Sweet Little Nurseries

I've been Pinning some cute inspiration lately for Conley's (yet to be named) baby "sheesh-ter's" nursery, and while I had originally planned to go the kelly/emerald green route as a pop color, I seem to be finding more things I like in the soft blue/green family that I used with Conley. I'm not really a pink and purple type of person (even with a baby girl), although I'm sure a few of those shades will find their way in the decor somehow. In fact, as I look back over my recent pins, I have been including some florals, pinks and purples into my choices - which I am a little surprised about! I've got less than two months to go and all that I've bought so far are the white crib, a white/walnut dresser and a grey-ish chaise lounge (since we're losing our only guest bed, we decided to go with something a little more comfortable than a glider and that could possibly be slept on). Accessory-wise, I do have one print for the wall (one of the hedgehogs below) and I've ordered a quilt with fabric that I included below as well.

I have a feeling this little girl's nursery will follow a similar color palette/no real theme that I had for Conley's room (although owls and birds played a big part in it as well). I also think I want to have one wall with a small collage of prints and curiosities, something I didn't do in Conley's nursery. I've found a few inspiration pins and imagine I can find quite a few of the components on etsy. For now, here's what is inspiring me...

Love this rug from Aidan's Dreamy Room in Germany Nursery Tour l Apartment Therapy

Love this little shelf collection from Ruby's Gem of a Room Kids Room Tour l Apartment Therapy

So many cute little patterns in the letters! Olli Ella Alphabet Poster

More inspiration from Aidan's Dreamy Room in Germany Nursery Tour l Apartment Therapy - I want to have some sort of little wall collection like this

I would prefer a little more pop color, but love the soft, grey base of this room from Sissy + Marley Interiors

I can't remember where I first saw these, but looked so cute in this nursery and I probably wouldn't have thought to put one there! Just ordered three - can't wait! Globees from Olive's Creatively Colorful Abode Nursery Tour l Apartment Therapy

That wall installation is amazing - they got it from a J Crew display, love the colors! Olive's Creatively Colorful Abode Nursery Tour l Apartment Therapy

Love the books, love the prints! Will have to pick one up for the nursery, this one could add in some girly pink! Sugar by Alison Oliver l English Village Print from Baby Lit: Pride and Prejudice

Love the organic bins by Fluf! Already have a few for Conley, this one may have to be added to the collection! Fluf Landscape Floor Bin in Scallop

Love how light and airy this room feels with the white and grey base and pretty pops of pastel l Petite Vintage Interiors

From one of my favorite blogs, these would have been the perfect touch to my previous kelly green nursery, but I still might have to include them l Oh Joy! Aqua Flower Decals at Target

I'm not usually drawn to florals, but something about having a baby girl is pulling me that way. This along with the fabric below will be part of the custom quilt I'm having made l Fabric by A Creative Mint l Palos Verdes l Organic VOILE l Miraleste at Fabricworm

A Creative Mint l Palos Verdes l Organic VOILE l Lunada Bay at Fabricworm

This mobile was on my list as a potential for Conley as well - love the blues and greens and always love sweet little birdies! Bla Bla Kids Blue Birds Mobile

Also like this sweet little cloud mobile - could go with pale pink or other pastels as well l Gold Star + Pink Cloud Mobile l by Baby Jives at BRIKA

Thought these were so cute! l Karine Fortier blog l The Hambledon Shop

Found this cute little hedgehog print on our recent NYC trip to The Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg - thinking of picking up a few more of her items as well! Kate Durkin l hedgehog print

Another cute hedgehog by a local Austin designer l H is for Hedgehog by feb10design

Love this Alphabet print by feb10design!

