Crabby Fox: life in this Brooklyn apartment

I said it, I did it

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:46:00 +0000

Friends, something big has been accomplished! I have finally finished The GG Project. Well, pretty much at least.

You may remember, back in the summer of 2010 I set out to read all the winners of the Governor General's award for fiction. Now, 3 years later, I'm ready to consider myself done.

One of the winners, The Dark Weaver by Laura Salverson (1937), is impossible to find - and I'm not the only person looking for it! Maybe one day I'll find it - maybe in a junk shop or on eBay or in a library. Maybe you have a copy? Until then, I won't truly be finished, but I'm happy to consider myself finished enough for now.

Also, full disclosure: of the 70+ books that I've read for this - many of which I did not enjoy - there was one title that I absolutely could not get myself through. I debated going back to it, but I can't. I won't. I don't know why it was so difficult, but Dave Godfrey's The New Ancestors (1970) beat me. I hate giving up on books, but this one was impenetrable for me. However, after getting through more than half of it, I am willing to consider it complete in my list.

My favorites? Hard to say, because there are some truly great books on the list, and many classic books. The Sisters Brothers (Patrick DeWitt, 2011), Clara Callan (Richard B. Wright, 2001), Thirty Acres (Ringuet, 1940) were all some surprise favorites. I say surprise because obviously the Atwood, Munro and Ondaatje books on the list would be common favorites. Obviously.

Least faves? That's easy. Besides the impenetrable Godfrey I've already mentioned, The Fall of the Titan (Igor Gouzenko, 1954), The Temptations of Big Bear (Rudy Weibe, 1973) and Such a Long Journey (Rohinton Mistry, 1991) were some low points for me.

And along the way there are many that I've read that are just completely forgettable, their award a total mystery to me.

I'm so, so, soooooo happy to finally be done with this project. I didn't expect it to take 3 years, and I've often thought about giving up on it. But I'm glad I did it, and now I can move on to just reading books I want to read. Good-bye GGs!

Random Things (4)

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:44:00 +0000

It feels a bit funny to take a picture of this old camera with my iPhone.

This is a Kodak No. 2A Autographic Brownie camera, that once belonged to my grandfather.

The internet tells me that these cameras were made between 1916 and 1926. I like to imagine that in 2093 or so that my grown grandchildren will be taking photos of my iPhone with their futuristic cameras. By then cameras will probably be embedded in their eyeballs. Quote me on that! I predict the future!

Now I just wish I had some of the photos that it's taken. Oh well.

May Shower

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sun, 05 May 2013 21:38:00 +0000

Yesterday, my sister-in-law Shawna kindly, and generously, threw me a baby shower.

She had been organizing this for months - there was honestly more time and planning put into this than into our wedding 4 years ago. It was no easy task for her either, because of my unruly/unfun demands (no stupid games), AND she did it all from Seattle where she lives.

My mom came down from Toronto and made all the food for the shin-dig. And true to form for her, she made enough food to feed an army. On the menu: 3 kinds of mini quiches, 3 kinds of sausage rolls, 2 kinds of cinnamon rolls, 2 kinds of cheesecake, a raspberry french toast strata, fruit salad, bagels and lox, cheese and crackers, blueberry muffins and cupcakes (bought, not made). I've probably missed something.

I originally said no games, but gave into one - that I loved - which was to have guests decorate plain white onesies with fabric markers. Maybe that's not so much a game as it is an activity. Let me present to you, the gallery of onesies:

Clockwise: Thelma, John Mark, Christopher, Lindsay

Clockwise: Ji, Angela, Marie Claire and Mat

Ally Jane, Katie (top), Mike (bottom)

The baby's own father

All together now.

Another detail that I loved is that guests were asked to bring a book for the baby. This poor child - being the child of book people, who read a lot of books and both work in book publishing, and whose friends largely work in book publishing... well, he's going to have a lot of books.

They range from classics from my own childhood, to new classics and favorites of my friends' children.

The winner for best-ever wrapping paper selection goes to my friend Angela:

We also had these adorable favors, but in all the excitement we forgot to hand out most of them out! Oops! Hey, friends: watch your mailbox.

All in all, a big success - a blast to see so many friends, and I'm moved by their generosity and kindness. But now I have all these leftover cupcakes to eat.

