The Nursery: October Pin it and Do it

The nursery is just about done! We are already in the third trimester and my work is incredibly busy right now, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner, and the baby will be here before we know it. So I think having most of the nursery done is a good thing. I love how it turned out and every little detail was so much fun to work on.

Our little girl's name is going to be Sydney Diann (my Mom's passed away and her name was Diann). We went to Sydney, Australia last year and in addition to loving the name itself, it's such a wonderful reminder of our trip together and our love of travel. There's a few other Sydney items around the room, including a photo I took of the Sydney Opera House (top right in the above photo). The name on the wall is a decal I ordered from Etsy (link on my Pinterest board here).

I love the glider, a gift from my Dad and stepmom, and can't wait to read to our little girl while sitting there. Above it you can see a print that says "She Believed She Could, So She Did" that my sister got for me. She also got the cute hanging poms. The other print is an Etsy print of the Sydney skyline.

One friend got us the world's largest teddy bear. I'm still not sure where he's going to end up! One of the other prints on the far left is the famous stacked LOVE image. The original sculpture is located at my favorite museum in Indianapolis. I found an Etsy shop that let me pick custom colors (navy and coral) for the print. The other print says, "You are my bucket list."

There's a little bookshelf filled with kids books. This has always been in this room, because whenever my nieces and nephews come over they make a beeline for it, which is wonderful! About half the books are ones I saved from my own childhood. Others are gifts, hand-me-downs, and a few I've collected over the years. The highest shelf has a few longer books (like the Chronicles of Narnia, Peter Pan, Stuart Little, etc.) that we'll save for when she's older. 

I have another friend who hand-sewed the most incredible pouf for our girl to sit on while she's reading. You can see a closeup of the detail above and the whole pouf in the top photo. It has the complete train system map of Sydney on the top and the city's ferry system map on the bottom. It's such a thoughtful gift. I can't imagine being able to sew something like that, but I just love it and it will mean so much to our little Sydney as she gets older.

I turned an old beat up nightstand and bookcase into sweet additions to the nursery with a coat of coral paint. Luckily, I had a friend who helped, because I'm a horrible painter. They turned out great! Not pictured is a print on the other wall with one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes, "Though she be but little, she is fierce." That wall also hold the closet. The Huz is planning on adding some shelves to it, but we haven't tackled that project yet.

These are a couple of before photos of the room. It was our guest room and had a big queen-sized bed and huge wall of frames in it. We changed the color of the walls from bright turquoise to light gray. 

We have had so many wonderful friends already give us hand-me-downs. So the dresser already has some newborn and 0-3 months clothes, blankets, swaddlers, and burp cloths in the drawers. 

I participated in Trish's Pin It and Do It for the nursery. I painted bookshelves and picked out color palettes using things I found on Pinterest. Here's a link to my nursery board on Pinterest where I got ideas for just about everything I did from the rug to the curtains!

Photos by me.

The Doctor

Hello my name is Melissa and I’m a Whovian. (Insert loud chorus of “Hi Melissa.”)

When I was growing up I occasionally watched the old Doctor Who with my Dad. I heard about the reboot a few years back, but for some reason I never checked it out. Then a lovely friend prompted me to watch it and (thank goodness) I finally did.

I’m a complete addict now. I dare you to watch the entire first and second season and not fall in love with the characters. Yes, there are aliens and end of the world attacks, but the show is really about people and the complicated relationships they have (no matter what planet they are from).

The man who plays the doctor changes every few seasons and David Tennant is far and away my favorite. He’s clever and funny and yet he can break your heart with a glance. He also has companions that travel around with him, but each one never last more than a few seasons. That keeps the show interesting because the chemistry is always changing and it stays fresh. I adored Rose, but Donna is my favorite because she’s so sassy. It took me a minute to warm up to her, but once I did I was a fan for life. She’s not a love interest for the Doctor, she’s his best friend and she provides a much needed balance to his life.

The writers never shy away from difficult issues or plot twists. They are always trying new things and surprising their audience. They create such memorable characters and then continue to grow their stories even when they aren’t series regulars anymore.

A few things I didn’t realize when I started the series:

1) Doctor Who is freaking hilarious. It has that wonderful dry British sense of humor that I’m so fond of.
2) The Harry Potter movies are like a Who’s Who of the people who have guest starred on Doctor Who.
3) Even if they weren’t in HP, if they are a British actor, they’ve probably made a guest appearance.
4) The show has a fierce and faithful following, many of whom are incredibly creative and have awesome etsy shops.

Some of my favorite episodes:

1) The Empty Child
2) Love & Monsters
3) Doomsday
4) Human Nature/The Family of Blood
5) Blink
6) Silence in the Library
7) Turn Left
8) Journey's End
9) The End of Times Part 1 and 2
10) Vincent and the Doctor
11) The Big Bang
12) A Christmas Carol
13) The Day of the Moon
14) The Doctor's Wife
I may be late to the party, but I’m glad I’m finally here. Any other Whovians out there?

Awesome images from here, here and here.

Etsy Literary Love

Lately I've been finding way too many literature inspired pieces on Etsy.
My favorite is this coffee mug with a quote from Mr. Darcy (P&P), found here.

Do I need this coffee mug? No, of course not. Do I want this coffee mug?
Absolutely! Coffee + quote from Jane Austen = Be still my heart.

Another fun one, a pillow with an illustration from
The Chronicles of Narnia, found here.

And one final Pride and Prejudice item, hand-painted art found here.
They also have a wonderful Jane Eyre bookmark.

p.s. Etsy is dangerous.

From the library of...

I received a lovely stocking stuffer this Christmas from my husband (who somehow understands my love of books). It's a custom stamp that says "Ex Libris MY NAME." I immediately went on a stamping spree, marking all of my favorite books that I love to lend out. If you're looking for a good stamp to use in your books, I'd highly recommend this one.

Visit terbearco's shop for more info.

Photo by moi.