ten random things (v6)

It's back! Get excited.

1. We now return to your regularly scheduled sleeping habits. I'm going to say this quickly and quietly so as not to jinx it, but I think I have my little sleeper back. It's been about two weeks since he woke up before 7am and we're all feeling better for it. Now I'm sure teething will come along and just jack that all up, but I'll take what I can for now.

2. I miss Chick-fil-a. We used to get texts from the Chick-fil-a in Summerville so we'd know when they were having promotions like Military Appreciation Day, when we'd get a free sandwich for showing our ID. I got one of those texts yesterday and it made me sad. Mostly because I miss Charleston, but also because I miss the #1 combo.

3. Flowers! They're blooming! There are - count 'em - THREE daffodils in my back yard, a vine that has bloomed some sort of yellow flowers and a tree in the front yard that is just starting to show it's leaves. I've never appreciated Spring as much as I do now.

4. Babies are expensive. And take up a lot of space. In the past two weeks, I've purchased a high chair, a car seat and a jogging stroller (although that could be considered a gift for mama). But seriously, there is a lot of bulky plastic stuff up in here. Related: when did my boy get big enough to sit in a high chair?? Wasn't he this little wad just a blink ago? Waaah!

5. Speaking of jogging strollers...I'm doing it, y'all. I've never run farther than the length of a tennis court, but I'm doing the Couch-to-5k. And don't you even dare laugh. All I know is that there are times when I've got to get out of this house and MOVE and there's only so much I can do with that sweet little one, so I'm giving this a go. I know I can do it, I just have to DO IT. And I know I'll feel better and more confident if I complete the program. What if I ran a 5k? What if I did that?! Anyone want to be my long-distance accountability partner?

6. Birds! One thing I didn't love about our neighborhood in Charleston was that it was so developed and populated that there weren't ever any birds around. But here? It's like an aviary in my back yard. Right now, it literally sounds like I have one of those nature CDs turned up super loud.

7. I should take more and better pictures. I take a LOT of pictures with my iPhone because it's always with me and for a phone, the pictures aren't that bad. But I also have this really nice DSLR that would take ever better pictures and there's really no reason why I shouldn't be documenting more than just Jack's chubby little face, which is what most of my iPhone pictures are. I'm making that a goal for April.

8. I got my hairs cut. As mentioned in the magic sunshine post, I chopped my hair off. I thought I wanted to grow it out but it was just a mess. And I never did anything with it except pull it back because a) I didn't have time and b) there's a grabber amongst us. Also, with the lovely postpartum shedding issues that no one bothered to tell me about, Jack just ends up with fistfulls of my hair. Not to mention the strays that I find everywhere. Andrew even found a few in his sea bag on his last underway. So anyway, it's gone. And I love it!

9. Yard sale. The amount of stuff we've accumulated over the years is quite remarkable. And since I've put my hands on everything we own in this unpacking process, I've gotten serious about what to keep and what to give away. So I'm having a yard sale! I'm oddly excited about it, actually. I'm looking forward to organizing everything for it and maybe! using! my label maker!

10. The accents up here still catch me off guard. There's really no explanation needed on that. Every once in a while, I'll overhear someone say something and I think, where in the world are you from? Then I remember. I live among the people with the accents and really, they should be asking me that. Oh dear.

Happy Friday, friends :)

magic sunshine

via

There's a hair salon up here that sends out an email every morning with open appointments for that day and if you take one, you'll get 20% off your service. Seeing as how I haven't had a haircut since before Jack was born, it was time.

The mane. It was unruly.

I was a little rushed to make it on time because Jack decided he wanted a leisurely lunch and then I got stuck behind a school bus and then I turned right instead of left and then I had to hurryhurryhurry to get Jack strapped into his stroller because I knew he'd be happier there than in the carseat while I was getting my hair did. By the time I walked inside, I was all out of breath and sweaty and talking fast because that's what I do when I'm stressed. Then I sat down down and noticed that I had paint in my hair and an orangish stain on my pink and white shirt.

Hot. Mess.

But this story is about the stain. I suspect that it was from the lilies that were in the bouquet of flowers my parents sent for my anniversary. Or it was baby poop.

I really hope it was the lilies, so let's just go with that.

Anyway, when I got that shirt out of the dryer yesterday, the stain was still there. Did I mention that the shirt was new and I'd only worn it once?

The shirt was new and I'd only worn it once.

When I noticed the stain, I groaned because a) the shirt was new and I'd only worn it once and b) I was reminded of how momish I felt that day at the salon, all frazzled and disheveled with questionable stains on my shirt.

So I draped the shirt over the chair in the sunroom to see if the stain could be bleached out. Did you know the sun can do that? It's magic like that. And as of this morning, the stain is officially gone.

Consider that your helpful tip for the week.

The end.

house progress: the living room

After 26 days of being in this house, I finally feel excited about one of the rooms. I've been excited about the potential for every single space in this house, but the to-do lists and paint buckets and unpacked boxes have gotten in the way a little bit. But we're making progress, people!

First, let me tell you a story about paint.

I picked out paint colors weeks ago and when Andrew's parents came to help with the move, they got the first coat up in the living room. Shoreline by Valspar. A lovely buttercream color that just made me feel so happy as it was going up.

Notice the fireplace because it got a makeover, too.

But then it dried. And it just felt off. There was a touch of green to it that I didn't like. Even after the second coat, it just wasn't working for me. And so, after two weeks of trying to make it work, I finally gave myself the permission to repaint. Hooray!

Six samples later, I landed on the perfect color. Faint Maple by Valspar, lightened by 25%. I'm picky, no? Luckily, they were able to adjust the formula in a gallon of Shoreline I had leftover, so I only had to buy one more gallon. Hooray again!

I tell you this so that you can appreciate all the work that went into this room. And now I'll show you the quick picture I took today. This particular styling includes unhung pictures, two drinks on the coffee table, a dog toy, a bag of candy on the end table and a folded up highchair against the wall. That's real life, y'all.

There's still a lot to do, but I finally love the direction this room is headed. And I am in love with the white fireplace. LOVE.

Here's a little breakdown of what's what (in black) and a few to-dos we have left for this room (in red):

We're getting there, people! I think it's going to look so great once we get some art on the walls and find some house plants to liven up those two corners. And we're thinking of DIY-ing a new coffee table, kind of like this one. Although that feels a little bit like a baby death trap, what with the sharp corners and stuff, so we'll see.

Until then, I would like to never paint again and I would like to go find that bag of candy. Amen.