Land of Nod dollhouse and dolly

Land of Nod has had some really fanstastic stuff this year.  Although I love pretty much most of their catalogue, this doll is adorable and I think will be making its way under Princess's Christmas tree:

My boys are obsessed with ninjas.  These matryoshka dolls would be such a cute decorating accent for a child's room:

Also, the Land of Nod blog posted this dollhouse, and I think it is such a fantastic idea.  This one may be happening for the Princess if I can squeeze it in before Christmas.

Princess's room is not big enough for a dollhouse, but she does have this type of cube unit in her room already.

master bedroom: campaign mirror and Gary's new home

In keeping with my theme of using what we have, Gary moved upstairs and I painted the lamps and a mirror I had laying around.

I don't have a "before" picture of the mirror, but it was an ugly birch melamine.  This mirror has been sitting around the garage for quite a while and never been used, because it weighs about 400 lbs.  It came as a part of the set of campaign furniture I bought off craigslist (that was later stolen).

There really should be some more stylistic crap on that dresser, shouldn't there?  Unfortunately a fancy vignette would be impractical, seeing as we like to heap the dresser high with laundry and stuff that should be thrown in the trash can two feet away.

I wanted to give Gary some pukka beads but apparently they are not de rigeur anymore so he settled for a necklace I already have.

The lamps were also painted Krylon Emerald Green.

I am wondering if I should have left the naked lady over the dresser and put the mirror on the side of the bed where the naked lady is now.  The Mister has shown a distinct lack of interest in moving the 400 lb mirror to a different wall.

You might have noticed that I brought back the blue duvet cover and greek key shams from our old bedroom in the last house.  The woodland duvet curtains will also be coming down as soon as I find the time to put the trim on the new curtains.

Last but  not least, a headless shot a la AB Chao:

one more bedspread, garland tassel, exercising, plastic surgery

Somehow I missed Serena and Lily when I was bedspread shopping.  Lets add this one to the list, shall we?

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I am also thinking about what sort of art I could hang over the bed in Princess's room.  I saw this tassel garland on 6th St Design School today, and oh! Isn't that pretty! Hmmm.....

via Everly Lane Design

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I had this feeling when I signed all my kids up for school that I would have ALL THIS TIME to do stuff.  I have an extra five hours in the day, right?

No. I don't.  I am still doing all the same stuff I was doing before, except its quieter and I get stuff done in less time.  But on the whole, I do not have a ton of extra free time.

However, now that I don't have to arrange for childcare, I do have time to exercise.  For years I have walked on the treadmill every morning at 6:30 before taking everyone to school. I still do this, but now after I drop everyone off, I go to a Pure Barre class.  I am in no way being recompensed by Pure Barre (please feel free to recompense me!), but I am really enjoying this class.

I have never ever been one to enjoy organized exercising. I do not like to go to the gym.  I am incredibly uncoordinated and my inability to follow basic dance moves has kept me out of any aerobic or Zumba type class (or any other organized sport) for years.  In fact, I still fumble the moves in the Pure Barre class, but for the most part, they are simple and straightforward and I can follow them.

Its not an aerobic class, but I leave hot and sweaty, feeling like I've just gotten an intense workout.  I don't feel like I am straining my neck working out.  It is very pilates-based and tones your core.  I did not take pictures or measurements before starting, which I regret, because I can already see a difference in my stomach after a month of going 3 times a week.  Now in week five I can do exercises I couldn't do the first week.

The cons: it is not cheap.  It is also full of very fit, athletic, skinny women, which is kind of depressing if you are not fit, skinny and athletic. There are many yoga moves and I look at these women with their long, lean lines in yoga poses, and I feel...not long and lean, that's for sure.  Regardless, my mirrors at home tell me I am getting smaller, so I will keep going.

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I was sitting at the doctor's office the other day reading a magazine that had a number of articles on plastic surgery.  I wish I had at least taken down the name of the magazine, it seemed like a local-to-LA kind of magazine.  In any event, one of the articles made the humorous point that "teeth are the gateway drug to plastic surgery."  I find this fascinating.

