This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...went out for a dinner date at Coda di Volpe - we had tried to go last weekend but couldn't get in so I had it on the brain. I forgot how good (and cute!) that place is. I'm a little ashamed but mostly not to admit that I ordered the veal and it was mouthwatering, lick-the-plate good.
...after NINE YEARS had to try a new hair color (mine was discontinued last year and I just finished out my stockpile) and was totally freaked that I'd ruin my hair. But I ended up pleasantly surprised by how close it came out to what I was using before! I use Feria in C74, which starts out a bright orange-y red but fades to the perfect strawberry blonde.
...continued our quest to see all of the main Oscars films with a matinee of Vice. While I found the whole thing fascinating and the performance by Christian Bale incredible, it was definitely my least favorite of the Best Picture nominees. We followed that up with dinner at Warbler and then went home to watch Black Panther, which means we just have one more movie to watch before the Oscars!
...went out to brunch at Summer House, which is alway so nice to visit in winter since it feels like you're on vacation. And there are no vacations for us in the near future! Since I got pregnant (and never-ending sugar cravings) Jeff and I started ordering pastries to share as breakfast starters, and the warm blueberry muffin we had this weekend really hit the spot!

Here's hoping you had a good one!

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The Nursery

You guys, I think the nursery is finally done! Or, shall we say, done enough ;) There's still a few things I'm considering adding and I'm missing some pillows that are on backorder (the ones in the pictures are actually from our living room!), but we're going to count it for here. I'm currently 37 weeks and the doctor may want to induce me at 39, so we're officially in the home stretch here!

I usually have a really hard time decorating a room (it took me months to decide on rugs when we moved to our condo!) but I feel like the nursery came together fairly easily. We already owned the couch, bookshelves, and rug and planned to keep them in that space, so really we just had a few big pieces to buy (that we magically agreed on in one shopping trip!) and a little decorating. It actually ended up fairly close to what I initially envisioned!

I tried to get some photos that showed the space from different angles so you can get a better feel of how the space works. It's a fairly small room and would be tricky to fit in even a double bed, but for a nursery it works just fine!

I included the links I could at the end. Some of the items are repurposed and are actually really old. Like the three little square photographs? I cut those out of a 2011 desk calendar years ago and they've actually been on the wall in that spot since we moved in - I thought they worked so I kept them! The bookcases were a part of the IKEA hack desk Jeff gave me for Christmas back when we first moved in together. And the baby animal photographs are actually from the baby shower I threw for my sister-in-law last summer! Repurposing what I already had helped keep the budget down and added a little more variety into the space - win win win!

Do you love the baby stock image in the frame?? 😂😂Hopefully at some point we'll switch that out! My cousin made this cute little basket for me, it's perfect for holding our baby girl's growing collection of headbands!

Just a note on these baskets - they're all actually slightly different sizes! Since I ordered eight I was able to match the heights for each shelf, but if you're just ordering two or three you might have a problem if you want them next to each other. 

I really would have preferred a bigger dresser. Even though it looks like this wall has a lot of space, we measured and it just wouldn't have worked. I'm considering getting a staircase bookshelf to fill some of the space to the left of the dresser and add something with a little more visual height, but I decided to stall on that. Partially because I couldn't find one that I really loved that got good reviews, and partially because I'm going to see how we use the space and see if we still want to add another piece after a few months. 

Furniture: Crib / Dresser / Couch / Rug

Wall Decor: Rattan Mirror / Bunny Painting / Baby Animal Prints 

Crib Accessories: Crib Sheet / Crib Skirt / Blush Blanket / Pom Pom Blanket / Lamb Mobile / Lamb stuffed animal / Crib Mattress

Couch Accessories: Pillows (pictured / the real pillows on backorder) / Pouf / Elephant lovey

Changing Table Accessories: Cover / Wipes Box / Hamper / Garbage can 

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A Little Leopard

Sweater - Sejour / Maternity Tee and Maternity Jeans - Old Navy / Booties (also available here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar) - Sole Society / Necklace - Stella & Dot

Oh hey there, guess who's officially full term over here?! 37 weeks!! I really can't believe that I could basically have a baby at any time at this point. Like, I was talking to my Uber driver over the weekend (after I missed my stop and had to backtrack haha - pregnancy brain!) and he was talking about how his daughter was born two weeks early, and I was like OMG THAT COULD BE NEXT WEEK. Freakyyyyy. It's still a little hard for me to picture that the thing moving around in my stomach is going to be a real baby in my arms! 

I'm very glad to be almost done with this whole pregnancy thing, not just because my body is currently falling apart (writing this with two ice packs strapped to my hands!) but also because this whole "pregnancy uniform" thing is starting to get a little boring! Are you tired of seeing a rotation of cardigans over my maternity clothes? Yep, me too! But, this is real life, it's what I'm really wearing, so it's what I'm sharing. 

