She Likes Purple

Texas is growing on me

We now have In-N-Out Burger, Trader Joe's, and these views an hour-long plane ride away.

(It's not the Carribean or anything, I know, but it's not half-bad either.)

Okay, so we likely always had these views an hour-long plane ride away, but I had never hopped on a plane with my kid to see them before this past weekend.

Hard to tell if Kyle enjoyed things, though.

We traveled down to Port Aransas for our niece's first birthday. Even though the celebration fell on Father's Day, Mike already had a motorcycle race planned (with his dad) out of town, so I decided spending the holiday with the rest of his family was the next best thing to celebrating with him.

Kyle's four, but it was actually our first flight just the two of us, and I couldn't have asked for a better, more smoother flight experience on the way down (we'll ignore the flight experience on the way back, when American Airlines told us we couldn't get on an earlier flight unless we paid $75/each). On the way down, though, the lovely AA worker waived our baggage fees and let us jump the security line. Oh, airline companies, why do you have to keep us on our toes! Anyway, Kyle was a champ for all the traveling. I don't know how a four year old can channel such patience, but he was a total inspiration to me on the trip. 

It was a quick weekend away (we were gone from Friday morning to Sunday evening), but it was just what we needed. It felt like a real vacation with sandy feet and sun-kissed skin and reading on the porch of our beach house and early bedtimes (and very early mornings, which was less vacation-y than I would have preferred KYLE) even though we were gone less than three days.

I hope Kyle remembers this mini-vacation, holding hands while we walked to the beach each morning and building sandcastles and splashing in the ocean. I hope he remembers slathering sunscreen on his tiny legs and cannon-balling in the community pool, but I'll remember for us both, if he doesn't.

The only thing better than the trip itself was the company, which is the best truth of all the best trips, isn't it? Doesn't matter where we go, not really, just who we go with.

ATX Festival

Did you know I like a few TV shows? (Just a few.) (And a few more.) So, it's almost as if the ATX Television Festival was created just for me. It certainly sounds like my kind of weekend, an entire weekend of panels and screenings for TV shows past and present. I got to find out if it was indeed my kind of weekend this past weekend.

I snatched up a ticket last fall, determined for the chance see a few Friday Night Lights stars in person but really nothing could have prepared me for just how awesome a weekend it would turn out to be for a TV fan like me.

For the cost of your ticket, you can get into 3-4 panels/screenings a day. I chose FNL, Party of Five, Parenthood, and Veronica Mars on Saturday, and then an Actor's Roundtable on Sunday. Because of my work trip two weeks ago and also because of a pretty full plate, I couldn't head out of town for any of the Friday panels (next year, Friday, I am coming for you), but it was still a perfect weekend.

I hung out with Julie and Erica most of the weekend with a special shout-out to Natalie for letting us stay with her and drink coffee on her lovely back porch each morning.

The screenings and panels (at least this year) were all great sizes. You were near the actors, and it felt personal and like the cost of the ticket was absolutely worth it. The moderators, volunteers, and organizers were all great, too, and everything ran smoothly. 

Our first screening was Friday Night Lights, and we ended up in the first row of Austin's Paramount Theater. Oh, and I also ended up in the concession stand line behind Mae Whitman, which was a cool way to kick off the morning. I nearly said "You stink Justin Matisse" to her but resisted. She's probably thankful for that. As is security.

After they brought out some of the show's actors...

No big deal, just sitting in front of Scott Porter and Matt Lauria

...they introduced a clip from the show, a clip that was (as the audience probably noticed) just of Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler. Then the moderator went ahead and made all of our days (years, quite possibly) by INTRODUCING CONNINE BRITTON AND KYLE CHANDLER (they weren't previously announced to be there, total surprise).

I resisted the urge to jump on stage and touch her hair. Most restraint I've ever showed in my entire life.

This was my favorite panel of the weekend not only because of Tami's hair (although that was 90% of it), but also because the panel was a perfect combination of show clips, the actors talking about the clips, and then a time for audience questions.

The other panels were still really good, though.

 (From top to bottom, left to right: Party of Five, Chris Lowell & Rob Thomas from the Veronica Mars panel, my Veronica Mars ticket, and the Actor's Roundtable with a bunch of awesome actors including JOSHUA MALINA.)

SPEAKING OF JOSHUA MALINA:

Basically two degress away from Aaron Sorkin, no bigs. He was so gracious and kind, too, although his expression in this particular picture isn't proof of that. Really, so nice.

After that picture was taken, we had an actual conversation with Scott Porter, who is also incredibly nice. He said he'd be back next year "if they'd have him." Oh, Jason Street, I think any TV festival would have you. 

It was a great weekend, so worth the ticket cost and the drive down. I plan to be there next year, and if you like TV at all, you should come too.

If TV doesn't appeal to you, did you know Austin has both queso and margaritas? 

Sixth Anniversary

(The iron and candy anniversary! Or, as I'm calling it, a nice excuse to eat a lot of Almond Joys.)

You know what they didn't tell me at my bridal shower? That some time over the course of our marriage, Mike would upset me or that on more than one occassion we'd fight our way past midnight and that, also, I wouldn't fit into my wedding dress beyond my wedding night. 

I understand why we played shower games and toasted champagne and ate cupcakes (of course my shower had cupcakes) instead of talking about the nitty-gritty. Those parties are about the fun stuff, the cupcakes and the champagne.

Marriage isn't a wedding or a shower or a party or a bunch of cupcakes, though. It's different and harder and better and more important. 

What they also didn't tell me at my shower, though, is that Mike would turn out to be the kind of man who apologizes with real grace after those midnight fights, who shows up to talk about the tough stuff even though talking about the tough stuff is like his 1576th favorite thing, if he's rating his favorite things. He turned out to be the guy who hears me when I really need to be heard. He is the man who has never said no when I tell him I need a big hug or an afternoon to myself or for him to sacrifice something he wants for something I need. 

Life is weird, isn't it? Six years ago, I was in a lovely wedding dress and last night I was in yoga pants, and both days, both places, were beautiful. 

You know what my favorite thing is, if I am rating my own favorite things? Mike's laugh. When he laughs, I swear the world brightens. I would rate it top of the list because he gave that same laugh to Kyle, so Kyle's laugh is my second favorite thing. I'd say it feels extra awesome if I'm the one who has made either of them laugh, but I'll take the sound however I can get it. Mike's laugh, man. It's the best. That's not a catchphrase. It really is the best.

That's one thing I could have told you at my bridal shower. That Mike's laugh starts in his eyes, and it's the best sound I've ever heard. 

There have been fights, oh have there been (and there will be more) and Mike will upset me many more times in our lifetime and who the hell knows if I'll ever fit in that wedding dress again, but every single day I've gotten to hear Mike laugh has been a good day. I've never stopped loving that sound, that guy, nine years after meeting him, six years after marrying him. He didn't give Kyle his hair, but he gave him that laugh. It starts in both their eyes.

I loved Mike so much on our wedding day, I couldn't even stand it.

I love him even more today. 

(One of my favorite wedding pictures, of us listening to my SIL give a beautiful toast.)

Six years! Pass the candy.

