Suggestion

401 Update: Floors

2015-05-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

So I've finally pulled myself together enough to sit down to write about the floor situation in Salida. A few disclaimers before I get started:

1- Under no circumstances is it ever okay to put carpet down in a kitchen.
2- Under no circumstances is it ever okay to put carpet down in a bathroom.
3- Under no circumstances is it ever okay to put carpet down over other existing carpet in any room.
4- Under no circumstances is it ever okay to put wallpaper on a floor.

So those are the morals of this story. I thought it would be best to get those out in the open before I lead you down this terrifying path just so you can know that there is a purpose to this, there is a meaning to life, there is hope in the darkness, there is a reason for living. Do not fear what is to come. Though you may walk through the valley of the shadow of...blah blah blah. Okay enough pep talks. Let's get to it.

A few weeks back we committed to pulling up all the carpet in the house because, well, it's gross. After pulling up the living room, kitchen, front bedroom, and stairs, we decided that we needed to stop pulling before we pulled ourselves right into hell. Let me give you a quick run down of what we found in those rooms.

Living room: original douglas fir wood floor in bad/slightly bearable/reasonable condition. Livable, yes. "Weathered", but not in a cool blogger kind of way, more like just a gross sort of way.

Dining room: a strange type of tile that is made of asphalt and therefore melts like tar under any heat and therefore the current condition of them is somewhere between a swirly mess of 70's tile pattern (detail pic below) and deteriorating black muddy tar. There are some spots where the tile has deteriorated enough to show that in fact there was at one time hope in the world, and more importantly, unadulterated wood floor (you can see a few of those spots in the next image).

Front bedroom: floral wallpaper that had been glued to the original doug fir floors and then covered with wood-grain contact paper. I mean. There's just nothing else to say.

Stairs: under two layers of carpet runner and what can only be descrbied as some sort of carpet padding that was made of either a mixture of horse and dog and squirrel hair, or perhaps a "felt" of every type of human hair that exists on this planet (detail image below), the treads are not in completely unbearable condition.

Kitchen: there was a layer of carpet that was glued to a layer of mdf that was laid on top of a layer of sawdust that was used to level out the uneven wood floors that was then lined with a layer of local newspapers from 1929. Did you get all that? So under that are original wood floors but goodness they are completely shot to hell.

So after all of that, we told ourselves we needed to take a break and rethink our purpose in life. With much sadness and feelings of defeat and humiliation, we decided to leave the carpet in the back bedroom and landing on the stairs because we just couldn't take anymore. Upstairs, we took the carpet out of the bedrooms to unearth original wood floors that were in various states of "painted with brown lead paint" and "streaks of mildly-sanded brown lead paint". Fine, whatever, we'll just paint them. Then we started ripping up the upstairs bathroom. Because we are insane.

After two layers of carpet, there was a layer of some sort of foam moisture-wicking material that is laid on top of, well, we have no idea because we are still trying to chip away at that black foam goodness. After years of absorbing whatever it is that is to be absorbed on a bathroom floor, you can't just pull it up off the ground. It is just flaking apart and disintegrating into small particles of death when you touch it. So the only way to get it up is by attacking it with a paint scraper. At this point, we have just kind of shut the door and tried not to look at it very much.

So where do we go from here? An insane asylum, perhaps, but then to a place of hope! Believe it or not, we can see the light! We decided to have someone refinish the original doug fir floors in the living room, dining room, and bedroom. We have to pay a little extra money to have them remove whatever that terrifying asphalt crap is in the dining room but it will be worth it. So original wood floors! Thank the lord.

In the kitchen, we are trying to figure out a way to even out that floor as best we can and then lay simple black and white checkerboard ceramic tile. Classic and easy. We may have to upgrade to porcelain if we can't figure out a great way to even out those original wood floors but we're holding out hope.

We are going to paint the stairs--probably black treads with a white banister and white risers (or maybe something super fun like ombre risers!)--and call it a day.

Upstairs, we painted the bedroom floors white and they look amazing. Exactly what was needed for those tiny dark spaces! And once we paint all that wood paneling it will be downright dreamy. Okay probably not but we've got to stay positive.

We have no clue what we're going to do in the upstairs bathroom. Probably just keep the door closed. Forever.

So that's what we've got. Next update is gonna be walls. Slightly less terrifying, but still wildly entertaining, so stay tuned.

--mel

If you're just joining us on this little journey, you can catch up here:

New Year, New Adventures

401 Update: Ceilings & Radon

2015-04-23T16:09:00.001-06:00

So it's high time for an update on our housing adventures in Salida. I'm going to break up the posts into different topics because if I put it all down here in one post, you might possibly get sucked into your screen like that episode of Doctor Who. So for today, we're talking ceilings. Here's a little review: we closed on the house at the very beginning of April so we went down the first weekend and got right to work. The first order of business was tearing down the drop ceiling in the living room, dining room, and front bedroom. We decided to leave the drop ceiling for now in the kitchen and second bedroom because of the plumbing so we’ll just have to live with that for a little while. Luckily, the drop ceiling came down really fast and it was super simple. All the tiles just pop out of the metal frame individually and then the frame is just a lot of smaller metal pieces that are kind of just resting on each other and hung from the ceiling by metal wire. Once the ceiling came down it made an immediate impact. It was miraculous. Without the drop ceiling we gain almost two feet of ceiling space which is amazing. We still have to remove all the little hooks from the ceiling and the metal frame that is attached to the walls but that is all child's play compared to the other stuff.

So now the plan goes a little haywire. We were jumping at the idea that we would find an HVAC or ductwork specialist to come in and help us find a product that would allow us to move all the ductwork into the floor joists of the original ceiling. Then we would bring in a drywaller to replace the original ceiling which would now be containing all the ductwork and electrical. However, this plan went south after a series of unfortunate events. First, our drywall guy had a heart attack and had to be care-flighted to Denver. Needless to say, that puts him out of commission. Second, I lost the piece of scrap trash paper I was taking notes on that had the HVAC guy’s name and number on it so now I can't remember who I talked to or his number. Finally, we had a conversation with our radon mitigator & electrician who basically told us that plan sounded like a huge pain in the ass and we should rethink our options.

