POLL: I need your help . . .

I bought 2 different shower curtains over the weekend and want your opinion. Please let me know what you think. The pictures are terrible, of course, but I hope that you get the idea.

The first one - Leaves - is a cottonish material and bright white w/ some green leaves and tan leaves. The tan matches the wall color nicely, but it is quite pale against the white.



Then 2nd one - flowers - is a more satinish material w/ blue, brown and tan ribbon flowers and then the a dark brown border at the bottom. The main color is more of an off-white color. The colors stand out a bit more on this one.







The trim in the room is bright white and the towels I bought over the weekend are also a bright white color. I didn't want anything too dark since it is such a small place. That's a given since it is so hard to just get a picture of these shower curtains for you. Ok, thanks so much for you opinion on this!

Getting settled

Well, it's now been a few weeks and I'm slowly getting settled in. My folks came down for the day at the beginning of the month and really helped me clear out the first floor and put things in their rightful place. Once my mom (a/k/a drill Sergeant for the day) took over, there was no stopping her. Here is how beautiful the kitchen looked when we were done.
















Since then, I've had a chance to settle in more. Here's a look at how the front of the house is looking. The rug was left behind by the sellers and actually doesn't look so bad except that it's too small. I think throw rugs are next on my list of house purchases.















As you can see, the TV has been mounted on the wall. There were some issues w/ the job. The guy who installed it actually put it up significantly higher than I wanted it (20" above the mantle). My friend managed to move the TV down on the mount so that now it is only 12" above the mantle. I complained, and the guys are coming back after the holiday to make it right. It really should be only 2-3" above the mantle b/c the room is so narrow.

Onto the 2nd floor. I haven't done anything w/ the guest room yet. For now, it is basically my bedroom from my apartment until I decide what I want to do with it. The room gets some really great light during the day, so I may want to make it a sitting area or combine some of my office. My office is kind of dark b/c the window is set back a bit.

I haven't done much w/ the bathroom or office yet, so here is my bedroom. It essentially looks the same as what I had shown before. In the coming weeks, I plan to start hanging pictures.

Lastly, the basement is coming along nicely. My friend vented the dryer for me and also put together storage shelves from IKEA. Next, I want to work on my craft area, but I can wait until after the new year for that one. I'll post basement pictures in a few weeks.

It's mine, all mine!

As promised, a picture of Alex sleeping horizontally in my bed.

She started out on the pillow on the right. My sister moved her back and when I came up to bed a couple hours later, she was on my pillow, almost sleeping across the bed, again.

Flower Cardigan and Hat

Do you remember how I made my niece the Flower Cardigan and Hat from Susan Anderson's Itty Bitty Nursery for her 1st birthday? Well, she finally (mostly) fits in it, 8 months later!

She wore it to the museum and we got lots of compliments on it. She looked so cute in it that I just had to share!

My first house guests!

Last weekend, I had my first set of house guests for the weekend. My sister came up w/ the girls to visit college and grad school friends and brought the girls with her. My sister's first comment was that I finally was in an adult house. The best was that I had places for everyone to stay! She was in the guest room, Leah was in the office, and Alex was with me in my room. It worked out really well, except that somehow, little Alex manages to take up the entire bed. Amazing. I was hugging the edge just to get some room. Katie has a great picture of Alex lying horizontal on the bed. And I thought I moved around in my sleep a lot!

Leah was a treat and loved being thrown in the air. Here we are playing around one of the mornings.


I had a few toys, perfectly placed in drawer and Leah was great at not just taking things out, but also putting them away. I was impressed. Even I still have problems putting things away!

On Saturday, we started out at the Please Touch Museum where Alex proceeded to show her mom all the cool places in Alice's Wonderland, including tea w/ the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit.

Queen of Clubs . . .

Leah had a great time shopping in the market.

Afterwards, we left Katie and Leah, and Alex and I went to the Academy of Natural Sciences and then the Franklin Institute. At one point, Alex exclaimed, "Scientists are my most favorite people, ever!" Oh my.

I was sad to see them go on Sunday morning. It was a great visit and I look forward to the next time they come up, which will be more often since they finally have a place to stay!