Curious Bird

Noticing...

 

Some of the orange around my house on this super cold day. 17 degrees, multiple layers, hot tea, teeth-chattering cold. (I'm such a total weather wuss).

I've noticed my love of orange before, but today it struck me again...kind of out of nowhere. It really cheers me up. Motown most certainly has something to do with my love of orange. I'm mean, it's no secret that he's an incredible "orange" tabby (points taken off for bad breath, but he's old and these things happen, so points added) and then, of course, there's all the lovely orange that was present at our wedding, a day like that will make for some serious positive association with a color. Just noticing...and rambling about orange on a frigid friday, that's all.

Before I say goodbye for the weekend, I've been meaning to say thanks for all the wonderfully helpful essential/non-essential baby item comments you guys kindly sent my way. I'm still sorting through them all, but THANKS AGAIN! What a major help, and an amazing resource for a couple of never-done-this-baby-thing-before-and-have-very-few-like-next-to-none-close-
friends-with-kids-but-that-ain't-stoppin'-us-adventure-seekers. 

Some of our guiding principles:

Keep things simple.
Wait before buying some things (learned this from your comments)
Do our research, but not too much. 
Craigslist is our friend. Already found that out.
Consult people who've done this before.
Remember to stay relaxed and have as much fun as possible.

So far, so good.

Dustin's random quote of the week, "do you think Junebug will like hip hop?"  Beats me...but I'm dying to find out.

Have a lovely weekend.

Stay warm,

L

retro circles

Do you ever wish you could snap your fingers to complete long-overdue projects? I know, that's probably the dumbest question ever. Of course you do. Everyone does. I know I certainly do. I'd be very content if  somehow I could be granted only a limited number of these magic finger snaps or nose twitches (ala Samantha Stevens from Bewitched...man, I have watched some Bewitched in my day...). I'd choose my projects wisely. And thinking about it, I know myself well enough to know that I would probably choose home projects. I'm a nester, what can I say.

For starters, I would use my first magic snap for instantly recovering the vintage chair sitting in my living room. It has sat in many living rooms of ours, actually, and not to brag, but I scored it for $3. If you happen to live in the South, you already know this, but you have yourself some lovely thrift stores. I miss your thrift stores with their sweet $3 chairs. Truly.

Back to my project. I already know what fabric I would use. I would definitely use the new loveliness from Lula Fabrics I recently read about over at skinny laminx. I'm not sure which color way I would go with...I'm leaning toward chartreuse/lemon or indigo/periwinkle. I'd take any of them, though.

One of these days, I'm going to recover that chair. It WILL happen.

Stay warm,

L.  

a dash of color

because it's almost february, and if you're like me, you need a good dose of color in your world right about now. and perhaps a pastry...or a fruit tart...

1. filled with fruits from home
2. silly dog. silly girl.
3. topflappen and test
4.beautiful

xo,
leya

 

I often save various images that jump out at me from the articles I read and random sights I stumble upon. This sweet photo has been on my desktop ever since reading the accompanying article in the New York Times a few weeks ago. Personally I'm too big of a wuss to live in a yurt in Alaska, but I certainly love the idea of snowshoeing with a little one strapped to my back. Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you today. Just because.

Photo Credit: Stuart Isett for The New York Times
It, along with other photos accompanied this article. 

Happy Tuesday,
L.

rambling and asking for advice

 

It has been what I would call a very good week so far. We got to see pictures of Junebug on Monday and I made two, yes, two chocolate cakes -- don't worry, I gave one away and shared the other.
School started back, and although I would rather have the free time that exists during breaks, I think I'm really going to enjoy my classes this semester. Just have a hunch.

I think I'm mainly just super excited about having some energy back. That first trimester was such a doozy...never thought I would feel like myself again. 

We also found a really sweet little vintage dresser (soon to be a dresser/changing table combo) on craigslist. Can't wait to clean it up and paint it something very bright and cheery...yellow or green or perhaps a lovely turquoise. I'm hoping craigslist comes through for a few more much needed items, too. So far, so good.

Speaking of baby stuff, I was hoping to get advice once again from all of you experienced parents out there.

Basically, I'm wondering two things:

What are the three most valuable items you had after your baby was born? 

and

What are the 2 or 3 things your were told to get (or convinced yourself you needed) and afterward found completely unnecessary? 

Looking forward to seeing what you list.

Have a lovely weekend. I'm going to fill nail holes with wood putty, prep our stairs for painting, and read about 300 pages for school. I'll probably eat a lot too!

Have fun,

L.

 

Homemade Balm for the Belly

During our visit last weekend,  my best girl Leah and I made some homemade belly balm. We like to get "witchy" when we hang out, what can I say. Leah is very savvy when it comes to making homemade body care products -- she has taught me a lot, actually.  Being that we're both a little wah-wah for potions and creams and the essential oils that are usually involved, we had a lot of fun with this project.

