Bernice's Gender Neutral Nursery

After all the prep and work that went into preparing for Bernice to be here last year at this time, it was amazing to have the nursery complete. I haven't shared pictures of it yet, so here they are. 

All photos by Shawn Finley

 Yarn Painting by Shawn's Mom
This was in his and his sister's rooms when they were babies, too.

 I made Bernice's orange curtains just for her.

The Grateful Dead poster I found in Chicago 2 years ago. 

When we bought it I had no idea where I would put it. :o)

 Dinosaur rocker from my parents matches perfectly!

That rug was the inspiration for the whole room!

 Shawn and I painted the chevrons by hand.

 

 This rocking chair in the corner was the one my mom would rock me in when I was a baby.

Special calendar from Bernice's Aunt to keep track of her busiest year. 

Vintage Kitten picture from a yard sale I found YEARS and YEARS ago.

 Glitter Owl from Shawn's parents topped with custom glitter letters from my parents. 

This is one loved little baby!

Of all the cool things about Bernice's room the best thing about it in my opinion is that I think she likes it, too.

Makeup Free for 30 Days

I'm starting to learn a lot about myself, and one of the really apparent things I have discovered is that I am a cyclic animal. I have seasons and they help me to organize myself and my work.
I crochet in the Winter, draw in the Spring, plan trips + parties in the Summer, and sew in the Fall.

I also wear makeup cyclically but I don't think it follows a predictable and seasonal pattern. 30 days ago I started thinking about starting a makeup-free cycle so I just went with it after noticing it coincided with Lent. I didn't want to religiously observe Lent; I just wanted to stop wearing makeup and be accountable for my choice. I thought choosing to be without it entirely for over a month would help me accomplish my goal.
At day 12 I wanted to wear makeup so badly. I considered giving up on Lent like I had the last time I tried it when I was 9 years old. But I didn't. I just picked out a cute outfit; one I never would have spent the time choosing before. I was terrified, but when no one ran away from me screaming in public it got easier.
Around day 19 I noticed I started to take better care of myself. When I don't get enough sleep or water you can SEE it. When I don't pluck my eyebrows and witch hairs you can SEE them. When I try to pick a blackhead or something you can SEE it. So I am now gentle to myself and my face, and make sure to take care of myself so that I look better at the very least.
I spent a lot more time with my family and we did a lot more fun stuff. I slipped out of the house to get donuts as a surprise one morning before Shawn woke up! I didn't even THINK about putting on makeup. I just left.

It was liberating.
I had finally become comfortable in my bare face. Not just like "I don't give a shit" comfortable, but like "I look better without it anyway" comfortable. In the last week I caught 3 reflections of myself in my phone, the computer, a window and thought, "pretty."

Now when Shawn tells me I'm beautiful I get tingles through my whole body.

Will I never wear makeup again? No! I like makeup sometimes! But I think my everyday look, if I want, will just be well-groomed eyebrows and concealer on the outer corners of my eyes. For dates with Shawn I might wear more, but for everyday my regular face is just great.
Makeup can be lots of things for lots of different people but for me it was a crutch. A crutch to hide my laziness which can manifest as self-neglect. Taking the crutch away forced me to fix the problem, and now after 30 days it's a new habit. A lovely, healthy new habit.