Washington, DC: Part Two

After spending a couple days in Dupont Circle, exploring the city, oohing and ahhing at every building along the mall, figuring out the Metro, and drinking wine in our hotel bed at 8pm, it was time to head out of town.

Mike likes exploring cities, but I knew he'd love the drive through Virginia (26th state for me!), to Shenandoah National Park where we spent the night in a hilltop B&B in Luray. I surprised him with this night away, and it was such a wonderful way to break up our trip.

Before we headed out of town, though, we stopped for lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl. 

What a place! You have to go here when/if you visit DC, for the history, the pictures lining the walls, the wait staff, the food. I had a veggie hot dog (just okay, but that's to be expected) but the veggie chili was good and Mike said the non-veggie hot dog and chili was some of the best he's ever had. 

Oh, and we also stopped at the Air & Space Museum at Dulles on our way out of town. It was here I missed Kyle so terribly because I knew he would have loved the hell out of that place. It was very cool and any person who has ever loved an airplane should stop here. (It's free!) 

Then we officially hit the road. 

Some of my favorite memories with Mike are memories in a car, on a long stretch of road between a great place we're leaving and a great place we're heading to. We talk, sometimes we don't, we sing to the radio (listening to Mike jam to Taylor Swift AND the Spice Girls was a highlight of this particular trip), we swap favorite Kyle stories, we stop for stupid pictures along the way. Oh, Mike, thanks for always taking the wheel when we hit the road. For letting me put my feet on the dash and read magazines and take pictures out the passenger window while forgetting to tell you where to turn next, so we always have to turn around once during a trip. You gently roll your eyes at me, and I fall in love with you all over again. You are a wonderful travel partner, and I really don't thank you enough for that. 

Once in Luray, we stayed at Once Upon a Mountain, a three-bedroom hilltop B&B and it was such a charming place. I picked this place through Google, Yelp!, and Trip Advisor alone. It didn't disappoint (except for one teeny thing I'll mention below).

I picked the best-rated room (the Queen's Suite), and it turned out the innkeeper was out of town during our visit and the other rooms were vacant, so we basically had the entire place to ourselves. That was a treat. 

The non-treat and one downside of the place was that stinkbugs are apparently very popular in Virginia, and especially in the more naturey parts of Virginia, and extra especially inside our B&B. This didn't bother Mike at all. He scooped them up as he found them and tossed them outside. THIS BOTHERED ME QUITE A LOT. At one point, I thought I saw one flying toward my head and when I told Mike this (LOUDLY), he said, "Oh no, they don't fly. Must have been a moth." Then he went to get a drink refill, and I Googled the hell out of "stink bugs fly" and when he got back 15 seconds later I said (AGAIN, LOUDLY) "They do TOO fly! Google says they can totally fly!"

"Yeah, I know they can, I just didn't think you'd Google it that quickly."

He both lies about bugs and underestimates my Google skills. 

We still had a great night, and I'd stay there again (stink bugs and all) but perhaps armed with some very strong bug spray of some kind next time around.

The next day, before heading out of town to stay with Caitlin (!!!!) for the night, we stopped at the Luray Caverns (very cool, although very similar to some caverns we've been to a few times before near San Antonio) and drove about 30 miles of Skyline Drive. 

(There was still snow on the ground!)

Virginia, you weren't too shabby at all. Other than your stink bugs but we have cockroaches, so I'm not talking too badly about you behind your back or anything.  

Next up: A few days/nights in Alexandria, a day trip to Annapolis, more monuments, and a lot of champagne with one of my favorite bloggers.

Washington, DC: Part One

Our DC trip snuck up on us (as you might remember, we quickly went from a June Alaskan trip to an April DC one), and as we rode the shuttle from the parking lot to the terminal at DFW, I snapped a picture of us that kind of hiliariously summed up our preparedness for the trip.

We look so confused! And tired! Are we...going on vacation or are we going into a stressful work meeting? No one can be sure.

Anyway, the flight itself was thankfully uneventful. We got into DC, grabbed a Super Shuttle, and finally arrived at our hotel. (Quick travel math: Dulles arrival + Super Shuttle ride + Dupont Circle hotel = A MILLION TOTAL TRAVELING HOURS.) We booked our hotel room at the Topaz Hotel through Kristin, a blog friend who does travel advising, and when I mentioned to a few people that it was a Kimpton property, they told me you could request a goldfish be delivered to your room. 

A goldfish! 

I was quite excited by this because I think what our travels have really been missing is pets. I did have a brief panicked moment right before I got to the counter to request the goldfish because what if my friends had steered me wrong? What if they DIDN'T offer free goldfish and I requested one and things got awkward?

Thankfully, there was no issue and Spike (what I named him) was delivered to our room without incident.

(From top to bottom, left to right: Mike and me at Good Stuff Eatery, us in front of the beautiful Capitol building; Spike, our fish!; the Library of Congress)

After we welcomed Spike to our room, we headed out for another Spike. Spike's Good Stuff Eatery! The burgers and fries were just so-so, sadly, but the milkshakes. Guys, THE MILKSHAKES ARE GAME CHANGERS. 

Mike and I split a mini-toasted marshmallow shake and then went back two more times on our trip to enjoy our own, non-mini-sized ones.  

(MINI IS TOO SMALL)

After dinner, we walked around the mall, catching our breath at every turn. To see this place come alive in front of us, a place we see in movies and in pictures and in textbooks was just incredible, I nearly cried a dozen times. Maybe it was the history major in me, or the eternal sap, or both, but what a breathtaking part of our country. I felt really lucky to be there.

We stopped in the Air & Space Museum before it closed that day and then we headed back to our hotel room. 

We made it back that night to enjoy the complimentary happy hour in our hotel lobby (ANOTHER reason to only stay at Kimpton properties from now until forever), and I requested one glass of wine to enjoy in the lobby and one to enjoy in our hotel room. Yes, I requested two glasses in one hour's time, and I was a little hesitant to do this. Was that...overstepping the complimentary happy hour boundaries? When I went up to ask for the second glass, I said, "I'd like to take this glass to our room. Is that...can I...IS THAT ALLOWED? SHOULD I PAY FOR THE SECOND GLASS." The happy hour bartender got a glimpse into why I rarely drank in high school. I am very much a rule follower and I have a deep fear of authority. I didn't want to break any rules! HAPPY HOUR RULES! LIKE THERE IS SUCH A THING!

Anyway, I think I took a long bath and then crawled into bed at 7:30pm that night, where we watched a movie, ordered room service dessert, and remembered why vacations are so lovely. 

(When I told Mike that a book, a bed, and a glass of wine is basically my favorite scenario, he said, "You know, you could read and drink wine in bed at home ANY TIME YOU WANT." I hate when he makes so much sense. STOP MAKING SENSE, MIKE.)

The next day, we slept in and met Caitlin (!!) for lunch at Sweetgreen, which was absolutely delicious. Texas, go ahead and open a handful of these. We also got a tour of Caitlin's office. She works at National Geographic and Mike suggested I apply. If he thought my commute NOW makes me bitchy!

(Us, at National Geographic! This was just the hallway. We're very bad at choosing photo backgrounds.) 

