Blank Baby Scrapbook

You may have noticed a lull in my posts...
This is because I have been focusing my efforts on two labor intensive projects. You already know about the Wallpaper Paste Removal Frustration. I have to scrub every inch of the wall, three times! Time consuming, but not very interesting for a blog post, huh?

The other project took over a month, but I haven't been able to reveal it because it was a gift.
I made a baby scrapbook for our new niece's first year!

(Sorry in advance for all the pictures.)

I filled out the first few pages that I actually had pictures for, but all the other pages have blank areas to place pictures or write notes/text.

The first page is the sonogram with the introduction of "It's a Girl!"

The next are some beautiful maternity photos she had taken.

Then of course a very busy page for the baby shower:

From here on, the new mom can now fill in her favorite photos as she takes them. This page is for hospital photos and details:

"Tiny eyes, tiny nose, tiny fingers, tiny toes!"

Some pages aren't for anything specific, just pictures of any kind.

Here is a page just for Mom and baby:

And of course one for Dad and baby: "Daddy's Little Girl"

So then we must have one for Grandmas:

Then naturally Grandpas:

This one is for her monthly photos... you know, her at One Month, Two Months, etc.

I'm sure she will be dressed up cute for Halloween!

And there will be family photos at Thanksgiving.

Couple more extra pages.

Then of course we have Christmas photos...

"A girl and her dog! ... and cat"

Baby smiles! (or was that just gas?)

Bath Time!

Extra page...

Page for months 7-12.

More bonus pages...

And the final page is for her 1st birthday.

I hope this is a sweet keepsake for years to come for our sweet niece.









Speaking of our niece, Dear Husband (DH) did great with her and held her for over an hour while she napped.
Eva was curious but respectful and did very well with her.







I also got to take her One Month photos and family photos while I was there. I think they turned out pretty good!

Stitch Fix #3 - Fail, but Wonderful Wedding Fashion

So you may remember that I signed up for a monthly installment of Stitch Fix - a type of personalized online shopping. (Here was the previous "fix" that I wrote about.)

Unfortunately, this month didn't pan out so well... here, take a look:

First top? Gross. It was a baggy cotton blend knit with drop shoulders. It was boxy and saggy. The only good thing was the color. Nope!

The second top (to the right) was also too boxy and didn't give any shape. As a short, busty woman, I've never been a fan of peasant tops. I also don't really like wearing translucent tops.


The third top was also translucent, and wasn't stretchy at all... so it kind of got stuck on my boobs and hips. See how it is bunched by the collar and my waist? Yeah, not happening.

The fourth item was a dress that looked so promising! At first glance, I really thought it was awesome (looks like Dear Husband did too...)




But then I looked at the back... and there was a funny gathering of the fabric in back.  Huh.



So then I realized that it was because I have a short torso! The straps need to be 3" shorter, or my torso needs to be 3" taller!
Oh well.

The last piece was actually fantastic. It was a delicate, artisan necklace with three silver rings.
The only problem is it was more expensive than I was wanting/willing to pay. If I knew the actual artist it would be different, but not for an impersonal piece.







But you know what saves the fashion day? All these beautiful ladies getting together to celebrate a very special wedding day!


 - On the far left we have a little black dress with some sequin sparkly accents - love how they complimented the lines of the dress. (She will be the bride next year! Congrats!)

- Next we have a darling plum number with a lacy cutout along the bottom. I simply adored the color of this with her skin tone. Perfect!

- Next up we have a wonderful black, lace covered dress. The gem here was the amazing open back (shame on me for not getting a picture) which she showed off flawlessly!

- Of course we have the bride! This dress speaks for itself. Oh, my goodness. I have to say it is perfect for her. The ivory/cream color was amazing with her skin tone, the amount of lace was perfect, with the shoulder straps framing her gorgeous face. The back had a lovely train which bustled beautifully. The belt had just the right amount of sparkle to set the whole thing off, taking it to the next level.

-Fourth from the right, we have a lovely blue, almost teal wrap-dress. You can't see it in this picture, but she paired it wit the most fabulous necklace. It had large peach-gold gemstones with smaller blue ones below it. It makes me wish I was bold enough to pull of a large necklace like she could!

