Monthly Archives: March 2010

Wren’s Nest

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Happy Spring to you, dear readers! After two weeks of sunny afternoons, 50 and flip-flop sightings, we’re back to 32 and a bit too cloudy on the first official day of Spring. Aaah, Mother Nature, how you love to keep us on our toes. Or curled up in a ball on the couch.

How was your last week of winter? Time zoomed right by in our nest. When I wasn’t taking care of my little birdie, I was focused on ridding 605 of Cabbage Smell and happily finishing Wren’s nest upstairs. It’s been a year and we spend a lot of time in that room (at all hours of the day and night). Please tell me that the following scenario also happens in your nest? You mean to get around to doing something about that dresser (insert your item/nook here) and it nags at you for a while. Then time passes and you just get used to it being in the same old shape/place/state of disarray. You look at it every day and it doesn’t phase you after a while. Then one day it hits you. You just can’t take looking at it anymore! One more day cannot pass. Arrghhh. Impatience and aggravation set in. Must. Do. It. NOW. Oh, human nature, you’re just as odd  and beguiling as Mother Nature.

I don’t know about you, but I often need a bit (or A LOT will do too) of external motivation to get me going on something from time to time. Deadlines imposed by someone else are really wonderful. It’s true, I am not an island. So when I heard about the Dwell Studio “How You Dwell” contest, it was just what this Mamma was looking for. Simply take a picture of their products in your home, e-mail them in and they’ll post them on their Facebook page. The photos with the most ‘likes’ by next Friday wins a $1000 shopping spree. Yahoo! Now that’s what I call a good kick in the ass. Insert shameless plug here. Dear readers, please ‘friend’ Dwell Studio on Facebook and vote for Wren’s Nest next week when the voting begins! Did I say “please?” And thank you in advance.

Soooo… here’s the photo tour of Wren’s Nest for you to peruse.

Demolition is fun.

Now doesn’t that look like a space you’d let your newborn sleep and play…? We decided to repaint everything and refinish the floors so things were looking up for our little birdie.

Then we acquired an old dresser from Grandpa Tom. I decided to have some fun with it so I painted the drawer fronts–you guessed it–orange and put in cute-as-a-button green drawer liner. In progress here…

And after a bit more sprucing up and “derranging” as we like to call it… the dresser is finished, things are finally hung and the nest is (mostly) complete. Just in time for Wren’s new phase of development: destruction!

Wren’s Nest Now!

Wren likes her nest so much that she wakes up every 2-3 hours all night long just to see it…

Thanks for touring Wren’s Nest today, dear readers. I hope you enjoyed it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Any big plans (fun pagan rituals?) to celebrate the arrival of Spring? Best!

P.S. Big thanks to Dwell Studio (glider, crib sheets, etc…) Don’t forget to ‘friend’ them and vote!




Hollow or solid?

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Top of the mornin’ to ya! Have you consumed anything green yet? We’re having this for dinner. Pretty traditional and super easy. So this mamma says “why not?” Thank you again, Uncle Fester, for making dinner while I take care of my little birdie.

Speaking (err, writing) of food, this consumer tries not to be too swayed by the mountains of Easter candy at the stores, but nonetheless I’ve got The Bunny on the brain. I’ve restrained myself and haven’t consumed any pastel eggs yet. *Yet* being the operative word. But I’m working really hard to resist celebrating the upcoming holiday so early that by the time the actual day arrives, I’m so sick of it I can’t even squeeze in another chocolate egg or bunny-shaped cookie. But I don’t get sick of looking at cute Easter/springy things… do you? I can’t decide which of these t-shirts I like better. Aren’t they darling?

Back to food. What’s your favorite Easter candy? I admit to loving black jelly beans, but I wouldn’t say they’re my absolute favorite. I love it all! Maybe it’s the pretty foiled eggs, or maybe it’s just that almost everything is egg-shaped and it’s such a simple, lovely shape.

But most importantly, dear readers, do you prefer a solid bunny or a hollow bunny? Me? Hollow. The solid ones hurt my teeth.

Boy, was this ever a thought-provoking post. More ruminations on Easter candy in future posts, I promise…

springtime nesting!

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Happy Ides of March!? Will you celebrate this festive day with a toga run like they do in the streets of Rome? I’m not so sure that celebrating Mars, the Roman god of war, is a great idea. Did you know that Mars used to be the Roman god of fertility and vegetation? What does that say about the state of humanity that fertility and vegetation got usurped by war when things turned more violent as the folks got greedier and the Roman Empire began to expand? Damn humans.

