Stuff I Bought But Probably Shouldn't Have.

Category Archives: Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

Feb 20 10 comments

Delilah, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

Polka-Palooza

GILT is having an amazing sale on these FATBOY/DWELLSTUDIO bean bag chairs. I just bought a stool for Dee’s room (it matches her bedding…and her stuffed giraffe…and her toy bin….man I love these dots.) Click to JOIN GILT and check ‘em out!

…and speaking of things with dots (thanks Ashley!)…

Dee is all packed and ready to go for her first sleepover at my parent’s house. I’m a nervous wreck. Scott is already planning out our entire night of awesome-ness and relaxation (it’s our 11 year kissing anniversary as you may have heard…)

This is a major event that has been weeks in the making. Yup. We are those parents. Overprotective. Crazy. Need three weeks notice to send her to Grandma’s house. Probably going to cry when I leave as if she won’t be sleeping in the room I grew up in down the hall from the people that raised me (and as my Dad so often likes to remind me “somehow, [I] survived.”)

*Sigh* Wish us luck. The thought of Dee waking up in the night without me is horrifying. (I realize more so for me than her.) The thought of her crying and me not being there ties my stomach up in knots. But the thought of an entire night of uninterrupted sleep? Priceless. So we’re doing it. I don’t know which will be worse – getting a call to come pick her up because she’s gone all Exorcist on them at 3am, or not getting a call and realizing that my little girl CAN in fact make it through the night without me.

Feb 10 9 comments

Baby Fever, Design, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

The Grass is Always Cleaner…

Before Dee was born, I was skeptical of our need for a bottle drying rack. First of all, I planned to be breastfeeding, so I didn’t think we’d be washing and drying too many bottles. Second of all, thanks to my BFF Ellen, I have a brand new fancy (whisper quiet) Frigidaire Dishwasher, so I’d just be popping those [few and far between] bottles in there for cleaning/drying purposes, right? WRONG. [I was a fool. A FOOL.] (There was a third-of-all that involved me not wanting bottles out on my counter all the time, but the person who had the energy to care about bottles sitting out on the counter no longer exists, so I’m not even going to address it.)

Okay, cut to about four months later. I’m exclusively breast feeding, but that crazy-talk about not using bottles? Please. I have a daughter who would feast from my rack all.day.long. if I would let her (and if my nipples wouldn’t just plain fall off.) Mama needs a break every now and then. Mama also does leave the house (and the baby) on occasion for work-related activities, so Mama [that's me in this scenario, try to keep up] is working on her freezer stash. (Did I ever tell you guys about the time that I got into my car after a meeting only to discover that I had lactation spots forming on my camisole? No? And how when I got home I had to pump both breasts simultaneously in front of my Mother-In-Law as they sprung leaks that shot clear across the room? Yeah…that happened.)

Anyway…the point is this: My breast pump, a.k.a. the mini-dairy (which cost three-hundred-fucking-dollars, by the way) has parts (bottles, and other small parts) that require immediate washing after use (okay require might be the wrong word, but…ew.) And we don’t use the pump bottles to feed her. No, no, no…because that would be way too straight forward. We use the Dr. Brown’s bottles (which also break down into small parts) because after buying all sorts of stupid gimmicky bottles to try and avoid nipple confusion which Dee never had a problem with any way ::knock wood:: it was determined that the basic, old school, glass air flow bottle caused the least fussing (for us) and we should have just stuck with that in the first place. And then there are the pacifiers (Dee is pretty partial to the fancy Natursutten one that we got as a shower gift.) We’re a two dog household, so when paci’s hit the floor, they’re liable to get scooped up in a beast’s mouth, or stepped on with poop-paws, or at very least end up with some puppy hair on them, and, again…ew, so those end up on the list of things that might need hand washing and air drying on the counter at any given moment.

SO. The point is, you’re gonna need a drying rack. And the Grass Countertop Drying Rack pictured above from Boon? I’m in love with it. We just picked one up and it’s as functional as it is pretty. And it’s really pretty, isn’t it?