I was born without two of my adult front teeth, so I have already had extensive cosmetic dentistry performed.  In my teens, implants were just starting to become popular, and instead I had maryland bridges installed.  These fake teeth had a projected life span of 15 years.  They've been in for 23 years now.

Although my fake teeth were the appropriate size for my mouth when they were installed, your gums recede as you get older, and now my fake teeth are too small.  Its not terribly noticeable, but I would prefer to have teeth that fit.  I've looked into getting them replaced, but since its not covered by insurance it won't be anytime soon unless one breaks (the horror).

I feel I should also admit that I want lasik surgery.  I would be way hotter without my glasses, yo. And so the slippery slope begins, right?  First the teeth, then the eyes, and we'll work our way down from there, just like the article said.

I have always thought that I would never get plastic surgery done.  For one, it seems like the sort of expensive thing movie stars do, and I am not a rich movie star.   I plan to grow old gracefully and appreciate all the memories my wrinkles represent blah blah blah holy crap I HAVE WRINKLES NOW perhaps its not such a bad idea, hmm.

For some reason, although in New Jersey I would never have dreamt of seriously getting plastic surgery, here it seems....possible.  Sure! Why not! Everyone here does it! I don't think I'd ever touch my face, but the thought of lipo-ing my lower half beckons.

To recap, before you flame me and tell me how vain I am, I'm just saying that in my unwrinkled youth and living in an area where people don't get plastic surgery frequently I would not have gotten plastic surgery, but now here where its common and now I'm old it seems like "probably not but never say never."

Would you ever get plastic surgery if you had the means?

bedding

I spent some time last night window shopping for bedding for the Princess...not buying anything for a bit, but I do like to shop.   There is lots of beautiful bedding out there.

I have a gift certificate to West Elm that I have been hoarding for a while, perhaps this Fair Aisle duvet might work with her pink Emmy curtains.  I LOVE this bedding, especially the standard shams.  It has a lovely casual but pretty vibe to it.  To be honest, it reminds me of a quilt my mother would have made when I was a kid.

Or this large pink buffalo check from Ikea.

I don't think this one will go with the curtains at all, but I think its super pretty:. Which is weird because I do not really like purple.

This one is also pretty, but I think too busy to go with the curtains:

Land of Nod has some lovely bedding and I would get this immediately, but they do not carry queen sizes.

Seen any noteworthy bedding lately?

Princess's room: the layout and the defeat

The Princess's room is not going very well.  Every single thing I have done in that room so far has turned out poorly.

I freely admit that space planning is not one of my abilities. When we decided to get Princess a queen bed, we taped it out on the floor to see how it fit.

No problemo, right?  Um, well, actually, yes problemo.  See that little snippet of rocking chair in the lower left corner?  See how the tape pretty much goes under the seat of that chair?  Even if we move the bed over so that it is schooched up against the closet, that still leaves about six inches between the chair and the bed. Seeing as this is the third time I've used this picture, I probably should have noticed this earlier.

I have taped off other various ways of arranging the room (going through a lot of tape, yo), and that chair doesn't fit in there with that bed.

So! Since we already bought the bed, the chair is moving out.  My baby's crib and my baby's rocker (my first baby! I bought that rocker when I was pregnant with Greg! THIS IS THE END OF AN ERA!) are gone.  Its a big girl room now.  Sob.

My original plans for this room were to essentially just plop a big girl bed in it, use art and bedding we already have, and spend essentially no money in here.  

I thought that we would just use queen sheets from our old queen bed from a few years ago, and the blanket from our old bed.  Except apparently I donated all the old queen sheets but for one dark brown pair that we use for the air mattress. (Damn you, William Morris.) The old blanket from our queen bed was actually a king blanket, and since we bought a very low platform frame for the new bed, the king blanket hangs a good eighteen inches off either side.  No way of folding or arranging the king blanket is working to make it fit the bed.

Perhaps a dry cleaner would hem this blanket down to a better size?

