Splurge and Steal

We have a dinner this week that warranted a new dress purchase. I found this lovely at Anthropologie. It may not be a splurge for some, but for someone who has been wearing the same series of 5 nursing camis for the last 6 months, this was a major fashion purchase.

I love the dress but soon realized that I didn't know what the appropriate shoe color was (dress has green, navy and cream) and I was certain that whatever it was, it was not in my closet. I was feeling a little dangerous decided that a magenta peep toe was the way to go. I went to all the usual websites (DSW, Zappos, Nordstroms, etc) but there were no magenta/fuschia/dark pink pumps in sight. (Well, other than ones in the $300 and up range... not going to happen.)

I googled and after about a dozen pages of nothing I found these on ebay...

Perfect! And for the wonderful price of $19.99! And they even arrived on my doorstep on time! (See below post about the UPS guy and the snake.)

So the real question is.... given that these are obviously "made in China" cheapo knock-offs, am I going to be coming home from this dinner hobbling on one heel after the hot glue gives in and breaks the heel of the other one? :) Only time will tell!

First Order of Business...

Ok, maybe it shouldn't be the FIRST order of business, (I suppose the whole, demolition, digging, leveling, foundation pouring, building, etc. should be first, but I digress...) but when it comes to the fun part of getting a new house (the decorating!!!) a couch is one of the first pieces of furniture we need to purchase.

Since we are building new we are obviously starting with a completely blank slate which is both exciting and overwhelming. We need to purchase quite a bit of furniture as well as try to fit in existing pieces. Since we need to dive in somewhere, the couch is going to be the starting point.

I still like our current furniture, but we are going to have a partially finished basement with a TV room/family room and a playroom. Our existing couch, love seat and coffee table will go down there. It is about 5 years old and has held up quite well. Love the stain resistance of microfiber! One thing I dislike about the couch is the cushioned back. It is super comfortable but as soon as someone sits down the pillows "squoosh" in and the whole thing just starts looking saggy. I feel like I am forever fluffing those pillows and smoothing them out. Our current couch looks exactly like this...

So, the first requirement for the new couch is a fitted back with no detached cushions so it will have a more tailored look. I'm hoping that I can find one that is tailored but still comfortable. The second requirement is exposed legs of some sort rather than a skirted base. That's just a personal preference. And the final requirement is that shape wise it needs to work with a pair of chairs that used to be my grandma's. Unfortunately they are being stored at my mother in law's, so I don't have pictures, but they are boxy and 50's-ish. Ok, probably not "-ish." They literally are from the 50's and I sort of love them. Or at least I will once they get a new fab upholstery job. They weigh a ton and feel like they were made to withstand some sort of natural disaster. They just don't make furniture like that any more!

Oh-- and finally, the couch needs to be available in a fabric that I like. That should probably be the first requirement. This really narrows down the pool. I want a green velvety couch. Not sage, not kelly, not mint. I have gotten dozens of swatches delivered and have only found one that fits the bill. It is "pistachio" in cut velvet. (I'm going to call it a cross between actual velvet and microfiber.) It doesn't have the cleanability of microfiber, so that could be a problem. Here's the online swatch, but in real life it sort of looks like the color of the couch in the photo beneath it.

Since I don't like things too matchy-matchy this means that I think I need a couch that is "curvy" in contrast to the boxy chairs. Here are two options I've found so far that are in our price range and come in the fabric I like.

Thoughts? I know the "button back" look is a classic, but at the same time is a bit trendy right now. I want my house to looks up to date, but not so trendy that I feel the need to redecorate in 3 years.

Aahhh!

I'm freaking out! The UPS guy just made a delivery here and when I opened the door he warned me that as he was walking up he saw a snake slither under our front stoop. I am not scared of much in the way of animals, but snakes sort of terrify me. I was so flustered that all I asked was how big it was..... he estimated 3 feet long! Eeeewww!!!

Now I wish I would have asked what color it was, how wide it was, etc, but I didn't. I doubt it's still under our steps. I have a feeling it was either A) just passing through or B) living in the next door neighbor's little "garden." I put that in parenthesis because her little pad is really just an overgrown nightmare which I despise because we live in a town home, so her portion of yard runs right up to my front door. A perfect hiding place for little (or big) critters.

I've got a serious case of the heeby jeebies. I realize that some snakes are good because they eat mice and other pests, but nonetheless, I don't want it living outside my front door. We live in the city... I didn't think I had to deal with that kind of "wildlife" here. Now I'm going to have to do a running leap every time I go in the front door.

6 Months!

My baby turned six months old yesterday. I can't believe it! I'm a little sad today to think that he is now closer to being a one year old than the newborn that he was just a moment ago. (Or so it seems.) Things are wonderful here and I think it's time for some updates...

