Winter, Summer, Spring, Autumn and Holiday

I'm back from holiday travels and I just HAD to post a quick comment about the spectacular window scenes at Bergdorf Goodman on 5th ave in Manhattan! I am currently in obsessive lust-phase 1 with them. I'm SO GLAD I took a pic with my phone of my favorite because it's not featured on their website.

Tis the season...

Birdie got her gift a little early this year because I'm leaving for California on Wednesday. I've had this little project floating around in my head for a couple months now, but finding doggie clothing without logos or silly phrases is surprisingly hard. Considering this is my first iron-on attempt, I think it's pretty rad. Isn't she the cutest?!

Santa Worm~ The Amazing Mark Ryden
Model~ Birdie Willoughby Schmidt

Casa de Schmidt #2.....possibly.

So here it is. Not the best picture in the world, but more to follow. We are waiting to find out if the bank will accept our offer. We are trying to be cautiously optimistic while still making our plans for what needs to be done if we do become homeowners. This house has a fully finished basement which needs A LOT of updating but which can be pretty damned awesome if we do it right! Let's see what happens...

Moving on...

We lost the bid on Casa de Schmidt #1. We are totally bummed but moving on to other options. It's a buyers market after all and viewing potential homes is fun. Thanks for the encouragement, Desi. Hopefully, by the time I come see you I'll have better news!!

I can't wait....let's go to Kitaro! And maybe we can stop off at ChaChaCha's and drink Sangrias and blow smoke rings while loitering on the sidewalk! Don't think I won't post those pics on here. Muahaha!!

Miss you!

The future Casa de Schmidt....maybe.

Front lawn and long drive-way.
Fenced in backyard.
Dining room.

This past Sept. I wrote about my struggle with the commute from Richmond to DC. In Oct. when Bryan started his new job in Alexandria, our search for a rental in Northern VA intensified. We spent a lot of time touring apartments and browsing websites like craigslist.org and rentals.com. (Both of them are great resources.) We started talking about our situation and the economy and the housing market and before we really understood what was happening we had a real-estate agent showing us houses! Not surprisingly, we discovered we have very different views about what we wanted in a house. It seemed like every house we looked at met one condition but never both.

Bryan wants a man-cave, I want a nursery attached to the master bedroom.
Bryan wants a fenced in backyard, I want hardwood floors.
Bryan wants RV parking (we don't even own one!), I want history and charm.

Never mind the fact that I want to be in DC and Bryan wants to be in the country. We are VERY fortunate to have an agent who has shown infinite patience with us. Anyway.....we viewed a bunch of houses and then we found it!!! We just knew when we saw it that this one would make us both happy. It's about 40 miles south of DC (trust me...this was the best compromise we could reach), it's on a beautiful 3/4 acre of woodsy nature and yet it's just off the freeway.

We can't afford to get our hopes up because this is a very long and complicated process. There are important things that need to happen.

1. The house has to pass inspection.
2. The bank has to accept our offer.
3. I have to manage to make it to closing without going fucking nuts.

I'm so happy I can share this process with family and friends that read this blog. IF we do become the owners of this house we will be delighted and if not we will continue searching til we find the next ONE.

Here's to hoping!!
xoxo
C

www.ourgreatestfear.org

This is something that I truly fear and am SO relieved that Danny has put a voice to it! I am doing my part to share this with the world and I hope that if you feel the same, you will to!

www.ourgreatestfear.org

I'm going back to Cali!

I'm heading home to LA for the next two weeks! Of course, I will miss my husband desperately but did you read what I just wrote??!! I'm coming home for two weeks!!!

A typical Sunday...

This is how our day went...

B- Morning, ready for a ride today?

C- Oh I don't know, hon. It's kinda overcast and have you checked the weather? Might rain.

B- Come on. We'll ride to breakfast and then head for the coast. I've got gloves and a face mask for you if it gets cold. And we can stop at any antique shop you want along the way.

C- (Yeah, right) Okay then.

We had bfast, I actually did antique shop for almost 2hrs (Bryan brought a book) and then we did head for water, although it was a bank off the Rappahannock River in a little town called Tappahannock, VA. I'm so happy to be back on the bike with Bryan after a 2yr hiatus. It was a very difficult decision to make but now that we are back at it, it was the right one and it feels good. I can overlook the sore muscles, the slapped face sting of the wind, the ringing ears and the risk we take because in the end it's amazing quality time between just the two of us and we feel connected to this amazing country one ride at a time. I'll only start complaining when Bryan STOPS asking me to join him on rides. Love you, dolly.

Washington Post

To my surprise I was caught in a very candid moment by a Washington Post journalist at my subway stop on Friday afternoon. When I picked up the paper this morning out of mild curiosity, I was shocked to see that my image was actually published twice! Alas, my frumpy nanny days are not behind me!