Random Things (3)

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:36:00 +0000

This is Miles.

Well, not Miles himself, but a portrait of Miles by my brother Tom. Miles is my parents' cat. His full name is Miles "Burritos" Davis Cox. Don't ask.

I love this portrait of Miles because it captures his look of disdain and violence. But that look is deceiving, because Miles is very cuddly. In fact, he is an aggressive cuddler - when he wants you to love him, he will threaten you with claws in your face until you pay attention. Then he will situate himself on or near your head so you can adore him. He knows what he wants. But he looks tough.

The man himself.

We got Miles when he was a couple weeks old, and I was 18. He needed to be bottle fed because he was so young, and I woke up every hour in the night to feed him. And he is an ungrateful little bastard about it.

Until recently, Miles had a sabre tooth that stuck out of his mouth, which made him a big pimp. Unfortunately, it had to be removed and my parents, who are cruel, refused to replace it with a gold tooth as I had recommended.

You may have noticed that the portrait of Miles is quite good, by someone pretty talented. So, here is a bonus, another illustration by my brother: a beaver typing at a typewriter.

Think about that for a minute.

Vision complete

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:13:00 +0000

So, I think we are done with the nursery. Just one thing missing...

I could have straightened the rug. But, no.

What's missing? Well, it's not the chair that was in the original vision.

Clare chair from Macy's

No, we decided against the awesome blue chair because there's not really enough room. I still covet that chair though.

But it seems like we have everything else. Prints? check. Furniture? Check. Book ledges? Check.

From The Black Apple on Etsy

It looks like we have everything, except the baby. Well, the human baby at least, we already have Mr. Isambard K. Naqvi, Esq., cat baby.

Look what I did to your couch, and you still love me.

For the next 5 weeks until baby is expected (not a day late or a day early, buddy), we're just going to practice parenthood by pushing this bear around in a stroller like crazy people. Because the cat won't let us put him in it.

This is what normal people do, right?

Random Things (2)

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:03:00 +0000

Before he retired, my father traveled a lot for work. When I was a young'un, he would even bring me back some little trinket from his travels. I still have a few of those little souvenirs, including these guys.

I seem to remember that this papier mache cat came from Turkey, although I could be wrong. It was one of the last things he brought back for me, so maybe I was a pre-teen or something.

This brass vermin came from India, and is probably one of the oldest such souvenirs that I have. He also brought one back for my best friend, and she still has it. It's smaller than mine, rightly since she's just some other kid, and not his child.

Sometimes I hold this little brass mouse in my hand, and I think it would make a handy little weapon. Like carrying a roll of pennies or something. I think I could give someone a shiner.

Random things (1)

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:24:00 +0000

I always enjoy reading about the random things people have around their house. Really, I do! So, I'm going to share some random things, because I don't really have much else to say lately.

So, here is something I would like to share with you. It's my creepy old lady/little girl print.

That is a terrible photo. So, here's a better one.

When I was a kid, this lady/child was hanging in our dining room. And I would stare at her and think about her. Primarily:

* Is she old or young?

* Is that a giant wine glass, or is she tiny?

* what is that weird necklace she's wearing?

But the most alarming question came when my mom pointed out that her arms are so short that she wouldn't be able to wipe herself if she went to the bathroom. And now that is the number one thing I think about when I look at her.

Anyway, when I left home, I had to take her with me. Yes, she is kind of scary, but I needed to see her and think about her more.

I never knew anything about her though, so I set about finding out. There was nothing on the picture to indicate who she was or where she came from. So, through some expert Googling of phrases like "giant wine glass of strawberries", "short-armed girl painting" and "old lady with giant wine glass painting" I was able to find her!

I found this article from 1988, which identified the artist as Joshua Johnson and the painting as ''Little Girl in Pink With a Goblet Filled With Strawberries''. The article addresses some of my questions - even about the weird necklace! Turns out it's a freaky little girl, not a freaky old lady.

Now she lives with me, hanging over my head as I sleep, and creeping out my visitors when I show her to them. Well done, freaky girl.

Lasts

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:31:00 +0000

I recently completed something that should have been number one on my Get 'er Done List: I went to my last conference. For a long while, at least.

As part of my job, I attend a lot of conferences. At first it was fun, I got to travel to exciting places like suburban Baltimore, or central Atlanta (sarcasm). But no, really, I did enjoy traveling to conferences for the first few years. But believe me when I say that it is tiring to fake-smile all day, for days and days on end.

