Bernie's Nursery!

She’s got a nursery!!! I am soooo excited about Bernie’s nursery reveal today and if I’m interpreting “Oo Goo Ehh!!” correctly, Bernie is too. So is Mr. Hippo, he loves the camera. 

Having an official nursery for Bernie feels way overdue because between my complete lack of interior design skills, the fact that Bernie’s been sleeping in our room, and the Jewish superstition that decorating a nursery before a baby is born could bring bad luck, Bernie’s room had been pretty bare bones. I did a tiny bit of zhooshing when I was 36 weeks pregnant and in major nesting mode, but the room remained a kinda boring half crib corner/half guest room and honestly the most it got used was when my mom came to visit the weekend Bernie was born.

So when Crate and Kids offered to wave their magic wand over the room we threw imaginary confetti in the air because it meant that Bernie would finally have a space of her own to grow with and love. Crate’s Scandinavian-inspired style is so beautiful and, ahem, perfect for our Scandinavian baby. Also, I grew up down the street from Crate’s headquarters outside of Chicago, so this project was a total nostalgia trip for me. 

This room in our house has been many things: Eggboy’s aunts grew up in it, Eggboy slept here when he had weekends at Grandma’s, it was the hair and makeup room for Girl Meets Farm, and it was the room that we slept in for a week when a tree outside of our bedroom was looking a little gnarly and like it could fall. If these walls could talk, I imagine they’d be patient, grandmotherly, and warm. And maybe a little high from the Girl Meets Farm hairspray fumes?! JKJKJK! From the beginning, even at times when it had very little decor at all, this room has had such good, homey energy.

In designing Bernie’s new space, Eggboy and I wanted her to feel that cozy warmth and be surrounded by her animal friends. We also wanted the history of the room to come through and for it to really feel like it was part of a farm house while also feeling fresh. Functionally, since this is the only bedroom in our house other than ours, I wanted there to still be a bed for Grandma visits and for when Bernie grows out of her crib, but for there to also be a space to sit and hang out. 

I love how Crate’s design team ran with this. They wove their vintage-inspired pieces, like their midcentury crib and brass shelving, in with the existing old paneled wall and peppered in our special personal items, like the rainbow from Lily, Alana, and Michelle, the hippo from Great Aunt Judy and Cousins, the needle pointed alphabet wall hanging that we found in the basement, Bernie’s favorite animal mobile, and the little wooden egg family from our shower. And they swapped out our big old ugly guest bed for a twin-sized daybed with a trundle (Bernie’s going to have the best sleepovers!) so it totally feels like we have a big comfy couch in here now. The muted rainbow colors, cozy layered textures, and warm lighting are so soothing. This room truly has an amazing balance of exciting and calm, modern and vintage. And just being in here feels like a hug! 

For now, the room is filled with bunnies galore because Bernie loves bunnies! The crib sheets, the pillows, the changing table cover, the wall decor, and, my personal favorite, the removable wallpaper (!!) all have bunnies. But what’s great about the large furniture pieces is that they’re sturdy, timeless, and safe enough to be able to grow with Bernie. So when she’s older and potentially over bunnies but into, I don’t know, astronomy? martial arts? the trombone? these pieces will be able to be dressed up to reflect those loves.

Ooh and the closet is a whole other wonderland! Bernie officially has the most organized closet in the house. It’s filled with bins upon bins because I find that bins are the easiest way of organizing all of the necessary baby stuff, especially stuff that requires quick access during, like, emergency wardrobe changes and sudden diaper explosions. It’s also packed with imagination-fueled toys that she can play with now (like her soft eggs and bacon set!) and when she gets older (like the prettiest wooden blocks I’ve ever seen). 

Now whenever I’m in this room, I can envision all of the blanket forts and make-believe games in Bernie’s future. It makes me so verklempt! Yes, I am soaking up all of the moments right now while she is tiny enough to cuddle up on my chest, but at the same time it fills me with so much joy to think about watching her grow in this beautiful Bernie space. 

-yeh!

