A moment of Spring

Well folks - this past weekend was be-au-ti-ful!

It was a moment of Spring, in the midst of a long, dark, rainy, cold (for California) Winter.

I even wore a dress (albeit with leggings) on Sunday.

Hubby and I "Spring-cleaned" the house on Saturday. We opened the doors and let some fresh air and light in. Washed the floors, windexed the windows, laundered the sheets, and put away knick-knacks. It was just what I needed to feel organized and calm. Last week was such a bad week at work that I needed a re-affirming weekend. Which included watching Drew Barrymore's directorial debut "Whip It!" So cute. Loved it. Highly recommend it.

Saturday night went to Hubby's company party. Wanted to wear this new black cocktail maternity dress that I got from Target. Ahem - the bust was too big, so I thought that I would just take it in on my own. Where do I start? First problem: black stretch material. Second problem: clear plastic elastic waistband that I didn't know was there and was actually holding the dress together. Third problem: mistakes really showed on this fabric. This was a total disaster.Ii thought of taking a picture and posting it on the FAIL blog, but frankly I was too ashamed (I should have, however, because it's really funny). By the time I had sewed it back together, the center pleat was off to the right about 3 inches (oops!) and my scissors had accidentally sliced a hole into the front of the dress (double oops!).

But, then I remembered that I had a green patterned wrap dress that I bought a few years back at Banana Republic. It actually fit my pregnant body perfectly! Wore it with dark green vintage beads and black tights and black suede booties (a Christmas gift to myself from Nordstroms) and it was quite a nice outfit. So, disaster abated.

Sunday I took Crazy Baby to a play group and Hubby worked tirelessly on the garden. The front yard had dissolved into mushrooms (big, vulgar-looking greasy mushrooms - obviously non-edible) and Hubby tilled the soil to aerate it, gave it some fertilizer to break down all the organic matter and laid down this dark brown mulch (which I quite like - a very modern look). maybe we'll decide to plant something there in the spring - not quite sure yet.

Then Hubby truly surprised me by painting new house numbers on the curb. We were pretty dissatisfied with the way that the numbers looked before and have been meaning to do this for some time.

Hopefully, the paint dried before the before the rains came today. Yes - the California Winter is back, and with a vengeance.

New from Purl

If you haven't shopped at Purl online at purlsoho.com, then you should definitely try it!

The fabrics are beautiful and modern and they deliver very quickly.

They send out email updates and that's how I found out about this new Alexander Henry fabric called "zoo":

I'm going to use it for one of the embroidery hoop wall hangings. I've finally decided to include some (limited) pink in the room - as long as it mixes with green and brown. I want to keep it from looking too precious.

Can't wait for all my embroidery hoops to arrive - I purchased them online in all different sizes. Forgot to purchase an oval one however. Hopefully, this will look good!

Target Love

Most everyone knows of my affection for Target. The guest designers! Dwell Baby! Skincare from Boots!

But what's better than I great knock-off? I scored these shoes that look exactly like Jack Rogers sandals. They're in this really pretty color of golden-silver - it's muted with just the right amount of shine.

And they fit like a dream.

In order to fit into Jack Rogers sandals, your foot has to be an AA width. I know because I've tried them on. My toes spilled over the edge like underbaked bread dough. It was pretty disgusting. That and the fact that Jack Rogers sandals cost upwards of 90 dollars, I think this was an awesome deal.

Can't wait for Spring!!

Little Eskimo Boy

There were a number of crafty-type projects that we wanted to get done before Crazy Baby was born. Considering that during my pregnancy, we both found jobs and moved across country, it was a minor miracle that anything was done at all. I managed to sew a quilt, a wall hanging, some modern bibs, etc. Not bad.

But, one of the projects that was left untouched was this:

This was one of my favorite toys as a child: my eskimo puzzle. Hand carved, made from wood and hand-painted (made in Germany). I loved this thing to death (you can tell by the wear). Sometime during my childhood, the face went missing. Really, really sad.

In later years, no matter how hard I tried I could not remember the face.

That is, until I came across this:
I was randomly blog surfing, when I came across this picture and stopped dead in my tracks. It was my puzzle!! And the face could clearly be seen. I could re-create the piece! I was so excited about this project, but we simply ran out of time before Crazy Baby was born. And then, we just kept "running out of time" because of the house renovation. We could still put the puzzle together for Crazy Baby - but it wouldn't exactly be a challenge for her at this point.

But now, we have another chance! There is a second baby! And all the unfinished projects from the first can be lovingly carried over to the second. Hooray for second chances!

The first step was Hubby setting up his jigsaw and cutting a piece of wood for the face. One problem is that the puzzle wood is a non-standard thickness - so Hubby had to plane the wood down. And he sanded it to a very nice, smooth finish.

Now that I had my missing piece, the ball was in my court to paint it.

I went to Michael's and purchased a bunch of paints in various shades of yellow - both latex and acrylic (Testors model paint). I didn't think it was going to be easy getting a vintage-y yellow color.

But, turned out that the Testors model paint worked the best (left). It was just the right color yellow - with a hint of orange. More of a goldenrod. I didn't even have to mix paint colors.

