The Bugaboo Bee

My parents got us a stroller, carseat, lots of clothes, and are paying for a washer dryer to be put into our apartment as presents for having the baby! We are very excited to have a washer and dryer, as I know how much laundry new babies create. Right now, I am spending the month in New York while our apartment is being painted, and the radiators are being removed! Once the painting is finished, we will be able to install our new washer and dryer! You don't know how excited I am to finally have my own washer and dryer!! Plus, my mother taught me how to iron, and I find it quite satisfying to be able to iron everything neatly.  Some women, I know, hate to iron, but not me! Well, at least not yet...
After looking at many strollers from the BOB to the City Mini and many others out there, we finally decided on the Bugaboo Bee. It is great because it is really light weight, only 17 lbs.(I am not very strong), and folds up so easily.  It also retracts back, so that even  though it isn't a basinnet stroller, the baby can still basically lie down in it.  I also love that the seat is reversible, so that the baby can either face you or look out.  I like that it is sturdy, with four wheels instead of three. Another great aspect is that some strollers can't  be used until the baby reaches a certain weight, but this one can be used right away with the carseat going right into it, with an adapter.  Then once the baby is a month or so old, she can go directly in it! It can be used until the baby is around 37.5 lbs., which is a four year old, give or take.
It is also very attractive! The Bugaboo Bee comes in a black base, and has many options for the color of the sun canopy.  We were all settled on having a black base and black canopy, when I saw a new color had come out in "soft pink!" Now, I realize that this is not the most practical color, especially since we plan on having another baby, who could very well be a boy, but the canopy can be switched out at that point, and is only $59.00.  I think this is well worth it, it is just so precious in pale pink!



folded up, ready to put in the closet or in the car

If any of you readers have the Bugaboo Bee, I'd love to hear your experiences! 

The Bedding!

While I am a huge fan of toile, as you can see in my earlier post All Things Toile, when I went to look for toile bedding for our baby's crib, nothing really stood out to me.  So, after I searched high and low, I found a beautiful set by Annette Tatum.  While it isn't toile, one side of the bumper has a beautiful damask pattern.  I love how subtle and pale the color of the pink is, and is perfect for a little girl.  

This is Annette Tatum's Brocade Peony three piece crib set

I love how the sheet has a bit of bohemian flair to it, but is softened by the pale pink stripes and damask

I can't wait until everything is set up! I also registered for a plain white sheet, and a pale pink sheet for extras when this crib sheet is in the wash.  So far, this is my favorite thing that I've bought for our baby! Would love to hear your thoughts!

Hot Air Balloon Mobile

I found a really interesting, attractive mobile at Bellini.  It is perfect for our nursery, and really looks like a hot air balloon model.  What do you guys think? I think it will look great floating and flying above her crib. 

We registered!!

So, besides furniture for our baby girl, we need so much stuff! It is so overwhelming, and buying everything that we need is definitely going to break the bank, so we decided to register, in case our friends and family want to help us start our little family.  We registered at Magic Beans as well as at Babies R Us. If you're looking to register, Babies R Us is great, as is Buy Buy Baby.  Unfortunately, we don't have a Buy Buy Baby in Massachusetts. 
There is sooo much that we need, and are hoping to get a lot of it from family and friends, but if not, we will buy it all ourselves.  A kind family member took me to register, to show me what I absolutely needed, and what I could live without.  She is a mother of three, so I really appreciated her help, and trusted her opinion!
I feel better now that this is done, and we will continue to search for nursery furniture. 

The beginning of the creating the nursery

While buying baby clothes is fun and pretty irresistible, I had to be stopped.  My husband convinced me that our daughter will have the most beautiful clothes as an infant, but since I am spending so much money, by the time she is a toddler, she will be in rags! This was very funny, but had some truth to it.  So we have really buckled down on finding just the necessities. After dragging my husband endless times to Pottery Barn Kids, Bellini, and Babies R Us, we found a crib that we love at Bellini!
I love the cribs at Pottery Barn, but they don't make any furniture in a true white.  Everything they make is in an antique white, which is nice, but because our nursery has so many moldings already painted in a true white, it would clash.  
The crib we decided on is called the Alexander crib, and while it is a bit pricey, it is worth it in the end.  It converts to a toddler bed, and then later into a full sized bed!! So, really, it's 3 beds in 1! 

