Loose ends

Can it be? Posts, on this abandoned blog, two days in a row? Indeed. I've had a few people ask about projects that I mentioned and then left hanging while I disappeared into the baby ether. First, our fantastic tile backsplash that the even more fantastic Meryl and Chris from Picardy Project helped us with during their Renovation Road Trip. When they left, the tile was all installed but still needed to be grouted. Brandon and I finished that up the next day, and then I actually did try to take photos for the blog, and they all came out crappy. So I tried again today, and... still crappy. I don't know why this is so hard to photograph, but in person it is so pretty that I just want to kiss it.

The photos make it look a bit washed out, but in reality there is tons of subtle and beautiful shading in the marble. It works so well with the dark counter, white cabinets, and stainless appliances. It really ties the room together. I seriously sit in the living room and smile at the backsplash... what, is that weird?

Oh, and here's what happens when I am trying to take photos while B is in the kitchen, and I ask him to move:

We still see you.

Anyway, the hugest thanks again to Meryl and Chris for their help with this project. It is one of those things I probably never would have gotten to without some extra motivation, which they are never short on. Seriously, the energy those two have boggles my mind... especially considering Meryl was secretly pregnant during their visit here! We can't wait to meet the sure-to-be-awesome Cashew.

Speaking of babies, loose end #2 is Millie's nursery! When last we spoke of this room, we had some paint swatches on the wall and some kickass artwork. Turns out you need a few more items to take care of a baby... like a crib, changing table, and rocking chair, for starters. Plus storage, because this teeny little room has no closet.

But first, we had to finish painting - and ideally before it became too hazardous for me to cut in around the 12' high angled ceiling. We ended up going with a Goldilocks color... what's that, you ask? Well recall that I was whining that Benjamin Moore's Sweet Orange was too bright, but Yellow Haze was too subtle... so the friendly paint store guys mixed something halfway in between that was juuuuust right.

It is bright and cheerful, but not crazy psychadelic. Millie already seems to perk up and look around when she's in there, so I think she approves.

We scored a great deal on this crib on Craigslist. It was a barely used Babyletto crib (this model, if you're curious), and even better, came with a shwanky organic crib mattress made of angel tears and unicorn farts lambswool, coconut fiber, and natural latex. So far Millie is still sleeping in our room, though, so the crib is serving as a great storage facility for cloth diapers.

We needed a teeny little glider for our teeny little room, so I was happy when I found the one pictured above (another Babyletto product, the Madison Swivel Glider in slate). It is really comfy for nursing and rocking, but I wouldn't recommend it for super tall folks. I got the footstool (with storage) on Amazon. I can go back and find out where it's from if anyone cares, but I'm afraid I'll be terrified by the amount of cr@p I've ordered on Amazon since then, so I'm going to hold off on doing that.

Here's the "changing table," actually just an IKEA Hemnes dresser. Millie used to hate diaper changes, but she's reconsidered her position and now thinks this is the most awesome place ever. We frequently have "happy changing table time," which involves lots of leg kicking, squealing, and grinning. Cutest thing ever.

(Some of my long-time buddies will recognize the polar bear picture on the wall in the photo above - it's good old Kobe, from the Roger Williams Park Zoo, subject of the undergrad research project that set me on the road to grad school! Also a super adorable picture.)

Speaking of artwork, here are the paintings I posted about before, in situ over the crib. Love them!

And here's the other side of the room, where we have an antique armoire that we already owned, and the IKEA Hemnes bookshelf.

We got blackout shades from Select Blinds. We've been really happy with them - they were easy to install, and really do block a ton of light. Plus, I was somewhat irrationally happy to find the perfect colors to match the orange walls and turquoise accents. Because I'm a dork.

I think there was something else I was going to write about here, but I'm on borrowed time because Millie has been sleeping over two and a half hours! Let me know in the comments if there's anything interesting I forgot about.

Oh hi, I'm adorable.

My friends are talented and awesome

Do you guys remember my friend Corey and his amazing Turtle House painting? Well, in the spirit of nursery-related news and bragging about how awesome my friends are, I had to share my latest art acquisition. These four panels (each about 10"x10") were featured in a show Corey did in Columbus.

