Update, update!

Jason has been gone exactly 10 days, not including last Monday when he flew in to visit for less than 24 hours. Totally worth it, though...Boba loved having her Daddy home and was pretty much focused on him the entire time he was there. It was a great way for Jason to celebrate (albeit belated) his second Father's Day. I have to say, when Boba is all about Daddy, I think it's one of my favorite things EVER. Because I get to sit back, relax, and watch the two loves of my life having fun together. It's a beautiful thing.

What's NOT a beautiful thing, is that since Jason left Tuesday morning, I've been slammed with The Cold From Hell. I've actually had The Cold in the past before; twice, as a matter of fact, so I thought I'd be able to escape it this time when Boba took it home from daycare. NO SUCH LUCK. Boba had only a light case of the sniffles, but I am so congested I feel like I am drowning. In air. It is not a happy feeling at all, and it is made worse by the fact that Boba has decided that sleeping in her crib is no longer acceptable, especially since Daddy's side of the bed is empty! How convenient for her! So she likes to wake me up every couple of hours to remind me that she can keep me company, if I'd be so kind to release her from her cage, er, I mean her crib.

The main reason I don't do this is because once she is in my bed, I will not sleep. I might doze here and there, but I will not sleep. Why? Because I think in her dreams she is a Solid Gold dancer. And in her dreams she leaps and kicks and turns...while in reality she is thrashing and flipping on to my face. It does not make for a good night's sleep, as you can imagine. (Just for me, though. I think she sleeps through this whole little number just fine.)

Aaaaanyways. I wish I could say I was doing "just SUPER!" without Daddy around, but all kidding aside, it's been pretty hard. And I don't even have it that bad! For one, I have help (daycare), and two, I only have one kid. One! And I'm still complaining! Yeah, well, it's my blog, and I guess I'll take the liberty to bitch when I want. Besides, this will give me more leverage in the fall when I run off by myself to a spa for a weekend respite - are you reading this, Daddy? - GUILT-FREE. Hmmm, or maybe I'll go to Vegas instead. Decisions, decisions.

Our New House, Part III: The Other Rooms

Perhaps I've mentioned that the new house, although it's definitely a kick-ass house, is rather on the small side...sort of cottage-like, if you will. We're grateful that there's an amazing yard out back because it acts as our "sitting room", and the patio acts as our "formal dining room". But as far as the house itself, the bedrooms are kind of cozy (read: tiny) and kinda close to each other. On the plus side, I don't need a baby monitor in Boba's room! On the not-so-plus side, I really have to monitor the clutter that accumulates (*quick glare in Jason's direction*) because if I don't, it's very easy to start feeling claustrophobic. In other words, I have to constantly clear away stuff. Not an easy task with a toddler and a husband who likes to throw things every which way because it "makes him feel more at home."

This here is the office/3rd bedroom. It's a little on the boring side because we decided not to paint the walls any specific color, but I actually like it because it's a highly functional room. (Whatever that means.) Plus, putting it together really satisfied the neat freak in me, as there is nothing more soothing than organizing files and other random stuff into piles and rows. It isn't in pristine shape in this shot, but you get the idea.

Then, there is Boba's room, which happens to be my favorite room, because it was actually the previous owners' office, and we painted it green and made it all warm and playful. Note the toys that are on the floor; they are actually there for a reason; mainly that if I don't remind Boba that she has toys to play with by leaving them in clear view, she will find other things to terrorize, like the food in the pantry, or the box of tampons under the sink.

Then there is Jason's & my sanctuary: the BLUE room. We inherited it as a blue room, but we amped up the blue by using a blue duvet cover, and by using artwork that had blue as their central color. The effect is very comforting and quiet....the perfect place to retire after a long day.

So, yeah, I'm quite happy with how the house turned out. The main thing, as I've mentioned before, is keeping clutter to a minimum, and managing the flow of stuff that goes from one room to the next. But Jason will tell you (rather begrudgingly, probably) that I am an EXPERT in keeping things in their correct place. Yes, even with a toddler. Thank you, thank you...no need to applaud.

