Tying up loose ends (small projects for those of us with big bellies)

Posted by Joy on Jul 31, 2014 in Entryway, Living Room | 0 comments

I’m tired.  Yup, it finally happened.  At 39 weeks (plus three days!) pregnant, I am ever nap-ready and having a hard time finding much motivation these days to do a whole lot of anything.  Which, according to all sources (Sweetie, my friend Jess over at Little Townhome Love, my family, random strangers), is exactly how it should be: for the past few weeks they’ve collectively urged me to nap more and relax lots and just sit and enjoy the time that I have right now.  For the record, I’m terrible at relaxing.  My most common response to these subtle suggestions to sloth: but I have things to do.

But now I think I’m done.

Not because there aren’t a gazillion things I could be doing.  (Dear neighbours: please please please disregard our front flowerbeds.  I promise to be a far better gardener next summer.)  (And dear dustbunnies: please stop multiplying so quickly in the corners.)  But because I just don’t have the energy right now.

It’s a super hard thing for me to admit.  I’m definitely feeling a little defeated.

That said, I had two joyously productive moments yesterday: I finished a couple of tiny little projects.  And I’m quite proud.

First, I swapped out the front entryway doormat for a new one I picked up at HomeSense (oh how I love HomeSense!) a few days ago.  I went from this stripey snore-fest…

(Obviously file footage, since I’ve since painted those super ugly green walls!)

…to this…

Admittedly, it’s not a massive change, but it makes me happy to think that any post-baby visitors will have a much nicer mat to land upon when they walk through my front door.

Project number two involved dressing a long-naked window in our living room.  When we moved in, the previous owners had left some rather hideous and dirty-looking blinds on this window (which I promptly removed.)  I was left with this…

Unfortunately, and rather oddly, this window frame is positioned unusually high – it almost reaches the ceiling (I’m guessing that at some point someone dropped the ceiling in this room to run new, non-knob-and-tube wiring through the house since other ceilings on the main floor are a good foot taller.)  As a result, I’ve hummed and hawed over what to do with this window for several months now.  Yesterday, I had Sweetie hang a curtain rod right at ceiling height.  And yesterday, I finally added curtains to this window.

And today, I am very happy with the result.  The curtains (which are Ikea’s lovely Matilda panels, btw) don’t hide the ugliness of the window itself (see all that stuff on the window?  Spray foam.  Between the panes of glass.  Yup, some not-so-bright but likely well-meaning previous home owner decided that this would be a good solution to winter draftiness.)  (For the record, spray foam between the window panes is never ever a good – or, at least, nice looking – solution to draftiness.)  But the curtains do make the window look better (which this soon-to-be momma is content with for now, until we find a way to disassemble the window and scrape out the offending foam.)

So there.  Those are my two most recent tiny little accomplishments at the old mauve house.  Significant?  Not particularly.  But I at least feel like I’m still making some progress, despite that my body is most definitely slowing down.

Now, if you’ll please excuse me for a moment (or two), this momma-to-be desperately needs a nap.   :)

A quick update (I’m still here!) (and yup, I’m still pregnant!)

Posted by Joy on Jul 21, 2014 in Babies, Ramblings... | 2 comments

Many apologies for my MIA-ness over the past couple of weeks.  I’m now off on maternity leave (which makes baby-day seem really really crazy close now!) and you’d think (logically) that this would mean tonnes of extra time to relax/sleep/enjoy sanity pre-newborn, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with me.  I’ve had family to visit, friends to catch up with, a hospital bag (Sweetie refers to it as my “bug out bag”) to pack, projects to finish, a thousand obstetrician appointments (or so it seems) to attend, last minute baby “essentials” (ie: cute little onesies and sleepers) to buy, cloth diapers to prep, and (seemingly) a gazillion other things on the go.

So, in short (or, rather, long): I feel like I’ve been super busy, despite my currently newborn-pending, work-free status.

Although I did manage to fit in a quick DIY mat session the other day.  For the record, I’m really quite awful at using the tripod + timer approach to self-photography.  This was a rather challenging little project!  For about an hour’s effort, I ended up with one image worth sharing…

…and even then, it’s out of focus.  And my hands are all gross and pregnancy-vein-y.  And I’m not sure if I look serene and contemplative, or sort of annoyed.  Needless to say, Sweetie is taking me out later this week to try again, with an actual person (Sweetie) on the other end of the lens.  Guessing (and hoping!) that we’ll have much better results with a two-person DIY mat session approach.  I’ll keep you posted!

