Power nesting

I've been a busy little bee, my friends.  I'm into my second trimester and I've gotten that big burst of energy that everyone talks about (yay!), but I also have many days that I don't feel pregnant (boo!), which is a fun little mind game, let me tell ya.  I'm trying to manage it by texting friends and going to the doctor when I feel especially crazy, but I'll be so happy when we get closer to the end, that's for sure.

But busy!  Yes!  I've been busy.  Three days after we got home from vacation, my mom came to visit.  For eleven days.  Now, I don't care how much you love someone or how great they are, having someone in your house for eleven days is a long ass time.  ALSO, Drew was gone for nine days in there, some with my mom here, some all by myself.  So yeah, there was that.  And three days after she left, Drew's parents came for a shorter visit - only four days.  Again, I love them, they love me, they SHO' love Sofia, but can I be frank?  

It's nice to have my house back.  It's nice to be back in my routine.  It's nice to walk around naked again (you said I could be frank.)

But back to this second trimester energy, because it's for real and frankly, it's a lot of fun.  Let me explain.

A few weeks ago, I noticed my next-door neighbor was using a power washer.  My eyes widened with lust and I practically fell over myself running over there to ask him if it was his or he rented it.  When he said it was his, I went all Secret of NIMH and was like Oooooohhh, you've got a power washer!  I've always wanted a power washer of my very own. Can I borrow it?  When he was like "Yeah sure", I practically danced with glee.  And one afternoon, I fired that thing up and power washed everything that was bolted down.  I cleaned our patio furniture, the back patio, the front patio, the garage door, our shutters, the outside windows - I was a power washing machine and it was awesome.  Holding that gun and blasting away totally made me feel like Xena Warrior Princess.  I totally paid for it the next day because I am nobody's warrior princess.  I could barely move.

Also, I could probably use some practice adjusting the stream

because now I have all these lovely squiggles on the driveway.

I didn't know it would do that.

I also hung stuff on the walls that had been sitting in the guest room since forever.  Now, I have zero design experience and the only rule I follow when decorating my house is that I have to love whatever comes through that door.  It may be trendy or played out, but if I love it, it stays.  That said, I hung a gallery wall in the hallway.  A lot of design people on the internet say that gallery walls are played out, but I love them so they stay.

 Although I'm still debating whether a gallery wall and the book wall

so close together make things too busy.

But I sure do love our little travel wall.

We've been to more places, but this is a good representation.

I also moved these pictures.  Originally, they were centered if the front door was open

but it looked funny with it closed so I scooted them over so they were centered if the 

door was closed, which is how it is most of the time.

Can we take a second to marvel at how frickin straight the frickin 

Command strips are?

It's weird little things like this that make me love Drew so much.

I assure you when I rehung them I paid zero attention to 

whether my Command strips were that straight.

I also did my best to make sure the space between the pictures was uniform

but I'm pretty sure it isn't because I am not an engineer.

But now they're centered on the wall and I even used the laser level

to get them in line with the light switch, so that's gotta be something, right?

Even with me and my mom doing the measuring and marking it still took forever,

but they're moved and I'm happy.

THEN, yesterday I attacked our bathroom.  It was glorious and I can't wait to show you.

Now, our bathroom is teensy weensy.  Actually, our house is teensy - it's barely 1100 square feet on the main floor.  Of course, the basement is another 1000 square feet but that doesn't count because I'm not down there every day and it's not finished, truly usable space.  Our old house had no basement and it was about 1800 square feet, so we're having to figure out how to make it work with less space.  So far, it hasn't been bad but that bathroom was killing me, which is funny because our bathroom in Texas wasn't any bigger.  I think that it didn't seem to bother me because our bedroom was bigger.  But I digress...

First, I tackled the cabinet under the sink.  I was so gung-ho that I didn't take a before picture, but y'all are smart.  Use your imagination and picture a teensy space crammed with a ton of shit.  Got it?  Now erase that image and feast your eyes on this organized piece of deliciousness!

And now I've shown the internet my bathroom cabinet.  I'm sure this crosses some line,

and now I'm *that* blogger, but I cannot possibly convey how much I don't care

because this makes me so ridiculously happy.

