Introducing... Genevieve!

We finally had the pleasure of meeting my first niece for the very first time.

 

And while we're at it, let me also just show off my brother and sister-in-law's labor of love -- baby Genevieve's nursery. Isn't it so precious?!

 

 

And look at her sweet bassinet... so fitting for the princess this little girl is. (And how awesome is it that my brother did almost everything himself? I can already tell he's such a great dad.)

And I love this one... my brother made a cast of his wife's belly just before giving birth. Apparently all it takes is paper mache, faux flower petals and a glue gun. They're going to hang it in Gen's room as a momento from her journey from the other side (of the womb).

 

My Niece is Born!

Arriving just before midnight on Sunday night, she is undoubtedly the most beautiful baby girl ever! I'm so excited she's finally here (fashionably late, of course) and Ava and I are so ecstatic to meet her this weekend.

Adjusting

When my previous company was acquired a few months ago, I was forced to give up this perfect lifestyle and get a new job where I am commuting, at least initially, over an hour each way five days a week. (See this interview post on OneHotMama for more about juggling my current lifestyle and my mommy style.)

This is an awesome job in so many ways, and I love working in the city again for so many reasons:

• Lunch at the Ferry Building
• Walking along the Embarcadero
• Happy Hours
• Finding time to read again (some book reviews to come!)
• Feeling like I have my own personal identity again
• Knowing Grandma is taking great care of Ava (and cooking and cleaning--I know I'm spoiled)

But, as with most things, there are also things I don't love about working in the city:

• Time wasted on the commute
• Less than sanitary public transportation
• All the extra time it takes to get ready in the morning
• Loss of control in running my household (I don't want to sound ungrateful because trust me, I know how lucky I am and I'm sincerely appreciative, but there is something comforting about knowing exactly where everything is in your house because you put it there... and I'm a bit of a control freak)

The biggest challenge, of course, is spending so much time away from my precious little angel baby:

Flying

That is a placemat she is wearing. Don't ask.

Moving on to my sweater. At least it's clothing.

She can walk in these better than I can. And her pretty pearl bracelet from Kristen that she wouldn't take off for days.

(Why does she never have clothes on when I get home?)

Spending just an hour or so with this sweet little morsel in the evenings is not going to cut it for long.

But even beyond that, this new lifestyle has required some serious adjustment. This is what I've been feeling:

• Exhausted
• Bloated
• Nauseous from the urine and homeless funk on BART
• Swollen feet
• Rapid weight gain
• Anxious sleepless nights
• Getting up to pee several times a night

Which is what led me to finally bight the bullet, accept the odds (while slim at best), and do this (I was in denial about it for way too long even though I'm sure it was glaringly obvious to you after reading my list of symptoms above):

And just like that, the first trimester is almost literally over before I even know it.

Going for the Gold

Ava's playgroup held a Mini Olympics celebration this weekend,
and this little athlete was definitely in it to win it.

A professional photographer was on site to capture all the moments of deep athletic intensity.
Sadly, her watermark is very inopportunely placed. (I know it's her profession to make money from the
pictures she took, but I am not paying $75 for a digital file!)

Ava, in her little pink running shorts, is a world-class track and field superstar.
(Even if she was mainly just chasing after balloons and bubbles.)

She loved standing on the balance beam. She wasn't quite ready to take a step, but it was a good start.  

Victory!

She wears her gold proudly, satisfied with all her athletic training and endurance that got her where she is today.

And we rewarded her with more playtime at the playground where she went down the slide about a trillion times, each time giggling as she ran to climb the ladder to do it all over again.

The Intern

I am sad to announce the departure of my sweet baby sis.

She's heading back to school after an internship in SF that allowed her to stay with us for the last few months so we could commute together (and also because staying at my place is much more fun than staying with our parents).

She's the cutest and most stylish accounting intern you'll ever see. (Even her casual Friday is classy.)

We had a couple fun lunches together in SF, like this one where we enjoyed sushi-roll style "burritos" at Sushirito.

Left: Geisha's Kiss; Right: Salmon Samba -- both incredible!

