She Likes Purple

At Long Last: My Nostalgia Wall

You can find gallery walls all over Pinterest. They look one trillion times better than anything I could ever put together, but they inspired me all the same. I kept calling the wall I was putting together in my head a nostalgia wall, not a gallery wall, because it wasn't really about pictures for me. It was about memories. 

To show you just how skilled I am at things like this, I started putting this wall together in 2013. It's like a 6x8 wall. I finished over Christmas. In 2014.

HGTV, call me!

In case you care about this kind of thing, here are some up-close shots of what I chose for the wall.

Bottom left: A post-it from our early dating days. Happy sigh. 

Top left: A picture of the villa we stayed in, during our honeymoon on St. John, VI. You could see the villa from a winding road nearby, where I snapped this picture.

Top middle: A card from Etsy, that I bought for Mike for Valentine's Day a couple years ago and then immediately took from him to frame. I'm fun to be married to. Of all the things in this world I like, Mike and naps are #1 and #3. A certain six-year-old falls between. (The rest of this Etsy store is pretty great, too, and here's a perfect card for your favorite work friend.)

Bottom right-middle: An old picture of my great-grandmonther, my mom's grandmother. She was a special part of my mom's life, so I like to think I knew her without ever having met her. You might not be able to tell, but she's on a beach here, laughing. She looks like the kind of lady who would love to share a bottle of champagne with me. 

Bottom left-middle: I took maternity photos in a shirt I can't even remember buying. I knew I wouldn't wear it again, but I hated the idea of getting rid of it. So, I cut it up and framed it instead. (As you do.)

Bottom right: I loved this frame so much, for months and months, but I couldn't rationalize spending nearly $40 on it. Then Elizabeth, my constant shopping voice of reason, said something like "if you love something so much you're thinking about it for months, JUST BUY IT." So I did. And I have no regrets. I framed a photo of our paper lantern tradition, which makes me smile every time I think about.

Middle right: I found this pin on Pinterest ages ago, about creating a watercolor map, so I made one, took a screenshot, and printed it via Shutterfly. The map I made was from College Station. When I was 17, the summer before my senior year of high school, I walked into Texas A&M's on-campus bookstore and felt something indescribable. As sappy as it sounds, I had come home, even though it was my first time there. When I was 18, I walked into our football stadium for the first time (Kyle Field) and thought to myself, "I'd love to marry an Aggie and name our son Kyle. But that'll never happen." (More on that memory here.) This map includes both the book store and the stadium, and it's one of my favorites from the entire wall. So many dreams come true in one unique picture.

Middle: A canvas print of a picture the talented Natalie took of Kyle when he was two. This remains my mother-in-law's favorite picture of Kyle, and I don't blame her. It's amazing. (I print my canvases at CanvasPeople. Very affordable, and I've been pleased with them to date.)

Top right: A lovely picture of Mike's mom, his sister, and Mike from many Christmases ago. I'd guess 1980 or so.

Bottom right: A commissioned print that says "Sting rays don't bite, my ass." (Though the comma is missing, I know, and it drives me as bananas as you might suspect.) It's something Mike said when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of SeaWorld, just two months after we started dating. Anyway, it's a long, really-only-funny-to-us story, but I laugh every time I think of it. 

Middle left: Oh, this one. An Avett Brothers' lyric: "Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name." I bought the print from this Etsy shop.

Top middle: A picture of Kyle, one of my favorites, from our family road trip in 2011. In a frame I love, that I randomly found at Target. 

Middle: A picture I love of Mike and me from our 2011 Vegas trip. Vegas is also one of the few places we regularly travel to, so it felt right to have a picture from there on the wall.

Middle right: We gave Kyle a quarter a couple years ago to buy a piece of candy from a machine, at a restaurant one night, and he bought me this ring instead. He was so proud to give it to me, and I wore it for a while before realizing I was terrified to lose it. So I hung it on a piece of string and taped the string to an empty frame. My most prized possession, hanging on the wall, for me to see every single day.

Top right: A picture I took of Mike on his motorcycle. I've always loved this picture of Mike doing something he loves so much.

Bottom right, 1: One of our sonogram pictures of Kyle, from about 22 weeks. 

Bottom right, 2: A map-covered "C" from Anthropologie. Or maybe Urban Outfitters. I honestly can't remember.

Middle: A picture of my mom holding me, when I was a baby. I've always loved it.

Top right: This picture of Kyle face-planting in the sand, when he was six months old. Mike and I still just laugh and laugh over it. (Back story, in case you might be judging a wee bit: It was Kyle's first time to the beach, he had just started sitting up on his own. Mike put him in the sand, and I just held down the shutter to take a dozen pictures of the milestone. Kyle then toppled over and I caught this exact one. He was rescued seconds later! Accidental capture! STILL SO FUNNY.)

Bottom right: A picture I love of Kyle and me.

I bought a blank canvas at Michael's, some number stencils from I don't even remember (Amazon, I'd guess), and I used a pencil and then about 10 Sharpies to create this one. It stands for June 10, 2008. The day we found out I was pregnant.

Middle left: A picture from the MotoGP race we took Kyle to last year.

Top left: A family picture of Mike's parents, Mike's sister and her family, and our family, from Christmas 2013.

Top right, letters: I bought these cheap letters from Michael's (like $1 each). Mike and I used to end all our emails with "loves" but one time Mike typed it so quickly he just typed lvs. I emailed back, laughing so hard on my end, that loves forgot to buy its vowels and, eight years later, we've signed off with LVS ever since. It's engraved in my wedding band.

Top right, picture: A picture of the cherry blossoms, from our Washington DC trip in 2013.

Bottom, middle: A picture of Kyle and his cousin Ella, from our beach trip in 2013.

Left: A picture Kyle drew years ago, and one of the first times he wrote his name. (I wanted to especially remember how he wrote his "e"s back then, with about a dozen lines.)

