Anna Be.

This is what my dining room table looked like for about a week. Then the book stack doubled (how did that happen???), and I finally cleared it all off. Nick thinks I'm weird for using the dining table as an office when I have an actual office upstairs. I'm proud to say my real office is finally decluttered and unpacked enough to be in usable condition! And the family room upstairs is pretty well decked out with kid activities, so Mamie is occupied when I do want to work in my office. Now I am trying to gradually reduce the amount of stuff I have permanently parked on the table. However, I'm leaving up the decorations from our birthdays in September because it's still cute that Mamie comes in here saying "Party!" (Yes, I said "in here" because I'm writing this post at the dining room table. Gradual. Transition.)

September 14 Friends who visited recently were surprised San Antonio is so “cool.” I don’t know what preconceptions people around the country have about our town (or if they have ever thought of it at all), but you might be surprised to know San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the country. Yeah, kids, we’re a real city. Here are some of the crazy awesome things to do in my neighborhood , like within walking distance, or a 5-minute drive. Moshe's Golden Falafel  -- Nick, Mamie and I have eaten here at least once a week since it opened! It's magic. Landa Libary and Playground -- In my opinion, this is the most beautiful and kid-friendly branch in San Antonio, and it's three blocks from my house.  It played a major role in our decision to move to this neighborhood. Not even kidding. Barbaro  -- Fancy pizza, brunch and drinks walking distance from home. My biggest complaint is that they only make lasagna for their late night menu.  Barbaro, I can't go ...

On March 30, I declared my determination to finally get my office unpacked and organized .  Two months later, this is what it looks like: Right. So, really, what is it going to take to make some progress here?  I had to think about what is blocking the process. Entry to the room is literally blocked by bags of baby clothes and newborn things that need to be stored in the attic. Cluttered workspaces bloc all the sewing and writing I want to do in there. Feeling overwhelmed by the clutter is blocking me from getting any of it under control.  I can work for 15 minutes here and there, but it hasn't amounted to anything that gives me a sense of accomplishment or freedom. Today, just to get myself to spend 15 minutes in there, I started brainstorming the essential elements of what needs to be done. Inspiration  -- I'm going old school and making a vision board.  I think if I just had a visual reminder of what I want this room to be, I wi...

Today my big decluttering discovery was the disappointment I feel about my dream library.  We are so lucky to have this house that's big enough for everything we want, including a room just for books.  Except it's not just for books, it's also for cat litter boxes.  I've accepted this is the best location for the boxes, not trying to come up with a different arrangement, I just need to work through how this arrangement makes my library something other than the cozy booklover's grotto I dreamed of. But I still believe it can be that dream place!  It will take a certain amount of work.  To spend any time in a room with litter boxes, there has to be daily scooping and sweeping.  Nick took over litter box duties 8 years ago when we started trying to have a baby. (According to science, pregnant ladies can't touch cat poop; I exploited this.) Let's face the straight poop here:  I can clean the litter boxes. Somewhere Nick is reading this and a joyful t...

Today I threw away my push present . It was a tough thing to throw away the 8-month-old flip flops because they were the first gift Nick bought me the week after Mamie was born. (Unless a bag of candy bars counts?) Fresh new flip flops were a dream in the early days when everything about life seemed out of order and harder than I was capable of handling. Still, today, I threw them away because 8 months of daily wear is all one can expect from even the best flip flops. It was a single step in my month-long decluttering program. I've learned that I can make a huge impact in just 10 minutes, but I can also get absolutely no where in a whole day.  I just have to keep working on it, and at this halfway point in the month, I still have hope and a little steam. I started this project by assigning each room or area of the house to a day of the week.  For example today, Monday, my areas are the living room and the front yard.  The first week I only planned to spend 10 minutes ...

Nick and I are in the market for our first grown-up dining room table. I imagined something dark, heavy, and rustic (anything by George Nakashima) . Nick would prefer "modern". Could we really find something to agree on? Well, yes, we agree on this unattainably obscure style in Atomic Ranch Magazine : My challenge is to find a similar affordable option. I've found similar, but affordable is still up for grabs. Here are 5 awesome tables I would think twice about if they were suddenly 75% off. 1)  Nuevo Nico Dining Table 2)  Modloft Astor Dining Table 3)  Terra Dining Table 4)  Minguren II Table 5)  Tahoe Dining Table

Despite sleeping only four hours last night, I took the challenge and spent a total of 45 minutes cleaning today! The first step was to add a notebook to my maid caddy -- to write down needed supplies or big tasks to remember later. Good advice from the book which also has me a little nervous about cleaning for 45 minutes everyday. This is how it breaks down for today: 15 minutes quick cleaning in the morning: a load of laundry in the washer, wiping a few things in the bathroom, barely started unloading the dishwasher 15 minutes quick cleaning in the evening: another load of laundry, a little folding, finishing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen sink/counters 15 minutes focus on the living room: dusting, decluttering, de-cat-hairing Yes, I am shocked at how little I got done in all that time! I know the effects will be cumulative, but after 45 minutes of vigorous cleaning, that's it??!?! Still, I'm committed to seeing if the house stays a little cleaner after doing this for ...

I have a friend who has the rare dilemma of choosing between two great job opportunities: one would divert his career path but put him closer to family; the other is a "dream" job that is considerably further away from family. Career vs. Family -- Does the phrase suggest an ambitious woman deciding whether to have children or go for more job responsibility? Does it make you think of the woman who must choose between putting her kids in daycare or going the stay-at-home route? I am thinking of neither of those scenarios. This is about the 20- and 30-somethings who have to choose between living close to their parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, friends -- or moving farther away and facing isolation from the people they care about. I know I feel a lot of guilt for living 12-hours away from my family. A few days ago a friend asked me how often I visit Atmore and I said, sadfaced, "Only a few times a year." He laughed and said " ONLY? That's a lot!" There ...

One little project for this weekend was to hang this gallery in our living room. Some rearranging was necessary, mainly because of this large painting from my grandmother. Painted by Heather's dad in the 1970s, it shows my dad (on the tractor) trying to beat a storm. I also framed some of these Cabinet of Natural Curiousities prints last week. The Cabinet of Natural Curiousities is a giant book I've coveted for a few years. Instead of that hulking masterpiece, I found a slim book of prints from the original on the Barnes and Noble clearance table last week. One day I hope I have my own cabinet of curiousities. Oh! We saw a fantastic cabinet of curiousities in the art museum in Hartford over Thanksgiving. My cabinet will have to be cat-proof, of course.