- Next we have another little black dress hiding in the back... but you see that skinny waistline? Yeah, and she just had a beautiful little baby girl only 4 weeks ago! Needless to say, she was looking amazing!

- Second from the right we have a beautiful scoop-neck navy dress with lacy straps. The ruching frames her barely-there sweet, tiny baby bump which is holding twins!

- And all the way on the right, I wore a little black dress with an asymmetrical neckline and strategically placed  gathering to visually "redistribute" some generous curves.

But don't be fooled! We aren't only a stunning group of ladies... we are also strong, independent, and brilliant. Between the eight of us, we hold 8 bachelors degrees, a handful of "minors" (in business, marketing, etc.), a Law Degree, a Professional Engineer, a Masters for physical therapy, an MBA, and a soon-to-be Doctorate! (And I'm probably missing some too.)
Talk about a power-house and the whole package!

I still think I rounded out everything perfectly with my perfect match. Look how handsome he is!

Stitch Fix #2 - Close, but no Cigar

Have you heard of Stitch Fix?

It's basically an online personal shopping subscription service, but very customize-able.

When you fill out your "profile" you answer very specific questions about your size, measurements, style, preferences, price range, etc.
They send me 5 items, once a month. I can pick any or all of them and send the rest back, just paying for what I want.

What makes this one different? You can include a link to your own Pinterest board with pictures/links of styles you like. Also, you can specify what specific articles of clothes you are looking for (pants, skirts, tops, jackets, etc.) While the site also includes jewelry and handbags, you can opt out of any of those specific items. You can even request special items for specific events (semi-formals, etc.)

So why am I trying it? Honestly, I hate clothes shopping.
I get overwhelmed by the options, frustrated by the sizes, and annoyed by different fits. I hate the whole process.
Because of this, my current work wardrobe is very old and limited, so I specified that I am looking for business casual attire.

I was still figuring out the process, and I forgot to document it, but I ended up getting three items. A lacy tank, a striped jersey jacket, and a pair of earrings.

This month, all five items were spot on with style, but the fit was just off.

(Just ignore my hair... it was Saturday and I wasn't leaving the house. Glamorous, I know!)

First up: a pair of jeans and a flowing print blouse.
The jeans fit well around the waist and length, bonus points for no "intentional" rips (stupid trend) and they were boot-cut, not skinny jeans (which is a VERY stupid trend.)
The problem? They were a little tight around the top of my thick thighs.

The top isn't something I would normally pick out, but it was pretty cute. The color was flattering, and the back was blue lace, so I needed to wear a tank top under it.
The problem? While cute at first, it made me look rather boxy. I looked like I had no shape.




Next up: a navy and white striped dress. Cute! The fit and length was good, I liked the shape and flow
The problem? Thankfully you can't really see it in the photo, but the dress was a very thin material, causing it to be too see-through. I'm sure it would be fine if you had one of those full body-suit underwear things... but I don't.

Also shown: multi-tier silver disc necklace. I liked this one as well and was considering purchasing it, but it didn't quite lay right on me. I am rather busty which tends to "funnel" wide necklaces to the center. Not quite right.















I thought I was going to be out of luck, but there was one more item in the box: a gray flowy cardigan. It drapes straight down in front, and has a cute little ruffle in the back.

Ok, in the front facing picture the horizontal stripes make me look pregnant, when I'm not! But can we take a moment to appreciate how good my back end looks in the other picture?

Hey, no one's perfect.

Stupid, No-Good, Very Bad Wallpaper!

FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS PUT UP WALLPAPER!

You hear me? Not even for an accent wall. Just say no! NO!

Ironic how these things work... you may remember how easy-peasy it was for me to peel the paper itself off the walls. It was a breeze! I thought I had it so easy... little did I know what I was in for.

When we left our wallpaper-removal project last, not a scrap of paper was left on the walls but a sheen of glue was left, covering the entire surface. It was so thick, it was tacky to the touch.

I knew it was going to be such a big job that I.... procrastinated. Aaaand procrastinated. In all fairness I was trying to finish off the master bedroom and bath. So I made excuses and procrastinated.