After lunch, we headed back to the mall and walked around a lot. We had dinner reservations, so I told Mike that the one thing I absolutely had to do before dinner was see the White House. 

Guys.

We saw the freaking White House, and I had to AGAIN stop myself from tearing up. The White House! (I'm like the most cliche tourist there ever was.) President Obama was sadly out of town this day, which explains why he didn't come out and invite us in for dinner. 

Two little boys were standing beside us as we snapped pictures, and one said to the other, "What do you think is INSIDE there?" The other, "Probably a really big tennis court." 

From there we walked to dinner at Zaytinya with Mike's uncle, aunt, and cousin. (Seems like we had JUST eaten lunch, I know, but I swear there were MILES of walking between lunch and dinner. So many miles. We were so tired and hungry by the time dinner rolled around.)

Dinner was fantastic, and I recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a meal in DC. Favorite dishes: hummus, the crispy Brussel sprouts (OMG, these were amazing), and the crab cakes.

When we got back to the hotel, we headed next door for a drink at the Tabard Inn where we saw Janet Napolitano, although we only KNEW it was her after asking the waitress who the Secret Service dudes were with. Still, DC, you are so charming with all your politicians, just having drinks in the same bar as us. In Dallas, I've seen David Archuleta and Jake Pavelka. NOT THE SAME.

(At Tabard Inn, cocktails and flash photography)

The next day we headed out of town, and Mike had no idea where we were going. I TOTALLY surprised him. That's part two, my friends. Check back sometime in August for that recap.

Seven Quick (Jumping Back Into Blogging) Takes

I have vacation recaps to write and Pinterest projects to share and suggestions for where to eat in both DC and New Orleans, and I hope I get to all those posts before 2014. In the meantime, let's dust off this blog. Seven quick (okay, not quick at all) takes...

1. Last week (wait, week before last...April you are so nuts), Molly's eyes swelled up and got a little goopy. At first, we thought it was just allergies, but then we realized she had also stopped eating and wouldn't take a treat. (Molly is like her mother. She will always take a treat.) Turns out, she had a severely abscessed tooth that had infected her nasal passages and was causing her eyes to swell. She is, thankfully, nearly good as new after a round of antibiotics and pain killers and shouldn't need surgery. Phew!

It really sucked, though, during the time we weren't quite sure what was wrong with her. Molly is usually fairly healthy. I mean, she's given us a scare or two before, sure, but it had been awhile. It was this weird wake-up call that our girl is nearly 10 and she's not exactly facing more years ahead of her than are behind her. 

When the vet went over our options with Mike, she mentioned that if the antibiotics didn't work, surgery to remove the tooth would be necessary and it would be expensive (MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EXPENSIVE). We don't have a budget item for Very Expensive Pet Surgeries, but when Mike talked to me about it, it was just a given we'd figure it out. She's our girl.

She's a dog, yes, but she's also Molly. Molly! I've loved her for as long as I've loved Mike. While she can be pretty irritating on a day-to-day basis (she's the neediest living thing in my house), this was a reminder that she is absolutely part of our family. 

Again, she's feeling much better. She probably wishes she had pulled these shenanigans years ago because we've been giving her cheese on a nightly basis, and we don't protest at all when she worms her away into our bed at night. 

So many of my friends (online and off) sent out love to her, after I mentioned what was going on, and it meant the absolute world to me. Seriously, thank you so much if you were one of those people sending warm thoughts to our girl.

She's doing so much better, she's practically skipping.

2. Have I talked yet about Justified? Well, I fell down a Justified-sized hole on Amazon Prime a few weeks ago and basically watched the entire series in something like two weeks. You'd be disgusted if you weren't so impressed, right? (Or maybe you're just disgusted...)

At first I was hesitant to start this show because I was (foolishly) led to believe there are no love stories, and I'm a girl who really prefers her TV shows to have a love story or two. But, 1) there totally are and 2) who really cares when Timothy Olyphant is wearing that cowboy hat so well throughout the series.

I'm all caught up in time...to wait a year for the next season! Cable TV seasons routinely break my heart.

3. I hesitate to declare this here because I've been doing it for a WHOPPING two days, but I've finally started my 30-Day Shred Challenge. That would be 30-straight days of doing (level 1, I'm not insane) the 30-Day Shred. This is such a quick and effective work-out, and a few Twitter friends are tackling the challenge with me. Want to join us?

4. I read this beautiful post about Holly's grandmother who recently passed away, and besides being reminded that Holly talks about love and family and nostalgia better than anyone, I was also struck that I won't ever be able to write a similar post about either of my biological grandmothers. 

This makes me sad, on a basic that-kind-of-stings level, but right after that thought struck me, it occurred to me that Kyle will be able to write something that heartfelt one day (if writing becomes one of his things) about either of his grandmothers. Kyle is such a lucky boy, for a million reasons, but the relationship he has with both of his grandmas (Nana and Mia, as he calls them) is near the tippy-top of the list. I've said this before and I'll say it dozens more times, but the fact that he has this beautiful, special, unconditional thing with them both, something I never had, is one of my favorite ways we're rewriting history together.

5. This feels like a very silly thing to mention, but I am trying to fill a list here. I made some small edits to this site all on my very own, so I'm basically a web designer now (ha). I added new social media buttons, new "top post" pictures (right-hand sidebar), new links, etc. Just messing around a little bit, but enjoy if you...enjoy sidebar badges and those kinds of things. 

6. We're debating taking Kyle camping for the first time this year. We need to make this decision pretty much immediately because Texas is going to get really hot in about two weeks. We'd just drive up to Oklahoma for the night, no big deal, and I think Kyle would love it. I mean, he's in such a fun stage, where everything new is So! Much! Fun! Mike really likes camping, too, and I really like when they do outdoorsy stuff together and leave me in peace to read, so it kind of works out for all of us. Last time Mike and I went camping, there was a burn ban, so we "camped" while eating dinner in nearby restaurants. That felt a little fraudy. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on our camping plans as I'm sure you're on the edge of your "WILL THEY CAMP?" seats. 

7. Speaking of Kyle, age four has been a lot of fun so far. I loved age two (so much), and still loved age three (though will readily admit that, oh boy, do you have to pay attention when parenting a three year old--they will take a mile if you give them half a centimeter), so I was a little nervous about age four. But, regardless how hard age four can be (friends start to mightily influence other four year olds, unfortunately, wiping away ALL MY HARD PARENTING WORK IN ONE AFTERNOON), the age is just so HILARIOUS. He says the funniest damn things. He has said in the course of a week, "Slip me some skin, Mommy," and "Oh phooey! Phooey is my new word, Mommy." He spells words and can read a little bit and I'm amazed anew that I get to hang out with this kid. He's my son! It's very delightful every time I remember that.

I've figured out that babies just aren't my jam. I love babies! I especially love snuggling your babies and just...passing them back to you when they show the slightest sign of being unhappy about something. But toddlers? Then kids? Oh yeah. They're my speed. 

