pretty couch.

dear {pretty couch},

You had me at hello. Your mid-century modern, antique lines were quite captivating. I could hardly wait to make you mine. Since we met, I know it may seem like you've been the only one sacrificing, trading a spacious room of your own for a crowded storage space shared by many. But as I promised you then, your living arrangement downgrade, made for my sake, would only be temporary.

So, for Christmas I thought I would gift you early, share our news, and let you know that your days roughing it in those crammed, untidy living quarters are numbered. We now have a new home waiting for you to grace it with your pretty presence. No longer will you have to fight the boxes of pots and pans for room to breathe. You can kiss those crowded living days goodbye, for as soon as we spruce up your new room, a.k.a. our living room, you will be able to stretch out those wooden legs once more. And we'd really like to thank you for taking one for the team, so how do a few new accent pillows sound? I know how much you appreciate accessories. I'll make sure we find a suitable pair for your lovely self.

Merry Christmas, pretty couch. You will soon have that promised room of yours, thanks to the Mr. who bought us a home for Christmas. And I promise, our living room will be much nicer than the room you had when we met you, for ours comes with a sweet baby girl who will lovingly crawl all over you.

With "can't wait to decorate" excitement,

♡ Victoria

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And our Kelly Hardee Photography giveaway winner is announced! Click here to see if you've won.
::

swing into the Season.

 

There are certain things that help each of us find the Christmas spirit. For me, some of these jolly things have been around for as long as I can remember the colors red and green existing as one. But other spirit welcoming things are newer members of the, 'put me in the Christmas spirit' gang, as their initiation was sometime in the last few years. Well, this year, a few things that have helped me swing into the Season include:  

♥ my chocolate Advent calendar, ♥ reading Christmas books with baby girl, {I am and have always been passionately in love with Christmas books}  ♥ hot chocolate nights, ♥ stocking decorating,  ♥ watching Christmas movie favorites, ♥ Christmas light admiring, and ♥ wreath making with Christmas tree scraps.

So, in the spirit of Christmas, we have a giveaway planned for all of you this Friday! One of our lovely sponsors, Kelly Hardee Photography, is helping us swing into the Season with a sweet giveaway - a free 8x10 of one of her beautiful scenic shots! We'll have a few pics for the winner to choose from and with Christmas quickly approaching, this could be a great gift for someone you love or for that sturdy wall of yours obnoxiously screaming, "throw me a new picture, please, please, please!" Either way, meet us back here Friday for this awesome giveaway...and if you're not already a member of our Tea Room, be sure to join so you can enter the giveaway!

P.S. Mr. Bucket Swing, I am incredibly glad I gave you a chance...I mean, you may very well be baby girl's favorite pastime, or at the very least, you come in close second to making a mess of Grandma & Grandpa's living room floor. Regardless, you're up there - and just so you know, you are the newest addition to all things that help me swing into the Season, for you lighting up that smile of hers, sparks Christmas joy deep in my heart. As always, ♡ Victoria.
::

baby bucket swing.

dear {playground baby bucket swing},

When it comes to first impressions, yours was hmm...well, not the best. Forgive me for my honesty, but at first glance, you left very little to be desired. Although, some of that may be,
in part, due to your not so "easy on the eyes" status. But I politely ask you, for only a brief second, to look at this from my maternal gaze - metal chain links suspend you from thick pipeline bars...not to mention, your dark, firm, cold, gray exterior was all a bit shady. These abrasive distinctions equate with the reality that you are not exactly inviting. In addition, your fashion is industrial and doesn't plausibly scream "trust me, babies love me." But, I know now that I was wrong.

Time and time again, I am humbly reminded how I mustn't judge a book by it's cover - even when it's so easy to look at a less-appealing cover, turn around, and walk away. But for baby girl's sake, I am very grateful I trusted my past experience with playground swings of your kind and let her swing in your care. If it weren't for you, her first baby bucket swing experience would have not been the glittering memory it will forever be. Your carefree heart made her smile from ear to ear, your elevated esteem let her take in all her pretty surroundings, and your uplifting spirit taught her the true worth of being surrounded by those who adoringly build her up. She may not fully understand the depth of your last lesson at the whopping age of 7 months...but she surely will one day.

I hope we are able to find some of your distant cousins when we embark on our mini-road trip, later this evening. It would be so wonderful for the Mr. to see his daughter's sweet swinging smile. If you could make some calls, put a good word in, and encourage your out of town family and friends to be available for baby girl, at some point this weekend, I would greatly appreciate it.

So, once again, I'd just like to apologize for judging your rugged appearance. If I hadn't given you a chance, not only would baby girl have missed out on her first-ever baby bucket swing ride, but her observing mama would have surely missed a precious show.

With an apologetic heart,

♡ Victoria

::

anthropologie pants.

dear {my favorite pair of anthro pants},

It saddens me to write to you this way, but you have disappointed me so. I'm sure it must have seemed as if I abandoned you for quite some time, but I thought it better to temporarily keep my distance, as the load I carried for nine months was much too large to impose on your fine and delicate threads. The gravity of my 'with child' situation left me no choice but to leave you unbothered till I was able to return to my skinny self. The last thing I wanted was my heavy baby bearings to threaten your durability and honestly, I thought you would understand. However, I now realize how wrong I was. 

