calling all HGTV wannabes.

You guys, help. Seriously.

This is my living room (please pardon the terrible iPod Touch photos throughout. And the mess.). My mom refers to it as "the family room" because we have another living room at the front of the house which I refer to as "the front room" (apparently that's a regional thing?). It's an eyesore, and we've done nothing with it since moving in in January besides buying a sectional and an armchair (where I obviously spend a lot of time - notice the Boppy). Do you see that big dark wall? What I want to do with it is something like this -

source

- but the other adult living here says he wants to wait until he gets tenure before we do anything "significant" to the house. That also means that the nasty carpet with stains from the previous owners (the downside of a short sale - they left the house in crappy condition) is staying for a while, too. So I'm trying to decide on some quick fixes that don't require a lot of DIY effort, since I seriously don't have time anymore. Will you weigh in with your ideas? Read about them after the jump!

a tale of two rooms: preview

A quick blog update: I'm still working on editing photos and doing a full write-up, but I wanted to share a quick preview of the nursery and "big girl" room I've been decorating all summer!

Taking photos has helped me remember the things I still need to do - and photograph - but I hope to share the full room details with you soon!

a not-at-all-beautiful mess // my sarcastic house tour

I was talking with some friends at lunch today and some thoughts finally crystallized for me about part of the reason I have been away from the blog so much lately, apart from the big roadblocks like planning for the barn sale and not having a working computer. It's because of this.

the gorgeous home of Naomi Davis - click image to visit A Beautiful Mess's post all about it

This photo, for me, epitomizes how I've been feeling about a lot of what I read in blogland. Everything about this room is perfect: the furniture, the lighting, the happy family bonding together. And I get that, for the "stay-at-home moms" who actually make a living from blogging, having a blog that focuses on all that is beautiful and enviable and covetable about your life is how you get advertisers to pay you and readers to flock to your posts every day. But I'm having a really hard time with the "comparison is the thief of joy" thing.

As excited as we are about baby #2 and as many things that have happened since January, 2013 has not been a great year for our family. We've had grief and loss with the death of family members, illness and physical ailments for at least one of us at any given time, concerns about Lorelei's speech development, house trauma (including two flooded basements at the same time when we were still in the process of selling our old house), big arguments about finances and future life goals, and general growing pains as we figure out life as a soon-to-be family of four. And posting about recipes or craft projects or my baby bump progress seems trivial and fake in the midst of all that.

I have been wanting for ages to do a "house tour" to show you the new place we moved into, but what's the point? We still have limited furniture because we can't agree on a budget or style, ugly contractor-grade carpet that I want to get rid of but probably never will (see previous reason), piles of stuff sitting around and nowhere to put it (see previous reason)...I feel frustrated every time I walk into a different room and so end up watching Law and Order reruns and hoarding images on Pinterest instead of trying to do anything to fix it, which is just making the problem worse. (My virtual house would totally be full of amazing DIYs if all of my pins are any indication.)

I would love to have the time and skill to take old dressers I found at a garage sale and make them look like something Apartment Therapy-worthy, but instead I can barely find the time to clean my shower. I would love to have a to-die-for muffin recipe to share with you and pictures of my daughter devouring them at breakfast, but instead I'm busy cleaning up the cereal she threw on that awesome carpet this morning (like every morning) because she thinks breakfast is the worst meal of the day. And I'd love to have gorgeous pictures of our family to share with you, but first I would have to take a shower and find some pants that aren't covered in mud/playdoh/dinner from two days ago, and it's not looking good for that until next Tuesday at the earliest.

So, without further ado, an honest look at my house. Don't worry: I applied a bunch of cross-processing to the photos so they have a vintagey feel and you'll think you're looking at something amazing. Fooled ya!

Here's a picture of our family room, complete with fabulous MDF side table I've had since 1999, a  TV the size of a postage stamp, and some classy cardboard boxes for a little added "DIY chic."

