Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Shall I? or shan't I?

I am so tempted to buy shoes/socks from J. Crew today. They are having a 30% off sale and I've wanted these shoes since last fall.











































The problem is I have a pair of mocassin booties in brown and Antz hates them. He thinks they make me look *squat* was his word. I badly need these socks!! I adore the mocassins and today is the last day of the sale but I need to buy my baby shower sandals first *so worried my size will sell out*.

















*please forgive my non-pedicure swollen feet* Problem here is it my Mom had to push, pull, squeeze my feet into these. We still weren't able to zip up the back. Now, I've had difficult shoes in the past, anything for fashion, but if I can't get into them now, what will my feet be like in 2 more months? I do love them and my dress will cover them so they barely peek out. Gah!
So I saw this incredible wedding today and now I want to steal this idea for our shower. Due to the addition of the baby bottle game in our budget, I was sadly forced to nix the pom poms from the shower. I really wanted to use them as a decor focal point in the lemon tree but now I am in love with the idea of making a *literal* family tree.






















The idea would cost nothing, we borrow family photos from his Mom and scan them into our computers *something we have been saying we would do for years anyway* and after touching them up in Photoshop and adding each person's relationship to Olivia, we would print them and hang them from the tree using our leftover ribbon from the wedding. Antz has already vetoed the idea because he says this is not a family reunion and it would be too much trouble. I think it's adorable and make the guests feel special. After the shower we could give the photos to the guests for a keepsake. How can he not be on board? BOO!

Liv's Nursery is getting Mobile!

This morning my lovely woke up with the birdies and started working on Olivia's mobile. He didn't want to use the wood stick he originally planned because of the weight over her crib. He found a nice alternative that is light and cohesive. I love how it came out!!









How cute is the mobile?? I couldn't seem to get a shot of all of us facing forward but it cracks me up how much it looks like us. So when Antz got home from work he picked me up and we went to the Glendale Galleria to check out the new Stella McCartney line at Baby Gap. Aimee is more excited about it than I am. I am not blown away but the line, the colors look so muted and 80% of the clothes are for big kids. I did like a couple of dresses and a one piece knit but Antz wasn't so keen on them. We ended up getting  a cute coral shorts outfit.



After dinner at Panera Bread, we stopped by Whole Foods to see if they carried Izze sodas. They had them in the 4 pack bottles for $5.39 so I got 4 packs in sparking apple and peach. I need to go to Bev Mo today and get 2 more packs of Sofia white wine and a 6 pack of San Pellegrino sparkling water. I need more ice buckets like the one we have but I can't remember where we bought it. Antz brought home some belated birthday presents from my friends Nicolette & Ale and they got me the kid's accordion I wanted!!

Kids Accordion

Yesterday I went into baby shower online ordering overload. I ordered the envelopes, straws, plates, napkins, and take-out boxes. I still need to order the ostrich feathers, frames for the pregnancy portraits, baby bottles, pencils, and paper for all the things we have to print. Antz hasn't found the frame for the menu chalkboard but I have complete faith in him. When we got home he tried to work on editing the Flip video but we can't figure it out. Most of our electronics we refuse to read the instruction manuals and just figure it out through trial and error *mostly error*. At one point he thought he lost the video footage but he will try again tonight.


I am 31 weeks today, Holy Cow!! 9 weeks to go. I have made it the single digit countdown. Please stay cooking until 40 weeks Olivia.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Disappointment City

Yesterday Antz hurried home to pick me up because I wanted to go back to the thrift store to buy those amazing pink side tables. I was so excited about them because we needed something to hold the appetizers and the tables look so chic. Well, once we arrived at the store, no pink tables in sight. I was hoping the staff moved them to the back but alas, they were sold. It sucks so bad because Antz was there at 2pm and went back at 6pm. I wish he bought them the first time but he was like, you told me to find a frame, not tables. Waaaah! Oh well, we still need to find an ornate frame to turn into shabby chic chalkboard. I'm sure we'll find something over the weekend. I have decided to nix the guess the diaper poop *candy bar* game because I can't figure out how to heat up the candy bars and instead play the drink from the bottle game. I figure with only 4 choices of candy bars, there many be multiple winners, but the bottles cost more.












































I don't know what drink I'll put in the bottles but I really don't want to use beer *it smells*, maybe apple juice or root beer. Today I'm ordering the shower envelopes, plates, napkins and straws.