The good (and rather timely) news: I’m nearly finished with the nursery (finally!), so a big (likely long-winded) update/grand reveal will be coming shortly.  In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll probably be marveling at the size of my belly while hanging/organizing/baking/shopping for something.  At 38 weeks, I’m starting to feel really large.  But I also feel amazing.  And with only a couple weeks left before my due date (and, really, knowing that Baby could arrive at any point now) I feel so lucky to be a mommy-to-be.  Can’t wait to make that transition into simply being “mommy”.

A quick closet makeover (another “slap some paint on it and it’ll look so much better” sort of project) (aka: paint fixes everything)

Posted by Joy on Jul 7, 2014 in Bedroom | 0 comments

Some people have scary basements.  I had a scary closet.  (Well, I have a scary basement too, but that’s a whole other story for a whole other blog post.)  How scary was our bedroom closet?  It looked like this when we moved in…

Ack.  Nightmarish, eh?  Yup.  Absolutely terrifying.

And since “make closet pretty” wasn’t first and foremost (or even seventh and semi-important) on my big ol’ home reno to do list, it stayed that way for the past ten months.  Empty.  Ugly.  Mocking me.  Daring me to step inside (which I would never ever ever do due to the aforementioned scariness factor.)

So where were all of our clothes?  In the nursery closet of course.  (See where this is leading?)  But, with Baby on the way in a few short weeks (yep, you guessed it), it was time to clear out that closet.  Meaning that it was also time for us to face the scariness once and for all and make our bedroom closet a much more hospitable, much less horror movie-esque little place.

So what did I do?

I painted it.

And by that I mean that I really quickly and lazily painted it, using leftover Edgecomb Gray paint that I already had on hand.  Did I remove the wallpaper from the walls?  Nope.  Did I sand down the drywall compound patching job that Sweetie did (since originally there were plaster cracks on the back wall of the closet that made it look even more terrifying?)  Nope.  Did I prime or prep or do anything to make the ugly innards of my closet more humane-looking?  Nope.  I just slapped some paint on those closet walls and called it a day.

And it didn’t turn out so bad.  Behold the after…

I even tossed a quick coat of paint on the baseboards.  Same colour as the walls.  We’re not talking anything fancy here (it is a closet, afterall.)

Yep.  A quick coat of paint and suddenly the closet ain’t so scary any more.

(I mean, I wouldn’t want to hang out and read a book in there, of course, but it’s way better.)

So there.  That’s my scary-closet-turned-not-quite-as-scary-due-to-Baby’s-impending-arrival story for you.  Since I’m guessing that Baby will need its own closet.

You know, for cute little onesies and pretty dresses (if Baby is a girl) or tiny overalls (if this wiggly little belly-mover is a boy) and stuff.  :)

The Bump Report (35 weeks and counting!)

Posted by Joy on Jun 30, 2014 in Babies | 2 comments

I haven’t really posted many updates on this whole pregnancy thing here on my blog, mostly because I’m not sure if anyone really cares to read about my swollen ankles and heartburn and (strangely undulating at times) belly (although oh how I love watching my belly roll around!)  But, with only five-ish weeks to go, I thought I’d better give a quick state of the belly address (and maybe post a picture or two too!)

How I’m feeling: I feel awesome.  Seriously.  (Fellow pregnant ladies, please don’t hate me.)  Yes, my feet swell, and yes, Sweetie sometimes needs to help me up off the couch if I’ve been sitting too long, and, indeed, rolling over in bed is way more difficult than I ever thought it’d be, but I feel, for the most part, great.  I have been unbelievably fortunate so far in this pregnancy – no complications (knocking on wood!), no major sickness (beyond the three weeks of mild nausea I had right before Christmas), no complaints.  And, with only a few weeks left to go, I still seem to have quite a bit of energy.  I know lots of people who have been really sick for nine full months, have had serious health scares mid-pregnancy, or have been uncomfortable or in pain or dizzy throughout much of their pregnancy.  I feel so lucky to have had it so easy for the past eight-ish months.

