There's nothing like a new year to get you thinking about all the things you've been wanting to finally get accomplished. This year that list seems longer than ever as free time has become even more scarce than I could have ever imagined with the introduction of a new little person to our lives. But he sure is a cute little person! ;)
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| Our little koala bear at his first Halloween party, 10 months old |
I was hoping to have started a blog around this time last year to chronicle the first year of Conley's life, but turns out I was a little too occupied and sleep-deprived at the time with a 10 day old baby. Sadly, those two things haven't changed that much in the past year, but I've got things a bit more under control now, so time to get this "to-do" crossed off. I also included it on my 2013 Resolutions List - I've made resolutions before, just not so many! Making to-do lists is something I seem to enjoy a little too much...especially long ones that will probably never be entirely accomplished!
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| See, it says "Start a blog?" at the top right of page 1...and yes, there is a back to the list! |
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| Turns out I make really long resolution lists too |
Luckily, I was able to capture some of Conley's first year on paper (although I write in spurts and play a lot of catch-up, but I'm glad I have something to look back at.)
And of course the thousands of pictures - another ongoing "to-do" - edit those pictures! My Mac runs out of memory just about every week because of them all. Speaking of, here are a couple of Conley - what a difference a year makes!
And while we're at it, I'll make this an official New Year's post by reflecting back on 2012 in pictures - to make up for my lack of a blog. Here are Conley's "monthly" pictures for his first year of life - some were easier to capture than others!
So - I'm excited to finally be starting a blog! At this point, I don't even know if I will share this with anyone - we'll see. A disclaimer - I techinically did not finally start writing this blog until January 12. So I'm just back-dating a few posts so I can officially make it start on the first day of 2013! :) Here we go...
1.2.13:
So I signed up for the Apartment Therapy "January Cure" - AT is one of the daily blogs I receive emails from and enjoy reading for home decor inspiration and the idea is basically a "month-long group project to get our homes clean and organized for the new year" with daily emails and assignments - and words of encouragement. I'm definitely up for this but we'll see how much I can actually keep up - it's crazy how much of your day a baby takes, so I really only have the night-time "wine time" to accomplish things.
Day 1: Make a List of Projects - Walk through your home and make notes on any trouble spots organized by room and then select 3-5 items per room that will make the biggest impact.
So I made the list...but failed on the edit part - I like to really see everything I want to do so I will leave it as is! Quite daunting really, but nice to get it all out on paper - and then I typed it all up to "make it official." And technically this master list is supposed to be for the whole year - they just get you off to a nice start in January. Even if I'm not able to keep it up with it all, it is a fun way to at least try. And there is something exciting about waiting to see what the next "assignment" will be every day. :)
Day 1: Make a List of Projects - Walk through your home and make notes on any trouble spots organized by room and then select 3-5 items per room that will make the biggest impact.
So I made the list...but failed on the edit part - I like to really see everything I want to do so I will leave it as is! Quite daunting really, but nice to get it all out on paper - and then I typed it all up to "make it official." And technically this master list is supposed to be for the whole year - they just get you off to a nice start in January. Even if I'm not able to keep it up with it all, it is a fun way to at least try. And there is something exciting about waiting to see what the next "assignment" will be every day. :)
1.4.13:
Finally got around to watching "Love Actually" - one of my favorite annual holiday movies.
It happened a few days after "the holidays" have technically ended, but close enough. I love anything British and Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are two of my favorites - although ever since Bridget Jones Diary, Colin Firth is a bit higher on my list. And of course Mariah Carey's cheesy yet catchy "All I Want for Christmas is You" - wouldn't be Christmas without it!
And speaking of Christmas...here was one of our first family Christmas pictures.
It happened a few days after "the holidays" have technically ended, but close enough. I love anything British and Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are two of my favorites - although ever since Bridget Jones Diary, Colin Firth is a bit higher on my list. And of course Mariah Carey's cheesy yet catchy "All I Want for Christmas is You" - wouldn't be Christmas without it!
And speaking of Christmas...here was one of our first family Christmas pictures.
1.6.13:
Day 2 and 3 of the January Cure were somewhat successful. Here were the assignments:
Day 2: Set Up Your Outbox
Day 3: Weekend Chores - Flowers, Floors, Green Cleaners & Outbox
So I set-up my "outbox" and have been adding a few things to it the past few days, bought some flowers on South Congress and already own green cleaners. Forgot to take pictures of the flowers, but they were pretty - white tulips and lilies! I did not deep-clean and mop all of the floors though. I do (with some help from Roomba) vacuum every day already because of our furry friends and their daily moltings, plus the house is getting cleaned on Tuesday. I had also saved this not-so-fun task for Sunday which turned out to be a bad day for Conley (think those top two teeth will be coming in soon and he had a fever) - all these excuses to say I didn't complete that item! Oh well - 3 out of 4 isn't too bad! And here's the image used in the Day 2 email...love this, something about the wood floors and the bike resting against the wall, reminds me of Amsterdam!
