She Likes Purple

May Goals + April Goals Revisited

April was INSANE, guys. Like the insanest. May is shaping up to be more of the same, seeing as it's nearly mid-May and I'm just now posting this.

Anyway, this list is much sadder than March's. Let's hope for better things in May. And June. And other months too.

April Goals Revisited

1. Start my 30-Day Shred Challenge (I did start it and then immediately abandoned it; need to rethink this one)
2. Let's ease back into yoga and say: just get your butt to yoga at least once (I'm so red)
3. Finish at least one book (I finished four! I feel like that should earn me a trophy or something)
4. Buy a pair of eyeglasses (maybe even two) (BUT THEY HAVEN'T ARRIVED YET)
5. Go to the dermatologist
6. Send a bottle of champagne to someone
7. Leave the state!
8. Finish up the Pinterest challenge (just one left!) 
9. Make baked ziti
10. Set a date for my champagne dinner
11. Lose 5 lbs
12. Send those thank-you notes! (I sent some!)
13. Re-hang our photos over the couch
14. Take two neighborhood walks
15. Eat/make five vegan dishes/meals (One!)
16. No snacking after 9:30pm

May Goals 

1. Yoga. Seriously.
2. Finish The Great Gatsby
3. Eat a cupcake in New York
4. Make baked ziti
5. Lose 5 lbs
6. Start the Couch to 5K 
7. Finish Kyle's thank-you notes (a mere THREE MONTHS late)
8. Send off two thank-you packages
9. Make my vacation box
10. Dance to our song for our wedding anniversary
11. Eat at one new restaurant (this is quite an easy one, but done!) 
12. Start the research on hiring the right person to turn some of Kyle's best baby clothes into a quilt. (Could that be you?)
13. Make vegan strawberry cupcakes

I'm heading to New York this month for a work trip, a work trip that has required months and months of preparing for, and will be one of those go-go-go trips. A few fun meals, but mostly exhaustion and meetings and signings and more meetings and panels and walking and more signings. I'm tired already. 

So, I made my goals nice and easy this month. 

Patience with myself until at least mid-June is necessary.

Setting Expectations

Last weekend, A'Dell and I took our kids to the zoo, and as we were leaving the house, Kyle said with glee, "I AM SO EXCITED TO RIDE A GIRAFFE."

Uh. What?

Thankfully he had a great time at the zoo despite giraffe rides being unavailable, but why on earth would he THINK he could ride giraffes at the zoo? WHO IS TELLING HIM THESE THINGS? I blame George. That damn monkey is always doing ridiculous things that no child will ever get to do. 

Then this past weekend, we took Kyle to his first Ranger's game. He had a great time, and it was fun to introduce him to baseball. The kid's got soccer and football down, but baseball was new. 

We were having a great time, eating nachos and getting a little sun, when Kyle turned to me and said, "When do I get to go on the field and play with those guys?" 

Kid, your imagination is impressive! Our job of setting realistic expecations for you is not. 

Age four is something else, though. I feel like I've become that mom, that mom who we all roll our eyes at a little bit. That mom who WILL NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT HER CHILD. Usually that kid is a baby and that woman is a new mom, but I dodged (I think?) most of those new mom bullets. I could hold a conversation about other things with my friends when Kyle was wee. I could go out with Mike and talk about many other things (usually taking naps) before coming round to gush about our cool kid, but something has happened since Kyle turned four. I CANNOT STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM. 

I called Natalie the other day and basically wanted to talk about nothing except the funny things he's recently said. In the office kitchen the other day, a co-worker who I am friendly with, but who I am certainly not friends with, asked how my weekend was and I used that as an opening to tell her a hilarious story about Kyle. She looked...eager to get back to work.

I don't know, it's just a really fun age. Four year olds! They're awesome.

I taught four year olds when I was in college (FOUR YEAR OLDS WHO ARE NOW THIRTEEN YEAR OLDS OMG). Well, assistant taught, I should clarify. The real teaching was left to the person with an actual college degree at the time, but I was there to assist her from 8am-12pm every single week day. (EXHAUSTING.) I loved it so much. If I could have made an actual living teaching four year olds at that school, I would have. I would come home most days and tell Mike the hilarious things my kids would say to me. Four year olds, I used to say, they are the best. So sweet! So smart! So funny! 

