Cool Shit on the Internet

August 25, 2015 / / Leave a comment

Oh hey. Just over here being 35.5 weeks pregnant, tra la la. I’m experiencing an increasing number of rando aches and pains but am generally doing pretty well.

The exciting evenings of a preggo

In other news, despite what our retail establishments want you to believe (see: back to school ads, stores stocked with fall clothing, and halloween decor displays, wtf especially to that last one), THERE IS BASICALLY A MONTH OF SUMMER STILL LEFT TO ENJOY.

This cool kid is super psyched about the rest of summer

Hallelujah. I, personally, would rather be completely sick of summer and 100% ready for crispy leaves, blustery weather, and pumpkin spice everything than feel robbed of a true summer, which has definitely happened in previous years here in Seattle. Summer 2015 has been around basically since May and I will gratefully accept that!

Anyway. Here is a roundup of delightful things I found on the interwebs recently:

1. Since we have a month of summer left, you should probably grill some burgers. Here’s how to make a delicious one. Cup of Jo

2. This may out me as a dog obsessed weirdo (as if the above sunglasses photo didn’t already) but I am really into this dog age calculator by breed. Pedigree

3. I’ve read some really annoying advice from “nutrition experts” about limiting fruit intake due to its sugar content, which always struck me as ridiculous. This backs me up. Fruit is good for you, duh. Detoxinista

4. Non celebrities recreating celebrity Instagram shots. Dying over the Kim K on a mountain one. Bustle

5. I want to eat this cheese plate RIGHT NOW. Cupcakes and Cashmere

Pop-In@Nordstrom x Warby Parker

August 19, 2015 / / Leave a comment

My eyesight is TERRIBLE. If a 20-20 vision person (if you are one of these I hate you) looks through my glasses they are usually pretty horrified.

A really annoying thing about having horrible vision? Purchasing glasses. I really hate going in to the eye doctor to do this. Glasses are effing expensive and the somewhat affordable ones can be pretty hideous.

Enter Warby Parker, a fantastic source for designer-quality eyewear at an affordable price. As long as you have a current glasses prescription and some sort of camera on your computer, you can purchase their glasses online (they have brick and mortar locations, too, though not in Seattle). I own the Zagg frames and love them. Also fairly awesome: Warby Parker is socially conscious and for each pair purchased, donates a pair of eyeglasses to someone in need.

This summer, Warby Parker and Nordstrom have teamed up, and Warby Parker is being featured at Pop-In@Nordstrom: an ongoing series of themed pop-up shops you may have noticed at your local Nordstrom.

The Warby Parker Pop-In features a curated assortment of limited edition products including four new, exclusive pairs of sunglasses. My favorite are the Barkley:

Barkley in Jet Black, $95

Classic. I’m also into the Hall, v. glamorous:

Hall in Milk Pearl, $95

You can visit Pop-In@Nordstrom x Warby Parker at the downtown Seattle and Bellevue Square Nordstroms through September 6. This is also going down at four other Nordstrom locations throughout the U.S., and online.

Nursery Decor

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 / / Leave a comment

I had a lot of fun planning and decorating our nursery. The photos aren’t great because I kind of suck with my iPhone and should probably invest in a real camera at some point or at least read some tips online or something. But, hopefully the calm, gender neutral, somewhat globally influenced vibe I was going for comes across.

Paint: I went for a soothing, light-ish gray (Valspar Reserve in Gravity). Based on Pinterest stalking this is the trendy nursery color these days so hopefully my child is grateful that she is super on-trend. Also gray goes really well with pink which I am sure like most girls my daughter will demand we incorporate at some point.

Crib: Babyletto. I liked the midcentury modern look of this.

Glider: Land of Nod. I thought this, and the crib, were worth investing a little more in. All of our shelving, some of which isn’t pictured, and the dresser we are using as a changing table, is Ikea.

Rug: Wayfair. Tons of great, affordable options. This was made in India and I love the bold pattern.

