Transition from Parlor to Living Room: A Pictorial Review

As I think I mentioned before, part of our "make room for baby" plans involved creating a living room (a relaxed space to visit with friends, hang out as a family, watch Star Trek (and other things, I guess), read, and just veg. Since the baby's room is what was the workout room/den, we needed to get this room started so that we could get that room cleaned out. So, we began the transition from what we called our parlor (a place to sit and contemplate the cosmos with friends over copious amounts of tea) into a comfy, cozy, colorful living room. Here's how we're doing so far:

This is the room before. Yes, I forgot to take actual before pictures.
This is from Christmas, but ignore the pretty lady and take note of the
less than comfy yellow couch and ivory silk wallpaper.

Wallpaper gone!
Prepping and priming and priming and prepping!

And finally color! I've been waiting for the entire six years we've lived here
to have some color on these walls. Oh how I love this color.
Butterscotch - Low VOC Martha Stewart paints

And painting is complete! It's really hard to get accurate color
in these pictures, but Michele keeps saying "Oh, I want to eat
the walls. It looks just like butterscotch pudding!"

And a new rug! We love this rug so much - it coordinates SO
well with the colors of the room!

And the original sheers have been washed and returned to their place of glory.
I still need to make the accent drapery panels - it's on my incredibly long to-do list!

And then there was light! One lamp from the previous parlor and one claimed
from the dining room. The room is really coming together now!

And, of course, a room is never fully dressed without a cat!
Pollux had to be the first to check out the new room and new rug!

Now, we just patiently await the delivery of our comfy new couch and accent chair and ottoman. Just wait til you see what color those are! We put a big ole check mark beside "colorful" in the qualifications for our new living room!

Exciting Changes

Everything is so exciting right now. So much is up in the air, or rather, so much is to come that right now could be an impatient time of waiting, waiting, waiting for me, but it's not. Our friend Sue was over for dinner last night and the three of us discussed how impatient I normally am and I was thinking about that this morning. I really am VERY impatient, but with this whole journey to our baby's arrival, I just feel super excited. I think it's because every day is full of something fun and new, some exciting change. And since I'm finally feeling most excellent, I get to enjoy them all.

Here are a few things I've enjoyed over the past few weeks:

Me - I'm really enjoying the changes with my body as our baby grows. I had a hard time with this in the beginning, I think because I was SO sick, but now, it's just thrilling to experience how my body is creating everything our little miracle needs.

16 Weeks - Heading off to my first
prenatal yoga class. Oh how I LOVE yoga!!

17 weeks wearing what has turned out to be my FAVORITE
pregnancy outfit to date!
Comfy, comfy, comfy, all my favorite colors, and a citrus-fruit
covered skirt! Who could ask for more!?

Our home - I've always been a collector of things, so I thought the drive the purge would really freak me out ("Oh no! Where is all my stuff!"), but it's been really great! I love seeing my house more organized and weeding out the un-needed that has just been taking up space. I also LOVE having a reason to re-paint or paint rooms! Decorating my home has always been one of my favorite things, so taking this perfect opportunity to redo a few rooms has been a joy!

Michele prepping and priming our new living room for paint.
She is helpfully assisted by the lovely BethAnn who does not
like her picture taken, but was a huge help in getting this room ready!

Friends - We've always been surrounded by loving people, but with the baby coming, love has just been overflowing! We're so grateful to all our wonderful friends for the calls, Facebook messages, visits, dinners, and especially for the painting and reorganizing assistance! It's really all been such a wonderful blessing!

The meal we're about to serve our dear friend Sue (who also hates her picture taken)
after she spent the morning putting the first coat of paint on our baby's room.
Mexican Stuffed Baked Potatoes (recipe in a post to follow)

Life Modeling

First sitting

I recently had the opportunity to do some life modeling for a friend's oil painting group. When I first heard that I would need to hold a pose for four hours, I was very nervous. I new I would get frequent breaks, but it was the length of time of inactivity that had me worried. I am not often inactive. In fact, I'm known for my constant activity. Michele and I are exact opposites in that regard - she loves taking breaks and resting and just sitting. I need to constantly be doing and going and accomplishing something. I sat for two four-hour sessions for the group and was amazed at how wonderful it was! Since I rarely rest, it was such a treat to just sit and not have any choice or opportunity to do! I just sat and thought and planned and had a great time (I guess technically thinking and planning are doing, but you know what I mean.) This sitting happened in the midst of the holidays so it was great having a nice restful break.

Same model + different points of view = four different paintings

I thought the whole process was amazing. Seeing myself on canvas in oil paint was so cool! The painters are very talented and each painted a very different painting. They were all positioned with a different point of view, too. At first it was odd having a group of folks staring at me and commenting on this feature or that, but soon it became so interesting to hear what they noticed about features that I just kind of take for granted. None of the painters finished their paintings by the end of the second session, but all plan to finish at home. I work with one of the artists and hope she'll bring the painting to work or take a picture of it completed for me. For now, I've been enjoying my pictures of their works in progress. Thankfully, I'm good at sitting and staring and the group would like to have me back. I can't wait to see what my next costume will be! This sitting I ended up as a kind of African queen, so we'll see what/who I am next time. And I'm excited about the rest and relaxation!



End of second sitting