This week went a little too fast, is it already over?  I will be working through the weekend but I would prefer if time would slow down an eensy bit. I feel like hyperventilating as the due date for my baby with no name approaches, this time in my life is both thrilling and terrifying, much like a roller coaster ride. We had an amazing ultrasound yesterday wherein I could see that she looks exactly like…a sumo wrestler, a little old man sumo wrestler but a sumo wrestler for sure.  She has super chubby cheeks, a full head of hair and she smiled, yes a smile, we have proof, most definitely a smiling sumo.

Magpie Paperworks has released another font, does this woman sleep?  I don’t think so. I used it in the graphic above, it’s called Dasha and you need to see the samples on the Magpie site to really get a feel for the beauty of this font.  I see this being used for a bunch of holiday greetings, it’s a keeper. For you lovely reader Jess is giving you a discount of 25% off (promo code BESOTTED) it’s already a steal but steal it for even less (until Nov 14th)! As always Jess packs her fonts with so many extras-a full set of alternate caps? What? Swash features, who doesn’t love a good swash/swoosh? Seriously now.

Talking calligraphy has me all giddy, did you read Bailey’s interview?  If you are interested in modern calligraphy what are you waiting for?  Bailey really served up some serious great advice + resources for you on a silver platter.  Also, I am giving away another copy of Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber Thorpe (a resource Bailey recommends) so go leave a comment on the post!

Being this pregnant has not been conducive to cooking anything too inspired but this recipe has been a life saver, once you have the basics down you can really get creative. This meal is so simple + easy and yes, it can even be adapted for vegetarians as well!  I have made this about six different ways since I first discovered it and my husband has declared he could eat it every single day.  At this point he may just have to, I am really not feeling the motivation to cook. If I were I would try some of these beauties.

I had high hopes for this hyper pigmentation product.  I am 2 weeks in and nothing, zilch, zero results. Is this a big ol’ goose egg of a product?  I will let you know soon enough, pinky promise.

I have started and stopped reading a variety of baby ‘how-to’ books, one on sleeping actually has put me to sleep multiple times (it works). I have to say I haven’t read anything for pure pleasure in forever, but I would like to any suggestions?  Amazon has started suggesting actual children’s books for me it looks like they think I would like Victorian inspired tales such as Lois Lowry’s  The Willoughby’s, and The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (it’s a series).

And with that I will leave you for the weekend remember ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ words of wisdom from Mr. McFerrin, btw Ferrin is a pretty good name, hmmm?…..

I feel so very lucky yo be able to bring you Bailey Amon’s interview, she is one half of the very talented duo known as Antiquaria. Unless you have been living under a blog rock, I am pretty sure you have heard or seen their gorgeous work. Bailey is the lettering artist and Emma James the illustrator, together they create work that makes you want to shout ‘Brava’ at the top of your lungs, it’s just that good! Speaking of good, between Bailey’s interview and her new calligraphy tutorial series you will find so many resources and such good information for your calligraphy adventure that you won’t know what to do with yourself! Read More

When I was thinking about my future life with baby, way before baby was a twinkle in our eye, I had visions of what that future nursery would look like.  I knew of course it would be neutral, a soothing oasis for both bebe and mama.  After all I reasoned Einstein, Mozart, Tesla, and a host of other prodigies surely did not have a cacophony of primary colors, patterns, plastic and flash cards in their nurseries, so I think I would be just fine not having them in mine.  I also had visions of maybe a more traditional look, classic pieces like the Jenny Lind crib and washed organic linen bedding. I didn’t even know that baby bumpers, baby quilts and pillows were an absolute no-no. Some states have even banned bumpers all together! Sigh.

My current reality is that we live in a 526 square foot apartment, a very modern industrial space and no matter how hard I tried to go against the design grain with the space it just wouldn’t work, the only thing to do is go with the flow (and space restrictions).  That means I am going modern, much more modern than I ever imagined I would (yes, think Eames Shell rocker modern).  I love clean lines, but this “nursery” (we gave up our bedroom and have divided the space into half nursery half studio + office for me) is taking me into territory that I feel a little precarious in.  I will post soon what we have purchased thus far as our base pieces and what I am hoping I will bring in to make the space feel less stark, I think texture will be key to soften all those sharp angles.  I do have some obstacles to work with like our 18ft high ceilings, which sounds amazing in theory but when it came to paint the space was a total nightmare.  I had to go with a bright white paint (so lucky the room was tiny, this paint is a fortune!)  for a couple reasons, one being the walls are textured (ick!) and with another color  it would be too obvious that they are orange peel-esque. If they were flat I may have gone with Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl.  The other reason for the white is that there is no window in this room, for someone like me that lives for light it is another nightmare scenario and if I was going to be working through a Pacific Northwest winter in this space I wanted it to feel as bright and cheery as possible.  I understand the no windows could be perfect for a newborn and being able to get her to sleep, but don’t worry about ventilation, it’s a loft space so everything is pretty much open to everything else.  I wanted to change out the very ugly carpet in the room at the very least rip it up and paint the concrete white, but it’s a rental and we don’t have plans to stay here that long, if I wasn’t this pregnant I would definitely have thrown caution to the wind and ripped it up ages ago, but I wasn’t up to it before and now even if I wanted to bending is not an option for me and deck paint, well that’s not going to happen with baby on board! I am trying to think of some sort of solution, the room is not a perfect square or rectangle so using a rug has proven to be both awkward and futile.  Wish me luck, it is no easy feat trying to wrap up clients, projects and get ready for a baby all within the next few weeks (weeks?! Gah!).

And this nursery is just one of my all time faves, by the talented Susan, just beautiful!

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