Top right: A picture of Mike and his sister, as kids. He had this picture framed on his desk when I met him, and I remember thinking that any man who loved his sister enough to frame a picture of her on his desk was a man I wanted to spend time with. I can't remember where I found this yellow frame, but I love it.

Top picture is of Mike with Molly behind him, hiking in 2005. Bottom picture is Mike with Kyle behind him, hiking in 2013. 

Left: A framed In N Out Max Wanger print. Mike and I had our rehearsal dinner at In N Out (a $200 rehearsal dinner for 40 people!), so this felt like a small piece of art that had real meaning. 

Right: We bought this beautiful hand-carved stone in Caye Caulker, Belize, with a map of the country on it.

Phew, that's a lot more information about each individual thing we framed and hung on this wall than any one person probably cares to know, but in case we ever change these up, I'll remember what once hung there. 

I Don't Have Time for That

One thing that kind of bugs me is when people talk about how they have no time for things. No time to work out! Couldn't possibly squeeze in reading more! I'd visit with my friends if I just had more time! It's not that these things are likely untrue, I bet we're all busier than we'd like to be and days just freaking fly by without me understanding how they're the same length as they used to be when I was in college and a 45 minute class lasted for-freaking-EVER.

It's just that I've have spent a serious amount of time looking at the Instagram feeds of Bravo reality TV stars and let's not even talk about the number of times I've actually watched the entire Veronica Mars series. It's a dozen, easy. We often make time for things that might not be the best use of our time. Nothing wrong with that, but we have the time. We just. . . you get what I'm saying. Sometimes I prefer D-list celebrity IG feeds over, say, reading a book. I've got the time to read it. But I don't.

Sorry I'm not sorry.

(Or whatever the cooler phrase the kids are saying these days is.)

I say all this as a lead-up to talk about something I have no time for, which is hilarious, right? I think so too. 

Decorating/Organizing/Pinterest-ing my house. Let me give you an example. I've been putting a nostalgia wall together for something like a million years. (Or six months or so. Whatevs.) It has taken that long of actively thinking and planning to: 1) Find the right things to hang on the wall 2) The right frames to put those things in 3) The right way to hang them. 

This wall is no bigger than, like, a projector and it's going to be a solid year before I get it the way I want it. Apply that math to the entire house and, yeah, the house will be the exact way I want it by the time Kyle comes to visit WITH HIS OWN CHILDREN.

How do people make their houses these zen-type spaces of awesomeness? How do people CHOOSE FRAMES in less than a year's time?

I really don't get it. I feel like making my house (that really doesn't need much done to it in the way of fix-it-type things and only needs mostly cosmetic-type things) my home is going to take all of my life. It's so time-consuming, and we've been here nearly five years and I've hung a handful of frames. And that frame project has been exhausting and I want someone to throw me a DIY parade! I put some frames on the wall. I am such a grown-up.

Last year Mike and I decided to devote one weekend a month to house things: closet purges, DIY projects, organizing, etc. Dudes. That madness is exhausting. It took so long to do so little, and I just feel like I'm missing this adult check that makes me good at this kind of stuff.

Anyway, do you live in a house that's just how you want it? How much time do you spend on house-type things? Are you for hire if this is something you're good at? Can I pay you in champagne, because gifting bottles of champagne is something I've totally got time for.

Seven Quick Takes: Mice, Pre-K, Ninjas, Etc.

1. We've needed a new blender for a while. In fact we needed a new blender, bought a new blender, and then almost immediately needed a new blender again. 

So, I came home Friday and there was a new blender on my kitchen counter. Unfortunately, when you're married and you share a joint bank account and you know the status of that joint bank account, surprise splurges make you first go "Wow, THANK YOU!" and then immediately go "But I literally know we can't afford that." 

Enter Costco and their Costco-sized sales. Turns out, we could afford it, and now we can make smoothies for everyone in something like 10 seconds.

Oh, we got a Ninja, in case you need a new blender too.

2. So, hey, we also caught a mouse in our kitchen this past weekend. I know, so gross, but it was the most adorable rodent I've ever seen. (Maybe he heard about the smoothies?)

Kyle and I would have preferred to domesticate the cute thing, but Mike ushered us into the car, drove us to a nearby (but not too nearby) creek, and forced us to let him loose. Then I deep-cleaned the kitchen.

Also, whoa, does wildlife really like our house. In the last year, we've had a bird fly into our living room (and then up our stairs!), a squirrel camp out on our back porch, another bird make a nest on our front porch, multiple bunnies declare home to be under our backyard shed, a rat scurried around in our garage, and let's not forget Fred. Now this.

3. I have a new blog banner! Thanks to Ashley from Little Leaf Design, for making the process so stress-free and easy. I updated a few sidebar things to match. 

4. I've been contracted to use The Prowl (a new social media site) for a few weeks, but I'm under no obligation to talk, write, tweet, or otherwise promote it. Just use! Except...it's great. I love the Ask & Answer section of the site. You can pose fashion, beauty, home, and kid-related "help me find it" questions and your followers can make useful suggestion and comments. (For instance, I really need a new face cleanser. Care to help?)

5. I have so many books on my to-read list, I could read for years and never run out of material (not to mention, I have a handful of books left on Elizabeth's best of 2012 list to get through this year), but I'm always interested in what others are reading (and loving). So, do tell, what's your favorite book of the moment?

You can see what I've read so far this year on my 2013 to-do list.

6. Every September I get blue. It happens each year. What the entire world feels mid-February, I feel all of September. I wish I knew why, but at least I can now anticipate the dip in emotions, and I hope to treat it with healthy eating, yoga, and some fun plans on the calendar. 

If I'm guessing, I'd say it's because while I love fall, September in Texas is just more summer. It's supposed to be fall but it never is, and actual fall is two weeks long, mid-November, and I'm sad for it to end before it begins. I want pumpkins and football and prepping for Halloween but I don't want to do any of those things WHILE STILL SWEATING. 