It's kind of weird raising a four year old vs teaching one. I am that mom bringing him into his classroom vs the teacher taking his hand to lead him to arts and crafts. I am the stressed, (sometimes) unshowered mom instead of the young teacher who somehow finds the energy to hang out with wild, dirty kids all day.

It's a weird full-circle moment having a four year old. I loved this age as a 22-year-old college student, assistant teacher. I love it just as much now. 

I sometimes look at my life and wonder how on earth I got here. I was just 22, teaching kids as a part-time job. I was going to class, I was falling in love, I was broke. I was not an adult, no way, and I could hardly imagine becoming one. But I am now. No doubt. Mortgage, career, debt, husband, kid, and on and on. 

Back then, I could only imagine I'd have my own adorable, hilarious four year old one day. I could only hope. 

Exceeded all my expectations.

Pins of the Month: March & April

A while back, I posted about a Pinterest challenge I was doing, inspired by Janssen. (I live such a wild life, I'm aware.) Anyway, I totally owned five of the six pins I picked. 

I'm choosing two to spotlight as my Pins of the Month.

March: Beer Biscuits with Spicy Lemon Meyer Butter. Confession: I used regular butter because I was tired. I cut a lot of corners in life because I'm tired. No shame. 

These biscuits were so delicious. Seriously, I won't be offended if you immediately stop reading this to go make them. In fact, Mike declared these the "Best biscuits you've ever made!" Granted, I don't make biscuits that often, but still. Many other people complimented them, too. I even think my father-in-law complimented them and that's a ringing endorsement, trust me. 

April: Technically, I bought a personalized viewfinder in March, but the glorious thing about my own weird, made-up things like Pins of the Month is that I get to bend my own rules. 

I was glad to find the company, as this is something I've been wanting to do for ages, but I was (sadly) a little disappointed with the overall experience. The website was a little difficult to use, and you can only choose six photos per viewfinder. The photos each repeat twice and...call me crazy but wouldn't it be fabulous if you got twelve photos instead? (I probably just don't understand how viewfinders work.) 

Also, I planned to buy a reel for each huge event or family vacation, so Kyle could have this cool viewfinder and a bunch of vacation reels one day but the reels are a mere $5 cheaper than a reel and viewfinder. That was a little disappointing. 

Still, he thought it was very cool, and I'm always a sucker for things my son finds very cool. 

Coming soon, my next Pinterest Challenge with a whole new set of pins I want to tackle. Edge of your seats, all of you, right?

What To Do in New Orleans: Eat at Commander's Palace

In April, a cowoker got married in Lafayette, Louisiana so another coworker and I made a weekend of it by spending a couple days in New Orleans beforehand. I had been to New Orleans before (here, here, and here), but she had not. Oh, we had such a wonderful time. We mixed the local traditions (drinking a lot) with our particular personalities (enjoying naps and relaxing in bed with a book). Example: We shared a bottle of champagne for breakfast one day (WITH ORANGE JUICE, OF COURSE) but were reading in bed by 10pm. 

Anyway, one thing I love about Adrienne (the lady I traveled with) is that really all we both care about when traveling (or just plain living) is where we're going to eat our next best meal. We had both wanted to try Commander's Palace and thought lunch might be the best way to do it.

We were both right.

The meal wasn't just incredible, the entire dining experience was. We expected this meal would be a splurge, but for a cocktail, a split appetizer, an full entree, and a split dessert, we each paid $50. That's not exactly affordable to do too often, but it was more than worth it for the meal we had.

I had:

A French 75 (probably the BEST French 75 I've ever had)
Spicy Shrimp Remoulade
Crawfish Grilled Cheese 
Strawberry Shortcake

Everything was delicious (the soup that accompanied the grilled cheese wasn't life-changing, I feel I should admit), but I do want to spotlight two particular things. The French 75 really was the most delicious cocktail I've ever had. It's how cocktails are supposed to taste, I'd say. Also, the strawberry shortcake was so good, it actually became one of my new favorite desserts right on the spot.

Honestly, if you're going to New Orleans without an agenda and with any meals free to fill, you need to head to Commander's Palace. You won't regret it.

(Adrienne and me in the French Quarter!)

Watching Them Grow

One thing they don't tell you, at least one thing they didn't tell me, is that watching your kids grow up with other great kids is one of the most adorable things around. A'Dell, how did this happen, anyway?

(March 2010; April 2013)

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.

