She Likes Purple

Kristie's engagement party + the perfect party menu!

Whenever you ask Kyle to name his family, he'll name Kristie before he gets to his tenth finger. She's one of my very favorite people and best friends, and my kid wholeheartedly approves. Blood is thicker than water but sometimes water is turned to blood, or something less icky sounding than that. Kristie is our family, pure and simple, and as she grows her own family -- she's getting married this August to a wonderful man -- we wanted to celebrate with her.

So, A'Dell and I hosted a pretty kick-ass party this past weekend (if you don't mind me bragging a bit) in Kristie and Duvain's honor and it was such fun.

Kristie looked just beautiful -- I'm sure you'll agree -- and it was wonderful how many friends and family turned out to help the happy couple celebrate. It was one of those nights I didn't want to end, and that's how many of my nights with this group of good people is like.

The menu was also a hit.

We did straight appetizers and one kind of champagne and beer. Kept it pretty easy, thank goodness.

We served: baked brie bites (with and without pecans), pizza puffs (with and without pepperoni) caprese pops, jalapeno popper dip (OMG SO GOOD), southwestern eggrolls, mini fruit tarts (so easy!), smores bites, salsa, guacamole, and cupcakes.

I recommend co-hosting your next party, if you get the chance. A'Dell offered up her awesome home and tackled the decorations and booze, and I handled the invites (weren't they fabulous?) and most of the food. It wasn't nearly as stressful as when you handle a whole party yourself, and we also divided those tasks super simply. I did what I enjoy best and vice-versa. No arguments!

I also got to clean up nicely with Mike. That's kind of a rare thing.

It was a night full of laughter....

....and champagne and friends and food and love, and everything I wish most for Kristie and Duvain's life. Cheers you adventure-seeking, life-loving, beautiful couple, you.

***

All of the good photos in this post are courtesy of Jess, who awesomely made the five-hour drive from Houston to celebrate with Kristie and Duvain. Thanks for coming, Jess and Willy, and for letting me use your beautiful pictures!

Easter Happened A Long Time Again, I Know

I imagine if this weren't my blog, I wouldn't be able to get away with recapping Easter over a week after it happened, but this is my blog, thank goodness. (Well, thank goodness depending on who you ask.)

Anyway (and hilariously) the Easter brunch and egg hunt we hosted at our house was Kyle's FOURTH egg hunt of the year. It became so ridiculous that whenever I'd cheerfully tell him he'd get to see Nana (my mom) on Easter, he'd look at me, confused, and say, "But...we already had Easter." Like, wait a second, I don't get to see her for A YEAR? I DO NOT ACCEPT THAT.

It was a small group, just the three of us, my mom, and Kristie and Jackson. Small but sweet. We had brunch -- with mimosas because my house, my champagne-centric traditions, YOU ARE NOT SURPRISED -- and then let the boys loose in our backyard to find the eggs Mike painstakingly hid.

Yeah. They found all 75+ in, no kidding, three minutes.

Molly was pissed that she got nothing. That's pretty much been Molly's default emotion since Kyle's birth.

Then we brought out the four-wheeler for the boys because we expected the hunt to take longer than the length of your average commercial break.

Oh, and we got a family photo (with all four of us, see Molly we do still love you) for the first time since last Easter.

(Oof, come on beach vacation tan! Also, yes, Kyle's tongue is out. AGE THREE, MAN. It's weird.)

So, yes, we had a great Easter this year and then we all took naps. I hope yours was just as booze-, chocolate-, fun-, and nap-filled.

Kyle's Third Birthday Party!

Without meaning to, we put off planning Kyle's birthday party this year until the last possible moment because January was insane. Days flew by at warp speed and before I knew it, his birthday was two weeks away. Last year for his small, family-only birthday dinner I designed invitations and matching thank you cards. This year: EVITE.

2012, calm down!

Anyway, we debated having one big crazy shindig with all the family and all the friends and all the school friends, but when we started tallying those numbers, we laughed out loud at ourselves. Our house is small and those numbers were OMG BIG so we split the two.

As you may remember, Kyle picked out a Toy Story cake for his class party and I wish I could have bottled his reaction when I showed up to his class with it.

Best 15 bucks ever.

Even though his home party was last-minute and (in my mind) low-key and without a theme, I was still stressed over all I had to do for it. Mainly, clean. Man, having to clean for company is annoying. Especially because you have to DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN AFTER THE COMPANY LEAVES. Evolution has got to get on that.

So, Mike surprised me with a housecleaner for the day. It was such a wonderful gift, and it's something we've never treated oureselves to but HOO BOY was it worth it. The house was so spotless, I nearly cancelled the party. Sorry guests! Our house is too clean for you! Come back in a few weeks when it's back to a normal level of filth! It really made all the rest of the party prep seem downright easy, and while it may seem weird (it's not even something I can wear or eat or EVEN HOLD), it's one of the best presents Mike has ever given me.

So, moving on, I like to suggest to anyone planning a party, to make a list (or Pinterest board?) with all your favorite ideas and then pick just 2-3 of them. You will have nice details and special touches but you won't be too overwhelmed to enjoy the event. This year, our things were:

1. The balloon room

This was actually Mike's idea, and it cost us less than $10 and was the biggest hit of the day. We did use an air compressor to blow all 200 balloons up, but I wouldn't suggest that because it would mean your husband has an air compressor and most likely ridiculous garage-related hobbies to go along with it. Anyway, we tossed all the balloons in our loft, which also helped get some of our party guests upstairs, to break up the crowd downstairs.

2. Favors!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and they seemed so easy and so cute and they were, in theory. In actuality, shovels were a bitch to find. I went everywhere and I finally settled on some seasonal ones in Target. (I really wanted shovels more like this, but I put off buying them until there was no time for shipping. ROOKIE MISTAKE!)

Still, they ended up really cute and the kids seemed to like them.