Is it just me, am I alone in getting the September Blues?

7. Kyle started Pre-K this week. He just moved from one building at his school to another, and he's with most of the same kids he's been with since he was six months old, so the transition wasn't too big of a deal. But, he has to wear a uniform and he has his own locker and desk, and it's the absolute last stop between daycare and Officially Going to School. While it seems a little weird to be proud of someone for just naturally progressing, I'm still so proud of him. Of who he's becoming, more than anything. He's a beautiful, bright, sunny kid who I feel so fortunate to know, let alone get to be the mother of.

I dropped him off Monday and he was absolutely fine and he waved me away with practically an eye-roll as if to say, "You can go now, mom." I walked back to my car, weepy, because he has become one of the "big kids" (what all the other kids in his school call the Pre-K kids), and everyone says it because it's true, that time just goes so damn fast.

I don't know how we even handle the speed of it sometimes.

Small Home Improvement Project. (Mike Will Not Appreciate My Use of Small.)

We have a great house, I like to think, and there's little we need to do to it. There are about nine million things we want to do, though. This can be overwhelming. How do you make the time to do all the things on your "want to do" list when your "must do in order to exist" list is already pretty damn long? I don't know the answer to that, although I think it involves a lot of coffee. Even more than I already drink.

Anyway, we've been in the house over three years and now have a completed project to share! One that isn't in the garage, that is. 

Mike tackled this by himself, start to finish, although I think Molly and Kyle might have tossed in some support here and there. You know who did not toss in (physical) support? His wife. She was inside. Where the couch is.

Oh, wait. That's not true! I did help decide the brick pattern. 

It really does look incredible and it was a whopping $3. We bought something like a dozen bags of sand and 100 bricks but Mike used a gift card for most of the cost. I recommend using gift cards and husbands for all your home improvement projects. You're welcome for that advice.

Great job, babe! Also, the pattern is really spectacular. Did you have professional assistance with that?

Headboard Inspiration

A while ago I saw this above-the-bed design on Simple Fancies and it became inspiration for my own bedroom. Instead of a mirror in between the two framed photos, I love the look of this map-covered letter from Urban Outfitters.

Although, I'd like the map to mean a little something, so maybe I can DIY my own letter with my own map?

In white frames on either side of the letter, I want to frame a photo from a trip we've taken together. I have some photos I'm deciding between. What do you think?

Now, we just have to get from inspiration to the real thing. I'll keep you posted.

Back With My Boy(s)

Now that I'm back from my trip way east (NYC) and then way west (Northern California), I can tell you that the Saturday before last, when I dropped my kid off at his Nana's house, I cried the entire drive home and the entire time in Target, picking up last minute travel items, and a little bit on my couch later that night, too.

I just cried and cried.

I knew Kyle was going to be fine. He adores the pants off his dad and grandparents, so it wasn't that I was worried, it was just that I was sad.

I was going to miss him like hell.

And I did.

But if my level of adoration for my boy today is any indication, we should all leave our kids from time to time, even if the crying on one end of the trip is quite a lot of work for one's mascara. I just can't stop kissing him and hugging him and he's so funny! Was he this funny before? And adorable! Was he this adorable before? Who knows, all I know is that OH MY, IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME.

He asked for chocolate milk at 9 pm last night and normally he'd 1) BE ASLEEP BY THEN MY GOD and 2) be totally refused because no child needs chocolate ANYTHING that late at night, but instead I was all OF COURSE BUDDY BOO! Whatever you want! Here, have seconds!

Then, we all piled into his bed (he's now in a twin bed; another post for another day) to read books and in the middle of his second picked-out book, Mike and I got distracted and started talking (because I missed him too, of course), and about a minute into that conversation, Kyle tapped me and said, "Leave mommy. You too, daddy." We looked at him a little puzzled and he said, "I read by myself."

Apparently our reunion was getting in the way of his book on animal babies.

Kittens are serious business.

Tonight, after we got devoured by mosquitoes outside after dinner, I asked if he wanted to color, play cars, yada yada, and he looked at me and said, "I want to go to bed and read books."

Ok then.

Apparently it simply takes me TRAVELING OUT OF STATE to raise the perfect child.

Noted.

(He's ready to go to the Blathering, he says!)

So, I'm home and it's the best place in the world to be, even though it would seem my husband is many, many good things but a house-cleaner-while-his-wife-leaves-town is not one of them, so I'm still trying to figure out exactly where that smell in the kitchen is coming from.

Still, happy! Suspicious smells and all!

Fake Easter

We celebrated Easter (early) this past weekend. We did it low-key with a backyard plastic egg hunt and a quick and easy brunch with my mom and Mike's parents. The weather was perfect, the food delicious, the company warm and fuzzy, and my son's mind properly blown by all those eggs being his. When he realized there was stuff inside them? Forget it. Easter took first place of all days.

We snapped a couple family photos since we have so few.

This is the winner.

But the outtake is more accurate.

The rest of the fake Easter celebration pictures are here.

It was a happy and sunny day. I'm glad it was mine.

(Didn't hurt that we had mimosas in the fancy champagne glasses.)

Home Sweet Home: The Problem Room

Hey, remember when ages ago I mentioned kicking off a HELP ME WITH MY HOUSE series? No? Well, no fear, because the series starts today so you have missed nothing.

Basically, I have this great house I love that is .... shamefully decorated. I have neither the money nor the talent to do anything near its potential but I believe you can help me. You can suggest inexpensive tips and tricks to fulfill the house's maximum potential.

We're going to start with the room I want to love and think I could love but .... just don't. It's the Problem Room, the room with un-met potential and therefore NOTHING IN IT.

Let me show it to you.

This is the view from the bathroom, looking down the hall, peeking at the "middle" room. You can see our stairs and the cabinet in this hall, the cabinet I'd like to move elsewhere but would like to replace with something about the same size. I'd like to put something under those stairs, a bench or a chest or something.

