enJOY it

around here.

June 12, 2013

Still very much with child. Probably for at least a few more days. But the good news is, the house has never been more clean, or more ready. I have never been more excited. And Paul is so close to walking through our front door. We are getting there. We will get there.

Thank you so much for your sweet words & well wishes these past few weeks. I so appreciate knowing folks are rooting for us. I will be sharing her name and photos on the blog as soon as it makes sense for us, but for more "real time" updates – twitter & instagram are good bets. 😉
we’re almost there.

June 11, 2013
Hooray, hooray…we're almost there.

Tomorrow is my due date. Sometime in the next week, we'll meet this little girl. It feels like it's been forever since we knew there was a baby on the way and it feels like just yesterday that I was wishing for another family member.

I wanted to share today some of my favorite photos from the maternity shoot that I had with the fantastic Tara Whitney last month. Because this was my first pregnancy, I was unprepared for and fascinated by all the body changes – especially in this final trimester. And while FaceTime is awesome, it's been hard having Paul across the globe and not able to celebrate this experience in person with me. Having these photos taken was a way to document this crazy time period for both of us.

And Tara is just magic with the camera.

I have loved being pregnant. Yep. I'm one of those annoying women. But I am also thrilled that soon she'll be out. And here. I'm can't wait to really get a look a this little person who dances in my belly. I feel a bit like I know her and I am so excited to finally introduce her to her dad and my family and friends that love her so much already.

I told Paul a few weeks ago that I had a moment where I realized being sad about him potentially missing the birth is like scheduling a lifelong excursion together and then being sad that we had to take different planes on the first flight. Lame? Yes. How rad and exciting it would (or will be!) to start this adventure together, in the same room, in the same moment. But at the same time, that flight is so minor compared to the full trip. When you're pregnant, it's easy to think about the birth is this huge event that marks the end of it. But, of course, the birth is this huge event that marks the beginning of it.

And the beginning.

Oh, how thrilled I am to be almost to the beginning.

And for the memory keepers or those curious to what I'll do with these photos… One or two might be framed and hung in our master bathroom. Then, I am going to design a book with just photos from this shoot and all the letters I have been writing the baby since I found out I was pregnant. It will be hardbound and if I do it right – awesome. I'll share here once it's made.

All photos by Tara Whitney. Tara, you are the most rad. Thank you for helping me capture this experience. Cannot wait for the shoot with Paul AND the little one.

Other posts you might enjoy:
project life 2013 : week 22.

June 9, 2013

It’s week twenty-two and I love this project.

click the photo to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : May 28 – June 2.

What happened this week? I was home and then some girlfriends came to town for the weekend.

Anything special in the spread? Nothing too exciting… I didn’t have a ton of photos this week. What you see here is pretty much what there was to work with. Some weeks are like that. Other weeks I get to pick and choose.

Techniques this week : I created a little “embellishment” pocket with a Chic Tags tag and some
Kelly Purkey sequins. I sewed the tag into place (right through the
pocket) and sewed the pocket shut to keep the sequins in. On the
backside of the tag I stuck a sticker that will appear in next week’s
spread.

Overall thoughts : Love the color mix this week. It’s screaming summer to me. Also love when a layout comes together so easily.

Ratio of iPhone photos to “real camera” photos : 6 to 4.

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : All Elise. (Paul, come home!)

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Kelly Purkey label sticker, sequins & 3×4 cards, Chic Tags journaling tag.

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project (including anything about the photos)? Check here.
great week.

June 7, 2013

This week marked The End of my alone time.

My mom comes tonight and she'll be here until Paul gets home for leave. And then when Paul's gone again, my mom will come back to help with the baby. And of course… very soon there will be the baby. My new sidekick will make sure alone time is scarce.

It was a quiet last week. I went to Bar Method. Cooked simple meals. Met a friend for dinner. Walked. Played too much Candy Crush on my iPad. Read a bit. Laid on the floor of the bedroom in front of a fan. Got a pedicure and the last of my prenatal massages. Went to bed early. Woke up early. Drank coffee. Chilled.

My last few years have been filled with long pockets of alone time. I can say with certainty that that I have very much enjoyed them, but I am ready for this next adventure and welcome the change.
making me happy.

June 6, 2013

Loving, loving, LOVING the quiet this week. Online. In the house. In my brain. So good. And so appreciated.

