stay at home academy

...

2010-01-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

i can't get enough of this kid.

Year of the Trout

2010-01-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

Goodbye 2009, I only know you existed because it's all anyone has talked about for like days...
(I guess there is also some proof lying in super soft blankets in her crib upstairs)

2010 is starting off well. Chris and I have been bummed out lately since our go to couple is moving in the summer and we know we need to find a suitable replacement (yeah right), but we made a freiend this morning. It's hard to find friends, and we have a little seed of a friendship growing with another parent who frequents the same coffee bar as us. We gave him our number. I'm thrilled about it.

This year's high points:

swimming while pregnant
adair's birth (duh.)
moving into our house and talking about it endlessly
bonding with my weekday wife over delicious food... that she makes
introduction to brachic
my balloon tree
introduction to lizano
using dry shampoo
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (old book, but i only read it this year)
double visit to halifax
the jolly jumper
living in tights with a fine excuse

Thank you, I'll let you know when something new happens
Jess

modern country

2009-11-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

It was about this time last year that I rushed to meet the real estate agent showing the house Trout Chris and I live in. The whole thing was very embarrassing. I am 24, I work in retail, I can't manage a savings account for longer than it takes to save enough money to buy a dress. I had no business looking at this house and the agent and I both knew it. I desperately wanted to look like I should be there, so I asked Chris to give me some pointers and questions to ask (I probably googled "questions to ask for first time home buyers" as well, i can't remember). I was in a hurry so it never occurred to me to have the importance or meaning of the questions explained... There I stood, knocking on the WRONG door. Eventually the woman sitting on the stoop next door, figured out what was going on and introduced herself as Laurie, the agent. I stumbled across the lawn and forcefully shook her hand- I take great pride in my handshake, since many of my friends' dads have commented on how strong it is and I used this opportunity to show it off. Not knowing what the questions I had written on the back of a receipt meant resulted in me not understanding the answers, and subsequently never giving an appropriate response... It's kind of blurry but I might as well have said "oh that's perfect!!" when the agent told me about the lead pipes in the kitchen.
I spent the twenty minutes being shown around the house trying my hardest to look like an adult and staying out of the light so she couldn't see how red and sweaty my face was getting. Both of us doing each other the favor of acting like it wasn't a waste of time for her to drive all the way from Kanata for this. Chris made up for my incompetence and befriended the agent, eventually asking her how I did. He broke it to me nicely but the gist of it was that I had every right to be embarrassed. We looked at the house a few more times, finding new depths of love for it and miraculously months later it was ours. As proof of our love for the home, we haven't shut up about it since this time last year. Our sincerest apologies in advance for not stopping.

I have spent nearly every waking moment trying to make this place more comfortable. Chris finds himself in a brand new living room every other week and to an excited me telling him about my new favorite colour scheme (currently a series of complex grays). Thankfully he is addicted to shopping and when I display even a slight enthusiasm in something for the house, he rushes out to find that thing or an inexpensive alternative. Evidence is in the 100+ picture frames he found in about a week for my, to this day incomplete, rogues gallery.
If Chris were a different kind of man, one who didn't know the thrift store employees on a first name basis and how each of them prices items, one who didn't frequent design sponge and apartment therapy, and who didn't stop to look in people's trash on Sunday evenings if something catches his eye, things might have turned out badly. I probably would have spent every weekend going to antique markets, like a chump paying the ticket price for pieces that I would have clumsily thrown together with Ikea furniture only to have them look like a home sense add (I am not suggesting that that is what happens when antiques and Ikea are put together... but it's what would have happened if I put them together). Chris has opened my eyes to mid century design, and in spite of myself I've embraced it- so long as there isn't any glass and a few more primitive pieces to warm it up. I don't have a special gift for decorating, so almost every idea comes straight from the homes of people I don't know, but who to me possess gifts for design and composition. The list has gotten shorter, and we (I) have narrowed it down to about ten things we either need to do or purchase over the next few years. Thank you Chris, Sally Ann and the Internet for working so hard in building this home. Tomorrow I might get a chance to take "after" photos to accompany the "before" photos and post them, but right now I have to go answer the door.

