Mary vs. Martha

When it comes to tidying the house, I’m a total Mary. I can live in clutter for quite some time. A gift? Hardly. It’s a horrible habit, and one that I’ve lived with since I was a teenager. I remember leaving my stuff around the family room for days and my mom would ask me to pick it up, but I wouldn’t. It’s not that I was trying to be a bratty 16 year old or flagrantly disobedient, I just didn’t make time for it, I had other things to do besides clean. When my mom couldn’t stand it anymore, she would shove everything in a black plastic bag and hide it. That was always scary and helped ignite action, but I still tend to have what my mom lovingly refers to as “dropsie.”

I’ve really tried to get better and over my case of the “dropsies,” but it is honestly hard for me. If I have a few spare moments, I never think to myself, “This would be an excellent time to clean out the shoe basket, vacuum and do a few dishes.” No, I feel the need to work on a project on the computer, take a shower or anything else (blog).

I want to turn a new leaf though. This spring. Right now. We live in a small enough space so that I can change my habits on a small scale. I’ve enlisted the help of Pinterest and found some great cleaning/chore sheets. I need to personalize them, but at least I know what I need to do daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. I want to be an organized, clean housekeeper. I'll never be a "neat freak," that's not in me and not healthy, but now is the time. One husband, one child, one small apartment, 100% doable.

(Just so you know, I’m not a total slob. I clean and declutter, I just need to do it on a more regular basis. Life just feels better that way.)

Anyway, here’s to hoping I can pick up a little bit more of Martha’s personality.

Happy Cleaning!

pretty baby

He's growing up so fast.
I'm glad we have cameras so we can freeze each stage in time.

visiting the westside

About every other week, Win and I make the trek to my parents' house in Redlands to do laundry and to work on a personal history project. I love being home and Win does, too. He is getting to know Grandma and Grandpa West quite well which is wonderful. I didn't grow up near my grandparents so I don't know what it's like to be close (proximity and relationship) to a grandparent. Win on the other hand, thinks my mom is his other mom. When I leave a room, he might fuss. When my mom leaves a room, he will fuss.

One of my favorite things to do while we we're there is to let him roam around outside. I feel like he can "grow" that way. My sister's kids used to have turtles and I remember her saying that they grow to their environment: If turtles are in a terrarium, they stay small, but if they're allowed outside in the big, wide world they grow. I feel the same is true for Win. Apartment-living is fine, but I always feel like he needs to be outside to really "see" and "learn". Grandma and grandpa's house is the perfect outlet.

Here are a few photos from our trips to Redlands.

Little Helper

Reading with Grandpa

I'm grateful we live close enough to visit my parents AND Kent's parents so often and I'm grateful Win gets to create memories with them all. My dad is 83 today so now is the time!

cuppy cakes

Just doing some photo/editing practice for my photography class. I made these cupcakes for Win's birthday party and they made great subjects for my assignment. Mmm. I wish they were still sitting around the house. Well, sort of. You know how it goes, want them, but don't need them.

Frame within a frame

Rhythm

I am really enjoying my photography class. I love my teacher and I love that I am starting to understand my camera and Photoshop better. It makes a world of difference!

if money wasn't an object...

I'd live here.

















This house is beautiful and literally 5 blocks from our apartment. Talk about rags to riches in the same neighborhood. It's a mere 12.5 million dollars so we won't be moving in any time soon, but I can admire from afar. I've actually been inside of the house. Soon after Win was born I went for a jog and the owner was standing outside and I told him I thought his house was beautiful and he asked me if I wanted a tour of the inside. Could I say no? No, I could not. Lest you think I was being completely crazy, his wife was there and she showed me around. They were really nice.

I'm not even going to try to describe it, but know that they have artifacts in that home that are like 900 years old from around the world. Yeah. It was fantastic. They even have a massage room and home movie theater. And the views? Here, see for yourself:

Seal Beach House

Amazing.

I think it would be the perfect starter home. I'm pretty sure Kent would agree.

having a ball

We had a small party for Win last Saturday and guess what the theme was?






















BALLS!

Win is crazy about them. When he wakes up in the morning the first word out of his mouth is "ball" or "balls" (he does a plural lispy version now-it's adorable). Anything that is round or roundish is a ball - avocados, watermelon, oranges, rings - they're all "balls". Needless to say, it was fairly easy to come up with a theme.

Win and the kids enjoyed the main attraction: a homemade ball pit. Finding a baby pool was no small feat in February. We bought two other ones before we found the one on Craigslist. In fact, Kent walked a mile from his work in downtown LA to buy it. He's a really good daddy and husband to go along with his wife's crazy schemes.

Here are a few photos that our friend Rachel took at the party (thank you!). Win and Nova, Rachel's daughter, are baby buddies.

Thanks to everyone who came. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time celebrating with family and friends. Win was one happy boy.

do not cut my apron strings, please

Why don't women still wear aprons as part of their daily wardrobe? That 50s fashion was chic and functional. I mean, look at these ladies, all dressed up with somewhere to go! Basically done up to the nines with an adorable piece of fabric around their waists.

Or, take these women, don't they look thrilled to be doing housework? If an apron brought that kind of joy to me while folding clothes I'd sport one, too.

She doesn't look as happy as the three damsels above, but how adorable is that tulip? I want to serve lemonade at my next ladies' luncheon in a dress and apron.

Actually, I would need something that covered my entire outfit. Feeding Win these days requires splatter protection, top and bottom. Something like this blue cutie would do.

My mom was an apron wearer in her early motherhood days.

No aprons in the next two shots, just my cute mom. I love her lipstick color in the shot below. Always wears great shades of lipstick, my mom.

I really do want/need to become an apron wearer. I have two: a full-body one that I wear quite often while cooking and a little waist one. I want to sew one. That's a project that has been on my list forever, I just haven't done it and I don't have an excuse. My mother-in-law gave me a book devoted to aprons so I have the patterns, I just need to find the time.

Anyway, I love aprons and I wish they would become fashionable again. Even if they don't, don't be surprised if I show up to my next social function with one on.