Play Pretties: Inspiration from The Nesting Place

I posted on New Year's Eve that I was planning on freshening up my walls after receiving Myquillin Smith's The Nesting Place, an approachable design book, this Christmas.  I have been playing with my family room walls and borrowing items from different rooms in the house to make this one its best.  I've switched out lamps, picture frames, and discovered a lot of potential that I had stuffed inside a closet or forgotten cabinet.

After I duct-taped our last couches within an inch of their lives (very thin leather that laid down and died after one too many flounce) and we moved up to a better class of furniture store (for us),  I jumped on my husband's open wallet like a tick on a June dog.  I'm not terribly decisive for the most part, but I know from my upbringing that you don't second guess a husband's good will to spend. You just nod your head and say SOLD.  We got two neutral couches and mirrored coffee and side tables.  If I was totally following The Nester's design aesthetic, I would no doubt buy each piece from a different location and have a sewing party to stitch together vintage linens for my couches, but no, we went to Ashley and got some couches 'cause Mama needed to give up strategic blanket covering of the old couches because it was becoming a stronghold.

On the end table above (left), I pulled my son's 2-year-old  hand print painting from his first preschool teacher, as well as a couple of pictures that fit with the colors and sentiment of the "Joy Comes In The Morning" plaque.  The lamp was originally in my son's nursery until his two-year-old self started clearing the shelves at naptime when it was moved to the closet.  Later, I repurposed it to my bedside table until reading this book.  We needed lamps and I wasn't willing to buy any after the spending orgy of Christmas and furniture buying, so I made the family room my priority. The mirror about this sofa matches my son's dresser, but we had never hung it as he has a bunch of cute boy stuff on his walls.  It has sat for years in a closet until volia: inspiration!  We have a blank space to fill.   If I got really creative, I'd go ahead and paint the wood aqua or cream, another Nester maxim.  You can't ruin a piece in which you didn't heavily invest.  Maybe I will.


On the right, I played around with old prints that had not been displayed for a while and swapped out frames for contrast and texture.  I also brought out our wedding album that sat in a neglected corner cabinet where I can enjoy it.

The Nesting Place

 We took back the house and have a coffee table on which to place things.  No one has gotten a concussion and there are plenty of shows and performances despite less space for rambunctious play.

This chest was our stand-in side table but now fills an empty nook and holds all our photo albums.  The prints above have been moved around quite a bit.  The frames were first hung on a gallery wall, but I realized they looked dinky in such a large space.  I switched out the prints to our most current family picture and finally found a spot with which I'm happy.  

A gallery wall start-up.  I had a 11 x 14 frame and large tray anchoring this wall surrounded by smaller 5 x7 and 4 x 6 frames.  The black frames were monochromatic and too small for such a large wall.  I took the ideas in the Nester's book, such as using all black and white pictures (in the aqua frames).

These hand prints were in a cabinet and now I'm enjoying them every day.  The book suggested mixing prints that are not behind glass to give a wall texture.  I placed these by my kids' baby and toddler pictures, taken around the age the hand prints were cast.

I found this LOVE print at Hobby Lobby and I love the color and sentiment.

The 'Y' hanging was another Hobby Lobby purchase on a separate trip.  I didn't have plans for it except it was our initial and I love the color.  What's special about the plate to the right of the initial is that it was a Christmas gift to my grandma many years ago when my sister and I were young.  I now have two girls and this is a sweet reminder of family history.  The bird print was a photo card canvas from a very kind group of ladies.  Since I'm Mama 'Jaybird', I think the symbolism is cool.

Nothing too fancy about our mantel as it houses all our entertainment equipment, so decorative pieces are useless as they block the signal from TV remotes (the horror).  After the holidays, it's nice to have a little sparkle during these gray months. The heart swag is a Target cheapie, but isn't it cute?

This picture is taken from my dining room table.  I pulled out my grandma's delicate pink rose china and added my dried Mother's Day/Baby Dedication corsage from a few years back.  It seems right.

It's always fun to decorate and this book encourages play and creativity all year round; to see your housing as a living thing.  If you want to change up your home but like me, think a beautiful home means big bucks and a decorator, pick up a copy of this book. You'll change your mind!