BonBon

2009-11-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

'city is a piece of ship.

2009-10-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Boarding time 2:30, Departure time 2:45. You get special treatment on airplanes if you have a baby- scratch that, you get special treatment everywhere with a baby, you gotta get one.

If you turn a sharp corner while you're walking, people begin to get a real "screw you" look on their face, then they look down, see the baby, and so suddenly and sincerely they get apologetic for almost trampling you and your little darling.
Feed going up. Look around and make stupid faces at other babies who are older than Trout, they laugh back instantly because they know how stupid we really look. Discuss surprise over all the lakes we see once we begin our descent. Feed landing. Tuck Trout into baby bjorn. Once everyone else on the plane has gotten off, we quickly gather our things and get off, apologizing profusely for taking so long. Pilot "is this her first time flying?", us " yeah, doesn't she look excited?", him "let's get a picture of her in the cockpit!", us "yes."

Arrival time: 5:30, stuff baby into car seat, and into super comfy limo car, with super friendly/knowledgeable driver, 30 minute drive to city (city I can't help falling for over and over again).Happily go to Halifax Pub the Henry House, eat delicious food, get puked on by baby, and in friendly east coast fashion, feel like it's really okay to hand crying baby over to owner of Pub who wants to hold her while i finish my meal. Baby not kidnapped by owner of HH, comes back to Ben and Justine's perfect apt. with lots of light and healthy plants. Sleep, wake up, do first day things- walk, eat, shop... have dinner with hilarious newlyweds and nearly parents, rekindle love for apples to apples, go to bed in cozy room.

the next two days the weather was gorgeous, took a stroll through the public gardens and through point pleasant and I realize that visiting in the winter, although not without its charm, has nothing on an east coast fall.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious (thank you Ben)

I took a break from writing this blog, and my train of thought and memories of the trip have faded a bit, so enough about it. Basically what happens in Halifax every single time I go, is that the city seduces me, I will live there.

i love to laugh

2009-10-02T10:29:00.001-07:00

Last night Chris and I went to the Manx with Adair and some friends, eventually the conversation turned to the Louis CK stand up happening tonight at the NAC. It occurs to us every now and again, that for two people who love to laugh so much, it's odd that we've never (together or individually) been to see a comedian (for anyone that knows Chris, you might agree that it would be safe for him to resist comedy clubs, if only because he can really become a target). In my case though, I don't know why I've never made it out to a stand up show (Jeremy Hotz was here, Jerry Seinfeld!!, i don't get it... ). Nothing has ever made me laugh harder than a really solid piece of stand up comedy. I have a surprising amount of respect for it as an art, and like I said I love to laugh. Here are a few quotes by Jack Handy that really kill me, I love clean comedy. Happy Friday!!!

I just think it's important to start the weekend laughing, so here are a few quotes from Jack Handy (you might remember him from SNL, if not... remember him from my blog).

“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”

“The difference between a man and a boy is, a boy wants to grow up to be a fireman, but a man wants to grow up to be a giant monster fireman.”

“As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was very pleasurable - until I realized it wasn't a nectarine at all, but A HUMAN HEAD!”

“If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong though. It's Hambone.”

“I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our children's children, because I don't think children should be having sex.”

Stampede of nudes
"The trouble with most paintings of nudes is that there isn;t enough nudity. It's usually just one woman lying there, and you're looking around going, "Aren't there any more nudes?" This idea solves that. What has frightened the nudes? Is it the lightning in the background? or did one of the nudes just spook? You don't know, and this creates tension."

made you look
"This idea is difficult to execute, but could be a masterpiece. It depicts a grandly dressed lady, looking straight at you. At first her look seems to say, "Quick, look behind you!" So you turn around, and when you look at her again, her expression now seems to be one of smug satisfaction. "

Ma petite puce.

