During my first trimester, I realized I wanted a space to document my pregnancy, but it was too early to reveal the news on my personal blog, Somewhere in Middle America, or here. So I created Bunny & Dolly ...]]> From celebrities to friends to fellow bloggers, everybody seems to be pregnant right now… including me! You may be even more surprised to learn that I’ve been sitting on this secret for 32 weeks. That’s right, I’m having a baby in July!

During my first trimester, I realized I wanted a space to document my pregnancy, but it was too early to reveal the news on my personal blog, Somewhere in Middle America, or here. So I created Bunny & Dolly to discuss my excitement and fear about having a baby and to keep track of my favorite things for me and him. Yes, I’m having a boy!

Being pregnant has been a remarkable and weird experience. Yes, weird. It’s controversial to admit this, but I can’t say I’ve truly loved sharing my body with this new little person, and I’ve had my more than my share of super emotional days. Then in March, my life got even more stressful: I began a new full-time job, my first in 3 years (yay!), and my husband deployed again (boo!). Needless to say, taking care of everything by myself – the house, the dog and my work – while growing a baby has been exhausting, which explains my two month radio silence.

But now I’m excited to fill you in on the past 8 months and look forward to reaching the finish line with you cheering me on!

Have you noticed a baby boom among your circle of friends recently?

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Posted in: Children, Life

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A. Age – 31

B. Bed size – Queen, but I desperately want a king.

C. Chore you hate – Hmm.  All of them.

D. Dogs – Being a furmommy is the best thing in the world.

E. ...]]> Saw this fun little ABC on Tara’s blog and I thought… why not?  Apparently we are supposed to post a picture of ourselves.  Since I’m currently in the fat stage of my battle of the bulge we’ll go with one of my favorites from the skinnier days.

A. Age – 31

B. Bed size – Queen, but I desperately want a king.

C. Chore you hate – Hmm.  All of them.

D. Dogs – Being a furmommy is the best thing in the world.

E. Essential start to your day – Coffee. Shower.  Gmail.

F. Favorite color – Purple.  In fact my first car was a purple Cavalier convertible and I still miss it.

G. Gold or silver – Gold, but not for jewelry.

H. Height – 5’7″

I. Instruments – My mother tried to get me to play the violin, clarinet, and piano.  I can do none of the three.

J. Job title – Director of Administration for a financial services company.  Blog editor.

K. Kids – Nope.

L. Live – 2br apartment I love, downtown Chicago

M. Mom’s name – Debbie

N. Nicknames – Don’t really have any

O. Overnight hospital stays – Never (knock on wood)

P. Pet peeve – I have to choose just one?  We’ll go with loose/lose and there/they’re/their.

Q. Quote from a movie – “Just in cases”.  Love Actually is the best movie ever.

R. Right or left handed – Left

S. Siblings – An amazing sister.

T. Time you wake up – As late as I can and still make it to work at a respectable hour.  8ish?

U. Underwear – I swear by Marks & Spencer bikinis.   I have converted many to their amazingness.

V. Vegetables you dislike – Carrots.  Cauliflower.

W. What makes you run late – Aforementioned need to sleep in.

X. X-Rays you’ve had – Hmm.  Dental.  Chiropractic.  And the airport, I assume this counts.

Y. Yummy food you make – Well, I’m not exactly a culinary artiste.  I do love the Bowtie Lasagna that Kate turned me onto.  I’m a reasonably good baker though, and I make a mean pumpkin whoopie pie when I follow Amy’s recipe. :)

Z. Zoo – favorite animal – The polar bears and the sea otters.  They are so freaking cute!

Anyone else want to play ABCs with me?

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As you know, my relocated-from-Dallas, in-love self has been house-shopping with her pink-shirted, very relationship-material husband for some time now. It’s been pretty painful. But it’s also been full of funny moments, in a trying-to-maintain-a-good-sense-of-humor-about-things way:

I ...]]> There’s nothing quite like putting yourself on record about something and then promptly changing your mind. Take these little slices of humble pie, for instance – so good they made it onto trivia napkins at our wedding:

As you know, my relocated-from-Dallas, in-love self has been house-shopping with her pink-shirted, very relationship-material husband for some time now. It’s been pretty painful. But it’s also been full of funny moments, in a trying-to-maintain-a-good-sense-of-humor-about-things way:

I mean, finding the perfect house after making losing offers on other houses for months, but then realizing the basement ceiling is only 6 feet tall… that’s funny, right? Who does that happen to besides us? So we moved on and bid on another house… and then were beat out on said house. And then we looked at another house, and it was teeny tiny and too expensive anyway, and then we drove a block over and sat in front of the short basement house a while. And then it hit us:

And so we flashed back to how we felt in that house before we walked downstairs. We felt good. The house was built in 1906, and creaks in all the right places. It’s a ten-minute walk from our Metro stop of choice, and the same walk to some of our favorite shops and restaurants. It’s an end rowhouse, so it has a side yard in addition to tons of light inside. There are details begging for a renovation, but nothing dramatic needs to be done, and it’s absolutely ready for move-in. It has my favorite kitchen of any kitchen we bid on – big, bright, room to eat and play and hang out, needing updates but not desperately so, not until it was time. It has three bedrooms upstairs, rendering the basement just an extra-large storage and laundry area, not an area we have to use if we expand. Maybe one day, we thought, we can figure out how to dig out the basement economically, or maybe we’ll discover that the quote we got was astronomical, or maybe we can dig it out incrementally.

