Hello.

At risk of sounding like an Adele song, hello, it's me (for the record, I'm not an Adele fan, but you're welcome...that song is officially stuck in all of our heads now).

 

But HELLO! It's been awhile, right? I've missed this blog so. Our lives have gotten so busy these last 2 years (has it been that long?), it's been nearly impossible to sit down and take the time to write. If you don't know me or aren't following along on Instagram, here's a quick recap of what we've been up to since I last checked in.

 

 

We sold our house in the city and jumped ship (quite literally) to the 'burbs.

 

 

We had a baby!

 

Who looks a bit more like this these days...

 

Our sweet Caroline was born last May, and to say we are obsessed with her is a bit of an understatement.

 

We also sent a certain someone to pre-school this year (who subsequently turned three while we weren't looking)...

 

 

When time allows, we are working on house projects. We landed upon a completely renovated cape, which made moving in & living life easy (I'm trying to wrap my head around our original idea of buying a fixer upper, all the while managing our little circus?!). Fortunately--for me!--the style of this house was not our taste at all, so I'm getting to change rooms one by one, slowly but surely. Some days I look around and feel like we still live in their house. But then I take a step back to look at the bigger picture, and we've definitely put our mark on this place. I can't wait to start sharing pictures with you soon!

I'm also taking a leap of faith and working on a little side project which will allow me to help you (my dear friends) to spruce up your home, style it & organize your spaces. Because your home should make you happy, right? More info to come! And if you're feeling a little impatient...in the meantime, let's chat, shall we?

Speaking of restyling, this blog will soon be getting a new look. I love it, it's fun...but it's just not me anymore, you know? I've also toyed with the idea of ditching the City Dwellin' name, but at the end of the day that's how you've come to know and love me. And quite frankly, city love will always be in our hearts (also, we live literally 10 minutes from our old house). Between the husband and I, we lived a total of about 15 years in the city. I guess we'll always be city dwellers at heart.

Well that's it folks! Hi. Hello. I'm back. This feels good.

 

 

Is this thing on: The Sequel (and other random musings)

Oh hey.

Is this thing on? I think the last time I said that I was sleepless in Seattle and navigating my way through new mommyhood. But now I have a toddler, I work, I manage a household (and all it's members), and I have no time for this blog. I love it & I love to write--really, I do. It's just that sometimes at the end of the day, I just want to zone out and watch an hour of whatever Housewives season we're currently in. And sleep. Yes, sleep.

I'm not totally sure how you pick up and start blogging again after being away for almost three months. So I think I'll just start talking as if I never took a break in the first place.

First up? We have a toddler, folks. One with really bad hair when she wakes up from a nap.


Exhibit A:

On a good day she looks like this:

And on St. Patrick's day she looks like this:

She's just shy of turning 17 months and wow...that was fast! She keeps us on our toes, that's for sure. She's so awesome & I know every mom says it, but I don't know what we did before her arrival (my guess is that I was watching way more reality t.v. than you could shake a stick at). She's talking & mimicking A LOT these days. Which means I have to watch my god damn f*&!ing mouth now. Great. Which, by the way, is really hard to do when you have a dog who never stops barking. And half the time he's barking at air. (And now you just got a glimpse of what our household is like on a daily basis. Your welcome.). Which would explain why this sometimes happens:

 

Anyhoo. Moving along.

I've been meaning to do a post on toddler meals for so long now. When I started (and never finished) the original post on this topic it was months ago. And since then, we've been all over the board. It seems teething--as well as a very opinionated 17-month old--are the reasons why mealtimes can be a down right challenge at times. I will say this--Emme is a pretty good eater on most days. I'm sure this is likely to change over the years (or the next 10 minutes), but for now it's all about providing a protein, grain, fruit and veggie with every meal (as well as striving for variety...something I struggle with on the daily). That doesn't mean all of those things actually make it into her mouth during each meal. But at least I'm holding up my end of the bargain.

 

Right now I swear by the Weelicious cook books. They're the bomb. If I was in the business of writing cookbooks (of which I am not) I would have written these for sure. They're typically my go to cookbooks when I'm trying to meal plan for the week. Which I usually do on Sundays. And then I head straight to Wegmans where I go to battle with the entire city of Buffalo (who also thinks shopping on a Sunday is a greeeeaaaaat idea).