3. Happy kid.

Mainly, I just wanted Kyle to have fun and he did. OH DID HE. He asked me the very next morning when his next birthday party was going to be. He loved hanging with his buddies, opening his gifts (they were all fantastic, great job friends and family), and running around outside and around the house.

It was a good day.

I try not to hope much for Kyle because it's his life. I hope that he's happy, sure, and that he chooses good friends, but I want to be an advocate for his hopes and I think that means backing off my hopes a little bit. Still, I can't help but selfishly hope that this kid of mine continues to love his birthday as much as I love his birthday. Throwing parties, making a big deal over it, going overboard once a year in order to show my kid just how much I love him is something I've always wanted from parenthood and this year was a beautiful dreams-meet-reality moment.

Although, someone still needs to get upstairs and pop 200 balloons.

***

Thanks to Natalie for taking the last photo and for all the other photos she took at the party. I will soon beg her for a CD of those photos and update this set!

"In an unreliable world you shine like a star."

Hey Buds,

You're three years old today, and even though I can conjure up a million memories of you from different stages of the last three years, I still catch my breath at the reality. Three? Three!

Three. 

I have this feeling that for the rest of my life, I'll tell you stories of this past year, beautiful stories I'll share to warm us up or make us laugh. Stories that will be like a dose of sunshine when we most need it. Because, sweet boy, I loved this past year with you so much, new words need to be invented. I could never do this year justice. I hope my smile is enough for you when you hear me talk about it. I hope it's enough when you hear me talk about anything at all, in fact. I hope you see me and no matter what moment we're in, you always see how just much I love you written all over my face.

I don't want to get all braggy-brag because that's kind of annoying, but we are just ridiculously proud to know you, Kyle. You are sweet and hilarious and thoughtful and your daddy and I are constantly looking over your head at each other, with goofy grins like, "He's OURS? We get to have him FOREVER?" 

You look a lot like me. In photos, I see it like a mirror, but in person I don't see it much at all. I don't know how this works but you look at me with your stubborn, steel-filled eyes or you think long and hard about what pj pants you want to wear when I've only given you the option of two pairs THAT ARE THE EXACT SAME or you stick your tongue out, without meaning to, when you're deep in thought and I see your father.

You have my features and your dad's gleam in your eye and it's a weirdly awesome combination but don't let me fool you too much: you're still very much your own. You're still very much Kyle. In this past year, you have gone from a slow-to-warm-up, cautious little boy to a brave, independent, cool kid. It's been pure joy to watch you open up and shine. 

I said this to you today, actually, that three years ago at 6:32 pm on February 5th, when you were placed on me with your dark, dark hair and your long, tiny feet and your dark-as-night blue eyes, what happened, in addition to you changing our lives forever and ever and making us better, more fragile people, is that the world just got brighter. You are beautiful and you shine and you make our lives bright, bright, bright.

You say the funniest things, kid. You crack me up constantly and althought you push our boundaries and you probably will continue to until the day you move out (WHICH WILL BE NEVER, I AM A WEE BIT ATTACHED TO YOU), the hilarity of what you say to us on a regular basis just seems to make up for it each and every time. 

I wish I was the best mom in the world because that's the mom you deserve. I wish I had it all figured out because that's what you deserve. I wish I cooked every night and cleaned every weekend and organized fun, elaborate activities for us as often as possible and made you laugh every day and never, ever lost my cool because, yes yes yes, that is all what you deserve. I wish I never had to fall short of all the things I wish to be for you but I know the reality is that sometimes I just will. But here's what I say to you often, whenever I go to work or out with a friend or anywhere away from you: "In this family, we always come back." This means that we show up, we get in the ring, we apologize when we screw up and we try better tomorrow and we love with every fiber in us. We aren't always great but we always show up.

We also never let a single day go by without telling you that we love you. 

It's undeniable how brilliant you are
In an unreliable world you shine like a star
It's unforgettable now that we've come this far
It's unmistakable that you're undeniable

-Mat Kearney's "Undeniable"

Because we do. Ohhhhh, do we love you. In fact, every morning I look at you and think that I love you as much as any person could ever love another and it's just not possible to love you any more. Then the next morning, I get up, I look at you, and I do.

Happy birthday, buds.

Love,

Mommy 

Only Two For A Little Bit Longer

Last night I took Kyle to the store after I picked him up from school because we needed hummus and milk and a couple other things and, oh yes, I wanted him to pick out his birthday cake.

This year we're going to have a small little party at our house and another small little party at his school, and it's been a lot of fun to plan both these events because he has actual opinions on the details and while I admittedly loved throwing a big out-of-hand party for his first birthday all for me I'm even more excited about giving him, each year, the kind of day he most wants. 

So, we've been having some pretty cool (if not spastic) conversations about his big day for a while now. Such as:

Me: Hey Buds, what color plates would you like for your party?

Kyle: Ummm, how about blue and red and yellow and green and blue. 

Me: I think I can manage that. 

Kyle: Or maybe also dark orange and light orange.

Me: Okaaaaaay. 

I've quickly learned that it helps to just take him to the party aisle of Target and say, "Have at it, kiddo! Grab some plates!" 

So, tonight when I told him we were going to pick out his cake for his school party, he started in with, "Chocolate cake with red frosting and chocolate frosting, too. AND CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM."   

"Actually, buds, we're going to look at a big book of cakes and you can pick whichever one you want."

This book may have been the coolest thing he'd ever seen. I'm actually going to be surprised if he doesn't add "grocery store bakery cake book" to his list of birthday wishes. I let him have his time with it. We looked at each page, and he narrowed it down to three choices (all very fitting choices for my son): Cars, Toy Story, and Nemo. These have been his consistent loves for the last year. 

A part of me secretly hoped he'd pick the Cars cake. It had multiple layers and was very cool and Cars was his first love, the movie I've seen nearly a million times. In fact, let's just put this out there: if you're ever on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (is Who Wants to Be a Millionaire still on?), and a question comes up about Cars OR Cars 2, just go ahead and dial me up without pause. I've got you covered, without a doubt. 

