Decorate the House with Boughs of... Free Stuff. :)

Our budget is limited this year as we are getting the house ready for Baby so my goal is to do as much "free" decorating as possible... Tomorrow I'll be heading into the woods to find more evergreen branches and berries! I didn't purchase anything this year and challenged myself to use what I had (exception: I just had my birthday and my mom gave me some great wreaths and AJ gave me the Three Wisemen from our nativity set).

I wish you could see better what we've done here...
The greens are in the orchid and the pomogranate tree.
We may hang the TV and make a frame for it so it'll
look more like art than a focal point.



My mom got me these fab wreaths from Ballard Designs for
my birthday. I couldn't wait to put them on the chairs when
I got home!
The off white candle holders are something I found on the side
of the road... I think they are from PB.

 


Does anyone else love the Willow Tree Nativity scene?
I love how it looks set in the greenery.

thoughts on an unplanned pregnancy...

AJ and I are sitting here in the twin bed we have in the nursery for the nights I’m so uncomfortable I need to go into another bed to avoid keeping him up all night…we are surrounded by our changing table on one side and our crib on the other… it seems fitting to be writing about pregnancy in this place while AJ occasionally leans over from reading or looking at real estate (his obsession) to feel how Baby has just shifted.


We got pregnant on the pill. In the first month I wrestled with feelings I’m embarrassed to say I had… I wasn’t ready for a baby and I was scared I would be a terrible mother. AJ and I hadn’t even been married a year and we had just purchased a major fixer upper three and a half months before. The toilet was literally sinking through the floor, the kitchen oven took an hour to preheat and the electrical system consisted of fuses.

AJ was definitely more excited than I was and made a comment that it was probably good that pregnancy happened this way… I never would have said I’d be ready otherwise. And I think he’s right. There always would have been a promotion, a house to fix up, trips to take…

Then we had our first ultrasound. And it didn’t go well. They found a high neucal measurement at the back of the neck, which at only eight weeks they were telling us were a beginning sign of Down’s Syndrome or Cystic Hygroma (a fatal condition). And from that point on there were no “congratulations!” from doctors and at every appointment we were told how to terminate the pregnancy. During this time, more than any other during my life, I learned the meaning of praying constantly. I guess sometimes it takes knowing you are going to lose something to make you want it. Really want it.

We realized that instead of going to varsity soccer games we may be going to Special Olympic games. We realized that Baby may not talk eloquently, or at all. We realized that Baby may never look like a Baby Gap model. And we were okay with that, we still wanted him. God had entrusted him to us for what might be 6 more weeks or may be 60 more years… we didn’t know.

We did a lot of reading and it looked like doctors sometimes made a bigger deal out of the measurements than the situation required (but I guess when you could be hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit you would make a bigger deal out of a situation). A lot of the reading said that babies’ development can be pretty varied for the first 20 weeks and then it’ll sort of pan out and they’ll be on an even playing field. So we waited. We went to Greece and met David and Elizabeth Sparks, our tour guides, and they shared the story of their son Adam being diagnosed with leukemia when he was not even a year old. They shared how scared and frightened they were and how they had to rely on the Lord the entire time and how they committed Adam to him. And that was exactly what AJ and I had to do with Baby.

Currently, the tests have all come back with great reports on Baby. He is moving like a little monkey and is a week ahead of weight predictions. The doctors can’t guarantee anything as far as his health but they think it looks promising… so why, WHY, did we have to go through weeks of uncertainty when we weren't even READY for a baby? I don’t know but I do know that I’m entering into motherhood so excited to see, and love on, this little guy who has been kicking me for the past 15 weeks. He is precious and wanted whether his health is perfect or not. He is our unexpected gift.

new stationery designs

More stationary designs! (Click on the photo to zoom in and see each design.)

$20 for a boxed set of 50 cards and envelopes (if no shipping is needed) and $25 if you need me to ship them somewhere. We can work on the color and design text you would like for each set.

