My sister sent us this CD in the mail*, and I can’t even explain to you how stinkin happy it made me. Last Friday night we put in the CD while we moved furniture around in Penny’s room to get it ready to paint. Once we had done all of our prep work Matt sat down in our new nursery rocker and read while I organized all of the new clothes we’ve been given. For a full hour I folded and refolded tiny little onesies and sample newborn diapers that have come attached to junk mail while grooving out to Zeppy.

I know eventually I’ll have to give in to the squirrely voices of kids singing childrens songs, and that Penelope can’t be raised strictly on classic rock, much to my dismay. But until she knows better, she’ll be wooed to sleep by the soothing sounds of Page and Plant, covered on xylophone.

*You’ll note that I’ve started a new little section in the right-hand sidebar featuring stuff that I’m loving right now. I’ll try to update it at least weekly if not more frequently.

A little over a year ago we inherited my grandmother’s bedroom set which, aside from her china sitting in my kitchen cabinets, is my all-time most prized possession. It’s a beautiful set made from solid mahogany and weighing a million tons. Originally it came with a headboard and footboard for a double bed, but since Matt and I sleep on a queen mattress (a hand-me-down Sterns & Foster from my parents that is quite possibly the world’s greatest mattress, but was too hard for my mom’s back) the headboard and footboard wouldn’t fit. We originally toyed with the idea of mangling up the headboard and footboard to extend wide enough for a queen, but decided not to rip apart a beautiful antique in that manner. Instead, we’re using it for the guest room which has a new double mattress and boxspring.

So for the extent of our marriage we’ve been sleeping on a bed with no headboard which absolutely drives Matt nuts as he likes to lean back and read in bed. Personally I hate that my pillows are always falling down between the mattress and the wall behind it, but that’s neither here nor there.

This weekend we were inspired to make the headboard that we had been dreaming of for a while. I had seen a bunch of upholstered headboards and decided that it needed the following functionality:

1. It had to be tall because we have a tiny bedroom, and I needed something to extend the eye upward making the room look bigger.
2. It had to be tall enough so that when Matt was sitting in bed, it would extend higher than his head so he could lean back against it.
3. I wanted little “wings” on the sides of the headboard that extended down to the floor. I thought this might look cozier and give the whole thing a more solid feel.
4. The wings couldn’t be too deep because we religiously use our bedside tables, and I wanted to be able to conveniently reach my Tums.
5. I wanted nailhead trim!

So we mapped it out and measured how big the whole thing would be. Then it was off to Hobby Lobby to score 4 yards of linen fabric (at $2.50/yd) and batting ($13.99 to cover the wood with a bit extra left over). I had hoped they would have lots of nailhead options, but their selection left much to be desired. So we trekked off to Home Depot to buy the wood.

We decided to go with full sheets of plywood, although I had read you could do something lighter weight with craft board. We wanted this to be sturdy and since it would run all the way down to the floor and be screwed into our bed frame, we bought the thickest sheet of plywood we could. We needed 2 sheets of 4×8 plywood ($40 total) with quite a bit of plywood leftover (good news as I have a design for living room side tables that I want Matt to build!). I was in luck when I walked down the nail aisle and found a whole slew of upholstery tacks to choose from! I wound up picking an antique brass finish, and Matt calculated that we’d need 18 boxes of nailheads. I bought all 20 for about $25 in case I needed extra.

Our total cost was around $95 for supplies as we needed to pick up some extra screws and metal plates. Matt had plenty of staples and a staple gun as well as four big bolts to screw the headboard into our metal bed frame. So we headed home to put her together!

The first half of the project involved Matt measuring and screwing the frame together.

From Daily Daguerreotype

Next we covered the back frame in batting, stapled it down, and did the same thing with the fabric which I had cut to size and ironed. Then we upholstered the wings in the same manner leaving one flap open where Matt could screw them perpendicularly into the back frame. After the wings were screwed to the back frame, we only needed to pull the remaining wing fabric behind the back frame and staple it down.

Then came the nailheads. Hundreds of little nailheads that we individually hammered into the plywood with a rubber mallet. This is a job I would not recommend unless you A) are extremely anal-retentive and B) enjoy going bug-eyed. It’s nearly impossible to get those nailheads in straight, and they frequently have to be re-done. If you’re planning on putting nailheads into ANYTHING, I highly recommend you find an upholsterer who has recently been through a bad break-up… and… yaknowwhati’msayin.

It took us much of both Saturday and Sunday and I’d say we easily put in about 9 hours of work on the headboard, but we are super-psyched with how it turned out. In fact when I was Googling how close to set the nailheads, I found an image of this Nate Berkus Headboard that looks pretty darn similar to ours, except without the tufting.

So are you ready for the After photos which were taken in haste with piles of clean laundry on the bed and disorganized side tables?

From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

The next project on the list is to make curtains to hang behind the bed which I plan to hang high and wide over that window giving the appearance that the window is as wide as the queen-sized bed. I think having a big billowy expanse of curtains behind the headboard will do even more to make the room look taller and will also balance out the very tall headboard.