He was so torn. "CARS! NO! BUZZ! NO NEMO!"

Finally, he settled on the Toy Story cake and he was grinning from ear to ear with his choice. Now, if you had told me three years ago that I'd be totally geeked out about buying my son a cheesy Toy Story cake for his birthday, I would have judged future me (and maybe you too a little bit for telling me), but whatever makes these kids of ours happy, right? If Toy Story produces that kind of grin, GIVE THAT KID SOME DAMN TOY STORY CAKE ALREADY.

It was one of those strangely cool parenting moments where I realized, huh, my son is about to be three. I don't know how this is possible, but it seems to be. Let's go ahead and plan a party and celebrate the heck out of this day since there's apparently no way to make any of this slow down.

After I filled out the form for his cake and started to push the cart toward the hummus, he said, "Mommy, where's my cake?" 

He seemed a little less thrilled when I told him he would get to enjoy it next week. 

30 Is The New 20!

You may not have heard that 30 is the new 20, but it's totally true. Okay, lies, it's not. So says my back that aches a lot more these days or my waist that looks nothing like my waist at 20 or those rogue (and annoying) gray hairs I sometimes find. But, still, being 30 is far better than never being 30 and I had a really wonderful birthday this year.

I'm finally getting around to writing about it, even though it was over a week ago, you lucky readers you!

So, last week on my actual birthday I woke up to, well, an incredible note in my inbox. My Lush writers had given me a really generous cash gift, so I could finally purchase those investment jeans I've been talking about (for years). I couldn't believe it and still can't, truth be told. The gesture stunned me and the love I felt from that wonderful group on my birthday was unmatched. I wish I could bottle that feeling and feel it every day. 

(Jonna was worried I'd spend the dough on something like bills, so she emailed me "I WANT RECEIPTS OR I WILL PUNCH YOU." I'm sorry but that's the best email I've ever gotten. I'm saving it forever. When I told Mike she sent that, he said, "I love Jonna." Yep, yep, me too.)

At work, my lovely coworker and friend left a donut and flowers on my desk and then a bunch of other coworkers took me to a delicious Mexican food lunch. A long lunch with dessert. That'll make a work day better, am I right?

I was met at home by cupcakes.

And an iPhone! 

(You can't see the iPhone but the iPhone took the picture of the cupcakes, which . . . is really meta. NOTHING WS META AT 20! Take that 20!)

I also got to sit on the couch with champagne while Mike handled bedtime all on his own. I'm sorry, but that might have been the highlight of the week as moms everywhere can understand.

This past Saturday, we had a raging party, my last for a long while, but before it, Mike and I went to one of our fanciest dinners yet (at Grace in Fort Worth). We saved up for this dinner for a while, and I promised myself I wouldn't feel guilty because if you can't treat yourself to a nice dinner on your 30th birthday, WHEN CAN YOU? We loved it and had a great time. 

A Bosc pear cocktail that was delicious!


Crab cake! One of the best I've ever had.

The party was a lot of fun, and it was my birthday so I forced my guests to play Cranium. Be warned if you ever come to one of my future birthday parties. CRANIUM IS HOW I ROLL. 

I also loved that for the couple hours that Kyle was at the party with us, he passed out his Toy Story stickers to every single guest and every single guest humored him and took them and put them all over their shirts. I have such good friends. Although, when I asked Kyle why he wasn't wearing any stickers, he looked at me very matter-of-factly and said, "I don't want any stickers right now." Well then. 

Because this birthday recap post is very food- and drink-photo heavy, how about a picture of Kristie and me.

In all honesty, 30 is a gift, and I feel lucky to be this age and with the family, friends, job, and life I have. I know that 30 isn't a given as no age is, and I'm grateful for it. I'm also so grateful for how special the day and weekend turned out to be. 

Until 31, my friends!

***

To celerate my birthday, I hosted a "will run for champagne" shirt giveaway, if you remember, and we have a winner! 

Congrats Jen! I'll be in touch pronto. 

(FYI: if you loved the shirt enough to buy one, we're placing another order this week, so order away!) 

Eight

As the years tick by, I think there's nothing I haven't shared (that I could share) about Mike. I've shared it all. He has horrible taste in television (Futurama, Ice Road Truckers, Moonshiners) and is constantly opposed to doing the dishes but is, hand to God, the kindest, most incredibly grounded, simplest (in the best way) man I've ever known. He loves his son and he loves his motorcycle and he loves his family, and if you mess with any of those things, he's going to pretend he's never met you, no more chances, best of luck to you. 

Yes, you know all that. You definitely know all that if you know Mike. You know he's quiet at first, sarcastic every time after that, and you know he's got the most beautiful shade of red hair on the planet (when he ever grows it long enough to see, MICHAEL). He also has a smile that could stop wars, and could definitely save marriages. I swear by that smile. He gave that smile to my son. 

Damn those smiles.

He also changed my life, you probably know that too, but you might not know that he didn't change it with our first kiss or our first date or the first "I love you"s -- not that those moments weren't incredible because they were -- but he changed my life on one random sticky summer day in 2004 as we were driving from my house to get lunch.

I asked him what he was doing that night, after he got off work, assuming we'd do something together, and I flippantly mentioned that Cherie wanted to hang out but I could see her the next day if he wanted to get together instead and he slowly swiveled his head toward me and said, causally, naturally, life-changingly, "Go out with Cherie. Babe, if we're going to be together forever, we don't have to be together tonight."

I wish I could articulate for every girl who's just started dating someone how important it is to stay connected with your friends, to value your relationship enough to step away from it sometimes, to trust that giving anyone space won't hand them a ticket out, but it's a lesson we have to learn ourselves. 

I was never supposed to learn that lesson.

I look at every relationship I've ever had and I see how they pointed me toward not handling that moment well, not handling this gift Mike was giving me with any grace, but I still managed to. Not that we were fight- or obstacle-free from then on, oh lord no, we just fought last week, but it was such a turning point in my life, such a turning point in my relationship.