But I'm done, for who knows how long. At 32 weeks pregs, maybe I should have been done sooner. But this one was small, and in Toronto, so I was ok with the travel. And it wasn't so bad. It was in a nice location, at the Royal York:

Better than a dingy chain hotel basement room.

Here's an unrelated story. Back in high school, for OAC (remember those) Canada in a North American Perspective class, I attended some history thing in this room. What the point was, I don't quite remember. It was about Canadian history. It was swanky. And at the end we were given a video of all the Canadian Heritage minute ads. Remember those? Many of you won't, and you're missing out, but I'm happy to say they are all online so catch up on all your Canadian history right here. If you're overwhelmed by the Canadian history, let me direct you to some highlights:

Governor Frontenac

Halifax Explosion

And the best once, called Wilder Penfield, but better remembered as "I smell burnt toast."

Anyway, I just got really sucked into those videos again.

BUT, my point was, the last conference. And the last travel before baby. And some last minute time in Toronto, where I, like everyone else with a blog, attended the One of a Kind Show.

I texted H. afterwards to tell him what I was up to, and he replied, "Did you buy any junk?" For the record, I never buy junk. I only buy treasures. And I bought one, small treasure, which was this porcelain jar from Heyday Designs:

There were many beautiful things, but I have so few dollars. So very few.

After 3 days in the 416, my conference was over, and I came home to a package of dried fruit, knitted goods and some fine art from a thoughtful soul in the K-W.

My baby, on his first dinosaur ride. Take note of the dinosaur's organs. Magnificent.

Thanks Katherine and Iain!

Firstborn

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:20:00 +0000

When the nursery was an office, Izzy would never go in there. He was even apprehensive when we went in there.

As an office.

But now that the office is becoming a nursery, Izzy has become obsessed with being in there. He sits in there when he can, and runs in after us if we go in.

Now he's happy to sit in there to have a nap, or to look out the window.

And tonight, we looked in and saw that he really had taken it to a new level.

I think he wants to remind us who is the firstborn.

Something different - a new haircut?

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:22:00 +0000

If you're reading this through a RSS reader of some kind: boy are you missing out. Get over here and look how my blog is different. It got a haircut, of sorts. After accepting that I am waaaay too lazy (not to mention too untalented) to actually update the look myself, I decided to buy a template from Etsy, and I chose the "Vanilla Bean" from Going Going Studios.

When I told H. I was going to buy a template, he said "But you hardly ever write on your blog anymore." OUCH. Well, maybe I'll pick it up again, now that it looks so sleek.

Photo by H.

And then I made something

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:35:00 +0000

For Christmas I asked for and received (thanks, Mom!) this elephant march fabric from Spoonflower:

Izzy models the fabric.

I had a vision for the nursery: make a window bench out of an Ikea Expedit bookshelf, some fabric and some foam.

One Saturday afternoon, against our better judgement, but fortified with pancakes, we went to Ikea. Ikea on a Saturday afternoon - I know, crazy. Stupid, even. But we got our Expedit.

On another afternoon we went to your friendly neighborhood foam and rubber store to buy some custom-cut foam. I didn't take any photos of the foam, because it wasn't that interesting. The foam and rubber store, however, was fascinating. It was a place where I wanted to touch everything, and didn't know what you would do with anything. But I kept my grubby hands to myself, got my foam and left.

Just to make things more difficult for myself, I decided my cushion would need welting cord (fanciness) and a zipper (for washability).

In progress.

After my chairs last year, welting cord is easy. But give me a zipper - a 72" zipper no less - and I panic.

Accidentally ordered beige. Didn't care.

But I faced my fears, and while it wasn't pretty, I sewed that sucker in there. And before I knew it I had a bench with a cushion.

And it's Izzy-approved!

And then I wrote nothing for over a month

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:48:00 +0000

Whoops! But I did have a February.And I did things. I did some traveling things.

First, as a birthday trip we went down to the Carolinas to visit the world's best one-eyed cat.

Any idea how to steal your friends' cat? Because I love this guy.

We took a 10-hour (read: 11- hour, thanks Amtrak) train down to Greensboro, due to the Blizzardpocolypse of February '13 that cancelled our flight. What do you do on 11-hour train journeys? Read, watch The West Wing, and obviously eat all your snacks in the first hour.