Another view, a few steps down the hall.

Here's the space I want to fill with a bistro table, or a small pedestal table. We rarely use those doors, which feels like a tragedy but that's not to say we don't use the porch that's on the other side of those doors, just that we go out the front door and walk around the yard or use the back door more often, so I feel like blocking the doors would be okay, especially after living in this house for nearly two years and knowing how we use the space. We'd move the folded-up table that's in the space now in order to replace it with a better table for our needs, of couse.

But, what table (or any table)? We're at a major loss.

(Look there's my wall map!)

The view from our kitchen, just a different angle of the same space I'm puzzled by.

And the view of the hall from the double doors.

I'm giving you as many views as humanly possible. All angles! Nothing's too good for you!

My main questions for you:

1. Would you put a small table in the space as I'd prefer? Or....no? I'd really love for you to say yes and to give me options of a(n inexpensive) table that might work, but I'd also love for you to answer like a professional would. Meaning, be honest.

2. What ELSE would you put in this space? I think this area could have major, adorable potential, I just don't know what that is. It's problematic, and not obvious, but I know there's something there.

HGTV, ARE YOU READING? Oh, how I wish you were.

Big thanks in advance, though, for all your input and help. I'll thank you in person in the form of champagne and cupcakes if you ever come visit!

Home Sweet (Needs Some Work) Home

We've been in our house two years this upcoming summer. Holy crap! That's crazy to type out. I love our little place. It's not the biggest or the newest or the most updated, but it's quirky, it's unique, it's warm, it's so us.

When we moved in, we didn't have to do much except put our touches on things and we've certainly tried to do just that. We've done little things. We've thought about doing bigger things, but we're both super overwhelmed by things like this, I think. We know what we like, what looks good, but getting it from our heads to our walls is the tough part.

I wish I could just hire someone, but that's not a possibility unless someone's willing to decorate my house in exchange for appreciation and cupcakes.

There has to be a way to identify what we want to do, make a list of those things, and then do what we can do even if what we can isn't much. It'll still be more than looking around confusedly, like we're doing now.

I thought it might be fun and super-duper helpful to do just that here, with pictures, lists, yada yada. So, I thought I'd do this month-by-month, room-by-room. Listing what I don't like, what I'd like to do, and get your input on how to make small changes possible.

This could be crazy inducing, don't I know, but I think it could also be pretty damn helpful for you to help me brainstorm solutions. Organizational stuff, maximizing space, cheap decorating tricks, etc.

I'm going to start in April, after I've wrapped up Biggest Blogging Loser, which is amazing and fantastic but time-consuming, too. (The running it, not the participating in it. Although thinking so much about cheeseburgers I'm not eating is arguably time-consuming, as well.)

So, uh, this post is all I HAVE A GREAT IDEA and then LET'S TALK MORE ABOUT IT LATER, THOUGH.

That's never annoying.

But, hey, I'm still excited. I think I'll start with our bedroom. Just don't think of suggesting I get rid of a single pair of shoes, okay?

Merry Christmas, Baby!

Mike and I got so romantic this Christmas, you're going to pee yourselves when I tell you what we bought each other. It's almost not suitable for sharing online.

Drumroll...

Nightstands!

I like to think he bought mine and I bought his, just to make it a little less domestically lame.

(But really I bought them both.)

We needed nightstands, though, and I even added "buy nightstands!" to my year to-do list* because in our current house we've been using vintage, falling-apart side tables and in our last house Mike stacked two stools on top of each other while I used an old filing cabinet.

Grown-ups do not stack stools on top of each other. You can quote me on that.

***

*I've moved my to-do list for the year over to another section of my blog, where it will stay forever. I'm making room for my new list, to be unveiled soon(ish).

The Year of the Rat

I know what I forgot to tell you about: OUR RAT!

How could I have kept such a thrilling (and disgusting) development from you? I'm clearly being selfish this week. But, no longer. Now images of rats living amongst my shoes are in your head and THEY WILL NEVER GO AWAY.

Hey, want to come over for a dinner date or to watch Gossip Girl or something?

No? Weird.

Okay, so I'm being dramatic. We do have a rat, yes, but the rat is in our garage, the garage that is detached from our house and is a good 10-15 feet away from my shoes with multiple walls in between.

The other night Mike came in from the garage -- where he spends so much of his free time, I sometimes think I should deliver his mail there -- and nonchalantly said, "there's a rat in the garage."

(You should know Mike's default setting is nonchalant.)

(My default setting is not.)

"A WHAT?"

"A rat."

"How do you know?"

"My eyes told me when I saw it."

"ALIVE?"

"Uh huh."

"WHAT WAS IT DOING?"

"Scurrying away."

"It could have been a mouse. Maybe it was a mouse. Mice scurry."

"It wasn't a mouse."

"How do you know?"

"Because it was a rat."

"Did it look vicous? Full of rabies?"

"It looked like a rat."

"You should know I'm okay if you kill it. I approve of that course of action."

"Don't tell too many people you're fine with killing rats."

(Pretend you didn't read those last two lines.)

We keep certain things in our garage that I need often enough -- the stroller, Diet Dr. Pepper, all of our Christmas decorations, but it probably won't shock you to know I haven't stepped foot in our garage since this "development."

In fact, anytime I need one of these things I just holler for Mike and say, "Garage assistance needed!" And when he gets back I always fire a dozen questions at him, "Did you see it? What was it doing? Did it have babies?" And he always says some variation of the following, "You exhaust me."

I swear, I'd rather live with a thousand Freds than a rat.

Well, maybe two.

March recap

March was a bitch. Albeit one of those bitches you can't help but love. Like Pink or Martha Stewart.

We got some news that bummed us out, but we're feeling confident (crazy?) that things will eventually be fine. Even if "fine" means living in denial. You do what you must. I also got a new writing gig at The Stir, and I love it. I LOVE IT IN ALL CAPS. (If you haven't added my posts' feed to your readers, you should.)