Whaddya think? Any headboard creators out there who have made their own? Or do you prefer a bed with no headboard?

I’m really excited to kick off another giveaway, this time a handmade eco-friendly product from an Etsy seller!

Junebugcreative is located right here in Nashville and makes beautiful hand-poured soy candles from repurposed and upcycled containers. The candles are for sale in earth-loving shops around the city, but now you can find her on Etsy selling these awesome candles. She also says that she’s been busy making custom candles from people’s favorite containers which they send to her for pouring. So if you’re looking to repurpose a container you already have, you can convo her through Etsy. The green-ness of this whole process makes me giddy inside!!!

I bought three adorable reindeer candles at Christmastime and absolutely loved them. We’re not big into having over-powering scents in the house (unless it’s lasagna in the oven), and these candles are really tastefully scented. This was also my first experience burning soy candles which last FOREVER! Did you guys know that? WHY DIDN’T YOU LET ME IN ON THE SECRET?

Anyway, Junebugcreative is sponsoring this weeks’ giveaway which is a beautiful blue and white teacup soy candle, perfect for you, or as a gift! (Hint: Mother’s Day is just around the bend!)

RULES:

• Giveaway is open to US and CA residents only
• One winner will be chosen at random
• Giveaway closes at 12:00 noon CT on Thursday, March 11th
• You can enter more than once by updating your Twitter, blog or Facebook status with a link to this post
• Bonus: I’d love to hear what your favorite candle scent is!

And don’t forget to check out Junebugcreative’s Etsy shop for more candles here.

I’ve already posted about one gift I received at Christmas with the “local” theme, and today I want to post about the other gift which is local to Chicago, where my oldest sister lives.

From Daily Daguerreotype

It’s an insanely cool and funky appetizer tray featuring a plate with Chicago landmarks. I realize that it is supposed to be used for hor d’oeuvres or cupcakes or other bite-sized entertaining foods, but I’m one of those people who has a hard time putting something away in a cupboard and only using it on special occasions. Do I have hor d’oeuvres out every day? NO! But I have bananas out every day, so let’s put em on the cake plate!

(Also, don’t those tomatoes look good? I typically despise an uncooked tomato, but pregnancy is doing weird things to me, people!)

Chicago is one of my favorite places even though I’ve never lived there. My first trip to the Windy City was right before my freshman year in high school when my dad took me on a business trip with him. We stayed in a mind-blowing suite on the twenty-something floor of the Hilton Chicago Magnificent Mile that included a cheese platter and a bottle of wine. My dad let me have a swig of the wine which I thought was disgusting at the time, but I was all about that cheese! I handed out pamphlets at his seminars, went to numerous dinners in private rooms of fancy restaurants, enjoyed a true Chicago hot dog while watching Sammy Sosa play at Wrigley Field, and fell head over heels in love with the son of my dad’s old college roommate – a senior at Arizona State University. I came home knowing I was going to live in Chicago one day and even created my very first email address with “ChicagoGirl1″ as the username.

My next trip back was in college when a few of my friends piled into a white Oldsmobile for a spur-of-the-moment roadtrip. To save on accommodations we pulled the car into truck stops to sleep for a few hours each night leaving us mighty tired and mighty greasy when we finally made it into town. Our trip was ill-timed, just a month after 9/11, so everything in the city was completely shut down. We couldn’t go to the top of the Sears Tower, most of the municipal buildings were closed, and the streets were dead quiet. But the city was still beautiful, and the guy I wanted at that time kissed me, so Chicago remained magical in my mind.

I took another trip back to visit my sister for Easter and interview for a record company internship later that year. I loved driving around downtown and imagining myself hanging out there all summer long, although I eventually wound up in DC for a different job. I met up with a friend who took me to Maggianos for my very first experience with calamari. (Mance, I think I still owe you a dinner at Smith & Wollensky.) And I finally got to the top of the Sears Tower on a gorgeous day where I could take in the whole city – beautiful and sprawling as ever.

We’re headed up 65 again this year for Easter to eat some more great food and enjoy the company of family. No matter what I can’t help but think that maybe one day I’ll live there for a while. Although perhaps if I lived in Chicago the romance would wear off, and I’d rather always think of it as a beautiful place to fall in love with the wrong person… but eat the best slice of pizza around.

This post is coming for two reasons. The first is that my sister asked for more Nashville related content, which makes sense because she loves to travel, and she has an affinity for the South after living in Louisville for a number of years. Secondly, with my monstrous appetite, I have been on a mission to find all the best places to eat, and especially find the places that do takeout and delivery well as we might be resorting to that quite a bit when Penny arrives.

Now, I’ll preface this by saying that I’ve lived here less than a year so I don’t know all of the hot spots yet. Also, Matt and I really aren’t into doing touristy stuff. We haven’t been to the Ryman yet, or the Country Music Hall of Fame. In contrast we’ve been to most of the parks in the city to take Berlin on nice long strolls. Eventually we’ll get around to the touristy things, but we want to know the other part of this town more, the places where the people who actually live here go. And that sentiment is reflected in my restaurant choices.

