Nursery Update (Almost Complete!)

As promised, a nursery update! 

It is finally coming along (look back here to see how much progress we've made)! I think by the time my inlaws leave (they are visiting this weekend), it will be 99.9% done. The .01% will be putting a baby in there. :-)

So after our shower, one of my aunts gave us this tin (?) container. It was used to keep water bottles in it and I love it! We were kind of unsure what to do with it-- it doesn't fit in our bathroom counters (for bath towels/soaps/etc) and it looked silly on top of our bookcase (2 below), but I finally found the perfect spot!

We are keeping it on the floor outside her room! I've been putting the clean laundry in it, or anything that needs to go in her room. I think it will be perfect if she's sleeping in there and she has toys that can be put away, etc. 

Totally obsessed with her giraffe collection! 

The bookcase needs some work, but it's not too bad. Okay, so I crammed a few things in there..sue me. Oh! And I'm definitely going to have my SIL write something cute on the chalkboard basket-- she has the best handwriting!

Ahem. Okay, so I did a lot of cramming. We aren't going to throw the sound machine packaging away because we may have to return it. Hopefully it's an easy fix..we'll see. 

I'm so thankful for that corner in the left. Our stroller is tucked back there, along with boxes of diapers and wipes. 

We are going to put the carseat in the car next week..eeeek!

Curtains! No idea what we're going to yet..yikes! Recommend a place to get cute and reasonably priced curtains? 

LOL my friend thought that wreath was a cushion you sit on after you give birth. 

Don't tell anyone but I just shoved clothes in those bins. :( I'm so embarrassed. BUT, totally in love with the shelves that have yet to be put up. 

My favorite part of her nursery! So excited to hang up our mom pictures (more on that later), and one of my mom's newborn dresses. It's hard to see, but we got the cutest little time out stool at our shower! 

And maybe one of these days I'll get around to moving the lamp back to the living room and buy the lamp I've been wanting? 

Can't wait to update more as we complete the last minute touches! Thank you for all your sweet emails and comments! xO

Let's Get Clean

So the other day someone asked about our cleaning schedule, how it works, what I do each day, and if my husband helps. 

I wish I could say it's some foolproof plan..it's really nothing fancy. My mom would disapprove, but I clean a little bit each day. This way, by the end of the week, the entire house has been cleaned. Some of my friends dedicate one whole day (typically Sunday) to laundry/cleaning, but that just doesn't work for me. 

Money Saving Mom has these printables available and I keep them in clear plastic sheets on the side of our fridge. 

I reprinted them for the photos. :) 

To answer the other part of your question, sometimes my husband helps. He gets a weekly to-do list and there's always random items on it. Sometimes he'll vacuum for me because I despise vacuuming. That is why I keep him around. :)

Side note: Just got home from Sports Authority and he was cleaning a bathroom. Seriously, amazeballs. 

Mondays are super busy for me, so I made sure to make them a light day. The hardest part was probably deciding what to do on what days. I would finish and realize that I forgot something major like clean the toilets! Duh! 

Oh and my confession-- If something comes up and I'm not able to that day's cleaning, I don't kill myself. It is what it is. It will get done next week. 

You can click once to make the photo bigger.

I'm sure this is coming, but I am a total smell freak. I constantly worry our house smells like dog, so spraying "smelly stuff" is very important. :) 

Yup, we totally only wash our sheets once every two weeks. Judge me.  It's more of a time thing than anything. Sometimes we don't even do laundry every week..with only two people we don't dirty much!

The second sheet is for monthly, every 3 months, and every 6 months cleaning. We don't have too much because 1. We rent and 2. We don't have a yard/garage. I don't have to send my husband gutter cleaning every Saturday, and I think that's pretty awesome. 

Oh and I totally snagged this idea from my MIL-- Keep all your cleaning crap in a container that you can carry around. It makes life so much easier. 

We keep this under our kitchen sink. After taking this photo I decided to go through it and ended up throwing away a few things. I know we're bad.. we don't use "all natural" or organic products. Again, judge me. 