The mirror I wanted to use over the bed is not the right scale. I also realized that hanging a mirror over a toddler's bed in earthquake country is not one of my better ideas.

I think I am falling back and regrouping for a while. I need a plan of attack.  Its not about the stuff, right?  I keep telling myself that.

the weekend

Our weekend was spent building stuff.

Princess got a new pink kitchen.  I gave away our old play kitchen because it was enormous and just didn't fit in the room very well.  I had all these big Pinterest ideas of DIY-ing a cute little bitty kitchen. I even went so far as to buy a cheap Ikea nightstand to make it with, and.....it sat in the garage for months. 

I gave up and ordered this kitchen from Costco.  It is dainty, pink, came with a fridge, and fit the space perfectly.

It also arrived in about four hundred pieces.

Once upon a time the Mister and I used to eat out on Friday nights.  Now we do manual labor. 

We also picked up a bed for Princess.  We built that too.

The Mister, as he wrestled three very heavy boxes up the stairs, said "When I turn 40 I am done with this Ikea sh*t."  I have to say I heartily concur.

I painted some stuff.  The children turned the sprinkler on and soaked all the items.

And we cleaned the garage. Again.  And took much of the overflow to a storage unit.  I have no pictures.

How was your weekend?  

Princess's room: Nester makes me rethink it.

For the past hour I composed a post about possible headboards for the Princess's room, and it was all I want I want I want.  My original idea for a pretty headboard was only available in a twin, and now that I've bought Princess a queen bed, that option won't work.  It was also a very cheap option in a twin, and now that I've bought a queen bed, I've used up my budget for the room.

I took a break from writing and hopped over to the Nester's 31 Days series.  And immediately felt ashamed of myself.  Have you been following along with Nester's 31 Days, where she writes about having an intentional home?  Its an excellent series--I'm a little behind on my blog reader, so I hadn't yet seen it.  The second post asks "what is the purpose of your home?"  The fourth post notes that your home is "not about the stuff."

And those are two important things that sometimes I forget.

I really like shopping for my house. I like dreaming up moodboards. I like spending money on furniture and art. I like doing DIY projects. I like sharing DIY decor on my blog.  But the purpose of my home is not to provide fodder for my blog. (It is certainly a by-product, but not the true purpose.)

The purpose of my home is to provide a warm, nurturing, casual, and welcoming place to live for my family.  Its not about the stuff.  Its not about the fabulous headboard I wanted. My three year old will not be impressed by the headboard.  Its not about what will be fun to share on my blog. Its not about how I want an item I can't afford.  Why do I focus on that?

Its about my family. Its about providing a functional place for them to live.  Attractive, yes, but functional.  I have a playroom sofa with clean midcentury lines that I like, but I don't care if the kids eat yogurt and popsicles on it.  I have a gallery wall of art, and fifty percent of it is created by my kids.  I have a gallery wall of photos, and they are all family and friends. I have two ottomans that I hate, but the Mister likes them better than any alternatives I have suggested, so they stay.

I sometimes look around and wish that my house were more sophisticated and glamorous. I sigh over the peeling paint on my dining chairs, and the yogurt and popsicle stains on my sofa. I wish that I were more Design Within Reach than Ikea.

But I'm not. My house is not glamorous, or sophisticated, but it is warm and cozy.  It has numerous spots to curl up with a good book, or challenge your sibling to the Ultimate Bey Blade battle, or eat without fear of ruining the upholstery. It is filled with art I find meaningful, and furniture that is comfortable.  It may not be glamorous, but it is a nice place to live.

The entire point of buying a queen bed is to give our family a comfortable place to sleep when they visit.  What headboard I put up is irrelevant.  (That won't stop me from shopping for one, but I will try not to get so worked up about not finding the perfect one.)  Decorating is a hobby.  Its a hobby that I greatly enjoy, but, still, just a hobby.

Its not about the stuff.

Greg, using a table not for its intended purpose.

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My friend Rita at This (Sorta) Old Life has made it into Apartment Therapy's Room For Color Contest. Check it out and vote for her bathroom if you are so inclined, pretty please?