The nursery that launched 1,000 nurseries.

If you used to read Domino (or if you obsessively re-read your old copies like some people might---that's not weird, right?) then you are surely familiar with this:

Obsessed. Especially with the fact that the designer (whose name has completely escaped me at the moment) was bold enough to use bright pink carpet squares in her baby boy's room. Allen would be appalled if I tried that, as would probably most other people in my life. But I LOVE it.

Anyway---I also love the giraffe on the wall. How fun is that? Especially against the baby blue walls?

The company name is Inke, and they have many different wallpaper silhouettes for purchase, including an elephant, a monkey and the Town Musicians of Bremen. If you don't know what I'm referring to, get thyself to wikipedia stat. You missed a very important fairy tale in your childhood and need to remedy that immediately.

Back to the point of this post: I think Baby Boy A needs one of these.

I was thinking about this tree, which is as tall as the wall:

Here's what a similar one looks like in a room:

But now that I just got all high and mighty about the Town Musicians, I'm thinking that might be better.

Not exactly, and probably not the right color, but you get the point.

And for those of you who don't, the animals are supposed to be standing on top of each other.

Peekaboo.

We all love Lonny, but have you checked out Peekaboo? It's an awesome online pub from Australia that focuses on kids...their rooms, their clothes, etc.

Admittedly, some of the product is not available in the States. And also admittedly, all of the product is not relevant for people not on the hunt for cute things for kids...

But it's a good resource, regardless!!

Now if only these pubs came in the mail...as much as I love them, there is something so satisfying about ripping tear sheets from an actual magazine and then filing the volumes away for future use...

Baby blue

That's right...it's a little boy!! Long story short: I tumbled down a few stairs at work on Friday afternoon (NOTE: I am the clumsiest pregnant woman ever. It's getting ridiculous.) and decided I should probably go to the dr's office to make sure everything was ok.  

She listened to the heartbeat and sent me for a sonogram...everything is fine! He's a resilient little guy.  I watched the screen like a hawk and when it came time to check to see if "it" was a he or a she, even I could tell that our little baby was a sweet little boy.  Let's just say he's not very modest. 

Honestly, I was shocked. I had completely convinced myself that we were having a little girl, and so now it's back to the drawing board with nursery design, etc.  But I'm so excited...especially since boys are supposed to love their momma's the most. :)  

Tile Help

Blogfriends, I need your help.

Has anyone used either the 3X6 American Olean subway tile from Lowe's or the Rittenhouse 3X6 Semi-Gloss subway tile available at Home Depot? Any thoughts, preferences, etc?

Any recommendations on the best 2 inch hex tile? I think we're going with white on that, too...unless anyone has any thoughts on carerra that's reasonably priced. And no square spacers between the tile--just the hexagons.

Also, I'm thinking 1/16" spacing and Maipai Silver grout.

Your brilliance and insight would be most appreciated!!

Twilight is really, really scary.

Ok, I know I'm about 3 years behind the whole Twilight trend. I've been avoiding it...

Actually, that's not true. I tried to read the book about 4 times, and each time, I ended up putting it down. My fanatical friends told me to wait to get to "the meadow scene"---I'd for sure fall for Edward by then and be completely hooked.

Then I got to the meadow scene. And I still didn't get it.

Because here's the thing: vampires scare the *%@$ out of me. Even nice, cute ones who are vegetarians and whose skin sparkles like diamonds in the sunshine.

So last weekend, I decided to try the movie instead...even though I've never, ever liked a movie more than the book version. But maybe if I was staring at Robert Pattison instead of envisioning this scary vampire in my head, I'd get more into it.

Because Edward Cullen is really hot. (I know, duh.) And my sister in law is right, the way he talks to and looks at Bella is captivating.

And actually, I was kind of enjoying it. Until another meadow scene.

This one involving a baseball game. 

 

And the scary tracker vampire. 

By the time he got to Bella's mom's house, I had to turn it off.

And the tracker has been visiting me in my dreams ever since.

My vivid, unreal, wake up thinking "omg, was that real?" pregnant dreams.

And in my dreams, he is tracking my unborn child.

So, I've decided that Edward and I are not meant to be. It's not you...it's me. And the fact that now I'm laying awake at night, wondering if vampires really could exist.

I know that's absurd. But it's still scary.

SIDE NOTE: While we're talking about movies, let's talk about my girl crush, Kate.

I'm really, really sad about her divorce. I sort of feel like it's an actual friend of mine splitting up with their forever person.  I mentioned this at work yesterday and everyone in my pod looked at me like I had 3 heads.