But seriously, the house has been my pet project for the last 3 months, so I'm kind of at a loss now that everything is in order. I mean...what next? Well, Jason left for his 3-month gig up north yesterday, so I am now a pseudo-single-parent. The challenge will be keeping a system for how things happen at our household so that, well...so that I don't lose my mind. THAT is the main objective for the summer. "Remain sane."

At the very least, I now feel like I have the house on my side. It is definitely a place I look forward each day to coming home to!

Our New House, Part II: The Kitchen

I can't really take credit for the kitchen because all of the furniture in it was left to us by the previous owners - rather generously, I should add. Actually, they left more than just their furniture; they left their beautifully painted walls, their new appliances, their toaster (which we ended up not using, but it was super-cute), their artwork, and their decorative touches. We just added the dinnerware and food. So I'm cheating when I post these pictures.

We don't have a lot of cupboard space, so we have a semi-retired entertainment unit in the garage serving as dish storage...but I don't care. The place still works for me. The wall colors they chose would not have been my first choice if I were designing the kitchen, but I'm so glad I inherited it because it all works so beautifully together. The plus? Our "casual" china, which was on our wedding registry, matches this kitchen perfectly. Like it was made for this kitchen. I love how things work that way!

A Day with Daddy

I know I promised everyone pictures of my kitchen today, but I'm not satisfied with the ones I have so I'm going to take more tonight and then post them tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a couple of cute photos of Boba with her Daddy during a recent trip to the zoo!

Boba loves her Daddy. But she loves her pink bottle of milk too. Can you tell?

Our new house! Part I

I've been so looking forward to posting these pictures of our new house, decorated and all! When some of you have visited, you were lucky enough to see an assortment of odds & ends serving as furniture, like my side table made of file boxes, or my couch made of lawn chairs. Yeah, THAT was classy. Well, I was finally able to do something with all those hours of watching "Trading Spaces" and "Design on a Dime" - I made our house look good! Finally!

I'll start with the living room because it's the centerpiece of the house - plus it was the most fun to decorate because, um, it was the largest room. Some pieces were new (like the couch & ottoman that took a whopping THREE MONTHS to build and ship to us), some are heirloom pieces (like the antique chest/coffee table that I love so much), and some were inherited from the previous owners (the cool entertainment center and CD towers). All in all, I think I pulled everything together well.

The Living Room

I chose browns, reds, and golds for the living room. Don't know how I came up with the color scheme - I had to find things that would go with elements that were already in the room, like the curtains and the entertainment unit. Also, the walls were painted a textured butter-yellow, so I kind of used that as a starting point. But the rug, which I bought after I ordered the main pieces of furniture, was meant to pull everything together, which I think it does nicely.

This photo features a wedding gift given to us by our friend, Tera, who is a fabulous artist based in L.A. She had asked us what our living room colors were, and at the time our predominant color was olive green, so she painted us this beautiful picture of a swirling flower. (At least that's what I think it is.) Anyway, our living room is now completely different, but I'm glad the painting still works!

Anyway, isn't this room wonderful? (Sigh. I just love it. Sorry for the self-congratulatory tone of this post, but I am just enamored with how the room turned out!)

Tomorrow I'll feature the kitchen! Yay!

Memorial Day Party, Part II

More photos of good times and fun people! I'll add captions to these to make things a little more interesting...

K.B. and Becky, with son Eli. It's so great to be able to host a party with kids!

Our friends Derek, Assaf, Albert, and Katherine, all from L.A. (And yes, you've probably recently seen Assaf on "Entourage"! Doing what he does best...playing a sleazy Arab prince!)

Daddy attempts to get Boba out of the pool, but she's more interested in the Otter Pop her Lola is holding for her

"FOOD, glorious FOOD...HOT lumpia and SALAD!"

Me and "Jennifufu"

David, Nick, and Rebecca, all former castmates of Jason's in the local theatre scene