Four States in Two Weeks

Before we planned a trip to D.C. (many recaps to come, promise!), we planned to go to Alaska this summer on a kind of Dream Trip. Apparently Dream Trips aren't cheap (stupid reality, I must say), and we had to accept that we just couldn't afford the trip this year. We had wonderful friends and family who hosted us in D.C. and we got a great deal on a hotel for the other nights, so it was a much more affordable trip than Alaska (MUCH). Mike really wanted to go to D.C. when the cherry blossoms might bloom and that meant changing our June Alaskan trip to an April D.C. trip. Not a big deal, we have really wonderful and flexible parents who were willing to hang out with Kyle in April just as easily as June.

(I swear I'm getting to a point!)

Thing is, I had also planned a trip to Louisiana for April, for a co-worker's wedding. A co-worker I've worked with the entire eight years I've been at my job (in fact the only co-worker I've worked with the entire eight years I've been at my job other than my boss) and when Mike and I sat down to talk about switching our trip, I told him that would mean me being away from Kyle for two trips in two weeks, and I hated the idea of it. 

He talked me into it, with many convincing arguments like Kyle would be with people he loves and adores the entire time, including Mike and leaving Kyle with Mike is, well, it's not really leaving him at all. Mike is an incredible parent, he's often a better parent than I am (although his solo weekends have a lot more dirty dishes piled in the sink than mine do, I'd like it noted), but still. Being away from Kyle for 11 of 14 days isn't easy. 

It became this underlying ache our entire time in D.C., that it wasn't just Our Vacation (that we needed, it's been a very stressful few months at work for the both of us), it was the start of too many days away from my boy.

Look, I'm not going to regret going to this wedding. My co-worker means a lot to me, and I'm traveling with another co-worker I really love, and we're spending two nights in New Orleans before the wedding, and this will be a good time, I'm sure of it. It's just hard, too.

It's not even guilt, quite honestly. Mike isn't asking me to stay, there are no fights about my weekend away, I talked to Kyle tonight about me leaving again and he's all "I'm excited about boy's time with Daddy!" and then he went on to talk about dinosaurs and watching The Voice. Kyle has never been left with anyone but his dad or his two grandmothers. He's got a fairly stable life. I mean, yeah, there IS guilt because that's my default setting about absolutely EVERYTHING (I felt guilty for a half hour tonight because a bird made a nest on our porch, and I accidentally spooked it coming home from dinner, and I thought she might never come back to the nest and the baby birds would die. I swear, I'm Catholic and just don't know it, I'm so good at The Guilt.) but it's not really guilt about this trip. It's just...missing him. It's just missing Kyle, that's all.

I miss him a lot more, the older he gets, and I don't know what that's all about but it's just how it is.

I guess I just needed to be a little sad over leaving him again and to vent that sadness here and then to speak my deep gratitude for smart phones with cameras and husbands who oblige my demands to "take a picture every hour, EVEN WHEN HE IS ASLEEP, IT'S NOT THAT MUCH TO ASK, STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES AT ME."

Okay, so maybe oblige is the wrong word choice there.

Anyway, you should obviously feel very jealous of the co-worker I'm roadtripping to the wedding with. She's likely to need a few drinks this weekend after hanging out with me.

April Goals + March Goals Revisited

Another month has come and gone. This year! It's flying by faster than usual, isn't it? Oh, annoying. (Except when sitting in traffic or trying to coerce Kyle to the car. Time slows waaaaay down then.)

March Goals, Revisited

1. Seriously, with the two books
2. Buy a pair of Kendra Scott earrings
3. Hang our frames! (But, siiiiigh, they're all wrong. We have to re-do things.)
4. Create a viewfinder for Kyle
5. Spraypaint something
6. Set a date for my champagne-inspired dinner
7. Go on a weekend trip with Natalie, to celebrate being friends for 20 years
8. Make baked ziti 
9. Yes, seriously, with the eye appointment 
10. Go to five yoga classes (I really need to figure fitness out this year before it's no longer this year)
11. Thirty-one emails to Kyle
12. Finish Kyle's letter book 
13. Watch Argo and Zero Dark Thirty 
14. Host an Easter brunch and egg hunt
15. Send out (belated) thank-you notes for Kyle's birthday

Not too shabby, right? I actually feel good about how I did this month. If I could just figure out how to read more and work out more (I think it has SOMETHING to do with getting off the couch or turning off the TV, but I can't be entirely sure), I'd be golden.