The Ides of March for me means the anniversary of beginning the nesting process at 605. It’s been a year, yahoo! And what a year it’s been. We are just beginning to feel that the house we live in is our home.

To celebrate, we spent the weekend improving our nest in a big way. As you well know, we’ve been meaning to get the croffice finished for a while now. It was the catch-all junk room/craft room for months (10?) and now it’s the office/craft room=croffice.  Almost. We have some more work to do, but we’re thrilled with the progress we made this weekend. Because we moved the office stuff into the croffice, that meant that the sun room/play room could be just that. Thank you, domino effect!

Here are some pics of the progress I feel compelled to share.

Sun room BEFORE:

In progress:

We discovered that the faux wood paneling and two layers of wallpaper were covering real wood paneling. We had a good laugh about that. Funny how trends come full circle. They didn’t want the wood so they painted it then they wanted it again so they brought in the faux wood. What?!

Sun room/play room NOW:

We love the space and spend A LOT of time in here. So worth the effort! I do not miss those blue curtains and paneling to say the least…

The Croffice is mostly done so I’ll share a few pics with you. Exciting!

Croffice when it was the “master bedroom.” Ha!

Then it got  A LOT worse before it got better. Oof. Poor Wren, can you even find her in there?

Then my friend Sandy came along and helped give the project some inspiration and direction. Thank you, Sandy!

Today, the Cloffice part of the Croffice looks like this. Yahoo!

It’s not “done” yet, but it’s getting closer. And again, so worth the effort. Thank you, dear hubbie for your help! You’re the best.

Next on the agenda? Finish Wren’s room… not much left to do. Fun!



Sunday Confessions #2

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Being that it’s Sunday, I think a confessions-only post is à propos. Again. I did this a month or so again and I’m feeling like it’s a good time again…

Confessions

  • I can’t quite describe how excited I am that we have a blooming purple crocus flower near our house. Yes, it’s true! Something is alive out there. Granted it’s in its own ecosystem that only the dryer vent can create, but still. I’m giddy!
  • For the first time in about six months of going to yoga almost every week and leaving Wren with Chris for a couple hours, I didn’t worry about her. I actually was focused on my practice. In a way, I feel great about it because that’s what I should be doing, but also a bit guilty that I wasn’t worried. Such is life. Oy yoy yoy.
  • The Girl Scout cookies were getting the best of me so I gave the last two boxes to Bert and Ernie. They (the cookies, not Bert and Ernie) were really good–as always–but I really have no self-control when there are cookies in the house so I’m breathing a lot easier now. Whew.
  • We have no “Spring Break” plans to speak of, but we love it when all of Traverse City goes to Florida for a week and we have the place to ourselves. Looking forward to a fruity beverage with some friends and a toast to staycations. Maybe I’ll even sneak in ten minutes at the “fake and bake.”  Really?! No, silly. Do you have any big plans, dear readers?
  • Thinking about putting together an Easter basket for Wren with all my favorite Easter candies. Ah the joys of having a wee one who doesn’t eat Easter candy yet! Selfish? Yes. What’s your favorite Easter candy? Easter used to be my favorite holiday simply because of the candy. Although it’s not my favorite holiday anymore, I still rank the candy at the top. Are my priorities really that juvenile? Don’t answer that.
  • This past sleepless week has pushed me one step closer to attempt some “gentle sleep training” with my little birdie. She’s almost ten months old. Does she really need to hang out with me every couple hours? It’s sweet and snuggly and I know it won’t last forever so I’m a bit reluctant, but my body and mind are beginning to become a wee bit … tired, for lack of a more creative, less hackneyed term. See? If I weren’t so tired I might have come up with a better term. Oof.
  • I love dogs, I really do. And it’s not their fault that their owners let them shit on the sidewalk all winter long. But now that the snow is melted and the *tootsie rolls* are revealed like land mines all over the neighborhood, it makes me sneer at every dog that I see. Especially the barking ones because they’re more likely to shit on the sidewalk, right? See the logic in all this? Dog owners, get your shit together.
  • We got a share of grass-fed beef from a local farm earlier this winter and I’ve tried really hard to find tasty ways to prepare all the different cuts. Although it’s better than commercially-raised and processed beef, I still don’t really like it because it’s still beef. I’m thinking a share of pork (excluding ham, YUCK) would be more up my alley… live and learn.
  • Wren’s new-found mobility is thrilling to watch, but I’m not looking forward to a walking Wren. Not for the obvious reasons, but because her beautiful, perfectly round, delicious toes will start to flatten out. Sigh.