And she even cooks!

Her own special recipe turkey burgers and sweet potato fries. (I'll update with recipes later.)

And I just found out she received an offer at the firm where she intered after she graduates in the Spring and I couldn't be a prouder big sis. 

So huge congratulations and farewell Sister, I'll miss you!

The Birthday Girl at the Ferry Building

Celebrating the birthday girl with a late lunch at Slanted Door and some incredible gelato at the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero (after her pampering massage at Burke Williams Spa of course).

A Bachelorette and a Birthday

We celebrated the last few days of Tiffany's single status with a night out in SF. My bestie Jen's husband also happened to be throwing her a surprise 30th birthday party in the city the same night. These two very special events resulted in one of the best nights out I've had in a looooong time.

Leaving the house for my big night out wearing an Urban Outfitters top I borrowed from my little sis. (It's been really handy having her stay with me for the summer... More about that later.)

Tiff's sister and cousin did a really great job decorating the hotel room for the night's festivities.

I really heart this banner and it goes so well with the room's decor. 

Such cute favors!

Tiff's sister also made us some awesome matching shirts for the occasion to wear to the Giant's game.

Check out the sexy bachelorette!

And the sexy birthday girl!

Vintage Picnic Baby Shower Part II

I wanted to share a couple more details from the baby shower last weekend. Starting with...

The He Says, She Says game I adapted from the one Jen made for Kristen's bridal shower I was so impressed with. Jen was kind enough to send me the file which made customizing it for the baby shower a breeze. 

I asked both Joey and Lulu the same 14 questions. Then I included either one of their answers to each question on the game sheet next to a pair of girl and boy silhouettes. Guests had to answer who they thought said each statement. Everyone loved hearing about the baby and the new parents' childhoods. 

 

I also wanted to show you a closer look at one of the other vintage greeting cards I framed for the party's decor. Since the cards were smaller than the frames I wanted to use, I just added a doily to the sides, which even added to the vintage effect.

And while we're on the topic of J + L's baby shower, I can't resist sharing another invitation my brother helped create for the modern pink tutu themed shower Lulu's side of the family hosted the weekend before. It is the sweetest thing ever!

They hand-cut the "body" for each invitation after printing the text onto a lovely iridescent card stock. Then they superglued the string of scrapbooking pearls around the neck and hand-sewn "tutu" to the bottom.

My brother has some serious crafting potential! It must run in the family... ;)

Sadly I had a previous engagement and wasn't able to attend the party, but I know they had a blast without me.

Tech + Zoo + Me & Ava = The Best Job Ever

In case you're wondering how my new job is going (I started Monday), here's a visual...

Ava poses as a peacock at the SF Zoo during an annual family event for my company's tech teams.

This is pretty much the best job ever.

It's also Alex's birthday and he requested a nice, easy, low-key dinner in. His parents even brought the takeout. Perfect day.

Vintage Picnic Baby Shower Part I

We celebrated the upcoming birth of my first niece yesterday and I was thrilled to help host the shower along with my mom (and lots of help from the aunts and my sister).

I basically spent the whole day Friday baking cookies to use for the favors. I've never made so many cookies at one time in my life. I used the sugar cookie recipe from Mrs. Fields -- it's no fail.

Then I decorated each one by hand. And it took a ridiculous amount of time.

Once they dried, they were placed in these cute little bags my mom found at a local knick-knack shop.

In addition to the cookies, guests could also take home a cake pop as a favor. I found a bunch of cute vintage greeting card designs that I framed and placed throughout.

I absolutely loved the cupcakes and so did my brother and sister-in-law.

They actually found and sent me the image to use, which made my job super easy. All I did was print sheets of the adorable little vintage baby (with bunny slippers and ruffled bootie) onto white linen card stock. Then I punched out the image using a 1 11/16" hole punch and the scalloped hole punch in pink linen card stock. The cupcakes themselves are red velvet (from a box, I'm not superwoman or anything) with cream cheese frosting. We topped them with the same pink pearl sprinkles we used for the cookies and wrapped them with the edges of... paper doilies using this tutorial. (I love when I actually carry out the tutorials I pin!)


