A new post!

I am sitting myself down to write a blog post. Yes. No more excuses today. Of course things are busy, but things are always busy. So, I am making the time.

Now, what to write about? There has been so much going on in the world, scary, horrible, frustrating things that I should probably be writing about -- no, I KNOW I should be writing about, because discussion is good. And talking about things is the first step to changing them. But to be honest with you I can hardly get through a day without crying about my own stuff right now (which I realize are mostly silly, trivial and definitely hormonal problems). So I have been sort of hiding out in my own little shell with blinders on trying to ignore the news as best I can for the next little while. Because I am so tired of crying you guys.

No one likes a complainer and positivity is key, right? So let's visit some of the good and wonderful.

I have been making time for friends. Breakfast with a girlfriend whom I haven't been able to connect with in far too long and an adults only over night trip to celebrate another friend's birthday have been oh so good for the soul lately. And Josh, in his infinite wisdom, has even set up a dinner at our house Sunday night and invited a couple we're acquainted with and their two little boys. It's a sort of first date, potential friends in the making, we hope you like us because we like you kind of deal. Because it's hard to make new friends as an adult, isn't it? "And we need more friends that live close by!" says Josh. And you know what, it's true. So Josh just went for it. We're going to be vulnerable and make them a lasagna and just put ourselves out there and see what happens. Anybody else out there wanna be friends in real life? Let's do this!

Our house has been getting some much needed TLC. We've been finding ourselves with a bit more free time on our hands now that summer is winding down and most of the weddings and grad parties have been attended. We've got the nursery about as finished as it's going to be before the baby comes. The shelves and walls are still mostly empty since we're waiting to find out if our little "E" is a he or a she, but the furniture is in place, the walls have been painted, the new light is installed. This weekend we tackle the baby's bathroom.  New sconces have been ordered and Josh is going to finish up the painting. I promise a full tour of both rooms once baby is here and we really finish the place. I seriously can't wait.

Josh has also been tiling, grouting, fixing leaks and being a general handy-man extraordinaire the last few weeks. We took our first steps towards updating our enormously tall two-story rear stairwell with the purchase of this AMAZING ladder (seriously though, I never thought I'd get so excited over owning a ladder) and this beauty of a light fixture. ...two points here while I'm thinking about it...when I link to something online please don't ever think I actually paid the list price you see for anything for our house. I'm lucky enough to have a job where I can get house stuff at wholesale prices straight from the manufacturers themselves. (I just don't want anyone out there mistakenly thinking I'm miss richy rich over here ;) Also, my mom is crazy. Wonderful, but crazy. And she kicked in a good portion of the money for that light fixture as an early christmas present. Because she starts christmas shopping in August, y'all. And whenever a gift giving occasion rolls around and she asks me what I want, I always inevitably answer a new light fixture for somewhere in the house. So she told me to go ahead and get it ordered. And now it's here and I loooooove it. And Josh used the new ladder to install the new fixture and now I'm dying to start the painting. Unfortunately, painting from a ladder two stories up whilst 33 weeks pregnant does not seem like the wisest decision. So, that's going to have to wait just a little while longer.

Our loooong search for a new dining room table has finally come to a happy end. The dining table we've had forever was an undeniable POS. I bought it online from Pottery Barn on final clearance for like $400 years ago. When it showed up the finish was already flaking off in some areas before I'd even gotten it assembled. Of course they wouldn't take it back or replace it because it was final clearance, so we've been stuck with it ever since. In addition to the already spotty finish the boys have added their own little touches to it over time in the form of permanent marker and glitter glue. So, yeah, we needed something new. Problem was everything I was drawn to had a super smooth polished finish to it.

Super smooth polished finish + young children = disaster waiting to happen 

I needed something that could get a little beat up. A table that wouldn't show every single scratch or mark. I mean, I don't plan on letting them anywhere near a new table with glitter glue ever again, but they are going to be using it for homework and eating and whatnot and it's bound to take a few hits. Then I discovered Ariele Alasko. If you haven't heard of her she's this amazing wood worker and furniture builder who makes all these great custom pieces from reclaimed wood (technically plaster lath) that are just drop dead gorgeous. I'm serious, she is an incredible artist. Her stuff is amazing, and wouldn't you know she does dining room tables. Well, technically, she did dining room tables. She doesn't anymore, and she's not currently taking commissions nor am I a bajillionaire who could afford to commission a custom Ariele Alasko dining table. (I wish.) But, it did get me thinking. Maybe I could find someone who IS taking custom commissions and also works with reclaimed wood. I mean, it's already a bit beat up, so the boys can't really hurt it, and that's part of the beauty and charm of these pieces anyway, right? So to Etsy I went and that's where I found Sarah at New Antiquity.

After a few good conversations about color and design she understood what I was looking for and drew up a custom dining table for me that was just about the prettiest thing I ever did see. She has been a dream to work with and even sent me progress shots of the table during the construction process to make sure things were looking correct and so I'd know we were on track.

Anyway, here it is.

I mean.

AND tomorrow's Friday? Things are certainly looking up around here. See, there's plenty of good and wonderful when you just take the time to look for it. I think I should just end this post on that note, right?

Proud new owner of her dream dining table out!

Happy weekend, friends