Art: Society6. Many delightful art options for kids/babies.

Biscuit Party

August 11, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Portland (the one in Oregon. Sorry Maine, I’m sure your Portland is great, too) is a magical land. Delicious food abounds, which is notably cheaper than Seattle options, with less random mediocrity: even the nondescript unknown eateries are usually pretty solid. Portland’s hipsters seem friendlier than Seattle’s. And gas station attendants pump your gas for you, for free, by law. Amazing!

Will and I ventured south on I5 a couple weeks ago to visit his parents and gorge ourselves, as is our usual plan of attack vis a vis Portland. We finally made it to Pine State Biscuits and it did not disappoint. The line at the Alberta location was heinous, even at 10:30am on a Monday, but the biscuity goodness was on point.

Chicken Club

We shared The Chatfield, The Chicken Club and, since neither of those featured gravy and we are kind of disgusting, the Biscuits and Gravy. The salt induced preggo bloat, which left me with cankles for a good 48 hours, was well worth it.

The Chatfield, Biscuits and Gravy

Also worth the wait in Portland, IMO? Salt and Straw. Their ice cream kicks Seattle ice cream’s ass. The seasonal berry pie flavor was particularly amazing. Ugh, I just looked at their website and a couple of the August flavors look just ridiculous…Chocolate Caramel Potato Chip Cupcake anyone (yes that is one flavor)?

Cool Shit on the Internet

August 7, 2015 / / Leave a comment

Happy Friday! My weekend plans include dinner with friends, a maternity photo shoot, and a sure to be ridiculous birthday party in the private room at Seattle institution Vito’s. We’ll see how long I can stay out. I should probably also do some baby prep things, other than laying on the couch and eating, that is.

Bump = excellent snack balancing spot

A roundup of the best the internet had to offer this week (ok some are older, sorry not sorry):

1. To balance my Trader Joe’s post about delicious items, some not so delicious TJ’s offerings.
Everywhereist

2. This site is effing hilarious. Reductress

3. Definitely me when I’m old. The Cut

4. Football season is almost here, OMG! Amazing list of places to find Seahawks gear. Fresh Jess

5. Interesting photo series capturing lifestyles of the 1%. Refinery 29

A Little Home Decor Upgrade

August 5, 2015 / / Leave a comment

The whole “nesting” phenomenon is most definitely real. Just look at my living/dining room! Who decides to paint a giant space on their own while almost 8 months pregnant? Me, I guess. It was super stark white and it was irritating me in a way that I could no longer ignore, so to Lowe’s I went. It totally sucked to do, but was worth it. It’s now a much more appealing light taupe situation, as you can see in the below photos.

The space was looking cluttered so I remedied that by undergoing a major art reshuffling in addition to painting. To improve the situation, I:

1. Pared everything down (mostly keeping only one substantial piece per wall space where before there had been multiple smaller pieces on each wall)
2. Stuck to black and white images only
3. Created a gallery wall in the dining room.

These things helped a lot.

The gallery wall was slightly stressful to put together as it required more effort/precision than comes naturally to me. Tips that worked:

Lay the pieces out on the floor and measure the overall space it takes up, then map this out on the wall. I used post it notes to mark the rough borders.

Start hanging from one side and work your way over (if you are centering the arrangement around one large piece, maybe work out from that piece).

Using a variety of different art shapes but all black frames and a black/white palette make this way easier to execute well, in my opinion.

The level (as in the tool) is your friend.

In addition to Ikea, which I will probably never stop frequenting for home needs, a couple of my favorite places for home furnishings in Seattle are the Kasala outlet for modern pieces (our couch, lamps) and Tirto Furniture (our side table, wooden deer heads).

Tirto side table

Tirto is awesome-they do mostly Indonesian inspired, sustainable wood furniture and have a ton of great decor items in addition to larger investment-y pieces. It’s a really fun place to wander around if you’re into home design.