San Francisco!

Our little fam recently traveled to San Francisco, Portland & Seattle!  Our baby girl turned 4 months old while we were away.  She was a champion traveler!  I admit, I was nervous about...everything.  Will her ears adjust on the flight?  Will she sleep well on the go?  Will she have enough play time?  Will it be awkward to get around with a stroller?  And so on...  but in the end, it was great.  Of course, there were a few meltdowns (mom & dad included, who are we kidding), some jet lag, & many awkward moments.  Even some 4 month sleep regression thrown in there for good measure.  I've concluded that traveling with a baby is not as easy/fun as traveling by ourselves...but it's much more fun than not traveling at all!

Here's a few photos, and a couple of tips for traveling with a baby in San Francisco:

We were blessed that the baby did SO well on all the flights we took.  She actually slept through take off/landing of the first flight.  I wondered if I should nurse/put her pacifier in, since I had read that it helps their ears adjust.  But she was totally out, and didn't notice a thing!  She was awake through other take off/landings and still did just fine.  Other than that, we just kept our little eat/play/sleep routine happening and she was happy and smiling at anyone who would smile back.



Our first night, we saw a Giants game.  They were playing the Oakland A's, so it was a great rivalry.  Our first lesson was a hard one though.  That night we discovered that a) San Francisco is windy/cold!  b) Don't plan an outing on the first night, with a jet lagged baby who just wants to sleep.  Especially when it's noisy.  And cold.  And she's strapped to you for 4 hours solid.  Let's just say it was the worst night of our trip (especially for me).










The clam chowder bread bowl at Boudin's is as good as they say!

So are the giant sundaes at Ghirardelli's!

The old trolleys are fun to ride, they just have narrow aisles - a bit tricky with a big stroller...



Lombard Street was fascinating!



The hills in San Francisco are an adventure on their own.  The photo above and below are from the same spot, just looking in different directions!



We love aquariums - Aquarium of the Bay was a good one.



It was windy/chilly, but our walk across the Golden Gate Bridge was well worth it.  So majestic!  It took about 45 minutes-ish each way.



Took the Go Pro on our cable car ride (and the baby in the carrier, because the stroller would definitely have been awkward/too big).



She loved it though!





All the heart eyes for bay windows everywhere!



The Painted Ladies!



A few other thoughts:

- When you travel with a baby, be flexible about when you eat.  You may want to avoid the most common times of the day to eat, especially in San Francisco because most restaurants are really small and fill up fast (also awkward if you need space for the stroller).  Ideally, we would stop to eat while the baby slept so that we could use our hands.
- I think 3.5 months was a great time to travel...especially now that we are at 4.5 months and going through the nap-resisting, night-waking, over-tired stage (such fun! :)
- RELAX!  I had to remind myself of this 1000 times a day.  It's easy to stress over every little thing, but much more relaxing to take each moment as it comes.  Be present and enjoy where you are!

Maybe we will see you again someday, San Francisco!

DIY Geometric Felt Pillow

I recently made this colourful geometric felt pillow, and it was so easy & cute that I thought I'd share how I did it.

I love this project for a few reasons:
1. Felt is inexpensive (50 cents a sheet at Michaels!)
2. You can make it whatever colour and size you want.
3. If you can sew in a relatively straight line, you can do it :)

I'm nervous about calling this a tutorial, because it's more of a guideline...  I'm not a professional by any means - I'm just willing to TRY.  Professionals will likely cringe at my lack of measuring and precision (so if you're a pro, be warned!)  But if you're up for giving things a try, here's my play-by-play.  Modify as you wish!

What you should know before you go SCUBA DIVING...

We recently got back from scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, and it was stunning (see photos!)  But it wasn't always a dream of mine...

I'm not a risk-taker by nature.  I'm completely content to be curled up anywhere, deep in a good book, for hours on end.  My husband, on the other hand, doesn't sit still very well.  He's also very persuasive.  So while we were booking our honeymoon to Greece, he suggested we try scuba diving.  In fact, we really must!  He had been once before in Australia, loved it, and was dying to go again.  This would be the perfect chance!

I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

We showed up to the dive place which was, truly, a dive.  Our extremely tanned instructor, which we later discovered had quite a love for cigarettes, helped us find wetsuits that fit and lead us down to the  sea.  We hopped into the boat and headed out.  As we were riding out, I was thinking "Okay, this isn't so bad.  I think I can handle this."  And then my husband said,

"I'm not sure if I should tell you this...but I'm really nervous."

Apparently this experience was nothing like his first, when they had a long tutorial, and signed in-depth waivers before hitting the water.  We tried to reassure each other that it was fine.  We'll be fine. Right?

