Nesting, Before and during pregnancy.

I think re-purposing is one of my favorite hobbies. It is a pain while you are doing it, but when you are done, you have turned something into a treasure (hopefully). I picked up these end tables for $20, added a little silver paint, lots of glossy top coats, crystal knobs and Voila! Old Hollywood glam. I have been salivating over the lamps from Home Goods for awhile, and they are the perfect compliment. Alec groaned when I started, but he loves having his own table and light.

I found these Parsons chairs for $4 each at Goodwill. They haunted me. I love textiles and any excuse to go to Home Fabrics is like a siren song. So, more husband groans and lots of sewing later, I have two slipcovered chairs that I adore. I had to use that great turquoise coral print somewhere and it gave the room some much needed color. I promised Alec no more projects before baby. He complains, but he usually ends up liking the finished project. I just wish I had more photography skills.

Biggest post yet (and the latest)

From this:

To this!

We are happy to announce that after three grueling years of fertility treatments, our attempt at In Vitro Fertilization worked and we are expecting a baby at the end of December! We have decided not to know the gender (strange for a planner like me, I know). The kids are very excited. Lily will talk to the baby and kiss my belly.
The only trouble will be coming up with two names instead of one. I guess we could always stick with Pat.

Frankenhand: A Cautionary Tale

For all of you math whizzes out there, here is an equation I would like you to solve.

Tired Mother after work + Frozen beef patties + pointy-tipped knife =

Answer: A two hour trip to urgent care despite said tired mother's protestations that she does NOT need stitches even though the knife went almost through her hand and she could see a tendon. Shock does funny things to your brain. Stitches came out on Monday, but apparently, they weren't very successful. Good luck keeping the wound closed, Steri-strips.

Then, later in the week, our TV armoire tipped and could have crushed Eric. Luckily my leg broke the fall of the TV. I would take pictures, but it is kind of hard to shave around the abrasion, so I will spare you that one. I don't know why, but that seems grosser to me than a picture of stitches.

Go away, Black Cloud!

Belated Christmas

I have officially become the worst blogger ever. We had a great Christmas, as usual. Our families are so good to us!

Book Review: Matched

Well, my friend Ally has done it again. As many of you know, she has been a successful author of LDS YA fiction for some time. Now, she has achieved a national audience for her new Dystopian novel, Matched.
I must say, I tried to read this objectively and forget how much I like the author personally. With that in mind, I couldn't put it down! The creation of a society where everything is controlled, even who you marry, is very cleverly created with the mysteries slowly unfolding to the reader as Cassia, the heroine, discovers that not all is as it seems in her perfect world. While this is not a new theme, I felt that the 'Society' itself was very interesting and had several unique aspects.
The plot is not driven primarily by action, but by character development, which is much more difficult to write. Ally succeeds in creating characters that are compelling and relatable and the love triangle element is handled in a very mature way.
While the book is marketed as a YA novel, I can definitely say that it is much more mature than some in the genre. Ally's writing is very fluid and filled with poetic nuances that are quite moving. This is a book that anyone would enjoy and I am glad to see it getting the buzz it deserves!