I am quite pleased with how our latest concoction turned out -- it's very smooth and silky, but not greasy, and it smells lovely which is always a must when you have a sensitive pregnancy nose like mine.

Homemade Belly Balm Recipe (roughly, we were gabbing the whole time).

Ingredients:

2 oz jojoba or grapeseed oil
2 oz coconut oil
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 oz cocoa butter
2 oz shea butter
scent with about 7-10 drops of vanilla essential oil
5-6 drops of lavender essential oil
5 drops of helycrisum oil (great for scar reduction)

Heat the first five ingredients in a double broiler until melted and mixed well, then remove from heat and add the essential oils. Pour into a container of your choice. Glass is best.

ETA: Leah says to add a little warm water (a Tablespoon or so) when melting all the ingredients. And  five or ten more drops of helycrisum if you like the smell.

Here are a couple of great resources for buying the ingredients:

Mountain Rose Herbs

and

Simplers Botanical Company 

More soon,
Leya

Hello Friends,

First, I want to say THANKS for all the wonderful maternity clothes suggestions you guys sent my way. I feel a little silly now for not even realizing that the Gap had maternity clothes... I suppose until now I just wasn't paying attention. Anyway, the flood of comments and emails was extremely helpful, and now it feels like I have a much better grasp on how to dress my rapidly-expanding self. It feels good to finally come to a place where I think this whole clothing transition is going to be be a little easier than I once thought. I'm awaiting a couple of items to arrive. Fingers crossed for a good fit.

Secondly, for all the people I owe emails, I apologize and I promise I will get back to you. Thanks for waiting so patiently. 

Hope you had a good weekend. We had some visitors and it was just as fun as it was relaxing, which isn't always easy to achieve when hosting guests. Good times and good food. We even managed to do something touristy -- we took a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary, something we had never done. As my grandfather would say, it was interestin'.  And come to think of it, Dustin and our guests managed to eat some touristy delights too (cheesesteaks and soft pretzels).  We also took out a whole chocolate cake with raspberry sauce...but that's another story entirely.

And to put a nice bow on a really lovely long weekend, D and I got to see ultrasound pictures of Junebug this morning. Everything is moving right along and apparently Junebug has developed quite a little thumb-sucking habit. And already has some pretty big feet. We looked away when there was a possibility of seeing the gender -- it was slightly challenging, but we stuck to our guns. Pretty amazing stuff. And it probably goes without saying that we're both pretty smiley right about now.

I'll leave you with some photos from the weekend.

Dan and Leah (it should be noted that Dan is allergic to cats...but somehow Mortimer didn't get that memo. All is well)

Be well,
Leya 

p.s. you can also witness some pride and sweetness here.

mail for junebug

Hippo slippers! from the lovely people over at Burkeheart Baby by Starlight Sound. They are so well-made and maybe it's just me, but I think they're too cute for words. Truly. Would make a perfect gift if you're looking for something snazzy and handmade.
Thank you, Burkeheart Baby!

More soon,
Leya

we like mornings.

 

 

A few photos from the last few days.

I'll be back soon!

-Leya

a little expansion project

Hi there,

Hope your weekend was nice and you stayed very cozy and warm. We tried our best, but there were a few moments when I seriously considered looking for a plane ticket to some place tropical. From experience, I know Thailand is very warm about now.  Papaya salad , pomelos, and fresh coconuts...okay, I'll stop.

The photo above was taken by Dustin on Saturday. It was essentially taken to show my new haircut, nothing serious, just a trim with a little bounce added for good measure. But as I looked at it (the photo, not the haircut) I decided it actually captured how perplexed I am lately. Yep, that's me looking perplexed. I'm confounded about a current situation known as: the how to dress myself situation. Otherwise known as: how the hell am I supposed to get dressed when none of my clothes fit situation. Yes, I'm having a maternity clothes crisis. I realize I am probably being stubborn, but I just can't seem to find anything that works for me. I found some stuff at H&M recently, but upon getting it home to try it all on (I hate trying stuff on in stores), the realization hit -- I couldn't fit into anything. Well, one dress fit, but that's just one stinkin' thing...out of five. Dustin shook his head as he watched the entire process (er, comedy routine).

This is where I ask for your help. When it comes to maternity clothes (or clothes that work for maternity clothes) where should I go? What should I do?  To be fair, I must say that part of my issue is that I am not willing to pay dedicated maternity clothes store prices. There is a store here called Destination Maternity and the thought of walking in there terrifies me. Destination. Maternity. Yikes.  I tried Target, and perhaps the one near me here in Philly is just picked over, but I found nothing that worked. Nothing even remotely close to working, actually. 

I'm just looking for a few dresses, skirts, and maybe one or two pairs of pants. I feel okay about my current top situation...it's the bottoms that I'm having trouble with.
Also, I do intend to sew a few things for myself eventually, but for now I need to move quick. I'm rapidly expanding over here...

 Any tips are greatly appreciated. Until next time...

Have fun,
L.