But sorry to the poor suckas who saw them at the show, because THEY WERE ALREADY SOLD. That's right, I got an inside line on the awesomeness that is these paintings and I snapped them up right quick. When I first saw them, I thought "must go in nursery!!!!" (with four exclamation points). Then I immediately started to feel bad, like I shouldn't put them up there because then no one will ever see them, and maybe they should be somewhere on the main floor of the house to be properly appreciated? But won't Cletus love them, and wouldn't they be such a perfect accompaniment to snuggling and reading Darwin at bedtime??

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

(Cletus, apologies in advance for sealing your fate as a complete and total nerd. Middle school is gonna be rough.)

So, you guys all have to pinky-swear promise that when you come over after Cletus is here, you'll be all "OH CAN I PLEASE SEE THE NURSERY" even if you think mobile's a city in Alabama and cribs is a show on MTV. Because then I won't feel bad about wasting these super awesome pieces of art on a tiny human who is going to spend the vast majority of his/her time sleeping, eating, pooping, and admiring the amazingness that is having TOES attached to your FOOT. OMG.



(I mean, I am also glad to have toes.)

Well well, what have we here?

Dang, it's been so long since I've posted that Blogger went and completely changed the layout of the "new post" screen... I feel so disoriented... where am I? Who are you? And what's with all this paint on the wall?

This is the upstairs spare room, a.k.a. snake-and-guitar room, a.k.a. random junk room, a.k.a.... nursery?!?! Yep, the rumors are true, I am officially parasitized.

But ain't it cute? I mean, except in that top right pic, that is some straight-up alien sh!t right there.

Cletus The Fetus will be arriving (and most likely renamed) on or around January 22, 2013. We are going to find out the sex (hopefully in early September, if Cletus cooperates), but we are definitely forgoing the pink-or-blue color selection for the nursery. In fact, B ruled out the blues in the pic above (L to R: Crystal Blue, Tranquil Blue, and Icy Blue, all Benjamin Moore and all left over from our frenetic whole-house paint selections last year) on the grounds that JUST IN CASE Cletus is a boy, he can't have a blue nursery, too gender-normative thankyouverymuch.

I love green in theory, but we have so much greeny-yellow (Summer Lime) going on everywhere else in the house that all of the greens looked a little clashy from the hallway. So call me crazy, but orange it is. I have a somewhat long-standing obsession with partiality to orange home decor, so this isn't really that shocking. That said, I also don't want a color that will glow in the dark (I hear getting babies to sleep at night is recommended if possible), and a couple of these were just too bright.

Nacho Cheese (L) (I REALLY REALLY WANTED TO BE ABLE TO SAY I PAINTED THE NURSERY "NACHO CHEESE"... SOB) and Sweet Orange (R). These colors do not look as psychadelic in real life as they do in this crappy cell-phone picture, but they were still pretty bright (and would probably be overwhelming in larger quantities).

These are the colors one shade lighter than each of the ones mentioned above - Yellow Haze (L) and Morning Sunshine (R). I think something in this ballpark will work better given the very tall expanse of wall we have going on in this room. They look pretty washed-out here (again, crappy cell phone photos, sorry, have been meaning to buy camera batteries for ~2 months) but in real life they are still bright and cheerful without being ker-azy.

I really thought Morning Sunshine would be the winner based on the paint chip (OK, and the name), but in person it's a little banana-y, and I wanted creamsicle. If that makes sense. Humor me, I'm pregnant. So anyway, I think Yellow Haze is the one, despite having the least cool name

And so ends today's poorly-illustrated tale of paint selections and knocked-up-edness, and proof that YES I still know how to type, it's just so haaaaaard to fit in between eating pickles and taking naps.

Oh, plus I owe you all an update to the dining room table saga that you probably don't recall from three months ago. And when I say "saga," I mean that the current "table" is still a discarded door (complete with knob, for extra class) perched on two sawhorses. Because we're fancy.