31 Weeks!

Here we are, 9 weeks away from the big 4-0! I was tempted to crop out my face since I had an allergy attack today which left my nose and eyes puffy and red, but then I remembered that the point of documenting growth is to remember how I looked and felt during these 40 amazing weeks, so I left it in.



I don't think we'll be bringing our camera on our rv trip this week to Glacier National Park, but on the off-chance that we do I'll try to take a 32 week picture next to something scenic: a waterfall, some cool mountains, a grizzly bear, etc.

On second thought, I probably should take a camera so I can look back in years to come and think: "I went camping at almost 8 months pregnant in the middle of August! I can do anything!"

Bon voyage!

My One Dollar Dresser

We inherited a fabulous dresser for our nursery from my Aunt Julie. The color, however, did not match our nursery (it was yellow) and so i decided to paint it. I knew I wanted it mostly white, but I felt like it would look boring just plain white... however I did not trust my hand-stenciling skills and we're already doing decals on the walls.... so I searched around on the web and found a great idea: stripes! I was easily sold because I love stripes, and my friend Hope had just recently introduced me to a great blog: www.younghouselove.com, and they had recently painted their bathroom in stripes and posted a great tutorial. So I was set! Here's the finished project (sorry I forgot to take a before picture).





It only took a few hours of painting, but the best part was that the whole project only cost me one dollar! We already had the dresser, primer, and white paint, so all I needed was a beige. I went to Columbia paint and perused their mis-tint section and found the exact color I needed! And a pint was only a dollar! Pretty neat, eh?

Nursery Update

Yesterday our crib arrived! Naturally, being as excited as I was, we had to put it up that evening. But thankfully the crib came with very simple instructions and it was very easy to put together. Here's a picture of Joel working on it.



And then of course there was Whiskey who volunteered to help.



But was easily tired out.


And here I am in front of it at 29 1/2 weeks!



Baby did lots of wriggling while we were putting the crib together so I imagine she's quite excited for her new bed. And her new Ikea blanket which is hanging on the crib. After the excitement of getting the crib set up mom and I couldn't help ourselves and popped over to Jo-Anns to get fabric for the rocking chair seat cushion. Today was my day off so I sewed the seat cushion together, but I'm not quite done with the finishing hand-stitches so I'll save that for another post.

A big thank-you to Tio Benjamin and Aunt Lisa for helping us out with the crib expense! We love it!

Fake Flowers

I think I made a promise to my young, naive-in-the-ways-of-house-decor self that I would never buy fake flowers. But then two things happened. I grew up, and fake flowers became a lot less fake looking. Oh, and I realized how expensive it was to keep your house constantly stocked with real flowers. As you might recall I had no idea what to do with my tabletop after putting the new rug in. Well, a trip to Michael's with the invaluable input of my mother produced these beautiful fake flowers that match nicely with my rug. I'd show you a picture of the whole shebang, but we realized that we now need to raise the light hanging over the table for the flowers to be in the right place. So for now you can just admire the flowers in all their fake glory.

28 Weeks

Another exciting milestone: We're in the third trimester! I'm definitely beginning to feel it, and strangers are definitely beginning to comment.



I'm very grateful for two things right now: an air-conditioned house and an air-conditioned workplace. Oh, and that my workplace has an air-conditioned exercise room that I can use. We're slowly starting to consolidate our guest room and office into one room so that we have a nursery, I'll post pictures as soon as things start coming together!

Delicious Pulled Pork Tacos

I wish I could remember what website I pulled this recipe off of... but it escapes me. But since the gal who posted it said that she had adapted it from Real Simple's recipe, I don't feel too bad. I made this dish for dinner tonight and it was the perfect dish to serve after an 8-hour work day! All I did was pop it in the crockpot in the morning and then chop up some condiments right before serving.

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos

Ingredients

2 cups store-bought salsa, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
1 2 1/2-pound boneless pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of excess fat- I halved this for just the two of us.
flour tortillas

Serve with:
cilantro
lemon/lime
cabbage or lettuce
cheese
avocado
black beans

Directions

1.In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the pork and turn to coat.
2.Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours (or 9.5 in my case).
3.Twenty minutes before serving, heat oven to 350° F.
4.Stack the tortillas, wrap them in foil, and bake until warm, about 15 minutes.
5.Meanwhile, using 2 forks, shred the pork and stir into the cooking liquid.
6. Serve with whatever you love best on tacos!

Thrifting and Blogging

I was thinking about things that I've loved getting at yard sales and I remembered this table-runner that I found this summer, and this green tray that I found last year. Combined with my Pottery Barn candles they make our coffee table very cheery and summery.



I think my recent (almost) obsession with yard-sales and thrift-store finds has a lot to do with all the home decor blog reading I've been doing. There are so many fabulous blogs out there, and I get inspired to try new things each time I visit them. But trying new things usually involves buying new things. And it's a fun challenge to find beautiful things at very low prices. Here are some of the blogs I've been following (most of them introduced to me by my friend Kathryn)

Eat Drink Pretty

Little Lovely

ISLY

The City Sage