Some of the clothes strung on the clothesline were actually worn by the mom-to-be as a baby.

More details coming later once I track down another photographer's photos as I was so busy putting together the shower's finishing touches that my photo coverage is seriously lacking.

Greener Pastures

Today I sat in my company's lobby waiting for my exit interview. An acquisition by a private equity firm has forced motivated me to move on to greener pastures. My desk (and even my floor) was apparently dismantled weeks ago (without notice to me!) and all my personal belongings were efficiently discarded. Thanks guys. I probably didn't really need the dozens of notebooks containing copious notes and task analyses. Those would never come in handy. And all that tchotchke's just clutter anyway. So there, moving on. Fresh start.

I arrived early to spend a few minutes clearing my passwords from my laptop and bidding my farewells, but since I had no place to go, I sat in the lobby and reflected on the last time I sat on that same lobby bench, four and a half years ago, waiting to meet the hiring manager who would shortly thereafter become my manager there for two and a half years before he left and I came to fill his role. (I was much more relaxed sitting on this bench this time around.)

I am so grateful for all the experiences I've had in my career. I have been able to work from home full-time since Ava was born (more about this here) and be there with her as she developed into this joyful, determined little person. I think about how much harder things would have been had I been putting in the overtime hours sometimes required in this job in an office (not to mention the daily commute hours). I have basically had the experience of a stay-at-home mom for the last few months while still bringing in income. (Basically what even this woman would consider "having it all.")

I could not have planned the transition into my new role at such an exciting company better if I tried. I'm actually excited to get back out there into the work world. I couldn't say that when it was time to go back to work when Ava was only a few months old. But I have been blessed with so much support. I couldn't have done it at all without my mom and mother-in-law watching Ava so I could focus on the job and I know she'll be in the best hands.

So here I go...

My Kind of Red, White, and Blue

Happy 4th!

Dress in cerise and royal blue scarf - J. Crew; shoes - Franco Sarto

Dining Room Makeover

We've kind of been on a Restoration Hardware bender since our spectacular sofa purchase last Tuesday (but I guess it really all started here, or maybe even here), so I figured I should probably show you a little before and after of the dining room and sitting area (or "lounge" as Alex insists we refer to it) to justify our crazy furniture spending spree.

Here's the dining room before:

We inherited almost all the furniture we started with when we moved in (like this Basset dining table and china hutch and custom turquoise couch and armchair) from Alex's dad. We were so incredibly grateful to have furniture to fill up the house since we moved from an apartment and had very little to our names, but we knew it would just be temporary until we developed our own style (and had the funding to back it up).

We made the room's first improvement just before Ava was born. We re-tiled the fireplace and the areas in front of the French doors and window with this pretty Dark Emperador marble (photos below).

It really used to bother me that every room in the house had a different texture applied to the walls. We figured the easiest way to get flat matte walls in the dining room would be to apply enormous sheets of sheetrock, so that is what these nice gentlemen below were doing when Ava was just a few weeks old.

We painted the finished walls Valspar's Redstone Dakota Sandstone. (It has such a great tone and gets lots of compliments!) Then we painted the mantle white, sanded and re-stained the hardwood floors dark walnut, and added nice thick crown molding and baseboards.

Here's what the room looks like now:

   

We decided a round dining table (we bought this one on Thursday) is the only thing that makes sense in this room. I've always loved the thought of being able to look at everyone equally during dinner conversations. 

And I know what you're thinking -- white upholstery with a toddler is just trouble waiting to happen. But we liked the look of these Martine Upholstered Armchairs (in White Belgian Linen with Weathered Oak legs) so much and they match our sofa so perfectly that we're willing to be extra diligent. (And we have the Scotchgard and the Dirt Devil steamer ready to take action in a flash.)

The coffee table above is another new addition we ordered over the phone and had delivered while we were in Napa over the weekend. It's so enormous we had to move the white sofa back against the wall, but it really ties everything together and fills out that space.

The decor still needs a few finishing touches to make this room complete but that's something we can have fun searching for over time.