Morning of rest and indulgence

Good afternoon, everyone. A few months back I took a part-time job at an outdoor clothing/gear shop downtown to get myself out and about a bit and bring in a little extra money. Being a college town, many of the employees are students and last week was finals. I offered to work some extra hours to cover and so today was the first day in many that I didn't have to go to work. Instead, I indulged myself fully, lying in bed reading and drinking coffee all morning. Looking out the window I couldn't believe how quickly the leaves are filling in on the trees. I'm in the midst of Watership Down and would highly recommend it to anyone interested. It's one of those books that I always meant to read, but never did. I rediscovered it on Goodreads. I've also got a loaf of bread in the oven, having finally found a bit of time to try out the new locally grown and milled flour from Westwind Milling in Linden. It smells heavenly. The seed trays and pots have been brought out for a day of sunshine on the balcony and, as you can see above, the basil is thriving and ready to move up in the world. The other seeds are not doing quite as well though the jalapenos and chives seem pretty healthy.

Anyway, while having an extra long soak in the shower, I took some time to contemplate the state of our bathroom. The boy and I decided yesterday that we would renew our lease for the coming year and so, once again, home projects have jumped to the head of the line in my mind. We'd like to paint the entire apartment some fun colors — all picked out and just waiting for us to jump in. But the bathroom is in need of a bit more than that, I'm afraid. It has no windows and is so horribly, terribly dark. The lighting is all wrong and colors pretty dismal — and I'm just not sure what to do about it. The white on the upper walls is that super cheap kind that has more of a washed out grey feel to it. Definitely in need of a fresh coat of paint, something to brighten it up. For the walls, I've been thinking about those shimmery, luminescent paints by Ralph Lauren, but am trying to find a non-Ralph option that might be cheaper and found closer to home.

There is definitely some potential in the room, it's just a matter of finding it. It has cute black and white tiles on the floor, but the wall tiles are grey — a nice purple-y grey, but still — contributing to the dim dankness. You can see the corner of a little stool we picked up at Ikea in the fall that I painted red. I wanted to add a sharp little contrasting design to it, but the red is as far as I got. That's what spring is all about, I suppose. Any thoughts, anyone? Gold foil on the ceiling? Disco ball with spotlight? Paint it black? Anyone? I may have to make a post over at Apartment Therapy. It's nice to have a wee little bit of time to ponder such things, yes? Thanks for reading the world's longest post and have a wonderful afternoon, all!