Sometimes I think there's nothing else to be said of Mike. I've said it all. I've even said that before (that I've said it all), but then I think that this is the guy who has given me a million gifts, a million stories, a million everything, and I could spend forever filling up this blog with posts worthy of the "Mike" tag and still not share it all with you. 

He's got horrible taste in tv. He never does the dishes. (You are rolling your eyes right now because you get it. HE NEVER DOES THE DISHES.) He doesn't know Twitter from Facebook from Pinterest and when I talk about the Blathering, he still thinks it's going to be in Sacramento. He wants me to love all those social-media-type things, but he'll never get them, and that's so beautifully Mike. "I don't have to love something to be happy that you love that something."

But, he loves his son. He loves his motorcycle. He loves his family.

He'd swear up and down that he didn't start loving me eight years ago today. It was more like seven and some change. It took him a little while to get there, he'd say. That first night all those years ago was not about love ohhhhhh no, it was about unbloggable things.

But, here's something you might not know. I think I started loving him that first night. The day we became just-maybe-possibly-us. I loved him from that first moment, when he offered me his bar tab, his phone, his compliment, even if I might not have known it then. But, ohhhhh I loved him, instantly.

I love him, still. 

Eight years ago. Eight years later. 

Damn that smile. 

Happy 2012!

Mike and I rang in 2012 with really good friends, a lot of adult drinks, and the Dallas Stars. Hey, one of those things might not be typical, but no biggie. Still loads of fun.

I hope you got to ring in 2012 with lots of fun too and here's to this year being your (and my) best year yet. 

We Had Ourselves A Merry Little Christmas

It's not that last Christmas was bad or that any Christmas before that has been; it's just that there was something really special about this Christmas, and I think I'll hold tightly to it forever. Kyle was at the most perfect age (newsflash: two years and ten months is PRIME Christmas age), we were at home, we were with family but not so much family that the days bled into drama, and we had delicious food and a warm home, oh, and there were naps for everyone on Christmas Day. 

Guys, it was so good.

Christmas Eve we had breakfast for dinner, our tradition since Kyle was born. (As I poured myself a mimosa while making dinner, Mike looked at me sideways and said, "Huh, I get this tradition now." If that is wrong, my friends, I don't want to be right.)

After dinner we piled into my in-laws' car to look at Christmas lights. It was so lovely. Well. Except for near the end of the night, when we saw the most perfect lights behind a gated community. Why taunt the poor with your beautifully decorated house we can't get close enough to see? Whyyyyy rich people?

Christmas morning we had Starbucks and cinnamon rolls and took our time opening gifts.

The only thing Kyle really asked for was Legos, which is what he opened first. He was pretty thrilled to find them although what he got after the Legos apparently trumped them because he hasn't played with them since. Adorably, though, with every gift he'd open, he'd say, "WHAT'S IT GONNA BE?" with sheer joy. At one point he opened batteries for a toy and kept saying, "OH, IT'S BATTERIES. BATTERIES. THANKS GUYS." 

If I had access to a pony, I would have wrapped that damn thing up for him on the spot.

My step-mom sent him a play work bench that Mike put together the night before and turned out to be the hit of Christmas. He didn't even know he WANTED a play work bench, but, oh holy hell, was he glad he got one. He said to me before bed, just tonight, "Mommy, did you know that I have my very own work bench and I got it for Christmas?" So cute, right? So cute I'll ignore that he's already wiped me clean from his Christmas memories. YES KID, I KNOW BECAUSE I WAS THERE.

Not to say the weekend was completely perfect -- no weekend with a toddler ever is, am I right? -- and I can prove that by showing you each and every above Christmas morning photo where Kyle is wearing a graphic tee and shorts instead of the hand-selected Hanna Andersson pjs I bought for him. Oh guys. This kid fights with us over everything he wears. It's not exactly what he wears, I should clarify, but it's what we suggest he wears. If I give him a few choices, he'll usually pick one without problem and it may even be the one I wanted him to pick. But if he even thinks you're suggesting he wear something or that you're pushing an outfit on him without his consent, OH NO, THAT IS NOT GOING TO WORK FOR HIM, HE'LL WEAR LAST YEAR'S HALLOWEEN COSTUME FIRST. (Which doesn't exist, that's how adamant he is about ignoring every damn outfit I suggest.)  

It's kind of like when I suggested to Mike three years ago that he should buy a blazer because he's a smoking guy and he'd look totally awesome in a blazer and he was all, NO NO NO QUIT TRYING TO MOLD ME WOMAN, I AM A T-SHIRT MAN, BACK UP. And then he came home right before our Vegas trip with a couple blazers in hand and was all causal-like when he said, "Hey, I randomly tried on this blazer and kind of liked it. Whatevs."

Oh look! The crazy man looks good in blazers!

That's brand new information! 

Two of these souls in one lifetime. Phew. I'm grateful while also being terrified. 

But, hey! Look! We coaxed (read: bribed) him into his Christmas pjs for all of 30 seconds and he was beyond thrilled about this as you can see:

Pure Christmas joy right there.

It really was a great holiday, though. (Show me a holiday without a single time-out and I'll show you a family I'll talk jealously about behind their back.) After my mom and in-laws left Christmas night and Kyle was asleep and Mike had collapsed into bed (he worked overtime Monday starting at 6am) I sat in my living room and looked around and exhaled.

It was kind of a tough year -- normally tough, but still -- so it was magical to end it with this kind of holiday. Especially after strep, just the week before. 

It reminded me that it just doesn't matter what you get or what you make or what you wear. What matters is that for a few days you have enough love around you that nothing else gets in. 

This would be such a sweet photo if Mike hadn't cut off our kid's face, but that's just how life is, my friends. Sometimes the best family shot you can manage is the one your kid is photo-bombed out of. YOU MAKE THE BEST OF DIFFICULT PHOTO SITUATIONS, OK? You pass the food, you raise your glass, you smile, you soak it in. 