So I hope that answers your question! You can always send your questions to my email-- elboese@Yahoo.com! xO

Apartment Favorites (Tour)

Many of you have been asking for pictures of our new place. To me the house looks the same, but here are some pictures anyway.

These are some of my favorite things around the house..Enjoy!

An "entryway". Enough said. 

I cannot tell you how much I love our little entryway! The table was actually in our bedroom before (back here), but it worked out better here. It's so nice to have a place for all our crap. 

Totally obsessed with the Target chalkboard basket (we have another one in our room) for umbrellas, guests' shoes, my husband's work stuff, whatever.

Why yes there is a picture of my grandparents in our bathroom. 

My husband thinks it's totally weird we have pictures in the bathroom. I'm not really sure how it happened. It was more of a "if we don't put these pictures somewhere, they will gather dust in a closet" situation. So my grandparents are hanging out in the bathroom. Sweet. 

Love this in the hall leading to our room.

I got free 11x17 (I think that's what size they are?) photos from Shutterfly using My Coke Rewards. I knew if I didn't get frames and get it up ASAP, it wouldn't be done. 

To the left of the pictures is my husband's very own closet. He can keep all his work stuff in it and it's out of the way! Remember before it was in the office closet?

Obviously I love not having to share my closet. 

Across from that, I have my very own closet too. :) Woo hoo! It's awesome when I'm having a "nothing fits" moment and I can just throw the stuff on the ground and shut the door. 

Any ideas for above the fireplace?

And of course the dogs are obsessed with our gigantic window. You can't see it but there is a bed so they can sit and look out. They love it!

At night if our lights are on, people can see in. My FIL put the curtain rod up and now we just need to find curtains. Suggest a place to get them for a reasonable price? I'd rather not spend $400 on a place we rent! (That's what Bed, Bath, and Beyond had). 

Not sure if I posted about it but my husband got me that giant map for our 1 year anniversary. It is awesome for dinner conversation and I just love it. I've always wanted a map to mark where we've been, where we've lived, family lives, etc. We can't wait to show our little gal where her family lives and talk about it! 

And the dining room is also where my husband has "set up shop". 

Seriously, having a second bathroom has been nothing short of amazing. And we also have a huge linen closet in that bathroom-- it's just perfect! It was so nice when people were here! 

The door on the left leads to the office, and the door on the right is the linen closet. Completely stuffed with pillows, blankets, towels, and the like. 

My office/guest room is kind of a weird shape. Just like before, there is a big walk in closet that is perfect for all our stuff. 

The dogs love sitting on the bench (very bottom, under the window) and looking out the window. We call it their "perch" and they sit there all day while I work. 

And my least favorite part of the house, ugh. Honestly, we are not hoarders (I swear)! I don't know what the deal is. 

The walk in closet is also weirdly shaped and is housing my scrapbooking stuff, Christmas stuff, and my husband's tools. 

This guy holds random work stuff (and obviously a basketball, LOL). You guys know I'm not a huge fan of the cube units (they look so dorm-y to me), but it's all that could work. Plus, we can shut the door to the closet and I don't have to see it. 

Have any suggestions for reorganizing this bad boy? My nesting instincts are telling me to throw everything away and use it as a closet for Baby B. Please don't let me do that. 

That's it! I'll try to take more photos as we get more settled, and of course nursery pictures will be coming soon! xO

We're Moving!

You guys have asked a million times and I apologize for not keeping you in the loop better! Last weekend I mentioned we finally have some moving plans and I can officially say-- we are moving July 1st!

Don't get too excited, though, we're only moving two apartments over. :-) Yup, just down the hall..LOL!

There were so many options that it makes my brain fuzzy thinking about it-- cancel our lease and rent a big house and be settled before Baby B arrives, move in the middle of September and hope we get ready for Baby B in time, extend our lease and stay, blah blah blah.

I know this is coming: No, buying was not an option! We have only lived in this area for a year and we have no idea where in God's name we would live. Not to mention how pricey it is to live in DC.

Right now we are in an 1150 square foot apartment, and this one will be 1388. We are pretty excited about that fact! 

We knew we wanted an additional bedroom for Baby B and I need my office for work. No questions asked.