Hope this serves as a reminder to all....get out there and vote on the 4th of Nov.!!!

The BIG 3-0.

I turned 30 on Saturday. Bryan did his very best, but I still felt like I'd been punched in the gut all weekend. So, I made myself a little something sweet and all will be fine in the morning.

Missing family & friends,
C

Check out my box!

One of my very favorite things about collecting craft supplies is the paper. I just LOVE finding these gorgeous little works of art. Recently I started wondering how else I could display pretty paper designs other than another album or frame. So I started doing the research and between stuff online and craft magazines, I started perusing more than just the scrapbook aisles at Michael's. This is my first creation. It is beyond simple, but it's a start. I love spotting these cute little prints on my tabletop throughout the day.

Paper is Heidi Grace, Daydream Believer Collection.
Ribbon is Amy Butler, Sola Collection.
Unfinished Wood Box w/Lid from Michael's.

xoxo
C

So okay...

For the month of August I was working with a family in Fairfax, VA. The hours were long, but the opportunity was worth it. The family was very accommodating, providing a private bedroom/bath and laptop for personal use which I used to facilitate at least 1 daily activity outing with their toddler. Best of all, I became familiar with some of the greater DC area. That is VERY important in my line of work. In Los Angeles, I know what resources are available. I can be anywhere in LA and know all the park playgrounds, museums, libraries and baby activities AND gauge driving distances at ANY given time of day. I can have my agency call with a new position and know the fastest route and shortcuts during rush hour.

Here, I am lost.

I know it's going to take time to get my bearings in this new area and some of that can be very exciting, but let me just tell you...that was NOT the case this week!! I just started a new position with a baby girl in Washington D.C. on Tuesday and because it's in mid-city, I decided I would try public transportation. Now let me just say honestly, that I LOVE the freedom of movement that my car provides. Sitting in traffic is just a part of life for me, but I've long considered the idea of the train and subway because of greenhouse gas emmisions and because it is now an option whereas in LA it's virtually impossible. So I did all the research online and mapped out the stations and subway stops and bus schedules and set out before the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning. This is how it went:

5:30am-Drive 55 miles to the closest commuter rail station. Park 6 blocks away and run (walk fast) to station only to have the freakin' train be late!

7:15am- Sit on the train reading my kindle. Sweet!

8:48am- Train pulls into Union Station late, yikes!! No time for the subway and bus, I have to hail a cab.

9:05am- LATE TO WORK!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4:00pm- Walk 2 blocks to hop onto the bus. Squished next to someone else, but hey, at least I'm sitting down.

4:30ish- Get off bus and walk 2 blocks to Union Station. Board train and read my kindle. NICE.

6:00pm- Walk 6 blocks to my car and drive 50miles home.

"Not bad, but not great", I tell myself. "Suck it up and keep trying. It must get better than this once you're used to it!"

That night I find another station where parking isn't 6 blocks away (seriously, that's just BS!) and the next morning I set out before the crack of dawn again.

5:30am- Arrive just 3 min. before train scheduled to depart. Park car and run (really run this time) to station just to have the FREAKIN' train be late again!

7:10am- Get off at different stop to allow time for subway and bus travel. Go underground to subway station and buy 3 different tickets before I finally figure out the right one and board subway.

8:30ish- Emerge from underground in a rush because I need to catch my bus and luckily enough I spot my bus the moment I emerge and I run to it screaming "STOP!" and the driver stops and I hop on figuring that 1 of those 3 different tickets I bought earlier would take care of my fare, but no.....I need another kind of card for the bus! The driver took pity on me and just took all the change I had in my wallet instead so I sit down and breath a sigh of relief and as I'm looking out the window I realize the bus is going in the wrong direction!!

Me- "Isn't this the G8 route, Mr. Bus Driver?"

Driver- "No ma'am, it's the 68 route."

Me- "WHAT??!! MOTHERF***ER!!!"

8:50- Driver pulls over and I get off totally disheartened. I hail a cab and head to work.

9:05am- LATE TO WORK AGAIN!!!

I don't know yet what I will do next week. I'd like to think that I won't give up on public transportation so quickly, but it's tempting when commuting in my car goes like this:

6am- Get in car and merge onto freeway. Drive 90 miles in a straight line while listening to CNN on XM and flipping over to CD playlists or an audiobook whenever news becomes repetitive.

8:30am- Park in front of client's home!! I'm early, am I? Maybe I'll walk to the corner coffee shop? Or update my calendar. Or maybe just pick at my cuticles while daydreaming about my next vacation.

There has GOT to be a better way. And there is. It's called moving to DC, goddammit!!