Style Lush continues to impress me. Case in point, I had lunch with Natalie (one of the SL writers) the other day, and afterward I thought: she's ridiculously stylish. And not just in the perfectly-put-together, hefty-price-tag-wearing way, but in the comfortable-in-her-own-skin way. She owns herself, that was clear, and helping you own who you are is my entire goal with the site. So, yes, I love it over there. Hopefully you do too.

We went meatless this month, and it was actually pretty doable if you're asking me. If you're asking Mike, it's a torture tactic the U.S. government should look into. He whined his way through the entire thing even though the entire thing was his idea. (That's a little peek into my life. Feel for me.) Every time I made something, he would say, "This would be better with a side of steak." But, we managed, and we're better for it, I believe that. We tried a lot of new things (some new things gave us food poisoning, ahem). We challenged ourselves. I like how that feels and hope to give up something again soon that I didn't think I could do without, but come to find out, I can. I can do a lot I didn't once think I could.

Like run a 5K. Man, that feat still makes me smile. I'm proud of myself, you should know. Doing things that make you feel like you can conquer the world or, more realistically, your life's to-do list? Yeah, that's not a bad way to go through life.

Then there's Kyle. Oh, you guys. He's the best. He's clapping and blowing kisses and he makes monster sounds when you say, "make your monster sounds!" And he can count to one (granted that's just pointing, but whatever), and he is becoming obsessed with books. We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear 97 times in a row, and I think he likes the blue horse best. He's still a shrimp who'd rather crawl all over the place than attempt to walk. Whatever you want, buds. You have your whole life to master walking. And when you crawl, you can see the ground better and the ground is where old pieces of English muffin live. He went through a pretty strong mommy phase this month and can I just say: IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME. He no longer wants his papa 24 hours a day, and it's nice to no longer have to constantly remind him why he should love me best. He also unloads the dishwasher and likes chocolate. 

He's still the very best part of each and every month.

For April, I'm going to get creative with gift giving, and I can't wait to surprise friends and strangers with nice things, even if those nice things aren't things at all.

I'm also hosting a girl's dinner this month and we're going to an Art's Festival and I'm gearing up for my next 5K. I also hope to get a really tight grip on our budget and the state of our house. See, our house looks like a crazed elephant ran through it most of the time. And I hate that! Maybe we'll take a stab at this "spring cleaning" thing everyone talks about.

I'm also making crab cakes this month.

And since it's finally (FINALLY!) spring, we're going to get outside, go to the parks near our house, drive with the windows down and get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Texas is annoying year round, turns out.

So, spill it, what are you looking forward to in April?

It only takes a week

Last weekend was pure hell and this weekend has been pure bliss. Oh, life, you're funny. If you visited last weekend, you would have considered a child-free lifestyle after sending me both vodka and a maid. Yesterday, Kyle woke up in one of those toddler moods that is similar to pure sunshine, and if you had visited, you'd want one (or ten) just like him. Also, my mom came to watch Kyle, so I could get my hair cut. A couple hours to myself in a salon was just slightly better than three hours at the urgent care center like last weekend.

Oh, here's the hair. A little shorter, same (newish) dark color.

 

Make-up free since I like to keep it real (or, am lazy).

We also saw the sun this weekend, and I almost forgot how lovely it could be. I like rainy, dreary weather, or I did before having a kid because that weather encouraged lazy afternoon movie marathons and cuddling under the covers. Now, that weather means being imprisoned indoors with a kid who has the energy of a wild hyena. Kyle understands enough to shock the hell out of me most days but he has not grasped, "let's just sit still, buddy" quite yet. The sun shining is basically a flashing neon sign that reads: YOU CAN LEAVE THE HOUSE, HALLELUJAH. Sometimes I invent reasons to go out. I think: we should mail our bills instead of paying them online, off to the post office! I think we're out of clothes pins even though I can't remember the last time I used a clothes pin, get in the car, let's go to Target! Who needs a Sonic drink from the Sonic across town instead of just down the street? 

If I finish all my laundry today, I'd call this weekend the best of February. Or at least the weekend most likely to keep me around these parts instead of running for the hills.

Hope yours has been just as lovely. Has it been?

Goals: making and meeting

Confession: my brain has more motivation than my body ever will. See, my brain wants to change the world, run a marathon, cook dinner and then put on something sexy for my husband. My body wants a donut, a nap and a magazine, in that order. My entire life has been a constant struggle reconciling what my brain wants to accomplish (EVERYTHING!) and what my body wants to accomplish (NOTHING! WITH A SIDE OF SLEEP!).

With all that said, 2010 has been quite a surprise for me. Despite it being stupidly cold, which I've hated, it's also been full of me pushing myself and doing new things and being a person of my word and, oh my hell, this stuns no one more than me.

Instead of getting into a rut or letting the new-year high fade into the springtime consumption of every chocolate bunny (marshmallow-filled, please!) imaginable, I'm setting new goals while continuing to go after some old ones. LIKE A REAL GOAL SETTER, OMG. This is all so novel to me!

For instance, last night, I high-tailed it to the gym after we got home from our mini-College Station trip, and I was set to run some intervals (jog five minutes, walk three, jog five, walk three, you get it) when I decided, let's see how far I can push this. I ran more than a mile, without stopping, and although I'm sure your toddler could run that long without breaking a sweat, one mile without stopping is not something I can normally do. In fact, it's not something I have done since I was 18. When I finished, there was only sweat on my treadmill and not parts of my hacked-up lung! Success! This 5K I'm attempting next month seems FEASIBLE and POSSIBLE instead of maybe something I just say I did while sipping mimosas instead.