April Goals

1. Start my 30-Day Shred Challenge 
2. Let's ease back into yoga and say: just get your butt to yoga at least once
3. Finish at least one book
4. Buy a pair of eyeglasses (maybe even two)
5. Go to the dermatologist
6. Send a bottle of champagne to someone
7. Leave the state!
8. Finish up the Pinterest challenge (just one left!) 
9. Make baked ziti
10. Set a date for my champagne dinner
11. Lose 5 lbs
12. Send those thank-you notes! 
13. Re-hang our photos over the couch
14. Take two neighborhood walks
15. Eat/make five vegan dishes/meals
16. No snacking after 9:30pm

What's on your April to-do list?

Easter 2013

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, which I know may sound a little strange. I'm not a very religious person, but I do believe deeply in a few things and one of those things is the power of the people I love to make me feel wholer. 

I had a house full of those people this morning, and I felt it very good.

Including these little dudes, who dominated our egg hunt AND our confetti egg stash. 

We thought it might storm during our brunch and egg hunt. Sometimes Texas can surprise you in the best, most sunshiney ways.

I hope your day was just as warm, literally or otherwise.

***

Oh, and these beer biscuits that were on our Easter menu were DELICIOUS and you should make them immediately. 

My Easter Brunch Menu

I've hosted an Easter brunch and egg hunt for the last three years and it's one of my favorite traditions. Fine, it's because I serve mimosas. Guilty! Anyway, here's what else is on my menu:

(From left to right, top to bottom: 1, 2, 3, 4)

We're also having deviled eggs, fruit, and bacon. Juice and coffee, too. 

What are you having? 

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.

Friendiversary

When we were 11, I made Natalie buy best friend necklaces. Like, all the time. You know, the really cool yin-yang-type necklaces that turned your skin green ten seconds after you put one on. I made her buy about a million of them.

It's not easy to be friends with me, but this lady has it down. She's been doing it for 20 years. 

Good, bad, really good, really bad. She's been there. And even when she wasn't there, she was there. Maybe especially then.

In college, I was having big issues with another friend. I was sad about it, so I called Natalie. When I got engaged at 5am, I called Natalie. (Fine, Mike made me wait a couple hours, so it was more like 7am.) On my honeymoon, when Mike was snorkeling and I was bored of my (really not fit for beach-reading) book, I called Natalie. When I found out I was pregnant, I called Natalie. 

She hated the term "friendiversary" that I said about a million times over the weekend. She hated it but laughed while hating it. I like to think that while Natalie and I are so very different, we always find a way to laugh. I like to think that's our language. 

When Natalie and I were in middle school, we lived just blocks apart. We'd walk to each other's houses, nearly every day, through our neighbors' yard. Over the course of four years, we created a ditch in that yard. We walked so often through it, we changed it.

This is Natalie's friendship, in a nutshell. It's changed me. 

Twenty years. Man, that's a long time to be so lucky.

The Best

Mike and I have finally begun putting together a living room we can be proud of. It's only taken four years to start this project and it'll only take (I'm sure) another four, but hell I'm calling any progress a victory at this point. 

In January, we painted the walls a nice steel gray, and we've bought frames for the many pictures we want to hang on them. Over our couch, we've decided to hang travel photos, just scenery shots, and it was such a fun ride through vacation memory lane, choosing which pictures we should display. We chose one from Puerto Rico, Chicago, St. John, Boston and in the middle we hope to find just the right photo from College Station. That might not be your vacation city of choice but all this travel, all this everything, began with that tiny Texas town.

Of course we chose a photo from the family roadtrip we took in the summer of 2011 (here, here). You might remember that trip if you've been reading my blog since then. We traveled through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and a tiny bit of Arizona for a family wedding. We took Kyle, then two and a half, and Molly, then (and now) a giant but lovable pain in the ass.

As I searched through the hundreds of photos from the trip for just the right one to frame, I remembered how we almost didn't go. My car broke down (to the tune of many dollars) the week before the trip and the day before the trip Kyle got a Mystery Fever. No money and a feverish child. Yeah, that screams fun family vacation.

But, against all rational thought, we took the trip. We packed the car, we booked a couple cheap hotel rooms, we filled a cooler with snacks and filled my laptop with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes, and we hoped for the best. 