We never invite people over anyway, so the couch in our front room seemed like a great place to stash our stereo that only successfully plays CDs about a third of the time. If you do swing by, there's totally room for you next to it once I brush off some crumbs.

One of the things that sold me on this new house was all of the counter space in the kitchen - I had big dreams of having even more flat surfaces to pile crap on than in our old place. Mission accomplished!

I was so excited to find a pair of nightstands at Target - no assembly necessary! And more MDF - can you believe it? Who needs real wood? - because I thought they'd go really well with our random stash of junk, overflowing hamper, and broken window shade.

My favorite room of the house: the nursery for our new baby! Doesn't the bunny lamp look cute there? I think our youngest daughter will love hearing stories about how she slept in a cardboard box next to some old electronic equipment we've had since we lived in Colorado and can't seem to get rid of.

Don't you just love what we've done with the place? Aren't you jealous of my life?

Sigh. Okay, off to do the dishes that have been sitting next to the sink since last night, and then maybe I'll clean the toilets. Maybe.

letting go.

I got really sad about this table this morning.

It's not much to look at - just a little retro kitchen table that barely fits two people when fully extended. But it was the only table in my first (and only solo) apartment after college. A table where I sat to eat meals I had cooked for myself. A table that served as my desk and crafting studio. A hiding place for love notes (in that cute little drawer). A memory of a past life, I guess.

It feels good to let go of things I don't need anymore as we finalize the sale of our old house and start working on making our new one feel like home. But it's funny how attached we get to things, isn't it?

Goodbye, little table. Enjoy your new home - I hope your new owners leave little love notes to each other inside your drawer, too.

what's your house style?

I found this fun little home decor quiz thanks to a link on Robyn's Facebook page. According to the results, I'm "new country" with a hint of "boho" (though I don't know that I totally agree with that assessment!) -- what are you?

Of course, the way we would like our houses to look and the reality are often not exactly on the same page. I live in a house that looks like this:

(Sorry about the photo quality -- blame realtor.com. This is our neighbor's house, not ours -- which is a crazy shade of yellow -- but it will look pretty much like this soon because we're having it painted)

I always pictured myself living in a house like this:

So I'm trying to decide if I'll be happy living in a house like this -- where all of the other houses in the neighborhood look exactly the same.

Can a quirky bungalow girl find true happiness living in a cookie cutter subdivision?

Okay, I realize I'm very lucky to even be considering such things at a time when so many people are going without -- so we'll put the guilt associated with all of that aside for now. But we're really having a tough time deciding where we want to live!

On the one hand, moving to a new subdivision would make a lot of sense financially: we could get a ton of house for not a lot of cash, because there are short sales and foreclosures everywhere you turn. The downside? There are short sales and foreclosures everywhere you turn. I know that the neighborhood will look and feel different in 10-15 years, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around moving to a cookie-cutter house that probably got thrown together slapdash during the housing boom of the early 2000s. At the same time, there are lots of young families there so we might feel more "at home." And though the house isn't really my dream in terms of style, we wouldn't have to do anything before moving in -- it's ready to go.

I feel more "at home" moving to an older, more established neighborhood. I love the quirky character and charm of older homes. But the upkeep can be a pain (though older homes certainly seem "built to last" more than some newer models), there'd be a lot more work we'd have to do right away when we moved in, and there are certain things we'd have to do without that we could easily get in a newer home: large closets, master bath, first floor laundry. (I don't have any of those things now -- I'm just dreaming of them.)

And then there's the issue of location in town to consider. We live in a college town where many professors have decided to live closer to Chicago for a variety of reasons -- and it has changed the feel of the town as a result. We are committed to living where we work. At the same time, we have to consider the impact of location on our family -- we want Lorelei to have a rich educational experience, and it's hard to know what to think about the changing nature of the school districts in our town and the town just ten minutes north of here. As anyone who works in education knows, it's impossible to predict what schools will be like a decade from now -- but we have to make a decision somehow! Do we live close to campus? Move near an elementary school when the rumor is that our town's schools will be completely reorganized in the next few years? Move to the next town over where the school district seems a little more stable and safe (read: fewer gang fights, fewer issues with district finances) -- but where the town's population is much more homogenous socially, ethnically, religiously, and politically?