I remember when Kyle was between one and two, maybe 15-16 months or so, and the weekends were kind of brutal. One, Mike worked weekends back then so it was just my boy and me, filling up two straight days, and I'd be so relieved by Sunday evening, which is a hard thing to confess. I was just so exhausted and he wasn't quite talking yet but he needed EVERYTHING and I couldn't sit until he went to bed. Now, we watch The Voice and he helps me cook and he makes me laugh EVERY SINGLE DAY and he asks me questions about geography and dinosaurs and stuff I really like answering. So much better than angry pointing, like he did back when.

Anyway, the other day he was looking at a picture of my mom and me from when I was in college and if there's ever a picture of me that he's not in, he assumes he was in my tummy. "Is that when I was in your belly?" "No, actually, that was before you were in my belly. That was even before I knew daddy!" He did not understand. He looked at me like I was nuts. Before him? BEFORE? No such thing. He finally said, "Oh, I must have been sleeping."

He walked off, cool kid that he is, with his hands in his pockets, and I thought to myself: I'm just so glad you showed up.

I'm so glad we're here.

A Day in the Life

(inspired by Janssen)

I nearly titled this "A Typical Day" but I realized there's just no typical day for us. Our lives are all over the place, and that's probably true for a lot of you, too. We try to create routines but damn if life doesn't make that hard. (Shaking my fist at life...)

Anyway, I wanted to record our steps for an entire day not because my life is all that interesting (oh, it's so not as you'll find out at about 10am) but because this is the kind of thing I'm going to enjoy looking back on one day.

7am: Kyle wakes me up, and I give him my phone to play with so I can steal ten more minutes of sleep.

7:10am: Okay, I'm up! I get Kyle breakfast and he eats while I take a shower. I remind him that when I get out of the shower he'll need to get dressed for school. 

7:20am: I'm out of the shower and Kyle goes (slowly, oh so slowly) to his room to get dressed. 

7:30am: I'm dressed and getting ready and Kyle comes into the bathroom so I can tie his shoes.  

7:35am: Kyle gives Mike a kiss and hug goodbye while I pack his bag for soccer practice after school. Kyle reminds me not to forget his soccer ball. 

7:40am: I grab a granola bar to eat in the car.

7:42am: I kiss Mike good-bye and tell him to have a good day. He hugs me for just an extra second. Funny how much I need that extra second.

7:45am: We're out of the house! Not exactly on time but good enough. On the way to the car Kyle sees a bunny that lives in our backyard and he gets so excited. I tell him that means we'll have good luck all day and then we wave good-bye to the bunny. Kyle says, "Have a great day, bunny! And you too Molly!" We drive off, waving.

(Bunny spotting!)

8:05am: We pull up to Kyle's school, which is usually just five minutes door to door. It took so much longer because, well, traffic. 

8:07am: Forgot the tuition check, so I run out to the car to get it. We're using the loose definition of run here, of course.

8:10am: Back in the car and on my way to work. 

8:23am: Remember my granola bar! It's the little things.

8:27am: Hit some unexpected traffic. (You know those six-word memoirs that were all the rage for a while? One of mine would absolutely be: Well shit, got stuck in traffic.)

(Unexpected traffic face with bonus Kendra Scott earrings!)

9:07am: Finally get to work, a few minutes late. 

9:15am: I make a cup of coffee (uh, of course) and chat quickly with my favorite co-worker.

9:20-10:30am: So many emails. I worked late the night before, getting my inbox under control, but I still come in to about 50 new ones I need to respond to or forward along. Also, my to-do list. It's very long.

10:30am-12:00pm: More work. It's a rare morning that I don't have a meeting or call, so it feels downright luxurious to put my head down and charge through my to-do list, uninterrupted. You are now oozing with jealousy of my rocking life, I'm sure. 

12pm: Leave for lunch. I have a work meeting with a local author, to go over her marketing plan.

12:13pm: Arrive for lunch, begin perusing the menu. Oh, menu perusing is one of my favorite things. 

(Settled on a Caesar salad with a side of salmon.)

1:45pm: Head back to the office. 

2pm: Call with a company we hope to advertise with. 

2:12pm: Call is done! Oh, under-15-minute calls are my very favorite.

3pm: Afternoon coffee and note writing. I know, afternoon coffee should be a very bad decision but my body is miraculous in that caffeine works on it (as it should) but it doesn't stop me from falling asleep whenever I'd like to.

4:40pm: Head out early, so I can make it to Kyle's school in time for soccer practice. 

5:37pm: Pull into Kyle's school. Chat with his teacher for a few minutes and head to the school bathroom to change Kyle into his soccer clothes. Oh, look! I forgot one of his cleats, so he has to wear his regular shoes. He is not thrilled with me for this. (Kyle is very rigid about few things but what he wears is one of them.) We have a brief heart-to-heart about how mommy might disappoint him on a much grander scale in the future, and I'm super sorry about the shoes but can we shake it off and move on? Eventually, we do. 

6:03pm: Pull into the soccer field parking lot. Again, the soccer field is five minutes, tops, from Kyle's school. Traffic can suck it. 

(He's briefly forgiven me for the cleat incident.)

6:06pm: Kyle realizes I ALSO forgot his water bottle. (There IS a water fountain directly next to the soccer fields, I'd like it noted.) He yells across the field to me, sititng on the bleachers, "MOMMY, YOU FORGOT EVERYTHING." I briefly think about pretending he doesn't belong to me (but all the parents know me) and then I briefly think about yelling back, "OH REALLY? DID I FORGET YOUR SOCCER BALL? NO I DID NOT." but that doesn't seem super mature (although it does seem super accurate). "Sorry, buds!" I yell back. I say a silent "you're welcome" to all the other parents for owning the "lamest soccer parent" award of the night. 

7pm: Soccer practice is over. I call Mike to give him a heads up we're on our way home. 

(Post-practice silliness and, uh, we're not driving here, I feel the need to clarify. I mean, of course we're not! He's not even buckled in! But "feeling the need to clarify" is one of the gifts the internet has given me.)

7:17pm: We pull into the driveway. Oh, it feels good to be home. 

7:19pm: Mike bought me flowers, and they're waiting for me on the table. This feels a little stagey for this post but I swear he is not a regular flower-buyer. He bought me some for Valentine's and then, before that, uh maybe our fourth anniversary in 2011. This night is a coincidence! Swear it!

7:20pm: I'm in yoga pants and QUICKLY. That's how I roll. 

7:30pm: Mike makes Kyle a PB&J sandwich for dinner (I wish I had whipped up some delicious meal for dinner on this day, to impress all of you, but sandwiches is ALSO how I roll.) Mike then makes me a fried egg sandwich. 

(With Doritos on the side. NUTRITIOUS.) 

8pm: Kyle brushes his teeth, washes his face, etc. while I ... tweet, I'm sure.

8:20pm: Story time. I think I read a Berenstain Bear book this night.

8:25pm: Mike came in and we had family story time for a couple minutes. Mike made funny noises, Kyle cracked up, I tried to keep everyone focused on the plot of the story (unsuccessfully). Hugs! Kisses! 

8:36pm: Big plans to go work-out.

8:37pm: In bed.

9pm: Asleep.

I'd like to do this once a month (I see a book-type-thing created with my once-a-month "Day in the Life" posts) but, in reality, I bet you get another one of these posts in 2014. No sooner.