We ate burgers in Amarillo, drank margaritas in Santa Fe. We hiked in Arches National Park while watching a storm roll through one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen before or have ever seen since. Kyle threw up in the backseat on a particularly curvy Colorado mountain road but then we saw a deer inches from our car a few moments later, and he quickly cheered up. We visited the Four Corners. We graffitied the cars at Cadillac Ranch. We introduced Kyle to family he'd never met and we sat around the hotel pool with them, catching up and slapping mosquitoes against our arms. Mike's parents treated us to a once-in-a-lifetime helicopter ride above Gateway Canyons, where we stayed for the wedding. We off-roaded to visit Shiprock.

We also had this one giant fight, on a New Mexico highway late one night as Kyle slept in the backseat. It was ridiculous, as many giant fights tend to be, and Mike and I stewed quietly after it ended. I went to sleep angry. He slept with his back to me. We apologized in the morning, after coffee, a good night's sleep, and a strong dose of perspective, and we shared a family hug in our cheap hotel room before eating the worst continental breakfast we'd ever had.

There was also this beautiful moment on a straight stretch of road, driving out of Utah as the sun was setting one night. Kyle had just fallen asleep and Mike and I were talking about anything, nothing, I don't even remember. Maybe our trip, maybe stopping for gas, maybe Kyle. I think my favorite thing about my relationship with Mike, or maybe just my relationship with anyone I've loved so long, is the ease of conversation. You realize how rare that is, as you get older, when there is no anxiety or self-consciousness or even awareness of what you're saying. You just talk. It's like breathing, talking to Mike, and I realized on that Utah road that I was just so damn grateful we decided to say yes to a trip we nearly said no to. 

It was one of the most incredible trips, no weeks, of my entire life. It was magical, it was beautiful, it was exhausting, it was fun, even the fight, even the carsickness, even the bad felt good on that trip. 

We almost said no, but then we said yes. We hoped for the best, and that's exactly what we got. 

No other reason to write this than I just wanted to remember all of that today. 

(I plan to share the living room makeover when the room is done, of course. So see you for that in 2017.)

Email to Kyle, 3/13/13

I nearly emailed Kyle yesterday about the Veronica Mars movie (!!!), like the awesome mother I am. The restraint I showed was really impressive (to myself). Instead, I share this moment:

Tonight we were making wishes on dandelions and you wished for dinosaurs and then got mad when they didn't just appear. Uh. I guess we need to talk about what wishes are. And maybe what dinosaurs are too.

(Not from the dandelion wishing, of course, but from a kite-flying afternoon a couple weeks ago.) 

The Secret of Having a Boy

I knew Kyle was a boy.

It's easy to say that with confidence now, of course, since he is indeed a boy but, still, I knew. My (literal) dreams were of raising a boy. 

I would have loved a girl. I need to say that for the girl that could have been. I would have taken great pride in raising her. It would have humbled me, sure, but I would have loved it. I have two nieces, one very close to Kyle's age, and I just want to scoop her up whenever I get to see her. Oh, Ella. I love her to pieces. She's adorable, she lets me brush her hair, she sits still for ages, and I get to buy her shoes forever. 

Still. I knew I would have a boy. Kyle. My boy. 

His little feet began smelling like something died on top of them around 18 months. He began creating guns out of NOTHING, out of thin air, out of the bubbles in the bathtub, at around age three. I couldn't believe he could do that, that his imagination could go to PSHAW PSHAW when I had just handed him a hairbrush or a popsicle or a spoon, my goodness, BIOLOGY YOU ARE WEIRD. 

He is usually covered in bruises. He falls, he runs into things, he plays tough, and sometimes I have no earthly idea how he gets a bruise here or there. I look at him at the end of the day and think, I really hope CPS doesn't just randomly show up to count the number or bruises on a four-year-old's legs. Because ooooh my you have quite a lot.

Then there are the Legos. Oh hell, the number of Legos in my house is insane. In fact, here's a new baby shower game for you -- you can use this one free of charge -- blindfold the mom-to-be, toss a hundred tiny Legos on the floor, make her go barefoot across the room and she wins if she gets to the other side without 1) bleeding or 2) using a LOT of profanities. The other night, I stumbled into Kyle's room in the middle of the night after being summoned for some ridiculous reason -- I think he might have seen a moth in the dark at 3am? I don't even know. -- and I stepped on a dozen Legos on the way out while saying a dozen bad words under my breath. That scene was being four-year-old Kyle's mom in a nutshell.