And hello? We now have 2 full bathrooms. You don't know what it's like having people here who all have to shower, pee, blow dry their hair, etc. Right now our office/guest room doesn't even have a mirror!

While it will be extremely pricey, we are blessed to have found the perfect place that is so close. I get to keep my dog walking business, my husband has a 10 minute commute to work, and we're in a safe area that has lots of shopping near by. (Ahem, I can literally picture me and Baby B taking our first trip to Target).

This picture confuses me to no end.

Secretly I think my husband is more excited about this move than I am. I was itching to go to another place, but it was just too far for him to commute to work. He keeps saying how happy he is to be staying. 

Some things I'm excited about? Let's see:

:: Having a (very small) entryway. Right now we have this teeny tiny basket for shoes and a random thing that holds the dog leashes. I would love something that can hold the leashes, key, shoes, purses, etc. and look nice. I don't think a bench is necessary, but something in a dark wood with shelves maybe? 

:: Bigger kitchen. I can do dishes and another person can actually open the oven at the same time. Enough said.

:: Larger living area. Right now when people come over I always end up sitting on the floor. My husband is dying for a sectional couch and I want a cozy chair that looks nice (not college dorm-y). Maybe a chase lounge? We'll see. 

:: Ceiling fans! Seriously, this apartment has 3. I still remember our first night here we were so hot in the middle of June with no fans. We went out the next day and bought 2. Best. Purchase. Ever. 

:: Giant floor to ceiling window in the living room. We won't have a porch anymore, and instead we'll have a giant window in the living room. I think the dogs will just sit by the window and look out all day. 

That's all I can think of right now. Most importantly, we're just so excited to be moving to the place we'll bring our baby back to! 

Enjoy your Saturday, people! xO

A Day in the Life-- April 17th

I get lots of emails asking what my typical day is like, so yesterday I made sure to take pictures of the "bigger" things so I can show you want a normal Wednesday is like. Enjoy!

7AM-- Get up, run the dogs out, and inhale breakfast (usually yogurt mixed with berries/bananas/chia seeds). Someone from work typically calls around this time to talk, so I'll pick up the house while inhaling food. It's quite a scene. :)

8AM-- Work! The dogs will usually sit on their bed beside me or on the futon behind me. I'll open the blinds so they can bark at people (Such a thoughtful neighbor, I am).

11AM-- Walk a little monster known as Fenway..

It usually ends up being a good half hour/45 minutes, so I'll go back inside and work until lunch.

Noon/1PM: Lunch while watching the news or reading/journaling. Lunch is usually like the picture below. Lean Pockets are the bomb diggity!

Run the dogs out after I eat and they want to play when we come inside. Sometimes I'll sit and play with them for a few minutes but I'm a terrible mother, so mostly not.

Plates are from Macy's. Don't like them anymore-- found some new ones I love!

Work until it's time to take Fenway out again at 3. Eat a snack/make calls/text Fenway's owner while we're on our walk.

By the time I get in my husband is usually home so I quickly say hi (tell him to give the dogs attention) and run back into the office until around 5:30-6.

My husband will do one of the following while I work: Eat, sleep, watch TV, play video games, make as much noise as possible, occasionally feed the dogs, and leave handcuffs/other police gear on our dining room table (because our neighbors don't think we are weird enough, now they come over and see handcuffs on our table. Sweet).

Note the socks..ahem, LOL.

Around 6 I convince my husband to work out with me. Most days he says yes but his allergies are bad so he stays home. Boo.

7PM: Get home and my husband is asleep (poor guy) so I have soup and a grilled cheese for dinner. Wonder what he had for dinner. Probably ice cream. I'm an awesome wife.

Since I'm not supposed to take hot baths (major sad face) anymore, I put my feet in the tub and read for 15 minutes. My husband scared the daylights out of me by blowing his work whistle three inches from my face. I love him.

Since he did that I thought we could read together a little when I got out of the shower. I'll talk more about this book later but we're both in love with it. My husband is really involved with this whole pregnancy/birth and I'm so thankful.

I will discuss all my new reading material soon, promise!

We read for about a 1/2 hour, watched the news (yup, we 75 years old), and I went to bed.

