Nesting around the house (and finally having the energy for it)

For the last 3 months I've been exhausted & sick. Alternating between the two. As of just a few days ago, I finally have some energy back, and took the time to do a few things around the house.
I spent the weekend busy bee'ing in my studio, finally getting a few things organized and ready to go. I spent the first half of the weekend cleaning the entire house, and the 2nd half was spent in my little nook, making a new nest for myself. All enjoyed with the windows open, appreciating our cool Fall breezes.



This is our new couch. I rudely realized that I never properly introduced you. It's filled with down feathers, and when we lay on it, we take turns picking the little prickly ones that stick out from the guts of the couch. Maybe we should stop, so we don't end up with an empty cushion cover. It's the first official couch we've ever owned, and we spend copious amounts of time on it, now that we can both fit in one spot at the same time.
Did you know it's impossible to ever get a couch to look as good as it does in furniture catalogs? The corners want to wrinkle and sag and the time it would take me to make you think I had the perfect couch far exceeds the amount of time I'm willing to spend on it. So here is my saggy, feathery, couch.

PS. The shelves are from Pottery Barn. I get asked that a lot. They're actually the 2 widest shelves they have, side by side. They were a birthday present to myself a few years ago.



They collect a lot of dust. And to be honest, even though I dust once a week, I never dust them. No one looks up there.





A few bits around the house, and the first pictures of our beeb.



This is my favorite room in the house. If I have a minute I come in here to think. In a couple months it won't be my room anymore, and we'll have to start moving out the cozy bed and put in a crib. Is there a weight limit on cribs? Maybe I can still come in here and read and think for just a few more months.

On Sunday I cozied up in the perfect sunshine and read through the collection of children's books I have stored in here. Most of them are from my childhood, or finds from thrift stores and garage sales.



I have a list of new books to buy, and soon we will have to build the shelves I want to store all of these stories I love so much.



I even have a few books in Farsi, that my family used to read to me when I was a little girl.



I love this rug. I bought it for my studio but it seems to have made a better home, here.

This weekend I used power tools. Slightly unsuccessfully, but only slightly.



I still managed to get the job done. Slightly.



This weekend we also got a new roof, thanks to 8 non-English speaking men. When I saw them sitting in the driveway eating tacos I ran to my garden and grabbed a big bag of jalapenos and sweet banana peppers.
I taught Michael how to say "would you like some jalepenos? they're from our garden" and sent him out with the bag. I think they liked them.



This weekend we bought the little one's very first toy. I named him Elliot.
I think Elliot the elephant is one of those things I will keep around forever. When I'm an old woman with Elliot-colored hair and glasses on the tip of my nose, I will remember this day. Buying our first toy for our first baby.

AND!....



Hooray, hooray, my studio is (almost) complete! Nothing I ever start has a definitive end, but for now I have a space. One with fabrics organized by color (this took 2 hours. I'm not exaggerating) and a place for everything, everything in it's place.




Elle is pleased with her new space. And she promised that over the next few months, as my clothes keep getting tighter and tighter...



...she will let me stuff pillows around her so I can figure out how to make comfortable clothes for this round belly that keeps growing every single day.



I'm so happy with my little space, and can't wait to create here. Oh. and...



This is the hair mustache. My husband decided that my little cloth doll I was working on needed a mustache. I am ashamed to admit that the nest he fashioned this stache out of came from my brush. I kind of like it...I think I'll keep it around.



And one of the best parts of my weekend came when the neighbor offered to sell me his $1,300 mountain bike for $200. He's ridden it a total of 2.5 miles, ever. It still had new tire spikes.
I've never even been on a $1,300 bike, but I will tell you that it feels like every penny.

I started biking when I was training for our backpacking/hiking trip in July. When I found out I was pregnant I was happy that I'd already been working out so much, since you can continue anything you were doing beforehand. So I've been riding my bike 4 days a week to spread my wings a bit.
Months ago my sweet husband bought me a 1974 Schwinn Varsity from a garage sale. He spent weeks in the garage, stripping the paint, replacing parts, and repairing it. When it was almost done we went to the paint store together and I picked out the most perfect shade of lime green. And she's pretty, really pretty.
He named her Elsie, and barely had time to hand her over to me before I took off down the road. I grew up on bikes, and my Grandpa is an avid biker....still at 87 years old. He has never driven a car, and his bikes are everything to him.

Hopping on a 1974 bike felt like riding in his bike basket at 5 years old. There's just something about an old bike and the way it handles that takes me back. I was a little girl again, and I haven't stopped riding since. I love Elsie, and last weekend Grandpa gave me the most perfect, giant silver basket for the back. And one day baby will ride in it just like I did.

But for now, while I'm growing big with baby and need a safer bike, I will ride my $200 steal. Besides, I can jump curbs in this thing. And even though my midwives would probably kill me if they knew I was jumping curbs on a mountain bike, I think a little excitement in your life can go a long way.


Sometimes it's the most simple things that put a smile on my face for a week straight. Hairbrush mustaches, new bikes, Elliots, and a gaggle of happy Mexican men with their bag of jalapenos.

Just the simple things. Life is good.