emily @ thirtyeight20's Profile

This is ADORABLE. Sadly, my kid has never once seen the point of a pull toy.

I'm not very surprised they are tearing it down. I have spent a lot of time in Gettysburg, living fairly close. (Great place to hike, picnic, etc.) Though the building may have some intrinsic value, it really does not fit in with the "historic" vibe of the town, which has hardly changed in 150 years. The groundskeepers even strive to keep all the plants the same location and size as they were during the Civil War so that one's experience at Gettysburg will truly feel "authentic." Now if they could just get rid of the ridiculous segway tours.

I turned 6 in October of my Kindergarten year, making me one of the oldest kids in my class. (Our cutoff was age 5 by September 30.) Already proficient at basic reading and writing, I was SO INCREDIBLY BORED and started making up excuses and illnesses so I didn't have to go. My parents and the school agreed to bump me up to first grade midway through the year, making me the youngest in my class. Thank God my parents paid attention to my needs; I still graduated at the top of my class and went to a great college. The age difference was meaningless. Hopefully this "redshirting" trend means that parents are paying attention to their kids' needs and abilities, and making their decisions based on the kids' cognitive and emotional development -- not based on some hypothetical opportunity for the kid to have an "advantage."

That natural linen bedding is so beautiful!

We killed 2 crappy vacuums in 2 years, then bought the Miele Olympus and LOVE IT. It is super suctiony and doesn't recirculate dirt back into the air like our old uprights always seemed to. On the highest setting (made for rugs) the wand actually sticks to the floor so hard you can barely move it. (Not recommended, obviously, as you could burn out the motor--but it is really powerful.) It is quiet and very lightweight also, which is awesome if you have to carry it up and down stairs. It also has lots of settings so you can vacuum your curtains or upholstery or whatever without damage.

Note: We ONLY have hardwood as we have allergies, so I cannot speak to its performance on carpet as we bought the model without the carpet attachment.

I don't see how it would be "scandalous" to buy your kid a secondhand toy on craigslist unless you, like, slept with the seller when you picked it up.

I wouldn't buy my daughter anything plush (ick), but anything awesome that can be washed is totally happening. If she judges me for that, then I'm not raising her right. Everyone else can go drown in their massive debt.

Side note: I buy stuff on craigslist all the time, but after I negotiate the deal I turn things over to my husband, who arranges to pick it up since he can defend himself against creeps better than I can.

I had one that was bald except for a little tuft of yarn hair on top... and it was always naked because I was fascinated that Xavier Roberts' name was written on its butt.

Also it came with a cassette tape, and I remember there was a villian who sang a song that went, "Cabbages cabbages yum yum yum, cabbages cabbages GIMME SOME!"

I kept my maiden name as my middle name when I got married (mainly because it was awesome), and took my husband's surname. In the end there is more to my identity than the letters that comprise my last name, so it didn't matter to me what those letters were or where they came from. I just wanted my husband and I to be linked together through a common name. If we hadn't planned to have children, it might not have made much of a difference -- but for kids I like the idea of the whole family sharing a name, and the hyphenation thing felt like overkill to us.

Also both my parents are teachers, and it's really confusing and awkward for them when the students' names don't match their parents'. (Not always avoidable in cases of remarriage and whatnot, but to purposely choose it also seems unnecessarily complicated.)

Names can be so personal though -- whatever floats your boat.

I like this too. Actually I share this philosophy about decorating in general. It's cozier that way. We have a particular style that we gravitate toward that keeps things pretty cohesive around our house, but I really can't see myself ever "tailoring" a room to be really matchy-matchy. I like to look at well tailored rooms all day long, but they aren't necessarily that inviting in real life.

I too hate when people paint valuable antiques... But this does not qualify as an antique! If I'm not mistaken, MDF (as Erin said pieces of it were made of) was an invention of the 80s.

So I say great job! Very cute makeover!