The Alexander Crib

We have also decided on an area rug! The whole room is yellow with white moldings, and we aren't that interested in doing everything pink and yellow, so we decided on green, with a few pink accents, such as the bedding.  The rug we chose is called the Avery Rug, and we are getting in the dimensions of 5' x 7'.  

We have taped off the dimensions of the crib, and borrowed a swatch from PBK, and this is an idea of how things will look

I think my nesting instincts have already set in!!! 

We found out the baby's sex! It's a....

GIRL!!!!


We are so excited that we are having a little girl! My husband, T, is actually very nervous about it, but I know what a great father he will be to his little lady!
And the shopping has begun!!!
Many outfits were purchased at Janie and Jack by the baby's maternal grandmother- my mom.  Baby girl clothes are just irresistible! 

A beautiful smocked dress, Janie and Jack

Janie and Jack also makes this adorable sun bonnet!

I also bought her adorable footsie onesies at Baby Gap.  I can't wait to buy her a crib, stroller, and bedding! I'll keep you all updated!

I Heart Etsy

I love the idea of having homemade items made for our baby! Sadly, neither I, nor anyone in my family can knit, but that's okay because there is Etsy to the rescue.  Many sellers on Etsy make homemade products, and I have already bought a handmade knit hat for only $17 with shipping included!! This wool hat is adorable, and is the first purchase I've made for the baby off of Etsy. The first of many ;)

found on Justynajustyna's page on etsy

Baby's first outfits!

I went out and bought the baby it's first two outfits! I went to Janie and Jack, a store that sells adorable infant and children's clothing. Since we don't yet know the sex of the baby, I bought two unisex outfits.  They are both organic, and have a turtle theme.  The first is a longsleeved body suit/onesie in white with an embroidered and crochet turtle.  Very cute and so tiny! The second is a long sleeved, long pant kimono! They are both from the layette collection.  I also bought a hat and socks to match!

They are so cute, and are less of a yellow-green than how they appear in the photos.  I loooove Janie and Jack! Can't wait to buy the baby more clothes as I get farther along, and once we find out the sex (April 1st!!!).

Enchanted Forest Nursery

The first few items I have fallen in love with, but are way beyond my budget is called the Enchanted Forest collection, and I found it on Poshtots.com.  The pieces of the collection that I covet are hand painted scenes of Peter Rabbit on a toy chest ($1560.00), a dresser ($3,000), a hamper ($374.00), and a wastebasket ($300.00).  While I love these scenes, they are not practical once our baby grows up, as opposed to a nice dresser that he or she can use throughout childhood.  I think they are so well done, though. 

toy chest



dresser

wastebasket

hamper

Can I Create A Nursery????

So, now that I am pregnant (13 weeks)!!!! I have halted all decorating of our apartment, and am starting to think about how to decorate the nursery, and focus on that, for now.  We don't know the sex yet, and feel grateful that we painted the second bedroom (soon to be nursery) yellow.  The next 7 months, my blog will be focusing on nursery furniture, baby clothes, and things of the like.  Happy reading!

Christmas in Prague

Our trip to Prague was wonderful.  The city is spectacular, and we did so much while we were there.  We visited the Christmas markets, saw Swan Lake at the State Opera House, went to St. Vitus Cathedral, and saw the Prague Castle.  The architecture in Prague is beautiful! Even the low income housing is hundreds of years old, and is stunning.  I couldn't believe how intricately detailed all of the houses and buildings were in the city.  The main types of architecture in Prague are Romanesque, Baroque, Gothic, and Art Nouveau.  
Here are photographs from our trip...

The State Opera House in Prague

The Christmas markets

A beautiful house in Old Town square

Tyn Church in Old Town square

Beautiful ginger bread houses

St. Vitus Cathedral

Inside the Prague palace

The view from the Vitava River

on the Charles Bridge

John Derian

Happy 2011! This is bound to be an exciting year, and one of my resolutions is to try to do another big project in our apartment!
Prague was beautiful, and once my husband digs up his camera, I will post pictures of the incredible architecture that was ubiquitous there! 
For now, I want to show you my new favorite thing: John Derian decoupage trays.
I plan on collecting his trays and so far have two. One was given to me by a friend, and the other I bought myself.
The first one is 5"x8" and says "poetry." The other is of an old United States map measuring 4.5" x 6.5."  I consider these vanity trays, but have the map tray on my living room table.  The other tray I keep jewelry on.  I just love them, and plan on getting more!
While my trays were bought at Lekker, John Derian also makes a line of products at Target, that is really affordable! 