Speaking of mimosas, I've decided to give those up for Lent (along with every other type of alcohol). Before you ask, no, I'm not even part Catholic and I've only ever attended a Catholic mass when I liked a Catholic boy, but that's OK, right? I mean, if partaking in Lent even though I'm not Catholic offends some, I should probably not mention all that pre-marital sex I had. This is more to see if I can do this and it's also a perfectly-timed reason to eliminate a lot of unnecessary calories so I can meet my goal weight faster. So, Easter Sunday, who's in for a keg party at my house?

I'm giving up two other things in March. The first: meat. The second: shopping. Mike and I are kicking off a Meatless March in a week or so, and thank god for food blogs is all I can say. (But, hey, feel free to share your favorite vegetarian recipe below.) We're not trying to make some Statement here or toying with extending our Meatless March to Meatless FOREVER; we're simply spicing things up, pushing ourselves to try new recipes, seeing if we can, etc.

The shopping, well, that's something I've done before and something I'd really like to do again because -- and this is going to shock the hell out of you, so you should probably sit down -- the quickest and most effective way to save money is not to spend it. I know! Next you're going to tell me eating less and working out more is the secret to weight loss or something! I'll still pay our bills and grocery shop and make sure Kyle has diapers, but Etsy, you've been warned.

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Hey, also, if you're proud of any part of your home, join the Style Lush Cribs flickr pool and share those cute rooms, nooks, corners, closets with us!

You didn't know we left, but now we're back

Mike and I zipped down to College Station Tuesday night (for the night) because when you have conflicting schedules and the best Nana on the planet, you squeeze in your Valentine's night away wherever you can even if "wherever you can" happens to be a Tuesday night that is not Valentine's Day at all. Why College Station, you ask? (After some of you ask "College Station is an actual place? I thought Julia Roberts was just making it up in My Best Friend's Wedding!") Well, the romantic version is this: it's where our Valentine's (pizza and beer) tradition started, six years ago. The realistic version is this: it's about all we could afford and it's on my 2010 to-do list.

We went to school in College Station, so it's not quite as if anyone has to twist our arms to return because we really, really loved it there and really, really love going back there and, most importantly, really, really miss the food there. Funny, we racked up a ridiculous bill at our romantic dinner this past Friday night and yet the pizza that brought us back to College Station (and the wings and the sandwiches and the potatoes and even the alcohol), all under $20 a pop, made our mouth water even more.

It was a pretty low-key day and night away, but if you are a parent, the very best hyphenated pairing someone can use to describe a day and night away is low-key, am I right? We ate lunch, we took a long nap, we saw a movie, we drove around, we had dinner, we shared a pitcher of beer and we watched TV until we both passed out (before midnight). It's a very small town, that college town of ours, and it's also a very conservative small town, where many buildings and street signs have the Bush name attached to them and where cowboy boots and hats and belt buckles are common and where the official school greeting is "howdy!" and where you wouldn't think I'd fit in at all if you know me well, but every time I drive out of that town, my throat closes a bit and my chest tightens and I look at Mike, misty-eyed, and say, "I don't want to leave." Isn't that just what home is? Not always a makes-perfect-sense fit, but where you belong all the same.

The other reason I love it there so much: the alcohol flows as cheaply as water (that pitcher of ours was $6!) and no one bats an eye if you're wearing a dirty old t-shirt to the dusty old bar.

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I'm back tomorrow with lots of links and updates (like what I'm giving up over the next month because I'm apparently a CRAZY PERSON) and maybe a picture of my kid, the one who acted like I was a complete stranger when I returned today. WHO ARE YOU, GIVE ME MY NANA BACK!?

There are enough pipe references in this post to make a dozen dirty jokes

If I were to list out Mike's very best qualities in order of importance, above sense of humor and the ability to make Kyle's eyes light up like a Christmas tree, I would put this: knows how to fix a busted pipe.

I didn't realize just how invaluable this quality was until yesterday, the day we officially had a busted pipe, but it presented itself to me rather quickly when I learned that Mike fixing the busted pipe would cost us a lot of time and a little money and someone else fixing the busted pipe would cost us a lot of time and ALL THE MONEY TO OUR NAMES. Single ladies, amend those "what I want in a man" lists and make sure "handy with a wrench" tops them. You won't be disappointed, especially if you're in Texas where the weather is a motherfucker. I'm sorry, but it is.

I imagine the crappy weather isn't completely behind us since it's barely January, but I'm pretending it's gone for good, hallelujah, good riddance. That's the same attitude I took with Kyle's teeth. After the top two broke through I celebrated and exhaled and thought, "Oh, so glad that's over! Onward!" AREN'T I CUTE? Since he has a good two dozen teeth left to cut, that positive(ly insane) thinking is just so adorable. Denial, it's as if parents start bathing in it the moment their kids are born.

Mike is fixing some other things tomorrow and then he's promised we'll have running water and leak-free pipes by the time I get home. He's either as good as I give him credit for or my Crazy Eyes scared him enough to lie through his teeth so I'd stop with the yelling. I promised this year to become better in a crisis. Let me amend that: I promise to become better in a crisis when it doesn't involve broken pipes.

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In unrelated, loose-end-tying-up news, Mike and I somewhat decided to go to Santa Fe and Taos for our mini-getaway this year. If you have any tips, let me know.

Controlling what I can

As charmed as I've been with 2010 and all I'm rearing to accomplish this year, it's gotten off to a rocky start, a start I've been hesitant to even talk about because it'll come across like 2010 and I aren't friends. It'll come across, a little bit, like 2010 is a bitch.

Mike threw his back out last weekend, right before my birthday, so although he gifted me with a much-wanted (-needed, too) Wii Fit and let me sleep in the days leading up to the back-thrown-out incident, we weren't able to really celebrate my day in the way I would have liked (which would have been: him taking Kyle for a few hours, so I could nap, watch Food Network and online shop). We have an upcoming party planned, so that'll be fun, and we're going on a date just tonight to re-do my birthday dinner (also fun), and on the day both friends and family celebrated with me, so I'm not shaking my fist at the sky or anything, but it sort of sucked. For both me and Mike, really.