What To Do: Eat a Few Pretzels at Mellow Mushroom

This isn't exactly a super unique recommendation because there are Mellow Mushrooms all over the damn place but, let me tell you, if there is one near you, head there immediately and get a half order of the pretzels as your entree. Get the regular butter and kosher salt flavor and add a side of beer cheese.

One of the best things I've eaten in ages. 

Oh, and if you're me, you'd probably add a draft beer to the side of those pretzels. 

No story, I just really like this picture

Big Chucks, little Chucks.

Keep his little for a while longer, time. Please. 

Kyle's Fourth Birthday Party

I love birthdays, as you likely know, and I really love the birthdays of my boys. (And, yes, of Molly. We bought her a big piece of delicious cake last year and I know it was delicious because I ate it all. That was a good day.) (I totally thought I blogged about Molly's last birthday and intended to link to it but, nope, around her birthday I was blogging about Taylor Kitsch and Whole Foods smoothies. NO WONDER SHE SIDE-EYES ME SO OFTEN.) Anyway, what's tough about Kyle's birthday is that February is Texas' usually coldest but also most unpredictable weather month. One year, we reached insane freezing temperatures for like a solid week. (I really thought I blogged about that horrible icy week of terrible cold but nope. I'm apparently a poor excuse for a blogger.) This year, it was 68 degrees the day before his party. The day of his party, of course, it was cold and overcast and windy, and I was super grumpy about it. 

Like really fucking grumpy. 

I went to Target that morning to buy all the things I still needed to buy (and many things I didn't still need to buy) and just stomped around the store and tweeted about how grumpy I was and stomped some more and then comfort bought a pair of earrings. (This was after I had already comfort ate a donut from Kyle's donut cake.)

The party turned out a-okay--as these things just turn out, of course--especially in Kyle's adorable four-year-old eyes. He was happy the entire time and he ran around outside in the cold, with his friends (and even without a coat!), and laughed and laughed and laughed. And laughed.

(That bottom right picture is candy grabbing post-pinata breaking, in case you thought we encouraged a kid brawl or something.)

We chose a dinosaur theme--and by we, I completely mean me because I pushed the theme on Kyle like the overbearing, birthday-obsessed mom I unapologetically am--but it was still my favorite theme ever. (And, don't worry, Kyle really liked it too.)

We set up pools of sand on the porch for faux-fossil digs. I buried a bunch of tiny plastic dinosaurs in the sand and let the kids take home whatever they unearthed.

Mike drew dinosaur feet on the front walk with chalk. (I just have to quickly give a shout-out to Elizabeth, who I stole the party idea from last year, and when I asked her where she found her dinosaur feet, she said, "Oh, I drew them with chalk" and I immediately thought THIS IS WHY ELIZABETH NEEDS TO LIVE IN TEXAS. I could stress eat donuts and she could just calmly fix my party problems.)

One thing Kyle chose all on his very own was his donut cake. We went back and forth on his cake for a while and he finally said, "I want donuts with candles." At first I thought we'd just buy two donuts, stick four candles in them, and call it a day, but then I decided donuts sounded good for everyone. And they were good for everyone. I could use one of those donuts right now, truth be told.

It was a good day, and when I put Kyle to bed that night, he told me that he loved his party, that he had the best day, and while I still have memories of grumpily stomping around Target because of the stupid effing clouds, the bigger memories are the ones of Kyle grinning.

Kyle grinning trumps a whole lot. 

He's four! I still can't believe it.

Four

Kyle is four years old today.

Ever since Kyle could walk, we've ingrained in his head that he must (EVEN IF I HAVE TO YELL VERY LOUDLY AT HIM) hold our hands in the street or in a parking lot. The yelling worked, because he does just that, reaches up for one of our hands whenever we hit the edge of a road.

Yesterday, after I picked Kyle up from school, he talked about the cupcakes he'll bring to his class today and about how good he listened to his teachers, and he grabbed his sweatshirt off his coat rack, all by himself, as he does, and it was all so simply how our lives are. Our lives, our routine, this is our normal. As we walked outside and reached the last step before the parking lot, he was talking up a storm ("Mommy, I have an idea, let's put a candle ON TOP of my ice cream tomorrow."), and he naturally reached up for my hand. Right before I took it, I just looked at him, this kid of mine, with his shaggy blonde hair and sunny smile, holding his hand up to me and I tried tried tried to remember it all. This one particular moment, this one particular boy, this one particular life. 

I never thought life could be this simple, this bright, this beautiful and, oh, I never thought I'd have such a perfect boy to reach up for my hand, to walk through parking lots and life with me.

I've wanted a lot in my day, but oh my goodness is Kyle a million times more than I ever thought I was worthy of wanting.

Happy fourth birthday, buds.

My oh my, do we love you to the moon and back. 

Seven Quick (January Seventh) Takes

1. Phew, we're through Christmas and New Year's and my birthday and we can finally stop eating, am I right? Well, I can stop eating. I'm sure you have enough will power to have stopped already. (Show-off.) Anyway, the Biggest Blogging Loser starts today, so I start my own new year too. I'm loosely doing the Whole30. I say "loosely" because I have a few (work and personal) dinner commitments I can't/refuse to cancel or suffer through drinking water at and also because I won't beat myself up over missteps or allow myself to go hungry rather than eating something non-Whole30 compliant. I'm going to try my best, I'll say, and I'm mostly just trying to use this month as a tool to become re-aware of what I eat after (so many) months of getting disconnected with that.

A couple things I'm giving up for the duration of the Biggest Blogging Loser, though, are alcohol and chocolate. I know! That's 12 long weeks without a glass of something or a slice of something, but I think I enjoyed my fair share of both over the holidays and this will be a good re-focus for me on fruits and vegetables and healthy dishes.

I was texting Holly tonight about eating wholer--and I hope she's okay if I share this--but she said to me "don't let anyone police you." This is just what I needed to hear. You put intentions out on the internet and you can feel (maybe just me?) that the internet then gets a say in those goals. So, I'm repeating those smart words to myself over and over. It's really empowering.

I'm doing my best! We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, here's my January menu, if you care to see it. (By the way, I love this template I found for 2013 monthly calendars. Maybe you'll like it too.)

(Click to enlarge!)

2. I've somehow managed to watch a ton of movies over the last couple weeks and while I'd like to sit down and write out thoughtful movie reviews for each, I never seem to have the time, so I'll quickly recap a few:

Go see Silver Linings Playbook. Oh, it's so refreshingly good! I found it funny and heartwarming and dark and romantic. Bradley Cooper just owned his particular character and Jennifer Lawrence was perfect, too, although I felt she had less to prove. She's done small, independent films and she's done The Hunger Games but she's just good, you know? You don't doubt this girl can act, and I now don't doubt that about Bradley Cooper, either. So, if you're looking for a (likely-to-be-nominated) movie to see in this particular awards' season, see this one. (Although I haven't seen some of the other awards' contenders, so maybe take actual critics' recommendations now that I think about it.)