2009-09-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

This year, epidome of style/soon to be fashion icon/my fav designer/best friend/girlfriend material Charlotte E. Eedson (above), is participating in the Montreal Puces Pop Fashion show, tonight (like i bet she's there right now and people are losing their minds over her designs). In my excitement, I forgot to check what kind of day the show fell on, and to my dismay... I am not there to see her leap into the fashion world with open arms and give it a great big hug (maybe make out a bit). Instead, upon CE's suggestion, we had a fashion show of our own. As it turns out, babies, cute as they are, make demanding models (Trout is kind of a diva), and it was shortly after the first outfit that we called it quits and had some dinner. Here is what we were able to capture, like lightening in a bottle, I present you TROUT.

playtime

2009-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

I've been trying hard to keep Adair's toys in corners, in baskets, under tables and chairs- hidden. I've been trying to hide the signs that we have a baby living among us. Why? because when I was imagining, dreaming and wishing about the first home I would have as an adult, I completely forgot to factor in the part where I would have a family, and not be the only one living in the house- a realization that is making me wonder about the self-centeredness i didn't think I had, because I think I'm just so perfectly well-adjusted (read sarcasm). So in an effort to make this feel more like her home too, we invested in a large, space hogging contraption that makes the walls and decorations fade behind its circus like colours... we got us an exersaucer. and dedicated a small part of the room to Adair's things.There is nothing cozier than a house that feels lived in, and what better sign of life than a baby's items drenched in warm drool? our living room has a lot of life.

floors

2009-09-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided to find out what lies beneath the linoleum in my and chris's kitchen. After about half an hour of slicing through seven layers of sticky icky linoleum that surely dates back to the 20s (not fashionably so) i was happy to find no tar, and plenty of pine. Most people would have had the forethought to dig in a less conspicuous place than the high traffic stretch before the sink... not me. Can i use baby brain this far into motherhood? probably not? then i won't. How cleverly I hid the newly found floor under the garbage can you see in the second photo, suggests that I've lost any sign of the stupidity caused by pregnancy. But nothing gets past Chris. Luckily history has quickly been rewritten to read that he, upon seeing the mess, thought the whole thing was very funny and sitcomishly quirky of me.

linoleum? linoleeeewwww

2009-09-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

new house project:

figure out what is under the linoleum in the kitchen... will it be tar? more linoleum? soft wood?? here is what it looks like now:

party girl

2009-09-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday sept 16th, I had a dinner party for Sheena "Bean" Sherwood. She deserved it, and I think everyone had fun, at least this photo would make it seem so. She turned 26, but she doesn't look a day over 24 and a half.

Adair looked very smart in her new threads by TEA.. Little birdies on twigs with jailbreak (my heart) pants.... she didn't catch most of the conversation because she spent a larger part of the evening sleeping on her Pappa and on her pillow.

Thanks for the pillow Gigi and Nina ( http://funtimeswithbaby.blogspot.com/).

little addy two two

2009-09-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

oh and on friday night adair went to an art opening featuring izzy pouliot's sheet paintings and drew mosley's coffee and ink drawings. this is what adair wore (thanks edna li for the most fem onesie ever):

and this is the artwork she enjoyed:

cozy

2009-09-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

it felt like fall a few weeks ago, and Adair wanted to wear her fall clothes.

the sweater was hand knit by izzy pouliot, visit her on etsy!!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6719788

transition

2009-08-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

in addition to posting house stuff, "get dressed" is going to be my daughter in good outfits.

make it.

2009-08-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to start a list of things that i want to do to at home. The idea, while I'm on leave with Adair, is that i will try to spend all of this free time i have to make and fix things around the house. I also want to learn how to sew properly so that i can reupholster furniture and maybe make some clothes that fit me nicely, but mostly the dream home stuff. I'm hoping that i might develop a serious interest in a functional craft or skill.

I spent the day looking for inspiration... mostly on the bddw site.

Don't they look like they're having fun?
I wish I could visit an adult sleepover camp for people to make things. It would look like that picture during leisure hours, and I would finally learn how to sew.

and it would be like this during furniture making class:

I think I belong in that little crowd.

2009-08-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's time to start small.