From THIS article from The New York Times Magazine

AS THE MONTHS PASSED, something curious happened: The bigger Cathy was, the more I realized that I was glad — practically euphoric — I was not pregnant. I was in a daze of anticipation, but I was also secretly, curiously, perpetually relieved, unburdened from the sheer physicality of pregnancy. If I could have carried a child to term, I would have. But I carried my 10-pound dog in a BabyBjörn-like harness on hikes, and after an hour my back ached.

Cathy was getting bigger, and the constraints on her grew. I, on the other hand, was happy to exploit my last few months of nonmotherhood by white-water rafting down Level 10 rapids on the Colorado River, racing down a mountain at 60 miles per hour at ski-racing camp, drinking bourbon and going to the Super Bowl.

I had several friends around my age — 37 and up — who were pregnant with their first children at this time, and I was amazed at how their feet swelled like loaves of bread. They were haggard. They seemed sallow and tired, and they let their hair go gray...


If you enjoy getting outraged by mommy-war issues, you should read this.
I am all for surrogacy, but they couldn't have picked a less sympathetic person to describe her experience. Right cause, wrong advocate.

Let me know what you thought about the article, if you get a chance to read it.

The Times photographer and editor must hate this woman. And I think the Times also hates us a bit, trying to make a stink about this issue, when it's not really a new one at all. A lot of vitriol is already spewing in the comments section of the NYT, but little of it is about surrogacy. That's the red herring. The cover story should have been called, "Why We Hate Smug Yoga-Bodied Elite Women Like This," because that seems to be the issue presented in this article.

New lamp.

Kelie, here is your lamp's final resting place. Just FYI. I think the taupe-y shade works just fine with the green walls. And the bamboo pens are now hanging out in the vintage monogrammed silver cup that I also picked up at your store. Thanks for the sweet deals.

Bedrooms.

Open bath? Yes or no.

Our upstairs bathroom is supertiny and my better half thinks we should try this arrangement... kind of open. I worry everything will always be wet and I will spend my life attacking the walls/sink/toilet with a squeege just to dry the damn place off.

What is this arrangement called, anyway? Is there some interior designer term for it? And what does everything think of it? Sound off, if you would please.

Porn shops.

Waterworks showrom in Seattle.


If shelter mags are my porn, then going to marble showrooms and places like Waterworks is the equivalent of putting on a trench coat and shades and hitting up my favorite porn shops.

Because I get to travel a little bit, I do get to see great decor stores like ABC Carpet & Home, John Derian, and LA/SF home stores. But I never go shopping for bathroom hardware or countertops because I have never renovated anything. My idea of big home improvement so far has been, "Oh my god, this lamp is going to change my life."

So imagine the joy of checking out giant slabs of marble and even taking a sample home. Totally thrilling.

So while I love design, I don't really know much about the particulars. I think Joni from Cote de Texas was the first person who introduced me to not just marble but honed carerra marble. Honed? Carerra? I felt so ESL. I had no idea there was so much variety out there.



Carerra is so popular that it's almost unnerving to select it because, well, you don't want to have the kitchen of the moment. I fell hard for a Greek marble called Thassus. It's a very pure white with sort of glittering tiny bits in it. It nearly sparkles. I would select it in a moment if I didn't think it would be wiser to pick a counter with some striation (is this the word I am looking for?) in it to hide our sins (like acid stains and red wine accidents).


Thassus, again.




This tile, above, isn't too compelling here because I am not giving you any indication of scale, but they are slender little slivers of marble. I think a whole backsplash in this would look too busy, so I am scratching my head trying to figure out how you could use it, but I just loved it.




This not handsome photo was snapped merely to remind me to ask everyone what is the preferred edge for a counter? My better half liked this, and if it were in a Deco-y bathroom with Deco-y hardware, I think it would be mighty sexy. I am not sure how it would look in our kitchen. Thoughts?




Waterworks has the most amazing everything, including bath accessories and even laundry hampers (but, of course, none as amazing as THIS one...). I loved these crystal jars. At $40 and up, they seemed like a bargain compared to everything else there.




I was fond of this mini subway tile.




And we laughed about this, which I keep seeing shelter mags refer to as a "tub filler." What's the difference between a faucet and a tub filler? $3000. They would be better named "wallet emptiers," but whatever. We're not in the market for something so fussy-looking anyway. But it's all interesting to see. I think the best part of any home project is this: everything is possible when you're still in the dreaming/planning stage.

Rough sketch.

There is nothing too exciting here. Mainly I am posting so that I can reference these sketches easily from work or home during our project.

If you've been following along my kitchen project (I am now tagging the series of posts with the ingenious title, "kitchen renovation"), you'll know that this is a big deal for us because we currently have the shittiest kitchen in all of middle class USA. Come late Jan or early February, I will be able to show you the before and after, and you will seriously wonder why you take any decor advice from a chick who managed to live with a shithole kitchen for 4 years.

I'll have more to post soon about our adventures browsing for a big slab of marble.

Also - I have a problem with our stove. Currently, it's *not* centered as it is in the photo above. It's against the small wall there... the challenge is that the kitchen designer guy drew it this way to center it, which is more appealing, but in a kitchen with so little space, we're considering keeping it to the side and allowing for a little more counter/cabinet space to the right. Currently we don't have a cabinet there. We have a butcher block cart thingy and my Kitchen Aid stand mixer is on the bottom. On the butcher block top, we keep a jar full of utensils, etc., and I am concerned about losing that space. If you have thoughts, I'd love to hear it.

Mirrors: Yes or No

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Please ignore the tragic skirted table and the offensive light fixture.


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From HERE.



Mirrors from Wisteria, Nieman Marcus, & Ballard Designs.

Holy banana.

Maison Luxe is having a sale.

30% off everything on her site. And ridiculous deals in her store... she's moving locations and is selling the merchandise off the floor rather than move it all. God bless her, because I scored a great lamp.

Click HERE to shop the web store.

Click HERE to visit the store blog.

Go quick... everything is going really fast.

And guess who I ran into today when I went back to pick up my lamp, python tray, silver ice tongs, bamboo pens, Claus Porto soaps and other essential items to help me prepare for the next Great Depression? Miss Coco+Kelly herself. She moved back to Seattle a few months ago. It's a small blogging world, huh?

Go to bed.

Stripes.

I've had a lot of fun raiding THIS chick's Flickr sets.

Love.

Love this room.

I was bidding on a pair of chrome ball lamps yesterday on Ebay, but got so caught up in my drinking and eating that I forgot to go back to bid in the final hours. I lost.Bummer.

Oh, well. The food was good.

Backyard inspiration.