So now we are kind of floating back to our original plan to build a new ceiling right below the ductwork as it stands. Sure we won't get to keep all 11 or 12 feet of original ceiling, but we’ll still have gained about a foot and a half in height so it's really not a loss. Our radon guy told us about a ceiling he had built in another house in town and he took us over to see it and we kind of fell in love. It is a ceiling made of pvc ceiling tiles that have a pattern to make them look like old tin ceiling tiles. Shockingly beautiful and not corny. And the other plus is that the ceiling tiles are really light so we wouldn't have to build a big huge frame like we would for a new drywall ceiling, which would help us to keep as much height as we possibly can. Here are some pictures of that ceiling we're using for reference:

So two ceiling ideas currently that we are tossing over. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you about the radon mitigation! Super exciting stuff. Long story short our house tested super high for radon which is supposedly a huge cause of lung cancer so not something we want floating around our house. However, it's still sort of an issue like climate change where you see the science and it's super simple to see that it's a real problem but you still have your crazy naysayers walking around saying shit like, “I don’t really believe in radon.” Needless to say, we’re in the first camp so we wanted to knock that out immediately. Luckily we found the best guy ever to tackle our radon issue and he did an amazing job. When we bought the house it was testing at 13 for radon (the epa has set a normal range limit at 4) and now just a couple weeks later it is testing in between 1 and 2. Thank you for saving our lives, mr. radon mitigator. He had to completely wrap our crawl space up with plastic and then build a fan to blow out all the radon and install it on the outside of our house. The fan just continually blows for a year and then we test again to make sure the wrapping job he did on the crawl space is still containing the radon. And just because he's the raddest dude ever, he also shored up the stairs leading down to our crawl space and reinforced some of our foundation while he was down there you know, just because. He is our hero. (Here's a picture of the crawl space and all the beautiful plastic wrapping that is covering the surface and containing all the poisonous radon and preventing us all from dying a slow and painful death; and in the next picture you can see the fan that has been installed in the right corner of the house.)

Okay that's enough for this update. Next I'll tell you about the floors. What a shit show.

xoxo

-mel

Round Up!

2015-04-03T10:00:00.000-06:00

Okay my dear internet cosmos, I'm gonna pick up the beat here a little. After the last couple weeks of what can only be described as "trudging", it's time to move on. Here are a few things that have gotten me excited lately:

6 Tools to Help Predict How Long You'll Live. According to the "sit test", I'm not gonna make it to 50. Fantastic.

Mother Nature Network

An Upbeat Emotion That's Surprisingly Good For You. This makes my overly-emotional, completely irrational, over-analytical, snowball-inducing-avalanche-of-love-and-wonder-and-joy heart just go nuts! Things like this make me feel so much more sure about the goodness of life. (Found via Refinery29)

New York Times

These are just too good.

Hello Giggles

"...then something that feels like it's in the diarrhea family, then ones I'll call the hammer and sickle, then the mortar and pestle, and the ones with teeth." Completely hilarious, and totally beautiful.

NY Mag

And if you are able and interested, please consider supporting the 2nd Annual Nationwide Miracle Milk Stroll that will be taking place around the US & Canada on May 2. Their purpose is "to raise funds, educate, and raise appreciation for the life-saving power of human milk". Find a location near you and get to strolling!

Best for Babes

Ahh now don't you feel better? Hope you all have a wondrous Easter weekend.

--mel

On Weaning

2015-03-25T21:52:00.001-06:00

I've gone back and forth about whether I would write about this. It's been such a whirlwind of emotions--what was my greatest hurdle, and yet my greatest triumph, has come to an end.

Many won't understand the emotions associated with weaning after a long run of nursing a baby. In our case, 19 months. But tonight, I'm writing for the many who do understand. Who have fought and gave and struggled and persevered and raged to be able to nurse their child, for however long they were able, and then one day, had to say goodbye.

And I'm sure there are many nursing mamas who still won't understand these feelings, because we are all completely different. Our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our pain, our victories--they are all uniquely ours.

The past several days have been hard. NC decided that she was content not nursing for a few days in a row and on the third night when I went to put her to sleep and she didn't do so much as bat an eye in interest to nurse, as we have every night for her entire life thus far, I knew it was over. A couple days later, she decided that she had changed her mind, at least in the moment, and my heart broke all over again. The thought of scooping her up and staring into her eyes, her heart against mine, and my entire self comforting her again, completely slayed me. I couldn't bear the thought of again in a day or two, maybe a week, maybe a month, that she'd decide she was done again. So I said no. To spare me the pain that I'd already begun to grieve, already mourned the loss of, already began to say goodbye to.

Tonight I received a message from a friend that offered exactly the comfort I needed in this moment. She told me how she wrote a letter to her daughter explaining their nursing journey and that really helped give her some closure (and a good cry). A love letter of sorts, explaining the breaking heart of a mama who is watching time go by with no way to stop it.

So I figured this could be my version of an ode to my daughter, and the life-changing opportunity she gave me when she let me feed her and hold her and comfort her and grow her with my own body. It is a part of me I will always treasure and look back on with deep gratitude and with a reverence for all that is mysterious and good and beautiful in life.

Here's to the mamas and the babies who have held each other in endless embrace and who have given each other the strength and quiet solitude that the other did not even know she was missing.

(Photo from The Library of Congress archives)

**written at 9:45 pm on 3/25/15, laying in the dark on the floor by my daughter's crib, holding her hand as she falls asleep.

New Year, New Adventures

2015-02-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, hello there! Yes, it's been forever. Yes, it's been crazy busy. But seriously how overused is that excuse? So let's just acknowledge the truth of the matter. I'm back, and ready to party.

So, the beginning of 2015 has been quite exciting thus far! Most of you, my few and most treasured readers, are friends and family so you are somewhat privy to the goings-on in my life recently, but for those of you who aren't, or for those of you who'd like to follow along in more detail, I've decided to devote a large chunk of this space to explore the ins and outs of what moving to a mountain town, starting new jobs, a new life, in a new (super old) fixer upper is like!

So, let's jump right in, shall we?

At the end of 2014, we found out that we would be moving to Salida, CO, a quaint mountain town just southwest of Denver, nestled in between the breathtaking Collegiate Peaks and the Sangre de Cristo mountains, on the banks of the Arkansas River. The picture above is on the road into town. Once we had that little piece of knowledge locked down, we embarked on what would be the next step on this crazy relocation path called house hunting/selling.

We will not be moving until June, but since Salida is the size of my thumbnail, we were advised to start looking early. The housing market there is understandably tiny and our price range is evidently one of the fastest moving so the idea was that if we found a house there that we loved, we would see about the possibility of selling our house here and renting it back from the buyers until we officially move to Salida. If your head is starting to spin already, probably shouldn't continue reading.