Then there is Kyle with a bunch of his friends. Wow. I just. When you get a bunch of boys together, I don't even know how to capture the noise level in words that are in my current vocabulary. Other than to encourage you to swing by the liquor store before that particular maddening afternoon. There is just something very loud and stressful and ALL CAPSY about a group of little boys together inside four walls. In fact, I'd only recommend getting a group of little boys together outside. Never inside. Without that stop by the liquor store first, that is. Also, little boys together will never be able to hear you. You will say DO NOT THROW A FOOTBALL IN MY KITCHEN and while your one little boy may hear that and listen, a group of little boys will just stop understanding English altogether. They can't help it, I've decided. They have to throw that football! It's just a truth of the universe along with taxes and Mondays being the worst and French fries being the best. 

Yet, my side of the bed is the farthest from our bedroom door and he comes to me every single morning, not Mike. He climbs up and snuggles into me, all bed-heady and sleepy-eyed. He is so warm those first moments after he wakes up. He usually says, "Mommy, I love you." Then, "I'm thirsty. Get me juice, please." 

When he hugs me, he wraps his arms so tightly around my neck and says, "Ohhhh, Mommy, you are the super best!" 

The other night we gave him a quarter to get a piece of candy out of a machine after dinner, and he used that quarter to buy me a ring. He was so proud to give it to me. I will wear that ring until my finger turns completely green, I swear it. Maybe even after that.

He laughs with his whole body. His laughs start in his eyes and they just explode out of him and sometimes he just falls right over from laughing, he can't even help it. Where he can rough-house and fix things and fly kites and kick soccer balls with his Dad, he laughs with me. I just never knew how incredibly fun and perfect and healing that laughter would be. 

He is warm and sweet and wonderful and pure. He is so sunny and bright. Raising him is a gift. A dream come true. 

When I hear that anyone I know is having a son, my first instinct is to say, "Ohhhhh, you are about to be told the very best secret" because that's the best way I can think to describe it.

You see boys running wildly through the grocery store, you see dirty, smelly boys shooting pretend guns on the playground, you see their bruised, scratched-up legs from afar and you don't get it. I didn't get it. They're so loud, you might think. They're so much. They really do throw footballs around your kitchen EVEN WHEN YOU TELL THEM NOT TO. Their shoes aren't nearly as cute, either, are they?

But, then you have one. A son. Your son. Your boy. And he snuggles into you first thing in the morning and he wraps his arms around your neck and he spends his only quarter on you and he laughs with his whole self and he calls you (his mom!) the super best. 

You get it.

You've been told a secret. The very best secret.  

The secret of having a son.

Fun Things

Some super fun things: 

1. I got a Target gift card for my birthday (thank you, in-laws!) and instead of spending it on laundry detergent or groceries, I bought this purse. I really love it, and I would really love to link to it but where my love for Target is mighty, my love for Target's website is NONEXISTANT, OMG IT'S THE WORST.

2. After I passed on seeing Mumford & Sons when they came to Dallas a few years ago -- when tickets were something like $25, of course -- I swore I wouldn't make that mistake again. Anywhere in the state! I'll go anywhere in the state to see them, I swore! Or one state north, turns out. They'll be in Guthrie, Okla. this September and Mike and I are going. The concert is part of their small Gentleman of the Road series. I'm extremely excited, even if it seems like we might have to camp since hotels in the area are all sold out. I'm trying to convince Mike to buy a tent big enough to house a comfortable armchair. He has not stopped rolling his eyes at this idea since.

3. A couple years ago, I was in San Diego for Comic-Con and I got in a day early for set-up. There was no air-conditioning in the convention center that day and I was so tired when I left that I basically stumbled into the Hopping Pig to kill time before dinner. (Here's a whole list of my San Diego dining highlights!) I ordered a Lagunitas IPA because the brewery is in the town my stepmom and brother live. But, I loved it! Since then, I try an IPA every now and then and more so over the last couple months. I told my co-worker this, and she brought me a couple bottles last week, after a tough, stressful week. We've worked together for almost six years, and I would be such a mess without her. I would say that even if she didn't bring me beers.

