The Adventures of Sea Beast and E: New York, New York

Eli asks that we begin his catch-up posts with a tour of his room. But first, I should catch you up on the new house more generally. When we moved to Pittsburgh at the end of last year, we chose our new rental home based on location. We are in a great neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, and our house is walking distance to shops, restaurants, libraries, parks, and play spaces. Ideal, no? But we did compromise on some things. And the house we chose, while well situated, is a bit... whimsical. Drop a ball or a marble, and we feel like we're living in an Escher painting. The way floors slant, there's no guessing where it will end up! And then there's the color scheme. It is... creative. When we moved in, the living room was bright blue, the dining room was three different shades of orange, the kitchen was painted white, tangerine, and lime green, the stairway and the upstairs hallway were pink, purple, and green, and the risers of the stair case were also painted: three purple, three green, three pink, and so on. Upstairs, the color bonanza continued, with the smallest bedroom (Sebastian's) painted dull gray with duller gray trim, the middle-sized room (Eli's) painted a bright greenish-blue, and the largest (Abe and Ally's) a vibrant purple. Oh, and the bathroom had brown tile with hot pink trim. Eclectic. Since moving in, and with the generous assistance of Grandma Jaye, we've repainted the living room (a light taupe), the kitchen (a creamy peach), and Sebastian's room (a cool, soft blue). I had originally slated Eli's room for repainting, as well, until we noticed that it was about the same color as the cover of one of Eli's favorite books, A Walk in New York, by Salvatore Rubbino. For a picture of the cover, click here. So, with Eli's enthusiastic blessing, we kept the paint color as a background and went for a New York theme. Grandma Jaye and Mommy painted buildings in the style of Rubbino's book. Eli loves it! You can see the results for yourself: