I apologize for my prolonged absence. I had surgery to remove four impacted wisdom teeth two weeks ago, and with that coming up I was too stressed to write. Afterward, although the surgery went well, my recovery did not. I had a lot of pain, nausea, significant swelling that impeded my ability to open my mouth more than 1/2", and two dry sockets. I'm still dealing with partial numbness in my tongue, total numbness of the gums behind my lower teeth, and discomfort in my jawbone. Thankfully, it is much better than it was even a few days ago.

Although I was on temporary hiatus, life itself was not. Logan turned six years old, and we had a wonderful get together with family to celebrate. Emma said "I love you", which is huge for us as she does not yet talk. She usually says no more than 1-2 words a day (Daddy and/or Mama), and just uses simple sign language for words like "more" and "milk". Emma is very smart, and we know she could talk, she just so far chooses not to. So hearing "I love you" was a big deal for us!

In rental house news: the kitchen hardware on our was installed today, and we are planning to have it listed for rent sometime Monday. So fingers crossed for good tenants soon!
In our house news: we got a new toilet. The tank on our original one cracked from top to bottom, seemingly for no reason, leaving a huge puddle on the tile floor. We replaced it with a similar Kohler model, but for nearly a week we had to grab the spare key and run next door if we needed to "worship the porcelain god". I'm very grateful this week for a toilet that flushes without leaving puddles!

Finally, tomorrow an old friend who happens to also be a very talented photographer will be coming to do a lifestyle session with us, so I'll share those here as soon as I have them!
For now, here are a couple of photos from our trip to the fair this week.

An Anniversary

This past week has been a whirlwind of life, but not much has been done inside the house. Justin has spent almost every free hour of his days outside on our landscaping, which is coming along nicely. He basically has our house done in the front (other than putting in a French drain system), and will be starting on landscaping the rental house this weekend. We picked Gardenia bushes to go in front of each porch, as well as some pretty perennials (in a different shade of purple for each house), and English Ivy to cover the slope in front of each house. I'm hoping he will do a post about that soon, so fingers crossed on that! It's going to look beautiful when it all fills in.The photo above has nothing to do with landscaping, but it's just too adorable not to share! Justin and I both got to go to lunch with Logan at school this week. Logan's teacher took this photo when Justin was there, since he was once her kindergarten student too!

This week was also the 10 year anniversary of our first date! We marked the occasion by going for Thai food, a little shopping in the downtown, and coffee at the spot where we first met.
Ten years ago Justin was working as a barista while taking a semester off from college, and I was working part time at this little coffee shop. We took an instant and intense dislike to each other! I think we both made instant assumptions about one another, and we were both incredibly far off base. The first time I read Pride and Prejudice, shortly after we had begun dating, I had to literally laugh out loud at the uncanny similarities to our early interactions. We just did not work well together, but thankfully (we thought) we were never scheduled to work the same shift. No one else I worked with shared in my disdain for Justin, they all talked about what a handsome guy he was, what a gentleman, how he smelled sooo good. All I knew is that he seemed like a jerk. And he thought I was stuck up! So we both avoided one another until we were scheduled to work the same shift together, alone. The first time we ever shared a shift in 6 months as coworkers. It poured down rain the entire 8 hour shift! We had one customer the entire night, a regular we both knew, who invited us to see a play that week that he was starring in. Unanimously, we agreed to go, but neither of us thought it was a date. During the shift, though, we got to know one another. When he showed up to my apartment to pick me up a couple of days later for our "not date", I was in a dress and heels, and he was in a nice shirt and tie. Needless to say, our not date became very much a date, and the rest is history.
Two kids and 10 years later, I'd say agreeing to go to that play with him was one of the best impulsive decisions I've ever made.

Here is the spot where we first met. The coffee shop has changed hands twice now (at least) since we worked there, but it still has the charm.

Kindergarten and Bedroom Update

Today was Logan's first day of kindergarten, and it was a brilliant success! He absolutely loved it.
One of the neat things about moving back to the city that Justin was raised in his whole life (and where I lived from age 11 to 22), is the people we encounter who we've crossed paths with before. For example, Logan's new kindergarten teacher was also Justin's kindergarten teacher early in her career! And she still works at the same school and in the same classroom. That's so neat to me.

We took the opportunity during our move to replace our mattress with a new Nectar mattress, which we love! They were doing a promo for $125 off and 2 free pillows, so it was a really good deal for us. It sleeps like a dream too! The bed itself came from Wayfair, and the sheets are from Brooklinen (the core sheets). I can't recommend them enough, they are crisp, cool, and keep Justin from burning up at night. The quilt and shams are Anthropologie, and we snagged them during a great sale, which was awesome!

I'm in love with those jewelry hangers on the left. My dad made those for me based on some similar, very expensive ones I found online. 

I've mentioned before that I was cutting down my closet to a capsule wardrobe. This is it! I do have a few special occasion dresses tucked away that aren't part of my capsule, since they would only be worn for rare events. My pajamas, workout clothes, lounge clothes, and etc. have all been cut down to manageable quantities and are not part of the capsule. I have my Fall and Winter items (sweaters, coats) as well as my Fall and Winter shoes packed away in underbed storage so that I can easily switch them out with the seasons. There are still a few things I plan to add to my capsule, but I'm making an effort to buy higher quality items over time, so I'll be picking them up slowly as I go along. I'm also making note of the items in my wardrobe that I never reach for, so that I can phase those out for good when Fall rolls around and I update my wardrobe. I'm taking major inspiration from the ever-stylish Caroline at Unfancy. If you're thinking of doing a capsule wardrobe, she's got a lot of practical advice that can get you on your way.

Since we moved in I've been trying to figure out what to do with this electrical panel behind the bedroom door, but so far I'm stumped. It's in an awkward spot where I would need something quite large to cover it. I thought about the long mirror I've got on the nearby wall, but I think it's in the best spot for it. So my search continues!
Do you have any creative solutions for covering a visible electrical panel like this?

Twas the Night before Kindergarten...

 Oh my heart... my boy starts kindergarten in the morning, and I'm so torn. On the one hand, I'm excited for him to have new experiences and make new friends. On the other hand, I'm so nervous! My baby, my firstborn, cannot possibly be ready to go to school and leave me yet. Right?! I'm hoping I can keep from crying until after I've dropped him off tomorrow. Wish me luck... I'll probably be squalling in the car before we pull away from the curb.

 We managed to get a few things done over the last couple of days. Justin installed these spice racks right across from the stove for me. I'll be adding two more whenever we can make another trip to Ikea. I've still got almost this amount just waiting on the counter.

 Please excuse the state of my kitchen... dishes and such have been very low on the priorities list when we're still stepping over and around boxes all day. Look at the knobs, though! My dad came by today and helped me install those, as well as the cup pulls on the drawers.

This area has improved a lot. We've finally got 4 chairs! And curtains! Now I just have to find the perfect little entryway table to catch our keys and mail.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll remember to take photos of the bedroom when Emma isn't in there asleep. It looks so good so far! I'm very happy with how it's all coming together.
Tomorrow while Logan is at school I plan to stay distracted unpacking and doing some tidying up. I may also just treat myself to an afternoon off. We will see...
Any mommas out there have advice for this nervous mama on the night before kindergarten?