I often sometimes get anxiety trying to put meals together for a toddler & two adults. The family cook book is right on...I can usually find something that's interesting, healthy, and pleases the three of us. Usually. So to sum things up, I love these books. Also, I need Xanex to grocery shop or pack lunches.

In other news....

So after we had a child, the old scrapbook room/office/store all my junk room turned into Emme's playroom. And I know, I still have not shared pics of the space. But for right now you should know that it is finished, it's awesome, and it helps keep our living room from looking like a daycare facility (most days anyway). The husband has his room/office, but for whatever reason he wasn't super welcoming when it came time to find a place for my stuff. So I purchased (with the help of my in-laws--in the form of a birthday gift) this shelf/cabinet:

It's awesome. I found it on Amazon. It came a little nicked and battered, but nothing overly noticeable. It was super easy to put together too (i.e., it didn't require the use of the husband or a drill). Also, I finally have a place to corral all my stuff (that isn't on the dining room table)! And since all my belongings are on display, I have no choice but to keep things looking good and organized in there. Unfortunately--and it didn't take long--little hands have figured out a way to get inside this thing, so I don't know how long things will stay looking like this. The other good news is that this thing replaced the stupid wine fridge...that we still have yet to get rid of. Anyone want to buy a wine fridge? Anyone?? Please? I've been reduced to begging.

Sources:

Cabinet: Amazon

Wire baskets: Hobby Lobby

File folder storage & turquoise box: HomeGoods

Horsehead book end: thrifted

And if you're not too busy this evening, think about tuning in to watch my alma mater, the University of Dayton, take on Stanford in the NCAA tourney, won't you? I know someone who won't be watching. In fact, she could give a crap.

Whew...this was fun. It's good to be back!

Hey, yo.

Alright, so here we go....a new City Dwellin' design! I know several of you have stopped by in the last day or so to compliment the new digs. I'm absolutely thrilled with the way things turned out! Moe Howard of the blog Five Sixteenths (as well as With Love Crochet) is the fabulous gal behind this here design. And because I'm a little special when it comes to navigating Blogger (and well, anything tech related really), she was all sorts of help getting me to this point...tweaking, assisting, listening to my stupid questions, etc. If you like what you see, check her out!

I'll be back this week with regularly scheduled blogging. Promise. I'll be sharing some pictures of the master bedroom progress, as well as some DIY art we finally got around to hanging, and some new curtains for project hallway. Remember this lovely fabric?

See you later this week!

Start fresh

I've been feeling pretty inspired lately, and that's a cool thing. We had a fabulous Christmas, but let's face it...I'm done with the holidays. Not to mention those damn decorations that finally found themselves a home, tucked away in the attic. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who feels this way, right? Here's to a more tidy, organized and less cluttered 2012!

I've been thinking a lot these last few days about tackling some upcoming house projects, entertaining, decluttering the house & getting rid of stuff we just.don't.need (our attic is a hoarders dream...in fact, we're dangerously heading in that direction). I'm a firm believer that everyday is an opportunity to make changes, but there's just something really motivating about doing it at the start of a new year, no? I'm still perfecting my list of resolutions, but to give you an idea of what I've been working on, here goes nothing...

Floss more. Because everyone should be doing it really (at least that's what your dentist tells you). Yep, true story, I'm not a flosser. Which would explain why the husband asked what the hell I was doing last night.

Eat clean. I'm a fairly healthy eater by nature, but I married a foodie (and a darn good cook at that), so it's easy to be tempted now and again. I know, everyone vows to eat better & lose weight in the new year. But that's not my intention. The simple truth is that getting on track (when I've fallen off) is a pretty incredible feeling.

A new blog design. A new year, a new look...right? I'm currently exploring my options right now, but I'm definitely planning some upcoming changes to the 'ol blog. I love what I've got going on right now, but change is a good thing. I'm not exactly sure when it's all gonna happen, but consider this your notice.