Thankfully once we got out to the dive site, the instructor turned out to be more helpful and was very patient with us.  He showed us how to enter the water, and gave us a quick run down on what we were about to do.  I was still feeling pretty anxious, but I didn't want to let Bryce down.  So we started descending underwater.

That's when I suddenly felt out of control.  I was only 2 feet under water, but I was very aware of my tight suit, heavy oxygen tank, and the suffocating mask on my face.  I couldn't figure out how to breathe.  You know, BREATHING, that thing you're doing without thinking.  That thing you need to live life.  Ya, that.  I didn't know how it worked.  I could see the instructor looking up at me with his fingers in the "okay" sign.  But I was panicking and couldn't get to the surface fast enough.  I pulled my mask off my face and took in big lungfuls of air.

The instructor surfaced with me and started talking me through it in a thick Greek accent.  I was barely listening because my thoughts were screaming something like "I CAN'T DO THIS" and "NEVER AGAIN".  I was already imagining myself sitting in the boat for the rest of the day.  Safe.

Before I had a chance to seriously refuse, the instructor was helping me put the mask back on my face.  And then his hand was on the back of my head, sticking my face in the water.  Deflating my BCD, helping me sink.

Oh Lord, help me.  Somewhere between the prayers and the panic, my stubborn streak kicked in.  "I WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.  Try breathing differently."  I allowed myself to breathe through my nose a little, just enough to suck the mask against my face.  And then out a little.  In.  Out.  Along with the regulator in my mouth, it started to feel more natural.  In. Out.  I slowly settled into a rhythm.  And that's all I could hear, the sound of myself breathing.

I started to relax.  More and more I noticed my surroundings.  The coral, the rocks, the sand, and the fish.  I was in another world.  The instructor pulled an octopus off the rocks and we watched it swim away.  It was so...peaceful.

Fast forward to a year later, I found myself in a tiny indoor pool in Kitchener, suiting up once again.  Scuba diving wasn't going to just be a one-time thing for us.  We got our certifications.  (I passed.)  Even though I still have trouble with my ears equalizing as we descend, I enjoy it.

So, here are a few things you should be prepared for before you go scuba diving, based on my experience:

1. Scuba diving is an exercise in controlling your MIND.
That first experience for me was a beautiful lesson in focus, and taking control of my thoughts.  Panic situations happen when your mind gets out of control.  Particularly when you don't think you can BREATHE.  Or when your ears aren't popping and the group is getting ahead of you.  You can't let yourself freak out.  I've learned to stay completely calm, breathe steadily, and be patient until they do.

2. Scuba diving and bodily fluids don't mix.  
For some reason, I can use the toilet and blow my nose before we hit the water but 30 minutes in my bladder is bursting and all the snot in my head wants OUT.  Where did it all come from??  Something scientific to do with the pressure change, I'm sure.  (Taking a sinus decongestant before you go under can help.)

3. Scuba equipment is heavy.
Not underwater.  But for those few moments above water when you're in a black wetsuit in the blazing sun with a big vest and a heavy tank strapped to your back... you'll be relieved to get in the water.  Just be patient.

4. Scuba diving is supposed to be relaxing.
If you've never been, you may be surprised to know that diving is meant to be slow, relaxing, and peaceful.  The goal is to conserve your air so you can stay under as long as possible.  It's not an aerobic activity.

5. Scuba diving is worth it.
The underwater world is fascinating, and worth experiencing.  So thank you, Mr. Greek Instructor for forcing my head underwater otherwise I might have missed out on all of this...

The Side Yard

Behold the disaster zone...

Our side flower bed had been neglected all summer - and by neglected I mean 4' thorny trees weeds had overtaken it.  So this past weekend (while we were getting carpet replaced - pics to come!), I got up close and personal with those weeds.  The short version is this: we cleared them out, dug out the black edging tube, realigned a few bushes and laid the weed block fabric.  (Read: lots of work, sweat, and sore muscles.)  We decided it would look good to have a row of stones along the wall, and cover the rest with mulch.  I'm so proud of how it looks now!  And also happy that it's relatively low-maintenance...  Every time we pull into the driveway, I sneak around to admire it.  Here's the after!

DIY Vintage-style Art

On our recent trip to London, I spotted a tea towel for $15.  Maybe expensive for a tea towel, but not for a piece of art!  I loved the graphic design and the colours.  Recently I've been loving vintage maps and art, especially the ones with wood frames like this one:

When I saw this tea towel, I had the idea to DIY my own version of a wall hanging.  So we bought a piece of wood dowel (I'm pretty sure it was 1/2" - but you could use whatever thickness you want), brought it home and used some leftover stain on it.  Then I literally krazy glued the tea towel to it.  I left a bit of overhang on each end.

