artsy fartsy,  Bug

Asian Persuasion

February 14, 2006 /

I have a nursing chair. It’s actually the old sad chair with a sheet over it. We were going to recover it but that ended up being 800 bucks and I opted to spend my well-earned money on the bugaboo stroller instead. Then I ordered a slipcover online. That was a big mistake. When they say “fits all size wingback chairs”, they lie. The slipcover was a nice color but it looked awful. It looked worse than the sheet that looks pretty bad. I sent it back. It was sloppy and hung loosely over parts that didn’t exist. I hate mail-order stuff sometimes.

My “nursing chair” happens to be positioned right next to a sliding glass door that opens out onto our patio. The same patio that is the entryway to our house. Imagine me sitting there, boob exposed, gazing off into the distance, perhaps watching some birds fly by, and then the UPS man shows up! Hello! Exposed Boob! UPS man! Aaaack! Quick grab whatever you can grab to cover yourself and the adorable sputtering baby!!!

So that left me with a conundrum. When I’m not the one-handed-nursing-bandit multi-tasking at the computer, I like to sit in my nursing chair and enjoy the view out the sliding glass door. Sometimes I even open the door and let the breeze keep Baby Bug awake (as she has a habit of falling asleep mid-feeding and cold air sometimes brings her back from the dead). BUT this doesn’t work when unexpected visitors come up the stairs. I had to think of something. Curtains wouldn’t work because the sliding glass door is the only window in Baby Bug’s room. I NEED light. Without natural light, I will shrivel up and die. I thought and I thought and I thought until I came up with a brilliant solution!

Rice paper!

I can make my sliding glass door like a shoji screen! It lets the light in, keeps the spying eyes out and it’s pretty and zen-ish! I love shoji screens! I hopped online and ordered some rice paper from this fantabulous website (so much better than the stupid art store that never has anything in stock that I’m looking for) and four days later, Viola! I have rice paper on my sliding glass door.

It’s not perfect. Toby hasn’t said whether he likes it or not, which usually means he doesn’t. And I admit it looks a little hokey pokey from the outside looking in, but it works. It works fabulously. The UPS guy sees nothing but paper! While I can sit close to it and look right through. I love gazing through it. Everything looks pretty through soft rice paper flower holes. It makes me feel calm and peaceful and Baby Bug loves it too. She stares at it constantly, pulling my nipple sideways painfully in the process.

Maybe you’re wondering what all those other pictures in the slideshow have to do with my nursing chair and the rice-papered sliding glass door. Well, it’s this: I have a lot of Asian-inspired things! I seem to collect them without meaning to. I never even really realized it until today. Though my mom would probably tell you otherwise because I’m always itching to go to Chinatown to buy my nieces silk pajamas. I cannot wait to get Baby Bug some. She’ll be so cute!

I must have been Chinese in another life. I do love orange special chicken!

16 Comments

  • Nila

    February 15, 2006 at 12:03 am

    Am I actually first? Wow, finally a pay off for working graveyard shift.

    Orange Flavored chicken from Panda Express has got to be the best fast food in the world. Yum! Trader Joe’s has a great version that you can throw in the oven. It’s super easy, and just as good, probably healtier, but who cares about that, it’s orange chicken.

  • Anna

    February 15, 2006 at 4:07 am

    I love the screen! And sorry I am not closer, I would sew you up a slipcover in a heartbeat. Baby Bug looks adorable in her Asian wear.

  • josephine

    February 15, 2006 at 7:17 am

    Oh dear. without thinking very hard I deleted a reader’s comment about using the word “retarded” to describe a slipcover that did not fit my chair very well. And then in an effort to be the pleaser and be pc I went and deleted the offensive word out. BUT!!! I should have just defended myself here. Because that is what blogs are for after all, debate, a forum of sorts right? So here is my humble defense (and it’s not like I’m that attached to using the word, but sometimes I think trying too hard not to use a word is more offensive than using it.):

    To me the word retarded means “held back”. It doesn’t mean some kid at school who looks funny or is slower than the other kids. It could apply to that but a lot of things are retarded in their progress so it’s a shame to make it a label for a stereotype. And the reverse is true too. A lot of kids who are labeled “retarded” are not slow or funny looking. So… I know this has been said before and is so 1980 but I think it’s okay to use the word retarded to describe an ill-fitting slipcover. It’s a perfectly good slipcover, it just doesn’t fit my chair. It’s retarded in it’s progress to make me happy.

    And would it be okay if I had written it was “challenged” because that would be true too.

    So anyway, I don’t really need to justify my choice of words, I bungle them up on a regular basis and hopefully you know me and know that I don’t mean to be “stupid” (in a stupor) or “retarded” (held back) when I write, it just happens sometimes.

  • lauren

    February 15, 2006 at 7:24 am

    you are just too talented.. i love asian themed stuff too, i’ve been eyeing your paper umbrellas in your spaycam for a few days now.

    my son had that same shirt, and my daughter had a different one.

    and nila is rght.. tj’s has yummy orange chicken frozen in a bag.

  • laura

    February 15, 2006 at 7:54 am

    I thought you were going to say you installed a nice, sweetly tinkling warning bell at the bottom of the steps. The UPS man could tinkle the bell and give you enough warning to cover up. Visitors could proceed at their own risk if they don’t ring the bell. I love all your photos of your Asian inspiration.

  • maizzy

    February 15, 2006 at 9:09 am

    Which rice paper did you use? As I don’t seem to know how thick or thin they are. And I would love to get me some for my home…

    Much appreciated…

  • Margo

    February 15, 2006 at 9:46 am

    Using ‘retarded’ as a pejorative adjective is incredibly offensive. Do you refer to stupid things as ‘gay’ too? That comes from the same 1980’s mindset. Hope you never have a retarded or gay kid. Because if you did, you might understand why it sucks to hear those words thrown around like that.

  • krista

    February 15, 2006 at 7:51 pm

    Oh, I love your Asian inspired taste. That food looks scrummy. Guess I’m missing the boat being way up here in Canada. Ah, well.
    I love your posts about your new mom adventures, your baby is so sweet and you’re doing a fine job I think.