So if you’re in Nashville, and hate me too much to call me up and let me invite you over for a roast pork sandwich, these are the places you should check out for yummy fare.

The Family Wash – We’ve taken my mom and dad here before, and it’s one of my favorite neighborhood spots because of the yummy comfort food (think mac n cheese and shepherd’s pie). You can go in any night of the week and hear some fun bluegrassy or rock music and try one of the many great beers that they have on tap. The Wash resides in a neighborhood so you won’t necessarily find lots of night life around it, but that’s what we like. Be sure to chat it up with the waitstaff and bartenders – they are some of the nicest people around. You’ll get a great meal for two including beers and tip for $25 – $30. There is rarely a cover charge, so you’re getting fine music as well, and it’s VERY kid friendly.

For full disclosure, I’ve never had anything other than their mac and cheese because it is THAT good. In fact, I’d imagine this is what I’ll be demanding an hour after giving birth.

The Local Taco – This is probably Matt’s favorite place in town, other than Rosepepper’s where the food isn’t anything spectacular but they apparently make the world’s greatest margaritas. You’ll have to take his word for that since I don’t like margaritas. But back to the Local Taco. We like to hit it after church on Sunday because it’s a quick drive over there, and the food is to die for. Unfortunately you pay for the tacos individually, and you don’t exactly get huge portions, so if you order enough to fill up you can easily spend $10 per person just on tacos. But they are fresh, unique and delicious. Their homemade salsa is to die for, and basically everything tastes of fresh cilantro. They have a lot of imported Mexican beers which is great fun if you’re not preggers.

Bosco’s – This is a place that is called “The Restaurant for Beer Lovers” which is interesting to me since we’ve only been there once when Matt’s folks took us there for brunch, and the brunch was divine. So I can’t vouch for their apparently exquisite beer menu. But their brunch was the best we’ve had yet in the city. We’ve been to a couple other places around here for Sunday brunch (which seems to be popular down here due to the church-goin population), and have honestly been a bit disappointed. But not Bosco’s. We’ll have to go back for dinner sometime to let you know what it’s like eating something other than eggs benedict.

Ok, this is Nashville, though right? So where is my BBQ joint? Well, I have to be honest in that we’re a little bit disappointed with the BBQ fare of all the popular joints in Nashville. We’ve been to a couple places, and we find that the neighborhood dives typically have the best BBQ. Everything seems to have been cooked to death, which is great for the meat but kinda gross for the “vegetable sides.” And yes, they consider mac n cheese to be a vegetable.

Jack’s has been the best BBQ so far, and we’ve only been to their downtown location. They have another location situated away from the hubbub, and I’d venture to guess their food is a bit better there. So if you’re in town, you’ll probably do OK at Jack’s where you can then stroll down Broadway and have your fill of neon lights and country music karaoke.

Overall, the thing that I’ve noticed is that different BBQ sauces seem to be really popular here, and perhaps the best BBQ that you are gonna get is slow smoked in someone’s backyard. I’ve found that I’m making  more and more BBQ at home and trying to perfect my technique, so maybe that’s what everyone else is up to. We’ve gotta get over to Memphis at some point to try some REAL BBQ there.

Eastland Cafe – This is my favorite place that’s worth taking a shower for. An ever-changing, very creative menu, good service, and a beautiful outdoor patio that is pup-friendly in the summertime! What more can you ask for? The food never disappoints, and they have a nice wine selection as well. Dinners are around $18-$25 per plate.

There are a handful of places we’ve visited and have been nonplussed by including Noshville, Marche, and Allium. We’d like to try the Pancake Pantry which gets rave reviews, but last time we tried the patrons were such complete jerks in the waiting line, that it left a bad taste in our mouth and we walked away. We have yet to try Loveless Cafe, PM, and Southern Bred which are all high on my priority list.

So that should give you a couple of places to try if you’re ever in our neck of the woods, and maybe a few places to steer clear of.

Any Nashvillians have recommendations of places we ought to try?

First of all, thanks everybody for participating in our first ever giveaway. I loved reading the list and seeing what you guys would pick from Amazon if you got the chance. Lots of readers in the audience, which… makes complete sense seeing as you’re reading this.

I also was inspired by your many comments, and I’m hoping to have lots more pictures, stuff about Berlin, and tidbits about Nashville and other places we travel. Consider it more than a mental note taken, as my mental notes often fail me.

So enough about that… let’s get to the winner! Random.org is telling me that the $25 Amazon.com giftcard goes to Sheli, who also has a secret love affair with Amazon. Not to be an enabler, but I hope you find something that keeps the love affair alive.

So should we do more giveaways in the future? And if so, what are some of your favorite places to use a giftcard? Or would you prefer an actual product giveaway? Give me your thoughts in the comments.