Who says blue is only for boys?

Here is the long overdue post about Sadie's nursery. I knew right away I wanted to do a blue/red nursery, regardless of the baby's gender. I think my obsession with this color combo stems from my obsession with "The Wizard of Oz", since Dorothy is wearing kick ass ruby slippers with a cornflower blue gingham dress. The room took a decidedly girly turn though, with lots of vintage touches and feminine fabrics. I absolutely adore this room...it's pretty and feminine without the usual pink/purple suspects which is nice. I've caught both Mr. Val and Jake just sitting in this room a few times, which is just about the cutest thing ever. So, without further ado, I give you "Casa de Sadie":





















Although Mr. Val and I never really sat down with a "budget" for the nursery, we actually wound up doing it all for a pretty reasonable amount of money. Mr. Val pretty much lets me do/have whatever I want, so I wanted to try to be somewhat restrained. I must preface that we saved a significant amount of money on the crib set up, since my father & stepmother bought it & the mattress and my husband's mother & stepfather bought our linens. So here are the details:

Paint: Valspar "Simply Seafoam" & supplies - $50
Rug: Overstock.com - $165
Glider: used/gift - FREE
Crib: Graco Lauren (gift) - FREE
Crib/Glider Fabrics: Waverly "Seafarer Stripe" in Crimson & "Mini Muse" in Sorbet (gifts) - FREE
Throw pillows for crib/glider: Etsy $15/$20/$15
Vinyl Wall Decal: Etsy - $50
Curtain Rod: Ikea - $10
Red Ticking Stripe Curtains: Amazon - $40
French Market poster: already had - FREE
Strawberry Photograph: Etsy - $25
Frames for wall art: $8-10 at Hobby Lobby
Skeleton Keys: Pottery Barn - $30 for set
Ribbon: JoAnn's - $1
Dresser: Craigslist - $65
Paint/supplies to refinish dresser: $30 at Home Depot
Hardware for dresser: $20 at Hobby Lobby
Wall shelves: Ikea - $30
Bookshelves: Craigslist - $85 for 3
Lamps: Target - $15-30
Changing pad/tray: Land of Nod (we are still waiting for the tray) $129
Changing pad cover: Caden Lane - $16 (sale)

So, I don't have the patience to add that all up, but I know we did a pretty kick ass job for the money. Using some creativity, elbow grease, re-purposing objects we already owned and accepting hand-me-downs & gifts enabled us to create this beautiful room. Now the only thing missing is our beautiful baby girl!

XOXO,

Remember when I said I wouldn't turn into an annoying pregnant blogger?

Yeah well, I lied. In the words of the immortal Bobby Brown, "It's my prerogative. I can do what I wanna do."

Just wanted to tease that I'll be putting up some nursery pics soon! As of now, it's still a little sparse in there, but we have painted & put the crib in so babyVal won't have to sleep in a dresser drawer. (Which I maintain is charmingly "retro hobo")

My ridiculously sweet in-laws snuck in while we were away and put the glider in with the newly upholstered cushions and let me just say, I have excellent taste in fabric. It looks so beautiful and now all I can think of is getting my hands on the rest of the custom linens so we can bang this nursery out!

XOXO,

Are you there followers? It's me, Valentine.

I'm just going to skip the apologies for being a crappy blogger. We all know it, so let's just move on.

Mr. Val and I are finally settled into our new place, so now we can at long last put together the nursery for our sweet baby girl! I'm not a super traditional girl, so a pink nursery was never going to happen. Instead I'm going with a palette of aquas/reds/whites for a pretty vintage look without anything overtly girly. Below are the fabrics & paint that we are using:



The color in the middle is the paint that will be up on the walls. The other two squares are the fabrics we are using. Since I couldn't find any baby linens that appealed to me, I'm having them custom made with these. The aqua scroll will be used on the crib skirt and glider while the red stripe will be used on the crib bumper and accent piping. I'll likely round out the bedding with some solid white-ish sheets and a baby blanket knitted by my Grandma.

As usual, our amazing families have really come through for us and provided the following:

-Glider (is from my mother in law): it's a lovely white glider that just needed a new cushion and some paint touch ups. It will be a perfect place to rock my daughter to sleep.