So much of the good stuff is realizing it isn't about it all being perfect. It's about it being yours. 

All yours. 

Better Late Than Never

I don't know how it happened -- although I'm going out on a limb to say a five-day trip to Vegas to run a half-marathon had a little something to do with it* -- but the Christmas season arrived much quicker than past years and we're not entirely prepared for it**.

Case in point:

Mike, this weekend: Hey, do we have any plans next weekend?
Me: Not really. Just, you know, Christmas.
Mike: You're kidding.

We have spent a lot of time on Amazon this weekend, needless to say, and I nearly sent a handwritten thank-you note to them for their Prime membership before I remembered I pay for the service, so my money is probably thank you enough.

Anyway, while we've had our tree for a week, we finally got the lights and ornaments on it this weekend.

We also went out this weekend, in fancy clothes, for my company's holiday dinner. (Do you live in or around Dallas? Victor Tango's is an awesome rec for a nice night-out place.)

This week is final present buying, final holiday-card sending, and final weekend menu planning, and, well, working too. (Please let everyone be off for the next two weeks so my commute is at least bearable.)

I am excited, though, about this week and weekend and a few days off work and lights and gifts and family and oh-so-much food (come January I'll be giving up a bunch of delicious stuff again so don't mind me if I enjoy the heck out of the food portion of this holiday season) and also a steady stream of Netflix shows and movies. The holidays are here! Ready or not.

(Mostly not.)

(But excitedly not!)

---

*Randomly, I wrote a post about the Rock N Roll half-marathon fiasco and how social media didn't help the aftermath. Check it out, if you have a couple minutes!

**My Christmas plan is currently in a Panicked OMG State, but I've crossed out what I've done with notes, in case you care, which is hilariously probably just future me.

Sponsored Post: My Holiday Comforts

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***

Clever Girls Collective (and Tempur-Pedic) asked me to write about holiday comforts this week, and I have to admit the temptation was strong to just paste a photo of a champagne bottle into this post and call it a day because YES. THAT. VERY COMFORTING. I quickly assumed that wouldn't be that helpful  to anyone with eyes or a distaste for sparkling beverages, and there's actually a lot I find comforting about the holidays, turns out, so let's get to it.

Let's also keep it real by circling back to:

1. Champagne. I love my family, I love my in-laws, but there comes a point in every holiday season where you look at the ones you love and sweetly think, "I need a glass of something stronger than water to get through this week without dropkicking you." The holidays encourage you to indulge in that something, and my relationships thank the holidays for that.

2. Traditions. The holidays can be stressful, no-brainer statement right there, but I've recently realized I don't need to participate in every holiday activity ever created in order to enjoy the season. Quite the opposite, actually. I should embrace the traditions that are important to my family and totally ignore or disregard everything else. Here's a link to my Christmas plan, which includes some of the traditions I love, but my favorites: looking at lights as a family, a big breakfast-for-dinner meal on Christmas Eve, and an activity advent calendar with things like snuggle on the couch and watch a holiday movie. (Some things I don't mind skipping: ANYTHING AT THE MALL.)

3. Staying home. There is almost nothing better than looking at the busy holiday weeks on my calendar and not seeing the word FLIGHT NUMBER anywhere. I have family all over the country (and beyond), and I'd love to spend the holiday together each year, but I know the high travel cost and the high travel stress isn't what I need. I give myself a break most years to just stay home and I try to visit family at other times of the year instead, when the flights are reasonable and the other travelers aren't (as) crazy.

4. Christmas pjs. This sort of falls under traditions but every year I pick out a pair of pjs for myself and a pair for Kyle. (Mike's holiday comforts include not having to wear pjs picked out by his nutty wife, and I give him that luxury because I am awesome.) Every year I look forward to Christmas morning, in my comfy pjs, sitting on the couch with coffee and cinnamon rolls and being lazy and warm.

5. A real tree. This isn't as easy to embrace as a fake tree, but it's one of my absolute favorite holiday comforts. A fresh, piney-smelling tree displayed all season long (and into January, if I'm being straight with you) makes me ridiculously happy.

6. A clean house. Forget spring cleaning, I'm hoping Christmas Cleaning catches on. (It's got a better ring to it anyway.) There's nearly nothing more wonderful than spending the month of December, buzzing with the business of the holidays, in a clean house. So, deep clean the beginning of the month and maintain the rest. And enjoy!

What about you? What are your holiday comforts?

***

Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic's Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

My Christmas Plan!

I am stealing this idea from Elizabeth, Emily, and A'Dell. That's a lot of stealing. But, I like the idea of organizing my to-dos since Christmas is a blink-of-the-eye away. It'll also be easier to refer to this list instead of the usual list I create on paper and toss into (then lose in) my purse.

1. Decorate! We need to get lights on the house (ahem, Mike, ahem), a tree from Home Depot (where we've found the best tree deals to be), and the decorations down from the loft.

2. Create advent calendar and finalize activities. Last year we made an activity advent calendar (activities here), and I loved it, even though Kyle wasn't quite two and a little oblivious to the entire holiday season. This year, I hope he's excited about a few things. To make it easier on us, we'll just do the 12 days before Christmas. (Didn't get to this. Is a January Activites Calendar a ridiculous idea?)

3. Christmas cards. Get them, address them, stamp them, send them.

4. Make card-holding wreath. I am putting 11/27 down on my calendar as the day I create this wreath, paint some pine cones, and decorate the house. (Fail!)

5. Gifts for Kyle's teachers. We usually go with the old Starbucks gift card/homemade cookies combo. I'm not sure if I'm feeling any more creative this year. (We got them mugs filled with candy.)

6. Plan our Book Club holiday party menu, decorations, and music. I think I'll ask Elizabeth to be my simple design consultant and go really simple with the menu too: drinks, appetizers, and bite-size desserts.