Thank you sooo (!!!!) much to Crate and Kids for transforming this room and for sponsoring this post! Here are links to the items featured in this room: rug / yellow pouf / brass book shelves / crib / crib sheet / crib skirt / bunny / other bunny / bunny blanket / animal wall decor / rainbow wall hanging / bunny wallpaper / floor lamp / midcentury wall shelf / midcentury wall decor / mirrors / hippo / bear hamper / diaper pail / dresser / changing table / changing table cover / daybed / trundle/ bed linens / pillows / bunny pillows / pink pillows / ballerina pillow / white closet bins / pink closet bins / campfire set 

Photos by Chantell and Brett Quernemoen

CHICAGO

eggboy and i are in chicago now, escaping the north dakota cold and seeing my family. it is a crisp -9ºf right now and it's supposed to warm up to zero later today! such excitement, i think i'll shed one sweater layer. 

we spent the weekend in the suburbs with homeland season 3 and a massive stack of cookbooks. we did not surface except to take a salty cheesy trip to eataly with these two and to eat about 12 orders of brunch paella at ba ba reeba. 

my sisters and i, we do this thing where we impersonate al dente noodles. that's what that gif is all about. i dunno how it started, i think it's a variation on the helpless dog pose that we do when we don't want to do something or if pops is taking too many pictures (do you see where i get it from?). my best guess is that stoop is a penne noodle, mia is a bow tie or perhaps udon, and i like to think that if i were a noodle i'd be some sort of hand pulled strand like one you'd find at xi'an. 

i find myself obliterated with excitement to do things that were once a norm. going to a mall, going to the paint your own pottery place, staring at the whole foods cheese counter. even a five minute trip to trader joe's has been a highlight. it feels benjamin buttony and i like it.

anywho. ikea calls, so i am off to "brave" this "bitter cold weather" and i promise not to call anyone a wimp in the process. (but seriously, chicago, grow a pair.)

-yeh! 

SCENES FROM ILLINOIS

for the past few days i've been at my other home, in illinois, spending time with family and friends, playing music, and enjoying some culinary delights that just don't exist in my little town. and i don't know what i was thinking planning so much time on farms and in little towns during my vacation from the farm, but i did just that and i enjoyed it so.

mum and i went apple picking. we snuck into the honey crisp row when we should have been picking liberties, we ate apple cider donuts, and we pet goats and cows and alpacas. it was the awkward apple picking temperature of 80 degrees out, but it was delightful. the next day, jaclyn, katie, and i went to the adorable downtown area of long grove for their apple fest. more apple cider donuts, chocolate covered grapes (weird but good!), a pond-side lunch, and a caramel apple macaron. yum.

my one bit of time in the city was spent at the super cute hideout, a quaint house hidden in an industrial area of lincoln park, playing with san fermin. it was so much funnnn!! their music is such a head-boppy, sing-along, get nostalgic type of good. i brought the band 'sun' sick cakes (named after the song "sonsick"): they were fiery like the sun-- chili chocolate cake with saffron chili cream cheese frosting.  

other highlights: eating good blue cheese (i had forgotten the pleasures of that), clearing out the trader joe's nut aisle, and picking up some cacao nibs, dukkah, and pumpkin spice coffee to bring back to north dakota.

also: mum flexed her mother skills and forced a bunch of really awesome winter clothing on me in preparation for the crazy weather that is to come. there is snow in the forecast for saturday!

-yeh!!! 

CHICAGO: INSTAGRAMS

i nearly plumb forgot that we stopped in chicago on the way from new york to north dakota. and by forgot, i mean that i was in such a summery dream-like state that i couldn't be bothered with taking many pictures and thinking and making decisions like donut from glazed and infused? or pistachio icream?  both, obviously.

eggboy and i had a delightful afternoon of tacos and used bookstores in wicker park. jaclyn, katie, and i had one of those epic emergency late night steak 'n shake runs (but not before eating horseradish pub cheese on the lawn at ravinia in front of a wild aida ).

also: a dip in the pool, tomatoes from mum's garden, the new-ish fiona apple, and the gran partita. 

plus house of cards and sleeping in. 

summer.

you know the drill. 

-yeh!