Anyway, step 1: house hunt in Salida. For the sake of time and the inevitability that the universe will probably end at some point in time and I would hate to risk the thought that it could end while you are drowning in an expansive eulogy on the ins and outs of searching and scouring and analyzing and picking apart real estate, I'll just jump to the part where we found "THE HOUSE" and have been in the process of negotiating purchasing price and inspection details with the current owners for a while now. Our closing date in Salida is April 2 so this will go on for a while and the details are not fun. But you know what is fun? Dreaming about all the things we will do to redo the house once we move in! That's it below in all it's cute green gabled arched snowy glory. We love it so much.

As much as I want to just jump into that and skip step 2, I feel like it should be included because one day I'll look back on this and want to have some sort of record of this madness. Maybe. Anyway, step 2: sell our house here. Again, for the sake of time and the universe's fragility, our house went on the market last Thursday and 4 days later, we sifted through 6 offers. Yes, count 'em. SIX. I'll just say this: if you live in the Denver area, SELL YOUR HOUSE. Now's the time. People want your house. It is crazy. So as of a week ago we are officially under contract on this home. The buyer wants to close at the beginning of March, and will rent back to us until the end of June when we relocate to Salida, thus preventing us from having two mortgages, and therefore our downfall into the depths of endless swaths of debt and torture and hell and gloom.

So, fun part! Let's chat about the house in Salida. This home was built in 1899 and sits on a corner lot downtown. According to our inspector (translation: this could be totally true/false), this home and the homes in our neighborhood were built by Italian immigrants that for some reason came and settled in Salida a million years ago and built all these homes with victorian-meets-mediterranian architecture and pizza ovens in the backyard. Because, you know, Italians. Anyway, the home had one owner for 40 years so this is the first time it's been on the market since the dark ages. The house is in pristine 1950's condition meaning there are lots of modern finishes to boast, such as carpet in the bathrooms and kitchen, brown painted original wood moldings and trim, lovely floral wallpaper, and a dropped ceiling with fluorescent lights. To name a few. Wanna see? (Please disregard the awful pictures. These were from inspection day so we were a little preoccupied. With terror.)

That beautiful green carpeted staircase leads to the wood panel sanctuary of the upstairs that also houses the legendary wood paneled and wallpapered bathroom seen directly below. Under that brown paint and unfortunate green wig, there is an original 1899 staircase ready to shine. We have so many plans for this house to bring it back to it's former glory, but most of those are on the "eventually" timeline. In the immediate, we'll replace all this horrible brown paint with bright white and install a new neutral runner. Nothing a little paint can't fix.

This upstairs bathroom is definitely on the "eventually" timeline because we have a perfectly fine bathroom downstairs that will get us through until we can gut the hell out of this space. All the wood in the bathroom is real wood paneling which is odd because that's the only place they put it. All the other wood paneling in the house is the real deal 70's fake plastic stuff. And yes don't you worry, the real wood paneling extends into the bathtub and shower as well! Yeah, that's got yuck written all over it. So like I said, everything will be gutted eventually. Shockingly enough, the toilet and vanity area are spick and span and completely useable so in the meantime, everything will again get a coat of fresh paint, the carpet will get ripped up and floors refinished or replaced, and we'll throw a shower curtain over that bathtub with a sign instructing visitors to not look or be doomed to hell for all eternity.

See that weird tchotchke built in nook in the dining room? Yeah, that used to be huge beautiful window that someone ripped out and covered up because they preferred to look at weird glass shelves and little trinkets than outside onto the beautiful porch and out into the great blue yonder. Eventually, we'll replace that window. Underneath all the carpet in the house is original wood floor so all the carpet is being ripped up immediately. Of course, paint paint paint bright bright white paint. And see those glorious ceiling tiles? Yeah, those are getting ripped out first thing too. They cover the whole first floor of the house so we'll be ripping those babies out first thing and putting new real non-gross ceilings up. I'll explain more later about why we can't just go back to the original ceilings but until then, just trust me.

Above is one of two adorable little bedrooms upstairs. They are covered in carpet and fake wood paneling. In their immediate future, these little jewel box bedrooms will get covered in paint and that carpet will be exterminated.

These are the big beautiful windows in the dining room. There are three almost identical windows in the living room as well. The windows are all original but in pristine condition so immediately they are fine. In the future, they'll need to be updated. But for now, rip out all the weird curtain crap and show off the beautiful original moldings.

Ahhh, weird layout kitchen. Carpet--gone. Ceiling tiles--gone. Amazing 3-burner stove--gone. Mismatched cabinets--gone. This space will get a facelift with paint, new countertops, hardware, and sink, and we'll probably knock out a few random cabinets that were thrown on the walls and build some open shelving. Eventually, a total redo, but immediately, some stop gap measures to make it usable and wonderful.

The backyard is magical. That is a huge apple tree and a wood-burning pizza oven!!! Remember like I said above, from the Italians?? There's also a nice garden space that's already sectioned off and a ramshackle garage that has great space with an automatic garage door opener but is built with sticks and twigs so we'll see how long it last before it falls to the ground.

This is the view from the front living room looking through the amazing original pocket door and into the dining room and through into the kitchen. That pocket door is my favorite part of the whole house. Is that weird? Original hardware (but yet we need to find a replacement key because that weird clothespin is just not cutting it) and all. The bottom pic is into the front living room, the only place where the trim is original wood. We're debating what to do about all this wood trim in the front since we'll be painting the trim in the rest of the house. Eventually, we'd love to strip and refinish all the wood but that's not in our immediate future. So in the meantime the question remains: paint the woodwork in the rest of house to look cohesive and clean and bright, and leave the front room wood? Or paint it all to keep it cohesive? The wood in the front is by no means even close to perfect condition so I'm leaving to paint it to match the rest of the house and then when the time comes we'll tackle all the woodwork at once. Anyone have any reason why we shouldn't go down that path?

So, there you have it! The next 78 years of our lives and the rest of our paychecks for forever! All going into this little home on a little corner in a cute little town. We are so excited. Please please PLESAE come back and follow along as I will need all the help I can get! We need advice! Suggestions! Second guesses! Extra hands! No seriously, if you wanna come help us work on this baby, you have a whole wood paneled carpeted upstairs floor waiting for you as your personal suite during your stay.