Like I said, there really isn't a typical day in my life because my husband has such weird work hours/days.

That is pretty much how it works around here-- hope everyone has a great day!

xO

Goodbye Christmas

Christmas is officially over. Most people are back to work and daily life craziness..I don't know about everyone else but I was ready to start 2013 and get organized for the new year. Anyone else feel that way?

Saturday morning I took everything down with some help from my husband. He took lots of "breaks" and I would find him on the computer, so I tried not to nag. :) Luckily it only took about 2 or 3 hours and the house was clean.

Bad news is we discovered our vacuum is not doing so well. Seems like we buy a new vacuum every year and I wish we would splurge on my dream vacuum. Who knows.

In other bad news our house is super bare. But clean.

Told you it was bare. Like my $4 banner? It's from Target. I snuck that bad boy in the cart when my husband was ooohing and ahhhing over some candy. 

Now almost every fiber of me wants to run out and get stuff from Pier 1 or Etsy (Like I did for fall) to fill the gigantic-ly large space where our peace lily is and our mantel, but I'm not. I'm holding back, and I'm okay with it. 

I need to constantly remind myself, but I'm content with what I have. I don't need anything and if I find something I absolutely love, I'll think about getting it. But for now? It's not necessary. I'm definitely not going to buy something just to buy it. 

And while taking the Christmas stuff off our mantel I noticed that the plant I had up there (picture of the plant at the bottom of this post) must have leaked, things have scratched the mantel, etc. We already were told we'd have to pay for a ding in our door..fabulous. Hopefully they will just let us paint over it. 

Maybe this means I should buy more crap for our mantel?

I couldn't part with the cards just yet. . it's on my weekly goals to take them down. We'll see about that. :)

Love those coffee cups. 

Umm, so I'm a little embarrassed about the dining room table. I'm not one of those people who can dress up a dining room table very well, as you can see. I would like to get some candy hearts and fill the jar, but that's the extent of this area. 

Oh! We did put the pink candles from our wedding shower gift in the candlesticks for our 1st married Valentine's Day. Kind of excited! 

But even bigger news? All the Christmas decorations fit perfectly in our office closet. 

How, you ask?

Timberrrrrr

Ahem. Not even sure who's idea this was, but we moved a few things around and I'm very pleased with it!

My husband has turned the closet into his locker room..awesome.

My favorite spot. 

So it's by no means perfect but it is 100% better than what it was (in my opinion). 

Just thankful it's done! 

My Family Health Binder *Update*

Remember back in July when I posted about our family health binder?

I was finally able to make some appointments and actually fill the binder recently! I know-- quite an accomplishment. :)

The business card section is slowly growing.. 

My one doctor did not have business cards. I was so bummed because I really wanted to put it in there! Oh well. 

Now that I'm actively using the binder, I keep a pink post it on the inside front cover. This reminds me who needs what in what month/year. For example, my husband needs a physical in May 2013. 

The "Doc Info" section is filled out for me with names, phone numbers, and addresses of all my doctors. 

And now is time for my public service announcement.. 

Call your parents/family/grandparents and get their medical history!

Seriously. Please. Because I have a horrible family medical history, it's absolutely crucial to know what I'm dealing with.

You can learn so much about your family, and it opens the door for conversations that you should have before it's too late.

Okay? Here is my original post on our Family Health Binder. I encourage you to put this on your to-do list this fall!

Mantel Is Finished!

Last weekend I posted about our beautiful mantel..Ha! I am so embarrassed that that is what our mantel has looked like for quite some time.

Well, today that all changed! I got some goodies in the mail today to complete my "look".

As you can see I kept my little pumpkins & lanterns on there (you can see more about them and how much they cost here). 

I feel like they really complete the look, don't you? I'm not sure if I talked about the chalkboard, but that is also a Target find. It was $2.50. Of course I had to buy it. 

If you couldn't tell from the first picture, the wreath has a little "B" on it. I just love it. I was not thrilled when it came off during shipping and I had to hot glue it myself, but I'll save that for later in the post. 