Aug 27 1 comments

Baby Fever, Stuff I Would Buy if I Could, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

Organic Love

The Mini Social is having a sale on Kate Quinn Organics, and I HAD to pick up one of their infant saques for my little girl to come home from the hospital in. “The Coming Home” outfit seems to be quite the rage amongst new Moms these days, but I wasn’t quite getting what the fuss was about until I saw Kate’s Saques and imagined my squirming little monster wearing one as we brought her through the front door. And then probably barfing on it. And then since my washer is on the fritz, it probably will never smell clean again. Until one day my Mom will take pity on me and let me use her washer. And then my little bundle of joy will promptly grow out of it. But still, I bought it. Because at $16.00, I thought it was worth the one photo I’ll have of her in it that I’ll treasure for ever. So check it out okay? If you’re not a member of the Mini Social, you can email me HERE for an invite.

Jul 08 3 comments

Design, Projects, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have., The Trivial

Things that arrived in the mail.

Part of cleaning out our “nursery” has included a massive sell-off of everything we’re not using. It’s been a while since I’ve spent some real time on eBay or Craigslist, but in the last few weeks I’ve been a selling/trading/bidding madwoman and we’ve been able to buy just about everything we needed for the office/nursery switchover from the money we’re making selling our old junk. (Yes, even the non-VOC paint for her walls, and the lumber for our very exciting upcoming crib hack.)

I’ve been taking a page from my brother-in-law Pep (like Pepper) – whom I consider to be the greatest saver on earth – and putting the money for everything we need in an envelope which is only to be touched for baby-related purchases (and/or purchases to facilitate the moving of my office, which I’m counting as a baby-related expense.) It’s seriously the best thing ever. Two trips to Ikea in two weeks, and our bank account doesn’t look any worse for the wear. Of course (being a Gemini) during the great sell-a-thon of ‘09, I naturally had to put aside a little “fun money” for Mama (that’s me) and my purchases have finally started to arrive. Man I love getting new stuff. Even when it’s old stuff.

goldtonethings

Okay, so only two of these things are new, but while my iPhone and I captured our recent arrivals, I couldn’t help but be struck by how many gold tone things are hanging out around my house. And I wanted to share some of my Expedit progress.

So clockwise from Left:

Birds Flying Across the Sun (or BFATS, as we like to call it.) BFATS came in to our lives back when we were living in West Hollywood. I woke up in the middle of the night with visions of some rad metal wall art to pull our tiny apartment together and started hunting. Scott wasn’t sure about her until I brought her home and we hung her on the wall. Now she’s our crown jewel, and when I found our current place, all I had to say to Scott was “there’s a wood-panelled wall for BFATS!” and he was sold. Seriously, we’re that easy.

The Cattails. Okay, this is new, and just arrived. I actually bought it by accident on eBay for ninety-nine cents. I was looking for something to put in our nursery that might echo the vibe of BFATS, and since there were no bidders, I placed a starting bid. A few days later I got an 8$ shipping bill. I’m not one to jeopardize my all-important feedback score during a selling frenzy, so here it is. Unfortunately, Scott was watching another MUCH cooler piece of metal wall art, but C’est la vie – that one sold for 60$, and this one is actually kind of growing on me. Aside from the rails of our LEKSVIK crib which we bought last week, this may end up being my very first baby’s room purchase. I’m thinking of painting it, but Scott’s trying to convince me that that would be tres 90’s, and I’ll be pissed that I ruined it. We’ll see. Either way, kind of exciting.

The Crane: This isn’t new, but it’s just found a new home atop our newly hacked Expedit. It was actually a found item that my Father-in-Law snagged for me after he caught me pining away for a carved wood version I’d seen at a furniture store. This one is cooler than the one I’d seen, and it was free! (I know, I know, it’s blurry – but it’s not easy to hold a cell phone camera over your head and get a good shot.)

Two’s Company Lamps: They’re here! If you’ve been following the blog, you may recognize them as my first purchase from ONE KING’S LANE – which is like Gilt Group for Home Furnishings. (Email me if you want an invite to join either.) We were about to buy two not-as-awesome lamps from Ikea to shed some light on my new office space when I joined OKL and saw these bad boys for 20$ a pop. We’re pretty psyched on them, although Scott’s taken a liking to the wide one and insists it’s cooler, while my clear favorite is the tall-y. Let the battle of the lamps begin.

Oh, and one last thing. My legs have now swelled to the size of tree-trunks, and exposing them in any way shape or form is officially out of the question, so I needed some new lounge pants.

(That’s the view you get if you’re nearly 7 mos pregnant and you look down. You can also tell that she’s hanging out on the left.)