Sleeping- My little guy has been a champion sleeper since the very beginning. He goes down at 7pm, then I wake him at 9 for a little more food which allows him to sleep until 7am. That is our usual schedule. Of course there are occasional days where he is calling for me bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:45am. We are about to drop that 9pm feeding, so we will see how that goes.

Eating- We have made it to the six month mark with exclusively breast feeding. At our four month check up, the pediatrician said we could start solids any time. At four months I just didn't feel ready and I didn't think the baby was either. I decided to wait until the five month mark. At five months I still didn't think he was ready. Or maybe once again I wasn't ready. (There is something so wonderful and natural about your body being able to support another life all on it's own.) Well, here we are at six months and I think we are both finally ready. I don't know what it is that makes me feel this way, but whereas before I wasn't even looking forward to the concept of giving him food and almost sad about it, I am now looking forward to it. I think it will be fun to watch him try something new. I can also tell that he is taking in a ton of

milk right now and quite frankly I think some solids will help his appetite.

I'm going to continue breast feeding for his "liquid intake" and starting Monday we are going to try a bit of rice cereal. After he gets the hang of things I'm going to continue on to the veggies. I will be making my own baby food which as far as I can tell is incredibly easy. Someone gave me a "So Easy" baby food kit as a shower gift so we'll see it the title holds true.

*A feeding side note... We are going on two short trips without the baby soon. (two nights each) We have to take a plane which means that I'm going to have to bring along my breast pump and throw away all of that "liquid gold." I hate doing that!! I have been pumping every morning to boost up my freezer supply to cover him during my absence. I have pumped here and there in the past but never really consistently. I must say, I have a new found respect for the working moms that continue breast feeding. I hate pumping! I mean, you have to do what you have to do, but the working pumping moms are truly doing a labor of love for their little ones.

Appearance- Well, other than being pretty much the cutest baby in the whole world... galaxy...UNIVERSE!, my little buddy is also becoming a blonde. He kept his brown baby hair but it had started to rub off in a few places leaving little bald spots. Those stuck around for a while but there is now brand new big boy hair growing in and it is most looking quite blonde. I haven't trimmed the remaining long brown hair, so the current effect is looking a little marbleized. I should probably do something about that. The top pieces are like 3 inches long now so he also has a bit of a comb over. I just can't bring myself to cut it! I would report his height/weight but he doesn't go to the pediatrician until next week, so that will have to wait. His eyes are staying blue and I haven't seen any teeth yet.

Housing- Well, after much deliberation, paperwork, red tape and a little biting of the bullet I can now officially say that in somewhere between 6-8 months we will be living in this little beauty.

Holy cow do we have our work cut out for us. I should say that I have my work cut out for ME because I was the one that convinced my husband that I could handle all of the decision making when it comes to the construction. This also means that I get to handle all of the decor choices. Woo hoo! Time to get a baby sized hard hat. *There will be plenty more details on this to

come!*

Me- I'm really feeling great. I'm getting a hang of this mommy thing. In some ways it's easier than I thought and in some ways it's harder. Before you become a mom you see women changing diapers, soothing cries, wiping up drool, etc and it just looks so hard. But really-- it's totally different when it is your own baby. The harder part for me is living by such a schedule and being so attached to the house. I never set out to keep my baby on a tight schedule, that's just how it worked out, and trust me, I am not the one in control of it, the infant is. :) He is like clockwork and when he starts giving me the nap cues he means it! I've got to be back at the

house every day from 8:30-10, 12-2 and 3:30-5 and then home for good at 7. (Of course he can nap elsewhere, but we are at home for the most part.) That doesn't leave much time for outings, etc. I feel like I'm a slave to the clock. Other people don't quite get that. Of course, I shouldn't complain because other moms would kill for such a good napper. Plus, I get quite a bit done around the house during these nap times.

Summertime- We are having plenty of summertime fun around here. We live right by a playground so we take a long walk every morning around 7:30 so I can get some exercise and then stop by the playground. Baby likes to watch the bigger kids on the playground and sit on my lap while I swing. He is also a big fan of the pool. My grandpa has a pool so it is nice to always have somewhere to go that is clean, private and FREE! Occasionally the baby likes to skinnydip. :)

Lordy... I am starting to ramble. The heat is getting to me. Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying the weekend! We are off to my Mom's to "play" with grandma and my sisters. :)

Why don't friends with kids have time?

Love this article! It's from May 2007 so I'm sure it's made it's way around the blogosphere more than once, but it's new to me. I can't figure out how to make it big here, so there is a link to the text from the article below.

Link