Downtown Abbey: Season 5, Episode I'm Finally Interested Again

 I was worried.  I watched episodes 2 and 3 the day after it aired.  Something was bad wrong.  I was at the point where I began to think Mary really was a bit of a ...  very cold and spoiled woman.  I stopped wanting to follow around the head cheerleader of the show.   She and Tony decide to "get to know each other better" in episode 3 and then, they, you know, get to know each other and when she gets home she can't be bothered to make a decision. Enter Charles Blake. OBVI.  Hottie-boom-body got a new haircut and cleverly informs Mary that Tony's kinda cute but shallow.  He is so throwing off the "I don't care, woman" vibe and she takes the bait. In tonight's episode, she meets up with Charles for dinner where he again metaphorically toss his bangs and feigns disinterest.  Mary goes to deliver the "It's not you, it's me," speech and Tony's not having it.  She is a LADY and they are just going to work through this.  Good on ya, fella.  A smart man would run, but Mary's suitors are nothing if not persistent.  Soapy fun. If you need a reason to waste more time on the internet, google "Charles Blake Downton Abbey tumblr."  Good fun with gifs.

Onto my favorite part of the night: Isobel. Isobel and her beau, Richard Gray are so adorable.  I must have shouted that ten times to no one in particular as her suitor impressed upon her that no, he did not need looking after in his later years.  No, he was not bored.  He just plain loved her. Romantically.  It hit that sweet, poignant note that has been missing this season; the note that keeps the show anchored in more than melodrama.  And let's not forget Lady Violet almost running away with a Russian prince when God was a boy.  I mean.  These ladies are feisty.

Edith inches closer to learning whether or not Michael was killed by a gang of thugs (the Nazis) and Cora gets some unexpected attention from an art historian.  Robert preens like a wounded peacock and becomes enraged at dinner when Tom's teacher friend, Ms. Bunting, challenges him about wanting to keep the staff in serfdom from cradle to grave.  Looks like Tom will be making a choice this season about the direction his life will take.  My bet is on America and a new start, but I can't imagine the actor would want to be written out of the show.  We'll see.

Bates and Anna still tiptoe around the matter of Mr. Greene's death.  It's apparent that Anna is afraid to ask Mr. Bates directly if he had anything to do with it.  You can't unring a bell and you can't go back from asking your husband if he murdered a man to avenge your honor.  I really want Anna and Bates to just be happy, the end. They deserve it.

Lots of downstairs plot to keep track off: Ms. Baxter, Cora's maid, is so kind to Mr. Barrow, who has been nothing but nasty to her.  It seems she recognizes a hurting person and doesn't want to kick him when he's down.  He's had some mysterious medical procedure, which from the magazine article she peeked at, might suggest some type of reparative therapy.  Daisy is gaining confidence in herself through her studies and suggests writing a letter of protest on Mrs. Patamore's behalf requesting that her nephew Archie be included in the war memorial despite his deserting the army.

All in all, a much better night of Downton and I'm happy to say I plan to watch each episode the night it airs until the finale on March 1.  Cheers, Downton.

Thinking about Five

Sarah,

I started mentally composing some heartfelt sentiments today as I rode home from bible study.  I've been meeting with this large group for about six years, and our first study was when I was pregnant with the girl in my house turning five this Saturday.  We were studying Esther, and we've looped back around to the same study.  So I was thinking trite-but-true things about mothers and daughters and  I'm Everything I Am (Because You Loved Me) as I headed to pick up some cupcakes to bring to your preschool. And to order your Frozen cake for the party. And a box of cake mix for the family this weekend. And how absurd that actually is but who cares.

Every day, I keep a running list of all the things I should be doing better with you:

A consistent chore routine...  Scripture memory... So many books read at bedtime... How your hair looks... Getting you to say "ma'am" automatically when another adult speaks to you... If you have enough activities in your formative years... If I've set terrible eating practices for you... Why we don't have enough precious conversations about the mystery of heaven...  Should you still be having such meltdowns when you lose a privilege and hear a final "no"...

Sometimes, I lose my temper and tell you to just deal with it and I worry that you'll be completely ruin't and what if you never learn to read/be responsible/get dressed in less than 5 minutes?

These are important things and I can worry that I've just been phoning it in with you three.  Then I remember that  I've also feed you and sheltered you and affirmed you.  And that's a lot.

Plus, there's one thing we've done really well:

We've delighted together.  In some small way, usually a moment of holding hands, you reaching out; me taking a moment to break from the tyranny of the urgent to give you what you want most: my undivided attention.

We've have fashion shows and dance parties and teas and picnics and couch cuddles.  We shake our booties with some authority.

When you smile with the single dimple on your heart-shaped face, it's everything the poets say much better than me.

Here's what I want to say to you, Sarah, whether or not you read Mom's blog one day or it's just downloaded to the microchip in your head I'm sure we'll be getting in the future.  Along with the hooverboard.