Day 2: Set Up Your Outbox
Day 3: Weekend Chores - Flowers, Floors, Green Cleaners & Outbox
So I set-up my "outbox" and have been adding a few things to it the past few days, bought some flowers on South Congress and already own green cleaners. Forgot to take pictures of the flowers, but they were pretty - white tulips and lilies! I did not deep-clean and mop all of the floors though. I do (with some help from Roomba) vacuum every day already because of our furry friends and their daily moltings, plus the house is getting cleaned on Tuesday. I had also saved this not-so-fun task for Sunday which turned out to be a bad day for Conley (think those top two teeth will be coming in soon and he had a fever) - all these excuses to say I didn't complete that item! Oh well - 3 out of 4 isn't too bad! And here's the image used in the Day 2 email...love this, something about the wood floors and the bike resting against the wall, reminds me of Amsterdam!
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| Apartment Therapy |
1.10.13:
Had a successful few days of the January Cure - here were the latest assignments:
Day 4: Get a Fresh Perspective in Just 10 Minutes
Day 5: Select One Project from Your List to Complete this Month
Day 6: Choose a Piece of Artwork & Get Going on Framing It
I got a new perspective of our living/dining room and imagined it with new (dog hair free) tufted couches and colorful throw pillows and finally getting that new light fixture over the dining table. We'll see how long that takes. Until then...
Day 4: Get a Fresh Perspective in Just 10 Minutes
Day 5: Select One Project from Your List to Complete this Month
Day 6: Choose a Piece of Artwork & Get Going on Framing It
I got a new perspective of our living/dining room and imagined it with new (dog hair free) tufted couches and colorful throw pillows and finally getting that new light fixture over the dining table. We'll see how long that takes. Until then...
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| Love all the color - an orange couch may not be for me, but so pretty! Lovely Undergrad |
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| Love this - the couch, the pillows and even the dog portrait! Apartment Therapy |
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| An even brighter version of the nook above Elle Decor |
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| Not crazy about the filing cabinet, but love the rest! Apartment Therapy |
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| Don't think I could pull off of a white couch with a baby and 2 dogs...but I can dream Aeropagita Prints |
Decided on my big project to accomplish for the month - the pantry! I think this was a good choice as it's something I stare at multiple times a day and use constantly - Peter and Bea did a good edit this summer so it's actually not too bad, but it could use another good clean-out and dusting. I'm actually pretty excited to get this done - in small chunks though, don't think I can manage all at once! Here are some "before" pictures:
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| It's not TOO horrible, but could definitely use a good clean-up! |
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| And there's another wall too - but couldn't get a good angle to take a picture - but it needs a cleaning too |
I also will finally frame Conley's birth announcement - found a white double frame at Pottery Barn and then for bonus points I'm also going to finish framing this print I bought in Amsterdam when I was there for work in 2006 - it was an odd size so I need to DIY the matte. Shouldn't take too long - just needed some motivation!
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| Not the best picture - will get a better one of the "after"! |
As I mentioned, I've been on the lookout for some new, colorful throw pillows for our living room couches for awhile now. Considering our current beige couches are permanently covered in dog hair, I've been delaying the new pillow purchases for when we finally get new couches. Not sure when that will be (and sadly, our choices will be limited because I think we will go with leather to cut back on the hair accumulation - we can just swipe it right onto the floor, hurray! More to vacuum every day ;) ) - but hopefully sometime this year. Here are some I've come across so far that I like.
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| This one's not very colorful, but thought it would be a cute tribute to Bailey - need to find an Oliver look-alike as well Areaware |
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| Or I could just get the real thing - custom dog pillows from Broderpress - so cute! |
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| These are exactly what I was thinking of in terms of pops of color! Leaves and Lollipop pillows from UncommonGoods |
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| Would love a Kantha pillow or two to go with the quilt Trinyan Kantha Pillow by Fab |
1.11.13:
Watched an episode of Portlandia Season 2 earlier this week and there was one skit about preschools and how important it was for the characters to get their son into the best one because it would set the trajectory for the rest of his life - otherwise he would end up in community college, on drugs, and so on. 
It reminded me (as does my "to-do" list) that I need to get back on track on getting Conley on some more wait lists for preschools - how sad but true that episode rang with us ;) I really should have taken the advice to tour and get him on lists when I was pregnant, but I only had the sense to get him on one list during that long 9 months. I've added two more to the roster since then - one montessori and one Reggio Emilia "inspired" school. We've talked about maybe looking into some language immersion schools as well, so that's next on my to-do list. There's this cute little French school and even though I know it would make much more sense for Conley to learn Spanish, I can't help but think how cute it would be to have a little French-speaking baby running around. I can't believe that you actually have to plan years in advance to get your kid into a preschool - I thought we didn't have to worry about applications until college!