--mel

want | need | wear | read : ME

2014-12-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

want: I've been in the market for some new ink for a while now and I'm hoping I can "scratch the itch" soon. If I promise to get a big portrait of you, Santa, would you pretty please foot the bill? (LAST MINUTE TIP: make a cute homemade gift card and include some moolah for someone in your life who is wanting a new tat of her own. This is a super easy last minute gift!)

need: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: my eyes suck and I need to get more serious about seeing things clearly. One of the main reasons I don't wear my glasses as often as I should is because I hate having to switch between prescription glasses and non-prescription sunnies. For anyone who wears glasses, you know how weird it feels to go from "good vision" to "bad vision" in a swoop of an eyeglass frame. I'm hoping this might be the Christmas that I can finally say, "Why yes, I can read that speed limit sign, officer!" (LAST MINUTE TIP: hack into your friend's computer and figure out when they have an opening on their schedule coming up and make them an appointment with an eye doctor. Then after they get their new prescription, foot the bill for the new prescription sunglasses. This is an easy-peasy 2-in-1, folks!)

wear: As a woman who is still nursing and still a long way off from feeling like putting on a super slim fitting sweater, this winter I'm all about my clothes fitting looser than…well…you can insert your own ending here. This swingy sweatshirt is comfy enough for lounging around the house, easy enough for NC to access the goods, yet put together enough to wear out with jeans and boots. (LAST MINUTE TIP: brave the crowds and scoop up something pretty for your girl! It's almost impossible to go wrong at H&M--find a store near you here!.)

read: Everyone's raving, and I want to join in the fun. As if 'Girls' wasn't reason enough, watching her hilarious short video series, 'Ask Lena', just sealed the deal. (LAST MINUTE TIP: buy the Kindle edition for her to read on one of her many techy devices!)

This marks the end of our 2014 gift giving guide! We hope you have an amazing holiday season filled with love, laughter, food, family, friends, and mistletoe. See you in 2015.

xoxo

-mel

want | need | wear | read : BABY

2014-12-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today's WNWR-er is another sweet friend from college, Anna, who makes some of the most precious baby gear for her Etsy shop, Moshi Moshi. (Yeah, I dug into the Rhodes College alumni files for this series. They should pay me for making it look like everyone who goes to Rhodes is as cool as we are. That's right. Humility.) In addition to making other babies look adorable, she does a pretty good job of keeping her own little baby Lucy looking enviably precious too. That's why her list of gifts for baby are so spot on. So without further ado, I'll let her her take it away!

want: Lucy already has several things that she loves to ride on, but none are quite big or sturdy enough for future trips to the park. We live up a steep drive (just steep, not fancy) so the park will be where we learn to bike ride. I will be keeping an eye out for one of these bad boys at yard sales and consignment stores. I read somewhere that kiddies outgrow these kind of quickly so a cheaper option is the way to go for me!

need: We are taking a trip to Japan this winter to celebrate my grandmother’s 100^th birthday! What?! And her birthday is also New Year’s in Japan! One of the country’s biggest celebrations. Double what?! Japan is a country of people that love and aren't afraid of walking and even though it will be chilly chilly cold, we will probably do a good bit of it. So Lucy is going to need some good warm boots. I’ll readily admit that there are probably cuter, more Instagram-worthy boots out there, but I trust Stride Rite and their shoes have been good to Lucy’s feet so far. Practical choices here we come.

wear: Lucy started snoozing in the infant version of this sleep sack at about six months after another mom recommended it to me. This particular brand has a hefty price for basically a wearable blanket, but it goes from age 0-2 so it lasts a good while. Lucy has just about grown too long for hers at 18 months but she’s a tall one. That’s why this toddler size one (ages 2-4) is on our wear list! The arm holes have a snap to adjust for smaller babes, there is a place to put the car seat buckle (the crotch one..what is that actually called?) so that you can transfer peacefully sleeping kiddos from crib to car and vice versa (Yeah right, snort snort. Oh, your kid can do that? Not mine.) It’s all season, all weather, and all around awesome. It is a critical part of our nap and bedtime routine…Lucy sees the sleep sack coming and knows I’m not playing around. It’s time to sleep, baby.

read: My dad read these books to me when I was younger and I loved them. Loved reading them to myself even as I got older. Loved them in college and still love them. Love the movies as they come out too (but I have a problem with people who love the movies but haven’t read the books –give the books a chance!). I had a box set growing up (I use the past tense because I might have misplaced one of them freshman year while trying to show how cultured and “CS Lewis in the know” I was –sorry, Dad.) and I would love for Lucy to have her own. She doesn’t have the attention span to get past a page full of words being read to her, but like most things in babydom I’m learning, change happens quickly. So I want to be armed and ready with these books for when her book-attention-span develops into something longer than my rap version of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'.

Thanks so much, Anna! Can I just also note that I would pay to have a recorded version of your rap version of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'?!? It's pretty much NC's favorite song and I think she would become your biggest fan pretty quickly.

I've got one more WNWR list for you on Monday, compiled by yours truly. If you have any last minute gifts you still need to get for someone special in your life, all of my picks are procrastinator-friendly.

xoxo-

mel

want | need | wear | read : HIM

2014-12-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

This dude really needs no introduction so I'll keep it short: my Mr. is the jam. And so is his gift guide. All of his ideas will translate perfectly to that special dude in your life, whether it's buying him a piece of gear to assist him with his latest hobby or taking advantage of the opportunity to pick out the perfect slim-fit trouser for him to replace his baggy pleated khakis. So, without further ado...

want: If you've ever seen A River Runs Through It, you probably understand the allure of fly fishing. Standing thigh deep in a beautiful and powerful river amongst stunning scenery, the ultimate focus on the current moment, studying the dance of the water over the features below to interpret where the fish are hiding--all reasons I want to learn this art. For Colorado, this rod will get you everywhere you want to go from delicately presenting a dry fly on a small mountain stream to nymphing a high alpine lake. Also, you don't have to sell your car to buy it, which is nice.

need: As a gentleman of "uncommon proportions" (to put it kindly), dress clothes that don't make me look like I'm playing dress up in daddy's work shirts are hard to come by. J.Crew has lots of love for the skinny, tall man and the quality is worth the price.

wear: I've been on a search for a simple, low-profile shoe that I can wear both casually and to work over the last few years. TOMS Cordones came close, but disintegrated in a little under two years without much abuse. I'm hoping these Vans will be the answer.

read: With dreams of DIY renovations in our future, we gotta start figuring out what the hell we're doing.

The next WNWR is all about baby! All the adorable (and seasonally appropriate!) gifts to get for the little humans in your life, curated by the genius behind Moshi Moshi.

want | need | wear | read : HER

2014-12-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I asked a good ole' friend of mine to contribute for today's WNWR gift guide and she really hit the nail on the head. Lauren Kennedy is one of the most stylish and graceful human beings I've ever known, plus she's super talented and wicked smart to boot. By day she works for Ballet Memphis (which brought her to be included in the Memphis Flyer's 2014 edition of 20<30), and by, well, the rest of her life, she plays a leading role in the blossoming art scene in Memphis and beyond. She runs and curates a gallery out of her own living room, Southfork (which has gotten amazing wonderful beautiful reviews recently, by the way), and recently co-curated Pandora's Children, a three-part feminist exhibition featuring regional and national artists, at the Clough Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College (Lauren's & my beloved alma mater). For as long as I've known her (going on 10 years now, Lauren, can you believe it??), she has been passionate about lending her unique point of view to bring art to the masses.

