Shelfies - The Baby's Room, Part II

 Have you heard of a shelfie? It's a selfie with a shelf! 

This is the only shelf that we have in the baby's room so far. It's filled with a few of my favourite things. 

I fell in love with this giraffe at a store here in Göteborg called Afro Art. The colours and patterns are fantastic and I thought it would look great in the nursery. The striped zebra is one of the first purchases I made for baby back in 2010. It's from Peir One Imports and I had to have it for my future child. When I was in Texas last December I found out I was pregnant. Upon my return to Belgium this zebra came back with me, because I've always known it would go in my baby's room. 

The origami elephant is a prototype for a mobile that I am in the process of making for the baby. Thankfully, my mother-in-law is bringing a 10-inch embroidery hoop with her when she comes to visit next week! I've had no luck finding one here in Göteborg. Sometimes I really miss shopping in the USA. 

Here we have baby's first Dala horse and traditional wooden clogs - a nod to her Belgian and Swedish beginnings. The 'Hey Girl' bib is an absolute treasure. It was hand stitched by a friend referencing this hilarious video, and sent to me this summer when things were especially tough and sad - it was one of the sweetest gifts and reminded me how good laughter through tears can feel. I have the card that came with it in a frame, which you can see in the first photo. However, I've decided that the bib is too beautiful to use and will also get a frame the next time I happen to go to IKEA.

We've received many gifts for the baby from friends and family. We are truly blessed. These past two months I have spent many days washing, folding and organising tiny pants, onesies and socks. I've never been so organised in my entire life. I am hoping for better skills, as I want to set a good example for my daughter.

Ideally, baby girl will have her own book shelf one day, but for now all books reside on this huge set of shevles in the living room. Books are such trouble to have while living abroad, but I love my books and I believe books make a home. 

I have many, many more books in Texas, and I miss my collection. I also have many books from my teaching days that will create baby girl's library some day. I want my daughter to grow up with as many books around her as possible, it makes such a difference and I believe establishes a love of literacy. I realise that this will be tricky, seeing as how we live abroad and move so much, but I am determined to find a way to make sure that this happens. It made such a difference in my life. I am thankful for that experience. 

By the way... have you experienced the power of a bookbook™?

The Baby's Room and Other Things, Part I

Well, I am not in the hospital today, so I will share some details from the baby's room. By the way, this website is really funny.

These past two months have felt like a mad dash to the finish line. We literally had nothing in terms of baby equipment when we arrived in Sweden. As someone  who loves to shop, I was completely overwhelmed during the entire process of shopping for baby. Most of the items we purchased were either from IKEA or Blocket - a website in Sweden similar to Craigslist. Since we are subletting the apartment for two years, we had some furniture to work with - the dresser, the nightstand and also the striped beige wall paper that came in this tiny room. I had been wanting that three tiered Råskog kitchen cart from IKEA since it came out a few years ago. I love the functionality of it, and also that it has wheels.

This wall hanging was the inspiration for the room, and I've had my eye on it since my first trimester. It's called Karkuteillä and produced for the iconic Finnish design company Marimekko.

I love it because it's so whimsical and colourful, and I love the fact that the elephant is wearing black cowboy boots - a nod to my daughter's Texas heritage. Interesting side note, in 2012 Jon and I heard the designer of this textile speak in Brussels at a design fair. Her name is Maija Louekari and she's very talented; read more about her here.

Our first purchase for the baby was our stroller. It's a used Bugaboo Cameleon and I love it! I test drove a similar new model at a baby store and really liked the way it "drove."  When Jon found our bright red one on Blocket, I wasn't convinced that it was the "one" because of the colour. As it turns out, I'm so glad we went for a bright colour instead of black, which I feel is too dark for a baby and reminiscent of a funerary car. We took it for a test drive for a picnic back in July. We got a lot of stares - probably because there was no baby in there.

This is Slottsskogen - a huge park in the middle of Göteborg. It was a lovely July evening, and I'm looking forward to going back and exploring with the baby. There's even a small zoo in the park!

Back to the baby's room...

I spent the summer knitting the blanket hanging on the rocking chair. It ended up being rather large for a baby blanket, but I really like the colours and it works well in the room. Every colour on that blanket tells a story. I hope to write more about it later, and also the small quilt in the picnic in the park picture.

Our rocking chair was found second hand on Blocket. We went to pick it up in the centre of town and brought it back on the tram. Jon carried it all the way home on his head. Here I am waiting for the tram, in front of a burger. I think this is a funny picture.