We decided to eat early last night (before Conley went to bed) and cooked burgers and sat outside since it was such a nice night. Conley is finally getting around to enjoying finger foods (and especially likes to shovel in the bread). Here he is sampling pieces of our cheeseburger dinner.
And here he is passed out that night after a big dinner - love my little starfish ;)
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| He usually makes it into our bed around midnight - but then sleeps until 7ish! |
1.12.13:
I love this fruit bowl from Anthropologie. I've had a fruit bowl on my never-ending to do/to buy list for who knows how long and I finally gave in today.
In part, this was supposed to be a reward for cleaning out my kitchen pantry (well 1/3 of it) and all the cabinets in the kitchen island as part of my January Cure assignments. Well, surprise, surprise - that didn't happen (although I still have tomorrow!). But I did clean 1 1/3 shelves in the pantry and planned out the rest of my kitchen cleaning plan on my newly downloaded Evernote app - so that's worth something, right? I'd been looking at this bowl every time I visited Anthro for the past month or so - I am in love! Our fruit will have a lovely home on the kitchen island from now on!
Back to Portlandia - today at lunch at The Steeping Room I was talking to Peter about how I had heard a Portlandia reference recently and how it has gotten pretty popular and about 10 minutes later a couple sits next to us and after a lengthy explanation of the specials and tea service (or maybe it was just the quirky waiter), the guy says that he felt like they were in an episode of Portlandia ;) And while we're on The Steeping Room - I love the Croque Monsieur, the cashew caeser salad, all varieties of their chai tea latte and of course the salted toffee chocolate chip cookie!
Here was Conley on the way to that lunch at The Steeping Room.
Another little something I had been pining for - actually first saw it last Christmas, as evidenced by my Pinterest board. Finally got this Madewell Transport Tote - LOVE. Very similar to a bag I got last year for Christmas, which I still love but it is SO heavy and not good for my ever more aching back. So now I have the smaller version to carry when I don't have as much to carry.
Back to Portlandia - today at lunch at The Steeping Room I was talking to Peter about how I had heard a Portlandia reference recently and how it has gotten pretty popular and about 10 minutes later a couple sits next to us and after a lengthy explanation of the specials and tea service (or maybe it was just the quirky waiter), the guy says that he felt like they were in an episode of Portlandia ;) And while we're on The Steeping Room - I love the Croque Monsieur, the cashew caeser salad, all varieties of their chai tea latte and of course the salted toffee chocolate chip cookie!
Here was Conley on the way to that lunch at The Steeping Room.
Another little something I had been pining for - actually first saw it last Christmas, as evidenced by my Pinterest board. Finally got this Madewell Transport Tote - LOVE. Very similar to a bag I got last year for Christmas, which I still love but it is SO heavy and not good for my ever more aching back. So now I have the smaller version to carry when I don't have as much to carry.
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| Madewell Transport Tote |
1.13.13:
Conley had his first pancakes today (100% whole wheat and organic of course!) and LOVED them!
He got so excited and then promptly shoveled them in like they would disappear if he didn't grab them fast enough.
He also sampled some cheesy egg and seems that we have confirmed the egg allergy - he promptly broke out in hives around his neck.
I did not have a successful weekend for the January Cure. Here were this weekend's chores:
1 - Buy your weekend flowers
2 - Clean your kitchen and declutter/organize as you go
3 - Find a recipe and make yourself a simple, enjoyable meal
I did find some pretty freesia from Central Market today, so at least I accomplished one of the assignments. ;)
But I did not deep-clean my entire kitchen or make a new recipe for dinner tonight. With a 1 year old, the kitchen clean-out will probably have to be another monthly project as it's taking me the whole month to just do the pantry. Speaking of, I did finish the top 2 shelves of the kitchen pantry so I am 1/3 of the way through my January big project, yay! I didn't even entertain finishing this weekend's assignments, but I did re-visit breaking the kitchen cleaning into manageable chunks to tackle someday soon (we will see if it actually happens!). In the meantime, here's a lovely kitchen from my Pinterest board for inspiration:
I did not have a successful weekend for the January Cure. Here were this weekend's chores:
1 - Buy your weekend flowers
2 - Clean your kitchen and declutter/organize as you go
3 - Find a recipe and make yourself a simple, enjoyable meal
I did find some pretty freesia from Central Market today, so at least I accomplished one of the assignments. ;)
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| Love all the pops of aqua and the pretty open shelving Better Homes and Gardens |
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