THORA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY » YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

This past weekend was Thora's second birthday and in light of such a milestone, I started going through old photos. I pulled up pics from her first birthday party, all graciously shot by our dear friend and amazing photographer Aubrie Pick, and am blown away. These kids really really grow so fast. Last year she barely had hair! She had just started crawling. I remember feeling like it took forever for her to become mobile. I worried whether I should worry. The constant teething made her such a drooler. Her blue eyes dominated her face, still do actually. And her world was (is) full of wonder, which made (makes) my world full of it too.

Life was hectic, our new norm. And at the time we barely came up for air. But we needed to celebrate. Even if that meant pulling a rabbit out of a hat, which we did, and hopefully we made it look easy. I decided on Your Are My Sunshine as the theme because that was the song I sang every night... when I used to rock her to sleep. See, that has changed too! I still sometimes sing it in her ear on the way to bed. I love it so.

Going along with the theme, and considering none of our attending friends had little kids, we decided to do a brunch. Nothing terribly sophisticated, just enough to entertain adults and impress a one-year old. Mike illustrated the invite based on some quick iphone shots for reference and I designed it. We had it printed locally at PS Print, they have amazing deals on postcards, and paired it with a yellow envelope.

I remember sweating over her outfit, running around looking for the perfect, adorable yet equally affordable, something. I was surprised that I chose a dress, considering I am very casual by nature, but this little blue number called out to me from across the mall. (Shh, it was from The Children's Place. But doesn't it look like Janie & Jack?) This was also the debut of her first pair of Salt-Water sandals, size 4 and too big for her at the time.

All decor was relegated to the dining room, a manageable space. Literally the day before Thora, myself and both grandmas ran around town, gobbling up anything yellow we could find. We ordered polka dot balloons, bought streamers, placemats, tablecloths, flatware... if it was yellow it was ours. In my usual frantic pace, determined to have something hand-made for her party, I whipped up the Happy Birthday bunting in record time: design letters on the computer, print, cut out circles, layer onto craft paper times two, string together with ribbon, done and done.

The cake... the cake! The cake was made by our friend Siobhan, a pastry chef. I really wanted the ombre look so we decided on yellow to white. Inside was a vanilla cake with two different fillings: one was chocolate and carmel, the other vanilla and mango. To die! The frosting is all buttercream.

I had lofty ideas for the food but instead settled on Costco muffins and quiche. Ha! Mike is the cook in our house (I'm generally useless in the kitchen) so he made the roasted potatoes and biscuits. My mom made her tried and true deviled eggs and my girlfriend Melissa, who always seems to save my ass when I'm in a pickle, sent us the Edible Arrangement.

Thora, not so great at opening presents. Confused is a word I might use? So Mommy did all the heavy lifting and Little T did her best to feign interest. Sigh...

She'd rather be swung by Daddy.

After presents we gathered around the little lady, all strapped in her chair and thoroughly perplexed. We sang her Happy Birthday, even Grandpa who was on Skype, then presented her with a little cake all her own.

Alas, you can lead a babe to water, but you cannot make them eat birthday cake.

They say that once your child hits one, she is no longer a baby. I remember that thought ringing in my ears throughout the day. We relished those final moments with our baby and did our best to welcome her to toddlerhood. That face there at the end, we call that Squares! Happy to say Squares! has not changed, not one little bit and she still does it all the time.

I'm in the middle of editing her second birthday party pics, a rainbow party and can't wait to share them here. She still has not grasped the greatness that is opening presents, but she did eat two bites of cake!

KNOB SWAP

I have a vanity, well first my mom had a vanity, then it was mine, and actually it isn't mine anymore. Thora has a vanity. This vanity is well-loved and has seen many facelifts in its lifetime. It was built by the Rockford Standard Furniture Co.. What? Never heard of it? Great company in my hometown, been around forever. Anyway, I think my mom said she may have painted it black during her teen angst years, then it had this awesome green 70's faux finish during my childhood until we painted it a nice cream. I moved the piece with me while I was in college, but not before my mom stripped and stained it. It's something of a pecan color, a bit orange but I like it.

And once I broke the mirror and had to replace it. This tragedy I try not to think about.