When you're the next big 5-- and the next, and the next, I hope you see yourself the way I see you today.  I hope you still see me the way you see me today.  And I hope I see myself the way you see me.

Because we think the other is just the cutest thing ever.

And I hope that never changes.

 The strong, stubborn spirit, your pride in and encouragement for your brother, your mercurial way of wanting to show Sis everything and then to be.left.alone.  The way that once you are comfortable with someone, you are unafraid to be the center of attention.  It's who you are at five.  I hope to never snuff that out.


I love you oh-so-much.  Happy Birthday, Big Girl.


Mom

It's a Tricky Business These Days...

Pants.  I'm gonna talk about my pants now.  (Remember that Five Iron Frenzy song, early 2000s listeners of Christian ska?)

So, lots of bloggers have lamented the decline of women's pants and make leggings the object of scorn and derision for Ladies Who Carpool and/or Exercise Over the Age of 18.

There's this:

And this:




Well, there were A LOT of leggings this Sunday at my place of worship... so much so that I wanted to text another "Are They Pants?" Enthusiast to discuss.  I have no pants-stones to throw as I own two pairs of  jeggings (though actual denim) and one pair of leggings that I wear in public.

My own legging/jegging philosophy is that they are best to wear with a dress or mini-dress or a looong tunic that does the high-low number with a few good inches draping below your private business.

Which brings me to my newest clothing finds:

 d.jeans Sexy High Waist Jean

I got these today at TJMaxx for $17 and they are both skinny and high waisted in the best sense.  These are the jeans for any woman who does not have a 26.2 sticker on her vehicle but still wants to wear her tall boots without forsaking brownies or modesty.  I'm very excited.  They are super comfortable.

Also, I found some NYDJ (Not Your Daughter's Jeans) in a skinny cut.  The ankle is not quite skinny enough for a tall boot, but they fit very nicely if you like a natural waist style. I believe they go up to size 16.   They retail for a bit more (around the $100 mark) so I decided to go ahead and get them for $40 at TJMaxx.  I wear jeans almost everyday, and even though it makes me worry that my fashion sense has not evolved enough, it's what I like to wear most days.  I have another pair in this brand in a soft trouser pant style and I've heard good things about their jeans, so I think I'll be pleased.

 

NYDJ Samantha Skinny (Mine are last season so these are the closest to what I got)

I hope these finds bless you on your quest for pants-that-are-pants-you-can-wear-with-cute-shoes-and-breezy-blouses.  Praise the Lord and pass the Lycra reinforcement.

To Me, 3 Years Ago

This post is inspired by The Mighty, that asked:

"For all of January, The Mighty is asking its readers this question: If you could go back to the day you (or a loved one) got a diagnosis, what would you tell yourself?"

I've touched on this idea a bit here in my grand coming out blog party.  I'm a year and a half further along from that post, and here's what I'd say a few more steps down the road.

If I could go back to December 17, 2011, I would want to make myself sit down with someone, a professional or trusted figure, and just let out the complex feelings I tried to put a resolute demeanor over.  We were not surprised to receive an autism diagnosis for our 3 1/2 year old son: we were relieved to have an answer.  It was a new starting point.  What I dreaded most was to see my son diminished in the eyes of others.  I would not stand for that.  A day later we went to a family Christmas gathering where I tearfully declared, "Our dreams and wishes for our son are unchanged." In the essentials of life: love and faith and family, nothing had changed.  Jeremiah had not changed.

We were the ones who would, by almost imperceptible degrees, change. 

We would change our terminology.  From the "welcome-to-the-club" first-person terminology of an individual with autism to the term many self-advocates on the spectrum have taken back: autistic. An educator recently reminded a group of parents at a seminar I attended that the proper term was individual with autism as if we were unfamiliar with the nuances of terminology and the debates thereof.  Bless her.  Self, you'll learn to let these things roll off your back. 

We would change our stance.  When you typically begin to walk down an unfamiliar road of diagnosis, you join a new subculture.  To broadly define the two options of the ASD spectrum, you have 1) Change and Cure and 2) Accept and Support.  Of course these are simplistic categories, but we started unabashedly in the first category.  We began therapies (a good thing) and schooling (another) and paperwork and lastly, an approach to autism intervention.  I regret none of these.  We learned more about our son's unique style of learning and worked through our own prejudices and barriers to parenting a child who approached the world in a way in which we were unfamiliar.  Then, after a few years, we stopped and re-evaluated.  This is the most important step, I believe, to helping your child.  We gave ourselves permission to keep the good and abandon what was not working for our family.  No philosophy or therapeutic approach is more important than the health of the entire family.  We were tired.  We had reached an end of one approach and it was okay.

