Projects

I don't know if I've mentioned this recently or not, but I'm really into Craigslist. Just get me talking about what amazing deals I've found and you'll either be converted or really annoyed. Camilla has been a Craigslist Baby from long before she was born. I don't believe I've purchased a piece of furniture for her retail, and what I didn't buy secondhand I was given by somebody else. That's where this story starts.

A few months ago, Mark and I were driving to or from the mall or the church or some other location up towards North Triphammer Rd. in Ithaca in the evening. It was just beginning to snow. I had started to think about a dresser for our baby girl, as it was one of the few things left on my list. When all of a sudden, I saw a dresser on the side of the road with a sign that said FREE on it. (Seriously, I should have been wishing for a big screen TV or something. . .) I made Mark turn around and go back for a closer look. It was old. It had some weird rubber thing adhered to the top. But it was sturdy, and if we didn't take it home the snow was going to ruin it.

The dresser sat in a room in the sorority house for months, and almost didn't come with us. I mean, was it just gross to give your child something you found on the side of the road? We had a backup plan, and decided not to bring it with us when we moved out. The backup plan failed. I thought I would enjoy stripping the thing down and refinishing it, so we went back for it. Then I read about how much work it takes to refinish a piece of furniture. No thank you! So I settled for sanding it down a bit, painting it, and replacing the old knobs. I'm a little attached to it now. So thank you to the person who put this baby out by the side of the road just for me. I bet you regret it just a little bit now.

While I'm at it, this was another project I was excited to work on. Amazingly, it actually was completed, unlike most of the things I've started recently. Though now I wish I'd waited a bit so I could use the same orange paint to match the dresser. Oh well. I really like the expression on Camilla's face in this one. She seems just thrilled. And please don't tell me I'm a bad mother--Camilla was NOT sleeping in her (free) crib with 3 stuffed animals, 3 small pillows, and 1 large body pillow at the time this photo was taken. She was sleeping in her OTHER (free) mini-crib until recently (thanks, Mel--if you're reading this, we've LOVED the cradle and plan to keep it around for the next one).