So, I had heard a lot of buzz about The Cabin in the Woods for a while now, and I had been wanting to see it. I finally convinced Mike to watch it (with my sister and her husband) over the holidays and, wow, what am I missing? The twist was kind of in the trailer, so as not to be all that shocking. Anything beyond the trailer was...not good. It was ridiculous. It was campy but not funny (which I was told it would be!). I just didn't get the appeal, and neither did the three other people I watched it with. 

We also watched Lawless over the holidays and I really enjoyed it. Sure, it's kind of violent but I can't imagine you'd go into a movie about outlaw bootleggers and be surprised by that. For the violence, you also get a healthy dose of Tom Hardy, so go ahead and give it a try.

3. This is the point in the year where I go from Holiday Mania! to Planning My Child's Birthday Party! and somehow I'm always surprised by this. It's like the holidays are a buffer for the weird feelings that Kyle turning a year older bring, and now that the holidays are over, I can properly feel all of them. I try never to let myself get too sad because I have a healthy, awesome kid. I wouldn't trade that for anything. But it's still weird, you know? He's nearly four! I sometimes just can't reconcile that. Anyway, he is nearly four and we're throwing him a dinosaur birthday party (although who knows WHERE yet because we have a very small house and he has a February birthday--one of the few notoriously cold months in Texas--meaning we can't just let the birthday guests run loose in the yard and that always makes our at-home parties feel super cramped and chaotic, but we'll figure SOMETHING out) and he is very excited about it, and I'm very excited about it, too. Four! I just don't know.

4. For Christmas, I bought myself Young House Love, and while I know they are a Very Big Blog (which bring Very Big Blog Opinions), I mainly like this book because I'm a home decor idiot. I'm bad at DIY and bad at decorating and bad at thinking of ideas while looking at my ugly walls. They broke down ideas and simple fixes all in one easy-to-reference place, and they also made it easy for me to show Mike "THIS! I WANT OUR HOUSE TO LOOK LIKE THIS!" and he understood what I meant without me fumbling through blog archives or Pinterest boards to show him photos. He's become re-inspired around our house (in part because of the things I've shown him from the book, I'd be willing to wager) and it makes it fun to dream up Home Fixes together. I love this book, really I do, and I'd recommend it to you, if you're anything like me.

5. Oh, hey, my college team won their bowl game, and I got to watch them do just that at my birthday party Friday night. That was a lot of fun.

We had a house full of Aggies, and it was a lot of fun to high-five and cheer together. I recommend watching your team win with friends, drinks, and snacks. (I just invented game-watching parties, didn't I? You're welcome!) 

6. One my favorite birthday gifts was a gift card to Target. I don't really understand people who don't like getting (or giving) gift cards. You're telling me I get a piece of plastic and can buy WHATEVER I WANT from one of my favorite places with it? THANK YOU, THAT IS FABULOUS, GIVE ME THAT GIFT ALWAYS. I don't want to buy groceries or things for Kyle or anything I would already pick up at a trip to Target with this gift card. I want to get something fun and something just for me. I've been looking at a necklace for ages (that of course isn't online since the Target website is THE WORST), but if it's still there at my next trip to Target, I'm getting it. What would YOU buy if you couldn't spend it on groceries or household things or anything you'd have to buy anyway?

7. I've been trying to think of a seventh thing for too long and it's time to head to bed, so let's just end by saying I have a super stressful week at work and I'm back to cooking and working out (I'm exhausted just thinking of getting to Saturday morning) so please diffuse the stress with some fun things. What are you most looking forward to this week? 

Thirty-One

I turned 31 yesterday, and it was a lovely, perfect, warm (on the inside) day.

I love birthdays and while I know that's not a universal feeling--just ask my husband who grumbles through his day each year--I still wish for you a birthday like I had when your day rolls around. We all deserve tacos with extra hot sauce and the fancy kind of champagne and co-workers who buy us flowers and in-laws who buy us Target gift cards and best internet friends who surprise us with a book straight off our to-read list and husbands who clean the bathroom while we lounge on the couch. Or, whatever your favorite things happen to be. Yes, that's what we all deserve on our birthdays: our favorite things. 

I'm about to bring this post down, after all that sweetness, you've been warned. See, every year, on my birthday, I think of a girl I went to high school with. I knew her, was friendly (enough) with her, and we even ate lunch in the same group for a semester when we were dating guys who were friends. We then went on to the same college, and we were waved-hello-from-across-campus, kind-of friends. We weren't close, by any means, but I knew her. I knew her.

She died right after she graduated, in a car accident. 

I don't know why her death hit me as hard as it hit me or why it stayed with me for so long. Why it's still with me, in a way.

See, every year on my birthday, I think of her. I think that she will never see 26 or 29 or 31. I think that her family would do anything to see her at those ages and that it's cruel, in a way, to complain about my own age when a girl I once (admittedly, barely) knew will never know the privilege of being 31. 

I don't know why her death stuck with me when countless tragedies happen every day, every minute. When Connecticut just happened last month. But every year on my birthday I think of her, and I think I owe it to her to enjoy this privilege of aging. 

This all sounds a little superior of me, I fear, especially when complaining about aging is normal, it doesn't make any of us wrong or awful or ungrateful. I think of her every year, though, and thinking of her keeps me from thinking about much else besides being glad to be whatever age I happen to be. 

I am 31 now, and I am just so glad to be.

Last night, at age 31, while Mike bought me queso and margaritas and Kyle held my hand. Yes, glad to be, indeed.

My 2012

(2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, first inspired all those years ago by Linda)

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?

I was interviewed about my day job on television (which I still haven't gotten the courage to even watch), kayaked in the ocean, potty-trained my kid, gave up meat (well, red and poultry), took Kyle to Disneyland, drank a Pimm's Cup in New Orleans, swam with bio-luminescent plankton in Puerto Rico, went zip-lining, was made marketing director at my company (!!), threw Mike a (kick-ass, to me) 35th birthday party, became a "soccer" mom, saw Jersey Boys, held my best friend's baby boy (Jack!), watched my school's QB win the Heisman, went to a fancy television premeire (wearing Target jersey cotton!), celebrated five years of marriage, interviewed a Top Chef, visited Cornell University, celebrated Christmas with both my son and my sister's son.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I'm quick to say I didn't but when I look at the list of new things I did (directly above), I'm also quick not to care.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! Mike's sister (baby Ava!), Natalie, Jonna, many other friends. It was a good year for babies.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Mike's grandmother passed away in March, and it was a hard time for his whole family. She was an incredible woman, who taught Mike to be kind. We miss her.

5. What countries did you visit?

Just the U.S., again. I visited four states (Oklahoma, Louisiana, California, and New York) and also Puerto Rico.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you didn't have in 2012?

Such a good question. I think I'll go tangible and say, I'd like to have a new pin in my wall map, a new living room rug, a pair of skinny jeans, a 100-class yoga bracelet, and just a few more smiles. Always a few more smiles.

7. What dates from 2012 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

The usual suspects, February 5th (Kyle turned 3!) and May 19th (married for 5 whole years!) but also November 6th, the day President Obama was re-elected. I try not to get too political here but, damn, was I happy to pop the cork on some champagne that night. (Or, technically, super early the morning of November 7th.)

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

I got a promotion at work, which feels very big and cool and awesome. I also potty-trained a child and while I promised not to talk about it online (you're welcome), it was still a very big feat.