On a happier note, I finally got my printer stand and Antz put it together last night. Out of all the furniture building we've been doing this one seemed the most difficult. I think Antz exhaustion is catching up with him because last night he seemed like he lost all energy. The printer stand looked like it came with 2 drawers but it's really one big drawer with a faux front.





































These are the knobs we bought at Anthropologie. I like them 1,000 times better than the ones it came with. We still need to DIY it to match the bedroom furniture. Antz likes the white because it matches the white frames in the room but to me it sticks out in a bad way. So now I see how much storage the "drawer" provides, I have to keep my old storage cart to hold all my office supplies. Antz is so smart, he took off the wheels on the cart and now it fits under the desk. I am so happy we got a new printer especially since this one is wireless. Before I had to only use Antz computer in his office to print things and it was a pain. We still need to figure out how to scan photos but last night I was super tired while I was setting it up.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Best thing about planning events, food tasting!

Today after my wondeful session with Gilli I went to PF Changs in Pasadena to meet with the manager, Bill. He is totally a sweet guy, I gave him my new revised menu and everything looks fabulous. He made some crab wontons for me to sample and they were great but I'm not having them as appetizers since they get soggy quick.


















I asked Antz to try to find a frame similar to this one so we can add a chalkboard and write our menu.






















He couldn't find one he liked at a thrift store but he did find these fierce tables.






















How amazing are they? I want to use them for the appetizers. I went to Beverages & More to see if they carried Izze soda. They happened to have a case of 24 in grapefruit so I bought them. I also bought some Sofia White wine but I need another case of Izze. I'm contemplating which flavor to get and I'm leaning towards Clementine. Bev Mo' had another case of pomergrante Izze but I don't know how that would taste.
























I need to order the straws and envelopes. Antz is going to set up the printer tonight and print a few sample invites to measure the size of the paper.


















Sucks because you can't pick your own color so I am crossing my fingers we get blue.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Olivia has a little lamb

So this morning we finished building the hutch and the changing pad. Taadah!





































Both were fairly simple to build. Antz put his office back in the room and filled out the shelves.


















I am so happy with how everything looks but we have a few items that we can't figure out where to put. Antz has a Radiohead poster and his artwork that I want to incorporate into the room but he thinks it would look too crowded.


















After getting rid of the mountain of cardboard boxes from the living room and putting away the tools we got dressed and went to Pottery Barn Kids and Anthropologie. We got her changing pad cover and an adorable lamb hooded towel. At Anthropologie we bought knobs for her hutch and for my printer stand.























Antz attached this knob to the side of the hutch to hold her hooded towel.























Finally put her clothes in the closet, we still didn't wash them *I am too scared I'll ruin her beautiful clothes*.























I have had too many mishaps doing laundry. Antz and my Mom are voting don't wash them in case we have to make any returns. Since most of the clothes are 6-12 months, we have time to reconsider. Baby Gap is launching a new Stella McCartney line so I need to exchange the stuff Aimee bought and grab a few dresses and shoes next week. I am also on the lookout for this top I saw in InTouch magazine. Jessica Alba's daughter, Honor is wearing a mini Bjork swan dress!! I must find it!!






















We went to lunch at PF Changs and I used my birthday present gift card from my friends Tom & Jess. OMG! I ate myself dizzy. I totally pigged out. I'm glad we went there because I spoke with the manager and made an appt. to see him about the catering for the shower. I have a volunteer *Antz sister Debra* who can pick up the food on the day but I don't see how she can manage all that food and the parking is underground 2 levels.























Afterwards we went to Target to pick up and few things and I decided to buy her first pack of diapers.


