We also found our bedside crib on Blocket, but we went to a store to make this purchase. It's new but was priced much lower than advertised in other stores. The store owner even delivered it to our house after hours at no charge when she saw Jon try to roll it out of the store on a toddler sized skate board. Have I mentioned how kind everyone is in Sweden?

The Troll bedside crib also has wheels that lock, and one of the sides slides down for easy access. This crib can be placed next to our bed and I feel great about using it in our room the first few months. I love the bedding pictured here in the crib. At the moment it's only for decoration, but it was one of the first gifts for baby purchased at Petit Pan in Paris. Ooh-la-la!

The nice thing about these larger pieces is that we can easily move them into our room where baby will sleep the first few months. We have a nice corner space in our bedroom ready to arrange what ever items we find that we'll need. We're flexible and thankfully the furniture is too!

It was a bit of work to get everything organised, but I feel really good about the purchases we've made for baby thus far. We didn't go overboard and I feel like this arrangement will function well for us, but only time will tell.

Part II tomorrow...maybe. 

Seconds

I got a new computer back in December because my old one is almost fried. I still need to get photos and documents off of it, but for now the photos on my new computer go back to January of this year. Last night I had the "brilliant" idea of sharing photos from the 2nd of each month going back to January in an effort to share some insight into life these past few months. However, after working on this post today, I don't know how "brilliant" this idea is. It might not make much sense. It's just kind of scratching the surface with all that has transpired. In any case, here goes...

January 2, 2014

After spending a couple of weeks in Texas for the holidays, we returned to Europe via Amsterdam.

Two interior shots of our friend's place in Amsterdam, which also happens to be on AirBnB. I'll have to search for the link, but will post it as soon as I find it. It's a great space in a great location!

I always make time for some herring when I am in Amsterdam. 

 February 2, 2014

A rainy Sunday afternoon read. Vincent by Barbara Stok.

March 2, 2014

No photo on this day, but I know that I was planning to knit this blanket for the babe. 

April 2, 2014
I took a quick road trip with some friends to see Monet's garden in Giverny.

I'm about 18 weeks pregnant in this photo. 

May 2, 2014
My mom came to see me in May and it was her first visit to Europe! She returns later this month - but this time we won't be taking in so many sights - just baby snuggles.

Enjoying a Gaufre de Bruxelles, (Brussels Waffle), and charming Art Nouveau interior at Le Cirio in Brussels. 

June 2, 2014

I've craved fruit my entire pregnancy. When it was strawberry season in Belgium I would make this mocktail for myself. It's easy to make and only uses three ingredients - fresh strawberries that have been puréed, agave syrup (add enough to your taste) and sparkling water. I think there also may have been some fresh lime juice squeezed in there too. Mmmmmm!

July 2, 2014

This was our 2nd day in London. Just a sampling of our activities this day included:

Walking around Chelsea, 

Exploring and sampling the fine fare in and around the Borough Market,

Fulfilling a dream and visiting the amazing Liberty of London store,

Sight seeing, 

And eating a delicious curry dinner and then walking through SoHo.
I first saw Les Miserables in London 22 years ago! Wow! 

August 2, 2014

We ran errands this day and also started getting the room ready for the baby. 

I'll share more about that tomorrow, unless I don't... 
In which case I will probably be in the hospital laboring away.  

A Quote for Today

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We only have today. Let us begin."

- Mother Theresa

Getting back in the saddle and establishing routines is never easy. As I was looking through my last few blog posts yesterday, I was kicking myself for stopping. Why did I stop? I should have kept going, but I was scared. Of what? I don't know. Now I realise how nice it is to have a record of life to look back on, especially now that I am about to have a baby - I'd like her to know this story, because in a way it's also her story.

I have a tonne of photos that I have amassed since I've started this blog. It was my intention to go through them and come up with some sort of organised system, but I got busy - growing a human, traveling, and with life. I am really good at finding excuses for not doing the activities that scare me. I really liked the 365 Photos project that I started (and didn't finish), and also the Make 52 Project that I started (and also didn't finish.) I see a pattern here...

I have two computers, five small thumb drives, and one external hard drive full of photos and memories here with me. Little by little, I'd like to piece the story together. I'm not sure how I will go about it all, but last night I had an idea. I could just start with the photos on this computer, which go back to January and share the highlights from the month. But then I went down a rabbit hole, and I started to pull out the small thumb drives. Five have now become three, and look at what I was doing exactly one year ago today:

It was the first day of school at the International School of Leuven. I'm talking the first day of school ever for ISL. I was the pre-primary teacher for a great group of six little kids. We had so much fun and it was an amazing opportunity I will never forget. I learned so much and the kids really inspired me for my next endeavour -- motherhood!

