Expecting! and Eye trouble

Well! As everyone knows, things have certainly been busy around here! Seth and I are expecting our first and I'm just into the second trimester now. The first one was rough. I was sick a ridiculous amount- and still get sick regularly, though it's dying down now thankfully. We're so excited and feel so blessed to finally be having a new little Pease in the family, I just about started crying when I got my first sonogram and seeing Seth's expression when we heard the heartbeat fluttering away is something I'll never forget.

There's a lot to do to get ready still! The small bedroom is going to be turned into our nursery and is still full of bookshelves and half unpacked and sorted books that haven't been dealt with since moving in since we didn't have the shelf space. (whoops, we have a lot of books. A lot.) BUT! Tomorrow we've got a friend who's bringing their Dad's big SUV up and we're hitting Ikea and buying a whole ton of bookshelves. Hopefully they'll hold all of our books and our existing shelves can go into the upstairs living room and hold pictures and things. If we need more shelf space for books then they're going to get relegated to the back bedroom.

In other news, you know how they always say not to fall asleep with your contacts in? I can now confirm it. Don't. Really really don't. Ever. Before now the only thing that's ever happened to me was getting dry eyes that were easily remedied by blinking a while or putting eye drops in. Monday night though, I was up late (my sleep schedule is all out of whack.) and fell asleep without taking them out since I realized I was out of solution and was just going to pick some up on Tuesday. By the time I woke up my eyes were severely irritated. By the time I went to go get new solution it was so bad that Seth had to drive because they'd become so photosensitive that sunlight was blinding and extremely painful. Wednesday morning I still couldn't look at a computer screen even with the brightness turned all the way down without feeling like it was attacking my brain with a knife and I hid in the basement with the shades drawn feeling like a vampire as I tried to rest my eyes as much as possible. Seth brought home some OTC anti-inflammatory eyedrops that were recommended on a medical website and they've helped a lot. This morning I can at least use the computer again and be in rooms with light, though direct sunlight still makes me tear up. And my eyes now just look severely bloodshot instead of bright red with white streaks in it! I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be alright in direct sunlight and by Sunday I can ditch the glasses again. But yes. Never fall asleep with contacts in. It is not fun.

Deer!

So the picture's bad. All I've got to take photos right now is my ipad or even worse quality camera. But while I was making lunch yesterday these four came to visit. Mom hopped the fence to see what the neighbors had, but the two fawns came up nearly to the house. Dad hung out in the treeline keeping an eye on them all. You can't see him very well, but he's a big guy with 6-8 points.

Awww...

Nope, didn't win the shoes :( Sadness.

Devonshire 18th century shoes

18th Century Shoe GIVEAWAY!
Want to *win* your very own pair of leather Devonshire 18th century shoes?  Then help us spread the word about the pre-order going on right now!

About the Prize:


The Devonshires are a leather 18th century shoe based on museum examples from the 1760s through 1780s.  They're made of top-grade dyable leather, with a beautiful, smooth Italian leather sole for dancing, and are hard-wearing, water- and mud-proof, for even the toughest of outdoor re-enactments.

Pre-Order the Devonshires through August 10, and get the special $100 price.  We're only making 200 of these shoes, so don't miss the chance to own one of only a couple hundred pair on the planet!  Visit www.american-duchess.com to order.

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*Drools* Don't exactly have $100 for these babies, but here's hoping...

And if any of you were to enter the contest yourself and then get a size 9.5 *wink wink, nudge nudge*

I'm so crafty

Maybe it's silly I'm proud of myself. I managed to install the curtain rod without mishap or accidentally drilling into drywall. I always remember mom as the one who'd fix things around the house and do crafty things. I'm not that good yet, but maybe this is the first step to it!

Good things in Life

Sometimes life is just plain good. Things that made me happy this week include:

Waking up to seeing a pair of foxes playing in our back yard.
Tomatoes.
Talking to AnnaMarie on the phone.
Seth getting me an iPad to replace the fried laptop.
Finding a gorgeous 18th century style print on cotton heavy enough to make the caraco jacket out of it... for $4/yard.
And a racoon sauntering down the middle of our road in the middle of the day.

Time Traveller's Closet Project!

So this past week or so, word of a new convention being planned for next year came across the ether. Dress U. It's a 4 day event for historical costuming. My (totally awesome award winning) plunderhosen are sadly the only bit of historical costuming I've done properly.



Of course I did throw together my rockin' Turkish Harem inspired steampunk outfit in a week and a half for Balticon.



But that's really more inspired by history than actually historically correct.

So I'm starting a new little project for myself. I want to put together costumes for most of the major time periods that Costumers pull from so that whenever an event comes up, I've got something suitable in my closet already. This project will probably take several years, but over the next year as I get ready for Dress U I'll be getting several contributions to it made.

Medieval- Got that! I've got a very comfy 'gates of hell' dress for the Ren Faire every year.
Renaissance - Crossdressing, but I've got my Plunderhosen!
Mid 18th Century - A Piemontaise. Sadly only popular for a short period of time, but I found a pattern made from an surviving example.




Since that's a bit formal, I'm also going to throw together one or both of these too for daywear. I do love this period of dress.




Victorian - Nothing specifically planned for a historical Victorian outfit yet since the steampunk Turkish is contemporary.

Edwardian - About as late as I'm willing to go. I rather like this dress though it could probably use less train.