Anyway: My new summer-y lounge pants. Juicy from eBay. (Believe it or not this is my first pair of Juicy sweats EVER, and they’re AMAZING. …Just in case you haven’t heard.) But since I ordered them a few sizes up to accomodate the Belly for the rest of the summer, they’re quite long. Are you supposed to hem sweatpants? Do you just cut them? Luckily Sara’s gotten insanely good with a serger…maybe I should ask her for help. (And if you’re planning to cloth diaper, make sure you click that link. You won’t be sorry.)

Jun 23 3 comments

Design, Projects, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

It’s a sickness, really.

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I effing love me some Home Decor. Maybe it’s because growing up, my Mom was an interior designer (both by nature, and by practice) and was/is constantly bringing home new accessories/swatches etc. to switch out with the old and keep the house “fresh.” When Scott and I moved in together, I went into overdrive. I’m a home furnishings shopaholic, and I can’t be stopped. Luckily, my taste skews vintage, so my manic shopping sprees are usually confined to garage sale picking/eBay/Craigslist/flea markets and the like. Of course news of the little one’s impending arrival gave me cause for pause on the shopping front – gonna have to send the girl to college one day, after all – so I’ve been on a six month hiatus from buying anything new (except for the occasional maternity tank top – this belly won’t be wrangled by my pre-weight-loss wardrobe alone.)

Now the fun begins. In order to make way for the beast that’s been playing bongos on my cervix lately (a really uncomfortable sensation – I don’t recommend you try it…) we get to do a little bit of home redecorating. The office/music/workout room is about to become a nursery. The “basement” is about to become a man cave/music room. The “lounge” (where the bar is) is in the process of becoming the living room. And the living room is becoming an office. (It will make sense when you see the before and after pictures one day.) With all this reorganizing and redecorating, comes my favorite part. Purchasing. Last night we moved the swag lamps from the old living area to the new living area and realized that (seeing as our place has no overhead lighting whatsoever) we were left with a very dark corner where the office will be. So I got to buy some new lamps. The ones pictured above.

I know, I know. So irresponsible of me to buy lamps before we buy a changing table, etc. But don’t worry! They were a great deal! I bought them from an amazing site called One King’s Lane, where these lamps were a whopping 50% off. (If you haven’t heard of it, One Kings Lane is like Gilt Group but with home furnishings – everything is up to 70% off..::wipes drool off keyboard::) Want to check it out? Email me for an invite.

Jun 15 10 comments

Baby Fever, Design, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have., The Trivial

EUREKA!

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I AM THE GREATEST BARGAIN SHOPPER ALIVE! After scouring every discount store (TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Ross…) on both east coast and west – I finally found it! My very own Stella McCartney for LeSportsac Mum Tote complete with matching changing pad, bunny charm, and makeup case (as if!) for a mere fraction of it’s original $350 price tag! Thanks to a savvy tip from my bargain shopping Sis, Nordy’s Rack didn’t let me down – it had the dreamy diaper bag in stock in the elusive Pop Color Block (I could only find the dreary “Posh” bag on eBay, and the cost was inflated by those damn power sellers to boot.) It’s mine! Wheee!!! It has so many wonderful pockets – insulated ones for the bottles, zippy ones for my stuff – even ample outside one’s for my cell phone and keys. Happy [belated] Birthday to me. (And there’s a belly shot for those who are curious about the monster’s growth. She’s really pushing the limits of what my stretch mark cream can handle, but so far so good. Don’t let me down belly oil!)

…Actually – since this is a baby-related post, I might as well steal the pregnancy questionaire from some of the mommy-to-be blogs I frequent for a quick update as we close in on week 24:

How far along? Almost 24 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Please.   I’m way too vain for this question.
Maternity clothes? Pants FO SHO, but I’m still squeezing the belly into some regular tops.
Stretch marks? No – thank the little baby Jesus.   (Moses, whatever.)
Sleep: Every second counts. I’m so grateful to be reunited with my snoogle.
Best moment this week: Scott got to feel a good kick – the look on his face when it happens is priceless.
Movement: Kickin’ like a rockette.
Food cravings: Cheeseburgers.
Gender: A little lady.
Labor Signs: Nope.
Belly Button in or out? In.   And I don’t think it has any plans on emerging any time soon.
What I miss: Painkillers. Don’t judge me.
What I am looking forward to: Laying on my stomach.   Unlimited Spicy Tuna Rolls.   And oddly, Margaritas.
Weekly Wisdom: Cankles really suck.
Milestones: I officially can’t see my feet without leaning forward.   Which is probably a good thing, since they’re swollen as all get out (see above question.)