Then, the coldest weather North Texas has seen in more than a decade blew threw late Wednesday night and we reached a low of eleven at one point (that would be two degrees away from single-digit weather, OMG). I know listening to people bitch and moan about the WEATHER, one of the most unpredictable and uncontrollable things there is, can be rather annoying. I kind of hate myself for how much energy and time I've given to weather.com over the last few days, but that cold weather hasn't just ruined my out-of-the-house plans, it's seeped into my house and made all-around living kind of a beating. Our pipes froze so water to the downstairs is.....noticeably absent, shall we say. We can: shower, brush our teeth, use the bathroom and wash our hands (very nice silver linings). We cannot: do dishes, do laundry, cook without taking a pot/measuring cup to the bathroom sink upstairs. (No pasta dish is worth that, I'm sorry.) Our house also reached an inside low of 48 degrees yesterday, and although Mike is working his recently-recovered tail off to fix the flaws in our home and make it a place we love again, it's still been....noticeably difficult, shall we say.

He just called and asked how things were and I said, "I'm trying to find my zen place."

This morning I woke up in a particularly bad mood. Cold house, crying baby, no water. Who's idea of a nice Saturday is THAT? Instead of my calorie-friendly granola bar for breakfast, I thought, "Well, everything else is sliding downhill to Crapville, why not just go get something carby and delicious."

And then I stopped myself.

2010 isn't going to be a great year because of all the great things that are going to find me, and I never thought that's how it would work. It's going to be a great year because I'm making changings, I'm trying to be a calm, better, coolerl-in-a-crisis version of myself. I can't control the weather or the old house's poor insulation or the stupid, stupid pipes or Mike's back. I can control how loudly I yell about one or any of those things. I can control whether I work out in the midst of the bad day. I can control what I eat for breakfast. I can sit and wallow or ride this out.

2010 my have started off a little bitchy, but I'm doing my damnedest not to join it.

Post-Christmas

Hey, first things first, take a look in the sidebar! Where my 2010 list lives. See how one item already has a nice, straight line crossed through it? AND IT'S STILL 2009? That would be me kicking ass, my friends. Although, thankfully none of you actually tasted the cinnamon buns I made from scratch Christmas morning because if you had, you'd be far less likely to pat me on the back for my achievement. As I was cleaning up the kitchen (for the 87th time in three days, my lord cooking makes a mess), I asked Mike, "Will you eat these if I save them?" and he didn't answer, which is how I know he doesn't want to answer and also doesn't want to lie and can't think of a non-lie, won't-start-a-fight response quick enough. He just says nothing at all in hopes I'll forget I asked him a question in the first place, which never happens, I AM A WOMAN, YOU KNOW. I asked again and he said (very noncommittally), "Uh, whatever." I asked again, and he said, "No, they weren't so good. Sorry, babe." And he was right. I either did something wrong or....no, that would be the only thing that could have happened, come to think of it.

 

(Other updates from this post, as in what I cooked and how it came out, can be found in my flickr stream. In case you don't feel like clicking through: the cinnamon buns were the only non-delicious part of our Christmas menu, thank goodness.)

Other than the food, we really did have a great holiday break, although things kicked off with Kyle getting bronchitis, and if you've ever been sent home from the pediatrician with a nebulizer in order to administer breathing treatments on your not-yet-year-old baby*, you know that's no way to ring in Christmas Day, MY GOD, THE HEART, IT BREAKS.

 

He was still a champ (he always is), so the hacking cough and raging fever couldn't quite keep him (nor his hair) down.

He even managed a smile or two.

And....other emotions, as well.

 

(He's crying because he now plays this new game called Throw All His Food Off His High Chair To Watch Molly Eat It. He thinks it's a great game, and who the hell am I to try and break him of this behavior when it keeps him 1) occupied while I do the dishes or (more likely) 2) entertained while I watch old 90210 episodes. But when all the food has been thrown, and he has nothing left to throw, THE WORLD ENDS OMG. Really, THIS is the kind of face you make when you're out of food to feed something else, child? I hope you channel that giving nature into taking awesome care of your mom one day.)

We also bought a car over the break and, yeah, that's even bigger than bronchitis, perhaps I should have led with it, but I'm still in a bit of shock about it. As you may remember, we definitely NEEDED a new car since the old one stopped reversing and, yes, you are allowed to laugh now, we realize it's kind of a funny thing to go wrong with a car, but it's less funny when you're the one driving the damn, non-reversing thing. So, we got a new one. Just like that. (Although NOT just like that, of course, as there was plenty of stressing and test-driving and crunching numbers and warnings of YOU CANNOT BUY ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL FOREVER PLUS A WEEK, GOT THAT?), but we have a new car. One that reverses. Phew.

Let's end on a snowier note, though, just because I'm still not over that we had a white Christmas Kyle's first Christmas. IN TEXAS.

 

(Front of our house, from the icy street.)

I hope your holidays were filled with all good things, and I thank you for joining me in 2009.

*I get to call him a baby until he at least turns one. GIVE ME THIS NEXT MONTH.

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At Style Lush today, I'm asking you to share your favorite holiday gift with us, so go answer.

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Don't forget to comment on this post (and pass the post along, if you would). I'm hoping to take a check to Jonathan's Place the second weekend of January, and I'd just love to mention how many people helped bring it there.

This post is like a Lady Gaga outfit: Strange but maybe a little fun, too.

