Dear Mother Nature:

You never cease to amaze me. Truly, your work is by far the most inspiring.
Always, Jordan

Being home for the past week, I have been able to enjoy many things city life in Boston doesn't quite provide. One such is the overwhelming abundance of Mother Nature. In our backyard, we have four bird feeders which do a fantastic job of attracting cute little robins and woodpeckers among many small birds. However, yesterday and the day before, we had a new visitor and he's quite beautiful! A picture is below of what we believe to be a red-shouldered hawk. His coloring is gorgeous and is a simple reminder Mother Nature never fails when it comes to design.

A few more little ones that let me take their picture.

Our Christmas Tree

So, this semester has been long and there have been moments I thought I may not survive my first semester of design school.  Needless to say, the Christmas spirit bug didn't bite as hard as he usually does and I've been feeling pretty down on account of my lack of cheer for the holiday season.  My wonderful boyfriend took notice of this and last weekend surprised me with a Christmas tree!  A live one at that!  I rushed off to Pier 1 so we could adorn our tree in cute and whimsical ornaments.  Our apartment feels alive with Christmas spirit now and it was the most perfect surprise for the season.  Thank you very much, Patrick!

Our tree lit up in its corner 

 One of my favorite ornaments... love birds!  

(From Pier 1)

 Another favorite ornament 

(also from Pier 1)

 Cute polar bear ornament!  

(from Anthropologie)

And a homemade decoration for the front door 

(bow ornament from Pier 1)