happy birthday, it's my birthday!

I'm in the middle of a great birthday. This morning I awoke to much sweetness: belly pats and Happy Birthday wishes and birthday treats and a little Charlie Brown Christmas (which I listen to throughout the year. It makes me happy). And what treats!

From my love:


The Selby book


Yellow Owl Workshop Stamp Kit



Wood Salt & Pepper Shakers


[this is where the picture would go of the chocolate cupcake if I hadn't eaten it already.]

My parents treated me to a heavenly 1.5 hour prenatal massage. I also got some beautiful pillow cases from Vietnam, Five hundred years of book design, some lovely old sheet music, and many calls, emails, and messages from friends and family.

To celebrate this evening, we're heading to the SFMOMA for a Blue Bottle coffee on the roof and to see the current exhibits. Then we're off to dinner at Zaré at Fly Trap. Can't wait!

I hope you are having as nice a day as me...

countdown

The countdown has begun. The countdown to my official last day working at Chronicle Books: this Friday. And the countdown to December 1: my due date.

I am looking forward to falling asleep on Sunday night with the knowledge that I won't have to head into the office Monday morning. It's both incredibly freeing, and slightly terrifying. I've thought many times in the last few months about what I will "do" with myself after I've stopped working, and before Stella arrives. Work has, for so many years, provided structure in my week, given me purpose and a place to be every day. Without it, I'm a little afraid I'll feel lost and simply adrift in the world. But at the same time, I'm thrilled at the endless open time ahead of me.

When overwhelmed I make a plan. I'm really good at making a plan. Usually "a plan" involves a list. A list creates structure, and allows me to visualize a series of goals (big and small). So, in an attempt to wrap my head around the unlimited time (ok, I know there won't be unlimited free time with a new baby, but...) I'm facing, here's a list that will grow and change, of a few things I want to do before and after Stella arrives:

• Finish organizing Stella's room
  
• Create a relaxing playlist for the labor
  
• Pack bag for the hospital
• Do yoga every day
• Get back to reading 3+ books a week
• Blog more
  
• Hang all of the pictures that have been stacked in a pile on our fireplace since we moved into our house in June
• Roast a chicken in our new stove in our new kitchen (remodel soon to be complete!)
  
• Bake bread (and muffins, and banana bread, and cookies...)
  
• Learn to make jam
• Pickle some things
• Create a vegetable garden
• Start sewing again
• Start knitting again
• Send handwritten letters to friends
• Play more backgammon with Jordan and my Dad
• Spend hours in the kitchen cooking with my mom
  
• Take daily walks on the trail behind our house
• Visit with friends
• Spend lots of time with my cousin Bree, her baby Tomás (just born yesterday!), and my favorite little sassy pants, her 2-year-old, Viviana
  
• Travel with Jordan for his work (with Stella in tow)
• Try to relax. And enjoy the adventure.
  

My question for you, dear readers, is this:
What would you do with more time?

[beautiful wooden clock can be found at General Store]

lust list

Le Creuset Stockpot


Camden Leather Brogues


Skyscape Quilt in Blue & Rust


Sycamore Street Press Letterpress Alphabet Poster


Maira Kalman

kiddie moccasin love

I love these dark gold kiddie moccasins over at Freshly Picked. I wish they came in my size!

words to live with

Home Sweet Home

Hi


Fin

advent

Beautiful, wintery Advent Calendar by Uusi.
Just looking at this makes me excited for the holidays...

[via bloesem]

on labor and nesting and baby

Up until last weekend, thoughts of giving birth were actively pushed to the back of my mind. Throughout this pregnancy, I've skirted thinking about the particulars of labor: the pain, the hours of contractions, the loss of control, the aftermath of soreness. The pain...

The 8-hour intensive birth class we attended this past weekend made the impending birth very, very real. I entered the class thinking "how can I possibly find the strength to get through labor even with drugs?" I came out thinking "I think I can do this." Such a change. I experienced a radical shift in my perception of "me."

For most of the past 8 months I've focused too much on my low tolerance for pain, so much so that I've completely ignored the potential well-spring of strength that I have within me. At my core I am a doer. When I need to focus, I focus. When I need to get something done, I get it done. The class reinforced the simple fact that women give birth every day. And yes, it's painful. And yes, it's hard. And yes, there's the possibility that it will take a long, long time. But it's also amazing, and rewarding, and it ends. Labor is not purgatory. There's the beginning of labor there's the end. And at the end, there's a baby.


Perhaps in an attempt to put effort in something I can control, I've succumbed to nesting. Big time. Hours have been spent folding and organizing baby clothes, reading books, making to-do lists (and then making more), looking for the best co-sleeper, stroller, diaper options, baby carrier, car seat, organic crib mattress, you name it. At this time, when I have little control over how my body (belly, feet, hands) swells and aches, and no control over when labor will start or how it will progress, I feel I can control this nesting thing. I can assemble her room, ready our house, outfit our car, fold her clothes, build my arsenal of hand-me-down tips and tricks, practice breathing, sing her songs as she pushes and stretches my belly into a new shape, prepare myself and steady my nerves.

And just remind myself that I can do this...


[images: Nikki McClure]

nigella's books

I love how much Nigella loves food. And I love that this is her library.

[via Bluepoolroad]

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Gangsta Lorem Ipsum via SwissMiss

carson too quilt

Gorgeous quilt by Carson Too. [via Seesaw]