As an aside, did you know that if you take an extra long Amtrak journey and make a reservation in the dining car (not the cafe car, the dining car), that you are seated with strangers? If I had known this, I probably would have stuck with my trail mix, because I am anti-social and afraid of strangers. However our dinner companion - Bill (I think?) was an interesting guy. A southerner, whose family has been in the US since 1720! At the end of our meal he told us how on his last train trip, his dinner companion in the dining car dropped dead at the end of the meal.

Well, anyhou, it wasn't a bad trip at all - just long. After a quick night in G'boro we packed into a minivan with friends and headed to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate. There, we asked such important questions as, "Is this bigger than Downton Abbey?" (it is!)

After a night in Asheville, we packed up again and went to Greenville, SC where our friend has recently opened a new art gallery, Gallery 17 (go, if you're in town!).

From there, we went to beautiful Charleston.

We took in some Civil War history (well, H. did. I took in some cookies and a lot of french fries), spent the night and headed back to Greensboro to celebrate my birthday with Greek food and a trip to Target. A real Target! Not our crappy Brooklyn one.

What else happened in February? Well, I grew bigger.

No head, but deodorant marks clearly seen!

And then I went to England. For work, so I wasn't taking pictures or having lots of fun or anything like that. Mostly I worked and ate Dairy Milk bars, and picked up this little t-shirt for the baby.

And then it was March, and here we are.

The Vision, Part II

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:00:00 +0000

H. and I refer to my nursery planning as "the vision". Every once in awhile I'll email him with the subject "the vision", and he knows what's coming.

My vision has no theme, no colors, no gender. It is, really, to make me happy. The room that is going to be baby's is tiny, and dark, and I don't think we'll spend a whole lot of time in there. And, truth be told, there is a good chance we won't stay in this apartment for more than a year after baby comes. So, yeah, the vision is my vision, and isn't over-the-top babyriffic.

1. Chair - Clare Fabric Living Room Chair from Macy's, in Cobalt
2. Rug - Kite Kilim rug from West Elm
3. Crib - Baby Mod Olivia 3-in-1 Crib from Walmart
4. Mobile - Somewhere Over the Rainbow Mobile from JennaEBee13 on Etsy
5. Dresser (changing table) - We'll be using one we already have, but similar to this one.

I've already shown you the first print we bought, which was the "Jenny at the Table" Maurice Sendak print, from Higglety Pigglety Pop:

But I've also got my eye on these two adorable prints from The Black Apple on Etsy:

The Cat's Pajama's

The Bee's Knees

Finally, the three city prints that used to hang over our bed?

Brooklyn, London, Toronto

Those will go in the baby's room. About time we got someone to represent Brooklyn. (those prints, by the way, are from birdAve on Etsy).

Blankie

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:30:00 +0000

Sometimes I get down on myself, and think I should write on my blog more. But then I wonder - can you even handle that many more photos of my cat?

The answer is no. No, you cannot.

Anyhou. This past weekend I embarked on a little project for the little creature I'm brewing. Using some gorgeous Tana Lawn Capal fabric from Liberty of London.


It's a beaut!

Would you like to hear a story about another baby blanket? Ok. Many years ago, before my older brother Tom was born, my mom knitted him a baby blanket. Aw. This was Tom's blankie, and he loved it. By the time I knew that blanket, it was grey, however I learned that when it was made it was actually yellow.

Tom loved that blankie, and took it everywhere, and slept with it, and did what kids do with blankies. And that blankie was disgusting. The smell of that thing - of dirt, and barf, and kid, and who knows what horrors - was repulsive. It would make you sick to sniff it.

Now, Tom is a grown up, late 30s, has a child of his own. And you know what? He still has that damn blankie. Sometimes I see photos of my nephew, and that blankie is nearby. Ew. Anyway, the point is that kids love their blankies.

I wanted to make something easy, and wasn't up for something as time-consuming as the last baby blanket I made.

So I went the easy route, of wholecloth. The body was easy, at least. I royally screwed up the border, though.

My understanding is that the baby won't mind, though. And if he ever asks, I will say it is in the naif style.