And so we jumped, and we put it an offer, famous last words and all.

And guess what? We got it.

We embarked on the fastest close we or anyone we know has ever heard of… ten days. And guess what? The ten-day close ended two weeks ago.

We’re homeowners!

For real.

{all images courtesy of author’s personal collection}

This is going to be fun.

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That’s right, friends … little Peanut will be joining our family in September! And we are beyond excited to become parents.

We may still be in a rental townhouse rather than our first purchased home, and we may not have a furbaby family member yet (which are two things we both thought we would do before bringing a little human being into our world). But you know what? The ...]]> There’s something in the oven … And it’s not just cupcakes!

That’s right, friends … little Peanut will be joining our family in September! And we are beyond excited to become parents.

We may still be in a rental townhouse rather than our first purchased home, and we may not have a furbaby family member yet (which are two things we both thought we would do before bringing a little human being into our world). But you know what? The timing still feels just right.

We are looking forward to sharing our journey with all of you!

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.” – Author Unknown

Any other expectant mothers out there?

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Posted in: Children, Life

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My favorite color is red.

My favorite food is Velveeta shells and cheese with broccoli.

I am good at drawing.

Santa Claus is most definitely real.

I want a pony at ...]]>

You know what I love best about small children?  How well they know themselves. They are completely uncensored… the expectations and the thought of potential judgment from others doesn’t tether them down or give them pause.  When you’re six, you know exactly what you like… what you don’t… what you want… who you are.

My favorite color is red.

My favorite food is Velveeta shells and cheese with broccoli.

I am good at drawing.

Santa Claus is most definitely real.

I want a pony at my birthday party.

I miss that – that “uninhibition” {I’m making that a word, bee-tee-dubs} – that sureness.

We’re so mired down as adults – in all of the “Should I put that out there? Should I even think it? Is it popular?  Is it too popular?   Is wanting this wrong?   Does it make me too much of this… or too much of that?  Do I even like that / want that / think that anymore? Or am I just holding on because it’s comfortable?  What does this say about me?”

I am not thin. I am 5’9” and it is unlikely that I will ever wear a size 4 or 6 again.  {We can officially add “skinny” to the list of “things at which I’ve tried to excel but do not come naturally.”}  I’ve given up the numbers both on the scale and on my tags in favor of how I feel, how I move, and how my tried-and-true “fit” clothes look.  Right now?  I’m working on doing better in all those departments.

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This time last year I was writing about how we had moved from London to Somerset to live in the countryside. How we had bought our first car and rented a sweet little country cottage. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but a whole 12 months have passed by and spring is on it’s way once again. Coupled with, once again, being on the search for a new car and a new (rented) house. Add to ...]]>
{Image via Author’s Personal Collection}

This time last year I was writing about how we had moved from London to Somerset to live in the countryside. How we had bought our first car and rented a sweet little country cottage. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but a whole 12 months have passed by and spring is on it’s way once again. Coupled with, once again, being on the search for a new car and a new (rented) house. Add to that a hen party to plan for my sister and a baby shower to plan for my sister-in-law as well as a full time job for me in Somerset (and husband in London), things are pretty busy.

Still, a year in and I’ve learnt a bit about living in the countryside. From the basics such as weather appropriate coat and boots (I have a tweed coat which is waterproof and warm but isn’t a raincoat with all important decent pockets and Timberland boots which look good but have proper treads to cope with our road which is actually a country lane) and carrying a torch, to the importance of getting to know neighbours and becoming part of the community, I feel a lot more at home here than I ever did in London.

If you’re going to live in the countryside, you have to be organised. The shops do close at 5.30pm in the weekdays and most of the village shops are only open on Saturday mornings. There is one place you can buy milk up til 10pm every day of the week but only if they haven’t run out. It is a 45 minute drive to the nearest clothing shops or cinema – outings are less spontaneous than they were in London. Oil and wood run out. In London, the worst that would happen was that you would get a large bill. Here, if you run out of oil you don’t have any heating or hot water. You might be able to get a next day delivery but more likely than not, you won’t. (Did I mention that none of the village gets gas?)