I painted one coat of the yellow and stopped. I compared it against the yellow in the other pieces. One coat was enough. Two would have been too bright.

Then, I painted the face. Black hair with bangs across, little oval eyes and a jaunty little mouth.

Nice color match!

So, so happy with how it turned out. One last step will be to give the piece a semi-gloss poly coat. The other pieces have a slight shine to them. The poly will also protect it.

What do you all think? Should I repair the hand by filling in the white? I'm thinking I might do it - but yet I know that it would be an unauthentic move. Of course, making a new face was pretty unauthentic of me. :) Opinions appreciated!!

Rebuilding my inspiration book

Not sure if I ever posted about this but I have been building an inspiration book on home and garden for about 15 years. It's just in a plain photo album and a lot of the early pics are cut out of Martha Stewart - but I soon branched out to the NY Times, Wallpaper, Dwell and any other source that inspired me. Now, design blogs inspire me. But, I still like to have things printed out and stored in one photo album - in addition to storing the images on my hard drive.

But, I've been thinking an awful lot about the house addition. Of course, these thoughts have been precipitated by the baby girl that will join our family in June...and the house addition will probably not happen for a few years. So why start now? Frankly, it takes me that long to collect images and digest new ideas. It takes me a feel to know what feeling that I'm going for.

This image below really does it for me. I love all the white punctuated by bright colors like a pop of yellow and green. Perfect backdrop? The grey couch. Folks, I'm teetering back towards a grey couch again. See what I mean? I need time to digest. I think this image came from Apartment Therapy. Sorry, I'm really, really bad about remembering where images have come from.

I also really liked this picture. Don't you just want to sit down on that couch and enjoy the view through those giant windows to the right?? I really would like the family room to take on an atrium affect like this room. And I also really like the ability of people upstairs to look down into the family room, as shown here.

This stock footage is from one of my fav new shows on hgtv - Sarah's House. Sarah Richardson a fab, well-known decorator who has a show completely devoted to renovating her split-level mid-century house room-by-room. Every episode she takes on a different room. And on a budget! I love her style and her humor and her designer sidekick Tommy.

But, I also love these stairs. Very open and modern - but in a mid-century way.

I'm sure there will be more inspiration to come...

Dollies!

Maitreya's hubby cam down for a visit and passed on this lovely handmade gift from Maitreya for Crazy baby.

Dollies!!

Crazy baby loves them, but just as Maitreya had feared, she does occasionally use them as paddles. Oh well.

If you want to find out how Maitreya made them, check out her Craftlog post here.

It's important to love your vegetables...

Love your vegetables? I thought that we were supposed to eat them.

Well, when they look like this you can't help but love them...

My good friend Lenore brought over some handmade goodies that she had sewn for Crazy baby.

These soft, stuffed veggies and fruits:

Unbelievably sweet.

And a book on veggies and fruits to boot (I should show a pic of the book because the drawings are very Eric Carle-like) - that Crazy baby has actually been reading and identifying (only sometimes correctly). She also had made a pink stuffed "D" (Crazy Baby's first initial) with her face iron-transfered onto the middle of the D. It's quite creative and well-done, and something that I'm thinking of hanging on the wall with the fabric embroidery hoops.

What Lenore didn't know is that I also had vegetables and fruit stuffed animals when I was a little girl. My parents bought these for me when we visited Carmel, CA in the mid-70s.

Yes, those really are peas in a zippered pod and slices of orange in a zippered peel.

I treasured these so much that I treated them with great care - which is why they are still in such good condition. Sadly, Crazy Baby does not share in my respect for inanimate objects (or even animate beings).

I plan to have a basket devoted to storing all these wonderful veggies and fruit. But, Crazy baby's room has to undergo some significant rearrangements in order to make room. After the floors get put in...

I've been a bit tired...

Posts with pictures tomorrow - I promise!!

Crazy baby was sick last week. She started off last weekend ok, but then took a turn for the worse on Tues morning with a high fever, bad cough, and a chest infection. She's better now, but there were moments where she coughed so hard, she threw up. Poor little thing!

What else is going on? Well, it's quite cold here. 46˚F during the day! That might sounds down-right balmy to those of you in the Northeast, but it's simply not supposed to get that cold here (especially during the day). The frigid air has lured me into booking a family trip to Maui. beach. blue water. warm air. Can't wait! I even bought a maternity swimsuit!

The cold, dry air has wrecked my skin. Went to the Origin's counter today to purchase a new tinted moisturizer (with spf), eye cream (the skin around the eyes need as much help as they can get), and gentle cleanser. It's been quite a while since I've purchased a product for my face and what I've realized is that I have been using the same products here in CA that I was using on the East Coast. They worked well on the East Coast, but they're just not cutting it here. Hopefully, I'll see a change for the better soon.

Okay folks, pictures of cute stuff tomorrow!!

It's a girl!

We just found out this week that our baby is going to be a girl! We are so excited!