Another fabric I like from Fabricworm l Timeless Treasures l Hootenanny Organic l Dot Multi

Sweet little lamp by Oh Joy! for The Land of Nod

Love this little confetti print elephant! Oh Joy! Patterned Plush Pachyderm for The Land of Nod

Loved this hand-made quilt I found on etsy by organicquiltcompany - I'm going with this style but in the two floral fabrics I found instead

What a cute little tree bookcase and I love all the pale pastels (although I'm not really a fan of yellow) l Chic Deco Blog

NYC in Pictures

We just returned this weekend from our last big trip before baby "sheesh-ter" (as Conley calls her) arrives - two months to go! We had a great time in Belgium and The Netherlands and are finally recovering from jet lag, but before I get to that trip I wanted to post a few highlights from our NYC trip earlier in the month.

It was our coldest visit yet and the one day that was in the high 30s and sunny felt like a nice day! We still managed to pack in a lot of fun stuff and did a lot of walking around, but maybe not quite as much as our usual visits! The last couple trips we had stayed in midtown in order to be closer to Central Park for Conley, but this time we rented an apartment on Airbnb in Greenwich Village and it was nice to be so close to all our favorite restaurants and dessert spots and my favorite areas for walking around - Soho and Nolita. Conley loved the Natural History Museum and the horse ride through Central Park, and I indulged in many of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Another successful NYC visit and Conley's most active to date!

The window was very popular!

Arrival lunch at The Breslin...no food shots this time,
but it was good as always!

Followed by dessert at City Bakery - chocolate chip
cookies and hot chocolate! Conley, of course, greatly
approved.

The granddaddy of all chocolate chip cookies at Levain Bakery

All bundled up for the walk to the Natural History
Museum

Surprisingly, the dinosaurs were probably his
least favorite -a  little too scary I guess. He loved
all the other exhibits we visited though and
would run from case to case exclaiming happily.

Our first Central Park carriage ride - this was
definitely another highlight of Conley's trip!
He loves the "neighs!"

Drinks (well, for Peter at least) in the balcony at The Met - always my
favorite stop on our trips. I used to visit every weekend when we lived there
and it never got old!

Somehow we never made it to the Brooklyn Flea
Market and Smorgasburg when we lived in NYC,
 but it was great! A mix of vintage and new items - I picked
 up quite a few things and then they had a big
 selection of yummy food vendors as well. A must-visit
for our future trips as well!

Conley sure did like whatever was in that cup -
I forget now what it was, but I think some sort
of lemonade.

...and still drinking

We did manage to fit in one new restaurant - kind of just stumbled upon it
our last day while walking around Nolita - Rubirosa. Great pizza!

Lil Bub

We are back and finally pretty much recovered and thawed out from our long weekend in NYC - we had a great time as always and I have lots of pictures and memories to share that I hope to post about soon. In the meantime, Conley and I paid a visit to a sweet little cat named Lil Bub this week at a Meet and Greet at Austin Pets Alive. This sweet little kitten and her dad travel the country to raise money for homeless pets and other special need animals. You can learn more about Lil Bub and her great cause on her webpage: http://lilbub.com/about.

Conley was a trooper while we waited in line for our turn and was very excited to visit the "meow" and "b bub" as he calls her. He was a little bit shy when our turn was up, but her owner was very sweet and held Lil Bub right up to Conley so he could see her and pet her and after a few pictures he was ready to go in for the pet. We even got an autographed picture signed "Good job Conley!" and he loves looking at it multiple times a day as it is displayed on our kitchen counter until I get around to framing it - I think it will be a cute addition to the play area side of the Kanga. A fun little outing for a great cause - so glad we got to meet this sweet little angel!

The Weekend Freeze

I'm super excited about our annual return to New York tomorrow, but just slightly worried about the range of temperatures we will encounter : anywhere from 16 - 39 degrees! I enjoy a little winter seasonality on our March trips, but this is the first time we've gone when it hasn't made it into the 40's. Since our favorite activity is walking around, this will make it a little interesting, but I'm planning to bundle up and carry on!

