Two new chairs!

So this is probably NOT what we should be doing right now, but I'm so excited to have them! We found both chairs at different garage sales, and we are suckers for fun projects. The first little chair was in really bad shape, I wish I had a before picture! But I didn't think to take one. It was pretty scratched up, and the seat was made up of a few strings tacked to the wood. Ross sanded and re-painted the wood, and then he RE-WEAVED the entire seat! It looks so good! The chair also came with some really crappy little cushions that I made new covers for. I personally think it looks better without them, but with the cushions it's a little more comfy.

He likes having a seat for his ducky.

We called in a professional for the second one. So I guess I couldn't really call it OUR project, but Ross did all of the stripping; there were probably a few hundred nails and staples in it that needed to be removed. Susan from Upholstery Creations by Susan here in Manhattan did all of the hard work, but we got to watch her do it, and now Ross wants to do that for a living instead! Well, maybe someday. Oh, but remember? We are moving into a SMALLER apartment. I hope there will be room for it there. It doesn't exactly match our couches right now, but I picked out the fabric knowing that I'll always love that color and that someday we'll have a room where that will go perfectly. Plus it was on sale. Of course all of my very favorite fabric was like $30/yd. That's not happening.

The legs still need to be re-finished.
But we really are focusing on moving now. :)

And life barrels on like a runaway train

So we officially have a place to move into on August 1st. It's an apartment. We kind of felt like a house would be too much for us right now. BUT we're really excited because it's half a block away from the Clarks, who we stayed with last summer. It'll be fun to be near them, and we know the neighborhood and the area pretty well, and know that we'll be comfortable for a year. However. We will be CRAMMED into the place because we are used to having a basement right now where we can throw anything we don't need at the moment. That crap's sure been fun to go through!

Can't tell, but here Ethan is enjoying playing with snappers(poppers?)

Anyway. Oh Ethan. I'm just waiting for him to explode into a terrible toddler. But it hasn't happened. Yet. He's got the funniest little personality and I'm loving getting to see it come through more. Some unique things about Ethan are:

1. His diabolical laugh that makes me giggle every time he does it.

2. His obsession with balls, all sizes and textures.

3. His love for little tiny things. My jar of spare buttons entertains him for quite a while.

4. His love for experiencing the world in new ways. Bending over upside to look at things, keeping his eyes shut tight through an entire family meal (weird, eh?) or while walking around in the living room, etc.

5. His affectionate hugs.

He also loves watching the maintenance guy mow the
lawn with his riding lawn mower.

And for the life of me I can NOT name this baby girl inside of me! We are having the hardest time coming up with a name we both really like. And there are very few names we like even just a little bit. Ross likes one that is more unique, and I'm not sure I love it. I've loved one name forever, but it's become quite popular in the last couple years and I don't want her to be one of 4 girls in her class that has the same name. Why is it so hard? We knew Ethan's name like 4 months into the pregnancy!

England: Part 3

Day 7:

- Chatsworth



- Haddon Hall (where apparently they filmed a lot of The Princess Bride)



- Drive to London, get caught in 2 1/2 hours of traffic. :(

Day 8 (didn't have nice camera that day):

- Southwark Cathedral

- Tate Modern

- St. Pauls

- Lunch at St. Dunstan's in-the-East



- Lloyds of London

- Leadenhall Market

- Courtauld Institute

- Hyde Park

Day 9 (didn't have big camera that day):

- Portobello Road. Sigh. I LOVE Portobello Road.

- Kensington Gardens

- My mom to Victoria and Albert, me to the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square

- Kenwood House (missed the inside by 10 minutes!)

- Mozart and Handel at St. Martins-in-the-fields.

Day 10 (carried camera with me half the day):

- Tube to St. James park

- Took a long walk
- Buckingham Palace
- Westminster Abbey
- Big Ben


- Along the Thames, across from 'The Eye'
- Trafalgar Square


- Leicester Square
- Picadilly Circus

- Paperchase (love that store!)

- Back to hotel for a little rest

- Oxford Street, Regent Street
- Mamas and Papas (cutest baby store, super expensive)
- Hamleys

- Rode bus to Tower of London and back looking for Thorntons. Missed it by 10 minutes too!

- Marks & Spencer for Indian take-away dinner. Yum.

- Beautiful evening stroll around the Serpentine in Hyde Park.



And done. Already thinking longingly of when I can go back with Rossy. Or with the kids for an extended stay. Very extended.