Suddenly I feel conspicuous ordering extra pickles for my hamburger.

Me painting, originally uploaded by MaggieMason.

Bryan and I adore our spacious, reasonably priced, one-bedroom apartment, so instead of moving when I got pregnant we decided to convert the breakfast nook (my old office) into a nursery. I have a photo set going to record the process.

So far, we added doors to the arched entryway, Bryan tore down a wall of mirrors and painted the room (twice, as the first color looked like a Tiffanys explosion), and we enlisted some friends to help paint this bubble mural on one wall. We’re going for a nautical, 1950s Illustrated Encyclopedia look.

Here’s how we did the mural, easy peasy:

-The design is from a letterpress card that we love. I photographed it with my digital camera, discarded the color info in Photoshop, and turned the contrast way up.

- We borrowed a projector from Bryan’s office (Thanks, Adaptive Path!), and plugged it in to my computer. We opened the image in Photoshop and moved the projector around until the image fit the whole wall.

- I tried painting a single circle with a paintbrush, and it took forever. Our friend Rachel suggested using common household items (like glasses, bottles, tins) to stamp the bubbles. She is a genius.

- We filled paper plates with paint and got to stamping. Before marking the wall, we tested potential stampers on a piece of paper to be sure they’d work well. Glasses with wider lips seemed to work best. With Ryan and Rachel’s help the whole thing only took about 45 minutes.

-We ordered pizza.

ESPIONAGE

Originally uploaded by MaggieMason.

For half an hour, I wandered around with my giant Cannon hanging off my neck. I took dozens of photos with a loud CHA-CHICK each time. As I aimed my lens at yet another bin of confections, the storekeeper said, “I’m sorry. I can’t allow you to take photos here.” I jerked up, my face burning, to find that she was actually talking to a woman who had just wandered in. The woman was aiming her tiny digital elf at friend who was grinning in front of a colorful gum display.

Doot-dee-doo.

Me: Oh no, that is not a mime jam jar in the window.
Bryan: Where?
Me: Uh. Right there.
Bryan: Technically, that’s a Harlequin.
Me: No. Shut up. No.
Bryan: I’m just saying, there’s a difference.
Me: Baby… Did you not hear me say shut up?

First World Livin’

Originally uploaded by MaggieMason.
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