I've made some progress on a rough itinerary for our long weekend and while I hate to try to plan out every moment, I find that if I don't at least have an outline it's easy for the days to slip by and we may miss out on a favorite restaurant or activity with our limited time. So with that, here's my rough plan with a few open spots. This time tomorrow we'll be nice and cozy in our little apartment on Bleecker!

NYC Trip:
------------
Tentative Itinerary:
Friday (flight arrives at 12:30pm):
Late Lunch: The Breslin
Shopping in Soho, Nolita, West Village and Chelsea?
Walk the Highline
Dinner: Eataly

Saturday:
Bakery Breakfast:
Union Square Greenmarket
Levain Bakery - grab some cookies!
Natural History Museum
Lunch:
Walk in CP and horse ride for Conley
The Met and drinks in balcony
Dinner: Bread?

Sunday:
Bakery Breakfast:
Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasbord
Shopping in Williamsburg
Brunch: Zucco?
Peter Happy Hour at 3pm
Dinner: The Meatball Shop? Or Yakiniku?

Monday:
Bakery Breakfast:
Central Park Zoo
UES Shopping - Bloomie's
Old neighborhood walk
Lunch: Vermicelli
MOMA
UES Shopping - Bendel's, Barney's, etc
Peter Gala at 6pm
Dinner: Me and C on our own, take-out from City Bakery?

Tuesday (flight departs at 5:59pm):
Bakery Breakfast:
Lunch: Minetta Tavern
Leave for airport at 3pm

Shopping by Neighborhood:
Soho/Nolita/NoHo:
Global Table - 107 Sullivan St b/t Prince and Spring
Taschen - 107 Greene St b/t Prince and Spring
Kiosk - 95 Spring St b/t Mercer and Broadway
Santa Maria Novella - 285 Lafayette b/t Houston and Prince
Jack Spade - 56 Greene St b/t Spring and Broome
Steven Alan - 230 Elizabeth St b/t Prince and Houston
McNally Jackson - 52 Prince St b/t Mulberry and Lafayette, boutique bookstore
The Future Perfect - NoHo - 55 Great Jones b/t Lafayette and Bowery
Splendid - 111 Spring St b/t Greene and Mercer

West Village:
YOYA (baby store) - 636 Hudson @ Horatio
Albertine - 13 Christopher St b/t 6th and 7th Ave
CO Bigelow - 414 6th Ave b/t 8th and 9th St
James Perse - 411 Bleecker St b/t 10th and Charles St
Jack Spade - 400 Bleecker St b/t Perry and 11th St
Greenwich Letterpress - 39 Christopher St b/t Waverly Place and W 4th St

Williamsburg:
Catbird - 219 Bedford Ave b/t N 4th and 5th St, best jewelry!
Bird - 203 Grand St b/t Bedford and Driggs
The Future Perfect - 115 N 6th nr Berry
Beautiful Dreamers - unique gifty, 326 Wythe Ave nr 1st St

UES:
Bloomingdale's
Henri Bendel
Sprout NYC - 1375 3rd Ave b/t 78th and 79th St.

UWS:
A Tempo - 74th Columbus - carry delicate animal necklaces (I've got quite a few from when we lived there and a few trips since)

Chelsea:
ABC Carpet & Home - 888 Broadway b/t E 18th and 19th St
Books of Wonder - 18 W 18th St b/t 5th and 6th Ave, lots of kid books
Chelsea Antiques Garage -Sat/Sun 9-5, 112 W 25th St - moved to Hell's Kitchen

A Little Sparkle

I am definitely a fan of sparkly things, and my latest obsession has been the Lulu Frost shoe clips at J. Crew. I have a few pairs of plain leather (and patent leather) ballet flats that I love, but I don't get too excited about wearing them and I think what they are missing is some sparkle! Unfortunately, the Lulu Frost versions are pretty expensive so I have also been perusing Etsy for some cheaper alternatives. I've found a few possible contenders, but you can definitely tell even in the pictures the difference in quality. I've never owned a piece of Lulu Frost jewelry, but I may be joining the rank of fans soon. It seems like my options would be to buy a few different sets from Etsy that I sort of like or one that I really love from Lulu Frost. I imagine it's pretty obvious which way I am leaning on this one.