I had a few girlfriends in town this past weekend and it was a reminder that I adore having my house full. It's so easy, when alone and decorating, to get caught up in how a space will look. And then when there are people in the space you can begin to reflect on the important part – how it feels. I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving on Saturday night as we wrapped up dinner. The candles were burning. The light was glowing. The outside was dusk. And my table. I fretted over a dining table for three months and I know for sure I could not have chosen a better one.

My robot vacuum. It's not so much the robot that makes me happy, but the clean house it leaves behind. When is the last time you vacuumed for six hours? I can say for sure I have never vacuumed for much longer than six minutes. This dude clears my floors of dust and dirt once a week and each time I marvel over what it was able to accumulate. I finally understand what my parents have been hyping for the past few years and WOW, mom and dad, you were right. (Yep, it goes over all the rugs and doesn't mind the fringe. It also takes a long time to charge so about one whole day to clean my 1750 square foot home.)

A new blog look. Whenever I do a quick blog redesign I always feel like I just lost five pounds or jumped in a cold pool on a hot day. It's refreshing and re-energizing. Simple and clean for summer. Simple and clean for whatever is going to come next here. (Plus, I'm odd, and LOVE playing with web code.)

Feeling completely normal and at peace. I hit 39 weeks on Wednesday and I think this little lady is going to sit tight for awhile. That is more than okay. Life is good on the outside, but I bet it's rad on the inside too. We'll see you when you get here, baby girl.
a tour of baby girl’s room.

June 4, 2013

Welcome to the nursery.

How fun to put this room together. I never thought I'd embrace the pink, but obviously, I went there. It was too fun NOT to. I mentioned this in the pom-pom post, but the "theme" of her room is "hooray! We love you." (The theme of all the other rooms in our house is "hooray! We love plants.")

This is a decent sized room which hopefully means it has plenty of space to grow with her (and the toys and stuff she'll accumulate). So awesome for that. I have shared links throughout this post but as a first time mom, all of these things are just what I hope works for us. I can't even begin to recommend them because I have no idea what will actually work or what the baby will like or what I will think after we start using everything. You kind of have to just dive in and tread water in the beginning so that's what I am planning to do.

Baby girl will be sleeping in our room in a Dream Home baby cot for the first little while. We went with this bassinet because it looked good and the reviews were good. I also like that it's easily portable (we'll travel with it when we go up to Sacramento, etc.).

The crib is by babyletto and choosen because it's gorgeous and again, the reviews were good. The crib sheet is by giggle. We bought this matress & matress cover.
The rug was found at Home Goods. The curtains and curtain rods are Ikea. The gray poof was handmade by my friend Robyn. The knitted blanket was made my me as soon as we knew we were expecting a baby.

The dresser I've talked about endlessly. We are using it as a changing
table (the top drawer holds diapers) and storage for socks, onesies, pjs and tiny striped pants. Her hamper in the closet is from West Elm. This is the changing pad and changing pad cover. We are cloth diapering, but since I have yet to actually do it, I can't share any thoughts on that.

The floor lamp is from Urban Outfitters and the rocking chair has been in Paul's family for ages. I recovered it at the beginning of the year. I made the triangle quilt as soon as I knew she was a girl. The basket is from Home Goods and currently has nothing in it. (I figure blankets, toys, etc. will end up filling it up.) Fun fact, all of the baskets are empty and so is that other side of the closet. Hooray for extra storage.

The bookshelf is from Ikea and 90% of the books on it are from when I was a little girl. My mom is rad and saved all of them so my baby has quite a collection already. The baskets on the shelf are from Target.

The art is an assortment of things I loved and has been shared on the blog before. But just in case, the pengiun print is by Kal Bartestki, the See The World is by December Baby and the giraffe print is from Paper Nut. The small frames (above the dreser) are Ikea and big frames are
Aaron Brothers.

All the toys were purchased because I think they are beautiful. Hardly a reason to buy toys, but really, in this case I went for quality over quantity which is especially fun to do before the baby comes.

Most were found on amazon (play gym, rainbow stacker, car, rainbow object), but that montessori rattle came from etsy and I'm pretty sure that the pink and black ball was handmade (it was a shower gift).

