30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 1

Day 1: introduce, recent picture, and 15 interesting facts

(stands, clears throat...) Hi, my name is Niki, and I'm a blogger. Okay. I promise. Taking this seriously. 

What's there to say? I'm a type-a, control freak that's obsessed with running, spinning and eating (which is why I run and spin). My hobbies have recently been curtailed by two aliens I have growing inside me (one of them just kicked me in the sphincter), but I'm happy to sit on the sidelines for these two. I'm married to one of the kindest people I have ever met and I have a super sweet yellow lab that was the center of my world (until recently). 

I love traveling, coffee and dirty language. I laugh at fart jokes and potty humor of all kinds. I'm a 13-year-old boy trapped in a 31-year-old woman's body. Enjoy. 

{ me and the aliens at 25 weeks }

Fifteen things about myself...here goes:

1. I'm incredibly indecisive, unless I'm making a decision about something in someone else's life; then I'm quite certain of the right answer.

2. I'm the oldest of seven by a technicality, but depending on when you ask me I'll either own up to the other 4 or just tell you I have a single sister and a single brother (whom I love with all that I am).

3. The beach is my favorite place in the world. Any beach, in any place. That's my favorite.

4. I love the idea of crafts and do-it-yourself projects but I hate actually doing them. I do them anyway, swear a lot in the process and then boast about how awesome I am after they're done.

5. I draw a line with reality TV for what is and isn't acceptable. Teen Mom = Good. Real Housewives = Garbage. I'm very firm with what is or isn't worth my time.

6. I suck at anything having to do with history, math, geography and science. I think it's partially genetic. My sister was up here recently and I offered to take her to Vermont. She asked me where in NY Vermont was located. See? It has to be something in our DNA.

7. I read voraciously.

8. Cooking is a passion. I thought about going to culinary school at one point, but the idea of cutting into animal bones skeeved me out too much, so I changed my mind.

9. I'm an overbrusher. I never knew you could brush your teeth too much or for too long. My dentist yells at me all the time.

10. I'd take a beer and a burger over a five star restaurant any day of the week.

11. It recently occurred to me that I have to deliver these babies eventually and now I am scared out of my mind at the thought of two human beings coming out of a hole in my body (whether god given or surgeon created).

12. However, the idea of being a mother doesn't scare me a single bit.

13. I have also taken to (quietly) mourning all the parts of my life that are now over. Sleeping in, taking up residence on the couch for an entire day, running with no end or destination in sight, marathon spin classes on Saturday mornings. I wonder what will fill these spaces that previously filled me. It probably goes without saying that I'm having an identity crisis from all the change in my life. 

14. In the 9th grade I wrote a research paper on PETA. I went vegetarian. Five years and one frat party later and I realized how much I liked hamburgers.

15. When I first met my husband I wouldn't date him because his name was Joe. In the 6th grade the school dork, Joe Callahan, asked me out on the playground in front of our entire class. I never lived that down and I hated the name with a vengeance thereafter. 

for the love of ercol...

for me, nothing says granny chic quite like vintage ercol.

on monday evening an ercol coffee table found me on Craigslist,

i gasped 'thee gasp',

for i have not seen the likes of such granniness this side of the pond,

ever, never, ever.

by tuesday morning i was plotting how to go and see it's loveliness

but not go alone.

for she was in the big city, in an area i was unfamiliar with.

i do not do freeway and city driving often,

if i do, there must be good reason for it.

my friend maggi planned to hold my hand,

but alas her little sprogs were sickly tuesday morning.

"what to do, what to do" i said to myself whilst wringing my hands.

i skyped with Our #1,

told her of my plight,

she rolled her eyes and quite rightly pointed out,

if at the age of 17 she was driving all over Seattle

then it would be quite possible aged 42,

i could manage such a feat.

i 'binged' a map,

studied the round trip in details,

wrote down my directions on the back of an old envelope.

then promptly my envelope was 'loved' by little olive

whilst i paced up and down my studio fretting,

knowing i had no choice but to go it alone.

after three and a half hours of build up

i left the comforts and safety of the shed,

Carlos my trusty camera by my side

and my slippers upon my feet (thread included)

i bravely travelled to the big city.

i noted i was going the speed limit and some were not.

i noted as soon as i got off the highway,

my envelope let me down

i was lost.

whilst lost and doing my breathing exercises,

i channelled my inner 'granny chic' radar sensor,

it did not let me down,

after several turns

i arrived at an emporium filled with secondhand goodness.

upon entering with Carlos in my pocket

and my slippers (thread still attached) upon my feet,

i knew my bravery had been rewarded.

arriving home at mossy shed, later in the afternoon

i cannot tell you which i was shaking more about,

knowing a little bit of ercol granny goodness was happily settling in.

or knowing after nearly 11 years of being a Brit living abroad in the surburbs,

i had finally faced my fears

travelling to the big city on my own

and making it home to tell the tale

she will be back tomorrow with day five of book week ~ Tif

Blog Challenge

I'm not one for blog awards and blog challenges and goofy things that come along with being a blogger. But lately my inspiration for writing is completely sapped and I have been trying to find the motivation and the enjoyment in keeping this space going (mostly for myself).



When I started this blog six years ago I used it as a way to keep in touch with college friends who had all disbanded and moved around the country. Then I went private for a little while and kept it as a personal journal. When we stumbled onto our IF path I opened my blog back up. Now, I want to keep it to remember what it was like to be 31, to remember what it was like to be pregnant, and to remember each milestone of our babies' lives. So...I need to come back to this space and actually start writing.



And as though she knew I was struggling to find things to write about, my friend Alix decided to join another blogger's 30 day blog challenge. Okay Al, I'm on board. I hope this doesn't get too silly.

Winborg Sisters Cherry Blossom Birdies

Nursery snafu number one. I'm sure there's more to come...



I ordered the Cherry Blossom Birdies 40x30 canvas (can be purchased through PB Kids) from Baby Oliver Boutique for our nursery. The artwork arrived yesterday and it has a lot more pink than I expected and isn't quite as gender neutral as I had hoped.



I ordered through Baby Oliver because they offered free shipping and shipping & handling through PBK was $63. Found out this morning that Baby Oliver has a no returns policy, lucky me.



The canvas is still wrapped in plastic with safety corners on the edges. I literally only took it out of the box before I realized it wouldn't work.



This retails for $245 + S&H on PBK, and $245 on Baby Oliver.



Selling for $200 with free shipping.
email me if interested nikinikinine[at]yahoo[dot]com