I bought that white drawer thing on the right from Target and did a happy 

dance when it fit.  I'm so serious, now I open the cabinet just to look at everything

in its home.  I don't even need anything.  I just look at it.

Then came the medicine cabinet.

I'm just taking it there today, my friends.

I'm so glad we're close like that.

First, I took everything out and gave the shelves a good dusting

because they was nasty.

Also, I painted our bedroom but that's another post.

Then I put back everything I use on a daily basis:

Pregnancy stuff on the bottom; heparin and pills along with hair ties and q-tips

with face stuff and mouthwash above it.

I used to have an entire medicine cabinet filled with my creams and potions

and serums and gels and this is what it's gotten pared down to.

Just the facts, ma'am:  Keep the baby alive, keep your face clean and wash your mouth out.

I also threw out over 30 bottles of expired medications.

Why so many?  I have no earthly idea.

There were also several of these unmarked bottles of pills.

Will they cure me?  Will they kill me?  Who knows?

Here's another thing I was more than happy to throw out.

Sayonara sucka!  I'm so done with you I can't even TELL you how done I am!

Bada bing, bada boom, we have an organized medicine cabinet.

"It doesn't look that much different," you may say.

To which I would respond, "Oh ho HO!  But look closer!"

You see that top shelf?  The entire contents of that top shelf, except for a couple small bottles, was constantly getting strewn around our teensy bathroom.  I'll give you a clue who was doing it:  It Was Drew.  And those plastic bags on the left side of the second shelf?  Those are his travel toiletries, which also were perpetually homeless.  After a work trip, you could often find them on top of the toilet, on our teensy sink and anywhere else that would piss me off because we don't have the space.  Now those things have a home, behind the cabinet doors and my teensy bathroom looks a little more put together.

Also, also!  My makeup is in my bathroom now!  Previously, it was in the hall bathroom and that was just too far away for me to ever think about putting on my face.  Now with it right next to my toothpaste, maybe just maybe, I won't leave the house looking like death warmed over quite so often anymore.  What the opposite saying of out of sight, out of mind?  When it's close, maybe now you'll use it?  I don't think that's how it goes, but you get my point.

Go on, say it:  I'm a genius.

Ok yeah, it took me a year to figure out to put a board over the sink.

Don't bother me with the details.

I'm a genius.

Another reason I never bothered with my hair or makeup is because I never had a work surface.  There is about two inches on either side of the sink bowl and having my curling iron fall over for the 80th time or having my makeup bag topple over yet again, was enough for me to be like, F it, who needs to do hair and makeup anyway.  Until!  My power nesting instinct was like, you just need a larger work surface.  It was a total Eureka moment and I hightailed it to Michael's and came home with this piece of craft wood that was the perfect size, no cutting or anything!  It lives on the floor to the right of the sink when I'm not using it and now I have a spot to do my hair and makeup!  Today, I used brow gel and mascara and let me tell you, that is major.  

Drew came home from work and I was like,

"Please to look at the bathroom now.  Notice how your shit is no longer everywhere.  This is the default mode.  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, 

that is all, please and thank you."

I'm working on finding a place for his perfumes because I don't want that top shelf there anymore; I want a pretty picture instead.

Power nesting y'all:  Nothing is safe.

When Drew's parents were here I took advantage of the free babysitting as it were, and painted our bedroom.  I think the point of free babysitting is so you can actually leave the house and do fun stuff, but I suppose painting is a close second.  Hopefully I can write about that tomorrow because we've also done some rearranging in the bedroom.  I'm on a roll; I still need to do Sofia's big girl room and of course, decorate the nursery (!!!) and I want everything done by the end of October.  That way, I don't have to mess with doing stuff over the holidays and I'll be too big and uncomfortable in January and in February, baby #2 will be here (!!!).  I still need to come up with a good fetus name, because yeah, even though The Situation fit at the time, it just doesn't go anymore.  Interestingly, I think we've chosen her name but I still keep referring to her as New Baby.  We did that with Sofia too, I'm not sure why.  We just didn't really use her name until she was out and in the world with us.  

Anyway, if you'll please excuse me, Sofia is still napping (hollaaa!) and I'm itching to go through some baby clothes.

Have a great day!