That chalkboard looking art was a free download from Caravan Shoppe. I'm obsessed. I had it printed through Office Depot at 24×36 inches and I slipped it into a black frame I had on hand (purchased at a craft store, I think).

I painted the flamingo and the "you are so loved" art. (It says her name up above but we are waiting to share that until after she's here.) You probably caught the two "E's" in the room already. Yep, she's going to be an "E" like her mama. I love her name and can't wait to try it out on her after delivery. I've never met anyone with this name before so that's sort of magic.

And that's the room. My little girl will live, sleep, play and grow here. OH MAN, I AM SO EXCITED.

many of the photos in this post were taken by my friend Ann-Marie Morris. Thank you so much, Ann-Marie, for capturing the space for me!
project life 2013 : week 21.

June 2, 2013

It's week twenty-one and I love this project. (Heads up … I plan to stay pretty up to date with PL and this update posts until the little one arrives.)

click the photo to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : May 20 – May 27.

What happened this week? I was home, enjoying the new space that was finally good to go. My friend, Ann-Marie, came to visit and was super kind to take some photos of the the house and me in it. Photos this week are, of course, mostly of the house. And lots of bump shots.

Anything special in the spread? This week I got to play around with the stamps I designed for Studio Calico. I used one on almost every 3×4 card.

Techniques this week : Nothing super special. I went with my stamping stand-by and used the triangle stamp over and over to create a pattern on the "EPIC" 3×4 card. Epic is such a hilarious word and it was fun to have a photo that made a joke of it.

Overall thoughts : I am still totally obsessed with this project. BUT MAN, am I excited to have Paul home and baby girl here and this album full of photos of them.

Ratio of iPhone photos to "real camera" photos : 6 to 4.

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : All Elise & 2 (top right) by Ann-Marie.

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Studio Calico 4×6 stamp set, Studio Calico Project Life kit (make something transparency), Freckled Fawn arrow wood chip, Kelly Purkey letter stickers.

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, 5×7 pocket page, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project (including anything about the photos)? Check here.
30 things I want to do in june.

June 1, 2013
Hooray, hooray! We made it. If you've read this blog for more than a year, you know summer is my season. It's my reason. It's my jam. And June always feels like the beginning of the party. Or the pre-party. Which sometimes, depending on who's there, is more fun than the actual party. When we found out baby girl would be coming in June I was thrilled. It made sense why we hadn't gotten pregnant yet; a summer baby is just right with me.

And now it's here. My favorite season, my baby's birth month and all the excitement that comes with. She is "due" right in the middle of the month and I have a list of 30 things (one for each day) I want to do before and after she's here. Every single one of them I am looking forward to. My "have-tos" are completed and my "want-tos" (in no particular order) start now. I'm printing it out and sticking it on my fridge. (Obviously, this is all just for fun – my only real priorities are family bonding time & donuts.)

In June I would absolutely love to :
1. kiss my husband
2. birth my baby
3. take a perfect family photo
4. nap
5. drink a really great beer
6. and a glass of phenomenal red wine
7. go for long lazy walks
8. snuggle my baby (this could really satisfy numbers 3-30)
9. get a massage
10. sit outside after it's dark
11. make nachos
12. eat backyard tomatoes
13. watch the new season of Arrested Development
14. record short movies
15. eat all the watermelon to be found
16. nurse my baby
17. go out for breakfast
18. lay in the shade
19. eat waffles
20. take photos
21. dream about enhancing the backyard with Paul
22. write a letter to the baby girl
23. just write
24. get a pedicure
25. sip good coffee
26. eat a donut with pink sprinkles
27. commit that moment to memory
28. laugh through it
29. breathe through it
30. surrender to it
around here & maternity leave.

May 31, 2013

Such a good week. Progress all around. The little one grew. The to-do list shrunk. The robot vacuum cleaned. The sun shone brightly. The tomatoes turned red. Cannot complain.

This week, the stamp set I designed for Studio Calico became available. This was my first time making an unmounted stamp set and the only direction I was given was that it was for a June add-on. How fun! I love summer, I love June… it was a joy to put together. You can see a few of the stamps in action above and purchase here.