I got the wreath, 3 frames (same size), and banner all from this shop on Etsy. It was a little pricey but I really wanted it and I know I'll use it for many years. They were wonderful to work with and I definitely recommend them if you are looking for some cute fall decorations! I was a little bummed the "B" came off my wreath-- It was not easy to hot glue that back on! It kept falling off a zillion times. 

My only "thing" would be that everything was a bit smaller than I was expecting. I am very glad I had those few nik-nacks from Target because they definitely completed the look. It would have been too barren without the lantern, pumpkins, and chalkboard. 

And I'm sure you're just dying to know, but I finally hung my other chalkboard on the wall! 

More on how to make one of these can be found here.

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the wall juts out just a bit for some reason. The walls are so barren that I thought this would liven the place up. It's actually centered in the middle of the part that sticks out. Guess it's hard to tell!

xO

Target Find & Our Mantel Is Coming Soon!

Because I've had horrible luck with the gallery wall in our bedroom (read more about that here), I decided to focus on something else that needs some work-- our mantel.

I started scheming at Pier 1, Target, & TJ Maxx, but wasn't having much luck because I didn't know how tall the items should be. I didn't want them to be so big that our house looked tiny (our house is already tiny) and I didn't want them to be too small where I just need more crap. Make sense?

So of course I headed to Etsy and found an adorable shop that has the stuff already on the mantel, so you can see how it looks. Now obviously not all mantels are the same size, but it kind of worked for me and I winged it. :)

I'll keep the rest of what I bought a secret but we'll call this the "before" photo. Pathetic, I know.

I really could have spruced it up for the photo, but I wanted it to be an honest, everyday photo. Why is that easel still there not holding my chalkboard, you ask? Well, I don't know why the easel is still sitting there, but the chalkboard has also moved.. 

Like I said above, I could have taken the time to actually hang it up, but I figured it was best to show you how it's been sitting for 2 days. :-) 

I love how it will look up on this wall. It will still be seen, but not the center of our living area. I also have big plans for that corner (where the Peace Lily is), but more on that later!

When walking to Target the other night I found these adorable little lanterns and 2 pumpkins for $5 total. 

I ended up with 2 lanterns, the white pumpkin, and the orange pumpkin. I'm sure you're curious-- I realized the lanterns were different when I got home from Target. I guess that's what I get for talking on the phone from the moment I walked in until I got home. Oh well, they have personality, right?

I think I'll end up adding these to my mantel, but if it's too much they'll hang out somewhere else (Maybe the dining room table). 

What do you think? Give me some ideas! xO

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Here's a list of some of my favorite things as a new wife! Nothing raunchy-- this is stuff for the house and things that make me happy and my life easier.

1. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers Target Brand Magic Erasers. :) Yup $2 for this 4-pack or $4 for $2 of the Mr. Clean brand. I use these everywhere! Mostly for scratches on the wall from when we moved in, the fridge, and the tub. These babies are worth every penny. Honestly, I'm looking forward to using them on the baseboards next week!

2. Under shelf storage. I bought two of these at The Container Store for $8 each and of course Amazon has them for $6.97. These are a lifesaver for people with small pantries. I use one for bread (You can see that bread is on our grocery list) and the other for cookies/crackers. You just slide them right into the shelf and they sit perfectly.

3. Bissel Sweeper Vac. The dogs are not a fan of this little guy but I am his #1 fan! Instead of having to drag the broom and dustpan, I just get this guy out. He sits in a closet charging 24/7, so I just unplug him and go to town. It can be used on carpet, hard wood, tile, etc. I even sweep up the bathroom rugs. I've done the couch before, too. Don't judge. The sweeper vac is on Amazon for $35.99. I'm not 100% sure what I paid for mine, but it was a gift. I'm sure you could find it at Walmart, too!

4. PEVA Blanket & Comforter Bags. I found these at The Container Store as well and love them! For $9/bag, I think it's perfect to store comforters or large blankets we aren't using. You can see in the picture above I have our comforter we'll be using in the winter (Left), and the duvet for the futon (right). They zip up and have 2 handles on them. You see them more detailed tomorrow when I post our office closet makeover. :)

Hope you enjoyed this list! xO!