Naturally, Lauren's WNWR list focuses on objects of beauty which are perfect for any woman in your life. You can easily adjust Lauren's gift ideas to suit any special lady of your own, whether it be a great piece of art, a beautiful piece of jewelry, a classic piece of clothing she will wear forever, or a book to bring her inspiration for years to come.

want: Alex Paulus is a friend of mine and an artist whose work I enjoy a lot. He was in a great show I put together at Southfork, and I've been wanting to keep one of his weirdo paintings for a while. They're irreverent and smart in a dumb kind of way, and I love the colors and textures. Plus, art has to make the best gift ever.

need: I haven't bought a new coat in years and it is high time. I love Zara in general because their pieces are always nice but still ultimately affordable. I have been trying for years to retrain myself to save up a little and buy one nice thing instead of several crappy things, and Zara is usually a place where I can do that. Figuring out something that somebody needs but hasn't been able to spend good money on themselves for whatever reason is always a great gift. Plus, I just can't get enough of this color green. I want it on everything.

wear: I love this jewelry designer based out of my hometown of Dallas, F is for Frank. I have one of their stingray rings and it is a piece that I wear all the time, and constantly get compliments on. I have been looking at this necklace for months and am sure that I would wear it a lot. All of their stuff is great.

read: I have always been enamored with Louise Bourgeois, but have been thinking about her even more lately after seeing some of her work in DC this summer and being asked to be a part of this feminist show at Rhodes. I would love to have a big, beautiful book of her work and writings to spend some time with.

Come back for our next WNWR gift guide, comin' atchya from a pretty fly guy & equally rad dad, my one and only Mr.

want | need | wear | read: HOLIDAY 2014

2014-12-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Finally! The time has come when all of us who are afflicted with closet Christmas-mania all year long are finally allowed to be honest about our addiction and live out in the open with all of our holiday-inspired obsessions on display. No more secretly watching Christmas movies when the Mr. is working the night shift. No more listening to Christmas music in the car and making sure to change the CD before I get out just in case the Mr. gets in and sees what I was listening to. No more huffing the pine scented candles in the closet. Now I can burn that candle in the wide open and sniff sniff sniff to my heart's content. Take that, Scrooges of the world! Christmas time is here, bitches.

Ahem.

Since this will be the first year that our daughter might actually have some grasp on what is going on with all the gift giving and receiving, we really want to make sure that we start to instill a sense of humility and gratitude in her right away. We also want to make sure that the joy and excitement of the gift giving season isn't drowned by quantity, but instead highlighted by a few select things that will be gifts to remember.

So, the Mr. and I decided to follow the lead of one of my favorite bloggers, James from Bleubird, and follow a prescribed formula for gift giving:

1- Something you want.

2- Something you need.

3- Something to wear.

4- Something to read.

In the coming weeks, I'll be posting a few different gift guides that ascribe to the above gift giving rules. As the Mr. and I have been putting together our own lists, we've found that the rules really help us appreciate everything that we have and see how little we actually need. We've realized that Christmas is not a season for who's spending the most money, or who has the biggest pile under the tree. This year, we're keeping it small, and we invite you to do the same.

Start your list-making! (Supporting Noonday Collection would be a great place to start!) Make sure to come back in a couple days for our first gift guide geared toward the special women in your lives.

Happy Holidays!

--mel

P.S. Here are a few inspiration posts from Bleubird's "want/need/wear/read" series to help you get your head in the game: A gift guide for James' baby, Sailor; A gift guide for James' dreamy hubby, Aubrey; James' gift guide for herself

(image via here)

Noonday Collection {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

2014-11-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

I recently learned about an organization called Noonday Collection and got immediately excited about it. Their mission is

"to create economic opportunity for the vulnerable" by partnering with artisans around the world and creating a marketplace for their goods. Noonday empowers their artisans by offering no interest loans to help get their businesses off the ground, making advance payments on orders, and of course paying fair living wages. In addition to creating a sustainable marketplace for underprivileged artisans, Noonday donates a portion of sales to help place orphans with forever families.

Beadwork from Guatemala

With the spirit of Thanksgiving still ringing in our ears, I thought now would be the perfect time to encourage you to "purchase with purpose" this gift giving season! Supporting organizations, like Noonday Collection, that make a greater impact in the global marketplace and in the lives of everyday people in a real tangible way is something I try my best to support whenever I can. I encourage you to go into this shopping season with a similar goal in mind.

Artillery beads from Ethiopia

To help you get in the gift giving spirit, Noonday is kindly giving away one $50 gift certificate to shop this holiday season! All you have to do to enter is visit their website, and leave a comment below telling me what you would buy for yourself and one thing you'd gift to someone special (I'm eyeing this bangle, this scarf, and this leather tote.) I will randomly draw a winner on Friday, December 5.

Embroidery from Peru

If you are in the Denver area and are interested in learning more about Noonday Collection (while eating, drinking, and shopping their winter collection, maybe with your new gift certificate!), I will be hosting a Holiday Trunk Show on Sunday, December 7. Let me know in your comment below if you are interested in attending and I will send you more details!

If you are not in the area, no worries! Just visit Noonday's website and fill up your shopping cart, then when you check out choose 'Dawn Post' as your ambassador, and type 'Megan Lombardo' in for the trunk show you are supporting.

Thanks in advance for supporting artisans from developing countries around the world this holiday season! Now, get to shopping!

-mel

**Congratulations Eirin!**

Happy Thanksgiving

2014-11-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Lately there's been a meme floating around the internet that says something along the lines of "Only in America will people trample each other to buy new stuff the day after celebrating everything they already have." When I first came across this image, my initial reaction was, "God, this is so on point. {laugh laugh laugh giggle giggle giggle snort snort}." But then my next immediate thought was, "God, this is so on point. {waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. i'm such a piece of shit.}"

Every year I think about how the holiday season brings out the best, and often times the worst, in people. And it's hard for me to understand it all because Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been my favorite times of the year. What does that mean about me? Am I just like that meme? Do I sit at the table one day and give thanks and the next go buy a bunch of stuff I absolutely don't need? Do I give gifts only because I expect to receive them? If I was really thankful for what I have, wouldn't I opt out of celebrating a holiday that has become almost single handedly about flaunting our wealth and finding reasons that we justify to ourselves why we "need" that new TV or "need" another pair of shoes?