I don't expect you to have answers to these questions, of course. But I would love to know how you decided where to live -- and whether you've been happy about your decision!

adventures in motherhood: lights, camera, action.

I seriously do not know how you bloggers who have kiddos who don't take any naps do it. I can't even post regularly now that Lorelei takes only one! You're killing me, Smalls!

Things I've been preoccupied by this week:

1. Lights. As in, all of the lighting fixtures in my house. We're trying to make some small changes around here to get everything ready to put our house on the market in February (the start of buying season around these parts), and if you've been following my Pinterest board you can see that I've been light obsessed. I feel like ceiling lights are things that potential buyers won't notice unless they're hideous -- a category ours probably fall under at the moment. I'm thinking a trip to Ikea this weekend might be in order...any other great on-the-cheap home furnishing suggestions?

the only light I've decided on so far: two of these will hang (close to the ceiling) in the kitchen

2. Camera. Still don't have mine fixed, and my newest shop updates are looking a little worse for the wear with the point-and-shoot I'm using instead. Oh well. I did manage to get some cute pictures of Lorelei recently, though of course when I look at them I just see the ways in which my "real" camera would have captured the moment more perfectly. First world problems? Yep, definitely.

3. Action. I've been on the phone with repairmen -- and meeting with them -- a lot more than I would like in terms of my dreams about how to spend my free time, but at least we're making some headway on the house. New range hood? New faucet for our kitchen sink? Estimate on painting the exterior wood trim a color other than bright yellow (you can sort of see it in that photo above -- color suggestions?)? Check, check, check. Next up: getting an electrician in here to install all our new lights...once I order them, that is! It feels good to be finally jumping feet/head/everything first into this project, since I've been wanting to update our house since we moved in and it just never seemed like we should take the time/effort/money to do it. At least we'll get to enjoy it for a few months before we move, right? :)

p.s. 3 more days of knowing that your larking. purchase is going to support the fight against ovarian cancer!

house hunting blues.

Once upon a time, there was a really cute house. It had five bedrooms, a heated sunroom with walls of windows, hardwood floors and a bay window, an eat-in kitchen where kids could play while I made dinner, a finished basement with built-in bookshelves perfect for a home office, and located right across the street from a great elementary school. Oh, and it was listed at an unbelievable price because it needed some super easy cosmetic updates and it's the end of the season here. And did I mention the playhouse in the backyard?

And then someone bought it before we got our act together. So I've been in a funk the past three days about it.

Okay, pity party over -- time to start working on all of the home projects we've been meaning to do here! Up next: getting rid of the hideous wallpaper in the kitchen and finishing our bathroom remodel (paint and a bit of tiling). What DIY projects are you working on right now?

inept DIYer: entryway {before}

Memorial Day Weekend: time for grilling, enjoying the great outdoors, and home improvement projects. As I've mentioned before, the hubs and I have no abilities whatsoever with home DIY anything. I drool over Apartment Therapy and Design*Sponge, wishing that I could replicate what I see there -- and knowing it will never, ever happen unless I hire somebody.

I went to Lowe's on Saturday morning to get some ideas for DIY projects I'm sorta kinda considering and ended up abandoning my cart (full of items) in the middle of an aisle and walking out. It reminded me of this article, which makes me laugh even just thinking about it...

There's a list a mile long of things I'd like to do to our house, but since we're thinking about moving, it's difficult to know what to take on and what to let go. But here's something we have to do, since first impressions are so key in the real estate market: fix our entryway.