-Crib & Mattress: my father & step-mother bought our crib & mattress. We decided to go with the Lauren Graco in white. Since there are going to be so many fabrics in this room, I really liked the clean lines of the Lauren. I actually looked at more expensive cribs from PBK & Land of Nod but always came back to this one.



We decided that we didn't want a changing table, since it's a temporary piece of furniture. We'll be doing a long dresser with a changing top instead. I really like this better because long after we are done changing diapers, we will still have use for the dresser. I'm very excited about the dresser actually. We found a beautiful 6-drawer dresser on Craigslist for a steal. Trouble is, it's yellow. It's actually no problem, as I've been wanting to try my hand at a furniture project for a while. Mr. Val and I are going to strip and sand it and paint it white. I'll do some mild distressing to vintage it up a bit and change out the hardware with some glass knobs I've been eyeing at Anthropologie. I'm pretty excited to do this and will definitely post pics & the outcome!

I'm left now with little details to figure out, curtains, rugs, etc. I have some ideas but will leave those a surprise for the big reveal! I will reveal one last detail, the baby blocks that were made for me by the AMAZING jCam. They tie in all the colors/themes I wanted in the room and they reveal our babies name, so without further ado:



So now you know. BabyValentine has a name, Sadie Joan and will henceforth be referred to as such. Well, that and Sadiebug. And Sadie Bear. And Evander Holyfield since she's doing her best impersonation of him in my womb at the moment.

Tell me your thoughts Internet friends, you like?

"A Child is a Curly, Dimpled Lunatic." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

As you know, last Friday Mr.Val and I had our big 20 week ultrasound with full anatomy scan. I was so excited to find out the sex that I didn't fully comprehend what a detailed appointment it was. Once I realized that they were checking on all aspects of the baby's development I honestly got a little anxious. No matter how many times I hear babyVal's heartbeat or feel the little flutters in my belly, my heart still leaps into my throat until I've gotten another confirmation that everything is on track. I'm sure it won't fully go away until I'm holding babyVal and have counted all those little fingers and toes!

Unfounded panic aside, everything with the baby looks great. They had me measuring a few days behind my original due date but nothing out of the ordinary. If babyVal wants to push the birthday into November that is fine with me!

At the end of the appointment 2 funny things happened, the first when they tried to determine the gender. All through the appointment babyVal had crossed legs. Already my child is running the show, of course. The ultrasound tech tried everything. Jostling my belly gently, rolling me over all to no avail. Finally she brought in another tech and they attempted a shot from "under the hood" if you catch my drift. They whispered to each other for a moment and said that they were 98% sure it was a girl.

It's at this point that I must point out that I seriously do not know how they determine this. They are trained and I trust them but when they were showing me babyVal's lady bits, I nodded like I understood but truthfully? I felt like Rachael on "Friends" when she can't see anything on the ultrasound. I've honestly felt from the get go that babyVal was a girl, but lets just say I'm prepping for the appearance of a surprise penis, LOL.

After that, they did a brief internal exam. Since I'd been with these ladies for the better part of an hour I just dropped my undies (was wearing a dress) and hopped up on the table. The tech kind of blushed and said, "We could have stepped out!" and I'm thinking lady, you've just spent the last hour manhandling my belly and rubbing me down with goo and you're about to put a camera IN MY UTERUS. Let's drop the pretense, ok? Plus, if I'm going to be shooting a person out of my loins in 4 and half months, perhaps its best I learn not to be quite so modest, no?

Me being me, I demanded Mr.Val take me shopping immediately after the appointment so I could begin buying the love of my unborn daughter. He obliged, as he always does my whims, and through a dreamy eyed state we started spending obscene amounts of money on our little baby girl. Here are some of the outfits we just HAD to have:

Sweet little onesies:


You know, because every baby needs a giraffe print caftan to cover up at the pool:


And yes, I have already bought my baby girl a Laker shirt. Because you are never to young to root for the BEST TEAM EVER!


XOXO,

Fromage Friday (recession edition)

In the throws of a massive economic breakdown, we tend to resort to a simpler way of life. Take the bus instead of driving. Brown bag lunch instead of takeout. Steve Maddens in lieu of Jimmy Choos.

With the exception of a maddening pay freeze, Mr. Valentine & I have remained largely unscathed by the current economy which is an incredible blessing that we do not take for granted. Like many people though, we realized that we need to be more prepared should that change. To that end we've changed some spending habits to be a bit more frugal.