Today it sits in my daughter's room. And she already uses it the way I envisioned. If she stands on tiptoe, she can just see herself and it makes her smile! We put bows in our hair here, and she crawls underneath to read or be sneaky. It's an outdated piece of furniture that offers little by way of storage, but lots and lots for imagination.

So when my husband gave me a gift card to Anthropologie for my birthday, did I think of pretty dresses for Spring? Nope. I thought of that amazing knob carousel. The one I've casually spun, more than once, wondering when and for what would I ever get to use these? The time had come.

The vanity uses 6 knobs. Currently they are all the same, cute little chunky round swirly wooden knobs. Not a thing wrong with them really so I tucked them away in a ziplock for the future. Then know what happened? I went to TWO different Anthropologies AND I shopped online to get the six knobs of my dreams. I even bought, then exchanged, one that wasn't quite working, scoring the final sacred coral knob on clearance. Then I bought myself some earrings. It was MY gift card for pete's sake.

Side note: Have you ever taken a toddler to Anthropologie? Unless you are wearing running shoes, I do not recommend.

Here's another pic because hello. gorgeous.

Thora helped me put these on, saying Beep! Beep! Beep! all the while. She loves a knob too, or a button, whatever you want to call it.

I love that these knobs are playful, but not too playful and girly without being trite. I think she will love them for years to come, possibly even through her teen angst. Would they look good against a black vanity? Sure. Why not.

So there you go beloved family heirloom, yet another little girl for you to charm.

RELOCATING THE ATTIC ACCESS

Everyone aboard the time machine! 

Buried in the land of pre-baby draft posts, I found this little gem of dust and debris and necessary roughness. There was no text, only these before and during photos. No after photos either, so I'll have to run and take those. But it's all coming back to me, like the foggy nightmare that it was...

The attic access panel used to be located in the kitchen, specifically in the odd little laundry/office nook. We knew once we removed that wall, the panel would have to go somewhere else. It's not exactly ideal to have a huge hole in your brand new kitchen ceiling. And might I add, once we removed the plaster and lathe from the ceiling, because it sagged just so, we discovered the original panel was done all wrong. Certainly not to code size-wise and I highly doubt the City of Oakland is okay with cut rafters. So we had the rafters replaced and determined a new locale. The hallway made the most sense to me.

Before we drywalled the kitchen ceiling, we took quick advantage of the easy access. Mike crawled around up there and I yelled from below and together we figured the perfect spot. The furnace sits up here too (my dad can NOT figure out why our furnace is in the attic and all our returns in the ceilings. I tend to agree. It must be a California thing?) and we needed to work around it.

I did some research about code and what size the final opening needs to be. Happily we discovered our opening fit perfectly between two beams and because the ceiling is supported by two walls on either side, we would not have to compromise it in any way. Hooray!

Draw it out and git to cuttin.' I think that says "Boats & Hoes"? Step Brothers must've been on.

This part was all Mike. I was hugely pregnant so I just tried to stay out of the way of the falling dust and cussing husband. It was not easy, for anyone. But the general idea, cut a hole, frame it with 2x4s, trim it out and add a door.

That piece of wood in the front is part of the board that the furnace sits on. It cuts into the space a person needs to fit through the hole, but there is really no way around it. I figure if and when we need to replace the furnace, we can scoot it over a bit.

Like I said, messy.

But looking good! 

Now here is where I might lose you because I have no images of the framing. But trust, we wrapped it in 2x4s and Mike called it a day. 

I was happy to trim it out and make the door. See? Happy. (I debated whether I should post this horribly flattering photo, the belly hanging out under my shirt is a nice touch, then thought, heck with it. Pregnant Renovation Ladies Unite!) And yeah, Trams Am tee.

The trim is set in an 1/8" if I remember right to support the door. I added a knob because I can not stand dirty handprints. No excuses contractors of the future! I also added a strip of window insulation along the seam to keep drafts out. Seems to work just fine. It's painted the same as all of our trim, Benjamin Moore's Aura Satin in Simply White.

And there you have it. Our new attic access tucked discreetly in the hallway and in no way threatening the stability of our home. Pat on the back to us! Boats and Hoes!