Nowhere to nest

Ohhhh friends, nesting. I'm 26 weeks this week, just a couple weeks shy of that third trimester (already!?) and my nesting instincts are in super high alert mode. I tried to ignore it, because after all - we are MOVING soon (I'm the dumbest person for doing this), but last week I couldn't put it off any longer. I sorted through old baby clothes, completely moved everything around in the living room, and we (Mark) cleaned out the fridge. It's not much, but it's all I could do.

I am kind of dying inside that I've put us in this position to move right when I'll be getting tired and won't be able to get things done as quickly. But I keep telling myself that it's much better to be a little tired while moving into a new place than to try and flat hunt with a newborn and toddler and get anything done with the soon-to-be little gang!

I've been so focused on researching neighborhoods and hunting for that perfect unicorn flat that doesn't exist, that I've hardly been thinking of how life will change so soon with a new little baby girl in our arms. Funny, because she kicks all day long, she's a wiggly thing, and Henry always reminds me of the baby - wants to kiss my belly, invite the baby out to play kickball with him, and feel her kick. She's a constant reminder of why I'm working so hard right now to get us all settled and happy before she joins our family.

When we moved into our current flat, we had no idea where we wanted to live, and we only had one day to look at about 15 flats, and less than 24 hours to choose a flat after seeing them. It was a whirlwind of a day. I was looking at old emails I sent our relocation specialist, and I requested we look for flats in: Islington, Clapham, Notting Hill, Highgate, and Fulham. Those neighborhoods are all over the map! We had no idea what we were doing! Now that we've lived here for a year and I've figured out my own routine and abilities as a stay at home mama, I've realized Highgate is a little further away from everything than I want to be. It's easy enough to get on the tube and zoom down to central London, but I find myself wanting to spend more time in the huge (and free!) museums in South Kensington, and it takes us an hour of buses and trains just to get there now. So I'm hoping we can find somewhere with an easy bus ride to museums, close access to parks, and a good family-friendly neighborhood. I basically want to find the Capitol Hill (DC) of London, is that so hard to find? :)

I'm looking in parts of West London, and hopefully we'll find that perfect flat! We've seen four already, and nearly put in an offer on a flat in Ladbroke Grove, but going to hold off for another week just in case something else becomes available. I'm so ready to make this happen, and get my nest on so we can really get ready for baby girl, who doesn't even have a place to sleep or a place in the pram. So much to do!

We have a tree

I finally found a nice fiddle leaf fig tree for our living room. We've had it for about 3 weeks and it's already dying. Thus is the fate of me and my black thumb. If it did not come from IKEA, I cannot keep it alive (what is it with IKEA plants lasting for forever?).

The leaves are drooping, turning brown and falling off, and it is seriously in a sad state. Which is just for the best, I suppose, since these plants are not supposed to be eaten by little babies hands. But we did put it behind the couch*, assuming by the time Henry would be old enough to learn how to crawl back there, he'd be way beyond the age of trying to eat weird stuff. See? I was planning on having this tree for at least 3 years, not just 3 weeks. Shoot.

*I promise the plant is much further from Henry than it appears to be in the photo

goodbye and hello.

our house is a disaster right now. boxes everywhere, picture frames lining the baseboards, furniture dissembled...it's moving weekend!! i cannot wait to go from this...

to this.

and now i can start obsessing over how to arrange our house, and where to put the bridge picture and our coke tin lady, and should the couch face the fireplace or just sit next to it, and should we ditch the TV or not, and where is the best place to buy plants in DC?!

hooray for moves. can't wait to share some pictures of our new digs once we get settled.

ps henry is moving from his bassinet next to our bed to a CRIB in his own room. not sure who will have worse separation anxiety - him or me!

coffee table the 6th.

since we got married just 18 months ago, TH and i have owned five iterations of coffee tables. FIVE. i know. it's ridiculous. i always like the coffee table when i buy it, but when i bring it home it just doesn't look right in our house.

yesterday i bought the 6th and hopefully FINAL coffee table. this is the first time that we both like it. (or maybe TH is so sick of this whole thing he just could not care less.) it's just been really hard to decorate a carpeted living room!

rain boots.

someday i want to own a house with a porch where i can put whatever i want on it. chairs, a record player, or even rain boot planters. feeling dreamy today.

photo by me. in homer, alaska.

money burning holes in our pockets.

