Go-Go Mommy

Hip Findings - Decor

As we prepare to move into home number five (which, incidentally, should be our last move for quite some time - we hope!), I have to admit that the excitement of being back in a house in my own bed has made these last few nights a bit sleepless for me. 

I don't know what it is - maybe I'm worried about the transition for the girls especially since Sweet Pea has taken to sleeping in the "family bed" rather than on her cot (can you blame her) or with her sister.  Or maybe I'm just trying to catch up on all of my Bravo reality shows while the girls are asleep.  After 4-5 hours of sleep, however, I find myself awake and my dreams of decorating each room in our home become an obsession that makes me grab the computer to see what other "finds" or ideas may be lurking out here in cyberspace.

So in honor of my insomnia (and since I'm up again at 5:00am surfing the web in the bathroom so I don't wake anyone else) I thought I'd share some great sites with you.

If you haven't already tried this first one, it's a great place to see how real people decorate their homes.  You can give feedback by commenting on the rooms and even have a "conversation" with the homeowner/designer. Let's say your room would be perfect if it only had the same curtains to set off your space - just ask in your comment where you could find that item and the "designer" will typically answer in another comment. It even lets post photos of your own room in order to seek decorating advice. The website is Rate My Space.  It has enabled me to spend many of my sleepless hours gathering ideas for furniture placement when the movers finally arrive next week!

More great places for home decor ideas are the many, many, many decor and design blogs.  Here are a few to get you started.  So many of them link to others that I'm sure you'll soon find your "Decor" bookmark filled in no time! 

I liked this one so much I'm sending permanent linky love to Melissa on my sidebar so you can follow her long after this post.  She blogs at The Inspired Room  This is one Style Coach/Designer you don't want to miss!  Especially since she has a new list of "20 Little Things to Treasure in Autumn" - I love the herringbone.  You can read more about Melissa and her design philosophy: "Authentic Living" on her blog.  She is a designer that actually inspires us to see the beautiful life that we have, and reflect that "real life" in our surroundings - wow!

Another great blog actually led me to Melissa.  It is Things that Inspire.  This is a great place to find compilations of beautifully designed rooms.  In fact the latest post has tons of incredible herringbone fireplaces.  Wait... do I sense a theme for fall or am I just going back to more traditional roots after my "mid-century Eichler" period?

Finally, decor8 satisfies my quirky, modern, mid-century itch with an international flair.  At the same time I get the latest "dish" about the most current "Top Design" episode and updates on new Etsy designers and stores.  True one-stop shopping when you've only got a few minutes to surf before the kids wake-up.  Oops - I spoke too soon! BFN!

My Life in Tidbits

You know you've been in a hotel too long when...

- You slather body lotion all over your just-washed hair thinking it's conditioner.

You know your hubby has been traveling/working too much when your 4 year old says a little too excitedly..

- "You mean daddy's coming here to have dinner with us?!" OR
- "YEAH! Daddy's coming home today!"

Look out - mommy's on the loose!

It finally happened; mommy had a chance to get together with friends for a couple of her own playdates.

First, I managed to escape get leave get the timing right for a MNO with some awesome Silicon Valley Mom Blog bloggers last week. How "mommy" of me, I'm just getting the time to blog about it now! Anyway, when my uber cool friend Sheila (Xiaolinmama) emailed me for a night out with fellow bloggers Nicole (Not Just a Working Mom) and Robyn (Who's the Boss), the stars were in alignment and KB was actually in town and ready to babysit. Don't I have the most awesome hubby? (BTW hon, I'm not just sucking up for Mother's Day but my cyber sistahs did tell me that Cool Mom Picks has a lot of great choices any mommy would love to receive - just look at the Mother's Day Guide 2008. How easy to just point, click, and secure a great gift?! HINT HINT)

So where do mommy bloggers hang out together in Silicon Valley? We met at the very hip Roux for drinks and great live-jazz, and then dined "al fresco" at Thea for some incredibly delicious mediterranean cuisine. YUM! Besides yelling "Opa!" for our flaming cheese, the highlight of the night was discovering a new favorite drink: the Manjito. I don't remember all the ingrediants but I do know it had some cognac in it. It's a keeper but we did decide that we'd like to come back with our own recipe: "the Mamajito". Any suggestions?

