Neighbor Gifts and Moving Update

We moved! Only about 20 minutes from where we lived previously, so not far, but it was quite stressful packing with a less-than-3-month-old.  We love our new place, especially since Adam gets his own room and we don’t have to tip toe around him on our way to bed hoping we don’t wake him.

One funny thing about our new place though, we have lived here for over 2 weeks and only officially met one of our neighbors this last weekend, and only because he was washing his car as we walked by.  So rather than wait for them to come welcome us and introduce themselves, which it doesn’t seem like they were going to do, I decided to extend the first hand.  I made neighbor holiday gifts!

While at Costco the other day, I spotted a 4 pack of Martinelli’s for $6.99.  That’s a great deal, I have since seen them in advertisements for $2.50-$2.99 each as sale prices, but I got mine for about $1.75 each!

I used tags from one of the many paper related blogs I follow, you can download the free printable sheet by clicking here to go to Jones Design Company. I used photoshop to make a sheet of just this tag, since it is my favorite.  I wrote a note on the back apologizing in advance for any crying they may hear from our direction, and letting them know they can stop by if they ever need a cup of sugar.

The main dilemma happened when I tied my first bow and realized I don’t know how to tie perfect bows.  Pause for a moment to exclaim how much I love the internet!  A quick search on YouTube and I came up with this video tutorial for how to tie the perfect bow.  It worked! I am so excited that it took less than 5 minutes to watch, and my gifts will look better for the rest of my life.

And here are some pictures of the progress in our new place!

Daddy putting together the new crib

The beginnings of a coordinated nursery!
(see the video baby monitor up on the wall? that thing has been amazing!)

My beautiful baby
(don’t worry, he can’t kneel like that on his own)

Adam is now over 3 months old and started to be fussier, until I realized that he is just bored!  He is going to be an active kid, as soon as I sit him in the bumbo or help him practice standing, he is really happy. He thinks standing on me is the funniest thing and will laugh and laugh! We are trying to get it on video soon.

I have been meaning to post about Adam’s birth for months now, but this week I think it will happen so stay tuned, I have been pondering about it a lot this week as we prepare for the celebration of the birth of another important baby boy.  My heart is filled with gratitude and joy, which I will share in the next post this week.

Merry Christmas!

Quick Post: Hanging Bins

Today’s post is really quick since I am getting used to taking care of baby and balancing my own life.  My life takes the back seat, but one thing I would like to do is start blogging again.  Yay for nap times!  Soon I will write an update about life with baby, and maybe even his birthday, and even *SURPRISE* our upcoming move, but that will require much more time than I think I have right now so I am going to throw down a quick wishful organization post.

If I had a garage or laundry room, I would be doing this:

This would be great for recycling OR laundry.  Just think. You use them to sort whites from darks, but rather than having to empty the laundry bags (we have one of those canvas bags that hangs on a frame) you could just lift it off the wall and carry it right to the laundry machine. Awesome right!?

I found a great DIY instruction video that also has text instructions below.  Click here to watch it. You really should!

We will be moving soon and gaining more closet space, so I might do this with some 18″ square laundry bins in the closet.  The more I type about this, the more I am deciding I really am going to do it.  I am an organizing addict.  I don’t think most people realize how bad of an addict I am (maybe not even my husband).

THE END!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest yet? When I first signed up, I was seriously addicted. Now that we are moving into a bigger place next month, I am addicted again trying to plan decor for the new place.  Click on the red “Follow Me” button to the right –> to see my inspiration boards!

The Best of Craigslist: San Diego (First Edition)

I am somewhat of a craigslist addict.  I have actually made hundreds of dollars selling many of our unused items.  My favorite Craigslist success to date has been buying and selling sets of dining chairs: I bought our first set for $30, then turned around and sold them for $40 eight months later.  I then got our second set for free, then sold them for $80 two months later, and purchased our current set for $40, for a total net profit of $50!

Anyway, my selling success aside, I also get a thrill from purchasing things on Craigslist. I figure it is the ultimate way to recycle! Why buy something new that had to be manufactured just for me, when I can get something second hand, in great condition and at a fraction of the cost?!

Now that I have sold almost every extra thing we owned, we have acquired everything we need, and especially now that we don’t have any more room in our 1.5 bedroom condo, I find that I still enjoy browsing CL for great deals.  Since I can’t buy them, I have decided to pass my great finds onto you with a new blog segment every once in a while called

The Best of Craigslist: San Diego

This series will contain some of the best things I find, some great, some ridiculous!  Please leave comments suggesting future categories for things you would like me to look for.

If I could be a professional Craigslist consultant/shopper, I totally would be!

Here are this week’s picks:

Awesome: Large Bookshelf Cabinet – $50 Okay, maybe this doesn’t look like much at the moment, but with a little creativity and elbow grease, I think this piece could be AMAZING!  Take DIY inspiration from these following links of bookshelves, hutches or china cabinets that have been repainted and wallpapered. (Sample One, Sample Two, Sample Three, Sample Four+)I think the fact that it has drawers on the bottom makes this bookshelf super appealing, much like the smaller version of this I bought at the beginning of the year.  If I only had the space (and a garage to redo it) this would be MINE! http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/fuo/2532259649.html footrest/padded stools – $5 You would have to find the right thing to pair these with, but I love the shape of these queen anne legs, and for $5 a piece, wow! Maybe if you had a large master bedroom, they could sit at the end of your bed as a good place to sit and put on/take off socks and shoes? http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/fuo/2542647943.html Did you know Craigslist has a section for free stuff that has some items that are even better than the stuff that costs real money?!?! Here are some awesome (AND FREE!) finds: FREE QUEEN HEADBOARD - Okay, so we did actually have a bad experience purchasing a headboard from Craigslist last year. It ended up having a really subtle but bizarre odor that ended up causing me to throw it out, but for FREE, this looks like it could be nice (and they claim it is like new from Jeromes) http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/zip/2542693709.html Black chest of drawers (6 drawers) - Someday when we have a slightly bigger master bedroom (soon hopefully) I will be finding a larger dresser.  Here is a free one! Again, there are a couple of small repairs to be made it seems, but I think this could be really cool and totally fixable (one handle and one loose drawer).  Free. people, FREE! http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/zip/2541836523.html Cable Spool (FREE) - Okay, this huge cable spool could serve as a really cool outdoor table of some kind.  I think it has a really neat rustic look to it.  They lost me though when the ad mentions “Can’t rule out termites.” … So maybe not worth the risk, but what a cool look huh? http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/zip/2538417066.html Okay, now for the most absolutely ridiculous finds of the week.  The last two of these three are tied for the most ridiculous things you might ever dream of buying. Personalized Jewelry Box (LISA) – $25 Hopefully you are in love with a woman named Lisa. If so, you are in luck! http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/jwl/2542231247.html This week’s ridiculous winners: Wall Mountable Cat CD Rack $5 To fulfill your dreams of becoming the ULTIMATE cat lady (okay really, someone PLEASE buy this, I want to come to your house and see it) http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/emd/2541117615.html PUPPYLOCKS***DOG FEATHER EXTENSIONS $3 Feather extensions for your DOG!  I think some cute, fashion forward girls can pull this look off, but wow. http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/for/2512666217.html I hope you have enjoyed this first installment of The Best of Craigslist: San Diego.  Please let me know what other categories you think I should watch for!