In other news, another season of Downton Abbey has come to an end and I am missing it already. They really need to make more episodes per season, I'm not ready to say goodbye for another year! After last season's dramatic ending, I wasn't sure I could ever enjoy the show again - and it even took a few episodes into this year's season for me to accept that Matthew was gone, sob! Even after accepting that part, I didn't think I would be interested in a new love interest for Mary, but I have to say that now I am ready for it - and I am on Team Gillingham. From what I've read it seems like I may be in the minority, but I just have a better feeling about him even though he was pretty quick to declare his love for Mary! I have a feeling it may not end well for him, but I am rooting for Tony! We shall see next season - this will be a long year!

Little Valentines and NYC Take Two

My Valentine's post is a few days late, but Conley and I had a lot of fun last week getting ready for the big day! He was much more involved this year in making his Valentines and I think his favorite part this time around was the stamps - that sure was a mess, but fun for him! We made the first few cards with glitter as well, but I soon abandoned that plan - I'm sure all of the recipient's moms appreciated that move as well! It took us a few days to get through them all this year because we had to make an extra 13 for Conley's classmates and teachers. I think they turned out really cute in the end though and Conley enjoyed the process! He had a blast at his school party and is still toting around his Valentine box and inspecting all of his Valentines. It is so fun to experience these holidays through his eyes, especially as he gets a little older!

I've never been a big Valentine's Day fan and prefer to stay out of restaurants that night, but my mom had offered to babysit so we opted for a late lunch at Sway - probably my second favorite restaurant in Austin. It is definitely a different experience without Conley, so we really got to enjoy our pad thai jay (among other yummy dishes), but I was bummed that the "soy" dessert was no longer on the menu. The replacement just was not the same! We had a great lunch though and it was nice to spend the rest of the day at home with our little cupid. It did end on a sad note though when Conley grabbed the brownie pan and burned his little hand - so sad! After a good cry and alternating between running his hand under water and holding an ice pack, he did eventually recover with no trace of the burn (I think a couple extra brownies is what really did the trick).

The final product - the one Conley made for us had a little less bling,
but the general idea was the same!

In other news, I finally got a new pair of running shoes and they sure are bright! I technically never took up running again after I got pregnant with Conley - after getting through the nausea, I stuck with walking and since then our morning walks with a stroller and two big dogs just didn't seem conducive to running, although I know many people do it. I think I'm just a little more clumsy than others! All that to say that my last pair of running shoes was probably at least three years old - and in desperate need of replacement. I've been loyal to the classic grey New Balance running shoes for my last two purchases, so I thought it was time to finally break the rut. I've seen the super colorful neon running shoes become very popular and I was resistant at first, but they finally grew on me and I gave in. I stayed true to my New Balance roots though and went with the 1400. I got them in the mail last night and am actually pretty excited about them - yes, they are loud but I really like the color combo and they are extremely lightweight - not nearly as bulky as my usual pair. I'm going to take them for a test-drive this afternoon, so we'll see how they do. Since I'm not an avid marathon runner or anywhere close to that, I imagine they will work out just fine!

As for our soon-approaching NYC trip, I am still doing some final planning and keeping my fingers crossed that the weeks of record snow they have had lets up by next weekend. Although it might be fun to be stranded in NYC a few extra days, I really hope our flight doesn't get delayed or cancelled due to weather. In the meantime, here are a few memories from Conley's second trip to the big city last year, at about 14 months.

A return trip to Eataly

Loved his morning walks in Central Park on dad's back!

A yummy brunch at The Breslin

Walking the streets of Nolita

Conley's First Snow!