Tomorrow, June 1st, is the start of my approximately eight week maternity leave. During this time there will not be six posts a week appearing at 5 AM PST. There will still be posts this I know. After seven years of blogging, it would be impossible for me to undergo such a major life change without writing, but they will be less editorial calendar-ed and more on the fly. Some of you will love this and some will hate it. I'll lose some readers and I'll gain some readers. So basically, it will be a very average couple of months around here.

I will be taking down paid sidebar advertisers. (Some affliate ads will remain.) I will not be having guest posts, sponsored posts/giveaways or recycling old content. I know that all three can be done successfully, but not by me. Heads up that things might look wonky here today and tomorrow, as I make a few layout changes and freshen things up for summer.

I am embarking on a new & warm season. I don't know exactly where the shop, the blog or my job will be at the end of this break. I welcome that. Paul and I have talked a lot about what's to come and one thing we're thankful for is flexibility. The job that has kept him away for most of this pregnancy is the same reason why I have this time to figure things out. Such an incredible blessing.

As always, thank you for reading. And happy, happy end of May. I look forward to adding my take on motherhood to the wide array of subjects I have covered here since 2005.
favorite finds.

May 30, 2013
I've never been much of a thrift store or Craigslist shopper. I totally envy the folks that are and marvel at the "look what I found!" photos on their blogs and Instagram feeds. It's such an artform, and something I didn't know if I'd have the patience for.

Turns out, I sort of do. I started searching Craigslist right after we knew we'd be getting our San Diego house because I knew I would need and want different furniture to fill it. So far, I have only found one big piece, the chair I shared earlier this week (which isn't vintage so much as awesome).

Craigslist is a beast. It's overwhelming and you have to look through loads of junk to find the gems. I found this post from Emily Henderson super inspiring and helpful. When I am looking, I search specific things like "wood dining table" or "bookshelf" or "bench." I also search "fiddle leaf fig" almost daily as well as "indoor tree" because I have my fingers crossed someone is going to need to move across the country and want to sell their giant plants for cheap. "Mid century" is also a frequently searched term, but there is always an insane amount of junk and $1700 coffee tables to wade through. This general search term is how I found my plant stand, art, candlesticks and mirror though – so I think my three months of casual browsing have been worth it.

I am very careful with Craigslist and don't make plans to go and pick up something unless I have someone with me. I negotiate the price in advance and bring cash. You can sometimes tell by the photos and way the listing is phrased if this is a legit situation or something not worth wasting time on. And of course if anything about the correspondence feels off, I don't even consider making the purchase.

When I feel like driving around and looking, I like to visit some of the used furniture stores in the San Diego area. Not all are awesome. Not all are even close to affordable. But many are so fun to wander through. I spent a lot of time on yelp when I first got here, figuring out what stores might be worth dropping in on (turns out they almost all are and I have many more I'd like to visit). Below are I have enjoyed and recommend so far :
- Stuff (where I found the dresser for the baby's room)
- Mid-Century Design (where I found my huge black and white rug)
- The Atomic Bazaar (last time I went during the week it was closed unless you called and set up an appointment, but they had cool big pieces the first time I went)
- Rusty Gold (this is a quirky shop located in a residential neighborhood that fills two shipping containers – they have a blog with photos of new pieces)
- a stroll down India Street in Little Italy is worth it too. There are a few used shops and a few normal stores. The deals are not great, but it's totally fun to window-shop and you never know… we bought our white trunk at India Street Antiques two years ago when we lived here.
I have started visiting local Goodwills and my favorite (and only!) finds so far have been a wooden elephant for the baby's room, a woven basket for the indoor tree I have let to find and two ceramic mugs. Not huge scores, by any means, but under $10 total so that's a win.

My biggest thing when I am searching online or sifting through things in person is to not let the "deal" or perceived deal cloud my judgement and therefore accidentally end up buying crap. I am constantly asking myself :
- Do I know where this will go in my house?
- Do I love it more than what I already have?
- Is whatever I am looking at equal or better to everything else I already own?
- Would I pay twice as much for it?
- Have I ever seen anything like it?
In general, if I have to stop and think too hard about it, it's not the right fit. But if I can answer yes, yes, yes, yes and no to the above questions it's usually something I should jump on. I'm not yet great at scoring the BEST deals in the world, but I am pretty good at being realistic about what's good and what's bad and leaving the store empty handed.

I'm still such a newbie at this, but I'm enjoying the hunt so much. I love my collected treasures.