9. What was your biggest failure?

The same yo-yo lost/gained/lost/gained-again weight dance I like to do. Trust me, it's just as annoying for me as it likely is for you. 2013, will you please be different?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing out of the ordinary, thank goodness. I will say that I'm not a fan of the my-kid-catches-pneumonia-a-week-before-Christmas thing that happened to me.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Let's get really specific: Disneyland tickets. That day, with the glee written all over Kyle's face, was a worth-the-pricetag day.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I feel like this is a good time to thank two really incredible people--my mom and Mike's mom. They each love Mike, Kyle, and me--together and individually--and I feel very blessed and very grateful every time I think of them. I'd throw a party every week to celebrate them, if I could. (That could get pricey and weird, though.)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

I hate this question because actual people I know come to mind. I don't want to think of them when I think of my year, quite honestly.

14. Where did most your money go?

Bills, bills, debt, bills, travel, day care, bills, (and, fine) shoes.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I got to talk to Spike Mendelsohn (TALK TO HIM!) and I also got to stand in line, holding my kiddo's hand right before introducing him to Mickey Mouse. Don't worry, 19-year-old me is just as disgusted as you are at that previous sentence.

16. What song will always remind you of 2012?

Oh, come on. Me and every other person with a pulse will say "Call Me, Maybe."

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Happier: about the same
Thinner: about the same, maybe a few pounds more
Richer: yes

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Worked out, gone to bed earlier, all the healthier-choices wishes. But wishing for different never brings different, so I kind of hate this question.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Honestly, I wish I had been less lazy and less grouchy. Still, can't change the fact that I was often lazy and grouchy.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

It was a good day. I was with my mom, my sister and her family, my boys, and my Molly. I hadn't spent Christmas with my sister in 15 years and just getting to see her that morning was something else. Not to mention the moment Kyle opened a bag of candy and yelled, "JUST WHAT I WANTED!" 

21. Did you fall in love in 2012?

I'd say I fell in love with yoga in 2012.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Are any of you shocked to hear Sons of Anarchy? Also, The Good Wife and Sports Night. Oh, and becase we keep it real, The Vampire Diaries. I sure hope this guilty pleasure doesn't go the way of Gossip Girl for me.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Let's skip this bummer of a question, shall we?

24. What was the best book you read?

In the Woods, easily.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Of Monsters & Men, The Lumineers.

26. What did you want and get?

A five-year trip with my guy.

27. What did you want and not get?

A lot, but there's always 2013.

28. What was your favorite film of 2012?

People Like Us, I'd have to say. It was such a subtly beautiful film, especially for those of us with some father issues. I also just saw Lawless and really liked it.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 30! I had a party at my house, and many of my favorite people brought me champagne and gifts and hugs.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A winning lottery ticket, always.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2012?

"She bought many adorable shoes, but she consistenly wore her Old Navy flats."

32. What kept you sane?

Yoga, writing, Natalie, Cherie, Mike, my family, (bad) TV, Twitter, good champagne, and that three-year-old boy of mine who gives the best hugs of anyone I've ever known.  

33. What political issue stirred you the most?

Every year, the same issue moves me like no other: those of the same sex who just want a marriage like I have. When I think of what I have with Mike--the fights, the love, the laughter, the tight hugs, and the easy conversation--and then I think that two people also want that but can't have it because of their anatomy and because of others' religion, I just get sick. I do. I know it's poloarizing! I know I may love you while you're against it! But I can't be against an adult who just wants to lay in bed and hold the hand of someone he/she calls "husband" or "wife" like I lay in bed and hold the hand of the person I get to call husband. I just can't. I never will be against that. Marriage equality. It moves me every year, among many other political issues.

34. Who did you miss?

If you don't live in driving distance, I miss you. (Same answer as last year.)

35. Who was the best new person you met?

I met Liz in 2012, for the first time, in person. We had tacos and margaritas and then we watched The Vampire Diaries on my couch and I just really hated geography when she had to leave. She's such a lovely, wonderful, hilarious, perfect friend, and I would have her over every week if I could.

I also met Caitlin and Carla for the first time and I love all three of these ladies so much I just feel like they will all be at my 50th birthday party and maybe at Kyle's wedding. You know those friends you meet in unconventional ways, the ones you chuckle a little bit when you introduce them to your mother-in-law at your vow renewal ceremony because, hahahaha, we actually met because of our blogs! Isn't that funny! Yeah, my gut tells me that these three ladies will be in my life forever. I'd be so lucky if that turns out to be true, my gut also tells me.

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.

I learned a lot from 2012 and if I could sum it all up, I'd say that life just takes a helluva lot of work. Life is more work than it is fun, you have to give more than you take, and you have to be better than you really want to be. For life to be worthwhile, you just have to work your ass off. Thankfully, there is champagne at the end of all that work.

37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

            I know it's late but I can't help but think
           That the day hasn't shown all its cards
                   --Snow Patrol, "Dark Roman Wine"

Happy Thanksgiving

I ate all the mashed potatoes today. I wouldn't be surprised if I dream about mashed potatoes tonight, in fact. (No one should have been concerned I'd go hungry my first meat-free Thanksgiving, that's for sure.)

It was a sweet day, filled with family, laughter, and, yes, so much food. The kids ran around the backyard like monkeys, the adults kept wandering into the kitchen for more food, for some insane reason, and we crawled into bed at 7:30 (where I'm typing this from right now).

I'm so thankful for so much right now, and I hope you are too.

Happy Thanksgiving.

2012's Greatest Accomplishment

Janssen--who is one of my favorite bloggers, she writes about such useful and applicable and accessible things that I am constantly bookmarking or pinning or remembering her brilliance for later--wrote about her 2012 greatest accomplishment the other day. I loved what she picked, and that it was so individual to her. 

I thought long and hard about my own greatest accomplishment and I was struggling! A whole year, that's big pressure. So I stopped over thinking it and just focused on when I felt most at peace and proud of myself and yoga came to mind. I signed up for a local studio this year and started going to classes both alone (which was kind of a big deal for me) and with friends. I've tried all the classes my studio offers and I've found favorite ones and not-so-favorite ones, but I do them all. I leave every single class feeling like I can be better, like I can be great.

(Of course, I occasionally lose that message standing in front of my fridge at midnight but, whatever, I am a flawed, cheese-loving human.)

I received my 25-class bracelet right before leaving for the Blathering and I was just so proud. 25 classes! That's something. I am adding "get my 100 class bracelet in 2013" to my 2013 to-do list and that both feels like a lofty goal and yet a totally achievable one. 75 classes in 13 months. About five classes a month? Yeah, I can do that. 

Accomplishments can feel a little weird because we like tangible things to show for them, impressive before-and-after photos or pieces of papers with official words on them or just the outside world telling us what we're doing is a Real Accomplishment. When sometimes it's just whatever makes us feel more like ourselves that's the greatest accomplishment. This year was spectacularly busy (aren't they all?) and it also felt like a year of questions, remember?, so it was just so nice to find something that made me feel more like me. Something I hope to do long-term, something that's all mine, something that challenges me but doesn't frustrate me.