May 22 2 comments

Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have., The Trivial

“Working out” for lazy people.

picture-2 I first bought my FITFLOPS while trying to get into shape for my wedding. At the time, no one had really tried them, and anyone I told what I’d done laughed in my face and called me lazy, which I am. However, I gotta confess…they work. Even Scott had to admit that my butt had lifted, and my legs were noticbly more toned. I freaking love them. I still wear them every day, whenever I can. Sure, wearing them too often can make my legs a little sore, but I just take that as a testament to their awesomeness. Today I saw a doctor wearing them. An actual medical professional who knows all about how the body works, and believed in them enough to buy a pair. So I feel vindicated. Mine are the old black and pink ones, but Bliss has a promotion going right now for free shipping on any pair, and the line has grown to include many much less offensive colors and styles than mine, which tout their embarassing brand name right on top of my foot so anyone checking out my pedicure (which is no one) will know how lazy I am. Check it.

May 07 5 comments

Baby Fever, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

Pop goes the Belly.

So, last night I sit down to watch LOST (which is just SO good right now) and when I get up…something has changed. My stomach has literally doubled in size. I had been experiencing some pretty intense upper abdominal pain, almost as if I had done hundreds of crunches (as if I have any idea what doing HUNDREDS of crunches would feel like. I usually cap it at 12.) Since this monstrosity arrived, the upper abdominal pain has really started to fade, so I have to assume the two were related.

It’s a weird feeling to suddenly look down and feel like you’re looking at someone else’s body.

Do you watch How I Met Your Mother? (You should.) There was a great episode last season called “THE FIERRO.” To sum it up, Marshall has been hanging on to his car from High School and refuses to let it go. It’s a souvenir of who he used to be, and it reminds him where he came from. Well, I have a tattoo stretching across my quickly expanding belly, and as it turns out…that tattoo is my fierro.

For everyone who's asked me to lift up my shirt over the past few months so they could see what a real pregnant belly looks like: There it is. (This is likely the last you'll see of it, 'cause I'm pretty sure it's all down hill from here.)

When I got it, I was nineteen years old and living in New York, and let’s be honest, at nineteen, I thought how much I paid for this indelible mark on my body was more important than who put it there, so I bargain shopped. I ended up at a place on 8th Street called Andromeda. (Or maybe it was the place across the street named after some other celestial body…but I digress.) Originally, it was blue, and it went from hip to hip. (Apparently at nineteen years old, it didn’t occur to me that my stomach wouldn’t be flat forever, so I thought a piece that indicated where my hips used to be was a good idea…as my belly grows in pregnancy however, I see that maybe where your hip bones were in college is not-so-much something you need a daily reminder of.) Eventually, thanks to my bargain shopping tactic, the tattoo, which was poorly done, would start to fade out in spots, and I would have to have it redone by a very talented but very gothic artist in Toluca Lake who let’s just say took a little too much creative license. (He added thorns to cover some of the non-symetrical elements of the original tattoo. I’m not exactly a thorns type of girl.) Of all of the things I did to “express myself” in my younger days…this remains the most amusing. Because, well…the holes from my facial piercings have long closed, the Jerome Russell hairdye has long faded out, and even the jailhouse belly button ring that I got when I was twelve (with a safety pin and a quarter) had to go to make room for baby. But the very large, very gothic, very abstract tattoo on my stomach remains. (As do my other two, but they still hold their meaning for me.) So anytime I lift my arms over my head, someone who didn’t know me way back when sees this remnant of my former self, and asks for a better look. A look that my 27-year-old self would really rather not give them. Thanks 19-year-old me. At least I’ll always have something to remember you by.

Feb 11 2 comments

Design, Projects, Scott, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

Old School DIY

So, a year or so ago Scott and I discovered this dude on eBay who sells vintage issues of Sunset Magazine and Better Homes and Gardens great DIY books. This one recently caught my eye – a book full of fun DIY furniture and storage projects for your modern home. These books aren’t for the faint of heart…they’re more geared towards the handy, or at least the “proficient at using tools and following instructions.” (By the way, how much do I love the orange shag carpet in this picture? A LOT.)

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