One day, blankie, you too will be grey and stinky.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:07:00 +0000

The cat is learning that the new addition to the family will disrupt his life. We've explained to him that there is a baby coming, we've shown him the ultrasounds, he's sniffed around the many baby things already been given to us, but the reality hit home when we started to move around furniture to turn the office into a nursery. He was not amused.

When we first found this apartment, we couldn't believe our luck that it had 3 bedrooms. That meant one bedroom for us, a guestroom and an office - almost unheard of in a reasonable price range (without roommates) in NYC. But now one of those extra rooms has to go. With both our families out of the country, and friends scattered around the globe, we can't (won't) give up the guest room, which means the office is the weakest link.

Goodbye.

The office really was H's office. I think I sat in there once. It is tiny, but baby won't mind.

H. believes in literary segregation, which means his books needed to be away from mine, in a climate controlled room of their own with an armed guard. But times are tough, and this little room is perfect for baby.

Unwilling to throw all these books away (90% of which, I might add, were dragged over the ocean, through the skies in suitcases over a series of visits back to London), we moved the bookcases into our bedroom. Now H's books sleep with us, so H. can keep a watchful eye on them.

What was this:

Is now this:

And what was this:

Is now this:

And now this guy watches me sleep:

I haunt your dreams.

As does this guy:

Tolstoy, not so scary.

And what has become of the office? I guess that's to come.

Things that got did. Things that didn't get did.

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 23:59:00 +0000

I've known for a few months that I wasn't going to finish all my 2012 goals. I decided that some would have to be postponed, and some were acts of nature. And you know what? That's fine. I've made my peace.

So, what didn't get done?

3rd Ward Goals:
Intro to Upholstery
Mystery Class #4

Well, this I can explain. One, scheduling is difficult when you have a full-time 9 to 5 job. And also, I had another goal - to save lots of money. And taking classes at $200+ a pop is kind of antithetical to saving lots of money. And you know what else? I kind of figured out some basics by myself.

NYU SCPS Goals:
Developing Online Promotions That Get Results

Well, this goal I purposely postponed. NYU's schedule for this class - my last for the certificate program in Digital Media Marketing - did not work with my schedule. So, I will take it sometime in the new year, before the baby arrives.

The GGs
Laura Salverson, The Dark Weaver
Winifred Bambrick, Continental Revue
David Walker, The Pillar
Hugh Garner, Hugh Garner's Best Stories
Douglas LePan, The Deserter
Dave Godfrey, The New Ancestors
Linda Spalding, The Purchase

Well, I already explained why that one isn't happening before the end of the year. I'd still like to finish these before the baby comes, but in truth I am feeling slightly burnt out, especially as I'm not really enjoying the older ones, and I'm struggling to get through them.

What did get done? A fair bit, I think:

3rd Ward Goals:
~~Intro to HTML/CSS~~
~~Screen Printing~~

NYU SCPS Goals:
~~Digital Strategy: Creating Synergy in Your Marketing Program~~
~~Web Analytics: Integrating Website and E-mail Data for Effective Digital Marketing Programs~~
~~Strategic Search Engine Marketing Campaign Planning and Execution~~
~~E-mail marketing: Integrating Social Media and Mobile marketing for Optimal Campaign Results~~
~~Internet Copywriting~~

The GGs:
~~Bertram Brooker, Think of the Earth~~
~~Ringuet, Thirty Acres~~
~~Hugh MacLennan, The Precipice~~
~~Germaine Guèvremont, The Outlander~~
~~Morley Callaghan, The Loved and the Lost~~
~~Lionel Shapiro, The Sixth of June~~
~~Adele Wiseman, The Sacrifice~~
~~Colin McDougall, Execution~~
~~Malcolm Lowry, Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place~~
~~Robert Kroetsch, The Studhorse Man~~
~~Brian Moore, The Great Victorian Collection~~
~~Jack Hodgins, The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne~~
~~Leon Rooke, Shakespeare's Dog~~
~~Josef Skvorecky, The Engineer of Human Souls~~
~~Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy~~
~~Patrick DeWitt, The Sisters Brothers~~

Misc. Goals:
~~Get new glasses~~
~~Get a haircut~~
~~Save money. Lots.~~
~~Southwest road trip!~~
~~Go to the cottage this summer~~
~~Take more photos~~

I'll probably make some 2013 goals, with some of the fails from 2012 transferred into the new year. Maybe slightly less ambitious next year, seeing as I'll be somewhat busy growing a human, and then feeding it.