As I wrote yesterday about favorites, I think now is an appropriate time to let you know how sad you've made me; especially when compared to all the rest, you were the one pair of pants I always turned to. You were my comfort when I wore a simple tee, you were my vintage with a glamorous top, and you were my go-to classic when I wanted to feel special. It seems like there has been a great misunderstanding about the nature of our relationship, regarding our faithfulness to each other. I thought I had put you first, putting your needs before my own, when I decided to keep to myself for those nine months. I thought my guarded character was proof of my respect and admiration for your detailed design. I thought by not letting my larger-than-life self hurt you, I'd only continue to preserve your innocent fashion. Sadly, it appears I was misunderstood.

Little did I know, you had taken our brief separation personally and had no plans to rekindle the love we once had. Apparently, you respected the nine months I needed for myself, but you felt threatened once he became involved.  Rather than letting me down gently and explaining how you felt, you decided to abruptly reject me and accuse him of being the one to blame, making me definitively choose: you or him.

Well, I never thought I'd see this day or that either one of us would let it come this far, but what's done is done and there's no use dwelling on the past. I think you should know, his sweetness is oftentimes irresistible and as much as I wish things to be different, his allure is most charming. All I want is for you to be a little more considerate of my feelings before you painfully deny me. All I long for is to be welcomed by you and know I fit in your life once more. I mean, can a girl not have her chocolate and fit in her favorite pants, too?

Most sincerely,

♡ Victoria

P.S. Thanks for letting me use you in my lettered debut. Me love you.  

::

a lizard and a banana peel.

I hate lizards. Maybe hate is too strong a word. Ok fine, I strongly dislike lizards.

Well, last week one tried to befriend me - much to my dismay. I was about to open the car door to put baby girl in her car seat when I noticed mr. creeper {a.k.a. the lizard] sitting on the door handle. I was startled - most slimy things that crawl have that effect on me - so, I jumped and I probably screamed. I know, I know, ridiculous. I realize they're pretty harmless and there's really no legitimate reason to dislike them as much I do, but don't judge me - they creep me out. I shooed it away and instead of jumping ship entirely, he relocated to the stern cabin and hung out on my spoiler. No big deal, right? Especially since I was about to get in the car and drive away...wrong.

We made it to the store but mr. creeper was still hanging out on my trunk. He survived the drive across town! Who cares, just let him hang out there? Yeah, no big deal except for the fact that I needed baby girl's stroller which just so happened to be in the trunk. Go figure. I then tried to shoo him away again, except this time he wouldn't budge. So, like any logical minded person, I decided I should throw something at him to dislodge and relocate him to the ground where he belonged. Genius. Maybe not.

The only thing in my car I was okay with parting with to launch his way was a banana peel. Perfect. Ready, set, go. Bull's-eye - I hit mr. creeper dead on. Except not literally. The banana peel, now consuming him completely didn't even faze him, not even the tiniest bit. In fact, he just sat there with the banana peel smothering him and he enjoyed it as if it was a soothing wrap. Ughh. I then did what any person freaked out by lizards would do. I ignored that I needed my stroller and carried baby girl while shopping - apparently my arms needed a work out.

Returning to the car when we were done, mr. creeper was still there except he ditched the banana peel and was now lounging in the shade of my spoiler, with his tail wrapped around his body {his position reminded me of a little house pup nuzzled on his favorite spot on the living room floor}. It was almost sweet - he'd remodeled my trunk into his new home. Was mr. creeper starting to grow on me? Did I seriously think he was cute? Gross! I was facing an internal war - how could something I detested actually have my possible interest? But rather than contemplating my new found opinion of mr. creeper right then and there, baby girl needed a nap so we got in the car and drove back home.

When we arrived at home, the banana peel was still on the spoiler except his little companion, mr. creeper, was nowhere to be found. Sad face. Was I surprised? Slightly and also semi-disappointed. I had wasted so much of my energy on the little guy, detesting his minuscule guts, and right when I decide to give him a chance - the jerk decides to abandon ship, peace-out, and leave.

Sounds familiar? In dating situations, it's happened more times than any of us can count. It's classic. Guy chases girl, girl's not interested. After guy's chasing continues, girl warms up to guy. Except guy's suddenly no longer interested and girl is left alone. We've all seen it. And just for the record, girl's are guilty of the same - I'm sure in my dating days I played mr. creeper's role a time or six.

Well, this married woman was played by a lizard and only has a banana peel to show for that failed relationship. Lovely.

Moral of the story? I'm laughing at myself - I'm silly and I'm ridiculous and I'm laughing. Need a good pick me up? Find something silly about yourself and simply laugh. When we laugh at ourselves we cure the disease of taking ourselves too seriously, we heal the wounds of personal disappointment, and we experience a self-appreciation worth indulging in.

Happy Laughing Tuesday!

::

till we meet again.

I will confidently admit, we were close for some time
So to pay tribute to you, here is a rhyme

Our time spent together was some of my best
I enjoyed your company much better than the rest

You always welcomed me with open arms
And whenever I needed you, you captured me with your charm

I know I've been distant, I seem displaced and far away
Please know I think of you often throughout the day

I want you to know, this is just for a season
When things settle down, I'll be back with good reason

Our 7-hour sleepover parties will be visited once more
And we will meet where we once met, many days before

You are by no means forgotten, in fact you're quite missed
I promise I'll eventually be back, so please don't feel dissed

You're always reliable and a great refuge indeed
Just know I'm away with good reason, fulfilling love's needs

Please understand you're cute, but she'll always be cuter
You may be enticing, but she wins the pewter

Oh comfy pillow of mine, so soft and so true
When her sleep schedule's somewhat regular, I shall return unto you.

:: victoria marie