TH jokes that everytime we leave the house we spend $500. in all fairness, most of the time we end up taking things back and not really ever spending $500. BUT we have discovered that furnishing a house from nothing is pretty expensive. we've found some good deals, and already rotated 2 rounds of furniture through the house and back out the craigslist door. but last night i think we made some honest progress.

we went to pick up an old mid-century modern desk and it was scribbled all over - it needed to be refinished in a bad way. not about to throw down a lot of money on what will turn out to be a huge project (and would likely never happen anyway). so we scrapped it and went to west elm, bought a rug and a small parsons desk (it's so teeny and cute!) and picked up a bookshelf from another craigslister. and sold some of our furniture last night on craigslist. this post is a commercial for craigslist, i know, but i love me some good deals on old furniture. and i found the cord for our record player last night and i played some rhapsody in blue and danced for TH. i am a graceful dancer, just ask our neighbors beneath us - they probably thought we were having an elephant tap dance. womp womp.

so this saturday we are on the hunt again for some smaller furniture (end tables, nightstands, side chair, etc) and then we can start filling in the holes with accessories. house accessories. i think my sister and i are getting together next week to make curtains for our new houses (they just bought a house in manassas). so, things are moving along. i am happy.

making a house a home is HARD work! i hope we can make it work. i'm tired of clutter.

april.

really? march is over? that was fast.

my mind is all a jumble with renewable energy, home decor, cybersecurity, how to be a wife, budgeting, etc. i'm kind of having trouble getting started. i guess this goes back to me thinking that once i cross something off my list, everything will be so much easier. like when i wanted bangs and a goldfish, and i thought life would be just perfect once i got those things. well i cut bangs and they are ok and i got a goldfish and it died. and i was never that much happier to be honest. i'm so naive, but i thought after the wedding was over and it was just me and TH, things would be so much easier. but life doesn't stop and guess what - it is kind of hard to meld two lives together! i love living with TH and being married, but there are some things that are hard to get used to. like snoring and the exponential daily growth of the laundry pile.

work is crazy, too, and if i can just finish this paper i will be eternally happy and my woes will be no more...you know, until the next big project comes along which is already metaphorically sitting on my lap. i think what i need in my life is a saturday. so...2 days to go. i think i can manage.

ps i have made peace with the brown couch. thanks for your suggestions, especially jay.
pps i am repainting the kitchen. i feel like i need a football jersey every time i walk in, that's how grossly blue it is. maybe something more like this...

This is what exhaustion feels like

I moved.
Well, I KIND of moved. Most of my stuff is in the new house, lying in piles all throughout the spacious abode. But I still have pots and pans and bowls and butter dishes, along with a few other materials in the old apartment. And it's going to stay there until next weekend probably because I just left for a business trip till Friday.
Thats right. I moved yesterday and today I'm sitting in the airport hoping that I packed what I needed...I'm sure I forgot some essentials.

I feel like such a grown-up. I bought my first carry on luggage yesterday! It's actually the first piece of luggage I've purchased that wasn't from the thrift store (and not counting traveling/hiking packs). I threw a couple collared shirts and pants in the suitcase, remembered the swimsuit and zipped up. You should've seen my trying to find everything. It's driving me absolutely bonkers right now thinking of all my stuff lying in piles on the floor of my room and the living room. I hope Iggy doesn't throw all my stuff out and find another roommate while I'm gone! I swear I will clean it up Friday!

My mind is in a million pieces right now. Never move and go on an important trip the day after. I always like to think I'm superwoman, but experiences like this make me think otherwise. I'm also feeling nervous stomach-sickness because of issues stemming from a boy I like. If I let myself, I get so caught up in silly things that don't really matter. I still need that vacation.