What is that thing, you ask? Oh, the 1960s half-wall entryway -- so classy. Ours is made even classier by having a cut-out in the center with a large metal pan in it. Originally, it housed a very dusty collection of fake plants. I threw those out the minute we moved in and filled it with glass beads instead.

Clearly, this was not a long-term fix.

I'm loving the idea of doing something like this instead:

(image -- super inspiring blog about home improvement you should check out!)

Do you think it could be as easy as ordering a granite slab and attaching it with silicone caulk (as recommended by the owner of the original image)? And where do I go about acquiring such a slab?

And speaking of home improvement projects, we're also in the process of having our bathrooms redone. I'll be doing a big post about that soon, too -- expect to be truly terrified by the "before" pictures (quick preview: there used to be carpet. EWWWWW!).

Any master DIYers out there tackle something amazing this Memorial Day weekend? I'd love to marvel over your handiwork and bemoan my lack of DIY talent! Share links to any projects you've posted about in the comments below...

our house is a very, very, very small house.

We live in a modest little ranch house that doesn't have a bathtub* or dishwasher. And for the first 2 years we lived here prior to having our baby, it was perfect for us. And for the first 7 months after we had our baby, it was basically fine. But now that our little lambchop is mobile, it suddenly feels unbelievably cramped.

(the front of our house in the fall of 2009 -- yep, that's us)

When we moved in, we knew that this wasn't our dream house (far from it) and didn't think we'd be living here forever. But I don't think I anticipated feeling a powerful need to move this soon.

The house needs work. The kitchen is ridiculously outdated: ugly laminate counters, old appliances (plus, of course, the whole no dishwasher thing), the worst wallpaper you've ever seen. The bathroom is atrocious (aforementioned missing bathtub is just one part of the problem -- let's just say the moldy-oldy seashell wallpaper border is one of the best features), the basement was flooded before we moved in and consequently the tile (made from asbestos, we think) is ruined and needs to be removed and replaced. The ceiling of the garage is falling apart, the chimney flashing needs repair, the backyard is overrun by creeping charlie.

(our living room; photos by Chrissy Deming Photography)

At the same time, there are things we love about the house. We put in a patio the first year we lived here, and it's perfect for us. The backyard is large and has a very lovely flowering tree -- and the giant maple in the front is the envy of the neighborhood. Our living room window lets in the most amazing afternoon light. We live so close to campus that my husband can easily walk to work every day, saving us money on fuel and the environment some greenhouse gases and giving him the opportunity for some exercise and contemplation time. The house is on a quiet little cul-de-sac where our daughter will be safe to play when she's old enough to scamper around outside.

(L's nursery)

So, what to do? It feels very small now, but if/when we have another child, we will have to move -- The Professor has made it abundantly clear that he needs a home office so he can work in peace and quiet, and we'd have to use the last of the three bedrooms for the new little one, so we're out of luck unless we can figure out a way to construct an office for him in the basement (but it seems like it'd be depressing to work in a dark dungeon of wood paneling!). All of the "problems" I mentioned are probably easily fixable for someone with DIY skills, ambition, talent, and time. That person is not me, and it is definitely not my husband.

(in the backyard 2.5 weeks before L arrived)

It's a buyer's market, so I know we could find another house that's a better fit for us with little difficulty. But it's a buyer's market, so who is going to want to buy our goofy little home so that we could move?

And I feel embarrassed for even saying this, because I grew up in a tiny ranch house with old laminate counters and only three bedrooms + 1 small bathroom and parents with no money to fix anything and you know what? It was a house filled with love and happiness and I wouldn't have changed a thing. And considering that my great-grandfather was born in a sod house on the prairies of Nebraska and my husband's mother was born in a displaced person's camp in post-war Germany, I don't really have any business complaining.

So for now, I'm trying to stay on top of the seemingly-endless clutter and pull myself away from the real estate listings...


*I should mention, lest you think that we are very unsanitary, that we do have a shower and a little plastic baby bathtub!

secrets to happiness.