4. Natalie and I are headed to College Station later this month, to celebrate being friends for 20 years. I get sappy when I think of Natalie because, well, it's Natalie. She's known me two-thirds of my life and there is really no one who has seen me through so much and still come out the other side to like me, except my mother. I don't know quite how to articulate what it's like to have a friend for so long, through so much, except to say that at some point she (thankfully) became a certainty. She'll be in my life forever. So, we toast that truth in our college town next month, over greasy potatoes and cheap drinks and, lamely but wonderfully, sleeping in. Twenty years! 

5. Mike and I were planning an Alaskan trip this year. A dream trip! But, siiiiigh, dream trips are not free. We just couldn't afford it. So, we swapped our tickets for a closer-to-home, much more affordable DC trip. We're still really excited about it. I've only been for work and something tells me the convention center isn't top of the must-see DC list. We have a lot of wonderful people offering us great tips, but if there's a must-try restaurant or an off-the-beaten path suggestion you think we should absolutley know about, let me have it! I love travel spreadsheets. Let me add your picks to this one. 

6. My mom turns 65 this year (she looks at least a decade younger, I know) and we've decided to take a girl's trip to Kansas City to celebrate. This is where she's from, and a place I've never been, so I can't wait to go. I can't wait to see where my mom grew up, where she went to school, and to just see this lovely new place through her eyes. I think there will be a bottle of champagne (or a couple cold beers; she's into beer lately) and a lot of good conversation in store for us. And a new map pin for me! 

7. I'm hosting a champagne-inspired dinner sometime in the next two months, and I'm excited to invite some of my favorite ladies to my house for a dinner with a bubbly theme. Here's my Pinterest board, but are there any recipes that really need to make this menu?

March Goals + February Goals Revisited

February was kind of tough for me, although I'm not entirely sure why. (I think it's just kind of a tough month in general.) I found myself saying a lot of harsh words under my breath this month, and my stress levels were kind of high. So, my goals list is a little sad. (Good news! I'm already dominating March's.)

At first, I had all these excuses listed beside the goals I didn't complete but, gah, that's annoying. So, without further navel-gazing:

February Goals, Revisited

1. Make that eye appointment 
2. Two Pinterest projects (more on those)
3. Read two books 
4. Throw Kyle a fourth birthday party (look!)
5. Go to five yoga classes 
6. Make 5 cookbook recipes 
7. Buy those frames!
8. Finish 30 days of Whole 30
9. Run a 5K
10. Email Kyle 28 times
11. Look into Rangers and Aggies tickets for the spring/fall 
12. Work on Kyle's letter book 
13. Create books from Christmas for my mom and sister (not on my 2013 goal list but a new goal all the same)
14. Send my brother a care package 

March Goals

1. Seriously, with the two books
2. Buy a pair of Kendra Scott earrings
3. Hang our frames!
4. Create a viewfinder for Kyle
5. Spraypaint something
6. Set a date for my champagne-inspired dinner
7. Go on a weekend trip with Natalie, to celebrate being friends for 20 years
8. Make baked ziti
9. Yes, seriously, with the eye appointment 
10. Go to five yoga classes
11. Thirty-one emails to Kyle
12. Finish Kyle's letter book 
13. Watch Argo and Zero Dark Thirty 
14. Host an Easter brunch and egg hunt
15. Send out (belated) thank-you notes for Kyle's birthday

What are you up to this month?

Pinterest Challenge: Extended

Janssen (one of my absolute favorites) extended a challenge to choose a few things from our respective Pinterest boards to attempt to finish over the next six weeks or so. A Pinterest Challenge! Six things = 1 pin a week. That's mighty ambitious, well of me, but I'm still excited to see how it goes.

The Pins I've Chosen

1. Beer Biscuits with Spicy Meyer Lemon Butter. I think I'll add these to our Easter brunch menu. 

2. I'm planning to host a champagne dinner in a couple months and, hey!, I already have invitations for it. I'll practice some fancy handwriting on those. 

3. For ages, I've wanted to make a viewfinder for Kyle, to remember a special event or occassion. I finally found this how-to that seems to promise it can be relatively easy and affordable to make a viewfinder. Let's hope that's true. I'll make a viewfinder of our California/Disneyland trip. 

4. I've wanted a pair of Kendra Scott earrings for a while now, and I think it might be time to break down and splurge on myself. Hopefully I can find a coupon code. (Wait, do you have one?) 

5. It seems fitting that in a Janssen-inspired challenge I choose a Janssen-inspired pin. A Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie. 

6. Spraypaint a few of my Mason jars gold, for storing fun things. 

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.