Since a few of you have asked, Kyle is (well, until the next plague descends) feeling much better. There's this silly little thing parents do -- well, there's this silly little thing I do, as a parent -- that consists of wringing my hands like a crazy person each time we hit a speed bump, as if this less desirable phase is going to be The Way Things Stay Forever and Ever, Shoot Me Now. Regression -- whether by sickness or teething or growing pains or exhaustion or WHAT-THE-HELL-EVER -- is a tricky mind game, and it's hard to see past it. Sure, I logically know (uh, in hindsight) that the flu or a stomach virus or teething or Kyle just being an all-around grouchopotamus isn't a brand new normal, but it's hard not to let my cynical mind go there at times, like when he's screaming his head off at 2 a.m. or throwing his pacifier at my face at 4 a.m.

Then, we pass through the shitty stage and move on to smiles and laughs and long nights of sleep, and I am reminded how I sometimes desperately fail at perspective because after 27 years you'd think I'd have figured out by now that life is not a straight line at all, it's a back-and-forth, two-steps-forward, eighteen-steps-backward kind of dance. Nothing lasts very long, not even the flu/cold season.

So, yes, he's doing lots better. Let me show you!:

 

In his Pink Floyd t-shirt, making his papa proud.

I took more pictures of him over the weekend. You can see them all here.

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Also over the weekend I hosted a champagne and cake party with my friend Kristie. We had champagne (shocking!) and Sprinkles cupcakes and lots of ladies all gathered in my 1300-square-foot house, laughing and sipping and politely ignoring my child screaming from his room. (Nothing says PARTY! like a screaming baby, don't you agree?) But, really, we had a nice time.

My motivation for throwing the party was just celebrating friendships in general. When I first began dating Mike I let nearly everything else important in my life fall by the wayside. Grades, friends, my sorority, my job, so on and sadly so forth. About six months in, something shifted, and I missed who I was (and who I had) before Mike. Taking a renewed interest in my life improved my relationship with him. (Win-win!) So, I'm now a pretty big advocate for women having strong friendships outside of their marriage or relationship. You can never have too many people in your corner, so pick funny, smart, confident, supportive women and spend time with them.

With champagne and carbs. Hard to top that.

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I invited a couple of those women to see New Moon with me this weekend, too, so I wouldn't have to see it alone. The movie was great, in a really-horribly-acted-and-super-duper-cheesy way. Those are the best kinds, aren't they? It's like the feature film equivalent to One Tree Hill or Dawson's Creek or anything that's ever aired on MTV. I found myself clapping and groaning and laughing and loving every minute. 

You should go see it, too.

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Mike and I have one ongoing, headache-inducing fight, and it's all about me. Oh, that's fun, isn't it! To be the cause of frustration in my marriage! I think I shall add that skill of mine to my resume. Need to drive your husband insane, give me a call, I'm an expert! See, I tend to abandon household tasks half-way through completing them. For example, I toss my shoes off when I walk in the door instead of taking them to our room. I tend to wash all the dishes except the pots and those pots sit in the kitchen sink for a week before someone (uh, not me) stomps around and puts them away. I fold the clothes but abandon the sock pairing. I...well, you get it, don't you? I'm pretty spectacularly awful at follow-through, that's the point of this, and it drives Mike to pull his hair out and drink and call me names (OK, he doesn't actually call me names BUT I BET HE WANTS TO).

The root of the problem is (hopefully) my attention span and not my sheer laziness. I get distracted easily and regular chores suffer. Mike also happens to be ridiculously weird about things like this and where it may not bother the average person, it REALLY, REALLY, OH-MY-HELL-WOMAN-GET-YOUR-SHIT-TOGETHER bothers him.

I feel like I do so much around the house and for our family that a rogue pair of shoes or a dirty pot or a random pair of socks shouldn't stress anyone out. You should still buy me flowers daily because I'm awesome. Awesome people totally leave the lights on in every room in the house. YES THEY DO.

But, well, I love my husband and this really, really bothers my husband, and so I'd like to take a stab at fixing this, so perhaps my husband could go back to really, really loving me in return. Is there another way to remember to do all these things other than just, um, REMEMBERING? Because if I could just remember to do them, well, we would not be on the fourth paragraph of my marital issues, would we? No, we would not.

Do you perhaps suffer from this disorder too, this I Am So Busy and Important I Routinely Forget to Finish Simple, Ordinary Tasks disorder? Do you have a way to control this disorder? Would you like to share your wisdom with me? I think my husband would send you a thank you note in appreciation, and he never sends thank you notes for anything, ever, unless I write it and then have him sign it.

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This weekend, Kyle also crawled with his belly off the floor for the first time. He's become quite the army crawling expert and I wasn't sure he'd ever lift that pudge up to crawl like regular babies crawl, but then mid-champagne-and-cake party, he did it! And I teared up! And then I captured it again the next day. See!:

 

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Molly's still here, too. This is her put-upon face. The face I've seen regularly for the last 9 months. Don't feel too badly for her, she enjoyed an entire box of Pepperidge Farm cookies after our champagne-and-cake party, when we left her alone with them for hours. I can't really blame her, but I sure don't feel quite as eager to let her on our bed as I was the day before.

 

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I hope you have a very short work week and will be enjoying food and family and Black Friday sales in no time. We have some good things up at Style Lush this week (like this HANDMADE advent calendar, OMG) in honor of the holiday and shopping spirit and festiveness, so go enjoy.

Happy Turkey Week to you and yours.

Just like that

Week seven.

Week thirty-nine.

The rocking chair series I started at week seven is continuing to blow my mind, even though I've missed a few weeks here and there due to sickness and parenting error. 

We're already planning his first birthday party (um, what theme would YOU choose for a boy's first birthday?). He's inching closer and closer to standing unassisted and waving to us on a regular basis. He belly laughs at more and more things these days, including when I sing Miley to him.

I head out to NYC bright and early tomorrow morning for five straight days of a little work, a lot of fun. (Hey, any tips on what I should see/do/eat there?) I'm excited! New York City in my new (half-off!) Old Navy coat! Still, I already can't wait to come home to my boys. They're fun to come home to.

(The dishes and laundry that will be waiting for me on the other hand, not so fun to come home to.)

Happy week and weekend all!