The Vision

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 02:03:00 +0000

Obviously, when you're me, or like me, you start thinking about decorating a baby room just about as soon as you pee on a stick.

We've been lucky enough to already have been given tons of stuff from friends. Have you ever noticed that as soon as people find out you're pregnant they want to unload all their baby stuff on you? I guess it pays to let your friends have kids before you.

Most of the re-arranging and buying for the baby room will happen in the new year, but I have made one purchase.

It's a print called "Jenny at the table" from one of my favorite ever children's books, Higglety Pigglety Pop!: Or There Must Be More to Life by Maurice Sendak. I admittedly spent a stupid amount of money on it, but I do love it and it's a lovely little image, and perfect for the occasion.

We're heading to Toronto tomorrow to spend Christmas with my family, so Merry Christmas to all of you!

Quantum Leap

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:39:00 +0000

This past weekend H. and I watched many, many back-to-back episodes of Quantum Leap. Remember that show? Did you watch?

If it's new to you, Quantum Leap is about a time-traveling physicist from the future - in this instance, the late 90s. He "leaps" into other people's bodies and has "to right what once went wrong".

At the end of each episode, we got a teaser of the next episode. A little 30 second preview, and each preview entailed Sam (the "leaper") realizing the predicament he was in and saying, "Oh boy".

Well, this is an "Oh boy" moment for us. No, I haven't leapt into someone else's body, but someone has leapt into mine.

What? What am I saying? Why are there these unstylish 70s baby clothes here now? Well, those are hand-me-downs from me an H. to the little someone we're expecting around May 28.

Oh boy.

Angleterre

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:35:00 +0000

H. and I just returned from ten days in London, visiting his family, seeing old friends, and doing a little touristing.

A visit to the UK wasn't originally on my list of goals for the year, but our southwest road trip and visit to the cottage were. I think it was a "maybe" trip for much of the year, but then in September H's sister had a baby, and that "maybe" turned into a must.

Hello, my pretty.

A visit to Richmond Park

The abbey at Battle.

And now it's just 3 weeks until we head to Toronto for Christmas. Which means I have less than 3 weeks to get all my 2012 work done. Yikes.

Under Wraps

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:24:00 +0000

Here's a little project that I've been keeping under wraps for months - a baby blanket for a new niece. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have spotted it - until my sister-in-law joined Instagram herself, that is, and I had to delete all pics of the secret blanket.

Here's the finished not-quite-masterpiece:

I started the blanket back in August, and thought I would be able to finish it by late September, when the baby was due.

Always a helper.

Getting closer.

Haha, well that was a joke. I finished in October, well after baby A. was born. And then I had to wash all the cat hair off it, and by the time I got around to fixing all the little mistakes, it was so close to our planned trip to London to meet baby A. that I figured that I may as well just pack it and bring it, and present it to her myself, instead of just mailing it.

The helper gets naughty.

It is far from perfect, but it was made with love. And liberal amounts of frustration. I hope she enjoys it, even if it was a bit late!

Wherein I blame the hurricane

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 01:15:00 +0000

With about 6 weeks or so left in the year, it becomes apparent that I will not reach all of my 2012 goals. One goal, specifically, is reading the last of the Governor General award winners.

I started reading these in July 2010, and I had hoped to be done with them at the end of this year. But I won't, and I'm just going to go ahead and blame Hurricane Sandy.

What??

I do most of my reading on the subway going to and from work. In fact, H. and I usually take the local (read: slow) train just so we can have some time to read. And also because we're lazy and want to sit. However, that train is still not back to normal, and isn't traveling into Manhattan from Brooklyn yet. So, we're forced to take the express train, and there are no seats, and it is packed like sardines, and no reading can be done.

all posts need photos.

I had seven more books to read before the end of the year. Today they announced the 2012 winners, so now I actually have 8 more to read. But I've been stuck on Hugh MacLennan's The Precipice for about a month now. Ugh! I'm so ashamed!

Adding to the shame, in the week I was home when my office was closed due to the blackout in Manhattan, when I couldn't even do work because our servers were all down, I did not read a single page. Looking back, I'm not even sure what I did that week. I stared into space, I think? I did some online shopping? Shame, shame, shame.