7. Deep clean the entire house. (Of course it's already dirty again.)

8. Round up a group for the Christmas on Main Street events in a nearby city. (Fail!) 

9. Find a volunteer opportunity for the family. (Fail!) 

10. New Christmas pjs for Kyle. I love this tradition. Year one and year two, for oohing and ahhing.

11. Gifts. Oh man, what to buy everyone? I guess I make a list, pick out thoughtful-yet-reasonably-priced things and get to getting. We never buy much for Kyle, but I'm thinking this year we might get the cart, food, and cash register that's been a big hit for him at Claire's house.

12. Gifts for my Lush writers. (Purchased! Just need to send them.)

13. One nice, holiday-related date night. Mike and I have been insanely busy this year, feels like more than any other year, and I want one night to pause time with him. (I'm counting my company holiday party as our fancy night out!)

14. Plan Christmas Eve menu and pick out Christmas morning cinnamon roll recipe. We started a tradition a couple years back to do breakfast-for-dinner on Christmas Eve (or sometime around the holidays) and then cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

15. Pick out a restaurant for my company holiday dinner. (Victor Tango's, baby!) 

16. Tea at the Ashton in Fort Worth. Very blatantly stole this (fantastic!) idea from A'Dell.

17. Look at lights on Christmas Eve. One of my favorites.

18. Take Kyle to visit Santa. Santa is usually at Mike's work, and I'd much rather go there then to a mall or some other soulless place, so that's probably what we'll do. (He would have none of this, and that's fine. He got a candy cane and liked talking about Santa, so that's a win in my book.)

19. Hot chocolate, holiday movie, snuggle. I'm putting this family fun night on the calendar for 12/23. WE WILL HAVE FUN BOYS.

20. Convince Mike to buy me a puppy for Christmas. I'm telling you right now, this one won't happen, but I'm going to work on my Wearing Him Down skills. I'll keep you posted. (NO. PROGRESS.)

Help Me Pick My Holiday Cards (Courtesy of Tiny Prints)

Tiny Prints has offered me a set of 50 holiday cards in exchange for writing this post.

Holiday cards are kind of a thing for me. I send them every year even if I have to stretch the definition of holiday to include Valentine's Day. I also like to send them to nearly every person I've ever met. Each year, I write out my very long holiday card list and every year Mike says to me, We have really got to start pissing more people off.

So, when the chance for some incredible cards courtesy of Tiny Prints (one of my favorite online paper stores) came up, I jumped at it. I still haven't told Mike about this awesome offer because I think the look on his face when I actually show him our card will be fantastic. Gift enough for me!

(Although, no, that's a lie. I need pretty shoes this year.)

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you the cards I'm particularly drooling over and ask you to tell me which one you like best. Not only that, since I bet many of you are on my list, which would you prefer to get in the mail in a month?

(Oh, a couple rules I usually try to follow when it comes to my holliday card: 1) I prefer a message other than Merry Christmas, 2) I like multiple photos vs. just one and 3) Font is important. I'm kind of a font whore.)

With all that said, here are my favorites:

1. Be Merry

2. Bubbly Holidays

 3. Always Merry Happy (I love the phrasing here, but it might be simpler than I am looking for)

4. Merry Medley (this breaks rule #1 but is a perfect example of #3)

5. Tree Print (this also breaks a rule or two, but it's pretty cute)

So, what do you think? Which would you ooh and ahh over?

I also wanted to share how I'd like to display the cards I get this year. I pinned a few things for just this purpose (oh, Pinterest, how I love thee), but I finally settled on the below. I just need to buy dozens of clothes pins and some spray paint. If that doesn't happen (why is this year so insanely busy?), I can always fall back on taping them to our wall. Keeping it real, here!

From Craftiness is Not Optional

What about you, my friends, do you love sending holidays cards or hate to? And what kind of cards do you look for, if sending? (If you're in the PRO-CARDS camp, you could get a set of your very own free cards from Tiny Prints; visit here for more info.)

Happy holiday season!

Halloween Did Happen!

More than a week ago I took Kyle trick-or-treating for the first time. (Last year, as you may remember, I phoned in Halloween and just bought Kyle a cute skull shirt on Etsy.) I wanted him to be a pilot last year so, hey!, I had his costume picked out a full year ago. That's some good planning.

Thanks to A'Dell for loaning the headset for some photos!

I wasn't honestly sure how Kyle was going to do, especially since he fell asleep on the way over. Can all parents agree that a three-minute nap in the car does not usually make for a happy and go-with-the-flow child? Hey, I thought! We can just take off his pilot jacket and let him go as a monster if he throws fits all over A'Dell's neighborhood about free candy.

But, he was fine as soon as he saw Claire was indeed going with us.

He took to trick-or-treating pretty naturally. So much so, I had to constantly remind him to say thank you and to let Claire have a turn knocking and, yeah, I'm such a candy buzzkill, I know.

It was pretty awesome seeing him have so much fun, though, and it was great that he had Claire to run around the neighborhood with. He was all smiles, really, and toward the end of the night, he got so brave, he started to negotiate with the homeowners we met along the way. "No, no, I don't like this one," he'd say as Whoopers were passed to him. He'd hand them back and reach in for what he wanted. On the one hand, NO, NO SWEET CHILD, YOU CANNOT DO THAT. (Unless you're grabbing Almond Joys for your mom and then grab three.) On the other, you can really only get away with that kind of behavior at this age, dressed that cute. So, work it while you can.

I've now tried to turn our attention to the holidays and I keep asking Kyle what he'd like for Christmas. He responds with, "TRICK OR TREAT." So, yeah, Halloween was a hit, and even though it's now November 8th, I hope it was a hit for you, too.

Happy Birthday To Kyle's Best Friend

The other day, in the car, I asked Kyle who his best friend is because a mom at school had told me that whenever she asks her son the same question, he excitedly says, "Kyle!" I thought it'd be cute to hear him say this boy's name.

"Hey, buds, who's your best, best, best friend?"

"Daddy," he said, very matter-of-factly. He's said daddy every time I've asked since.

