Sunday, May 13, 2012

not nesting, just feathering

So I finally figured out what to do with our fireplace mantle.




I've been trying to sort out what to put on our mantle since all the Christmas stuff came down, a decision complicated by the fact that the original print we ordered for the wall actually ended up being too large to fit in the space above the fireplace.  (To be fair, I did measure the space, it just turns out that the measurements provided didn't actually include the measurements of the matting and the frame.  Lessons learned.  But never fear, the Rothko print is now hanging above the couch.)

Anyway, this is obviously not a design blog and I don't know nothin' about birthin' no decoration babies, but what we ended up choosing for our mantle seemed like a nice kind of post for Mother's Day so here you go.  Also I don't have anything else to write about.




This mason jar of sticks I made inspired by AB Chao, who was in turn inspired by this other blog.  (This is known as "proper attribution.")  It was good because we already had a jar, the sticks were free (thanks, backyard!) and the embroidery floss was cheap--it was a good excuse to buy a whole buttload for other projects, actually.  This particular endeavor was easy enough that Cal and I could do some of it together, which is where the Mother's Day part of it comes in.  We actually wrapped most of those twigs this morning (I don't know what your day looks like where you live, but ours is a Very Rainy Sunday) and they were ready for prime time before lunch.  And look how pretty.




The T-Rex wood sculpture is, I think, one of Mack's birthday presents.  The thing of it is that it's actually not a very good gift for a 3 year-old (it came flat packed in literally more than a hundred pieces that had to be assembled painstakingly--think lots of wood grooves and slots fitting together) and it absolutely would not hold up to any kind of rough play, which...well, you've seen kids play with dinosaurs, right? Anyway.  Not the best toy.  But ornamentally, it is fun.  So T-Rex lives on our mantle now.




This is the part that Joe made fun of me for getting (it's one of the few purely decorative items I've ever bought, unless you count pillows for the couch), and he keeps calling them "decorative balls."  Whatever.  I BOUGHT DECORATIVE BALLS.  I like them.  Shut up.  (They're from Target.  I can't find a link, but I'm sure you can find them in the decorative ball aisle.)




This poster I got from the Echo Park Time Travel Mart.  I have a few prints of Amy Martin's stuff and I  really like her work--the colors in this print also match the color scheme of our living room.  Also, it's about fire, which is HILARIOUS to me because we're hanging it over our fireplace.  (I'm easily amused.)  The frame I got from Target, I "matted" it myself by just buying a piece of white posterboard and taping the poster on there before cramming it into the frame.  Whatever, it looks fine.  TAKE THAT, PROFESSIONAL FRAMERS.




(I should also note that the poster is only $20 and part of the proceeds I believe goes to benefit 826LA, which is a non-profit writing and tutoring center for kids in Los Angeles.  You know, in case you need another excuse.)

And now, finally, a pictoral round-up.  Literally.  See, because..."round-up."  ROUND.  I slay me.  Me and only me, I guess.

29 weeks:



30 weeks:



31 weeks:



And...that's it.  How was your Mother's Day?  Mine's not over yet but it's raining and I'm about to go take a nap so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was a pretty good one.

12 comments:

  1. Happy Mother's Day! I'm not a mom yet, though we do have two dogs. Anyways, I love your new print (very tongue-in-cheek) and your creative framing. Coincidentally, we also just got a bunch of Target frames, after having been turned off by the custom framing places here in NYC.

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  2. happy Mother's Day to you! Son #1 arrived home from college so it was a good day spent chilling with my two "babies"....

    :)

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  3. I'm on my way to Target!

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  4. i have that same skirt from old navy - love it!

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  5. Anonymous6:40 PM

    Happy Mother's Day!

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  6. Love the embroidery floss idea. I may have to copy!

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  7. No better way to spend a cold rainy Sunday than taking a nap, and the thunderstorms helped a lot with my rest pattern. I couldn't explain it if I tried. I think that all of North Georgia took a nap on Sunday. Lovely day, wasn't it?

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  8. Anonymous9:00 PM

    Your pictures are so beautiful! What type of camera/lens are you using?

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    1. Just regular iPhone pics, touched up on Snapseed (which is a really nice photo editing app that I just recently downloaded and am now in love with).

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  9. Hi Michelle, I've been a reader of your blog for years and years (since you were in medical school probably). Anyway, I had my first ever day surgery last week and I have no one else to pose this weird question to but you since you're an anesthesiologist.

    After I got my IV, the anesthesiologist put a clear mask on me, and then proceeded to strap the mask to my face with these black rubber straps. I have never ever seen this thing in regular movies before!! This black strap looked some like funky contrapment piece from some vintage medical fetish collection or something. Is there such a thing? Or was I high on drugs and imagining it because my was my last memory before the recovery room. If that was a real thing, what is it used for? Thanks a bunch :)

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  10. Yes, there is such a thing--sometimes (though infrequently) we'll use those straps if we want to hold the mask in place for gas delivery and need our hands free to do something else. That's why all masks come with those four little plastic prongs off the front, to give us that option. That said, it really very rarely comes up--usually I'll just hold it or just secure an airway by other means (intubation or what have you). Depends on what kind of operation you're having too--for shorter cases (example: ear tubes) it's a more likely choice to just "mask a patient down" rather than to go whole hog and insert an artificial airway.

    Hope your surgery went well!

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    1. Thanks so much for the reply Michelle! I had strabismus surgery and I'm doing well now :)

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