I'm really glad I ended up picking up this leopard cardigan last month though, because it is so fun to wear and helps me not just wear the same three sweaters over and over. This thing is so soft and freaking adorable. I've been wearing it mainly over all black, but I think the colors will actually transition really well into spring - I have a lavender blouse in my closet that looks so pretty with it. The only thing is it's actually from a plus size brand! I got the smallest size which is a little oversized but definitely works, but if you're smaller than me you'll have to keep searching for the perfect leopard sweater. 

I realized something I haven't shared on here is the winter coat I've been wearing every day! I didn't really think about until it started getting cold was that I would actually need a maternity winter coat. I think I figured that my regular coat could get me through, but nope, that thing stopped zipping up in December. I wanted to find something warm (#polarvortex) but inexpensive since I would likely only ever wear it for a couple of months. This one from Old Navy definitely did the trick! Definitely buy your regular Old Navy size (I'm wearing a large) because it runs really big - I tried the next size up and there was enough space for quadruplets in there ;) It's lined in fleece so it's definitely warm. I wish the sleeves were an inch or so longer, but I'm pretty sure I snagged this on sale for about $40 so it was something I was willing to live with. 

Sweater - Sejour / Maternity Tee and Maternity Jeans - Old Navy / Booties (also available here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar) - Sole Society / Necklace - Stella & Dot

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Recent Reads

I do a ton of reading (although I have a feeling that may change in the near future ;) and wanted to start coming in here more regularly to share what I've been reading! In the past month I've finished two really good books, one that was okay, and one that was a nice, trashy read - read on for my recommendations!

	If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim If You Leave Me opens in 1950's wartime Korea, following the lives of three teenage war refugees trying to help their families survive while leading entangled romantic lives. The story follows them as the years pass, and covers themes of wartime and loss as well as post-war recovery and growth. But mainly the story is about never-ending love and family obligation, with an interesting focus around postpartum depression. It's really beautifully written too with deep, complex characters. If you're into WWII fiction, I suggest giving a different type of war story a try!
	Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens This book is incredibly popular right now so I thought I'd give it a try, and it did not let me down! Part novel and part murder mystery, the book follows the heartbreaking story of a girl abandoned in the swamps of North Carolina in the 1950's, while simultaneously flashing forward to the murder of a young man in town in the 1970's. I won't spoil anything for you, but just know that I basically had to talk about the murder mystery to someone and spoiled it to Jeff instead - it was that good. But besides the murder plot, just the story of the young girl growing up on her own and learning to survive is so heartbreaking but also beautiful, it was hard to put down.
	The Ensemble by Aja Gabel I had really high hopes for this story, as it has everything I usually love in a novel. The story follows the members of a string quartet as they graduate from school and try to make it as musicians in the real world while growing into adulthood. I just found the actual career path of the group very niche and hard to relate to, which is interesting because I actually played the violin for fifteen years and was a part of string ensembles. The author tries to relate everything in the story, including the language, back to classical music, which I would definitely say is not for everyone.
	China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan I breezed through the first Crazy Rich Asians during our trip to Hawaii and was amused enough by it to try out the second book. China Rich Girlfriend picks up a little after the first book ends, and follows Rachel and Nick as they travel to Hong Kong and, of course, dives into the drama of a whole new group of the crazy wealthy. I thought it was fun to have a new city for the book to explore and new characters, while still including characters from the first book of course. I was annoyed that, reading the digital version, the author decided to add even more unnecessary footnotes, which are so obnoxious on the iPad app. But, overall it was a fast and fun read, definitely good if you have a beach trip coming up!

Have you read anything good lately? Let me know!!

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This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...did a much better job of getting out of the house than last weekend!! We decided to continue our quest to see all of the top Oscar films and went to see Green Book. I thought parts of it were a little cliche/predictable, but overall I loved the movie. Out of the Best Picture nominees I've seen, I would put my money on Green Book winning - you heard it here folks! We decided to grab a casual dinner while we were out and stopped in to Luella's Southern Kitchen for some fried chicken - so good but my body was not happy with me afterwards!! This baby likes her vegetables I guess!
...paid a visit to Jeff's baby sister - can't believe that little girl is already five months old!! We are also still very amused by the concept of her being an aunt to our daughter in just a couple of weeks ;)
...thought I was going to fall asleep for the night around 5pm but decided to rally instead and wound up hopping into a couple bars along Southport with Jeff (fed the baby a couple Shirley Temples ;) before grabbing dinner at Corridor. We always look at the menu but end up splitting a pizza and the chopped salad - so good!
...met up with a friend for brunch at Blue Door Farm Stand in Lincoln Park. I've somehow walked past a ton of times but never noticed it before - it's so freaking cute inside! As one of the reviews on Yelp said, it's like Joanna Gaines threw up in there ;) Baby girl appreciated the egg white veggie omelet I fed her, but mommy needed some sweets and stopped by Summer House for a couple cookies before heading home!! Only a few more weeks to eat whatever I want so I'm really going for it.
...baked up some cupcakes for a friend's Super Bowl party. If you know me, you know I'm only into sports for the snacks!! My baking trick is to use a box for the cake itself (swapping out the oil for butter and the water for milk) but then adding homemade frosting. Tricks everyone into thinking the whole thing is made from scratch!

Here's hoping you had a good one!

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Friday Finds

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