I hope these are the right fit. So today I lost all will power and ordered the glider, bassinet and mattress early. I should wait until Monday but what the hell! So now I'll be playing the waiting game for the next 2 weeks. Now I am seriously tired and Antz is working on the mobile. We are having dinner with his sister on Wednesday so she may come by and take a peek at the nursery. I need to figure out a way  to photograph the room because I can't figure out how to get the ceiling and the floor in one shot.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Nursery Progress Vol. 2 *Movin' right along*

What a different a day makes. Last night I was so impressed with Antz for putting up the curtains. It felt so official like this room now belongs to Olivia. Well today, we have outdone ourselves.  Story came by with Spuzz and brought us Chipotle for lunch *yum* and hung out for a couple of hours. We ate in the backyard and it was really lovely. I contributed in a minuscule way but I did wash the windows and assisted Antz with crib building. We made a video of it but it really needs to be edited, I had a serious case of the yawns and Antz kept forgetting about the camera and put his butt in the frame too many times. Until he works his magic on the video, enjoy these kick-ass pics!!

Ikea Expedit Shelf  *I helped build this with Story & Antz*


Don't those windows like bright and squeaky clean??

Junco Doorknob from Anthropologie
It's been neverending drama with this doorknob. At first we thought it was too long and now it's too small. Antz went to Home Depot to try to find some solutions to get it on but nothing seemed to work. He finally got it on and that's just fine with me. I love how the bird has our color palette and coordinates with the bird curtain rod.


This side of the room is what I refer to as Antz office. The shelf will hold his books, toys and maybe some frames. We still need a home for her frog humidifier so that may go on the top shelf. We washed and swiftered the floor several times but it needs professional refinishing. Maybe next year. My sweetness worked so hard building the furniture.





I am so proud of our progress, the room is really coming together just as I envisioned. There is still so much to finish. Tomorrow we'll build the hutch and changing table pad. I need to order the mattress, glider, bassinet and tazi pouf. Today was the last day of a Gap Maternity sale so I made an order of some basics and got some badly needed undies. Oh and today I started packing for the hospital and I was nerding out while packing Olivia's clothes because they are so small and adorable. I packed about 10 outfits for her.

Nursery Progress *hint still very much in progress*

This evening Antz put up the curtain rod and the curtains. Back in February, his Mom hemmed the bottom of the curtains because they were way too long, we totally measured them to stop just at the baseboard. When she finished sewing them we held them up to the window and they seemed fine but now that Antz has the rod in place they still hit the floor. He had to move the position of the rod higher since they are so long. I wonder what happened with our measurements? Oh well, we can live with it. He said he wanted to show more of the window molding and when the curtains are closed they look hidden.




































































We still need to wash the outside windows and clean the floors but I am so happy with the curtains and the contrast of color.
Antz started working on the games for the shower and I LOVE how they came out. He is such a freaking genius. So creative and cohesive.






















He's working on an adorable custom font for the invitation addresses. I am so mega stoked!!

Friday, March 26, 2010

I'm flipping over my FLIP!

Hello Mr. Postman!
This morning I got a buzz early and it was my mailman with 2 packages for me. I was totally excited because I saw one was from Amazon *when I tracked it last night, it said ETA was March 29th* and the other was quite large so I knew it was the bedding from Modern Nursery. The bedding looks great but they sent me the wrong color Uglydoll. Actually, it would be more trouble to send it back so we'll just live with a pink/green Uglydoll.























Now that I have the Flip, we can spend the weekend building furniture *while we make a video* which will clear out the living room. Antz is going to put up the curtains and install the doorknob so I'm going to clean the floors today. He is coming home to have lunch with me so that's nice. I called to make an appointment with our new pediatrician, Kristen Chapman, but I'm going to wait to schedule her until after my birthing classes in April. I am still bummed about the tax refund, I know it takes awhile and it's only been a little over 2 weeks but I need it now so I can get the garage roof fixed, order the rest of her furniture and her clothes. All I do is hurry up and wait! I am so impatient :(