Hej!

It's hard to believe my last post was on December 1st, exactly 9 months ago! So much has happened since then! A lot of ground has been covered and our lives have totally changed.

August 31, 2014. 40 weeks +1 day

We've been in our new home in Göteborg, Sweden for almost 2 months. Jon and I moved here from Leuven, Belgium on July 4th. It's been really nice, albeit a bit lonely for me. There's not much a 9 month old pregnant lady can or wants to do at this point. However, from what I can tell, I think I am going to like it here. I've been meaning to write and share more on this space. Originally I thought I would do a photo dump from August for this post, but I think I'll just start from the beginning of this particular adventure. I tend to want to write and share everything, but seeing as how this is a new start and how busy our lives are about to become I think I'll keep it simple for now. I'll just start with a few photos for this post.

For me, these next two pictures pretty much sum up the very beginning of our new life in Sweden:

Breakfast at Two Little Birds

After a three day layover in London, we woke up Friday, July 4th in Göteborg, Sweden - our final destination for the next four years. We were eager to move into our apartment, which would be ready later that day. Our AirBnB apartment came with complimentary breakfast at Two Little Birds Café, a quaint eco-café/gallery with a unique vintage vibe. Breakfast was very good and simple, in fact I still think about it - fresh fruit, yogurt, crusty artisan bread with cheese and a delicious cup of Earl Grey tea. I was relieved to eat such fresh and healthy food in my new town. I was a little concerned about moving away from the weekly markets that I had grown accustomed to in Leuven. It's no coincidence that since we've moved to Sweden, Jon and I have been eating some of the best meals we have ever cooked!

Later that afternoon, the owners of the apartment that we are subletting from for the next two years called to say that the apartment was ready and we could come any time. We hauled our three suitcases and selves over to Guldheden, where I set eyes upon my new home for the first time.

I live here! Somewhere near the top. 

The day I moved in was my first visit to my new home. There was no time to mourn the loss of our adorable attic apartment in Leuven, there was not even time to imagine a transition. This was it! Jon and I have done moves like this before, and it felt like the beginning of an exciting adventure.

"It's not much to look at... At least the colour is nice," I thought.  I've never lived in anything quite like this building before.

What this building lacks in appearance on the outside, it more than makes up for it on the inside. The interior of our space is so cozy and light filled. And we have so much space!

We've spent the past two months getting settled in our home and the Swedish system. There were a few hiccups along the road, but that's to be expected when moving to another country. In the end, everything has worked out. Most recently, our main focus has been getting things ready for our little girl who is currently two days past her official due date.

Here is a picture of her room - a work in progress, but ready for her arrival!

I hope to share more soon.

The First

The first photo of #Belgianbeeradvent 

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

It's been a whirlwind couple of days. I went for two days to Manchester, England by plane and train. Today from Belgium, I leave for the south of France (I have always wanted to say that) by automobile. I'm going on my first European road trip.

I'll be back next Saturday to post photos, details and projects.

Au revoir!

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, my best friend and I had a wedding celebration.

It was a hot day in Dallas, Texas. One of the happiest days of my life. 

We had pie. 

We had art installed.

We had family and friends there. 

We had a mariachi trio.

We had Mickey hands.

It was pretty much perfect.

Make 52: Week 11

This past week has kept me busy cleaning and organizing. I was able to make a few things. They may not be much to look at, but they were delicious to eat.

11. A. Vegetarian tacos and homemade guacamole.

I made the guacamole just how I remember it from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - avocado with chopped cucumbers and fresh garlic. The taco mixture is corn, red beans, sauteed onions and flacons de soja (TVP). 

 11.B. Ladies' Night Mac and Cheese

I made this with a friend Wednesday night. We used this recipe as a guide - cutting the amount of butter and milk by half. Then we watched Pretty Woman on Flemish TV. It was a good night!

 11. C. Fried eggs x 4.

I'm working on it. 

11.D. A little bit of this, a little bit of that carrot salad.

I had about 8 carrots that needed to be used in my fridge. It took about an hour to grate them all. Then I added a few raisins and some chopped dates for sweetness, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, and the tiniest bit of mayonnaise. I think a little bit of fresh ginger would also go really well with this.