A car is pretty essential. We’ve been making it work this week without one, but it’s hard. The buses are infrequent and inconveniently spaced. The last one back to the village leaves at 5.30pm. Taxis are expensive but it pays to get to know the company in the village. Just make sure you don’t run out of fuel – petrol stations up on the moor are few and far between and such that there are, are extremely expensive. And closed, outside of normal hours.

Cottages are cold. Pyjamas are essential (I recommend Hush‘s by the way. Warm but still attractive) as are slippers/alpaca socks/Ugg boots. A slightly different wardrobe too, than a city one. I wear a lot of black to work but outside, black looks extremely harsh. I wear a lot more grey than I did before. More muted I guess. I haven’t worn my sequinned vintage 80s roller girl top down here, or my sequinned leggings. There is less call for going out shoes too, or at least for me. I save those for my trips back to London.

Internet shopping has become my best friend. Literally everything (almost) that you could want, you can buy online and they will deliver. Although not to the house. No courier company can ever find it, despite it having a postcode and them having satnav. Still, clothes, books, shoes, shampoo, toiletries and even 2 coffee cups have been delivered to me over the reception desk at work.

What it lacks in shopping though it more than makes up for it when you can walk out of the front door, down the lane, to the beach. Or turn the other way, up the bridle path and up onto the moor. When you can watch birds in the garden, birds of prey over ancient woodland just metres from the garden, when you see deer on your drive home and often follow a badger or rabbits up the road from the village. When the air is clean and fresh and has a slight taint of salt to the taste and rain to the feel. When you lie in bed and all you can hear is the river running in the garden, and the dawn chorus sounds in the morning. The brightness of the stars and being aware of the cycle of the moon – I know when it’s a full moon because I don’t need a torch to get from the car to the front gate and I can see dimly in the bedroom once the lights have been turned off.

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Posted in: Life, Outdoor Life

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Winter in Somerset is beautiful. We are in the South-West of England so we have a more temperate climate than, say, Scotland, or the East coast of England. Palm trees grow down here. The sun seems to shine the most gorgeous shade of amber and the light is very bright but warm. The skies are very blue by day and filled with the most brightest of twinkliest stars by night.

We have been to local late night shopping evenings (the purpose ...]]>

Winter in Somerset is beautiful. We are in the South-West of England so we have a more temperate climate than, say, Scotland, or the East coast of England. Palm trees grow down here. The sun seems to shine the most gorgeous shade of amber and the light is very bright but warm. The skies are very blue by day and filled with the most brightest of twinkliest stars by night.

We have been to local late night shopping evenings (the purpose of which seems to be to gather the village to drink mulled wine, listen to carols, to watch stilt walkers and to peruse the darling little village shops which include a butcher, a cheese shop, a lovely florist and the teeniest of shops with low beamed ceilings and an open log fire, where you can buy simple silk night wear, silver and gemstone jewellery and hand made beeswax candles.

We have been to a carol service; listened to little ones give readings and many little ones sing tradition carols. “Away in a Manger”; “Little Donkey”.

We have been walking. Up on the moor; along the beach. Wrapped up warm in cashmere scarves and tweed coats and shiny new Timberland boots (which both look good and have ‘proper’ treads.

We have become more used to living in the countryside. Bought grit and salt for our road for the ice. New tyres for the car.

And a tree. Did I mention the tree? An itty bitty little tree which was grown down the road and fits perfectly in his new home on top of a filing cabinet, dressed in vintage baubles.

{all photos by me, using hipstamatic app for Iphone}

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Posted in: Beautiful Things, Life, Outdoor Life

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I also have a new member of the family – my puppy ...]]> Hello EAD readers! It’s been almost a year since I posted and I’ve missed the EAD community terribly. I hope you will excuse my absence. It’s been a roller coaster of a year.  My last post was about driving cross-country to move from Los Angeles, CA to Virginia Beach, VA. I took that trip with my best friend and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

I also have a new member of the family – my puppy Myles. They say every dog is different and he is certainly a contrast from Dottie. This little guy has a lot of personality packed into a little package. I have our adventures to share and thoughts on puppydom.

Aside from the puppy and the cross-country move, the biggest change in my life is that I got divorced. Without getting into too many details here (that’s what personal blogs are for), the marriage wasn’t working out and divorce was the best course of action. Since this is primarily a newlywed blog, I wondered about my place here. Then, I remembered that this is also a nesting blog. Single, Married, or Divorced we all nest and strive to make our homesteads our own. I certainly have done a lot to personalize my new space. I have been a busy crafter.

It feels good to be back. I’m looking forward to sharing with you all soon.

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By day I work for Boxcar Press, a world renowned letterpress print shop, which includes our two letterpress stationery lines Bella Figura and Smock. My job involves an interesting blend of tackling all of our marketing and public relations as well as a mix of sales and client relations. By night I write The Sweetest Occasion, a blog detailing stylish inspiration for weddings, events ...]]> I’m a little late to the party here, but couldn’t resist getting in on the day-in-the-life fun!

