The shelves of success

The Curtains of Failure are still in Sofia's room and there's no telling when I'm going to regain the stamina to tackle them.  However, I have a win to report and they are the Shelves of Success!

I'm also hereby done with apologizing for my crappy photos.

This is not a photography blog and my phone is most often the only thing I have with me to capture these moments in between chasing my kid.

This is a life blog and life is blurry sometimes and you have to just go with it.

So anyway, the shelves!  Drew had been gone the whole week, which is why I wasn't online much.  I spent my nights painting or zoning out because Sofia is turning into a real live person with real live opinions.  Those opinions aren't always the most positive and she has no qualms about letting me know what's up.  

As in "I'm done with my dinner right this very second and I'm so done with it that I don't even want it in my presence, therefore I'm going to throw it on the floor.  Oh you want me to drink some milk?  I don't think so.  I'm going to chuck my sippy cup across the room now, thanks.  Oh, was it a little bit open because I know how to unscrew things and now there's milk everywhere?  How unfortunate for you.  Haha, you thought I was done?  For my next trick, I'm going to whine and cry like I've never been fed in my life, but when you give me food I'm going to throw it again.  Isn't this the most fun game ever?!?!"

And that's just dinner time.  Changing her diaper is enough to make me break a sweat because the chick is strong and if she doesn't want her diaper changed, it ain't gettin changed.  This is a problem when she has a poopy butt.  I try to reason with her, but yeah.  Doesn't work so well.

So by the end of the day, all I want to do is have a glass of wine and watch tv or pin things.  I was all kinds of glassy-eyed and out of it when Drew got home on Friday.  A week alone with a toddler is enough to give you a drinking problem.  Oh wait....

Anyway, Saturday we had a family day and we went to IKEA.  I wanted to get some bookcases to make some faux built-ins because I'm jonesing for books in our house.  A house with no books is a house with no soul.  I'm Dying to get my books out of the boxes in the basement but there's no place for them right now.

source

I wanted to put these in the living room under the tv

and move the mirrored buffet to another wall but they wouldn't fit.

So even though we didn't get the bookcases, we didn't leave empty-handed.  I picked up some shelves for our bathroom and a couple of the RIBBA picture ledges.

I had every intention of making my own.  I even went to Lowe's and had them cut the wood for me and everything!

 See?

I even busted out the drill and made pilot holes and screwed them together and everything!

But then Sofia threw food in my face and I lost my will to live.  I had no more energy and suddenly, looking at those bare shelves and knowing that I'd have to screw the other ones together, and then put wood filler over the screw holes, and then sand them, and then prime them, and then wait for the primer to dry, and then paint them, and then wait for the first coat to dry, and then sand them again to get the smooth finish, and then paint them again, and then poly them, well that was enough to make me cry with exhaustion.

So even though it was cheaper to make my own shelves, I spent the money for the IKEA ones because they were already done.  And I didn't even have to screw them into the wall - my awesome hubby did that for me.  So yeah, it was worth the extra dollars.

Because I love my shelves of success!  I love them so much I'm going to show you every single thing on them.

Technically, this isn't on the shelves, but it counts.

Sofia's Uncle Nate and Auntie Julie had this made for her first birthday and 

I love it.  Plus, now that we live in Pennsylvania we HAVE to represent the Lone Star State!

When we were in Rio, there was a guy walking around with tiles and paints.

He spoke no English and we spoke no Portuguese, but that didn't stop him from

chatting us up while he finger painted on the tiles.

I was so bummed that the paint got smudged before it was fully dry, but it's still awesome.

When we visited the Selaron steps, Selaron himself signed one of his tiles for Sofia.

The black pregnant woman is an iconic image throughout all of his work. 

It's said that he lost his wife when she was pregnant and that's why she's in all his art.

I'm no good at Portuguese but I think it says "To live in a favela is an art.  No one steals, no one eavesdrops, nothing gets lost, you stay strong, you obey? you stay fair?" 

Something like that.  I think.

Regardless, it's awesome and I love it.

The day after she was born, in her fancy princess frame.

her first year

This was the first finger painting that the guy did for us.  He was going on and on and I could only pick up every fourth word, but he was talking about family and how they need to be rooted like trees and nourished so they grow, 

all the while making this awesome little finger painting on a regular white tile.

And I love that Sofia's the baby tree.

Next to it is a block that my dear friend Brandi sent to us right after Sofia was born.

My mom gave me this poem and I thought it only fitting to give it to my daughter.

The frame is kind of wedding-y, but it'll do.

Sofia's handprint

Daddy and his baby.  I'm only just now realizing it looks like Drew

has a giant bow on his head.

I'm also realizing I suck at life because I didn't take a picture of the rest of the top shelf.  I have her baptismal Bible, the hat she wore when she was born and a little stuffed giraffe that her friend Mathilda gave her for Christmas.

Hanging off the edge of the bottom shelf.

My shelves are not "styled" with attention to "height" or "layering" or "flow" or any other design terms you want to throw out there.  They are simply filled with things I absolutely love. They mean the world to me and I get the biggest smile when I walk into her room and that makes them a rousing success.

Bit by bit, we are making this our home.