How the nursery is progressing: It’s coming!  The walls are now painted a lovely Woodlawn Blue (thanks mom and dad!) and the crib is assembled (thanks Sweetie!) and the important components are all there.  Is it done?  Ummmm no.  The crib still needs a mattress (which, I gather, is likely pretty important!) and the dresser/change table still needs assembling (if you’ve ever assembled an Ikea Hemnes dresser you’ll realize is no small or quick feat!) and there are cloth diapers to be prewashed and omg-the-cutest-ever little lamb mobile to be hung and a rug that needs to be purchased, and much much more.  However, even with just the walls painted and the crib assembled, it feels like a nursery.  And a very perfect one, at that.  And I love it and can’t believe that a tiny little human will be snoozing there (peacefully, I hope!) very very soon.  :)

How Sweetie and I are doing: We’re excited!  And terrified.  And a little overwhelmed that this crazy huge life-changing event is approaching so quickly.  And feeling so blessed that our family and friends have been so supportive and helpful over the past several months.  And hopeful that our fur family will adjust well to the new little person in our household.  And aware that my beloved house renos will likely take back burner to this tiny human, and that we may continue to have squishy kitchen floors and tiled countertops and a bright red rec room and lackluster (and rather weed-infested) landscaping for quite a while going forward.  But… mostly, we’re just excited!

So that’s the 411 on my beloved bun in the oven.  Five more weeks.  FIVE.  And that’s assuming that Baby stays put until our August 4th due date (dear Baby: you’re perfectly welcome to stay right where you are for at least another month!)  More nursery updates to follow shortly!  But, for now, that’s the Bump Report.  Swollen ankles and all.  :)

(PS – photos courtesy of Sweetie.  Thanks Sweetie!)

My fantastic front door plans (prepare yourself – this could be shocking)

Posted by Joy on Jun 23, 2014 in The Great Outdoors | 4 comments

So hear me out for a second k?  No judgy-judgy…  Just trust me on this for a moment.  I have an announcement:

I might paint my front door pink.

(Let’s pause briefly while that all sinks in…  You ok?  K.  Let’s continue.)

Yes, I’ve lamented for months now that our house is mauve.

And yes, I’ve previously stated that perhaps a muted plum door would tone down the pinkness of the siding on our house while still looking sophisticated and coordinated.

And yes, I’ve even mentioned (several times) how much I’d really really like to repaint our old mauve house and be rid of the pink altogether.

But (this is where my anti-mauve plans go a bit awry), then I noticed this…

See those geraniums slyly photobombing this pic of my front door (and my beloved new house numbers?)  They’re coral.  And they’re pretty.  And see how nice they look against my (much despised) mauve siding?

Dear Mother Nature: you sneaky fox.  You’ve coyly inspired me.  Big pat on the back for you, missy.  Nicely done.  :)

So I might paint my front door a corally-pink.  It’s absolutely mind boggling, I know.

And don’t get me wrong: we’re not talking fuchsia here.  (Random diatribe: FUCHSIA might, in fact, be the oddest-spelled word in the entire English language.  It always takes me at least three or four attempts to type it out correctly.  FUSHIA looks right, but it’s not.  Fuscia could even be correct, but, strangely, is not.  Nope.  Fuchsia is indeed one of those words that makes me yearn to have a stern conversation with the good folk at Miriam-Webster and ask them what the heck they were thinking when they decided to add so many miscellaneous letters to a rather simple, two syllable colour.)

(Thank you for letting me rant.  Carrying on…)

Nope.  We’re talking a corally pink.  Like this (via ByStephanieLynn)…

Or like this cheery door (courtesy of Marty’s Musings)…

Or even this (the top paint chip is Benjamin Moore’s Glamour Pink, and I THINK it could work, although it’s a bit more pink-ish than coral-ly.)

Please ignore the partially painted screen door – that’s a whole other project for a whole other post.  (But I need it to stop raining first.  Once the rain stops, the door will be painted.  Until the rain stops, it’ll stay splotchy.)  (Sorry neighbours!)

So yes.  This is my new plan.  A coral door for my mauve house.  Who would have thunk it, eh?

Mind you, Sweetie and I haven’t discussed this yet.  He might have issues with the words “pink” and “coral”, so I may call it a “muted light reddish-slightly-orange colour.”  Or perhaps even just “geranium,” since I’m doubting he’d know which flower I’m describing.  Sweetie isn’t much of a flower guy.  But give him some rare weird variety of tomato plant and he’s all over that like ants on an apple.  :)