Bits and bobs

There are lots of ideas bouncing around in my head right now, and I missed quick takes this week because...well, who knows why, so a bits & bobs post is what you get.

:: I have a list a mile long of all the projects I want to start/complete in this house. So far they include: cleaning up and restoring the rest of the yard (the first layer done of the backyard & viewable in the photo below), painting the nursery, refinishing our nightstands, creating a craft storage & functional spot in the basement, redoing the kitchen (ahem, a little bit bigger than some of my other ideas), etc. etc. David really wants to get the garage organized soon so we can start on some of the projects so that might come first. (Did I mention our house has a 4 car garage? It's deep instead of 4 wide but still...it's enormous.)

:: My friend Meghan shared this article on Facebook last night and it really resonated with me.

:: This weekend was a great mix of relaxation and work. We did a lot of yard cleanup, unpacked all the boxes left in the living room, rented the new Star Wars movie (don't tell anyone but I've never seen any of the old ones...), grilled some brats, went on a walk, went out to dinner, visited with family, did some coloring (Kate), and watched the Olympics. One of those weekends you just don't want to end! (It helped that it was the first weekend since May that we haven't had anything we HAD to do or anyplace we HAD to be. Literally, the end of April before our vacation was the last time we had a relaxing weekend. Much. Needed.)

:: Speaking of craft storage, I've done my Pinterest research and it looks like IKEA is the place to go, and the Kallax is what I want to get. I currently have at least 7 boxes of craft stuff yet to be unpacked, because there is literally nowhere to unpack it into. I also need a desk or table to do my sewing on because I'm itching to start baby #2's quilt. (Kate's quilt here!) But the closest IKEA is in Kansas City and that's a 3 hour drive, so it's not exactly super convenient to just hop over there and back.

:: I am really struggling to find any sort of normal-looking maternity workout shorts. During the week, I almost literally never change out of lounge clothes - a t-shirt and gym shorts are my daily uniform, because if I work from home and never leave the house (since we have only one car), why bother putting real clothes on? But I'm slowly growing out of the few pairs I can still squeeze into and my normal sources (Old Navy, Gap, Target) are all strike-outs this time around. Anyone wanna point me in the right direction?

:: I have been meaning to get back into podcast listening recently but with the move and a loud toddler around, it hasn't been easy. I finally listened to the first episode of Young House Love's new podcast and man, I miss their blogging. Got any other great home renovation blogs (or podcasts!) I can follow? (In Honor of Design has always been a fave but all the other ones I used to read don't blog anymore! sad face.)

All the bits and all the bobs now out into the internet. Thanks for letting me brain dump, friends.
HG