I mean, what?? That's totally normal, right?

Riiiiight.

Happy Spring!

Ignore the snow Dallas received over the weekend...Spring is here! And hopefully here to stay.

Yay to dining al fresco, as this oldie but goodie from Domino inspires me to do!

Happy St. Patty's Day

May you all find the pot of gold. 




Best news story EVER.

Controversy ahead.

I'm about to make a very controversial statement.

I heart Gywneth Paltrow. LOVE HER. Almost as much as I love Kate Winslet.

You don't think that's controversial? Neither did I. Until I mentioned it in a meeting with several other people and the reaction I got was out of control.

Seriously. Try it. You'll see.

Apparently you either really dig her...or you really don't.

But I'm Team Gwyn. I read every Goop newsletter that comes out, even the weird ones, and I've even made some of the recipes, etc.

Today she was talking about fashion. I love that part of Gwyneth, too. Girl wears some risky things sometime, but she looks amazing at least 90% of the time. Whereas, if I wore most of the thing she did, I would look like a circus freak.

But today...well, I'm not sure what to say about today.

Head to today's GOOP to check this out.

Specifically, I'm talking about the skinny cargos she has on.

Ok. G.P has a ROCKIN' body. If anyone could wear skinny pants that add bulk to your thighs (a place most of us are trying to minimize), she could.

But they don't quite work.

Which leads me to this:

Please, God, do NOT make skinny cargo pants the look for 2011. It's just not fair.

And now, I'll stop being completely superficial and go back to praying for meaningful things, like the people in Haiti and Chile and that my unborn child is growing healthily.

A little color to light up your Friday.

I've talked about Leland before...a perfect little place in northern Michigan, settled right between crystal clear Lake Leelanau and the turquoise waters of Lake Michigan.

image via www.lelandreport.com

And to those of you who think I'm embellishing how unbelievably beautiful it is, I challenge you to spend a weekend there and not be completely smitten. Just ask Allen---the first time he ever traveled there with me, our flight from DC was canceled and we couldn't get out until the next morning. Upon learning this news, I promptly broke out in tears in the middle of the terminal, which is very out of character for me.

He may disagree, of course.

Anywho--after looking at me with a completely befuddled look on his face, he picked up my suitcase, and we went home.

The next morning, after finally landing at Cherry Capitol Airport and driving the 45 mins to my grandmother's cottage on Lake Leelanau, he looked at me again and said, "Ok. I get why you were so upset."

VICTORY!  I am not just an emotional basket case!!

Back to the point--

One of the best things about Leland is the sheer number of talented artists the community attracts...my grandmother, Eloise Fahs, among them.

This photograph was taken when Grams was in high school...isn't it just so elegant and beautiful? LOVE her.

Another artist whose work I can't get enough of in Leland is Brenda J. Clark, of Brenda J. Clark Gallery.     

When we're in Leland, I always stop at the gallery to check out her latest work...to me, her use of bold and bright color is such a reflection of the vibrancy of the area.

A few favorites:

Someday, I hope to have one (or many!)  of Brenda's wonderful paintings hanging in our home, bringing my favorite place in the world just that much closer 365 days a year.

Happy Friday, blogfriends!

Adventures in applications.

WARNING: This is a baby related post.  I am trying not to turn this into a blog all about my baby, but sometimes, there will be things related to the lil' bit and not at all related to home design, decor, etc. This is one of those times. 

Over the past few weeks, I've spent some time gathering applications to local programs, like Mother's Day Out and all-day care for infants, and have also been calling pediatricians to set up pre-natal consults.

May I first say that this feels completely odd.

I am not showing (to other people--I think I look gigantic).

Also, I'm only 14 weeks pregnant...barely a third of the way there.

But apparently you have to get on waiting lists for pre-natal appointments. And applications for "school" programs for infants are due many, many months before they are born. In some cases, before they are conceived.

Many of these programs require a lot of information... like the sex of the child, the name of the child, etc...all things that are difficult to know when registration for 2011 is December 2009 or January of 2010 and your baby isn't due until September of '10.

But today, I experienced what has to be the most bizarre requirement on the planet.

One school, which will remain unnamed, required "examples of work" from my child. Which makes no sense because a) my child is in utero and b) even if my child weren't in utero, he/she will be a tiny baby, so I'm not sure where we would get an example of his/her work.