I'm not going to bore you with my mental ramblings about the "reason for the season" here because goodness it will turn into an avalanche pretty quick. The only real thing I know is that most of the time, I feel so thankful and so happy and so blessed and so filled up with love and appreciation and excitement about life that it literally hurts. Like I can actually feel my insides start to tense up and I start to squirm because I can feel myself about to burst into tears because I've never felt as much gratitude for life as I do in this very moment. No, this is not a typical hyperbole moment that so many of you have come to expect from me. This is literally how I feel a lot of the time. But do I show it?

This year, I want to focus more on trying to ensure that others feel the same sort of gratitude that I feel so much of the time. I want to try and direct my energy toward trying to give others a reason to feel grateful or a reason to feel needed, wanted, loved. I suppose this year, as I sit around a table filled with more than I could ever want and need, I want to take a moment to prepare for the continuation of the season of giving by vowing to take my thankfulness and pay it forward. I want to take more time to expand the celebration of thankfulness to include the rest of the year, not just the end of November.

My hope for each of you is that you feel thankful this holiday season. That you have something in your life that you feel so happy about that you could literally burst at the seams. Because I think that thankfulness is perhaps the best gift that we can give to others and to ourselves. That feeling is incomparable, and worth more than any gift that will be under your tree in a few weeks.

This year, instead of focusing on the Christmas season, let's make the season of Thanksgiving last through to the last gift under the tree and to when we are welcoming in a new year. Through it all, let us give and receive the gift of gratitude.

xoxo-

mel

(Gratitude image from here.)

Tiny Prints + SPECIAL DISCOUNT!

2014-11-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Do you send out holiday cards? I grew up in a family with the best of intentions that just could never get it together enough to send them out. However, we always had a fridge full of cards from friends and family around the country who were so much more organized than us.

Anyway, the Mr. & I have been sending them out almost every year since we moved in together and definitely more militantly since welcoming our daughter to the family. I think we are especially good about it now because it is still somewhat of a novelty this whole "being an adult with a family" thing. Christmas cards kind of feel like that one last thing you need to make it official: you're a grown up.

This year we used Tiny Prints to design our holiday cards and the process could not have been simpler. It was definitely a hard choice (we ended up using this design) because there are a million great options for card designs. Here are some of my other favorites:

If you haven't ordered your holiday cards yet, now is the time. Bonus: get 10 FREE CARDS when you order from Tiny Prints! Hurry, this offer ends December 3.

Tis' the season to buy more magnets for your fridge!

--mel

(card designs, top to bottom: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4)

Podcasts: A Beginner's Guide

2014-11-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

above: Fred Armisen and Ira Glass in the studio, from This American Life episode, "Doppelgängers"

above: Radiolab hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich

The other day I read an article on Hello Giggles that described their "beginner's guide to amazing podcasts". Their list included 5 addicting, interesting, easily accessible podcasts, including This American Life and Radiolab, two of my all time favorites. Of course, being the complete public radio addict that I am, I immediately felt the need to add a few of my personal favorites to the list as well.

If you are not already a consumer of podcasts, now's the time to jump on the bandwagon. There are countless different types and genres of podcasts to choose from and therefore truly something for everyone. I tend to ascribe to the more heady, academic, story-telling types. Some may refer to this as "nerdy"; I call it "awesome".

So if you tend to swim in my pond of over-analyzing, emotional, random fish, I think you will love this round up of podcasts as well. Like I said above, my list would never be complete without This American Life and Radiolab--as far as I'm concerned, they set the bar for podcasts. But in the spirit of collaboration, here are a few that were not included on the Hello Giggles list:

image via

1- Serial.

Here's a brief synopsis, from Serial's website: "On January 13, 1999, a girl named Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, disappeared. A month later, her body turned up in a city park. She'd been strangled. Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested for the crime, and within a year, he was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The case against him was largely based on the story of one witness, Adnan's friend Jay, who testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae's body. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with Hae's death. Some people believe he's telling the truth. Many others don't."

While I think the overview of this crime is enough to get anyone hooked, the style of storytelling only adds to it's appeal. Every week a new chapter of this story is released. Host and Executive Director Sarah Koenig is researching the story and discovering and unearthing mounds of information and details about the case almost at the same time that you are listening to the chapter. She still isn't sure exactly how the season will end, which makes it all the more addictive.

You can get caught up on all the episodes thus far on their website, or subscribe to have the podcast delivered to you directly every week.

image via

2- Meet The Composer.

Let me stop you right there before you scroll past this one because you're not a musician and therefore think it does not apply to you. This is a podcast for non-musicians and musicians alike. Host Nadia Sirota introduces the listener to a new composer every week and leads engaging and intriguing discussions with the composers that make you feel like you're getting a backstage pass to the music. Even if you have no experience with or interest in classical music, I bet you will leave feeling engaged and mesmerized by what you hear.

Start with the first episode on John Luther Adams and his beautiful, haunting, vivid impressionist compositions that evoke the simplest of birdsongs to the unbelievably terrifying landscapes of the Alaskan wilderness. Trust me: If you have ever fallen asleep and dreamed, you will be able to appreciate this music.

Catch up on all of the episodes thus far, subscribe directly to the podcast, and check out special "bonus tracks" from the featured composers on their website.

image via

3- Death, Sex, & Money.

There was an episode of This American Life that included a version of a story about Death, Sex, & Money host Anna Sale and her totally unconventional love-and-relationship gurus, former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson and his wife, Ann. I listened to it, and immediately subscribed. I was hooked.

This podcast discusses, as Anna describes at the beginning of every episode, "the things we think about a lot, and need to talk about more". Every episode explores one or all of the title topics with wonderfully relatable and totally relevant people from all walks of life. Like I said, I started with "This Senator Saved My Life" about Anna and her now-fiancé's quirky relationship with Al & Ann Simpson. But I think my very favorite episode to date is "How to be a Man with Bill Withers", probably because I already thought that Bill Withers was a total badass, but this episode just totally confirmed that assumption.

You can catch up on all the episodes on their website, or subscribe on iTunes.

Tell me, my dear internet cosmos, what podcasts did I miss?

Happy listening!
--mel

Ludwig Bemelmans

2014-10-27T10:00:00.000-06:00

Ludwig Bemelmans is best known for his creation of the legendary children's book character, Madeline. That typical little Parisian school girl has graced the bookshelves of countless children around the world for years, including mine. I recently stumbled across a drawing of Bemelmans' that captured my adult interest just as his Madeline once captured my childhood imagination. I'm no artist and don't pretend to know much of anything about visual art. Nevertheless, Bemelmans' drawings seem almost to be "stream of consciousness" to me--lines that seem to never end, looping and turning and dancing across the page, creating some of the most elegantly idiosyncratic little scenes I've ever seen.