Can you tell we had a great time?! After dinner, we wrapped up our night at Border's and got out our girly giggles by reading tips from a book on where to meet a man. Here's a sample: "at the Playboy Mansion". Need I say more? Excuse me but #1, this mommyblogger is N-E-V-E-R getting an invite to the Mansion and more importantly (and I probably don't even have to list this one) but IF I ever did, I somehow find it hard to imagine that any man would give me the time of day. For me, the proper advice would be more like "go to the Playboy Mansion while every other breathing female on the premises in stuck in quarantine" and even then, odds are I'd better bring my watch with me!

My next outing was not necessarily a mom's day but it felt like it because I finally had a chance to catch up with a great friend and her little one. For those of you who missed it, "E" has a daughter, "H", that is 3 months younger than Sweet Pea and they hit it off immediately at a photo shoot last year. We had a great time "visiting the fountains" at Stanford Mall, trying to keep track of the girls (Sweet Pea was always in the lead while H felt more at home taking her time getting places and exploring all of the sights along the way), and eating pizza for lunch at CPK.

When the girls were together, they were sooo cute and little H was hilarious. She is already very verbal and said a very enthusiastic "hi" to many people passing by us. To top it off, we were there for a historic moment: we got to hear little H say "mama" for the first time. Yeah! I love being a part of one of E's most memorable moments with her daughter - how could the day get any better? I'll tell you...it was such a success both Poppy and Sweet Pea took a three hour nap after lunch!

Just when you think you've got it all figured out...

If you're a regular reader (aka - my husband) you know that I usually try to post something new about every couple of days. Needless to say, I feel like I'm a little late - and this is going to be very short.

The problem is that Sweet Pea is cutting another tooth. I just love her sassy smile and it's always exciting to see how much better she handles solides with her ever-increasing set of chompers. The down side? Where do I begin?

KB and I were settling nicely into somewhat of a "routine". Sweet Pea was going to bed early - well, earlier than we liked - but she was getting a solid 10 hours of sleep. For mommy, this was truly a blessing. While this meant she was going to bed about 6:30pm and waking up at 4:30am, it was still better than it has ever been this past year. I was even able to push back her bedtime to about 7:30pm (which was heaven) until daylight savings time rolled around. But I was up for the challenge of figuring it out. It's the new tooth that's another story.

No, KB and I haven't gotten any sleep for the last 3 nights. In fact, I received warnings probably a few days before that when she woke up at 10pm and then 2pm. I took it for hunger - you'd think that with Sweet Pea being my second child I'd know the difference between hunger pains and "a tooth splitting your gum open" pain.

Wish us luck tonight!

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? WHAT? It's already Over?! Otherwise Entitled: Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen!

Yes, I'm talking about Michigan Football.

Now I know there is a large percentage of you out there that don't even subscribe to football. And I know that there's probably an even greater percentage of you that, due to proximity in the heart of Silicon Valley, are die-hard PAC-10 fans. And I know that there's an even greater percentage out there of PAC-10 and BIG-10 fans who are not even losing one wink of sleep over this. Who am I kidding?! You're probably losing sleep because your out there laughing your head off and still celebrating over Michigan's performance during the last 2 games.

But alas, for those of us with Maize and Blue in our blood, it is a sad, sad moment indeed. With great anticipation we look forward to each season. Sure, the BIG-10 may not be so big out here on the West Coast but believe me, there are plenty of Michigan transplants out here to have made an impact in a variety of ways (Google) and bond together to bask in the glory of a great fall football season. Especially when we start out the season ranked #5.

This was also to be a banner season because I specifically planned an autumn trip to visit family and friends - DURING football season. I made sure I would be there to see my first game back at The Big House in about 10 years (is it that many already?)! I was going to stroll around campus noting the many changes to Central Campus, see the Diag & good 'ol MCB, State Street, etc. I was going to get my unbelievable deli delights from Zingerman's. I was going to head over to hear the marching band warm-up before the game and have a great tailgate with a best friend. Then I was going to enter the stadium with about 107,500 other people who were going to cheer The Victors on to - what else? - Victory!!

You can also find me at Silicon Valley Moms Blog as JB.