So, I called the admissions office. And here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hi. I'm working on an admissions application and had a quick question--is your example of work requirement for the infant class, as well?
Receptionist: Yes.
Me: Oh. Um. Ok. Well, my child isn't born yet---I'm not due until September.
R: Well, in that case, it's not required.
Me: Oh, great! I was concerned, because I wasn't quite sure what we would submit, and I'm already late for the application process, but unfortunately, I didn't know I was pregnant last December when applications were due so I feel a little behind the ball...
R (interrupting me): You are late. We'd only be evaluating your application for a possible spot on the waiting list.
Me: I understand.
R: Back to the requirements. You'll need to submit work product for the 2 year old Pre-K class. I would encourage you to sign up for that as soon as possible. Classes usually fill up a year and a half in  advance.
Me: So, I'll need to show work product at application time, or work product closer to when the child is 2?
R: At application.
Me: So, from my 6 month old.
R: Yes.
Me: Ok. Um...could you please give me an example of work product parents submit?
R: Anything from their previous school.
Me: Ok! Thanks for your time. Bye-ee!

And I promptly through that application in the trash.

Brighter note: I got a pre-natal consult! With the 4th pediatrician I tried. Yay! My child will have medical care!

Apologies

For my super whiny post earlier! I feel awful for being such a baby about my disappointment over a silly thing like a water heater. I should be counting the blessings in my life!  I'm going to chalk it up to the massive amounts of hormones surging through my body and try not to let it happen again.

And hey, worst case scenario, I'll just fill the tub with microwaved water when it's time to take a bath, right??

Kidding.

Positive thought.

There's power in it, right?

It's a rainy Monday, my pants are about thisclose to going from the "I can still wear these, but wow, that's not comfy" to "OMG the waistband on my (formerly too big) pants is cutting off circulation to my entire lower body", and the third estimate on our bathroom/hot water heater remodel came back higher than anticipated.

I think I need to set this as my screen saver:

The bathroom is in pretty rough shape, so we need to do something about it STAT. Allen  agrees, but I think I'm going to have to trade subway tile for bead board on the bathroom walls, skip the frame-less shower and kiss my vintage-look fixtures and medicine cabinet goodbye. A total bummer, since those were things I was REALLY looking forward to and that make a significant difference on the esthetic of the room.

 The other thing I think we're going to have to lose? Our tankless water heater (sob), and as a byproduct, the new closet that our tankless hot water heater was going to provide.

While I'm really bummed about the loss of new storage, I'm really more sad about the loss of unlimited hot water, especially with the lil' bit coming in September. As it currently stands, we have a hot water deficit at our house...for instance, if you run a load of laundry, you have to wait 30-60 mins before you'll be able to get hot water anywhere else in the house.  Including out of the tap. Which led to me heating the water for the neti pot (I'm sick and can't take any cold medication, so that seems to be my only option) in the microwave.

You can see why I might be just the teeniest bit worried about what we're going to do when we're running multiple loads of laundry a day.

But there's nothing I can really do to solve that problem. SO, I'm focusing on what I can fix--and that seems to be the storage issue.

SOLUTION 1:

Add a skirt to the console table in the family room and hide my sewing machine, fabric, etc under it, a la this fabulousness from Little Green Notebook:

That means, of course, that I'm going to have to find a place for the magazines that currently live on the bottom shelf of the console table.

SOLUTION 2:

This is a peek at the craft storage in the room that is going to be the nursery. Original plan was that this would move into the new closet. Some of this, admittedly, can be condensed...but I hate to throw any of it away. Seems like such a waste! It needs to find a new home (along with the magazines mentioned above).

This is half of the built in storage in our family room. The cupboards currently house books, photo albums, serving pieces that don't have a place to live in the kitchen, and many, many movies. That we don't watch. Because we don't have a VCR and they are VHS. 

Obvious solution here: take the tapes to Half Priced Books.  Find a place for the books in the bookshelf. Take the remaining ones to Half Priced Books or condense to one side of one cabinet.  Use the other half to store design magazines,  throwing away the ones I've already ripped tear sheets from, etc.

That leaves one entire cabinet for the rest of my craft supplies?

SOLUTION 3:

Figure out how to better use the cabinet underneath the telephone nook.

DISCLAIMER: that is not our statue. This picture was taken when we toured the house for the first time.

It's not a ton of space, but it's enough to make a difference.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, blogfriends. I'm feeling a little bummed about this. Shouldn't the nesting instinct be settling in by now? :)

My eyes are bleeding.

Come ON.  Just when I didn't think Jake the Bachelor couldn't get any worse, E! runs this photo. Vienna obviously figured out how to highlight all of her hair,  not just the bottom 12 inches---but what the HECK is he wearing?!?  