That was probably gift enough for Mike since being Kyle's dad is the thing Mike enjoys most, right in front of motorcycle racing and new episodes of Futurama, but today is his birthday so I went ahead and gave him the big pot he had asked for, so he can make mashed potatoes all fall and winter.

(I could make fun of his birthday request, but I'm totally asking for a food processor for mine.)

I think everyone knows by now how much I love Mike. He's smart and funny and very, very kind, and his son thinks he's the greatest guy on the planet and his son is right. But, today is still his birthday, so it's all worth repeating.

As Kyle would say, "It's your happy birthday!" So, babe, live it up, make some mashed potatoes, watch some Futurama, remember how much we love you. Today, tomorrow, every other day too.

Two And a Half

I think two year olds everywhere should hire me to be their key marketer. You know, if they had the budget for me, but I've found two year olds are pretty rotten with finances. Still, I'd happily go far and wide, taking moms of newborns aside, looking them deep in their eyes and saying, "Don't fret, stop pulling your hair out, two is ahead of you."

Glorious, glorious two.

Two is the most amazing ride I've ever been on. I can't believe any age will ever compare to two, and since I hear three is a total motherfucker, let me enjoy two. Don't tell me what's ahead. Let me revel for a moment. Magical two.

There are bumps, sure. There is hastily leaving restaurants and malls and wedding ceremonies because two is over it all (and two will loudly tell you it's over it all). Two will tell you "NO JUICE" and then innocently ask "Where my juice?" two seconds later. Two will break the one thing you asked it not to touch and as you look, stunned, at all the broken pieces, two says "Mommy, what HAPPEN?" As if to say, "WHO DID THIS? WE MUST MAKE THEM PAY." Oh, sweet child, you happened. Two also likes to wake up at 6:45 am on Saturdays and 8:30 am on the days you have to be at work early for a meeting.

Oh, two.

But for every head-scratching, scene-causing, WTF?-inducing  moment there are wide grins and silly dances and snuggles and hilarious awesomeness. And the talking! Listening to a two year old is the best hobby on the planet. "Mommy, I need chocolate milk and we go Target and Molly's funny and I put shoes on now and HUGS MOMMY! JUUUUUUICE!" Listening to a two year old is like listening to a totally out-of-control drunk friend without a hint of the concern. And they say all this nonsense in a voice that is so adorably eager. Eager for everything.

Two is innocent yet clever, sweet yet brave, smart yet heartbreakingly unaware of the tough stuff. Two is all the good in all the world, without any of the bitterness or cruelty or annoying Facebook updates.

Today, for one perfect day, we have as much two ahead of us as we have behind us.

Kyle is two-and-a-half today.

I know, it kind of blows my mind, too.

I think about his (near-perfect, really) birth often, and I think of how it all changed that day, how I looked into his steel-blue eyes with utter disbelief. I thought, "You're so much more beautiful than I ever dreamed you could be. I never, ever could have dreamed of you, and I dreamed of a lot." (He was an awfully cute newborn, wasn't he?) Man, how in love with that little guy I was, back then, and it's still just nothing compared to now.

They all say it'll stun you how much you love your child as soon as you set your eyes upon him or her, and yes yes yes that is true. That is the truth, but there's something else, too. All that love just grows. That love just wondrously expands. The love never stops building. You thought you loved then? Oh, just wait.

Just wait till two.

Happy half-birthday, my funny, miracle of a boy. I just plain adore you.

We have a winner!

For the champagne flutes I'm giving away.

Amy!

Who I know loves champagne, which makes me happy to give her these. Amy, I'll email you, friend, to make sure I have your address correct.

1000th Post Giveaway!

This is my 1000th post.

That is quite a lot of words.

Some of my favorite posts, in case you're new or interested or have reached the end of the internet and care to travel down internet memory lane with me:

My Love List
So Far, So Long
Secret Super-fan
Timeline Seventeen
There We Were, Here We Are
First Letter
I Hope I'm Wrong
More Than You
Keeping Up
The Year of the Rat
I Hope He's Found Her

***

I started a blog on MySpace and moved it over to Typepad on a whim one night in 2007 while Mike watched The Sopranos. I'm damn glad I didn't like that show and needed something to distract me from it. New blog tagline: Brought to You by Tony Soprano's Annoying Face.

Anyway, I don't know if you read often or just stop by every now and then or stumbled upon this space on this particular day because you were Googling random things about Veronica Mars but, oh boy, am I grateful you are here, no matter how often.

I wanted to host a little giveaway, to celebrate reaching 1,000 posts. I mean, that's worth celebrating, right? Having THAT much to say is a feat. An endlessly chatty feat!

What would be more perfect to give away than champagne flutes? My love of bubbles is well-documented (oh look, lots and lots of champagne), and even if you don't love them nearly as much as I do (how could you, really?), you should still have pretty glasses to drink from.

 

Two flutes, from Crate and Barrel, to anyone living in (or claiming an address in) the U.S. The bottle of champagne will have to be on you, but if you're looking for someone to sip with you, let me know!

Just comment below. You can comment with anything, favorite book right now, new favorite artist you've discovered, favorite Etsy shop, favorite thing you've cooked this week, something you're looking forward to, anything at all.

(I'll pick a randomly selected winner by Friday. Or Monday. Depending on how busy Friday shapes up to be.)

***

Last night, Kyle turned to me and said, "Claire called and is coming over to play and have juice." He was so sure that had happened, and when I asked him how she had called, he looked at me, annoyed, and said, "On the phone, Mommy." Like, GOD WOMAN, YOU ARE DENSE.

Kyle only knows Claire because A'Dell and I met through blogging.

I have a million other stories I could share just like that one. Stories that remind me why blogging is so grand. It's brought me good, good things, and I'll do it until the day it stops.

Roadtrip Details!

Blue was the drive there. Red was the drive home.

There being Gateway, Colorado, where we stayed for two nights to celebrate Mike's cousin getting married. All about the resort and what we did while there for another post. But, today, THE ROADTRIP!

