some very cool paper weights that I loved to look at and try and figure out how all those little ceramic flowers ended up in the glass bubble of the weight. And this vase was usually in the fancy living room where we opened presents at Christmas and where Brian and I always tried to sneak goodies out of the Waterford candy jar without clinking the lid and alerting the adults of our sweet swiping. Simply put this vase makes me happy too. I love thinking about times I spent at my grandparent's house on Lake Erie. A good chunk of my favorite childhood memories involve being there with them and the rest of my family.
I did attempt to take some shadowy pictures of the flowers to fulfill the silhouette requirement, but I just don't think they do the flowers justice. But I will post just to not completely be off topic: