LEGO Switchplates Brighten Up the Boys’ Rooms

 Home Ownership Rocks/Sucks  4 Responses »
Apr 122012
 

Buying a new house is awesome because you get a whole clean slate to decorate. You know, put all those HGTV things to work that you sat and watched idly over the past six years.

Putting the boys’ rooms together has been a highlight of the new house. Their spaces are so much bigger. BigBrother had a half-way finished decor redo for his sixth birthday, but I had never repainted because, well, we were looking for a new house. I didn’t want to paint twice! It has been a joy seeing their new rooms come together with all of the things I have wanted to do for so long.

Well, it turns out that I didn’t know I wanted to do something until Dee recently sent me to Etsy. So, this is all her fault.

She sent me to a LEGO Firefighter Switchplate. I died. Put it in my cart immediately. Purchased it. Then pinned it so no one else could buy it first. Contacted the shop owner, named Val, and said that I needed a pirate boy (she has a girl listed) as BigBrother’s new decor is all about pirates, arrrr! Val is super fast and both arrived today.

Lego Switchplates

Lego Switchplates

Oh my word, they’re perfect.

First and foremost, my sons think that LEGOs are the be all and end all right now. Secondly, holy moly. Thirdly, don’t we think this smug firefighter looks a little like FireDad if he was allowed to have that much facial hair?

Smug Firefighter

Lastly, how perfect? How stinkin’ perfect?

I will say that LittleBrother’s firefighter LEGO switchplate is a little more difficult to turn off because of the yellow ledge directly above the switch. It’s fine to turn on, though you usually whack the one guy’s hose (…). BigBrother’s pirate LEGO switchplate isn’t difficult at all. It’s perfect.

The boys are, understandably, enthralled. I told LittleBrother there was a surprise in his room, but that he needed to turn his light off. He turned to turn it off and his face just lit up so bright, so big, before he exclaimed, “MOMMY! That’s AWESOME! Did you do that?” BigBrother was equally amazed when he got home from school. They stood around and looked at them for a good ten minutes.

Mommy decorating win.

I really kind of want one for our room… like the C3PO & R2D2 … but I’ll hold off until the boys out grow theirs and then I’ll put one in our room and one in our bathroom. Total win.

I’ll be slowly sharing more of what the boys’ rooms look like in the new house over the next few weeks. I have a few project left (spray painting old letters new colors, new picture frames, and so on). Until then you should follow Val on twitter (@valglaser) or like her Facebook page. Most of all, go check out her Etsy store. She does have another firefighter switchplate in stock which is also awesome. That’s one of the best things — each product is unique!

I have two very happy boys right now which makes me a very happy mommy. Hooray for the little things in life — little this time meaning LEGOs that are glued to something and thus can’t be stepped on in the middle of the night. Hooray!

And I Snapped

 My Etsy Store, One Word, Photography  17 Responses »
Jan 282011
 

Two weeks ago, I got together with my friends for lunch. No one yet knew what I had been through that morning; what I had decided. Amanda gave me my belated Christmas present. I opened it and laughed. It was a necklace with a camera and a disc that reads, “And then I snapped.”

I laughed because I had decided to quit the newspaper just hours before the gift was given to me. It seemed appropriate.

And Then I Snapped
The necklace is available on Etsy from Emilinia Ballerina if you’re feeling kinda snappy too.

Yesterday was my last day, and today I am in full-on mope mode. I’m vascillating between knowing this was the right decision, feeling like a failure, panicking about “what’s next” and generally wishing things could have been different. But they weren’t different. It wasn’t the right job for me for various reasons.

It’s not that I didn’t love the job. Oh, I did. I learned so much about photography over the past year and some odd months. I own the title of Photographer now, which is why, if you caught it in an earlier post, I said that I would still be a Photographer (yes, with a capital P), long after I no longer worked at the paper. I said on Facebook that this was a decision that was four months in the making, but really it’s been a constant reevaluation for longer than that. I finally accepted one truth: I am worth more.

It’s been a hard couple of weeks. I didn’t want to write that letter. I didn’t want to quit. I didn’t want it to come to this. But I also wanted more. More of lots of things. But, most specifically, more of Me back. Due to some specifics with the job that I won’t go into, I lost a part of Me somewhere in there. When it came to my days off from the paper, I didn’t pick up my camera. That is entirely unlike me. I lost a passion for photography. I lost my creativity. I kept taking Tracey Clark‘s classes in hopes of finding that passion and creativity, but I was burnt out. The classes reinforced that realization; I had nothing left to give for myself.

I have some offers on the table regarding photography jobs. I have told each offering party that I am taking the next month off. I don’t want to do anything more than focus on my family, my writing and myself until sometime in early March. I need this time to reevaluate what I want from my photography and what I want from myself. I also don’t need to traipse all over creation in this crazy weather… unless I want to do so.

And so, while I make some decisions and fall back in love with my camera, I’d like to announce something that I’ve been considering for quite some time. Today I am announcing the launch of my very own Etsy store.

Etsy Store Screenshot

I actually started that Etsy account with intent to start a store in 2009. It apparently took the year of Possibility to make me actually do it. Right now I only have three photos in either 8×10 or 5×7 available in the store. I am working on launching more of the butterfly series sometime soon. (As an aside, I meant to have more ready but the Viral Ick going through our house sidelined some of my good intentions.) If there seems to be an interest — at all — in my store, I’ll start stocking more and perhaps taking custom requests. Oh, and note cards, because I kinda want some too. For now, it’s just some of my favorites available to hang in your home.

I’m not expecting it to be a huge success as the art you hang on your wall usually has to be something that moves you on various personal levels. But I figured I’d give it a go. You know, living in my Possibility and what not.

As an added bonus for readers, I have a coupon code for my store. Enter GRANDOPENING at checkout for 20% off of your purchase.

All that said, next week I’m going to be taking a discussion I’ve been having with Calliope at Creating Motherhood and discuss it further. You know, when I’m not talking Steelers football. But, yes, I’m having some feelings about guilt and failure and some worries about sanity and it’s time to readdress those as I do with every career move.

And so, yes, I’m okay. I will be okay. This is just another step in my year of Possibility. I knew this was going to be a Big Year, but I had no idea it was going to start out this way! (Or, I kinda did, but I hoped otherwise.)

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