Dear readers, what confessions do you have this Sunday morning? By the way, you are forgiven.

Best!

leprechaun?

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St. Patrick’s Day is coming up. Are you ready? Yeah, whatever that means. This is one holiday for which I do not even attempt to dress up. So I was caught a bit off guard when I crossed the street today and a gentleman whistled at me and yelled, “leprechaun!” What?! It took me another block to realize why he called me that. Yes, I am short. And yes, I was wearing green galoshes, a darkish green sweater and my new favorite green scarf in a wasabi-esque color. Ahem.

If I were to dress up, I might wear this hat since apparently I already own the rest of the outfit:

No, not really. Are you kidding me?

Do you have any big plans, dear readers? This Mamma does not have any bar-hopping plans on the agenda. No, but thanks for asking… That wasn’t really “me” before I had a baby and it’s certainly not me now. I might actually try to do a traditional boiled dinner with the potatoes, cabbage, corned beef, etc. Yummy! Grab some CEO Stout from Right Brain Brewery and we’ve got a party on our hands…

Love, your leprechaun friend.

spring forward

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Are you a list-lover or hater? I love to make lists. Some mental, some physical. Preferably on a real piece of paper. Often I misplace my hand-written lists, but a lot of it gets lodged in my head anyway. I read once (or someone told me more likely) that one is more likely to remember something if it gets written down–not typed–with your human hand. Even if you never see the notes/lists/ramblings again, the simple act of writing something down is what makes it stick. Fascinating! I was a crazy note-taker in high school and college. Sometimes I would come home and rewrite my notes. I know, I am such a nerd at heart. Sigh.

I was thinking in the shower this morning (yes, I managed to take one today!) about what I’m looking forward to this coming spring.  So here’s my latest list.

Spring Forward

  • planting heirloom tomato seeds and watching them grow in our sun room/play room
  • splashing in mud puddles in my lovely pea green galoshes that meine Mutti got me for my Birthday (thank you!)
  • turning the compost pile
  • making some raised beds and hauling in some soil
  • singing “here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter’s on its way!”
  • attending the Cedar Rod & Gun Club’s 50th (?) annual smelt dinner (sounds weird, but we love it!)
  • watching the sap drip down the maple trees
  • planning Wren’s first birthday party
  • watching Wren discover the joys of mobility
  • listening to Wren babble
  • seeing Baby Turner #4
  • riding my bike to yoga again
  • taking family bike rides
  • going on our favorite wildflower hike to the Treat Farm in the Sleeping Bear Dunes. When will the trillium bloom this year, do you think, dear readers?
  • eating fresh asparagus every day
  • using the grill again
  • enjoying our front porch
  • morel-hunting in our favorite spots (no, of course we won’t tell you where those are, silly.)
  • and watching the spring bulbs pop out of the ground and push their way through the remains of winter, like this crocus:

What’s on your Spring Forward list, dear readers?

Birthday Banner ponderings…

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Time is zooming by and Wren is getting older every day. I suppose everyone is getting older every day, but it seems more monumental in a wee one, doesn’t it? The countdown to my little birdie’s first birthday (May 24!) has begun and I’ve been pondering party themes and decorations. I really don’t want a throw-away birthday with lots of paper and plastic junk. I’ve been thinking a lot about making an heirloom-quality “Happy Birthday!” banner, which can be used for years to come. Here are some ideas I’ve stumbled upon so far…

I love the funky colors and the whimsy factor in this first birthday banner, don’t you?

But I’m thinking of something a bit cleaner and modern. Like this one. This one is a better fit for our nest. Does it say boy and girl though? No, I’m not pregnant; just trying to plan ahead, just in case.

But I like the simplicity and fun shapes in this banner. This is definitely boy or girl, no?

And then there’s this possibility for a classic pennant-style banner.

What say YOU, dear readers? Any other birthday banner ideas you want to send my way? I could do a “boy” banner on one side and a “girl” banner on the other. I’m not really into “boy” and “girl” colors, but it might be a fun way to have two banners in one.

In other party ponderings…

I’d love to have an outdoor garden party for Wren, but Memorial Day weekend in northern Michigan is hit or miss. It could be 75 and sunny or it could easily be 40 and rainy…. arrghhhh.

Speaking (err, writing) of weather, it’s above 50 (!!!) and sunny in these parts. Yee-haw! Trying to suck up the Vitamin D while I can. Is it possible to make up for the last four months in one week? I’m going to try. Can’t hurt.

Best!