Day 1

We stopped in Amarillo for lunch (we got burgers to-go from Coyote Bluff), made a quick stop at Cadillac Ranch and then got to Santa Fe around 6 pm or so. Each time we'd stop for gas or a bathroom break or at a rest stop to let Molly stretch her legs, Kyle would clap his hands and say, "WE MADE IT! WE'RE HERE!" Oh, sweet sweet boy, if we ever take you on vacation to a Texaco in far West Texas, go ahead and retract our Parents of the Year award.

Also, upon spotting mountains in New Mexico, Kyle said, "What IS that, Mommy?" with wide eyes. "Oh nothing, just beautiful landscape you'll rarely get to see because we're raising you a Texan, but our housing costs are really reasonable!"

Day 2

We got an early start (and a lot of coffee) and drove up through Colorado. Durango was beautiful, the mountains were spectacular, and the roads ... curvy. We all got a little queasy. Kyle got a lot queasy and puked all over himself and then needed a quick cuddle in the back seat before we continued on.

Poor guy.

We got to Gateway about 4 pm, after driving up through the beautiful canyons of Western Colorado.

Day 4

After breakfast in Gateway, we drove up and into Utah where there were no public bathrooms for many, many miles. MANY MILES IN ALL CAPS EVEN. I was reaching the point of having to either pee my own pants or pee on the side of the road. The GPS/Smart Phone wasn't being very helpful, either, to tell us where the next restroom might be, so it was getting pretty bad. (And I have an impressive bladder, you should know! I can hold it for Olympic-like times.) Finally, I made Mike pull over and I pulled my pants down on the side of the highway (on the other side of the car, of course), ass out for all of Utah to see. Desperate times and all. I got back in the car and Kyle said, "Daddy saw your butt, Mommy." Not the first time, son. Not even the first time in public.

We spent most of the afternoon in Arches National Park and, wow, if you ever doubt America is spectacularly beautiful country, go there immediately. It'll leave you speechless. Mike and I talked about  one day returning to camp overnight, when Kyle's older. It was my favorite part of the trip, I think. Just looking out on this vast world, where everywhere you turn is another postcard view. I loved it.

We left and drove through Moab and into New Mexico, to try and make it to the Four Corners before sunset. A storm and curvy roads slowed us down, so we missed it by five minutes and hadn't planned anywhere to stay. (Yeah. That caused the first and only fight of the trip, I can't lie.)

We ended up in Farmington, N.M., at a random Best Western. I fell asleep within five minutes of laying down.

Day 5

We got up and backtracked to the Four Corners where I kept yelling, "KYLE'S IN UTAH! WE'RE IN COLORADO! OH NO!" He looked at me, at one point, and said, "Mommy, no yelling." Oh, he's in for a world of disappointment if that's how he prefers it.

We then drove to Shiprock ... Rock? I don't even know what it's called! It was a sight Mike really wanted to see, and it was pretty cool, admittedly, this jutting rock in an otherwise flat land. Molly got to run around as far as she wanted, and she was fairly pleased. See:

From there we drove to Albuquerque through Gallup and then drove and drove and drove to Roswell, convinced it would be a funky little town with quirky people and places. No offense to anyone who lives or loves Roswell, but it was the most ordinary town I've ever set foot in. A local suggested we eat at Golden Corral when I asked where a tourist should stop to eat. Yelp! suggested Denny's.

We left, skipping dinner and not looking back, and we drove and drove and drove some more. The drive out of dodge (Roswell) and into Texas was actually kind of wonderful. Just today I read a piece in Grantland, an oral history of Friday Night Lights (and you know how much I love this show by now), and in it Sarah Aubrey, an executive producer of the show, spoke about one of the final scenes they filmed: "The sky is that only-in-Texas pink sky as the sun is starting to set." I choked up because, well, yes. I know that sky. It sounds funny, to say the sky is different in Texas, but it's just about my favorite part of the entire state. The sky alone has kept me here, at times, I think, and it welcomed us back home after days away. We grumble about the weather and a million other things but when we crossed that state line, we both smiled, we couldn't hide it.

We got home, late late late, and I thought Kyle would refuse his bed, pitch a fit and demand to sleep with us, after so many nights of sharing a room in multiple hotels. But, I laid him down, he looked at me and said, "Turn off the lights, Mommy."

So, I did.

One family vacation behind us. Many more ahead, I hope.

Miles & Miles

2460 miles, to be exact.

Our family roadtrip is over, sadly. Well, sadly for my heart but not-so-sadly for my ass. 2400+ miles of car sitting is serious(ly painful) business.

Anyway, I have 15 separate posts I want to write inspired by the trip but, sadly, a full inbox waits for no woman (to post blogs). I also leave again this coming Tuesday morning for a work trip to Comic-Con (that's not an oxymoron, I swear) so the posts may be spaced out.

Over many years.

The trip was unexpectedly fantastic, though. I knew we should go, for many reasons, but I wasn't prepared for how much I'd enjoy it. All that driving and cheap-motel-staying and toddler-entertaining and gas-station-food-eating and mile-marker counting sounds a little awful, right? And that's before I mention we took Molly with us. OUR CRAZY, TIGHTLY WOUND DOG. On a road trip for thousands of miles! I don't really understand us either. I emailed Jonna just today and said, basically, that this is why we can't have more children. Because we come up with ideas that drive us all mad. Beautifully mad, sure, but mad all the same. It really was exhausting -- on Thursday night, I laid next to Kyle around 8:30 pm to rub his back as he fell asleep and I woke up ten hours later, no recollection of how that had happened --  but it was also incredible, seeing so much of the beautiful states we visited and spending so much of that time just us four. Turns out, I really like my family. No matter how many times I said through clenched teeth, "OMG STOP WHINING RIGHT THIS INSTANT."

No matter how many family members I said this to.

(More than one!)

Here are just a few photos, from our whirlwind travels, and 500 more will be put up on Flickr before 2012. Also, look forward to the future trip-related post that will include the story of how I got naked in public. Oh, don't act so surprised.