Poor tree, stupid hurricane

If I were to really push hard, it is possible that I could get through these last 8 books before December 31. I only have about 30 more pages in The Precipice, and I can probably finish it tonight if I stop watching Friday Night Lights. But next week H. and I head to London for 10 days to see the family, and I'm not going to read when there. I will be cooing over our new niece, doing some shopping, and eating Dairy Milks.

Anyway, I just thought it best to come clean to you, since I know you were counting on me to finish those damn books before the end of 2012. Oh well.

Izzy is mad!

Tchotcke'd is totally a verb now

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 15:44:00 +0000

H. has a system of dividing responsibilities, or maybe it's expertise, that he calls "baskets". So, for example, shopping is my basket, even if we're shopping for him. This means I have to make the plan and lead the way. Movies are his basket, which means, I don't know, that he controls the Netflix queue and puts all my movies at #436. It doesn't really make any sense to anyone but him, this basket system.

Furniture is my basket. I accept this because it means I make the furniture decisions that keep hideous things out of our lovely apartment. Records are his basket because I don't want anything to do with them. Anyway, where was I going with this?

Oh, back in July I mentioned that we were looking everywhere for a record cabinet for H's increasing collection of vinyl records. And then, finally, we found one! On eBay!

There's a part of me that always thinks "paint it!" when I see that faux bamboo, but this is actually quite a nice chunk of wood so we won't be painting it.

First things first, the Investigator had to take a good look at it.

Once it was approved by the dauphin, it was ready to be filled and tchotchke'd.


Success!

tchotchkes

It meant a little rearranging, because we used to have a floor lamp and a magazine rack in that spot:

like so

But we've just moved those, like so.

ta da!

Anyway, H. thinks I'm "spoiled" because I got new furniture, and furniture is my basket. I think he's spoiled, because we wouldn't have needed it if it didn't have records. Obviously I'm right.

Thar she blows

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Hurricanes!

H. and Izzy and I are just fine, thanks for asking. We have been wearing pajamas for a little too long, and the cat has had a few too many treats, and I've had a few too many Fudgsicles.

Was that part of your hurricane prep?

Our neighborhood is in a higher elevation than much of Brooklyn, so we were safe from the flooding. Also, for once the dearth of trees in this part of town was a benefit, because on brief glance there don't seem to be a lot of downed trees or branches.

It was harrowing, at times. The wind was amazing and scary. We watching the flooding in other parts of the city with shock. The lights flickered, but the internet stayed strong! The cat, usually such a wimp, was completely unfazed.

Meh.

We're off work today, again, and who knows when we'll be back. Subways are looking pretty grim at the moment, and we don't have a car (or even bikes). So, for now, we're just waiting. So over hurricanes.

Now on to the next hot thing to be afraid of: the election. Yikes!

Next up: The Pink Chair

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:12:00 +0000

Now that I have two re-upholstered chairs under my belt - and I think they turned out ok - I'm turning to my next project. It's a big one. I'm a little scared.

It's the pink chair.

Yikes! I'll really be testing myself on this one, and I 've been telling myself it's ok to make mistakes on a $35 junk shop chair. But I'm scared, because I really like this chair. I even like the pink. But if you look carefully, it's dirty and stained, and has some tears.

Once upon a time I thought I would just spend $700 (plus fabric) getting it professionally done, but let's be honest: that's never going to happen. So, I'm going to do it. Eeek! I'm scared.

We decided to stick with velvet, and we've narrowed it down to two colors. Both from West Elm's fabric by the yard Performance Velvet:

Performance Velvet: Lagoon Blue

Performance Velvet: Ink Blue

What do you think? Which do you prefer?

Sooooo, wish me luck on this. And I will keep you updated.

Coney Island

noreply@blogger.com (crabigail) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 03:19:00 +0000

H. and I wandered down to Coney Island this afternoon. And by "wandered" I mean "took the N train".

We don't live too far, but we never go there. In fact, I don't think we had been since a cold January day before we were married, when H. still lived in London and was here visiting me.

I think some visitors to NYC give Coney Island a miss because it's a trek from Manhattan. Or maybe they think you should only go in summer? I prefer going in the off-season, when it's not so busy, and you can really enjoy the retro-tastic details without the crowds.

And then we gorged ourselves on pizza and had to take a nap.