Thankfully, this is where my mom lends a HUGE helping hand. Whenever I need help with a big project, she is always more than willing to help and this time she even brought backup; my dad. He was so helpful at getting the high spots.

















Using a special wallpaper stripping gel (see right), we sprayed, we waited, we scraped, we soaked, we scrubbed, we scraped more.... the result? Nothing. Failed.

Yes, we did take off some glue (I think) but the majority is still left on the wall. Hours of tough work, and it still can't be painted yet.

I know the paint would just bubble and peel if I painted over the glue, so I was thinking maybe I could prime it with a tough bonding coat. Mom checked in with the experts at the painting store and they said NO WAY. Do Not Paint yet.


So they recommended a different type of product: Piranha Wallpaper & Paste Remover Concentrate then scrubbed with a Scotch Brite type pad.

I've only tested it on a small area, and it still takes a LOT of elbow grease, but DANG if didn't work!

It took off at least 95% of the glue. There is still barely a little bit of "shine" (glue) in the tiny indentations from the paint roller texture, but that is hardly anything. I am going to try using a bristled brush in addition to the scrubber, and see if that helps.


The one and only fun thing of this entire process? The previous owners signed their names on the wall before they (had a lapse in judgement and) put up wallpaper.

So evidently, before the Paterson's, our house was owned by the DiBrito's: Al, Jeri, Gina, Angela, and Nicole along with Bandit and Vinnie (who I would assume were pets.)

But there are so many better ways to leave a time capsule. My favorite is the light switch plate time capsule.

Just remember, FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS PUT UP WALLPAPER!

The Big Reveal: Master Bed/Bath

It seems like it has taken forever, but we FINALLY finished the Master Bedroom and Bathroom!

No more outdated sponge-painted walls, no more 90's window treatments, no more shiny brass.

Let me remind you what it used to look like...

I had taken down the ugly curtains, and the against-code light fixture before this picture was taken, but you get the idea. Complete with popcorn ceilings, sponge painted walls, AND wallpaper boarder. Lovely.

The light fixture which I promptly took down was against code because it was track lighting. It is against code to have this within 8 feet of a tub/shower, because you can reach up and touch the track part which is "live" and it would electrocute you.

Our bedroom was more of the same. More sponge paint, more of the same curtains, thankfully no wallpaper border.

I forgot to take a good picture before the ceiling guys started to remove the popcorn, so here are some post-popcorn pics:




 There used to be a brass ceiling fan too, but that broke and we had replaced it earlier.

The curtains had both stripes AND squares with swags on either side and a ruffled valance. Pure early 90's!

Here they are, heaped in our basement waiting to be donated.

So what did we do? Just about everything we could do...
- We had the broken ceiling fan replaced
- We had the popcorn ceilings scraped and painted
- We installed a new closet system (see right)
- Removed old vanity lights and installed new ones
- Painted (lots)
- Installed a new bathroom fan
- Installed a new ceiling light over the tub
- Made curtain rods


- Sewed curtains
- Bought new bed linens
- New nightstands and lamps
- Recovered a vanity bench
- Replaced light switches and outlets (from almond to white)
- Cleaned/waxed the vanity cabinets
- Replaced the cabinet hardware
- New rug and bathroom accessories
- Actual art on the walls (a first for me!)
- Built floating shelves
... the list seems to go on and on!

But the result? I certainly love it and really enjoy a space tailored to our style.

Check it out!



As promised, here are the floating shelves all finished!

Above the tub, and again in the toilet alcove. As long as I was making the shelves, I also made towel/robe hooks and stained the wood the same color.










The bathroom flows right into the bedroom which we tried to make just as tranquil.


The large painting we commissioned from SisX. She did a fantastic job, and was paid well in beer, pizza, and art supplies! We had such a great weekend visiting, and ended up with the perfect piece of art.







On the opposite, facing wall needed some art too so Dear Husband (DH) suggested some of our wedding photos.
The scale of the wall is so large, that the pictures are VERY large... (20"x28")












It still seems a little narcissistic to have such a large picture of myself, but they are such beautiful photos thanks to our wedding photographer and friend, Karin.