Now it's hanging in that empty spot at the coffee/tea station!

Dining Chairs - A Makeover

Let's talk about this dining set.  We bought it off Kijiji for $150 - a steal for a midcentury solid wood set, including 2 leaves and 6 chairs.  What drew me to it was the upholstery.  Not the pattern or style, but the fact that it would be easy to recover and didn't require any sewing (what else?)  It sat in our house looking like this for more than a year...

Just waiting for the spring to roll around... so finally on the long weekend in May I tackled it.  I had already purchased the fabric for the chairs - it was actually 3 grey black-out curtain panels from Target!  They were $35 per panel - so in the end I'm sure I saved $$ instead of buying it by the yard, especially given the quality of the fabric.  (The curtains are nice and thick, perfect for upholstery)

All I had to was clip out the hem...

Here's a few more befores... The old fabric was in decent shape.  I didn't take off the old fabric, for a number of reasons.  1. There were probably a million staples holding it perfectly in place.  2.  I had no idea what I would find underneath, or just how that fabric was holding the cushions/wood together.  3. They didn't smell funky, and I wasn't worried about the pattern showing through.

Getting the cushions off was somewhat of an ordeal.  The bottoms ones were easy - just turn over the chair and take out 2 screws and it popped out.  The top ones...I had to dig out the wood plugs before I could even get to the screws - 4 per chair.  Let's just say they were glued in nice and tight.  I had to drill them out.  But once they were removed, getting the cushion out was easy.

I took out all the cushions, then roughed up the frames with sandpaper before painting.  We have a handy dandy spray gun - you fill the canister, thin out the paint with water, plug it in and then spray.  Easy in theory, of course :)  I don't have any photos of the painting process, mainly out of spite since it was so frustrating I had no energy/desire to record it.  Basically in the end I think I was using the wrong kind of paint.  I set out the chairs, sprayed the paint on, came back an hour later and it was crackling in a bunch of places.  Thankfully I ran out of that paint so I switched to Behr exterior, all surface paint and primer, extra durable.  Worked like a charm.  Amazing how a little change can make you fall in love with a project all over again...

Anyway, while they were drying I covered the bottoms with the new fabric.  Be prepared to use ALOT of staples.  I laid out the fabric, then turned the seat upside down on it.  Cut out an approximate shape :)  Start by stapling the centres, then work your way to the corners.  Staple evenly around the whole seat, pulling taut as you go.

The top cushions were very similar, they just took a lot more time to staple, since I was stapling into the edge and had to trim as I went.  All the staples are hidden by the wood frame, so it's quite forgiving - but I still took my time.

A whole long weekend, and a sore wrist later - it's done!  These pics show the chairs without the new wood plugs, which have recently been done as well.

Up next we'd like to change the table... perhaps just staining a bit darker...

Here's the before and after once again:

Fabric Crib Rails

Recently my cousin-in-law Becky asked me if I had time for a sewing project - her almost 1 year old son had been chewing the paint off the rails of his crib and she needed a solution.  She had done some research on crib rail guards and saw some fabric ones that she really liked.  She could order them online, but they would end up being too pricey.  I thought it seemed simple enough to make them, and for once I was right!  I turned out these 3 in a couple of hours.  

All you need is fabric, quilt batting, ribbon/binding, and some of course some thread.  The fabric Becky liked was $15/yard, so we saved some money by using a basic solid on the underside.  

First measure the length and width of fabric you need.  Our longest piece was just over 50", and the width was 12".   Add some extra for seam allowance (I added 1" all the way around).  Cut out a rectangle in those dimensions - you should have 3 pieces, the top fabric, the quilt batting, and the bottom fabric.

I used a seam binding in the same colour for the ties (I sewed them shut before I cut them).  You need 4 ties for each crib guard, and you just need to make sure they are long enough to tie around the rails (Ours were 5" long).

Lay down the bottom fabric (right side up), then lay the top fabric on it (right side down).  Sandwich your tie in between, lining it up along the edge.  Repeat on the other edge of the fabric.  Then repeat at the other end of the crib guard.  Then put the quilt batting on the very top.

Here you can faintly see through the fabric where the ties are positioned, one on each side.

Here you can see the pieces as a sandwich after I have sewed all the way around the outside edge, leaving one end open.  It should look like a pillow case.  Turn it right side out!

Here are 2 of the short pieces already turned inside out.  Now you just need to hem the open end - turn the edges inside by 1/2" and pin.  Sew the edges shut and you're done!

All done!