It's good to go your own way.  This is truly one of the best lessons I've learned from being a parent of a child with a disability.  Doctors and professionals are valuable resources, and it is wise to examine the course of options they present.  But you know your child and yourself best.  Trust your instincts and judgement.  You are the parent.  You do know best.  You are the most vested.  Examine everything, make a choice, and walk boldly in it.  Fear is a terrible motivator.

We would laugh with our son.  With his sly methods of getting his way.  His way of showing excitement-- to rehearse over and over the next time he would see someone or someplace he loved. We would hoot and holler as he took ownership of toileting, a very big deal for any child. I would hear my first "I love you" from my son, as he approached my door after bedtime, knowing this would most definitely get him time in my room.  And his new found interest in drawing, not to mention riding his first big bike and loving it.  Being undaunted by the falls.  Slow and steady wins the race.

We continue to learn that the best place for our son to be is the place where he will thrive.  Right now, that is in a special education classroom.  He has excellent teachers who understand his needs.  He is not lost.  He would be lost in regular classroom, though I dream one day this will be possible.  My son has teachers that see him and value him.  That's more than enough.

We have a son that makes us laugh, cry, roll our eyes, and cheer.  Sometimes I lose my patience and remind him to "cool it, buddy" when he's asked to see Papa for the 10th time that minute.  I can discipline in haste.

But I love and appreciate my world and the wonder of life more that I ever would have before.

Sweetheart, it's gonna be more than alright.

Love,

Me

Burnin' Down The House: Downton Abbey, Season 5, Ep. 1 Recap

Photo source PBS

A blog first: a request for content!  My friend asked if I would be blogging Downton this season, so I jolly well shall if my public (of one) asks.

If you enjoy a extra heaping of snark sauce, I usually read this recap  after each Downton.  My thoughts...

You know Downton has used up its good graces with outrageous plot twists when a fire seems "meh" to you.

Servant (Jimmy) and the aristocrat in flagrante delicto? Done.

Thomas being Thomas? Yup.  Part bully, part pimp, all parts obsequious. And always with enough derring do (pulling Edith out of her burning bedroom) to save his job.

Mary playing the Ice Queen?  Yadda yadda yadda.  And hey, Tony Gillingham.  I see what you're doing there.  Mary, maybe Lady Grantham never thought she needed to have this talk with you, but cows and milk, darling.  Your rendezvous with not remain secret.  Paging Mr. Pamuk. Remember?  Dead men tell no tales, but spinster sisters do.  Does anyone else hope Charles Blake returns?  Mary needs a bit of  a struggle to know her own mind.  Plus he is hott with two ts.

Poor Edith being poor Edith, as ever.  And not the first "fallen" woman on the show who must conspire to stay in her child's life. WHERE DID GRIEGSON GO?  Is he dead?  Give us some closure so we can make like Elsa and let. it.go. already.

Baxter is suspicious of Bates, as is Gillingham, as are we.  Have we cleared up why his limp seems to be gone?  Do you think he is essentially a good character?  Could he really have killed his wife after all? Inquiring minds want to know.

Tom is still in aristocratic limbo, not sure of his place in society, especially in terms of courtship.  I don't really feel swayed by his new possible love interest.  She's not as obnoxious or obvious as Edna from last season, but I'm not sure if I like her yet.

Rose is now the dutiful stand in for the youngest Crawley daughter, and I'd rather see her as the rebel.  Who knows what kind of sheneginas she'll get into this season.

Isobel has two potential suitors this season, which is okay by Violet as long as she stays in the middle class where she belongs.  I really enjoy the Violet character and how everything she does is for the good of the family.  I can't really believe she'd prevent a romance for Violet even if it would upset their unbalanced social dynamic.

I miss this Mrs. Hughes/Mr. Carson tenderness and hope that is continued in later episodes. They are my favorite couple in the house.  I doubt in that time anything would ever happen romantically as it would disrupt their posititions of authority, but I think it is the most genuine friendship of affection and respect.

Love that goes the distance is Hughes & Carson, as fun as it is to see Mary & Gillingham flirt with mischief.

True love waits, people.  At least for this retreat-going, cheesy-books-with-cheesier-chapter-titles-reading (Boaz, not Bozo) and married-to-my-own-hybrid-of-cute-and-steady-man kind of woman.

That's my humble recap.  It may be a well worn road, but I love to travel it.  Hurrah for the retun of Downton Abbey!