Anyway I'm about to go spend the next week in a penthouse suite. Don't be jealous - I'll be lucky if I can get away from meetings to hang out in there. If I do, here's what my time will consist of:
1. Bubble baths
2. Room service
3. Lifetime movies
4. Knitting a scarf
5. Getting in house massages
6. Walking around in the buff

If I get even one out of these 6 items, I will be happy. Even number 6.


Ohhhhh that sounds so nice...

Thoughts on Colors (not the band from USU)

I woke up this morning, facing the wall right next to my bed. I normally sleep on my back and therefore wake up on my back. On occasion I will get a little crazy and sleep on my side, but it is nearly ALWAYS my right side. So waking up this morning was quite unusual facing a wall. The most abnormal part of this was that my first thought was "am I inside an avocado?" We painted one of the walls in the bedroom a few months ago. I've never known what color green to call it, but this morning it was totally avocado green. So...now I know.

The reason that this color description even matters is because I am moving and need a way to describe the color to people in the ad. Do you think Avocado Green sounds enticing? Because the mere thought of being inside an avocado brings me joys unknown.

I'm already thinking of colors to paint my new room. Here's what I have so far:
I really like this red and blue together. Not sure what I would do with it, but it gives me some good ideas for decorating.
This yellow is kind of nice, but just a tad orangey.
I really like grey. This particular color is really nice.
Also like this grey.
What do you guys think? (Cara I am obsessed with the idea of painting a bathroom purplish/blue...also channeling French design.)

Fixer upper

The roommates and I recently decided that we needed a little redesignin in the front room. The front room consists of the kitchen, the dining room and the living room. We felt there needed to be a little more division between the spaces, in order to make a house a home. Or whatever.

Anyway I thought it would be a great idea to turn the table to face the wall and create a little space for dining or studying or using a laptop. The table was in this position for several days and I hadn't seen anyone sitting there. I decided it was time to break it in. I invited Teen Heartthrob over dinner. As you may or may not know, I love to cook and bake. This love has increased greatly due to my recent purchase of the Apron Sent From Above.
So I threw on my apron, whipped up a delicious and simple whole wheat pasta with tomatoes, olive oil and parmesean. I set it down on the Table and invited TH to come over and partake. After surveying the table, he questioned me.

TH: You want me to sit at the table?
Me: Of course. What? You don't want to?
TH: No, no. Umm...I'll sit here.
Me: Good. It's a nice table. I think you'll really enjoy it.

TH sits down and I sit on the couch next to him and begin to read a magazine. Enter Arizona roommate. She surveys the situation and begins to laugh hysterically.

Arizona Roommate: TH, what did you do? Why are you in time out?
Me: He's sitting at our new table!
TH: I don't know why. She hates me.
AR: Ya'll are whack.

Why doesn't he like the table? Why is the table the time out spot? Why do I hate TH?


I don't know.

Let's move on.

Everyone knows that white walls are boring. Being surrounded by white walls is my own personal hell. My alcatraz. So what better way to cure the alcatraz blues then to paint the wall??
I love painting! We decided to tape off some blocks in order to pretend we are avante-garde snobs or something. I don't really even know what that means, but who really cares? Our walls look amazing.
That color is so warm!!
Look how pretty! I think the blocks turned out really cool.


I love home improvement. I should go apply to be a Tool Time Girl.

Me and Iggy

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Lodge, I bid you a fond(ish) farewell. I will miss your large tracks of land, your cold AC on a hot July afternoon, your fireplace marshmallow roasts in midwinter, your lazy deck with the reading couch. But I will not miss your location. Or your absence of counter space in the kitchen. Or broken windows in the sun room.

Are Iggy and I happy to be moving?


Yes.

Are we laughing at those who still have squirrel problems and the closest fun thing to do is to go to the McDonalds across the street?

Well, yes. Yes we are.