Send me an email: jen.migonis@gmail.com if you are interested or have questions!

Decorating for Christmas...

I write a blog post about decorating once a month for my friend's blog, Domestic by Design. See below for this month's post...

I’m probably giving Kelly a heart attack right now. I told her she would have my blog by Friday. It is now Tuesday at 4:30pm. Oops. My only excuse is that my in-laws were coming for the weekend for our baby shower. You know what that is like… “AHHHH! Our tub needs to be re-caulked! I need to mop the entire downstairs! All our towels need to be bleached!”


Despite the fact that I haven’t written anything till now doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about it. I have. In fact, as I walked through Anthropologie in Boston the other day I kept thinking about you. Here are look alike displays to what I found in the store and loved…

Champagne flutes with a sprig of balsam around the bottom with a beautiful velvet ribbon. Or really you could do this with any goblet (water, wine, you name it!), the ones I saw were just the skinny champagne flutes and it looked like such an elegant, yet earthy, way to spruce (no pun intended) up your glasses. (The photo below is neat too but I’m not big on sap in my drink… It was taken from Country Living.)

Pots with birch trees and cabbage. I loved this idea… in fact the other day I went to the woods to find my own birch… and came back with an entire log infested with bugs. (I know AJ appreciated that when I brought it into the house for him to cut it for our fireplace.) But it is such a simple arrangement if you can find non-rotted birch logs. Just prop them up vertically in a pot, cover with mulch or dirt to stabilize it and either plant cabbage / kale around it or do what I intend to do (because it’s cheaper) and go into the wood and cut down evergreen branches.

Christmas trees made out of feathers. You may be thinking this is bizarre. It is definitely not your typical holiday look but I think that is why I like it (granted, I don’t like these feathers, I’d like white feathers). I’d go to a craft store, purchase the foam Christmas tree shape and then a bag of feathers and start pinning them with white headed pins to the foam.

Okay, so as I was trying in vain to find a photo that I love of birch logs propped up in pots I found this photo online at a website I’ve never heard of, www.artglitter.com. I am SOOO going to make this for my mantle but with less creepy white birds.

Personalized Stationery

After a minor freak out about what I'll do after Baby comes and after I resign on June 30 my friend Katie challenged me to write up my goals for the next year... so I did. And part of the goals was to create a stationery line that I could manage from home. Here is a preview of the first design... more are to come as soon as I can photograph them. The exciting news is that I already have my first customer! :)

One of the motivating factors behind this was that I could always find fabulous stationery but the prices were so steep that I couldn't afford it. So, I've set the price at $25 for a set of 50 boxed personalized cards and envelopes. And friends, that includes shipping. :)

I can't get over how gorgeous the New England fall is...

I can't get over how gorgeous the New England fall is... especially when I drive onto campus (Gordon College) in the morning (usually when I'm here this early it's to get my Belgium waffle fix at the dining hall) and Coy Pond is covered in fog. Nothing beats it.

Fabulous Baby Shower Weekend

We had a Jack and Jill shower at my parents house... the set up was gorgeous, the photos definitely do not do justice! Everything was blue and brown and the food was just fabulous!
The weekend wasn't completely fun and games... well, for me it was because while AJ and Kerry did work on the master bedroom April, Meredith and I went shopping and to the beach. :)

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

I liked this recipe even better the second or third day!


2 tablespoons butter
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
2 cups cubed butternut squash (I used frozen)
1 cup diced carrots
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick (used MacIntosh)
1 quart chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional) (I used half of this b/c we ran out)
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped chives (used half of this because the frost killed the rest of them...)

Directions

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and onions, and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potato, squash, carrots, apple, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.

Carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender, or use a stick blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Once the soup has been pureed, return it to the pot and stir in wine and cream. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper; simmer gently for 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped chives.

Before Drew...

Photos by the fabulous Morgan Roy....