Birdie's Little Book

Here's the artful blogging part that I mentioned earlier. After a week of trying to piece together all of my craft supplies which involved exhaustive rummaging through the garage, I finally have most things available and was able to start crafting. It's SO NICE to get back into creative mode. I didn't realize how much I missed this. Letty, if you're reading this I want you to know that while I was pounding away with hammer in one hand and setter in the other, I was thinking of that fateful day we began working on my wedding invitations. Look what we started! I miss our marathon sessions! It's still hard to accept that I'm across the country. How crazy is that?!

Much love,
C

Eight years...

On Monday I leave for a 17 day job up in the DC area which will have me working through our anniversary, so Bryan and I drove down to Kitty Hawk, NC for an early beach-themed celebration. It was just a couple days and we didn't even plan anything in advance. We had been on weather-watch early in the week because it had been stormy out there, but on Thursday we realized we were going to miss out if we waited any longer. We grabbed swimsuits, a change of clothes and Birdie and just flew by the seat of our pants.

Once down there we found a darling little hotel with beach access and even rentals of equipment like sun umbrellas and towels. We were trying to beat the rain so we very quickly checked in and ran (walked fast) to the water for some frolicking in the ocean. It was my first time swimming in the Atlantic! We had a really good time until a wave knocked the glasses off Bryan's face and he decided to get out. After some R&R on the sand, it was time to mosey over to the main highway and find dinner. We found a seafood buffet place with a very long waiting list which Bryan didn't mind because he used the time to go buy a pair of scissors. Once seated, he whipped those scissors out and went to town on some crag legs! Seriously, I was amused and mortified at the same time! It took me the whole dinner to get through just 2 crab legs until Bryan pushed my hands away and shelled a plate-full of crabmeat for me within minutes. I thought it was romantic.....sigh.

This trip was truly like a flashback in time. Our cottage style hotel had a retro, kitschy beach theme complete with white wicker furniture, seashell crusted lamps and an immaculate green lawn for croquet. Best of all, I found a Tiki Bar! I was SO excited and immediately sent a picture text to my friend Bridget who shares my love for everything vintage. I had a mai tai and Bryan had a lynchburg lemonade (killjoy). Anyway, considering the fact that we left without a concrete plan, I'd have to say this little island getaway was damn near perfection.

Thanks so much to family and friends for the positive feedback! I really miss everyone and I'm glad this serves as a way for us to stay in the loop. My love to all!

xoxo
C

Bryan and I have each other, and Birdie has us.

Birdie Willoughby Schmidt


It's been a year this month that I met and fell in love with Birdie, the surprising chihuahua. When I called Bryan and told him (begged him) that my mom's chihuahua had sired puppies and she wanted to give us one, he absolutely refused. We played our little back and forth banter game for a while. It went something like this:

C- "I'm coming home with a chihuahua puppy! My mom is giving her to us, it's that wonderful?"

B- "Like hell."

C- "You know as well as I that once we have her you are going to fall in LOVE with her!

B- "I'll kick her when you're not looking."

C- "I can't decide what to name her, I was thinking something sweet in spanish!"

B- "Whatever you name her I'm just going to call her Taco."

This went on for a week or so. If you knew my husband, you would understand. He's a life-long dog owner and lover of huge dopey mutts. He's annoyed by little yappy pure-breeds. He was worried about the reputation that chihuahuas have. It's true, too. They DO say that chihuahuas are nervous, noisy, territorial, not recommended for homes with small children, blah, blah. Besides all that, I was working in Los Angeles for weeks at a time and he just KNEW he was going to get stuck taking care of her. But I was determined!

And so with a heavy heart and a long face he agreed that we would try it out and see how things went.

So now here we are...Bryan will sleep in one position all night without moving before he will risk waking up "princess". If he's laying on his stomach, she plops herself on his back and does some fancy log-rolling trick when he rolls over. He swears there's an attachment for the motorcycle so that she can come along on rides! He buys her doggie chew toys and then chuckles when she just shreds all his shoes instead. He is ever patience with her and deserves her adoration.

As for Birdie....she does not bark, yip or yap. She is for the most part, quiet as a church mouse. She is loving, loyal and affectionate. She loves children and other dogs! She is a great traveler and has flown cross-country twice and driven cross-country once in her short little life! She is a burrower and can often be found under blankets, towels, and her favorite, Bryan's dirty laundry.

I didn't think I was into blogging.

I was at Barnes & Noble today and spotted a magazine called Artful Blogging. I picked it up and it spoke to my true-self. Keeping in mind that I am constantly ignoring said true-self because she is a very bad influence, I sat down and read it. Fast forward about 6 hours and here I am writing my very first blog entry. It's exciting and at the same time kinda worrisome. Exciting because I think this can be a lot of fun and worrisome because what the hell am I going to write about? I asked my husband Bryan what he would call his blog if he had one and he said "My boring ass life." That pretty much sums it up, but that's his idea so I can't steal that.