It feels so, so good to be back home.

(image)

Traveling to see family for Thanksgiving was wonderful -- but it is definitely nice to be back home to normalcy. Poor little L is one tired baby after a day of flying (sleeping anywhere other than her crib basically doesn't happen, so she went from  6am to 7pm yesterday with only 1.5 hours of napping total, poor thing), so we're going to need a few days to recover.

In the few minutes she was asleep on the plane, I was thinking about the kind act I had just witnessed: two people giving up their seats so that a mother and child could sit by each other (an older grandfather type and a twenty-something woman, of course -- the businessmen buried their faces in their iPhones and pretended not to hear the request from the flight attendants). It made me think of one of the fixtures of my parents' house that gets the most comments from visitors: the happiness list.

For as long as I can remember, a homely little printout of "28 Secrets to Happiness" has been taped in front of the toilet in our bathroom (yep, only one bathroom in my parents' house -- the horror!) so that you can't help but read it every. single. time you are in there. I could recite the list for you by heart, but here are some of the suggestions: "Be on time." "Be humble." "Read a favorite book." "Understand and accept that life isn't always fair." (You can see the whole list here.) I love that my parents didn't lecture us about these things, but instead left us a gentle reminder in an unexpected place.

I was thinking I could add a few things to the list, but "giving up your seat on the airplane" is basically like #16 and "let that busy person at the grocery store go first even when she has a full cart and you have two things" is #18. But I guess I would add "tell your loved ones how much you care about them" because you never know when you might not get the chance to do that again.

I'm off to catch up on all the blogs I missed in the past week -- and to check off a few things on my happiness list. Hope you have a day filled with happiness, too!

feeling free.

I just spent the past 45 minutes of L's nap (ignoring one short wake-up, she's been sleeping for an hour and twenty minutes!) crawling out from under a pile of spam.

(image)

No, not that kind -- this kind!

(image)

Do you have a "junk email" address? I used to have a yahoo account as my main email address, back when yahoo was cool. Now I just use it for online purchases so that I don't get a lot of spam in my real email inbox. But even that was overwhelming: I hadn't checked the account in over a week, and I had SEVEN HUNDRED emails to delete. Yikes! It's hard to find my banking information and cell phone bills when they are sandwiched between coupons I'll never use from Bath and Body Works and Stonewall Kitchen. So I went through and unsubscribed to everything I could find. It sounds like it could take over a week to stop receiving emails from all of these places, but I already feel so, so much better.

(image)

In fact, I was feeling so good about getting unburied that I decided to cancel two magazine subscriptions I've had for ages: Glamour and Vogue. I am embarrassed to admit that I currently receive 8 magazines in the mail -- and I'm feeling like that's about 6 too many. Five of the subscriptions are either free or were gifts, though, so I decided to axe two of the remaining ones. And I cannot give up Real Simple -- just not happening. I feel a little bad getting rid of two fashion magazines, like I'm admitting that now I'm a mom I am resigned to a life of sweatpants and bad hair. But I promise that I'm keeping current thanks to some stylish mommy blogs and, of course, pinterest.

Next up for a major overhaul: the bathroom closet!

(image)

p.s. shameless plug: L is currently in 17th place in a "cutest kid" contest. If you haven't already voted for your own kid, click here and vote for mine! You can vote once a day, so don't be shy about coming back. :)

I heart Domino.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I used to subscribe to Domino magazine and adored every single page of every single issue (which I saved -- thank goodness!). And then it went under. How? No clue -- it had a crazy cult following and I can't imagine how other, less worthy magazines made it through the Great Recession unscathed.

But it has resurfaced! Conde Nast publications is putting all of the old Domino articles up for public consumption on brides.com -- and I, for one, am going to be spending a lot of time over there, especially now that I've signed up for Pinterest (I'm sure you noticed the little icon over there on the right, didn't you?)...

(thanks to Princess Anne County for the original post way back when about this!)