Profile of a Lady.

ink, wash, and graphite

St. James's Park.

ink and gouache on paper

(image above)

Self Portrait.

pen, black ink, and grey wash

Chef tasting wine.

watercolor and ink on paper

white + black + wood

2014-10-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

I've recently acquired the "need to redecorate" itch. I don't know who gave it to me, but I'm actively calling all my recent partners to try and narrow it down.

Bah-dum-ching.

Anyway, I'm really loving the mix of classic black and white with raw rustic woods. I think the combination of materials keeps things fresh and clean but without turning contemporary and too modern. Here are some of my recent favorites:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

blabla

2014-10-06T10:00:00.000-06:00

NC has a favorite doll from Blabla (Clochette the fairy!) that she has been sleeping with pretty much every night since she was just a couple months old. We used to not know exactly if she liked her doll or not because of the frequency of which she would chuck said doll out of her crib while laughing maniacally. We thought for a while she might have had it out for her.

Luckily, over the past month or so, she has started to snuggle up to her doll when we lay her in her crib and when we go in after she has woken up, she is sitting there holding up her doll, so excited to show us her sweet friend. (Thank god she outgrew the 'doll-murderer' phase.)

I'm so glad she has taken to her Blabla doll because I think it is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. Blabla dolls are so soft and whimsical and they wear really well too (just don't put it in the dryer!). So I was so very pleasantly surprised to find out that Blabla also has a precious line of bedding, play mats, rattles, and other fun accessories, all just as adorable as their knitted dolls.

Pointelle Blanket (mist), Coverlet (bunny lagoon), Crib Sheet (little sleepy grey),

Bunny/Stars pillow (grey), Fleur the bunny

Bunny/Stars traveling play pad (grey), Suzette the fox, Pillow (apple grey),

Oh So Sleepy traveling play pad (grey)

Pom the apple, Crib Sheet (ruffle pink/orange), Coverlet (suzette pink)

Pretzel Rattle (orange)

Would you judge me if I bought one of their sweet knitted dolls for myself?? Yeah, good idea, let's just ignore that.

xoxo

--mel

SHOP THE SHADES: purple & gold

2014-09-29T10:00:00.000-06:00

After writing last week about the arrival of some pretty magnificent shades of purple and gold that are taking over the landscapes around here, I couldn't help but start to notice these colors popping up in everyone's wardrobes! It seemed that everywhere I turned, the colors I had seen on the mountainsides were also on people at the grocery store, in the downtown shop window, playing at the park. So I decided to put together my own shoppable and wearable version of last week's fall inspiration:

Erickson Beamon earrings / Karen Walker sunglasses /

Zara printed blouse / Madewell jeans /

Emerson Fry d'orsay heels / H&M wool coat

Shades Of: Purple & Gold

2014-09-22T10:00:00.000-06:00

With the onset of fall happening right now, I'm really drawn to the combinations of varying shades of purple and gold that are happening all around us. The aspen trees are bursting into flames and the hues of gold are leaning toward almost flourescent, while other trees are tending to go out a bit quieter, their green leaves turning darker and then over into the side of purple and eventually to brown and away, gone, into winter. And every once in a while, you see a rose losing some of it's pigment, changing a once rich shade of wine into a lighter blush. The combinations of these varying shades--the bright metallic golds with the rich deep indigos or light muted comfortable purples--are helping me to find inspiration in the now, instead of dwelling on the cold winter to come.

(clockwise from top left) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14

Do or Don't: Book Clubs

2014-09-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

When I first moved to CO, some co-workers of the Mr. had a book club they had been hosting for a little while, and invited me to join in. Seeing as how I knew practically no one here yet, I was excited to hopefully find others who I could see myself hanging out with "on the regular". I had never been in a book club before so I figured I'd give it a shot.

When I touched base with all the women involved, they let me know that they were just finishing up Fifty Shades of Grey, but would be starting a new book soon. Yes, I'll admit it, I definitely got a little scared when I heard that title. What was I getting myself into? A group of people who were seriously interested in not just reading, but actually discussing in public soft-core porn "novels"? Was the next book going to be something from the Twilight series?

I feel okay saying all of this now because a- in actuality (spoiler alert!) they are all now my good friends, and b- they had picked that book as sort of a joke to see what all the hype was about. Which, by the way, is exactly the sort of thing I would have done myself. In retrospect, I really wish I had been there for that particular book club meeting. I'm sure it was hilarious.

Anyway, the next title they chose was Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. At the time, I had never heard of the book or the author, more infamously known as "The Bloggess". After reading the first few pages of the book and almost peeing my pants more than just a couple times from uncontrollable laughter, I knew I had found a group of women that I could absolutely relate to.

I felt so confident, in fact, that I agreed to host the next book club gathering. There were only a couple people in the group that I had actually hung out with socially at that point, but the book title that they chose spoke so loudly for me, I felt absolutely sure that we would all get along just fine. Sure enough, just as I had hoped and expected, these women became my closest friends here in CO, and I have that initial book club to thank for it.

So, tell me my dear internet cosmos: Have you ever been involved in a book club? If not, would you consider it?

(images from here and here)

Alfie Design

2014-09-08T10:00:00.000-06:00

How beautiful are these watercolor invitations from Alfie Design?

Even though I have absolutely nothing remotely important enough to justify having such stunning works of art act as invitations for coming up in my life, I'm still pretty tempted to commission some anyway. How about an invitation for coming over to help me fold laundry? Or a nice evening of binge eating chocolate chips while listening to a very determined 1-year old protest about having to go to sleep?

See, I knew I could come up with something.

See more of her beautiful work here, or purchase one of her cards, invites, or paintings here.

Big + Little: Back to School

2014-09-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Well, folks, summer is officially over. Finito. Donzo. Gone with the wind.

Not only does Labor Day usher out the sweaty sunny days of summer, but it also has always represented the official beginning of school for me. Even if we hadn't started classes again quite yet. Or if we had already started classes, it always seemed a little ridiculous because we'd go to school for a few days and then get a day off for Labor Day.

"Wait, we've only been at it for like 4 days and already we're getting another vacation?!?"

You know that feeling I'm talking about, right?