It's great to have found it.

***

Completely unrelated, please please please check out these (so awesome) gift guides by some very talented Lush writers. Here's Style Lush (by Elizabeth) and Food Lush (by Caitlin). I get to work with brilliant people, and that's something very cool indeed. 

Bring it, Holidays.

Lights up BEFORE Thanksgiving, like holiday bosses. (I would have put our lights up in July and by I, I mean Mike, but he wouldn't. Scrooge.)

I look at this photo and realize that while Texas may not technically be part of the South, it's a very Southern thing to put up Christmas lights in t-shirts. Promise it was 70ish when this photo was snapped! We're not forcing manual labor without the proper wardrobe!

I also have our Christmas menu all figured out. (Post to come.)

I'm excited about the holidays this year, if you couldn't tell. Partly because my sister and her family are coming to celebrate with us, for the first time ever (as a family), partly because my Christmas menu includes mimosas and carbs, and partly because I hope my mom buys me SOMETHING off this list. She's usually the one I can count on to (not really) surprise me with one thing I (really) want.

Good things, basically. The next month is full of good things.

(Continually updating our holiday plan here! Two cross-outs already. HOLIDAY BOSSES.)

Conversations

You know what I wasn't really expecting from age three? I wasn't expecting to have conversations with Kyle like he's just another person I speak to in the course of my day. Which sounds ridiculous, I know, especially considering how often I spoke to three year olds before Kyle. But, still, the conversations have caught me by surprise. For example, while I'm brushing my teeth in the morning, Kyle will yell from his room about not being able to find a particular jacket he wants to wear and then I'll hear him mumble under his breath, "I thought it was right here." What is that? That's something a PERSON would say, a person with thoughts and opinions and memories completely apart from me. It's mind-blowing in an almost better way than the first steps and first words and first other things were.

I'll say, "Let's go to Target, we need hummus and paper towels and..." "I think we need juice, too." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah, I think we're out." LIKE HE'S JUST A PERSON, WHO NOTICES OUR JUICE LEVELS.

I was always more excited about having a child than I was about having a baby, if I'm being totally straight with you. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE BABIES. I love holding babies and buying things for babies and throwing baby showers and...handing babies back to their mothers. Give me a KID, that's more my speed. Still, I'm just repeatedly shocked, stunned, floored by how cool it is to have an actual conversation about football or Thanksgiving or new shoes with a person I MADE. I made him! And now I'm giving him an abbreviated story of the first Thanksgiving (minus all the plagues and deaths and stuff) and while I tell him about it, HE NODS. HE NODS AND RETAINS THE INFORMATION.

He's in this phase where he's starting to hear words I don't want him to repeat. Words like dumb and chubby (Tangled, what's up with the use of THAT?) and stupid and other words I just don't want him to use so flippantly and without thought. So, we tell him these words aren't nice or sweet and we should try to choose other words. Somehow, this has made him hesitant to use ANY word he's unfamiliar with. "Mommy, can I say the word...spectacular?" I just...the brain of a three year old. Guys, it's THE BEST THING EVER. (Also, yes. You can call your mother spectacular.)

Speaking of Tangled, we watched it this weekend for the first time and I loved the paper lanterns. You may remember we did this in Vieques (and nearly set the entire island on fire) and I've bought some to let go in our backyard for my 31st birthday. So, when we watched Tangled I said, "Oh, I want to do that for my birthday!" and when we watched the movie for a second time, Kyle turned to me when they first lit the lanterns and said, "Mommy, we're going to do that for your birthday. It's going to be beautiful."

We were getting groceries out of the car just tonight and Molly wandered out of the yard (AS SHE DOES) and Kyle said, "Oh, Molly! Get out of the street. Mom, she's in the street again." He was just potty-trained THIS YEAR and now he's rolling his eyes at Molly's disobedience WITH US. It's something else. It's really something else.

He's such a person, and I know this isn't NEWS and I'm not the first mother on earth to raise a baby into a person, but I have to tell you, there is the Grand Canyon and the Pyramids and Arches National Park (which literally caught my breath in my throat) and the Northern Lights and democracy and all those lions-and-puppies-as-friends YouTube videos and then there's having a real conversation with your child.

Miracles, all of them.

Kyle, YOU are spectacular.

Aging Grumpily

As Molly's gotten older, she's become...how do I say this...without causing shock...and disgust...an asshole. That probably still causes some shock and disgust, doesn't it? We still love her! Of course! She's our girl, always will be, but she's just constantly (metaphorically) flipping us off these days. 

For instance, if we leave a bag of food or candy on the counter, she'll get in that shit. She used to do this and, no lie, hide the bags and wrappers under her dog bed. We'd eventually find them and she'd run for the opposite side of the house or, no kidding, put herself in time-out. Now, we walk into our bedroom and it's like a Halloween troll broke in and raided the joint. Candy wrappers strewn about the room and Molly kind of looks at us like, "What? That stuff was delicious and I don't even care what happens next." 

When we tell her to get off the couch for whatever reason, she'll lift her head and give us a look like, "You'll have to physically make me. Sorry I'm not sorry." 

We joke that she's realizing she has more life behind her than in front (she's nine, not exactly ancient but not exactly a puppy either), and she's grabbing life by the horns, tattooing YOLO on her paw, etc.

It's hilarious, actually. Molly was such a nervous, rule-abiding dog for years. In college, we'd let her out in the front yard and she'd sit there for hours, sunning on the sidewalk, napping in the grass. She'd never run away or walk farther than the mailbox. Now, when I let her out to check the mail with me, I have to pull her in from sniffing the plants outside our fence. She's gotten petulant, basically.

Except, you know, she's still this good with the boy we brought home nearly four years ago and totally ruined her life with. 

Although as Rebecca said when I posted this on Instagram, she looks so long-suffering here. Always dramatic, that dog of ours.

The Official Blathering Cocktails

I'm desperate to toss up a post tonight and call it because this posting every day thing is no easy feat. If I make it another fifteen days, I expect someone to arrange a parade to go down my street.

I thought I might share my two favorite cocktail recipes really quickly, two recipes I shared with most of the Blathering attendees last week. I was in charge of cocktails--a job I take quite seriously, you'll be shocked--and while I spent many hours "researching" champagne cocktails, I fell back on two tried-and-true favorites, simple drinks I think will be a big win at your next party if you're throwing a party and in the market for champagne cocktails, that is.

1. Kir Royale

1 part creme de cassis
3 parts champagne

Sugar the rim of a champagne flute. Pour 3/4 of a glass of champagne and 1/4 of creme de cassis. Stir.

2. French 75

1 part gin
3 parts champagne

Sugar the rim (or, hey!, use edible glitter) of a champagne flute. Pour 3/4 of a glass of champagne and 1/4 of gin. Squeeze a wedge of lemon into the glass. Stir.

These are my takes on these drinks, so if I have any of the amounts wrong, blame, uh, me. Delicious, though!

Both seemed to be well-received at the Blathering's Friday dinner. If they weren't, I just kept passing them out until people changed their minds. My rule in life: if you can't convince someone you're brilliant, give them a lot of drinks until they start to believe you.

Cheers!