Artsy Fartsy

'Sup. It's Monday.
You deserve some eye candy. 

Cecil Touchon

Post-Dogmatist Painting #457
Collage on Canvas

Sears Peyton Gallery

Bad Baby

Olive has a new nickname: Bad Baby. 

While in Taipei, she perfected her walking skills, and became super cocky. This cockiness quickly manifested itself into naughtiness. She climbs stuff she knows she shouldn't climb, throws food she knows she shouldn't throw, dry-cries non-stop to get her way... *sigh* Each time she misbehaves, the huz and I yell, "BAD! BAD BABY!" To which she responds by repeating the word, "BAD!" and following it up with a mischievous giggle. We know we shouldn't laugh (for fear of encouraging poor behavior), but we can't help it...

Munchkin Room Makeover

"Remember, I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom."

Prior to the munchkin's arrival, I clocked in a ridiculous number of hours surfing the blogosphere for nursery inspiration. There are so many stylish mamas out there, and they all seem capable of balancing fun and chic when it comes to decorating a kid's space. Me? Not so much. I was determined to copy one of the uber-cool Lonny and Elle Decor-worthy rooms, and wah-lah! My baby girl would grow up to be a kind, happy being because of her fab environment, and I will earn the title of cool mom. *fist pump*

Unfortunately, as her due date got closer and closer, I found myself throwing my hands up in the air - surrendering to the interior decorating gods. The room le huz and I had hoped to put her in was a challenge to work with (three inconveniently-situated windows paired with two separate closet doors). And instead of tackling the task head on, I decided to temporarily house the munchkin in a teeny-tiny room off our kitchen - one that was intended for a maid back when in the '20s when the house was built - and basically denied her a proper play space until now. Yes, well, a year and a half later, I'm getting closer to presenting our baby girl with the rad room she deserves.

Before: Depressing cave of clutter.
(I hadn't entered the room for over a year since because the live-in-nanny had been staying here.)

After: Bright. Happy. Fun. 

We painted the room and window trim in Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee, got rid of the heavy charcoal gray drapes, and splurged on some dramatic wallpaper - Hicks' Grand by Cole & Son. I REALLY wanted to install toile wallpaper but ultimately decided to go with a more contemporary choice. The wallpaper is from Walnut, the grass-like shag rugs (we laid down two) and green gingham floor pillow are from IKEA, the vintage shelving unit is by Muriel Coleman, the orange Maharam zigzig pillow was purchased from Rummage, the rocker-glider is by Dwell, the African stool on which the owl is perched was picked up at the Rose Bowl Flea, and finally, the chubby owl was picked up during a trip to Tokyo from Kiddyland.

More shots of this work-in-progress to come. Curtains still need to be hung, the crib and bed need to be moved in, an overhead light fixture needs to be installed, and the closets are begging for some Container Store Elfa components...

Ma's getting closer, Olive.

Stranger Danger

It's been eons since my last post because somebody whom I now fondly refer to as "Bad Baby" has been keeping me kinda-sorta busy. As the most fabulous woman on the planet, Tina Fey, once uttered, "Being a mom has made me so tired. And so happy." Traveling with a baby into a drastically different timezone isn't exactly a walk in the park, but it's been so much fun seeing my parents, Olive's grandparents, interact with her. They're smitten with this Bad Baby.

Can you blame them? 

Bad Baby and I will be in Taiwan for about two weeks (we've got 5 days remaining). She was invited to take on flower girl duties for my brother's wedding to his elementary school crush, Lilian. *awww* A rather large responsibility, seeing that Bad Baby had ventured into a life on two feet a mere a week before her uncle's big day. To everyone's surprise, there was no meltdown at the wedding. Bad Baby put in a most valiant effort to make it down the aisle...

Many more stories to share. Will do so when we return!