Dude, you are in L.A. It's not cold there. You don't need to wear a turtleneck. Also, attaching your blackberry to your front pocket is NOT cooler than attaching it to your belt.  It is potentially worse.  Just an FYI.

Side bar: is it just me, or is this the most awkward photograph ever? 

Fancy.

A few years ago, my friend Susan gave me these fabulous little cocktail napkins that said, "Damn, I'm fancy."

I love them. They are the cutest.

This morning, I was thinking about my new bathroom (!!!!!), specifically about hardware and lighting. The hardware I want is ridiculously expensive, so I need to start digging to get the look for less. But lighting, on the other hand, has my head spinning.

Because....I think I want a chandy in my bathroom. Scratch that. I NEED a chandelier in my bathroom. Because, as Susan so cleverly pointed out, I am fancy.

Ok, not really.

But I still need a chandelier..and here's the proof:

 

via www.apartmenttherapy.com

  

via www.suburbanbeats.com

  

via www.poetichome.com

 So, I've been doing a bit of research, and here are the front runners:

It's little, but it's cute.

Not sure why this is showing peachy, but I think it's white in real life.

But I'm really leaning toward this darling little pagoda:

With these little blue Kaarskoker sleeves?

SO excited.

Close to impossible.

Time for part 2 of adventures in jointly decorating, by Hannah and Allen.

When we left you last, I was having a conniption fit about The Beast, and was attempting to reconfigure my husband's man room to suit his style, just....less full.

It wasn't easy, folks. To be honest, I'm still not in love. But it's getting there, slowly but surely.

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for...

See the Beast??! It's in the man room!!! Hallelujah!!

Basically, the furniture had to stay, as did the many collections. But we made them a little more attractive---placed the golf balls in a vintage apothecary jar from Allen's G-Daddy's house, and placed the campaign buttons in a shadow box in a more subtle location...on top of the secretary. I'm a horrible photographer. but what you can't see in these photographs is how much more space we have now. It's SO much less cluttered.

And now to something more fun....

Aaaahhh!! I love them! I would post pics of the entire family room so you can see how great they look in context, but it's a mess, so I'll have to do a little cleaning/photographing this weekend. 

Final thought...you may have noticed that the dog butler is still in the bedroom. I've come to the sad conclusion that he's not going anywhere, so we just need to learn how to live harmoniously. 

And Allen IS so happy with his two dogs...

Tilly, on the other hand, is obviously Team Mommy.

Martha, Martha, Martha.

Last weekend, I went to Home Depot. Just to look around. Window shop, if you will.

I wanted to look at fixtures for our upcoming remodeling project...I  know exactly what I want, but I'm attempting to find them at a lower price.

But I became completely distracted when I realized that the Home Depot on Lemmon in Dallas had Martha Stewart's new paint line.

Now, I've followed her line since it was at Sherwin Williams, which was years ago. The colors are gorgeous, rich and reliable. And now, they are low-VOC, which is important to me.

So if you haven't headed to your local Home Depot yet---check it out. You won't be disappointed...promise!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

...To bring you what might be the most challenging project of my life....my husband's "man room."

We call it his room because it's where all of the furniture he brought into our marriage lives. Not because we have separate bedrooms. It's actually the guest room, but since I've decorated the rest of our home, he needs space for his many leather bound books and rich mahogany. 
And yes, that was an Anchorman reference.

Back to the matter at hand...the room.

 

There is so much about this room that drives me absolutely crazy. Not the least of which is the fact that the bedding (not his choice, but the only other duvet set that we own) IS ALWAYS WRINKLED, regardless of whether I've just spent 45 minutes ironing every little part of it or not.

But perhaps I've focused on the wrinkled bedding because otherwise I'd have to focus on the fact that there is more furniture in this room alone than in the rest of our entire home. Seriously.

The  real challenge? The fact that this is his stuff. His match, golf ball and presidential campaign pin collections....his marathon and half marathon medals....his never ending files....his plaster dog, Sir Hawthorne....his framed pics from sophomore year.

Yes, I said plaster dog. With a name. You didn't think I was going to skim over that, did you?

All of it is important to him. I completely get that, and I want him to be surrounded by it.  It is, of course, his home too.  But I've long thought that there HAD to be a way that we could organize it so that he still loves the room, and I don't feel the compulsive need to shut the door every time I walk past.

And then...we got the call.

My chairs were done.

You know, my Chaing Mai Dragon chairs?

And suddenly, we were faced with a problem:

The Beast.

My arch nemesis.

A squatter in the rightful home of my beautiful, perfect chairs.

And that, combined with a nesting urge that has taken over for the nausea, presented a really. serious. problem.

(To be continued...)