I have to admit that I though that I was going to have a boy. How could I be so wrong? Unlike my other pregnancy, this time I'm experiencing nausea, some hair loss (and I can't afford to lose much), and *ahem* adult acne. Let's just say that I've looked better. Especially during my last pregnancy - I was downright glowing!!

The other reason that I thought it was going to be a boy is because I've lovingly taken care of most of Crazy baby's uber-cute wardrobe. All cleaned, folded and stored away. Part of me thought that I would never be able to use it again and that I should just give it away. But, for some reason, I kept everything. Whew!

Since we currently have a 2-bedroom (yes, we are seriously thinking about expansion - but that is for another post), both girls will be in the same room. How to rearrange? How to make the best use of space? There is going to be some serious reorganization in our near future.

First step: replace the nasty, rough, picked-by-the-seller carpets with hardwood floor to match the hallway. it will allow us to keep the room clean and dust free. And you can wipe up spit-up no problem!

Then, reconsider the use of space on the far wall of Crazy baby's room. The crib should probably go where the dresser currently is, so that it will be close to the changing area.

Then, I'm inspired by this lovely wall of embroidery hoops that was posted on Apartment Therapy. How about for right above the crib?

But then, I would need to find a new place for all of these - possibly on the shelves to the left and right of the crib...

Since this space for a crib is a few inches smaller than most cribs (cribs are HUGE!) - we bought a gently used smaller crib that fits the space perfectly. Can't wait to start rearranging...but everything will have to wait for the new floors to be installed.

A good match

This weekend Hubby and I went searching for hardwood floors. We would like to install wood flooring into the bedrooms, but it has to match the pre-existing floor.

Lumber Liquidators. No match.

Home Depot. No Match.

Golden State Flooring in SF. Match!

You can see that we did pretty well below:

The little sample square of flooring blends in pretty well with our floor beneath it. Same grain too. Our contractor called and was able to get 1/3 knocked off the price. Excellent.

The only downside is that it's not available until mid-Feb.

Can't wait to see it installed.

A piece of my childhood

Hi Folks,

I don't expect for you to get all nostalgic over this...but I found on etsy.com my precious Tommee Tippee cup from my childhood. In perfect condition.

Just one of the many things that my parents threw out.

It comes with the original box. I don't think a child ever used this.

Guess Crazy baby may come to love the Tommee Tippee cup too.

Like a Weeble, it wobbles, but it doesn't fall down (or tip over to spill milk all over the floor like what happened tonight).

First "Spring" purchase of the new year

Don't know why, but I had Spring on my mind today. Probably just misplaced hope.

I felt the need to give in to Spring (or perhaps to bring it on) by making a small purchase: my second pair of Worishofer shoes. This time in red.

Hubby dislikes them, but I love them and all their clunky-ugliness. Plus, my first pair are the most comfortable shoes I own. And clearly, as I move into my third trimester of pregnancy this Spring, I'm going to require comfortable shoes.

I bought my first pair (identical to the ones below) after seeing this picture of someone on the street of Portland on urbanweeds. I have no idea why this picture inspired me so. Maybe it's the way that her jeans meet her shoes. Dunno.

Making way for the toy chest

So, most of the Christmas decorations have been put away.

Yes, maybe I jumped the gun a little early this year, but I just felt the time was right. We had the time and energy and who knows when both those things will be back again!

So, the Christmas cards came down and so did the large and small Christmas tree (all the ornaments were so much fun to put away in these cool ornament organizer boxes).

Making room allowed us to place the toy chest in it's rightful place underneath the display of Crazy baby's books. We bought this chest at IKEA and it has beautifully glossy front doors, just like our kitchen cabinets.

What's really cool about this toy chest (which is actually a credenza used as a toy chest), is that instead of opening from the top, it opens from the side, allowing you to place stuff on top for display or play.

Here's a peek inside one of the doors:
And one of the drawers on the bottom:

And this is how the toy chest fits in with the overall scheme of the room.

I think it goes pretty well.

Wow! Big garage changes afoot...

First up, Hubby cleaned out the corner next to the stairs to make room for a sink (which our contractor will plumb in). Can't wait to have a sink the garage. What's really nice is that this side of the garage abuts the side yard, which is the future site of our vegetable garden. I think we'll be needing a sink with all that planting...

Then he put in more storage to organize paints, and painting materials.

And hung up ladders on hooks:

Organized and labeled his tools bins:

But, the biggest hurdle has been this part of the garage:

Behind these boxes are two IKEA storage units - filled to the brim with stuff that we no longer need. After about 3 days of sorting, Hubby and I took a carload (make that a wagonload) of stuff to the Goodwill to donate (and it was itemized to get a tax deduction).

After we cleared the area, then Hubby could finally put up shelves.

And organize the stuff we're going to keep nice and neat.

However three more problem areas remain: This pile of stuff is in the garage center for the time being...

A massive amount of recycling will be taken to the curb this Tues.

And once again, I need to take all these paints, and other toxic substances down to our local hazardous waste disposal site like I did last year.

We're getting closer to being able to park an actual car in our garage!

Enjoying the view

Jamie just loves to hop on top of the dining room table and enjoy the view of the canyon below.

Looks like he's enjoying his New Year!