Start pinning. In one of those you 'didn't see it coming' moments, I joined Pinterest. But don't ask me what that means because: 1) I haven't pinned anything, and 2) I don't know how it all works (which would explain my lack of pins). I suppose my next resolution should be something to the effect of Learn how to use Pinterest.

House projects. I wasn't very good about tackling my 2011 to-do list, which included (in my delusional mind) redecorating just about every last room in our home. This year I'm sticking to a simple, more managable list that includes a master bedroom makeover (finally...this one is way overdue), window treatments for the dining room (we've lived in our home for, ahem, over four years...so shall we talk about what's really overdue here?), and a side entryway/hallway makeover (that includes finally covering that ugly drywall from a door enclosure during the kitchen makeover). And speaking of the kitchen, I guess another really good resolution would be to finally post kitchen pics on the 'ol blog. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here....

So here we go! Onward & upward, and ready to take on 2012! Even if it's already January 4. It's never too late to get started!

Keeping up with the Joneses

I was attempting to post pictures from our weekend adventures, but I just didn't have it in me today. Instead, I've been over at Life Begins at Thirty, Right?. I absolutely love this blog. Janice is our neighbor to the north (Toronto, specifically speaking), and her house is pretty fabulous. Just check out her living room...



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Beautiful, huh? One might say I have house envy...which is the topic of conversation of her most recent post that you can find HERE. I think this is a must-read reality check for those of us (me included) who find themselves lost in the la-la land of the internet--blogs, Pinterest, you name it. Life isn't always what it seems, but you wouldn't always know that right? If you're so inclined, head over there and leave a comment or two. People are keeping it real over there, and that's pretty refreshing.

The happy birthday edition

Exactly one year ago today, I started this tiny little blog...



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 By all accounts it's still tiny, and when it comes to blogging I'm no professional (I write what I like, when I have the time). But if I'm remotely entertaining myself, the husband and possibly 4 other readers, then I'm totally happy with that.



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 The good news is that I'm still inspired to write & I still think this blogging stuff is good times. And if that's all I ever get out of this hobby...then you know what, I'm totally cool with that. Just think of all the good things that will come in year two...

More bat stories (well, actually, let's hope not)!
How the tree triming guy promised to come in July and still hasn't arrived (ooooh, now that's gonna be a good one)!
How those Halloween kiddos won't die on our porch steps this year (unless of course a fight breaks out over that last kit kat...in which case, that would be their problem, not mine)!
And how I'm really, really going to post finished pictures of the kitchen one of these days! True story.

Happy birthday City Dwellin'!

Cats in the home

We're cat people. Actually, we're animal people in general...but given our current living situation (on the second floor), having a cat makes the most sense for us right now.

This is Tiggy. Or Tigs, Toots, Scoots, Zoots, Zootabelle...whatever name we feel like calling her at the given moment (I'm almost certain she's in the midst of an identity crisis of some sort). She's been with us forever & she's our baby. We make up songs & sing them to her. And we create scenarios & talk as if we know what she's thinking. And how she feels about the neighbor cats. Yes, we're those crazy people.

So I was excited when Nicole at Parlour posted the Houzz article, 50 Cats Cozy Up at Home (her own cat was featured in the post).



image via Parlour



You can check out the entire article over at Houzz. How fun for us animal lovers? On a typical day, Tiggy can be found in her usual digs...the spare bedroom. Or on a winter day...in her cozy cat bed. Either way, she's the queen of our household. Isn't that the case with most of our pets?

Putting it out there...

So I did it. I put myself out there. I'm typically hesitant to do so, only because I know I'm serious small beans when it comes to this blogging thing. And honestly, I don't like to toot my horn very much because there are tons of other bloggers out there with far more talent & creativity!

But since she asked, I did it. You can find me at Hello Splendor. I linked myself at #91 (for those of you who were curious). The "Link Party" post can be found HERE.

Beth Dotolo is a Dallas interior designer & the gal behind Hello Splendor. The purpose of her link party is to feature bloggers in her Splendid List series. While I don't expect to make the cut (but then again, who knows?), the link party is a genious way for the rest of us folks to see what other bloggers are out there...125 of us to be exact!

Time to get reading!