When we were talking about where to cut back, we happened upon some hilarious "Mars vs. Venus" conversations. Here is an example:

Me: We could cancel the cable. We don't really need all those channels.
Him: I'll cancel the cable if you stop buying throw pillows.
Me: Ok. The cable stays.

All kidding aside, we've been much more conscious than usual, which is good. Not having children or a mortgage can lure you into a false sense of security when it comes to ancillary income.

Anyhoo - back to the matter at hand: CHEESE. As you are all aware, I pink puffy heart cheese. Unfortunately, once your cheese palette ventures beyond cheddar and pepper jack it can get pretty spendy. Since Mr. Valentine INSISTED I was NOT allowed to have a portion of the budget dedicated to the Whole Foods Cheese counter, I've been looking for more affordable ways to feed my habit. To that end I give you:



Cranberry Chevre. This sweet & creamy goat cheese is covered in tart cranberries for a delicious combination. This cheese is a delicious addition to a cheese & cracker plate and also fantastic on toast in the morning. (Yep, I eat cheese all day.) This particular picture is courtesy of www.dedrickscheese.com but can also be found at Trader Joe's for a mere $5! That makes it delicious and frugal; perfect for the cheese monger on a budget.

Try it. Eat it. Make your friends eat it and tell them all about the crazy cheese lady that lives on the interwebz.

XOXO,

Well this is going to be fun.

I have found a new online obsession, http://www.polyvore.com/, where you can create idea boards for anything, clothes, events or your home. They have a huge database of items already loaded or you can use the clip function to add your own. Since my bedroom is in dire need of a makeover, here is my first pass at an idea board:

I'm striving for a mix of old/new as well as modern and traditional. I especially love the yellow & grey color combo. What are your thoughts? Anything you'd add? Or take away?

The post where I become a kleptomaniac.

Apparently I am a thief. Of ideas that is. When you come to the realization that you are narcissistic enough to start a blog, you think it's going to be super easy. I'm cute! And witty! And interesting! After about 3 weeks you realize that not only is it super hard to think of stuff to write about everyday but that the only living beings that find you that interesting are your mom and your dogs. And they only love me for the kibble.

I am in a fog of writer's block that I can only assume is a result of the vats of wine and cheese I've consumed over the last week. So I decided to steal a feature today from Jaime, author of one of my favorite blogs that you can find here. She's as cute, witty and interesting as I fancy myself and so I've decided to shoplift her "Media Monday" feature here and detail all the media that I am consuming at this moment:

TV SHOW:



Mr. Valentine and I started watching this show when CBS ran the first season. Dexter is a forensic scientist who moonlights as a serial killer. He's by far the cutest serial killer I've ever seen in my life and incredibly creative at dispatching his victims. But don't worry, he only kills "bad" people so he's kind of like Robin Hood. Well, that is if Robin Hood had been a sociopath who listed "dismemberment" amongst his turn ons. I bought the hubs seasons 2 & 3 for Christmas which I am embarrassed to say we are almost done with. It's really that good.

Book:

The Road fell into my hands about 4 years late but it is every bit as good as the many glowing reviews would have you believe. Briefly, it's about a father and son traversing a post-apocalyptic world with nothing but a pistol and each other. You know, light holiday fare. I myself only put it down to pour more wine. Don't cheat by seeing the movie that just came out, read the real thing.

Music:



If you don't own any Wilco, do yourself a favor and get some. Start with "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and expand from there.

Blog:

In terms of blogs that I can't get enough of, this one is currently at the top of my list. Go there for the hysterical recaps of "The Hills" and stay for the surely-I'm-going-to-hell recaps of "Intervention". Comedy gold.

Movie:



I don't go to the movies that often. They're cold, the seats suck and your feet stick to the floor. I have to really want to see a movie to go out to one. The last movie I saw in the theater was "Precious" and holy hell was it good. It's completely depressing yet strangely hopeful and I cried my eyes out. In the effort of full disclosure though, I cry at "The Muppet Christmas Carol" so that might not be an accurate reflection of the film. (That tiny Kermit gets me every time.)

So there you have it. My current media fetishes which paint me as much darker than I actually am. My media Monday isn't quite as awesome as Jaime's but such is life. I'm like Diet Coke. No matter how much you try to convince yourself it just doesn't taste like real Coke.