Anyway, as crazy as it seems, a little part of me still wishes that I was heading back to new classes this time of year again. Buying new supplies for all the dozens of papers I would spend hours researching and all the sleepless nights spent banging away in practice rooms and all the weekends I would spend partying excessively instead of studying like I should have been. Or as a line taken from an old favorite movie most perfectly describes it: "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address…" Man, what I wouldn't give for some pencil dust right about now.

Even though neither my daughter nor myself are heading off to school this year, there's no reason we can't enjoy the perks of getting some new supplies to see us through whatever learning adventures this new year will bring.

BIG: Chris Van Veghel minimal rucksack / Public-Supply notebooks /

Zuzii womens suede oxford / Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

LITTLE: Duluth Pack child's envelope pack / Etch A Sketch /

Zuzii kids suede oxford / An Awesome Book of Love! by Dallas Clayton

OluKai

2014-08-28T09:46:00.000-06:00

Last week, we spent a few days in northern New Mexico visiting a chamber music festival, Music From Angel Fire, that I used to work for. In addition to hearing amazing music, catching up with old friends, and generally just enjoying the beautiful NM landscapes, we were able to take some time to wander around the wonderfully wacky town of Taos for a while, too. In one of the many adorable shops around the main town square, I ran across these sandals and fell madly in love. They are expertly made and insanely comfortable, without looking like a geriatric podiatrist-recommended pair of boats on your feet.

Have you ever heard of OluKai shoes? I hadn't come across them before but these sandals were all I needed to become instantly obsessed. Here are a few other current favorites:

Humu

Pa'ia

Hema

Since we are pretty much eternally broke, these will have to stay on the wish list for now. But you better believe I will be stalking the sales until I can snatch a pair up for myself.

--mel

Drugs, Sex, and…Classical Music?

2014-08-06T12:48:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to go into too much detail here about why this topic interests me. That would take way too much space and you would most certainly not come back to read much more from me I'm sure. "Rambling" would be putting it lightly. Anyway, I'll just say that classical music has been a huge part of my life since I was 6 years old and sat down in front of my first grand piano. I love it. Always have, always will.

For me, there is no question that classical music is completely relevant and exciting even hundreds of years after some of it was written. Having studied extensively the history and theory behind much of the classical music repertoire, I understand that my interest is inherently biased, but I also feel strongly that even without a musical background, anyone can find a similar interest and love of classical music. And if that means you have to read "Fifty Shades of Grey" to do it, so be it.

I've never read it, but supposedly, the book's namesake Christian Grey has an interest (Among other things…) in classical music. In one particular scene, as explained in this WQXR article, "Grey turns on his car stereo and proceeds to inform his love interest, Anastasia, about his 'eclectic' taste in music--'everything from Thomas Tallis to the Kings of Leon'. Grey says the Tallis is 'very esoteric, I know, but it's also magical'."

Even though reading that little excerpt makes me throw up in my mouth a little (hey, we all have different tastes in men and their pick-up lines), I will say that it is pretty impressive that a "mommy porn" novel can make a medieval choral motet break through the top 10 on the music charts some 450 years later and inspire a whole soundtrack full of classical music. I'll certainly applaud for that.

There's no question that the guiding force behind the newfound popularity of pieces like Tallis' Spem in Alium is, plain and simple, sex. The same thing that guides so much of pop culture today is creating a renaissance for musical forms from the past. There are countless other examples of movies finding new ways to create a link between classical music and sex (here's a good starter list, if you're interested). And you may be shocked to learn that this link between the racy promiscuous behavior and the bland penguin-attired orchestral musicians isn't just dreamed up by hollywood executives. It's real.

According to Amazon's new series "Mozart in the Jungle" (based on the memoir of oboist Blair Tindall by the same name), the inner workings of classical music are just as outlandish as what you'd expect from the green room at a Rolling Stones concert. Perhaps Mr. Grey wasn't so out of line after all.

So my question to you is does the sexualization of classical music make it more appealing to you? More relatable? Is classical music more interesting if there is drama and scandal attached to it? What words, feelings, emotions, do you associate with classical music? Is "kinky" one of them?

This is a safe space y'all. Feel free to comment anonymously if that makes you more comfortable. Either way, let 'er rip.

xoxo-

mel

(images via here, here, and here)

The big ONE

2014-07-24T09:07:00.003-06:00

So, NC turns 1 in a couple weeks.

(Dramatic pause.)

That's right. A whole year. 365 days. 8,765.81 hours. I could go all "RENT" on you and continue this pattern but it seems in fact that there are 525,949 minutes in a year so really we need to stop supporting the lie.

Anyway, NC is turning a year old and we're gonna party. I'm assuming she won't really know what the hell is going on, so we're getting a lot of sweets, a lot of beer, and a lot of yard games for the adults to celebrate.

Since she's not exactly of age yet and won't really be partying all that hard this year, a whole bunch of presents that she will be able to enjoy for the next year of her life will just have to suffice. Here are a few things that NC would love this year:

1- Balancing Tree. This set of balancing blocks would pull double duty since one of my Mr.'s favorite things to do is try and build the most epic stacked up pile of blocks ever, and one of NC's favorite things to do is knock it down.

2- Shopping Cart. NC is gonna be walking sooner than we'd all like her to so no use in fighting it. This would not only help stabilize her in her early wobbling phase, but she would be able to take all of her toys around the house with her, and perhaps even clean up after herself when she's finished (don't crush my dreams here, people).

3- Family Dolls. NC has a somewhat terrifying habit of chucking all of her stuffed animals over the side of her crib to their untimely deaths, laughing maniacally as they fall to the ground. One of the millions of sleep books we read said we should encourage the use of a "lovie"--something that she could use to soothe and comfort her when she is in her crib alone. I know she loves us, so maybe if we had these amazing dolls done up to look just like us, there would be less casualties in her bedroom.

4- Stacking Toy. Again, the stacks of things are a big hit in this house. Plus, NC loves to put things inside of and on top of other things (and then of course, knock them all down). Maybe this will help to curb her need for destruction.

5- Floral Romper. Okay, so maybe this is more for me than for NC. She doesn't give a damn what she wears so far as we can tell, but this would make mama so very happy.

6- Exclamatory! Shirt. A shirt with NC's favorite word on it! Perfect.

7- Classical Music for Kids. As you all probably know by now, one of my life's goals is to show the world that classical music is cool and completely relevant. I use NC as my guinea pig to try out as many different tactics as I can in hopes that she will fall in love with it as I have. So far, it's working pretty well. I think this book would be a good addition to my master plan.

8- Rocking Moose. Every child needs a rocking horse, and we live in CO. Enough said.

Talking about all these presents has me in the mood to go start ~~drinking~~ celebrating early!

xoxo-

mel