photo courtesy of tabulatua.com

This photo is from The Cross Design

While John Derian is a great furniture designer, and also makes other decoupage items, such as coasters and bins, I am a sucker for the trays.  Here are my two favorite, a circus elephant and a ferris wheel at Coney Island, that I hope to buy soon.  These are found on the John Derian website

Let me know what you think of these trays!

Christmas dinner with friends

We had another miniature dinner party last night, and pecan crusted chicken with potatoes au gratin and hericot vert were on the menu.  Our friends brought us two adorable owl ornaments for our Christmas tree from Crate and Barrel.  It was the first time we used our dining room table, and since we don't have dining room chairs yet, we brought in our white dining chairs that we use at our kitchen table.  I kept the table simple, using linen placemats and napkins, and bought white lilies.  I also lit our Noel candles from Crabtree and Evelyn, which smells so much like Christmas.  I even served egg nog! We lit a fire, and all in all, it was very festive and fun!

Our "his and hers" owl ornaments! Aren't they adorable?

We used our cheese plates before dinner, and had brie, and triple creme, and crackers! Our plates are from The Boston Warehouse Trading Corp.

H

Check out my blog on Tuesday for a surprise! 

My Christmas Tree

My husband and I drove to Allandale Farm in Brookline, MA. to buy our Christmas tree last Sunday.  

Allandale Farm is an old working farm, which dates back to colonial time. It is also a farmer's market, and sells Christmas trees,  wreaths, and ornaments during the holiday season.  We found ourselves a great tree, and brought it home to put in our living room.  The tree smells amazing, and our entire house smells like Christmas! 
We are just starting an ornament collection.  We have one from Neiman Marcus, which is a white golf ball, and another one from Anthropologie, which is a pair of ice skates. We also have a white angel that was given to us by my aunt.  I bought a white ball with a picture of Santa Clause on it from Allandale Farm, as well as two big red velvet bows.

However, our tree looked so bare with just lights and five ornaments!

My husband putting the tree into the stand

So I added candy canes!! They only cost $1.00 at CVS, and really helped the tree look more festive!

But, it was still not festive enough.  So, I went to Target and bought some colored ball ornaments, and it made a world of difference! Also, 19 ornaments only cost me $15.00! What a steal!

Now this is a great tree!

All we need now is a tree skirt, and a tree topper! I want an angel to top our tree, and hope to pick one up in Prague! What do you think of our tree?

Buildings that help inspire

I love the architecture in houses built in both Boston and New York! Some of the old buildings that were built in Boston are incredible, and were made to last.  The newer ones are also really amazing.  Here are some photographs of buildings that I love...

This row of townhouses by the Boston Common is located in Beacon Hill, on Charles St. in Boston

This is one of my favorite houses on Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay, Boston

I love this black brownstone on east 63rd Street in New York, because it is so different from the houses beside it

Two beautiful buildings, made of granite and limestone, and copper located on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston

What is your favorite kind of architecture? Have a great weekend everyone!!

Our Foyer

This is our foyer, which I love, and  I cannot wait to paint it.  There is so much detail, that it will be a complicated paint job, but I can't wait to get rid of the gold leaf that was so sloppily painted onto such beautiful moldings,  and make the room into something really warm and inviting.  The dentil wood crown molding, that is also found in our master bedroom, is really beautiful, and there is some egg dart molding in the foyer, as well.

The foyer from the front door facing the living room

Our foyer from the living room facing the front door

Wood dentil molding

egg dart molding

Our very Roman Scamozzi capital fluted square columns with applique

I learned a bit about where the scamozzi capital came from on a website about columns. Vincenzo Scamozzi was an architect who lived in Venice during the second half of the 16th century. He was a partially responsible for bringing back the classical architectural orders. His big contribution to architecture is the Scamozzi capital, as shown above on our columns in the foyer. 

This example of something similar to our walls was found on Hyde Park Mouldings website. 

I really like the paint color they chose, what do you think of this idea? I would love paint color suggestions!