By day I work for Boxcar Press, a world renowned letterpress print shop, which includes our two letterpress stationery lines Bella Figura and Smock. My job involves an interesting blend of tackling all of our marketing and public relations as well as a mix of sales and client relations. By night I write The Sweetest Occasion, a blog detailing stylish inspiration for weddings, events and parties of all shapes and sizes. In a nutshell, my days are busy and often tiring, but more often than not they are also a whole lot of fun. Let’s take a walk through a pretty typical week day in my world….

6:00 AM
It’s wake up time! Our black lab Nina is not amused. She loves to snuggle and would far prefer to spend the entire day in bed. Or at least sleep in until 8.

7:00 AM
We are currently renovating our first house so on the way out the door I snap a quick “before” photo of our staircase. Once covered in nasty old carpet my husband has plans today to prime the steps in anticipation of bright white paint and a stair runner in the near future.

7:30 AM
By this time I have showered, driven to the office and settled in at my desk. I usually eat breakfast at my desk. Behold, the breakfast of champions:

Organic oatmeal and a whole lot of water do a body good. Never fear. I am not super human. You can typically find a large tankard of iced coffee looming somewhere nearby.

9:00AM
I spent the first hour or so in the morning catching up on emails. A lot of our clients and media contacts are on the West Coast so a good deal of email usually hits my inbox overnight. My first project today is to sketch out some ideas for a new feature we’re considering introducing on the Smock website. (In the end, the decision was yes so you can look forward to fun new stuff around the holidays!)

10:30 AM
This time of day is perfect for photography! We regularly update our company blogs with photos of great new things we’re printing and today I’m tackling photos of some of our recent favorites. This design is Meadow, designed exclusively for Bella Figura by Erin Jang.

12:15 PM
I scoot downstairs to the print shop to check on the status of a project. We’re lucky enough this week to have some extra help in for the summer and our awesome interns are bundling up little swatches of our new Smock gift wrap designs.

1:00 PM
Lunch time! I try to leave my desk for at least a half hour for lunch although sometimes I do succumb to eating at my desk. Today is a good day – a little break time in the lunch room with the ladies is just what I needed.

2:30 PM
Boxcar subsidizes CSA memberships for all employees with a local organic farm. I head up organizing the CSA delivery (which comes right to our office) so I head back downstairs to get things set up. Today we have lots of greens including bok choy, one of my favorites!

4:00 PM
An editorial assistant calls from a major bridal magazine for a credit check. A credit check is when a publication confirms details before an issue goes to print. They’ll verify things like the spelling of your company name, the description of the product being featured, pricing, web address, etc. This information is the type of thing you’ll find in the credits or “where to shop” section of a magazine or as a caption below a photo. Here’s an example from when Bella Figura was recently featured in New York Weddings:

4:35 PM
Another trip downstairs, this time to check on something for a client. I visit with Carrie, one of my favorite press operators. She can often be found printing on both our Heidelburg Windmills and our Vandercook presses. Today she is cleaning up so the press isn’t inked, but the big silver roller you see is usually all inked up with whatever color is being printed.

5:00 PM
I visit the space we’re currently renovating, which is soon going to be our newly expanded print shop. The floors have been newly refinished and sealed and today they’re working on finishing up the last of the electrical work.

5:45 PM
It’s quitting time for the day! I make a pit stop at the gym on my way home, where I take a Les Mills BodyAttack class. (Killer!)

7:30 PM
I get home, shower up from the gym and then make dinner. I’m a vegetarian and it’s CSA day so there are a lot of veggies in our house. This is a pretty typical dinner in our house. Couscous with a ton of fresh veggies (in this case organic kale, summer squash, and tomatoes), cannelloni beans and feta.

8:00 PM
It’s time for a little house work. It’s simple tonight – I do a quick check of our gardens and skim the pool. I also snap a quick photos of the stairs after their coat of primer earlier in the day.

8:45 PM
It’s blogging time! Tonight I’m blogging from the disaster zone that is slowing being transformed into our family room. And, yes, that is a stack of a good portion of my worldly possessions boxed up in the middle of the room. I check email, respond to inquiries, and block out blog posts for the following day. I stay right here in this chair until about 9:30 when I get restless and take my Macbook into the living room to chill on the couch.

11:30 PM
Blog work is done and it’s time for bed! I get ready for bed and manage to read all about three pages of Little Bee by Chris Cleave before passing out. Six hours from now the alarm will be going off again so it’s time for sleep.

So there you have a day in my life. Was it everything you thought it’d be?

*Bella Figura and Smock are two of EAD’s fabulous sponsors. For information on EAD’s editorial policies, click here.

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